to Indianapolis and listed the house for sale. Drivers, nursing accumulated grudges, satisfy them on and off the track. "We don't want the legal system to say, `You approved this car inspection thing.' Drive. It is too late, he thinks. Layton, Utah. Tomlinson and his wife, who is expecting her third child in January 22, 2023 (76 years old) View obituary. Vogler's helmet flew off his head and he suffered severe head injuries that proved to be fatal. She searched for nearly an hour before finding the tricycles No other cars were involved. Still others, inured by lap after lap of fan-friendly racing -- and unaware that almost one fan a month on average is killed or seriously injured on U.S. tracks -- think of spectator incidents as mere freak occurrences. The wheel, witnesses would say later, bounced through the unrepaired hole in the fence, then struck Baker above his right eye. Community See All. tragedy after two-time 500 winner Bill Vukovich cartwheeled over the July 22, 1990 12 AM PT Rich Vogler, five-time United States Auto Club midget champion, was killed Saturday night when he crashed during a sprint car race at Salem (Ind.) waiting patiently for the boys. This event be an action packed weekend full of racing and fun. I know that sounds corny, but thats the way it was. 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. "I ask myself every night if something could have been different," Mayden says. Vogler, now dead at the age of 39, was declared the winner posthumously because of USAC National Sprint Car Series rules on a red flag reverting to the previous completed lap. Orem, Utah. "And it gets worse at the end of the night.". Vogler, a native of Glen Ellyn, Ill., who lived in Indianapolis with his wife and three children, was pronounced dead from massive head injuries at Washington County Memorial Hospital, said USAC Vice President Bill Marvel. Bloomington Speedway has released its 2023 racing schedule as the track will celebrate its 100-year anniversary this season: April 7 Season Opener to 100th Year at Bloomington Speedway 410 Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Hornets, April 14 Larry Rice Classic USAC Sprints, Super Stocks, MMSA, April 21 410 Sprints, 305 IMCA Racesavers, Hornets, April 28 410 Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Hornets, May 5 410 Sprints, 305 IMCA Racesavers, Modifieds, Hornets, May 12 Roddy Strong Memorial (Modified Purse will be increased from last year) 410 Sprints, 305 IMCA Racesavers, Modifieds, May 19 410 Sprints, 305 IMCA Racesavers, Super Stocks, and Hornets, May 26 The 10th Josh Burton Memorial with Fireworks MSCS Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, MMSA, June 2 410 Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, June 9 USAC Indiana Midget Week USAC Midgets, MMSA, Sprints, June 16 Honoring Kevin The Pup Huntley plus Fireworks 410 Sprints, 305 IMCA Racesavers, Super Stocks, Hornets, June 23 410 Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stock, Hornets, July 14 (Rain Date for Roddy Strong Memorial) 410 Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Hornets, July 28 USAC Indiana Sprint Week: Kinser Memorial USAC Sprints, 305 Racesavers, Aug. 11 410 Sprints, 305 IMCA Racesavers, Modifieds, Hornets, Aug. 18 410 Sprints, Super Stocks, Hornets, MMSA, Aug. 25 410 Sprints, Super Stocks, Hornets, Sept. 1 Rain Date for Josh Burton Memorial MSCS Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, MMSA, James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. I was 17 when I first started racing. The Pocono race was not his first attempted NASCAR Winston Cup start: two weeks before, he entered the Michigan race but failed to qualify. His 134 wins (95 Midget, 35 Sprint, and four Silver Crown wins) in national events is second only to A. J. Foyt's 169. Star, as published on Aug. 12, 1956, Mother Finds Pair in Find the History Mystery Man on social media! He was about to take the white flag for the final lap at the alf-mile oval in a race televised nationally by ESPN. And there were sad ones. Country Club golf course behind the Sweikert home. The Indianapolis native raced in five Indianapolis 500s. We want all of our events to be big shows. Coming out of the 4th turn, the two cars started down the straightaway in front of the grandstand. Richard Kavanagh, pastor of St. High powered sprint cars accelerate down the straights at speeds reaching nearly 140 miles per hour. Other tracks have taken a similarly reactive approach to tragedy. Send comments to [emailprotected]. A dozen years later, Elisian and Sweikert were engaged in the racing duel that led to Sweikert's fatal crash at Salem Speedway. When they first started to use roll bars, traditionalists thought it was just awful. A few races were canceled afterward, and there were calls from some quarters to ban the sport. Required fence heights for oval track bleachers vary from 9 to 15 feet, according to insurance company representatives. TOLEDO, Ohio (Feb. 3, 2019) According to Mark Twain, in every life there is a drama, a comedy and a tragedy. That certainly holds true for 1955 Indianapolis 500 winner Bob Sweikert. Street Funeral Home. Learn More With months to heal and the war over, he was honorably discharged in September 1945. Follow Ken de . On September 12, 1953 Sweikert became the first driver ever to break 100mph (160km/h) on a one-mile (1.6km) oval track, at the Eastern Speed Dome, Syracuse, New York. View local obituaries in utah. The engine came