Eddie Cheever might not be a household name for newer Formula 1 fans, but he’s a legendary figure in American motorsports. The Arizona native holds the record for most F1 races entered (143) and started (132) by an American. And although he never managed to win a grand prix, he did finish seventh in the driver’s standings in 1983 and land nine total podiums. One of which came at the 1982 Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix — a hot, messy, short-lived race capping off one of the most chaotic seasons in F1 history.
That 1982 race was not like the celeb-studded, high-production-value Las Vegas GP we’ll be watching this weekend. Its makeshift track was built in the Caesar’s Palace parking lot. And it ran on a hot September afternoon, with temperatures reaching nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Yep, it was daytime and in the middle of the desert — f***ing hot,” Cheever says with a chuckle. “I remember that initially all the faster corners were either very right or very left. Very tiring on your neck muscles.”
Yet, despite the all that and racing for the firmly mid-pack French team Talbot Ligier-Matra, Cheever out-dueled big names — Nigel Mansell, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, fellow American Mario Andretti — to claim third place. And more might have been possible.
“My car was phenomenal that day,” Cheever recalls.
“Going into the first corner of the race, I locked wheels with [Italian driver Michele] Alboreto and bent one of my steering rods,” he says. Could he have won the race if not for that first-turn incident? “Ifs and buts,” he says, “but I would’ve had a lot more fun racing had I not bumped wheels with Alboreto.”
The Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix served as the final race of the infamous 1982 Formula 1 season. Drivers went on strike at the opening race in South Africa. Gilles Villeneuve and Riccardo Paletti both died, separately but tragically, on-track later in the season. Keke Rosberg ultimately claimed the driver’s championship despite winning only one race.
Ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, Motorsport caught up with Cheever to talk about the wild 1982 season and his memories of racing in the desert.
Obviously, Formula 1 is booming in the U.S. right now, but things were different back in the ’80s. What do you recall of how Vegas received you back in 1982?
I think Formula 1 in those days was not as well promoted as it is now. They’ve gone to great lengths with Netflix, and the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…