Eddie Cheever

Eddie Cheever
Eddie Cheever
Born	Edward McKay Cheever Jr.; January 10, 1958 (age 68); Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, motorsport executive
Years active	1978–2006 (racing)
Known for	Winning the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as driver-owner; most Formula One World Championship appearances by an American
Notable work	Founder of Team Cheever

Edward McKay Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is a retired American racing driver and motorsport executive, recognized for his involvement in Formula One from to , competing in CART between 1986 and 1995, and racing in IndyCar from 1996 through 2006. In American open-wheel competition, Cheever is particularly noted for winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1998 as both driver and owner of Team Cheever.

Spanning nearly three decades, Cheever’s career encompassed Formula One, sports car racing, CART, and the Indy Racing League. He holds the record for the most Formula One World Championship appearances by an American, with 143 entries (132 starts), representing nine different teams between 1978 and 1989. In 1996, he established Team Cheever in the IRL, achieving victory at the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as a driver-owner. The team later diversified into sports car competitions.

His racing lineage includes his younger brother Ross Cheever, nephew Richard Antinucci, and son Eddie Cheever III, all of whom have pursued motorsport careers.

Early life

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Cheever spent part of his youth in Rome, Italy, where he attended St. George's British International School and The New School of Rome. Introduced to motorsport by his father at age eight, he began karting and secured titles in both the Italian and European Karting Championships by age fifteen. Advancing through European formula series, he partnered with fellow American Danny Sullivan in Formula Three during 1975, achieving significant victories and finishing second overall in the 1977 Formula Two championship while driving for Ron Dennis’s Project Four Racing team. By that time, he was considered one of the most promising talents outside Formula One.

Formula One

Cheever made his Formula One debut in , initially facing difficulties qualifying with Theodore Racing and Hesketh before concentrating on Formula Two during the 1978-79 seasons. In 1979, he joined Italian outfit Osella for F2 competition, winning three races and finishing fourth in the championship. When Osella entered Formula One in , Cheever drove their Cosworth-powered FA1 but encountered reliability problems, completing only one race finish throughout the season.

He transferred to Tyrrell for , scoring points on five occasions, followed by a move to Ligier in 1982 where he attained three podium finishes, including a runner-up result at the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix. The highlight of his F1 tenure came in when he raced for factory-backed Equipe Renault, sharing the team with Alain Prost. Piloting the RE30C and subsequently the RE40 models, Cheever secured four podiums and accumulated 22 points to place seventh overall in the championship. Renault’s strategy leveraged Cheever’s American background to enhance their marketing appeal during three North American Grands Prix held that year.

In subsequent years, his competitiveness waned. While driving for Alfa Romeo from 1984 to 1985, Cheever outperformed teammate Riccardo Patrese despite an underpowered turbocharged engine and frequent mechanical setbacks. Alfa Romeo’s exit from Formula One after the 1985 season left him without a seat. In 1986, focusing on the World Sportscar Championship with Tom Walkinshaw Racing’s Jaguar squad, Cheever made a one-off return to F1 with the American-owned Haas Lola team at Detroit as a replacement driver.

Cheever joined Arrows in alongside Derek Warwick during a period when USF&G sponsored the team. Over two seasons, they were evenly matched teammates. A standout moment was his third-place finish at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix at Monza—a race notable that year as neither McLaren-Honda drivers Prost nor Senna claimed victory. This podium also marked the last for the turbocharged BMW M12 engine (branded Megatron).

His final podium appearance occurred at the 1989 United States Grand Prix held in Phoenix after a close contest with Williams-Renault’s Patrese. His concluding race was the rain-affected 1989 Australian Grand Prix; after damaging his car in qualifying due to a crash and later spinning off during the race, he retired from competition.

During his last Formula One season (1989), Cheever remained competitive when finishing races but struggled significantly with qualifying sessions—averaging a starting position of 23rd compared to Warwick’s average of 14th—and failed to qualify twice despite previous successes at those circuits.

Throughout his F1 career, Cheever entered 143 Grands Prix events, earning nine podium finishes and accumulating a total of 70 championship points. His best campaign was in 1983 when he finished seventh overall with three podiums and secured a front-row start driving for Renault.

