Phil Caliva (born January 1, 1945, in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

racing driver who competed in the

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...

series from 1979 to 1984. After racing in the North American

Formula Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe w ...

series in 1977 and 1978, he made his CART debut in 1979 driving for Spike Gehlhausen at

Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: United States Au ...

. Caliva returned the next year and made five starts for

Bill Alsup Bill Alsup (July 15, 1938 in Honolulu – August 9, 2016) was an American Auto racing, race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams (Champ Car, CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, 1981 In ...

and tried but failed to qualify for the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

. Caliva attempted a second time to qualify for the "500" for Alsup in 1981 but again failed to make the field. He made 3 more starts later that year, including his best series finish of 8th place at the

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (formerly named as the Michigan Speedway from 1997 to 2000) is a D-shaped oval superspeedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. It has hosted various major auto racing series throughout its existence, including NASCAR, Cham ...

in July. He tried 3 races including the Indy 500 in 1982 but failed to qualify for all of them. He tried the Indy 500 again in 1983 and missed the field again, but made the race at

Riverside International Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riversid ...

in what would be his last Champ Car start. He tried the Long Beach race and the Indy 500 again in 1984 but again missed both races. In total, Caliva made 10 starts and failed to qualify or start 10 more times, including 5 failed attempts at the Indy 500. His best points finish was 22nd place in the 1981 season.

Racing record

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Indy 500 results

External links

Phil Caliva at ChampCarStats.com
1945 births American racing drivers Italian racing drivers Champ Car drivers Living people Sportspeople from Palermo {{US-autoracing-bio-stub