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Author Topic: Eddie Cheever closes his 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season with a win  (Read 1564 times)

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Eddie Cheever closes his 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season with a splendid win
 
Le Mans (France) - Eddie Cheever’s 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season ended with another dominant win. The driver of the #51 Chevrolet SS Tender Capital fielded by CAAL Racing once again outpaced the competition in the final race of the series on the historic Circuit Bugatti of Le Mans. After begging his career with wins in single-seaters – he won the 2012 Italian F3 Championship that granted him a test session on a Formula 1 Ferrari – Cheever III choose this year to switch to European stock-car series officially sanctioned by NASCAR to make his closed-wheel debut and immediately obtained spectacular results. He won the pole position and one race in his second outing, on the difficult Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, and posted another pole in his first experience on an oval track at Tours, paving the way to a regular season in which he fought for the win with the best drivers of the Series. The Italian driver then dominated the playoffs, with four podiums, two wins and a pole position. The final score of his first ever NASCAR season is excellent: third in the championship standings as a rookie, a domination in the Jerome Sarran Trophy – rewarding drivers aged 25 or less – and a previous Race And Win chronograph as the prize for scoring the highest number of poles. Results that could even have been better without two post-race penalties that costed Eddie important points that could have won him title in his rookie season.

 

Eddie, what are your thoughts about this season?

“It was definitely a positive one, in my debut I posted more poles than anybody else and with 3 wins I’m the second winningest driver of the Series in 2014. I got the third place in the standings, I won the Jerome Sarran Trophy and I entered the last race still in contention. I would have liked to get something more, but some episodes penalized me and it wasn’t possible. It’s all experience, anyway.”

Let’s take a look at your 2014 season. Which were the best and the worst moments for you?

“The best moment were definitely the playoffs. On track I won 3 races out of four and I always finished on the podium. It was fantastic. While my opponents paid a lot of attention in not making any mistake, I managed to win despite all the pressure. On the other hand, probably the worst moment was between the Sunday Race in Brands Hatch and the Tours Weekend, when my gap from the leader went up to 40 points. Those were difficult days, but we never gave up, we worked hard and our performances showed it."

Of the many victories of this year, which one was the most significative?

“It’s difficult to choose. Brands Hatch was the first and like your first love, it’s impossible to forget. Le Mans had something special because it was the recognition of the hard work we did this year with CAAL Racing, but the best one was probably the one in Magione. It was my home track, in front of my fans and it was my mother’s birthday – I wanted to dedicate a win to her – but most of all it was a very hard-fought one because it came at the end of a battle with Vilarino that lasted all race long. Because of how it came, because of how much I wanted it, it’s perhaps the one I like to remember the most."

The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series  alway races in events in which the fans are the most important persons. From this point of view, which race you liked most?

“Difficult question: at Le Mans there was a lot of people, so much that it was hard to move in the paddock and they were amazing. Luckily the Euro NASCAR always draws a lot of passionate fans with events that are always different and well organized. I remember the Harley Davidson meeting and the american-themed pavilions at Tours, our oval race. At Brands Hatch there was a Luna Park, a barbecue competition, a gigantic US cars meeting and people everywhere. But you can also think about the crowd at Magione: I have never seen so many people at a race that wasn’t Formula 1 or Moto GP in Italy. The grid open to the fans provide unique emotions. For us drivers it’s special to race with so many supporters, they are our strength.”

Eddie Cheever’s fantastic 2014 season includes also the EuroV8 Junior title, won with a stratospheric performance in Monza, where the Italian driver won the pole and both races – despite the inverted grid in the second one – at the wheel of the R.R.T. Mercedes C63 AMG Coupé. Cheever is at today the only driver with a 100% percentage of poles and wins in the V8 Series organized by Maurizio Flammini. Eddie also gathered some important experience in the US, where he drove a Ferrari 458 Italia fielded but the Spirit of Racing team, the American branch of AF Corse, sharing the wheel with Marco Cioci in the TUSCC races at Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta.

Waiting to know more about his plans for 2015, Eddie Cheever III will be present on December 13 at the NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards, that will take place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame / Charlotte Convention Center.

 
 
Contacts
Eddie Cheever III
website: www.eddiecheever.net
Twitter: @eddiecheever24
Facebook: Eddie Cheever
   
 
Press Officer
Gian Luca Guiglia
email: gguiglia@gmail.com
Twitter: @gian_138
Skype: giannazzo_138
Tel: +39 335 16 97 677 

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