Cika wannan jumla: Cheever ya fara shiga Formula One a, jim kadan bayan ranar haihuwarsa ta 20. Bayan ya kasa cancanta a tseren farko na shekarar a Argentina da Brazil a cikin Theodore, ya yi grid a
Afirka ta Kudu a Hesketh, amma ya yi ritaya da wuri. Daga nan sai ya mai da hankali kan Formula Two don sauran 1978 da 1979.