Last IndyCar offseason, I took the time to look over a handful of drivers who were transitioning in their careers after being regular fixtures on the grid for the better part of the previous decade and more. It was a chance to appreciate the talents we had seen on track and look at how IndyCar had changed over their careers.
This offseason I have decided to bring back the Career Retrospective, but instead of looking at contemporary drivers, I wanted to take a look back at some of the cult heroes in IndyCar, drivers who aren't necessarily remember for the number of race victories and championships, but for things they did on track that gained the respect of many and left them struck at their ability.
This is part one of a three-part series and it will look at a spectacular raw talent that showed flashes of speed few rookies have matched since but who unfortunately developed a habit of wrecking race cars and not pulling out the results. This identity was unshakable, but he mesmerized the fanbase and earned acclaim for his dazzling drives.
It is Tomas Scheckter.
Where was Scheckter coming from?
Son of 1979 World Drivers' Champion Jody Scheckter, Tomas Scheckter had developed in karting in his native South Africa. At 18 years old, he moved to Europe, competing in British Formula Vauxhall Junior against the likes of Takuma Sato.
The following year saw a move to the Formula Opel Euroseries, a series that could claim Mika Häikkinen, Rubens Barrichello and Pedro Lamy as past champions. Scheckter won eight of 20 races in the 1999 season, breaking the single-season victory record that Häikkinen, Barrichello and David Coulthard had all previously shared.
Formula Opel success led to a taste of Euro Open by Nissan (what would eventually become Formula Renault 3.5) at the end of the 1999 season. Scheckter entered the season finale at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia in a one-off entry. He won pole position for both races ahead of the championship leader, a man named Fernando Alonso. Scheckter won the first race of the weekend with Alonso in second. Alonso won the second race and clinched the championship while Scheckter was second.
The 1999 results led to a full-time ride with Stewart Racing in the 2000 British Formula Three season, where Scheckter won twice and was second in the championship to Antônio Pizzonia, but Scheckter was ahead of Sato, Narain Karthikeyan, Gianmaria Bruni and Andy Priaulx.
The Formula Three success led to much attention from Formula One teams. Scheckter tested for the Jaguar Racing at Silverstone in August 2000, where he ran comparable times to the team's test driver Luciano Burti. McLaren entered Scheckter in its junior team for the final four races of the International Formula 3000 races that year and he was runner-up in his second start.
Scheckter ended up signing with Jaguar as its test driver for 2001 while also running full-time in Euro Open by Nissan. He won pole position for eight of 16 races, winning four times and standing on the podium 11 times, but he ended up second in the championship behind Franck Montagny. However, Scheckter was fired from Jaguar Racing after he was arrested for soliciting a prostitute in May of that year.
With no ties to Formula One, Scheckter's career ventured elsewhere.
What did IndyCar look like when Scheckter started in the series?
It was the middle of The Split, but the transition in power had started.
In 2002, Team Penske had flipped to a full-time Indy Racing League. Chip Ganassi Racing had expanded to run an IRL entry for Jeff Ward while still competing in CART. Mo Nunn Racing was even straddling the divide. More teams were dabbling in the Indianapolis 500, and CART was losing steam.
Panther Racing was the defending champion with a single-car. Hemelgarn Racing was a regular championship contender. A.J. Foyt Racing had won six races over the previous five seasons and was coming off a top five championship finish. Kelley Racing and Blair Racing were other competitive entries.
Al Unser, Jr. drove for Kelley. Arie Luyendyk was part-time for Treadway Racing. Eddie Cheever was driving for his own team with Red Bull sponsorship and expanding to include the young Scheckter. Raul Boesel was bouncing around searching for a victory. Eliseo Salazar was still on the grid.
Ten American drivers were series regulars. The top ten in the championship was nothing but Americans and Brazilians. Only one European driver was full-time in the IRL.
The IRL was still oval only, but the schedule was experiencing some growth. It was up to 15 races and visiting some new venues. It wasn't only teams switching side during the Split. Fontana, Nazareth and Michigan joined the IRL schedule in 2002 after being CART events. Homestead, Kansas, Richmond, Nashville, Gateway and Chicagoland had all joined the schedule the season before. Three of those tracks had just opened the year before.
How does IndyCar look now?
Twenty years later, Fontana, Michigan, Homestead, Kansas, Richmond, Nashville and Chicagoland are no longer on the schedule. Neither are Phoenix and Kentucky either. Fontana is about to become a short track. Nazareth has grown over. Pikes Peak is a shell of its former self. Texas is down to one race.
