Eddie Cheever

Quick Facts

Full Name	Eddie Cheever
Date Of Birth	Jan 10, 1958(1958-01-10)
Age	66
Birthplace	Phoenix
Country	United States
Birth City	Arizona
Horoscope	Capricorn

Eddie Cheever Biography

Eddie Cheever is one of the most popular and richest Formula One Driver who was born on January 10, 1958 in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. During his final season in Formula One, Cheever remained competitive (when he finished, his average finishing place was 7th), but he became increasingly bemused by his inability to qualify well (his average qualifying position was 23rd, compared to Warwick’s 14th). His best qualifying position for the season with 16th in both Canada and Hungary, and he even failed to qualify for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where he had finished 3rd the previous year.

For the 1979 F2 championship, Cheever left Project Four and joined the Italian Osella team, taking three wins and fourth overall in their BMW-powered FA2. In 1980 Osella moved up to Formula One, Cheever piloting the team’s Cosworth- powered FA1. However, the car was unreliable and Cheever managed just one finish all year, twelfth place at the team’s home race in Italy. Switching teams repeatedly as he tried to climb his way up the grid, Cheever had five points-scoring finishes for the Tyrrell team in 1981, and three podiums for Ligier the following year, including a second place at the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix.

The 1983 season proved to be Cheever’s high point in Formula One. He signed with the factory Equipe Renault team alongside Frenchman Alain Prost, both of whom were among the year’s Championship favorites. Cheever earned four more podiums and 22 Championship points driving the Renault RE30C for the first two races before driving its much better replacement, the RE40, for the remainder of the season. But the team’s disappointment after losing both the Drivers’ (Prost) and Constructors’ titles late in the season brought about the replacement of both Cheever and Prost. His best finish for Renault was second in the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, while earlier in the season he achieved his highest career qualifying position when he was second to teammate Prost at the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard Circuit. Unconfirmed rumors had Renault signing Cheever as the French manufacturer was looking to sell more cars in North America, and having an American driver in the factory backed Formula One team would help that cause (there were three F1 races in North America in 1983 – Long Beach, Detroit and Canada).

In six more seasons, he never drove another truly competitive F1 car. After leaving Renault, Cheever had two unsuccessful seasons with Alfa Romeo as teammate to Italian Riccardo Patrese. The thirsty and underpowered 890T V8 turbo engine used in the Alfas generally saw results few and far between, though it was generally believed Cheever outperformed his teammate despite failing to qualify for the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix. Patrese though scored the only podium finish for the team in those two years when he finished third in the 1984 Italian Grand Prix. Cheever had been 3rd with 6 laps remaining but his Alfa ran out of fuel, handing the place to Patrese (the team had set Cheever’s 890T engine for speed while setting Patrese for an economy run in the hope of a good finish). 1985 wasn’t helped by the team’s car, the Alfa Romeo 185T, which proved to be extremely uncompetitive, forcing the team to upgrade its 1984 car, the 184T to 1985 specifications and use it for the last half of the season, though the old car did not improve results despite proving slightly faster as the fuel issue remained. Late in the 1985 season, Alfa announced they were pulling out of F1 at the end of the year, leaving Cheever without an F1 drive, while Patrese went back to Brabham in place of Nelson Piquet, who was moving to Williams.

Cheever first entered Formula One in 1978, shortly after his 20th birthday. After failing to qualify for the first two races of the year in Argentina and Brazil in a Theodore, he made the grid in South Africa in a Hesketh, but retired early. He then concentrated on Formula Two for the rest of 1978 and 1979.

Eddie Cheever Net Worth

Eddie Cheever is one of the richest Formula One driver from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Eddie Cheever 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Edward McKay “Eddie” Cheever, Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championship races and started 132, more than any other American, driving for nine different teams from 1978 through 1989. In 1997, he formed his own IRL team and won the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as both owner and driver. The team now competes in sports cars.

Though born in Phoenix, Arizona, Cheever lived in Rome, Italy, as a child. He was introduced to motorsports at age eight, when his father took him to a sports car race in Monza. He soon began racing go-karts and won both the Italian and European Karting Championships at age 15. He worked his way up through the levels of European Formula racing, teaming with fellow American Danny Sullivan in Formula Three in 1975. He scored a significant win against Gunnar Nilsson and Rupert Keegan at the end of 1975 and then driving for Ron Dennis’ Project Four team in Formula Two in 1976, 1977 and 1978, finishing runner-up to René Arnoux in the 1977 championship. By the end of 1977 he was considered the most promising driver in the world outside F1, scoring brilliant wins in 1977 in F2 at Nurburgring and Rouen, an outright win on the classic and terrifying French road circuit over Rosberg, Arnoux, Pironi and Tambay and finishing 2nd on the road at Nurburgring to graded driver, Jochen Mass, having passed twelve drivers, many of the top F1 drivers on the second lap of the Nurburgring race, in a drive easily equal to Jack Ickx performances in 1976. But for a massive crash in a test session in a BMW saloon he would have move immediately into a GP drive with Ferrari or Lotus. He remained always brilliant on the last days of the classical road circuits, fighting classic duels with Rosberg at Rouen and Nurburgring and in the first GP on the reopened Spa he probably drove his greatest race taking 3rd in the No2 Renault which never had engines equal to team leader Prost.

In all, he participated in 143 Grands Prix, achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 70 championship points. His best year was 1983, when he finished 7th in the championship, scored three podium finishes and one front row start for Renault.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Eddie Cheever height Not available right now. Martin weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Eddie Cheever Dating?

According to our records, Eddie Cheever married to Rita Cheever. As of December 1, 2023, Eddie Cheever’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Eddie Cheever. You may help us to build the dating records for Eddie Cheever!

Best race finish: 2nd (Phoenix – 1992), best championship result: 9th

Facts & Trivia

Martin Ranked on the list of most popular Formula One Driver. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. Eddie Cheever celebrates birthday on January 10 of every year.

In 1998, all the pieces came together for Cheever when he took the biggest win of his career. He started from 17th position and led 76 of 200 laps to win the 82nd Indianapolis 500, despite sliding in the first turn of the race’s first lap, helping bring out the race’s first caution period. He was the first owner/driver to win the race since A. J. Foyt (one of Cheever’s former bosses) in 1977.

What is Eddie Cheever doing now?

Cheever retired from driving and closed his IndyCar team midway through the 2006 season, but he’s still active in the sport as the founder and license holder of Coyote Cars – yes, named for the cars of A.J. Foyt, for whom Cheever drove in ’95.

Did Eddie Cheever win Indy 500?

Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championship races and started 132, more than any other American, driving for nine different teams from 1978 through 1989. In 1996, he formed his own IRL team, Team Cheever, and won the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as both owner and driver.

Is Eddie Cheever still racing?

Eddie Cheever III
Wins| 0
Poles| 0
Fastest laps| 0
Best finish| 9th in 2018–19

How Old Is Eddie Cheever?

64 years (January 10, 1958)

Is Eddie Cheever married?

Rita Cheever