Indy’s Odd Couple : Tough A.J. Foyt Is Counting on Sophisticated Eddie Cheever to Help Him Regain Lost Glory, but He Has to Let Some Things Go

When tempestuous A.J. Foyt announced that urbane Formula One veteran Eddie Cheever would be his Indy car driver, someone said that was like mixing water and oil.

Cheever agreed, but put his own spin on it.

“If the water in the engine stays where it should stay and the oil in the engine stays where it should stay, you’ve got a good deal,” he said. “If they mix together at the wrong time, then you’ve got a problem.”

So far, the water and the oil seem to be where they should be.

Cheever, the handsome American-born sophisticate who spent most of his life living in luxury in Europe, and Foyt, the rock-hard Texan who raced and scrapped on dusty dirt tracks to get to the top in motor racing, have a relationship based on two tenets: A.J. is the boss, and nothing is more important than winning, especially the Indianapolis 500.

“Foyt is our leader,” Cheever said. “I am not the leader of the team, nor do I wish to be. He is like a king, the king of Indy.”

Cheever and Foyt’s Lola-Ford will start next Sunday’s 500 in the middle of the fifth row, a somewhat disappointing position. The car had lapped the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 228 m.p.h. in practice the morning of qualifying, but could manage only 226.314 when it was official.

“If we run 226 all day, we’ll lap the field about three times,” the sarcastic Foyt said.

“I don’t care who you are, or where you qualify, if it’s your day to win, you’re going to win this race. I’ve seen people win this race that have barely qualified, had no shot at winning it, and a bunch of cars wrecked and they win the race. If it’s your day, it’s your day.”

Foyt’s team has had its share of bad luck this season. At Long Beach, Cheever was running second behind Al Unser Jr. when he stopped on the final lap with a faulty fuel system. There was fuel in the tank, but it wouldn’t pick up.

It was worse in the next race, at Nazareth, Pa.

Cheever was leading, headed toward the first Indy car victory of his career and the first for Foyt’s team since 1981, when A.J. won the Pocono 500, but Cheever’s tank ran dry two laps from the finish. The on-board computer said there should have been four gallons left, more than enough.

“There wasn’t enough methanol mix left to kill a mosquito,” Cheever said. “I really suffered in the press room after the race because what I wanted most was to go into a room and bash my head against the wall.”

In Foyt’s garage, tears streamed down the tough guy’s face.

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Since Foyt’s dramatic retirement during qualifications for the 1993 Indianapolis 500, he has fielded cars for Robby Gordon, Davy Jones, Bryan Herta and Cheever.

He has often been criticized for not paying enough attention to his team, not testing enough, not running top equipment. The criticism was probably justified, but rarely was the reason brought out.

A. J. was hurting.

His feet and legs, mangled in a head-on crash at Elkhart Lake, Wis., in September 1990, were patched together, but the pain remained. Foyt underwent six months of strenuous therapy with Houston Oiler rehab coach Steve Watterson, aiming at qualifying for a record 34th consecutive Indy 500 in May 1991 and walking to his car on race day.

“A.J. did it, but he didn’t want to let on how much his feet hurt,” a team member said. “When he was running his team the last couple of years, he couldn’t put himself completely into the job because of the continuous pain.”

One solution, Foyt decided, was to give up on training young drivers such as Gordon, Jones and Herta, and go with an experienced hand who could better understand what he wanted.

“With Eddie, I feel we have the combination to win races and be competitive every race,” Foyt said. “We worked together last year, we understand each other, and I don’t have to spend time explaining what to do.”

Their records are as different as their personalities. Foyt won 67 Indy car races, including the Indianapolis 500 four times, and 105 other major races. Cheever, in 132 Formula One and 71 Indy car races, has never won. His best finish was a second place in 1992 at Phoenix.

Cheever joined Foyt in the middle of the 1994 season, after Herta was injured while practicing for the Toronto race.

“I went to Foyt in unfortunate circumstances last year,” Cheever said.

“We worked a lot in the winter on reliability, and I think it has paid off. We are fourth in mileage this season, and that is very positive.

“I have heard how A.J. didn’t seem to have the motivation the last couple of years, but that’s not so this year. I don’t understand how the man finds his motivation. He’s been in racing so long, it’s unbelievable that every day he comes to the race track he’s full of vigor.

“At times, that determination can be overbearing, but the goal is very clear and everybody knows what it is. The man is very special; he was born to be around racing cars.”

Foyt has also been criticized for trying to do everything himself, not letting team members be responsible in preparing the car, not letting the driver make decisions.

Cheever said that’s still true but that Foyt is gradually making the transition from driver to owner.

“I’m not saying this in jest, but A.J. could probably do a better job than any mechanic I have now, and they’re very good. . . . He could probably drive the truck, he could definitely drive the racing car--he’s capable of doing every single piece that makes up a race team, and he’s capable of doing it unbelievably well.

“In modern racing, you cannot do that anymore. You have to have specialists that focus on one thing because it’s become so competitive that if you have a crossover with certain people doing more than one job, you’re not going to get the maximum from their time. There are just so many man-hours that have to be put into racing cars, so it’s better if everybody is a specialist.

“Foyt is learning that he needs to oversee. . . .

“It’s a different way for him. But that’s the direction that I’ve tried to push him. The man has forgotten more about racing than I will ever know. It’s just a question of relinquishing a little of the control so we can get more things done.”

Cheever, who was in Formula One for 10 years before returning to the United States to drive for Chip Ganassi in 1990, has had to change, too. He was Indy 500 rookie of the year in 1990 but said he was never comfortable.

“When I came here, I had never raced on circuits that had walls all around,” he said. “I raced in Monte Carlo, where if you made a mistake you’d end up in somebody’s living room or in a bar. I raced in places with lots of run-off area. If you made a mistake in Belgium . . . there would be lots of space to slow the car down.

“I had never raced where you’re going 230 m.p.h. and to run quickly at certain places you have to be within two feet of the wall. It took a lot of getting used to, and I had to change my driving style completely to do that.

“I’ve come to enjoy Indy so much that the day I leave, I start counting how many days it takes to get back to it again. I’ve been preparing for this race since the day I stepped out of the car last year.”

Cheever started in the middle of the front row in 1992 and finished fourth, but he likes his chances better this year.

“I wasn’t ready for the front row,” he said. “I had gone from a fastest lap of 221 the year before to 230 and I just wasn’t prepared for those speeds. But I’ve gone through a lot of miles since then and I’ve had lots of problems and, yes, I believe this probably is the best shot I have had in Indianapolis.”