Of the 14 tracks that hosted a 2002 IRL race, only Texas, Indianapolis and Gateway are currently on the schedule, and Gateway didn't host a race from 2005 through 2016.
Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing are still around. Panther, Kelley, Hemelgarn, Blair, Treadway and Cheever are not.
Red Bull has just won its fifth World Constructors' Championship in Formula One and it has won six World Drivers' Championships since it entered the series in 2005 after purchasing the assets of Jaguar Racing.
There were only eight American regulars in IndyCar in the 2022 season, but there were six different nationalities represented in the top ten of the championship. Nine European drivers were series regulars, three of which finished in the top ten of the championship.
What did Scheckter do in-between?
Absolutely stunned us with his pace but left us flabbergasted at his inconsistency as a rookie. Scheckter qualified third on debut at Homestead, his very first oval race. He started behind the defending series champion Sam Hornish, Jr. and the defending Indianapolis 500 winner Hélio Castroneves. Scheckter's boss Eddie Cheever started next to him in fourth.
The teammates battled hard in the opening laps and Cheever ended up in the wall on lap three after fighting with Scheckter. Cheever was out of the race while Scheckter would finish sixth. Scheckter started in the top five of his first four starts, but he finished outside the top twenty in three of them. He lost an engine at Phoenix, but had an accident with Hideki Noda at Fontana while in a contending position and the same happened at Nazareth.
Entering the Indianapolis 500, Scheckter was far from one of the early favorites, but he went out and took the lead on lap 33 after starting tenth. He led 85 laps and was leading with 28 laps to go until he hit the wall exiting turn four, ending his race.
The qualifying pace remained, but so did the retirements. He started on pole position at Texas and led 107 laps, but burned up a clutch. He had another pole position at Kansas, led 101 laps and had an accident while leading with 11 laps to go.
Patience was running out and Scheckter was under the threat of being fired. Michigan was last chance saloon as Cheever brought in Buddy Rice to fill a third entry to put pressure on Scheckter. The South African responded with his third pole position of the season. In a fierce battle late, Scheckter held on to win after leading 122 of 200 laps with Rice in second. In his post-race interview, Cheever was not overflowing with joy. It was a race victory, but Cheever was ready to can Scheckter and Scheckter did the one thing to assure he couldn't be fired after Michigan.
The victory put Scheckter tenth in the championship, the top rookie with four races remaining. With his ride safe for Kentucky, he ended up with his second worst starting position in 17th. On lap 90, he and Airton Daré had an accident and Scheckter was dismissed from Red Bull Cheever Racing after the event.
Scheckter did not compete in the final three races, and lost Rookie of the Year by 15 points to Laurent Redon. While his accidents were a concern, his speed earned him a contract with Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2003 season as the team moved entirely over to the IRL with Scott Dixon.
Unfortunately, the reputation developed in Scheckter's rookie season could not be shaken throughout the rest of his career. Dixon won the championship, but Scheckter had accidents in three of the first five races of the season, including at Texas after leading 145 of the first 173 laps. His fourth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 was overshadowed with his poor performances. The qualifying pace was still brilliant, but even when Scheckter got to the finish, his race results were not quite enough to impress Ganassi and he was dismissed after the 2003 season despite finishing seventh in the championship.
Though fired twice in two seasons, there was still interest in Scheckter. Panther Racing brought him on after Sam Hornish, Jr. left. However, Scheckter joined Panther as Chevrolet was hitting a low point in the IRL. He retired from ten of 16 races, only half were due to accidents. In 2005, Panther Racing was the only Chevrolet team on the grid, but Chevrolet made big strides. Scheckter won pole position for the season opener... and then proceeded to crash out.
Scheckter crashed out of four of the first five races. He won from pole position at Texas, and picked up six top five finishes, but the damage was done, and combined with Pennzoil sponsorship leaving Panther, Scheckter was out of another ride.
For 2006, he found a landing spot at Vision Racing, and honed in his consistency, suffering only three retirements, finishing tenth in the championship. In 2007, he again was tenth in the championship with only three retirements, one of which was not his fault at Michigan, but as reunification took place, Scheckter was on the outside of the full-time grid.
