Rich Vogler
Born	Richard Frank Vogler (1950-07-26)July 26, 1950 Glen Ellyn, Illinois, U.S.
Died	July 21, 1990(1990-07-21) (aged 39) Salem, Indiana, U.S.
Championship titles
1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988USAC National Midget Series Champion 1980, 1989USAC National Sprint Car Series Champion
Champ Car career
15 races run over 10 years
Years active	1980–1983, 1985–1990
Best finish	8th –1981
First race	1981Tony Bettenhausen 100 (Springfield)
Last race	1989Marlboro 500 (Michigan)
First win	1981Ted Horn 100 (DuQuoin)
Wins Podiums Poles 1 3 0

Richard Frank Vogler^[1] (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was an American championsprint car andmidget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich".^[2] He competed in theIndianapolis 500 five times, and his best finish was eighth in1989.

Vogler was the National Alliance of Midget Auto Racing (NAMAR) midget champion in 1973. He won the midget car track championships at theIndianapolis Speedrome in 1984 and 1985. He won the Fireman Nationals midget car race atAngell Park Speedway in 1985. Vogler became the first driver to win theUSAC Sprint Car and Midget championships in the same year (1980).^[3] He wonUSAC National Sprint Car Series championships in 1980 and 1989,USAC National Midget Series championships in 1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, and 1988.

Vogler won numerous major national events: theHut 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 theNight Before the 500 once.^[2] In 1987, he won the inaugural Chili Bowl Midget Nationals race.^[4]

Vogler finished seventeenth in his onlyNASCARBusch Series start at theNorth Carolina Speedway in Rockingham in 1988.^[5]

His 134 wins (95 Midget, 35 Sprint, and four Silver Crown wins) in national events is second only toA. J. Foyt's 169.^[2][4] Vogler had 170 total USAC wins, and won over two-hundred "outlaw" (non-USAC) midget races.

Vogler made his first start in Indianapolis 500 participation in1985 where he drove the No. 60 Patrick Racing/Jonathan Byrd car to a 23rd-place finish. He would make consecutive starts at Indy from then on, up until 1990. During most of his IndyCar tenure he was sponsored by the Byrd whom he had a longtime professional relationship.

In 1988, Vogler was running over twenty laps down in the race when he waived his position to formerFormula 1 championEmerson Fittipaldi. USAC, however, did not see Vogler waive Fittipaldi by, and, as a result, they penalized Fittipaldi two laps. When Vogler got word of Fittipaldi's penalty, he went up to USAC to testify for him, calling the penalty "unjust." The following morning, in part because of Vogler's testimony, the penalty was overturned and Fittipaldi was credited with the runner-up position.

Days before his fortieth birthday, Vogler was competing in a nationally broadcastESPN ThunderJoe James /Pat O'Connor Memorial sprint car event atSalem 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 his head and he suffered severe head injuries which killed him instantly.^[6]

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 (nowNASCAR Cup Series) series debut atPocono Raceway the day after his fatal crash.

The Pocono race was not his first attempted NASCAR Winston Cup start: two weeks before, he entered the Michigan race but failed to qualify. At the time, Vogler was scheduled to run the full Winston Cup Series in the near-future forU.S. Racing but was replaced posthumously byTed Musgrave.

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 aDaytona 500 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 theIndianapolis Motor Speedway, where 1996 scholarship recipientRyan Newman 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 at the Indianapolis Speedrome on May 1, 1981.

• He was inducted in theNational Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992 (first eligible year).
• He was inducted in theNational Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1986.^[2]
• He was inducted in theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America^[7] in 2010.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRich Vogler.

• Rich Vogler driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Rich Vogler atFind a Grave
• Rich Vogler Memorial Scholarship Fund webpage

• 1950 births
• 1990 deaths
• Champ Car drivers
• SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers
• American Speed Association drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees
• Racing drivers from Chicago
• Racing drivers from Illinois
• Racing drivers who died while racing
• NASCAR drivers
• Sports deaths in Indiana
• Filmed deaths in motorsport
• USAC Silver Crown Series drivers
• EuroInternational drivers
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers

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