In May 1956, at his final return to the Indianapolis 500, Sweikert began in the 10th starting position and came in for a 6th-place finish, with the team's D-A Lubricant roadster. [4], NASCAR Southeast Series ran two races at the facility between 1996 and 1997; the races were won by Steven Christian and Ron Young respectively. Vogler was the National Alliance of Midget Auto Racing (NAMAR) midget champion in 1973. In late 1944, Sweikert enrolled in the US Army Air Force, but suffered a severe knee injury while training at Lowry Field in Colorado. On an autumn Friday in Wichita, Kan., students and teachers walked next door to Christ the King Church, where a eulogist read farewell letters from Cindy and Paul Dutton to their children. 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. Salem Speedway opened in 1947, providing fans with exciting fast paced racing on the .555-mile oval that features imposing 33-degree banked turns that were built strictly for speed! 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 winner. Nobody planned this tragedy, he told them. USAC Loctite-Crestliner Vans National Sprint Car Series, USAC Copenhagen-Skoal National Midget Series, USAC Stoops Freightliner National Sprint Car Series, USAC MCI WorldCom National Midget Car Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, Northern Division, Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprint Series, USAC Valvoline National Sprint Car Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, Sears Auto Center Northern Division, ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards, AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car National Championship, CRA JEGS All-Stars Tour presented by Chevrolet Performance, Circle Track Great American Racing Series, Lawrence Towing CRA Street Stock Series Powered by JEGS, USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series presented by Traxxas, Vores Compact Touring Series powered by Mercer County Electric, Van Hoy Oil CRA Street Stocks Powered by JEGS, Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Model Series, https://www.thethirdturn.com/w/index.php?title=Salem_Speedway&oldid=657339. When I hit 30, I figured Id better quit.. Clipping found in The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky on Jul 25, 1949. [2] A thunderstorm had ripped the roof off the grandstands and fences were damaged. "I could run to the first caution without any problem," Waltrip, a three-time Winston Cup champion, said Saturday. He drove in northern California that year and later in Los Angeles. They entered the pool area through a gap in the high fence It was a very scary thing the sound was so frightening, said Dorie Sweikert, now 79 and living in Redding. 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. Sweikert, who graduated from Hayward High in 1944, won the Indy 500 at age 29, the first and only Bay Area racer to capture the event. Report: Houston is the No. Newspapers.com makes these newspapers available for the purpose of historical research, and is not responsible for the content of any newspapers archived at our site. But he liked to race on them.. ", But: "Everywhere I go, I check out their fence.". After winning the55 Indy title, Sweikert began plotting his next move. Ironically, it was Reece who was standing in the turn one infield on July 17, 1956 and filmed Sweikert's accident. Race officials later moved spectators back from the straightaway and built new fencing, now about 30 feet high, to protect them. Both boys were Sweikert was thrown from the car and was pronounced dead of head injuries upon arrival at Washington County Hospital. 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. I had a son who was killed in a crash as well.''. Dorie Sweikert recalls being able to see her husband smile as his car sprinted past, his head and shoulders exposed to potential peril. Vogler remained motionless for several minutes before being removed by ambulance. "We don't want anybody killed, but we sure don't want our customers killed," says Lanny Edwards, owner of Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas, one of thousands of small tracks dotting the country. The six tracks with the most driver deaths Many people, including drivers, crew members, officials and spectators, have been killed in crashes related to the sport of auto racing, in races, in qualifying, in practice or in private testing sessions. [4], The ASA National Tour ran six races at the track, from 1998 through 2003 and the winners were Scott Hansen (twice), David Stremme, Tim Sauter, Gary St. Amant and Robbie Pyle. He was only 28 years old, however he was one of California's brightest stars in the open wheel profession. SALEM, IND. "He would be going if it were me that died. After a complicated, sometimes off-and-on courtship, they were married in 1953. During most of his IndyCar tenure he was sponsored by KFC, whom he had a longtime professional relationship with. But there are those who think he adapted to the track as well as anybody. At the 81 Speedway, Hall says cars are inspected on two occasions -- the first time they appear at the track and after they are involved in accidents. "Some people said it went over the fence." Im ready to get started on making improvements as soon as the weather lets us. Washington Post columnist Shirley Povich wrote, The madness known as speed-car racing now has claimed one more well-known corpse, and there has to be a new revulsion toward the whole senseless business of motorized Roman Holidays for the dues-paying spectators.. AUTO RACING: Salem Speedway has new owner DANIEL SUDDEATH daniel.suddeath@newsandtribune.com Dec 24, 2022 From left, Will Kimmel interviews new Salem Speedway owner and promoter Nick. Josh, 9, and Amanda, 7, sat in the grandstand with their mother, their grandparents and 5-year-old brother, Justin. One day I just said, OK, and I wrote it., Dorie doesnt blame anyone for Sweikerts death. Weeks later, Sweikert's fatal sprint car crash occurred on June 17, 1956, at Salem Speedway. And with good reason; with 33-degree banking in the corners, Salem Speedway was built in 1947 with all out speed in mind. And there were sad ones. More information on Salem Speedway and the 2023 season will be posted on the tracks website at salemspeedway.com and with social media posts on the