Rich Vogler
Encyclopedia
Sprint car racing
Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....
and midget car
Midget car racing
Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, are very small race cars with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four-cylinder engines.-Cars:Typically, these cars have 300 to 400 horsepower and weigh...
driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich". He competed in the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
five times, his best finish was eighth in 1989
1989 Indianapolis 500
The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 1989. Emerson Fittipaldi became the first foreign winner of the race since 1966. Though Fittipaldi dominated most of the race, he dropped to second in the waning laps. On the 199th lap, Al Unser, Jr. was...
.
Racing career
Vogler was the National Alliance of Midget Auto Racing (NAMAR) midget champion in 1973. He won the midget car track championships at the Indianapolis Speedrome in 1984 and 1985. He won the Fireman Nationals midget car race at Angell Park SpeedwayAngell Park Speedway
Angell Park Speedway has a 1/3 mile dirt racetrack located in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The track has been run by the city's fire department since 1903. Racing occurs every Sunday approximately Memorial Day until Labor Day. Special racing events and the weather may alter the schedule...
in 1985. Vogler became the first driver to win the USAC
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, the USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500...
Sprint Car and Midget championships in the same year (1980). He won USAC National Sprint Car Series championships in 1980 and 1989, USAC National Midget Series championships in 1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, and 1988.
He won numerous major national events: the Hut Hundred eight times, the 4-Crown Nationals midget car event four times, the Copper Classic twice, the Hoosierdome Invitational twice, the WWRA Florida Winter Nationals in 1983, and the Night Before the 500 once. In 1987 he won the inaugural Chili Bowl Midget Nationals race. .
Vogler finished seventeenth in his only NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Busch Series
Busch Series
The NASCAR Nationwide Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. It is promoted as NASCAR's "minor league" circuit, and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's "big leagues"; the Sprint Cup circuit...
start at the North Carolina Speedway
North Carolina Speedway
Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina...
in Rockingham in 1988.
Career summary
His 134 wins (95 Midget, 35 Sprint, and four Silver Crown wins) in national events is second only to A. J. FoytA. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt , is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won...
's 169. Vogler had 170 total USAC wins, and won over 200 "outlaw" (non-USAC) midget races.
Death
Days before his 40th birthday, Vogler was competing in a nationally broadcast ESPN ThunderSaturday Night Thunder
Saturday Night Thunder is a former ESPN program that showed USAC racing on Saturday nights. It began on Thursday nights with the name Thursday Night Thunder on ESPN2. It featured tracks around the United States, although it frequently featured tracks in the Indianapolis area. Various racing series...
Joe James / Pat O'Connor
Pat O'Connor (auto racer)
Pat O'Connor was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a 15-car pileup, after sustaining a fatal head injury after rolling his car and catching fire on the first lap of the 1958 Indianapolis 500.He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May 1958 adding to the legend of the Sports...
Memorial sprint car event at Salem Speedway
Salem Speedway
Salem Speedway is a .555 mile long paved oval motor racetrack in Washington Township, Washington County, near Salem, Indiana, approximately south of Indianapolis. It opened in 1947. Major auto racing series that run at Salem are ARCA, USAR and the USAC...
. He was leading the race at the time, when his car crashed with just over a lap to go. Vogler was de-helmeted in the accident, and as a result was fatally injured. Because of USAC rules on a red flag reverting back to the previous completed lap, he was declared the winner of the event following his death, which was his 170th win. He was scheduled to make his NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) series debut at Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond...
the day after his fatal crash. He was awarded a 40th place finish (as a "Did Not Start").
The Pocono race was not his first attempted NASCAR Winston Cup start: two weeks before, he entered the Michigan race but failed to qualify.
Memorials
His mother Eleanor started a college scholarship fund for aspiring Indiana students as part of Rich's concern over his sons, and the fund was started by USAC officials and sponsor Valvoline.The first major fund-raiser for the fund has been a Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
viewing party in Indianapolis, today well-attended with a silent auction and notable names in auto racing in the state as guests. Usually, his mother and his sons appear at the annual fund-raiser. In 2008, the viewing party was moved to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....
, where 1996 scholarship recipient Ryan Newman
Ryan Newman
Ryan Joseph Newman is a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He drives the #39 United States Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for Stewart Haas Racing under crew chief Tony Gibson. Newman graduated from Purdue University in 2001 with a B.S. in vehicle structure engineering...
won the aforementioned race.
In April 1991, Winchester Speedway began the annual season-opening Rich Vogler Classic sprint car race, usually the first race at the track each year.
There is also a Team Vogler classic at the Indianapolis Speedrome. His father Donald Vogler died in a midget car accident a the Indianapolis Speedrome on May 1,1981.
Career awards
- He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of FameNational Sprint Car Hall of Fame & MuseumThe National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members....
in 1992. - He was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of FameNational Midget Auto Racing Hall of FameThe National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and can be accessed during weekly Sunday races during the summer.-A-C:...
in 1986. - He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaMotorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaThe Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...
in 2010.