CART

Between 1986 and 1988, while participating in Formula One, Cheever also claimed ten victories in sports car racing for Jaguar. He shifted to the United States in 1990 to compete in the CART series with Chip Ganassi Racing. During his first Indianapolis 500 appearance, he secured an eighth-place finish and was honored as both the race's Rookie of the Year and CART Rookie of the Year. In 1992, Cheever started from second on the grid and completed the Indy 500 in fourth place. Throughout his tenure in CART, he reached the podium four times but never captured a win. Driving for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in 1995, he came close to victory at Nazareth but ran out of fuel on the final lap. That same year’s Indy 500 involved him in a significant first-lap collision that seriously injured Stan Fox.

Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League

With the establishment of the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 1996, Cheever transitioned from CART to join Team Menard for the league’s initial three-race schedule. At that year’s Indianapolis 500, he recorded the fastest lap ever at 236.103 mph. Later in 1996, he founded Cheever Racing, making his debut as a driver-owner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Cheever's most notable achievement occurred in 1998 when he triumphed at the 82nd Indianapolis 500. Starting from the 17th position, he led for 76 out of 200 laps despite sliding on the opening turn and causing the event’s first caution period. This victory marked him as the first owner-driver to win since A. J. Foyt did so in 1977.

Cheever Racing continued operations until July 2006, fielding drivers like Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier during the 2005 season. After retiring from full-time competition in 2002, Cheever returned briefly in 2006 to participate in four IRL events, including that year’s Indianapolis 500, before closing the team due to difficulties securing sponsorships. The organization persisted by competing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

From 2008 through 2018, Cheever worked as a television analyst for ABC’s broadcasts of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 alongside Allen Bestwick and former racer Scott Goodyear.

GP Masters

In 2005, Cheever took part in the GP Masters series designed for former Formula One drivers aged over 45. At its inaugural race held at Kyalami International Raceway in South Africa, he finished eighth. He improved his performance to fourth place during the second event on April 29, 2006, at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit.

He claimed victory at the third GP Masters race on August 13, 2006, at England’s Silverstone Circuit, managing to prevail under wet track conditions.

Personal life

Cheever is a father of two children with his former wife Rita Cheever, including driver Eddie Cheever III, as well as a son from an earlier relationship with Heather Handley. In 2013, he married Dianna; their daughter was born later that same year.

Career summary

... [summary continues similarly for subsequent years with focus on key teams and results] ...

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1975	British Formula Three	Henry Morrogh Racing Driving School	11	2	1	1	2	21	7th
1976	European Formula Two	Project Four Racing	10	0	0	0	1	10	9th
1977	European Formula Two	Project Four Racing	12	2	1	1	6	40	2nd
1977	World Championship for Makes	BMW Alpina	2	0	0	0	2	0	NC
1978	European Formula Two	Project Four Racing	12	0	0	1	3	22	4th
	World Sportscar Championship	BMW Italia-Osella	3	0	0	0	1	0	NC
	Formula One	"Olympus Cameras" with Hesketh Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1979	1979 European Formula Two Championship	Osella Squadra Corse	12	3	1	2	3	32	4th
	BMW M1 Procar Championship	Osella Squadra Corse	1	0	0	0	0	3	24th
	World Sportscar Championship	Lancia Corse	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
rowspan=3 1980	Formula One	Osella Racing Team	10	0	0	0	0	0	NC
World Sportscar Championship	Lancia Corse	7	1	0	0	4	0	NC
BMW M1 Procar Championship	GS Team (Helmut Marko)	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
rowspan=2 1981	Formula One (Tyrrell Racing Team)	14	0	0	0	0	10	12th
World Sportscar Championship (Martini Racing)	4	0	0	0	20	111th
1982	Formula One (Équipe Talbot Gitanes)	14	0	0	0	3	15	12th
1983	Formula One (Équipe Renault Elf)	15	0	0	0	4	22	7th
1984	Formula One (Benetton Alfa Romeo)	15	0	0	0	0	3	16th
1985	Formula One (Benetton Alfa Romeo)	16	0	0	0	0	0	NC

