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Rich Vogler
 
Complete name: Richard Frank Vogler
Birth date: 26.Jul.1950
Birth Place: Chicago, Cook County, IL, United States
Death date: 21.Jul.1990
Death Place: Salem, Washington County, IN, United States
Nationality: United States
Gender: male
Age at death: 39
 
Event date: 21.Jul.1990
Series: United States Auto Club (USAC) Sprint Car
Race:
Event type: race
Country: United States (Indiana)
Venue: Salem Speedway
Variant: 1/2-mile paved oval (1947-1981, 1987-present)
 
Role: driver
Vehicle type: car
Vehicle sub-type: single seater
Vehicle brand/model: Hoffman "White Lightning"
Vehicle number: 1
 

Notes:
One of the most successful sprint and midget car drivers of all times, Rich Vogler could credit his interest in racing to his father Don, who greatly influenced his life on and off track. When Don passed away after suffering a a heart attack during a a midget race at the Indianapolis Speedrome, in 1981, Rich was already a leading driver among his peers.

Rich's extraordinary career includes two USAC Sprint Championships in 1980 and 1989, five USAC Midget Championships in 1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, and 1988, two Indianapolis Speedrome Midget Championships in 1984 and 1985, a NAMAR Midget Championship in 1973 and over two hundred "outlaw" midget circuit wins. In 1980, in fact, Rich became the first driver to win both the USAC Sprint Car and Midget Championships in the same season.

Rich Vogler at the Eldora Speedway on 19 September 1976.
Picture by Gene Crucean. Reproduced under kind permission, all rights reserved.


In spite of such a success in short dirt tracks Rich Vogler's dreams were set elsewhere, at the Indy 500. He started that race five times, from 1985 to 1989. Competing with outclassed equipment, he struggled to leave a mark at the Brickyard. In his debut he departed in 33rd and last place, and crashed out on Turn 1 after 23 laps. Another crash took him out of the race the following year, but in 1987 Vogler had his best starting position at Indy ever; racing for Ron Hemelgarn, he started the race in the fourth row, in 11th place. Nonetheless once again Vogler would not cross the finish line, as his suspension rocker broke on his March - Buick and he had to abandon the event.

Vogler decided to attempt to race the whole 1989 CART season, but struggled to raise the money for that. Only with a lot of sweat, hard work and a few tears he managed to join the series - and, even then, he would race a quite uncompetitive car. Entered under the banner Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria, his red, number 29 March 88 - Cosworth had one of the smallest teams ever seen at the Indy 500 - a truly shoestring structure. Vogler gave his best in qualifying and, against all odds, managed to qualify for the race only by the skin of his teeth, grabbing the last place on the grid at the very last moment. In the race Vogler drove quite precisely; while many others over drove and made mistakes, he avoided putting a wheel wrong, and drove quite consistently. Moreover, his lapping times were considerably competitive, particularly regarding the level of his equipment. At the end Vogler made the very best of a steady run and finished the race in an excellent eighth place, his career best result at Indianapolis.

This success caused him to try to stick at CART. He proceed to sell almost all his assets, pass the bucket among his friends and scrape funds from all possible sources to get a Penske for the Michigan 500, to be held in August of that year. CART had turned into a highly organized environment in the late 1980s; emulating Formula 1, larger teams had turned into precisely managed corporations, and collecting most of the laurels. With that background, Rich Vogler's team was a truly heroic effort: their budget was almost insignificant, and Rich – in his typical hands-on attitude - was one of his own mechanics. Vogler would even drive the team’s hauler between testing sessions.

Rich Vogler at the Salem Speedway - a few moments before his last race.
Picture by Jim Michels. Reproduced under kind permission, all rights reserved.


Going back to USAC sprint cars, on 21 July 1990 he drove his "White Lightning" for the Hoffman Racing Team at the Salem Speedway in Indiana. On lap 29, with little more than one lap to go, Vogler approached Wayne Hammond, a lapped driver, as Hammond prepared to overtake another competitor. Hammond did not see the quickly closing Vogler, who was dashing to start the last lap, and made a move just as Vogler attempted the same. Vogler's car made made contact with Hammond's right rear tire, speared off at a severe angle and was vaulted into the Turn 4 wall and fence. The impact was brutal, and totally destroyed Vogler's machine. His helmet was torn off, and Rich suffered suffered head injuries that killed him instantly. The race was immediately halted and he was posthumously declared the winner. This was his 170th win in USAC events, and at the time of his death he was second to A. J. Foyt only in number of feature wins in USAC races.

