Bill Cheesbourg

Bill Cheesbourg

Born	(1927-06-12)June 12, 1927
Died	November 6, 1995(1995-11-06) (aged 68)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1956–1959
Teams	Kuzma, Kurtis Kraft, Lesovsky
Entries	4 (3 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1956 Indianapolis 500
Last entry	1959 Indianapolis 500

William Bernard Cheesbourg (June 12, 1927 Tucson, Arizona – November 6, 1995 Tucson, Arizona) was an American racecar driver who participated in six Indianapolis 500 races.

Biography

He was born on June 12, 1927, in Tucson, Arizona.

Cheesbourg started racing jalopies in Tucson and successfully moved into midgets racing all over Arizona after World War II. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1956-1962 and 1964-1966 seasons with 31 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in 1957-1959, 1961, 1964, and 1965. He successfully bumped his way into the Indy 500 field after initially being bumped out three times, which is the race record. He finished in the top ten in stock cars 8 times, with his best finish in 7th position in 1959 at Daytona and in 1966 at Fuji.

Cheesbourg returned to the local dirt short track racing scene after his Indy Car career was finished. He is known for the help he offered to many other racers. He won several Arizona Late Model Stock Car championships racing at Corona Speedway in Tucson, Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix and many other tracks. He was known equally for his ability to use his front bumper and his natural talents.

Even after he stopped traditional stock car racing, he continued helping others and eventually helped construct and drive a local high school's entry in an electric car race held at Phoenix International Raceway. He even competed for a while in local figure eight racing just for the fun of it.

He died of cancer on November 6, 1995, in Tucson, Arizona.

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1957 31 23 141.565 13 26 81 0 Fuel leak 1958 54 33 142.546 30 10 200 0 Running 1959 53 30 141.788 30 21 147 0 Magneto 1961 14 9 145.873 11 28 50 0 Crash FS 1964 62 33 148.711 33 16 131 0 Engine 1965 47 33 153.774 33 32 14 0 Magneto Totals 623 0

Starts 6 Poles 0 Front Row 0 Wins 0 Top 5 0 Top 10 1 Retired 5

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Points
1956	Cecil McDonald	Lesovsky	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 DNQ	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA				NC	0
1957	Schildmeier Seal / Donaldson	Kurtis Kraft 500G	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 26	FRA	GBR	GER	PES	ITA				NC	0
1958	Novi Racing	Kurtis Kraft 500G	Novi V8	ARG	MON	NED	500 10	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	MOR	NC	0
1959	Greenman - Casale	Kuzma Indy Roadster	Offenhauser L4	MON	500 21	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA			NC	0