Prix conceptions

Friday, Sept. 27, 2002 | 10:33 a.m.

It wasn't the oppressive heat or the first-lap run-in with eventual race winner Michele Alboreto that Eddie Cheever remembers most about the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix -- the last of two Formula One races held in Las Vegas.

His third-place finish 20 years ago this weekend, despite a badly vibrating front wheel from the earlier contact, didn't immediately come to mind, either.

What Cheever remembers most about that race was that it was held in Las Vegas and it was a uniquely American event, held on a 2.2-mile, 14-turn road course set up in the parking lot of Caesars Palace -- just about where the Forum Shops now are located.

"Formula One always has a special allure to it so regardless of where you're racing -- be it Las Vegas or Indianapolis -- it is different; it has got a different appeal to it," Cheever said this week from his office in Indianapolis.

"I loved the Grand Prix in Las Vegas because I always enjoy Las Vegas. (The race) was done on a parking lot, the track was run the wrong way -- it was counter-clockwise -- but it was a great event. It was very intriguing, very American, so it was pretty cool."

The notion of a Formula One race being held in the parking lot of a hotel-casino might sound farfetched today -- especially considering that Sunday's United States Grand Prix will be run in front of about 150,000 fans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- but Cheever said that is what made the two races in Las Vegas so special.

"If you consider where you race in Monte Carlo, it's ridiculous because it's so tight, so narrow, there's very little room to go anywhere, so having it in a parking lot was just a different configuration to run those superb cars," Cheever, now an owner/driver in the Indy Racing League, said.

"Formula One cars will run anywhere and run well. It was different but it was a typical Bernie Ecclestone event; he found a great place where people would be interested in coming to see it."

Cheever said the Caesars circuit was small by most standards.

"It definitely was not one of the best circuits I've ever raced on -- but it definitely had a U.S. Grand Prix feel to it," he said.

"The Italian Grand Prix historically is held at Monza, the Belgium Grand Prix was historically held at either Zolder or Spa. American Grand Prix, once they left Watkins Glen, would either be run at Long Beach, which is in the middle of a city, or in Phoenix, which is in the middle of a city, or Las Vegas, which is really in the middle of a city, but (also) in the parking lot of a very large hotel, so it did have a feel for that generation of American circuits."

The inaugural Caesars Palace Grand Prix, in 1981, drew an estimated 38,000 fans. The following year, an estimated 32,000 showed up and braved temperatures in the mid-90s.

Although Cheever said the teams and drivers generally liked coming to Las Vegas to race, the series did not return here after 1982. Two more races were run under Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) sanction before the Caesars Palace Grand Prix capitulated.

There was an attempt in 1998 to return Formula One to Las Vegas on a parcel of land at the south end of The Strip. But the Clark County Commission voted against a proposal backed by F1 czar Ecclestone and the event landed in Indianapolis in 2000.

"I was disappointed, like everyone else was, that (the Las Vegas race) didn't grow," Cheever said, "but Formula One has always had a hard time in America because there hasn't been enough American representation and there is no American Formula One team."

Cheever said the international racing series now has its best chance of succeeding in America since leaving Las Vegas.

"I know of no other time in the past 20 years that Formula One has had the chance that it has now since this event is being held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway," Cheever said.

"I doubt there are many humans beings in the civilized world that do not know what the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is all about -- it's all about America and speed -- so finally the Grand Prix has a home that the American fans can wrap their arms around."

Still, Cheever said the lack of American drivers and teams in F1 is a problem.

"Until that process begins, until some kid sitting in the grandstand thinks that he is going to be a U.S. Grand Prix racecar driver one day, it won't captivate the hearts of American racing fans and if it doesn't do that, you're going to have a hard time warranting a U.S. Grand Prix," he said.