Career

Born in Spokane, Sneva played football and basketball at Lewis and Clark High School and a year of college basketball at Eastern Washington State College in nearby Cheney. After graduation from Eastern, he worked as a math teacher before racing full-time. Sneva was the eldest of five brothers, all racers; the next oldest was Jerry, who also competed at Indy.

At Indianapolis in 1977, Sneva drove his famed Norton Spirit McLaren M24/Cosworth racer for car owner Roger Penske, and became the first driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 at a speed at 200 mph (321.9 km/h) or more. His one-lap track record on May 14 was 200.535 mph (322.7 km/h).

In 1984, Sneva became the first to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 over 210 mph (338.0 km/h) in his Texaco Star March 84C/Cosworth driving for the new Mayer Motor Racing team. His one and four lap track records on May 12 were 210.689 mph (339.1 km/h) and 210.029 mph (338.0 km/h).

Sneva's career at the Indianapolis 500 was known for fast qualifying, second-place finishes, near misses and several crashes. Three times (1977, 1978, 1980) Sneva ended up the bridesmaid by finishing second. Finally, Sneva broke through in dramatic fashion in 1983 after a thrilling late race duel with Penske driver Al Unser, Sr. and the lapped car of Unser's rookie son, Al Jr. It was Sneva's 1983 win in his Texaco Star March 83C/Cosworth for Bignotti-Cotter Racing that led to his nickname of "The Gas Man." That win was also famous for it being the last of George Bignotti's record seven Indianapolis 500 wins as a chief mechanic. For Sneva, the victory was sweet revenge, as he had been fired by Roger Penske in 1978 despite having won back-to-back USAC championships.

Sneva's second-place finish in 1980 is notable as it is one of only two occasions of such a finish by a driver starting last. It is also the only time the driver who started last (33rd) led laps during the race. Several other times Sneva was in contention for the win, but did not make it to the end of the race. In 1981, Sneva charged hard from his 20th starting position to lead early in the race, but his untested Blue Poly March 81-C/Cosworth was fragile and his clutch failed early on.

One year later, Sneva was in a duel with eventual winner Gordon Johncock and eventual runner-up Rick Mears when his engine in his Texaco Star March 82-C/Cosworth began losing power and eventually failed near the end of the race. In 1983, Sneva captured his first Indianapolis 500 win, engaging in a duel with Al Unser and his son in the final 20 laps. Al Unser Jr. was widely criticized after the race for trying to mess Sneva up to help his dad win, as well as having passed several cars under caution, and jumping the final restart. Unser was issued no penalties.

As defending champion in 1984, Sneva dueled with Mears only 32 laps from the finish, but his CV joint failed, enabling Mears to win. The 1985 race was a testament to Sneva's ability as he drove an ill-handling Skoal Bandit Eagle/Cosworth to second place before exiting in a crash with the lapped car of Rich Vogler. It was this series of near misses combined with second-place finishes and hard-charging qualifying and racing style that made Sneva a fan favorite at Indianapolis.

He suffered one of the most famous crashes at Indianapolis during the 1975 race, his second. After touching wheels with Eldon Rasmussen, 26-year-old Sneva flipped up into the catch fence and tore his car in half, but suffered mostly minor burns on 15% of his body in the fiery crash. He walked to the ambulance but was placed in the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital, mainly for lung issues due to the fire retardant. Describing the crash years later Sneva quipped, "In a situation like that it's important to talk to yourself: 'Faint, you coward, faint!'"

In 1986, he was warming up his car during the pace lap, but lost control and crashed before the race started. In 1987, Sneva crashed three cars, two in practice, and one during the race. He crashed during the Indianapolis 500 in 1975, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1992, a record for crashes during the race.

After Sneva's Indy victory in 1983, he never finished the race again. He dropped out of the race in 1984-1990, failed to qualify in 1991, and dropped out of the 1992 race as well. Some observers have attributed his decline in success to the switch to radial tires (the series transitioned to radials over a period from 1985-1987). His driving style was more apropos to bias ply tires.