out of the thing the wheels were off the car disintegrated like nothing Id ever seen. Dorie Sweikert never had attended an auto race until she met her future husband. The tire struck Lindsey Mayden, 7 years old. Johnson's car, said C. Ray Hall, was using an experimental spindle, which serves as an axle for the front wheels. [4], Salem Speedway has seen many great racers who are household names, such as Ruttman, Carter, Sweikert, OConnor, Parnelli Jones, A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, Mario Andretti, Vogler, Allison, Parsons, Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Busch, Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Joey Logano, and the list goes on. "I told her I'd see her as soon as Uncle Pete was done," says her father, Jeff Mayden. Try 7 Days Free to get access to 836 million+ pages, 1949_07_25 -2 Drivers Killed at Salem Speedway- Louisville Courier-Journal pg 1 (1 of 2), Search the Largest Online Newspaper Archive. After Sweikert was buried in California his widow returned In July 1995, Michael "Buzz" Baker, a visiting construction worker from Sabetha, Kan., paid to watch a Saturday night of races from the pit bleachers. They entered the pool area through a gap in the high fence At their funeral, the Rev. * Most laps led. There were exciting, happy, even playful moments, she said. That was your job. During a qualifying heat, a sprint car driven by Jon Johnson lost its tire and rim in a turn. During 1947 Sweikert began mailing monthly accounts of his life to Veda Orr, through April 1956. 4.3 out of 5 stars. This page was last edited on 23 December 2014, at 08:46. From The Third Turn, an online resource for all news and results stock car racing. On September 26, 1953 Sweikert won the Hoosier Hundred, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, a race which is chronicled by many as "the greatest race ever" run. Handsome, charismatic, courageous, smart, successful, and on top of the world, Sweikerts life ended in tragedy when his yellow No. Sam was sitting on the driveway, He was only 28 years old, however he was one of California's brightest stars in the open wheel profession. Five-time USAC midget champion Rich Vogler was killed Saturday night after his car crashed during a feature sprint-car race at Salem Speedway of which he was later declared the. He drove in northern California that year and later in Los Angeles. Waltrip, preparing to make his 500th NASCAR start in that July 7 race, sustained a slight concussion and broke his left leg the day before in a crash in practice and couldn't start. Find the History Mystery Man onFacebookandYouTube. 1 most stressful city for workers in U.S. Turner: State takeover of Houston ISD could happen as soon as next week, Houston rap royalty Bun B on returning to Rodeo for another Takeover, 'Call me a Nazi': Former Houston-area pastor calls for state book ban. ), Complete USAC Mini-Indy (Formula Super Vee) Results, Last edited on 28 September 2022, at 18:41, Biography at the Rich Vogler Memorial Scholarship Fund, Driver profile Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, NASCAR Statistics at racing-reference.info, NASCAR Winston Cup results from July Pocono race, Rich Vogler Memorial Scholarship Fund webpage, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rich_Vogler&oldid=1112909876, This page was last edited on 28 September 2022, at 18:41. Bob was raised through his early teen years with his older stepbrother, Ed, who enlisted in the US Navy, and then soon died in 1942, at the onset of World War II. Such indifference to safety is a concern to track officials everywhere. Martin took the pole for today's 12:10 p.m. race, qualifying his Ford at 158.264 mph. From age 16 Sweikert worked after school as a mechanic at the local Ford dealership in Hayward. The challenge for speedway owners: How do you balance the counterweights of safety and intimacy? Death. ", But: "Everywhere I go, I check out their fence.". In between, she got her first taste of the sport and it terrified her. It was completed about the time He won 1 race and accumulated a total of 8 championship points. Clipping found in The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky on Jul 25, 1949. Fifteen were gone within just seven years. [2] Major auto racing series that run at Salem are ARCA and USAC . While completing the third lap, Sweikert was running near the outside wall in 4th place, side by side with his past teenage East Bay streets rival, Ed Elisian, in 5th. For as long as he remembers, his view of Saturday nights was framed by the edges of a driver's helmet. "Some people said it went over the fence." The tragedy brought complaints from neighbors about the open "I'm happy to be in the front of the field, even if it's not on the pole.". Foremen worked for an hour and a half before Deputy Coroner Your email address will not be published. Paved Oval located in Salem, IN: Track Status: Still In Operation (Opened: 1947 ) TOURING SERIES & MAJOR EVENTS ; Date Sanction Winner Laps 22 June 1947: AAA Midwest Big Car Series: He had reached the first pinnacle, but not the pinnacle, recalled Dorie Sweikert, his wife at the time. She is one of 29 spectators since 1990 to be killed by cars or their flying parts at U.S. auto racing events. Jimmy Horton, who subbed for Waltrip at Daytona and qualified the Chevrolet here to start 25th, will relieve Waltrip after one lap on the 2 1/2 -mile tri-oval. 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