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Saturday, July 21
Cheever: Learning the hard way
By Eddie Cheever Jr.
Special to ESPN.com
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When the Indy Racing League started, we needed to find venues to race at. We couldn't just go to the one-mile ovals and Indianapolis. We had to find some other circuits, and the natural choice for us was the 1½-mile superspeedways.
However, those tracks generated a whole different set of problems for us that NASCAR didn't encounter. Although in NASCAR they may crash if they overdo it and bump each other, making contact with somebody in a stock car does not have the catastrophic consequences that it does in open-wheel racing.
As a result, Indy Racing drivers have had to learn how to draft and how to run very close to each other without bumping. This year, we have had a very acrimonious season because it seems that some of the IRL drivers are driving too aggressively. They are using their cars as weapons when they are trying to defend their position.
They cross from one side of the track to the other and back again, trying to stop the other driver from getting past instead of defending their position and holding their line.
The IRL has made it very clear what they consider the 'rules of engagement' to be. We have been told that we are not allowed to change lanes -- to go from the high line to the low line -- if you do that, you are going to be black-flagged. Now the IRL feels that it is necessary to police the racing drivers, and it is a non-negotiable verdict. If they say you are blocking, it is not a question of "I kind of was" or "I really didn't think I was" -- they will black-flag you.
After the Richmond race, I was told that Eliseo Salazar was going to be black-flagged the next time we went by the start-finish line because he was blocking me. If I had known that, I wouldn't have tried passing him.
The whole purpose of trying to defend a position is to frustrate the other driver, not to put him in a position where he is going to hit a wall at 200mph. I had a great race in Kansas with Sam Hornish. I wasn't giving him a lot of room that I didn't have to, and he wasn't giving me any room that he didn't have to. But once we decided the lane we were going to race in, we kept to it.
Of course, I've learned some lessons over the years. In 1992, Emerson Fittipaldi sat me down at Indy and explained that when you're racing on an oval, you're not racing by yourself. In Formula One, where I had raced in 132 Grands Prix, once you pass someone, you put your car wherever you feel is best for you. In open-wheel oval racing, especially on a 1.5-mile track or at Indy, you don't do that. When you pass someone, you have to continue giving the car behind you room.
It was quite embarrassing when Fittipaldi sat me down, but I was grateful for that conversation. There are lessons learned along the way.
IRL driver Eddie Cheever Jr. owns and drives the No. 51 Cheever Indy Racing Infiniti car. He will be providing a diary to ESPN.com throughout the season. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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