Rich Vogler
| Rich Vogler | |||||||
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Vogler works on his sprint car in 1986
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| Born | Richard Frank Vogler July 26, 1950 Chicago, Illinois |
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| Died | July 21, 1990 (aged 39) Salem, Indiana |
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| Cause of death | Racing accident | ||||||
| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 76th (1988) | ||||||
| First race | 1988 Goodwrench 200 (Rockingham) | ||||||
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Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was a champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich". He competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and his best finish was eighth in 1989.
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 Speedway in 1985. Vogler became the first driver to win the USAC 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 Busch Series start at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham in 1988.
His 134 wins (95 Midget, 35 Sprint, and four Silver Crown wins) in national events is second only to A. J. Foyt's 169. Vogler had 170 total USAC wins, and won over 200 "outlaw" (non-USAC) midget races.
Days before his 40th birthday, Vogler was competing in a nationally broadcast ESPN Thunder Joe James / Pat O'Connor Memorial sprint car event at Salem Speedway. He was leading the race at the time, when his car crashed with just over a lap to go. Vogler's helmet flew off of his head and he suffered severe head injuries that proved to be fatal. Because of USAC rules on a red flag reverting 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 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) series debut at Pocono Raceway the day after his fatal crash. He was awarded a 40th-place finish (as a "Did Not Start").
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