Time Machine: Iowa-based Cahill Racing Team found its niche

Editor's note: This is a continuing series of Eastern Iowa sports history 'Time Machine' articles. Mark Dukes worked at The Gazette from 1973 to 1998, the last 14 years as sports editor. 

When Larry Cahill decided to take the headlong plunge into the deep end of auto racing, he did so with one overriding thought.

'It was because I loved racing. I'd been in racing all my life,' Cahill said last week, 'The top of the line was open wheel racing, and that's what I decided to do.'

It was sink or swim for Cahill Racing's relatively small team from Iowa. It would face the likes of Penske, Foyt, Ganassi and others teams with bigger budgets, resources and staff.

But in large part, despite never finding the winner's circle on the Indy Car circuit, Cahill swam.

Cahill spent much of his working life building successful businesses. He and his brother, Ken, opened the first Burger King in Cedar Rapids at the corner of Wilson Avenue and 6th Street SW, now a Road Ranger. The brothers, under Larken Inc., also owned, operated and developed several hotels and motels across the country.

But Larry's passion was racing and he was involved for years in midget, sprint and Silver Crown cars. Larry and Ken brought an IMCA sprint car show to Hawkeye Downs in 1970, and their car was known as the Burger King Special.

Open wheel seemed a natural progression in Cahill's mind. So he decided to assemble a team to race an Indy car for the 1998 season. His crew was composed of several Eastern Iowans.

Cedar Rapids businessman Bill Wharton was the right rear tire changer for Cahill Racing for four years. He worked in the communications business during the week, went to the shop at night and went racing on the weekend.

'It was incredible, amazing,' Wharton said. 'You can't even imagine what it was like. A bunch of goofballs from around the country showed up and learned on the job under Larry.

'It was tough for a one-car team. Your were competing against teams with maybe 300 employees and we had maybe four or five full-timers and 15 or 20 part-timers. It was a huge discrepancy.'

Cahill, who still lives in North Liberty, agreed that finding a team and competing against multi-million dollar operations were huge challenges.

'The thing that was most difficult to me was most of these guys had garages in Indy and I was a long ways from there,' said Cahill, who operated out of a shop on 33rd Avenue SW in Cedar Rapids. 'We were competing against $30 million teams and I was funding ours myself. Then to find help, guys who were experienced. You're not going to find a lot in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But our people worked hard.'

A year-long tire deal then was $250,000. Building one car cost untold thousands. Every crash or engine failure brought a significant repair bill. There were other expenses, including gas, travel and salaries.

Drivers earned Cahill Racing $2.03 million in four-plus years. Sponsorship brought in more dollars. But suffice to say, Cahill had to reach into his pockets more than once.

When it came to select a driver, Cahill turned to Donnie Beechler. They had competed against one another on several circuits. However, Beechler had never been behind the wheel of an Indy Car. So it was a rookie team with a rookie driver and a rookie crew.

Cahill Racing's first race was the 1998 Indianapolis 500. Beechler got the car in the show, qualifying on the outside of the eighth row.

'Just making the 500 field, now that's aggravating,' Cahill said.

The car experienced engine trouble on the 35th lap and Beechler finished in 32nd place. A year later, Beechler got Cahill qualified on the inside of the seventh row, but engine issues on lap 75 relegated the team to 29th place.

Fortunes turned significantly for Cahill Racing in 2000. Beechler led nine laps and finished sixth in the season-opener at Walt Disney World Speedway. At Phoenix three weeks later, Cahill Racing recorded a career-high finish, third place behind Buddy Lazier and Scott Goodyear. Beechler crashed at Las Vegas in the third event.

Beechler qualified 15th and finished 12th in the 2000 Indy 500, finishing two laps behind winner Juan Pablo Montoya. Cahill Racing had four more Top 10 finishes in 2000 and ended the season tied for fifth in points, ahead of such drivers as Scott Sharp and Al Unser Jr.

Beechler signed on with A.J. Foyt Enterprises near the end of 2000, and Cahill turned the keys over to Robby McGehee, who had been the 1999 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.

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McGehee qualified in the middle of the fifth row for the 2001 Indy 500 and finished 11th behind Helio Castroneves, one of several CART drivers who had returned to the Indy circuit for the first time since 1995.

'Just to make the field was a big deal, then to do it four years in a row was something else,' Wharton said.

McGehee drove four races for Cahill in 2002, failing to qualify at Indianapolis. That was the end for Cahill Racing, although Larry attempted a comeback in 2007 that was thwarted by a sponsorship deal that fell through.

Jeff Dahn, who covered the Cahill team for The Gazette during that time, had glowing remarks for Cahill, his family and the team.

'We had an excellent relationship,' said Dahn, now a feature writer for Perfect Game USA. 'He and his wife were so welcoming and Donnie was very accessible. I was nervous and overwhelmed by (Indy) the first time I was there but Larry made me feel like part of the team.

'What they accomplished was terrific, with the small budget. Every year it seemed like they were scrambling for sponsorship. But I do think that for that three-to-four-year period, they found a niche.'

The niche may be small in the 100-year history of the Indianapolis 500. But a niche nonetheless.

l Contact Dukes at markdukes0@gmail.com with your thoughts and ideas