Eddie Cheever started 17th but went on to lead 76 laps
and win the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as driver/owner.
Secured initial IRL victory in rain-shortened race at
Orlando in 1997. Rookie-of-the-year at Indy in 1990
Strated second, finished fourth at Indy in Â92. Made
132 F-1 starts in 10 years.
Cheever came to Indianapolis as a second-tier contender
and finally had a primary sponsor to back up his owner/driver effort. His
consistency and experience -- along with successful crew chief Owen Snyder III
-- helped him to his first Indianapolis 500 victory.
He had a strong 96-97 season by anyone's standards. After shaky runs in the
1996 portion of the season, the owner/driver kept up with the leaders in the new
equipment at Orlando. A freak series of events, including a Tony Stewart crash, a
Buzz Calkins blown engine and a rain storm, found Cheever in the winner's
circle. He led the last four miles of the rain-shortened race for his first Indy car
victory. His run at Indianapolis fell short with a bad timing chain, but he
followed that with finishes of sixth (Texas), fourth (Pikes Peak), sixth
(Charlotte) and ninth (New Hampshire). His strong midseason run was good
enough to put him in a tie for third in the season standings. However, his strong
year could not keep his team from dissolving.
Cheever won the Italian and European karting championships at age 15 and
moved up to Formula Fords and was a teammate of Danny Sullivan on the
Formula Three circuit. In 1987 and 1988 he won seven world sports car
prototype races.
Cheever joined CART in 1990 after being the only American driver to compete
in Formula One, where he made 133 starts. He won seven world sports car races
for Jaguar in 1986-87. His best finish in 83 starts on the Indy circuit was second
at Phoenix in 1992.
He was the 1990 CART and Indy 500 Rookie of the Year. He finished eighth at
Indy in 1990 and fourth in 1992.
Sources: Star/News and SpeedNet staff reports.