Sneva showed his versatility by competing in eight NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) events in his career, spanning from 1977 to 1987. He earned one top-ten, a 7th in the 1983 Daytona 500.

Sneva's final start was the 1992 Indy 500. He arrived at Indy without a ride for 1993, and was unsuccessful in landing a car for the race. He retired with 13 career Indy car wins and 14 pole positions.

After Sneva retired from driving, he was a color commentator for ABC television network's Wide World of Sports program and called several Indy 500s. He is also heavily involved in the golf course business where he resides in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Personal

Sneva's father, Edsol ("Ed") was a local racer in the Spokane region.

Sneva is the oldest of five brothers: Jerry, Jan, Blaine, and Ed ("Babe"). He said the brothers were always racing something growing up. Babe raced, too, but succumbed to injuries from a race crash in 1975 in British Columbia.

Sneva was an ace in mathematics, and graduated from Eastern Washington State College in nearby Cheney with an education degree. He became a math teacher in a school district outside of Spokane city limits, and drove the school bus.

Racing record

PPG CART Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1979	Jerry O'Connell Racing	PHX	ATL	ATL	INDY	TRE	TRE	MCH	MCH	WGL	TRE	ONT	MCH	ATL	PHX				7th	1360
1980	Jerry O'Connell Racing	ONT	INDY	MIL	POC	MDO	MCH	WGL	MIL	ONT	MCH	MEX	PHX						3rd	2930
1981	Jerry O'Connell Racing	PHX																	8th	96
	Bignotti-Cotter Racing		MIL	ATL	ATL	MCH	RIV	MIL	MCH	WGL	MEX	PHX
1982	Bignotti-Cotter Racing	PHX	ATL	MIL	CLE	MCH	MIL	POC	RIV	ROA	MCH	PHX							5th	144
1983	Bignotti-Cotter Racing	ATL	INDY	MIL	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	RIV	MDO	MCH	CPL	LAG	PHX					4th	96
1984	Mayer Racing	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	PHX	LAG	CPL		2nd	163
1985	Curb-All American Racers	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	LAG	PHX	MIA			7th	66
1986	Curb-All American Racers	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	ROA	LAG	PHX	MIA	10th	82
1987	Curb Racing	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MCH	POC	ROA	MDO	NAZ	LAG				14th	37
	Machinists Union Racing															MIA
1988	Hemelgarn Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA			45th	0
1989	Vince Granatelli Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG			28th	3
1990	Vince Granatelli Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG		44th	0
1991	Team Menard	SRF	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	NC	-
1992	Team Menard	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MCH	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG		62nd	0

Indy 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1974 24 8 185.147 9 20 94 0 Drive Gear 1975 68 4 190.094 5 22 125 0 Crash T2 1976 68 3 186.355 8 6 101 1 Flagged 1977 8 1 198.886 1 2 200 3 Running 1978 1 1 202.156 1 2 200 3 Running 1979 1 2 192.999 2 15 188 0 Crash T4 1980 9 33 185.290 19 2 200 16 Running 1981 2 20 200.691 1 25 96 25 Clutch 1982 7 7 201.028 7 4 197 31 Engine 1983 5 4 203.687 4 1 200 98 Running 1984 1 1 210.029 1 16 168 31 Left CV Joint 1985 2 13 208.927 13 20 123 0 Crash T1 1986 33 7 211.878 9 33 0 0 Crash T2 1987 33 21 207.254 16 14 143 0 Crash T2 1988 81 14 208.659 18 27 32 0 Crash T4 1989 7 22 218.396 10 27 55 0 Pit Fire 1990 9 25 216.142 22 30 48 0 CV Joint 1991 59 failed to qualify (Bumped) 1992 59 30 219.737 30 31 10 0 Crash T4 Totals 2180 208

Starts 18 Poles 3 Front Row 5 Wins 1 Top 5 5 Top 10 6 Retired 13

Award

He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]