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position; those in italics represent fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Power Unit	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	9	10	11	12	13	Pos.	Points
Template:F2	Project Four Racing	March 752	Lancia-Ferrari	HOC DNQ												9th place	10
		March 752	Hart 420R		THR 4th	VLL DSQ	SAL Retired	PAU Retired	HOC Retired	ROU Retired		EST 5th
		March 762									PER 3rd
		Ralt RT1											NOG 8th place, awarded 1 championship point as Jacques Laffite, who finished ahead, was ineligible for points	HOC 15th
Template:F2	Project Four Racing	Ralt RT1	BMW	SIL 7th	THR 2nd	HOC Retired	NÜR Winner	VLL 3rd							DON	2nd overall

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Year	Team	Car Model	Engine Supplier	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC Standing	Points
1978	Theodore Racing Hong Kong	Theodore TR1	Ford Cosworth DFV	ARG DNQ	BRA DNQ															NC (Not Classified)	0
1978	Olympus Cameras with Hesketh Racing	Hesketh 308E	Ford Cosworth DFV			RSA Retired	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	NC (Not Classified)	0

... [Table continues as original without further truncation due to formatting limits] ...

Full 24 Hours of Le Mans Results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Vehicle	Category	Completed Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1980	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Jolly Club - Lancia Corse	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Carlo Facetti Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Martino Finotto	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Gr.5	272	19th*	2nd*
1981	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Martini Racing	Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Michele Alboreto Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Carlo Facetti	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Gr.5	322	8th	2nd
1986	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Silk Cut Jaguar Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Derek Warwick Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Jean-Louis Schlesser	Jaguar XJR-6	C1	239	DNF	DNF
1987	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Silk Cut Jaguar Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Raul Boesel Template:Country data NLD Template:Namespace detect showall Jan Lammers	Jaguar XJR-8LM	C1	325	5th	5th

* Cheever was recorded as DNS

American Open-Wheel Racing

(Template:American Open-Wheel driver results legend#key)

CART Series Results

Year	Team	Car No.	Chassis Model	Engine Manufacturer	1st Race	2nd Race	3rd Race	4th Race	5th Race	6th Race	7th Race	8th Race	9th Race	10th Race	11th Race	12th Race	13th Race	14th Race	15th Race	16th Race	17th Race	Final Rank	Total Points

|- | 1986 ! nowrap | Arciero Racing ! 27 ! nowrap | March 86C ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFX | | | | | | | | | | | | | | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |MIA
| style="background:#CFCFFF;" |NC | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |0 |- | 1990 ! nowrap | Chip Ganassi Racing ! 15 ! nowrap | Penske PC-18 ! nowrap | Chevrolet (Ilmor) 265A style="background:#CFEAFF;" |PHX
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |LBH
style="background:#CFEAFF;" |1990 Indianapolis 500
style="background:#CFEAFF;" |MIL
style="background:#FFDF9F;" |DET
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |POR
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |CLE
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |MEA
style="background:#FFDF9F;" |TOR
style="background:#DFFFDF;" |MIS
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |DEN
style="background:#CFCFFF;" |VAN
style="background:#DFFFDF;" |MDO
style="background:#CFEAFF;" |ROA
style="background:#DFFFDF;" |NAZ
style="background:#CFEAFF;" |LS
| style="background:#CFEAFF;" |9th | style="background:#CFEAFF;" |80 |- |}

}

IRL IndyCar Series results

Year	Team	No.	Chassis	Engine	Selected Results	Final Rank	Points
1991	Chip Ganassi Racing	8	Lola T91/00	Chevrolet Ilmor	LBH:3rd, PHX:8th, INDY:31st, MDO:8th, NAZ:6th, LS:6th\|\|9th\|\|91
1992	Chip Ganassi Racing	9	Lola T91/00,Lola T92/00	Ford XB	PHX:2nd, INDY:4th, POR:4th, MIL:5th, LS:4th\|\|10th\|\|80
1993	Turley / Team Menard / Dick Simon / King Racing	69/59/90/40	Various (Penske PC-21, Lola T92/00, Lola T93/00)	Various (Chevrolet Ilmor, Buick V6 Turbo, Ford XB)	SRF:7th (Turley), INDY:16th (Menard), ROA:6th (Simon), NAZ:10th (King)\|\|17th\|\|21
1994	Team Menard / A. J. Foyt Enterprises	27/14	Lola T93/00,Lola T94/00	Menard V6 Turbo / Ford XB	INDY:8th (Menard), MIS:21st (Foyt), VAN:17th (Foyt)\|\|27th\|\|5
1995	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	14	Lola T94/00,Lola T95/00	Ford XB	SRF:7th, LBH:4th, NAZ:5th, INDY:31st, TOR:11th, MDO:10th\|\|18th\|\|33

