Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Never hit stationary objects!

Saw him run Flemington in the Jonathan Byrd midget, and at Port Royal in the number 4 (Streicher??) winged sprint car during a daylight show; the Flemington performance was much better than Port Royal if I remember correctly. Vogler ran second with the midget I think, and both of these shows were wayyyy back in the mid-1980's?

Rich Vogler is one of the all-time open wheel greats.

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I only got to see Rich from the ESPN days, but I think he is among the ranks of AJ Foyt, Jack Hewitt, to name a few. I don't think asking for his dirty laundry is a good idea, as he should remain a hero to YOU. You don't wanna ruin that for yourself do you? I have a better idea, lets tell our favorite Rich racing moment instead.

Sean,

Tucson

!!SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRACKS!!
!!Get Well Shane!! 

My guess is you wont find too many people from the midwest with great things to say about the guy. He was pretty universally disliked around there for 2 reasons - 1) NCRA vs. USAC show in OKC in '84 I think, he takes one of the top NCRA guys and boots him out of the park early in the race. Thankfully, Shane Carson came back and won it or there may have been a lynching. Police protection was required to get Vogler out of the pits. 2) 1987 Chili Bowl - Vogler shows up on Sunday after racing somewhere else on Saturday (remember this was the 1st Chili Bowl, Sat night and Sunday afternoon only), starts on the back of the B, wins it, and then starts on the back of the A, wins that too, and then pops off in victory lane, something along the lines of coming back to OK and stealing our money.

Not saying the guy couldnt drive a midget or sprint, he was probably one of the 2-3 best of all time.

As an Australian I saw him compete down here once or twice and he was awesome. I remember he arrived at the Sydney Showground Speedway with a midget that he had already campaigned in New Zealand and it was looking pretty tired. I was at the track mid week for a daytime practice session and he had that car lapping as quick, if not quicker than the local champions in just a few laps.

I also recall seeing him at Salem Ind. a year or two earlier. I was standing on the inside of the track in turn one, talking with a USAC midget champion who I had got to know in Sydney previously and when it was announced that it was Rich's turn to qualify he automatically walked away from the edge of the track and told me that it wasn't safe to be that close when Rich was on the track. The drivers of that era were convinced that great harm would come to him on the race track.

I think that he was quick, exciting, brilliant and a great spectacle and I remember him with great admiration however, there were plenty of others in that era who were just as quick, brilliant and exciting but are still alive today.

Never hit stationary objects!

I saw Richie Vogler run just about everything including a stock car at the Copper Classic, and trust me, he could win in them all. They called Dale Earnhardt the intimidater, but he was nothing compared to Richie. Vogle didn't intimidate, he scared the itsha out of drivers who otherwise had nerves of steel. You guy's that have been around know that Richie was obsessed with winning, and it didn't matter if it was just for a trophy in a 4 lap dash, or a heat race. He ran them all just as hard, and that didn't endear him to a lot of his fellow competitors. In fact he was more disliked than Foyt.LOL.. Richie nick name was mad dog, and I'll post that story after this one.

Vogler used to drive all the way across Indiana to hang out at a shop owned by one of the top competitors at that time (That's where this story comes from). He would just show up and hang out with the guy's. One day he asked Richie why he drove so far just to hang out at his shop. Vogler said "well, you guys will talk to me". LOL I loved Richie, how could you not?

The mad dog ....It’s easy to use stats to tell his story since they dwarfed everyone’s but A.J. Foyt. But the best way to describe the career of Rich Vogler is by recalling a sprint race in 1979 at Winchester.

That was the day when Vogler put on a show that encapsulated the essence of his skill and bravado. Driving the old upright Eaton Oiler, owned by Ray & Cissy Smith, he stalked Steve Chassey for 40 laps around those historic high banks.

Chassey was in a roadster, specially built for pavement and speed, which he’d been pretty much untouchable in that season.

It should have been a cakewalk but it turned out to be a dogfight as the man with forearms like Popeye chased Chassey like two dogs in heat.

“Every lap I heard him and once I looked over my shoulder and he looked like he was on dirt, with the wheel going back and forth,” said Chassey. “I couldn’t believe he did that for 40 laps.”

And while Vogler finished a car length behind in second, his performance illustrated exactly what made him such a great driver. He always expected to win, never gave up and usually got the most out of the least.

Maybe it was the hard-scrabble upbringing from his racing father, Don, who put Rich’s mom, Eleanor, in the corner with an orange glove and would order his son to drive to her before backing off the throttle.

The indisputable fact is that nobody on four wheels ever drove harder than Vogler. He had no cruise control, no pacing and no fears. He ran wide open every time he strapped in.

Hence, the nickname “Mad Dog,” and his reputation as the throttle psycho of his generation. But there was a method to his madness and he could win on heavy tracks, hard slickies, bull rings, high banks and flat tracks as his 134 USAC victories and six championships would attest.

He riled up a lot of his competitors with that aggressive mentality but he was always worth the price of admission.