tracks Facebook page. ''I knew him well but we never talked about his father`s death. Last year he won 16 of the 33 races en route to his fifth championship. Even his victory in 1955 was muted by sadness when Bill Vukovich, a friend and the two-time defending Indy champ, crashed on the 56th lap and was killed. He won 1 race and accumulated a total of 8 championship points. The tragic death of Bill Vukovich during the 1955 Indianapolis 500 unfairly cast a long, dark shadow over the career of the winner of that year's race Bob Sweikert. Sweikert's car, on the outside, brushed a piece of metal . First there was the business of trying to defend his Indy 500 title. Salem Speedway is a .555 miles (0.893km) long paved oval racetrack in Washington Township, Washington County, near Salem, Indiana, United States, approximately 100 miles (160km) south of Indianapolis. "It was," he said, "nobody's fault.". And for each spectator killed, there are tales of others spared when cars or wheels flew over fences and through pits, striking no one. William M. Ostapenko, 38, who was working in his yard at IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California hasnt followed: What should you do? He would make consecutive starts at Indy from then on, up until 1990. She married again six years ago, but in 1998 published Along for the Ride A Love Story. The book is a personal, poignant and sometimes painful look back on her time with Bob Sweikert. I wanted what he wanted, she said. NASCAR hadnt yet arrived to swallow the sport. His Bowes Seal Fast 14 Kurtis-Kraft flew end over end out of Trenton, broke in half on . It is, perhaps, racing's worst fear: a car or its disconnected parts hurtling over fences into fans. Michaels Catholic Church, arrived and gave last rites. Marjorie Ann Bitter. A racecar moves around the track at Salem Speedway. The following paragraphs have been transcribed from the Indianapolis There were no space-age helmets and flame-proof racing suits. In 1947, Sweikert met his first wife, Marion Edwards, at a party at UCLA. Foremen worked for an hour and a half before Deputy Coroner I dont know how you could be the wife of a race car driver in those days. Steven Levinson, not yet a teen-ager at the time, got the news over the radio. Community See All. If you are experiencing difficulties logging in or are a subscriber getting a paywall, please try one or more of the following steps. Sanctioning bodies, some of which require driver safety equipment, don't demand that tracks inspect cars, a survey by the Charlotte Observer found. Last Name "Williams" "We don't do checks before races," says Hall. They interrupted a broadcast with a special bulletin, and I was absolutely devastated, Levinson recalled. The 2023 Salem Speedway tentative schedule: March 18: Riverside Drift Clinic April 8: (3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt) Open Practice for all divisions April 16: (Season Opener) GAS, CVBT, CVST,. Weinberger and Ostapenko began artificial respiration. Josh, shoved into the bleachers by the impact, suffered massive head injuries. Washington Township volunteer firemen and an Indianapolis fire department The 2023 Salem Speedway tentative schedule: April 8: (3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt) Open Practice for all divisions, April 16: (Season Opener) GAS, CVBT, CVST, Scrappers, May 7: (Derby Hangover Twin 75s) GAS, CVBT, CVST, 602 Stocks, June 3: ASA/CRA Super Series, JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, GAS, June 17: (Semis on The High Banks) Semis, CVBT, Scrappers, July 1-2: (Firecracker 200 Weekend) GAS, CVBT, CVST, 602 Stocks, Legends, July 22: (Midwest Street Stock Battle and Late Models) GAS, CRA Street Stocks, CRA Late Model Sportsman, CVBT, Aug. 19: (Dollar Beer and Cruise In) GAS, CVBT, CVST, 602 Stocks, Scrappers, Sept. 9: (End of Summer 100) GAS, CVBT, CVST, Legends, Oct. 21-22: (Halloween 200 Weekend) Halloween 200, CVBT 200, CVST, MF8, 602 Stocks, Scrappers, Bloomington Speedway releases 2023 schedule. pool and its lure for children. Yard of Sweikert Home. Five-time USAC midget champion Rich Vogler was killed Saturday night when his car crashed during a feature race of which he was later declared the winner at Salem Speedway. In early 1948, he married Marion Edwards. At their funeral, the Rev. Country Club golf course behind the Sweikert home. Eight years later, 81 Speedway's owner seems to disagree. ), 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. In the following 11 years, four more were killed at the track, and in 1983, the 10th and final fatality at Riverside occurred, when ex-Formula 1 and Le Mans driver Rolf Stommelen's IMSA GTP Porsche. Salem has, however, put up a new fence separating the infield from the pits. Vogler`s late father, Don, was a midget driver until his death at age 54 in a crash at the Indianapolis Speedrome on May 3, 1981. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. How do you deal with seeing your child's face every time your wife walks through the door? Mike Harrington: His team looks good, even without Alex Tuch. The fencing had been laid in position on the ground and Sweikert Still nursing the leg injury, Waltrip plans to make his milestone start today in the NASCAR AC Spark Plug 500 at Pocono International Raceway. Sweikert's first chance at driving a Sprint car came next in 1949. Other officials do little, shrugging instead at the danger of mixing fans who crave nearness and cars that, by design, fragment upon impact. Sweikert was versatile enough that in 1955 he became the only driver in history to sweep the Indy 500, the AAA big car crown and the Midwest sprint car championship. "I have 200 fires to put out," track president Doug McManus says. The following morning, in part because of Vogler's testimony, the penalty was overturned and Fittipaldi was credited with the runner-up position. Do n't do checks before races, '' track president Doug McManus says by KFC whom. He adapted to the track at Salem Speedway 81 Speedway 's owner seems to disagree, but 1998. Soon as the weather lets us the book is a personal, poignant and sometimes look! Deal with seeing your child 's face every time your wife walks the. Book is a personal, poignant and sometimes painful look back on her time with Sweikert! 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