Rich Vogler's "White Lightning" sprint car was later restored and was driven by Steve Butler, Johnny Parsons and Robbie Stanley.

Rich Vogler was inducted to the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1986, to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992 and to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010.

Richard's wife Emily, mother Eleanor and sister Dale Ann Vogler wanted to honor Rich's memory with a a scholarship fund to encourage members of the racing community to further their education. The Rich Vogler Scholarship Fund was started in 1990 with a generous $11,000 contribution from Valvoline, arranged by Jim Reynolds and USAC's Bill Marvel. Every year it awards several candidates with scholarships of $1,000 each.

Rich Vogler looks over as his crew prepares his Hoffmann "White Lightning", before that fateful race at Salem, on 21 July 1990.
Picture by Jim Michels. Reproduced under kind permission, all rights reserved.
 
Sources:
  • U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.
  • Social Security Death Index.
  • Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011.
  • Book "The History of America's Speedways - Past & Present", by Allan E. Brown, third edition, first printing, November 2003, America's Speedways, PO Box 448, Comstock Park, MI, 49321-0448, United States, ISBN 0-931105-61-7, page 293.
  • Book "Racers At Rest - The Checkered Flag - 1905-2008", by Fred Chaparro, Joe Heisler, Buzz Rose and Jeff Sharpe, ©2008, Rose Racing Publications, P.O. Box 10879, Glendale, AZ 85318-0879, United States [no ISBN shown], page 425.
  • Book "Midget Auto Racing - The First 70 Years", compiled by Ed Watson, ©2003 Witness Productions, Box 34, Church Street, Marshall, IN 47859, United States, ISBN 1-891390-24-4, pages 2P, 3, 30, 32, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50P, 59, 74P, 147, 223P and 224P.
  • Book "The Tribute Project", edited by Ed Watson, 1997, page 39.
  • Book "Indianapolis 500 Chronicle" by Rick Popely with L. Spencer Riggs, Publications International Ltd. 1999.
  • Magazine Open-Wheel Racing, unknown issue of year 1990.
  • Magazine Rombo, issue 24 July 1990, page 89.
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Saturday, 02 May 1981, page ?, Associated Press wire service, article "Auto Racer Dies in Crash".
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Sunday, 08 May 1983, page >, Associated Press wire service, article "Driver Escapes Injury In Crash on Indy Track".
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Monday, 27 May 1985, page ?, Special to The New York Times, article "Sullivan Takes Problem-Plagued Indianapolis 55", by Gerald Eskenazi.
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Tuesday, 28 May 1985, page ?, article "TV Sports: ABC Captures Immediacy of Indy 500", by Michael Katz.
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Monday, 11 May 1987, page ?, article "Results Plus".
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Tuesday, 31 May 1988, page ?, Special to The New York Times, article "Indianapolis 500; Mears's Patience Pays Off for Penske", by Gerald Eskenazi.
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Monday, 22 May 1989, page ?, article "Results Plus".
  • Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Monday, 23 July 1990, page ?, Associated Press wire service, article "Vogler Killed in Crash".
  • Website Atlas F1, bulletin boards, "The Nostalgia Forum", thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 27, posting by "Muzza", message http://forums.atlasf1.com/showthread.php?postid=1474590#post1474590 .
  • Website AUTOSPORT → Forums → The Nostalgia Forum, thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 27, posting by "Jim Thurman", message http://forums.autosport.com/showthread.php?postid=1474859#post1474859 .
  • Website AUTOSPORT → Forums → The Nostalgia Forum, thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 28, posting by "O Volante", message http://forums.autosport.com/showthread.php?postid=1477248#post1477248 .
  • Webforum tbk.fameflame.dk, thread "Rich Vogler", page http://tbk.fameflame.dk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10033 .
  • Website National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, page http://www.sprintcarhof.com/inductees.asp .
  • Website Rich Vogler Scholarship Fund, http://www.richvoglerscholarship.org/vogler.asp .
  • Website Find-A-Grave: Rich Vogler.
  • E-mail by Jim Michels, dated 24 December 2004.
  • E-mail by Jim Michels, dated 13 March 2005.
  • E-mail by Jim Michels, dated 25 May 2005.
  • E-mail by Jim Thurman, dated 02 January 2008.
  • E-mail by Steve Estes, dated 27 December 2012.
  • E-mails by Jim Michels, dated 21 November 2015 (two messages).
  • E-mail By John Poor, dated 13 December 2023.