Even in his limited time in Indy cars, Richie entertained us. In 1988, with time running out in qualifying, he hopped into a strange car, ran one hot lap, put the car in line, ordered a couple chassis changes and stuck ‘er in the show.

“Gotta feed my family,” he chuckled afterwards.

It appeared that he’d weathered his wild days of the ‘70s – making five consecutive Indy 500s from 1985-89 and beginning to dabble in stock cars. But he lost his life in a sprinter at Salem in 1990, where he was leading comfortably but trying to lap yet another car.

He lived to be on the loud pedal and backing off wasn’t in Richie’s vocabulary. It was his mantra, his motivation and his legacy.

by Robin Miller

Don't pull any punches when talking about Rich Vogler, he wouldn't like that... Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Never hit stationary objects!

I like remembering Rich Vogler, so it was my pleasure..Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

I'm a Cali wing fan who did video for many sanctioning bodies over a 25 year period . . . . So I wasn't usually at events Vogler ran. I only saw him twice, but both times witnessed much of what has been said in the other posts of this thread. I didn't get to meet him but saw the "balls to the wall" driving he was famous for.

The first time I saw him was in the very last race at Baylands Raceway Park in Fremont California. He was the stand out drive and took the last checkered flag every waved at that fantastic track. It was November 1988.

The second time I saw him was an indoor race during the winter in Sacramento's Arco Arena where the Sacto Kings play. I had never been to an indoor event and went mostly to see how they got the fumes out of there without asficiating anyone! It was flat concrete. They sqeegeed Coca-Cola syrup on the floor then let it set up so it was sticky like fly paper. Sixteen cars for 50 laps. Vogler was THE ONLY driver to pass another car and won it!

I'm pretty sure he won on the mile in a midget at Cal Expo and I'm pretty sure you were there for that too Grove. Vogler was a badass and the only place I ever heard of that the guy didn't care to run was Belleville which says a lot. He may not have been mr personality but he was in a league of his own talent-wise and with a competitive drive second to VERY few.

The USAC v NCRA show was in 1986. I have the tape, and have put it on youtube. A Dean Martin film

Someone has to say it--Guess I will.

Rich was going for the outside rim in turn three when he thought he was clear of Johnson. Only thing was, he wasn't-(after seeing the wreck over and over, and over, it's clear to me Vogler didn't intend to do it.). However since things had gotten to a fever pitch in OkC in regards to USAC (at the time) the Vogler/Johnson incident served as a pretext for battle, which is where Shane Carson eventually won it going away- while Vogler got back up to 2nd after slipping to 3rd or 4th. Shane had an issue to USAC officials from the year before, which is what made the win even more special, and add to that it was in front of his hometown crowd.

Vogler was outspoken, cocky, and hard to understand sometimes. But he is one of the all time greats.

I believe that picture was copied by Graeme Lord, the best t shirt artist of the time in the early 80's (before Tedder), and used on Outlaws shirts for years after.

And yes, I saw Rich Vogler in a midget and a wing car in Australia, he gave lil Jac Haud a run for his money and he was in his prime.

Here he is running George Tatnell (Brooke's dad) in Tatnells famous Winfield car

I had the privilege of seeing Rich at his best several times. Bouncing off the wall/cushion in the Tulsa Expo Center... check. Babe's Showgirls pink 74. He was worth the price of admission all on his own.

Running the Kunz 1k and completely outclassing a Devil's Bowl midget field... check. If I'm not mistaken that was the night we all lost Ron Hughes, Jr. on the frontstretch wall. That was really, really bad. That family & Ron suffered too much trying to sling some clay IMO.

Several sprint car races... not as much awe-inspiring. Some people don't realize that Rich ran WoO races, too. I recall him at big Devil's Bowl daytime shows... I was the kid that wrote down all the time trial names, car numbers and times. Anyone else do that? I've got several programs with VOGLER in them.

I met Rich in the pits a couple of times. I wasn't drinking, didn't interrupt, didn't yell or accuse... asked what were likely intelligent questions. He was rude & abrasive. One of my dad's favorite stories to tell about me was when I turned around after talking to Rich with a puzzled look and said something along the lines of "he's not misunderstood or shy. He's just a jerk."

Do I look back and let the 2 conversations with him impact how I think of Rich as a whole?

Absolutely 100% NO.

Rich was a gifted driver, a great mechanic and tremendous innovator. So he wasn't the best people person... WHO CARES? I can think of a lot of drivers that aren't the best with living, breathing people. They know about wrenches & how to sling clay. THAT is why I buy tickets to get in.

He was devisive. He had fans and enemies alike. You HAD to admire him as a racer or you're a fool.

Rest in peace, Rich. No hard feelings in any way, shape or form. Thanks for the thrills you gave us.

LOL. George looks as though he is about to be in trouble there and he knows it. Look at where he is looking.

I SUPPORT JASON SIDES FROM DOWN UNDER