Opportunities popped up in part-time entries. Luczo-Dragon Racing, under the ownership of Jay Penske, brought Scheckter on for six races. He qualified in the top ten three times and started 11th in the Indianapolis 500, but he retired from five of six races. His best finish was 21st. He found another part-time opportunity in 2009 splitting the #23 Dreyer & Reinbold entry with Milka Duno plus running a third car at some events while driving a second car for Dale Coyne Racing at the Indianapolis 500. He had three top ten finishes in 11 races, his best result being sixth at Iowa.
In 2010, Scheckter became a super-sub. After his Indianapolis 500 one-off, he filled in for an injured Mike Conway at three races for Dreyer & Reinbold, and then Scheckter ran two for Conquest Racing. For 2011, his first race was with KV Racing, run in partnership with the SH Racing, at the Indianapolis 500. He started 21st, but kept the car moving forward in the race, including a restart that saw him pass 14 cars, and through the hectic final laps with cars stretching fuel, Scheckter crossed the line in eighth.
Later that season he filled in for the injured Justin Wilson at Loudon for Dreyer & Reinbold. He made a second start in the KVSH entry at Baltimore. Sarah Fisher Racing entered Scheckter in the #57 entry for the Las Vegas season finale. He qualified 23rd and was caught in the lap 11 accident that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon.
What impression did Scheckter leave on IndyCar?
Anytime a driver makes a daring pass on an oval, usually on the outside on a restart, comparisons are instantly drawn to Scheckter.
His flare captured a segment of the fanbase that still resonates today. With all the excitement Scheckter brought, he could never escape his crash-prone identity. His rookie season is something of legend. He had seven fastest laps as a rookie, all on ovals, a track style he had never raced on prior to that season. Sébastien Bourdais had seven fastest laps or more in three consecutive Champ Car seasons from 2005 to 2007, but since reunification, only three has a driver reached five fastest laps in a season (Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon in 2009, Josef Newgarden in 2017). In the IRL/IndyCar Series, Scheckter's seven fastest laps remain the single-season record.
Few rookies come close to the raw pace Scheckter exhibited. It is why he won two races despite not driving for the largest teams. If he had developed any sense of control, Scheckter could have been champion. Champion is still a stretch, but he could have been a regular race winner, at least on ovals.
Scheckter entered at a strange time in IndyCar. He is also one of a handful of these drivers with a strict road course background that inexplicably came to IRL/IndyCar when it was entirely ovals or majority ovals and shined brightly. At no point in IndyCar was Scheckter considered a potential well-rounded driver that could compete on road courses. He was winning against some spectacular road course talents in Europe, arguably could have had a shot in Formula One, and yet he is remembered as an oval maestro.
The career lasted a decade and ended on IndyCar's darkest day in the 21st century. Scheckter will also be forever remembered as one of the drivers not to return to IndyCar after Dan Wheldon's accident. Las Vegas was also the final race weekend for Paul Tracy, Alex Lloyd, Davey Hamilton, Vitor Meira and Buddy Rice. IndyCar was also transitioning to the DW12 chassis. Entry shortages would soon follow, but if Wheldon's accident have never happened, would October 16, 2011 have been the final day Scheckter and the rest competed in an IndyCar race weekend?
Scheckter's career was dipping, but he still was worth the roll of the dice. He was only 31 years old. There was plenty of career ahead of him if he needed it. The same could be said for Lloyd, who was only 27 years old. It is stunning Meira never got a race in the DW12-era and he was 34. Tracy, Hamilton and Rice were all at different points in their career, reduced to part-timers. Stepping away for them wasn't drastic, but for the other three, there was still significant time on the clock.
After Las Vegas, Jody Scheckter was vocal about the incident and the danger of racing on ovals. It would have been one thing for his son to walk away from IndyCar and race elsewhere, somewhere safer. Scheckter quit cold turkey. Las Vegas was his last professional motorsports outing.
He went on to run his family business, a farm, raising livestock and producing dog food. During 2020, Scheckter let the world know he had suffered a series of strokes a few years prior and had a heart operation at the Mayo Clinic.
It is sad that we lose touch with some of these drivers. Scheckter wasn't around for only 15 minutes never to be seen again as a one-off. He was around for a decade and stood out more than most. Life changes and not everyone remains fully involved in the series after they are done. It is ok to move on, but we shouldn't completely lose touch.
As time passes, Scheckter will become an even greater folk hero. There is a generation that will tell tales of this blistering South African who showed no fear making a run even if it didn't always pan out.