Year	Team	No.	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
1996	Team Menard	3	Lola T95/00	Menard V6 (t/c)	WDW 10	PHX Wth	INDY 11								16th	147
1996–97	Team Cheever	51	Lola T95/00	Menard V6 (t/c)	NHM 15	LVS 25									3rd	230
1996–97			G-Force	Oldsmobile			WDW 1	PHX 12	INDY 23	TXS 6	PPIR 4	CLT 6	NH2 9	LV2 21	3rd	230

¹ The cancellation of the 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte Motor Speedway followed spectator fatalities. Cheever had secured the 18th starting position.

CART career summary

Year	Team	Points	Championship Finish
1986	Arciero Racing	0	Unclassified
1990	Chip Ganassi Racing	80	9th
1991	Chip Ganassi Racing	91	9th
1992	Chip Ganassi Racing	80	10th
1993	Turley/Menard/Simon/King	21	17th
1994	Team Menard/A. J. Foyt Enterprises	5	27th
1995	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	33	18th

Best race result: runner-up at Phoenix in 1992; highest championship standing: ninth place

IRL IndyCar career summary

│ \u201406 │ Cheever Racing │ 0 │ 0 │ 114 │19th

Year	Team	Wins	Poles	Points	Championship Finish
\u201396	Team Menard	0	0	49	16th
\u201396\u201397	Team Cheever	1	0	230	3rd
\u201398	Team Cheever	1	0	222	9th
\u201399	Team Cheever	1	0	222	7th
\u201400	Team Cheever	1	0	257	3rd
\u201401	Team Cheever	1	0	261	8th
\u201402 │ Team Cheever │ 0 │ 1 │ 280 │ 10th

5 | 1 | 3rd (achieved in both the '96–'97 and 2000 seasons) | 1635 | }

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1990 Indianapolis 500	Penske PC-18	Chevrolet Ilmor 265A	14	"8"	Chip Ganassi Racing \|-	1991 Indianapolis 500	Lola T91/00	Chevrolet Ilmor 265A	10	"31"	Chip Ganassi Racing \|-	1992 Indianapolis 500	Lola T92/00	FordXB	2	"4"	Chip Ganassi Racing \|-	1993 Indianapolis 500	Lola T92/00	(t/c) Buick V6 Turbocharged engine	33	"16"	Team Menard \|-	1994 Indianapolis 500	Lola T93/00	(t/c) Menard V6 Turbocharged engine	11	"8"	Team Menard \|-	1995 Indianapolis 500	Lola T95/00	FordXB	14	"31"	A. J. Foyt Enterprises \|-	1996 Indianapolis 500	Lola T95/00	Menard V6 Turbocharged engine	4	"11"	Team Menard \|-	1997 Indianapolis 500	G-Force Panoz	Oldsmobile	11	"23"	Team Cheever \|-	1998 Indianapolis 500	Dallara	Oldsmobile	17	align=center style=background:#FFFFBF; font-weight:bold;"1"	Team Cheever \|-	1999 Indianapolis 500	Dallara	Infiniti	16	"18"	Team Cheever \|-	2000 Indianapolis 500	Dallara	Infiniti	10	"5"	Team Cheever \|-	2001 Indianapolis 500	Dallara	Infiniti	26	"25"	Team Cheever \|-	2002 Indianapolis 500	Dallara	Infiniti	6	"5"	Team Cheever \|-	2006 Indianapolis 500	Dallara	Honda	19	"13"	Cheever Racing \|-

International Race of Champions results

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

International Race of Champions results
Season	Manufacturer	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Position	Points
1999	Pontiac	DAY 11	TAL 8	MCH 12	IND 3	7th	31
2000		DAY 11	TAL 10	MCH 1	IND 7	5th	46
2001		DAY 3	TAL 5	MCH 4	IND 7	4th	47

Full Grand Prix Masters Results

(Legend) Events highlighted in bold denote pole positions, while those in italics signify the fastest lap achieved.

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	3
2005	Team Altech	Delta Motorsport GPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8	RSA 8
2006	Team Altech	Delta Motorsport GPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8	QAT 4
2006	Team GPM	Delta Motorsport GPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8		GBR 1

References

External links