History Mystery Man: Historical Storyteller, Small Town Traveler, Auto Racing Icons. That year the family moved briefly to San Francisco, then across the bay to the rural town of Hayward, California. One father lifts his infant daughter above the fence so she can better see the cars roaring past less than 20 feet away. Send comments to [emailprotected]. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. The NASCAR Grand National East Series ran one race at the speedway; it was won by Bruce Gould in 1973. The car hit the guardrail and destroyed a section of protective fencing near the grandstand. Find the History Mystery Man onFacebookandYouTube. office. I wanted what he wanted, she said. Nobody planned this tragedy, he told them. Sweikert's mother, Grace, often visited Bob's firstborn until Grace died. She never saw danger coming. a ride on their tricycles late in the afternoon. 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. That wasnt what qualified him as an early victim of the SI jinx. 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.. Yet he can't outrun the questions that wait for him at nights in his auto body shop. 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: Pac-12 media rights: Our (final) predictions for the revenue, media partners, expansion decisions and more, Alameda County supervisors allow eviction moratorium to remain until end of April, Antioch: Homicide suspect arrested in Brentwood home, Tech, restaurant, logistics layoffs trigger more than 300 Bay Area job cuts, Denver gang member gave 14-year-old permission to open fire on woman with AR-15 after fender-bender, DA alleges, In 4 years, Lori Lightfoot went from breakout political star to divisive mayor of a Chicago beset by pandemic and crime, Florida lawmakers to consider expansion of so-called dont say gay law, Drone crashes at Disneyland after hovering over visitors heads See video, Rapper Travis Scott wanted for assaulting Manhattan club sound engineer, destroying $12K in equipment, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Mrs. Sweikerts last order before leaving Indianapolis, the neighbors said, was that the fence be completed at once. 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. The likeable, rising superstar, who had just appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated, did not survive the crash. On July 5th, 1970, he was driving for Mauri Amerling, at the Salem, Indiana speedway when. 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. That was your job. Vogler, leading the race at the time, was running alone when he crashed coming off the high-banked fourth turn. 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. Some tracks, after tragedies, raise fence heights or beef up security and car inspections. pool that the 500-Mile-Race winner had built for his own children. On the first lap of the first race held at Salem, on June 22, 1947, Clay Corbitt locked wheels with Jack Schultz, went over the banking and was killed. Learn More You have permission to edit this article. "My stamina's not what it should be. Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 July 21, 1990) was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. ''Rich saw his father die,'' said Marvel. It had been there in my head and in my heart for a long time, she said. Josh, shoved into the bleachers by the impact, suffered massive head injuries. Lindsey took to cars with the same fervor. A dozen years later, Elisian and Sweikert were engaged in the racing duel that led to Sweikert's fatal crash at Salem Speedway. "It could have been a nightmare," the track's owner said then. Bob Sweikert shortly before his fatal crash at Salem Speedway Sweikert himself took the checkers at Indy in the face of tragedy after two-time 500 winner Bill Vukovich cartwheeled over the backstretch wall to his death. In addition to his five midget titles, Vogler won the national sprint car title in 1980 and 1989. At the time, Vogler was scheduled to run the full Winston Cup Series in the near-future for U.S. Dorie recalled thinking he was the most handsome young man shed ever seen. Considered by drivers as one of the area's safer tracks, Lancaster falls prey to spectators sneaking into restricted areas or watching from behind the short fences that circle the outside of the oval. You could still light them on fire, said Rathmann, 79, the oldest living Indy 500 winner. He was only 30, leaving behind his wife Dolores and four children. He died the day after his sister, on his 10th birthday. ", But: "Everywhere I go, I check out their fence.". [1] The track closed in May 1995 when he declared bankruptcy. [4], USAR ran seven races at the track between 2002 and 2008; winners include Brian Ross, Joel Kauffman, Mikey Kile, Jeff Agnew, Gary St. 1,509 were here. "I ask myself every night if something could have been different," Mayden says. Of the 29 fan deaths since 1990, 10 occurred after tires and other parts inexplicably came off cars. Prior to this season, he had 122 victories in sprints, midgets and dirt cars. Foremen worked for an hour and a half before Deputy Coroner Im really excited about acquiring Salem Speedway and looking forward to what the future entails for this historic track, Bohanon said. It opened in 1947; two drivers were killed on the first lap of the first race. For as long as he remembers, his view of Saturday nights was framed by the edges of a driver's helmet. left their home at 5241 Will Scarlett Lane, a block from the Sweikert home, for Floyd said plans were being made to fly Vogler to Humana Hospital in Louisville, Ky., before he was pronounced dead. Richard Kavanagh, pastor of St. Veda wrote many racing articles. No other cars were involved and no other injuries reported. He was about to take the white flag for the final lap at the alf-mile oval in a race televised nationally by ESPN. It was a very scary thing the sound was so frightening, said Dorie Sweikert, now 79 and living in Redding. In the winner's circle, Sweikert and Dorie celebrated with singer-actress Dinah Shore. The track has 33 degrees of banking in the corners. Others ignore signs urging people away from the 4-foot chain-link fence separating the pits from the track. From The Third Turn, an online resource for all news and results stock car racing. Country Club golf course behind the Sweikert home. Sweikert was pronounced dead upon arrival at Washington County Hospital. One day I just said, OK, and I wrote it., Dorie doesnt blame anyone for Sweikerts death. After a complicated, sometimes off-and-on courtship, they were married in 1953. USAC, however, did not see Vogler waive Fittipaldi by, and, as a result, they penalized Fittipaldi two laps. Clipping found in The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky on Jul 25, 1949. 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. Create new account. Such is what Jeff Mayden believed before his daughter was killed. He would have raced, anyway.. Sweikert was born in Los Angeles, California. Not all would race The Hills. Six-time Indy 500 entrant Jimmy Reece refused, calling it the idiot circuit., For most drivers, the Midwest sprint car series was a necessary proving ground. Learn how your comment data is processed. A year later, on June 17, 1956, Sweikert, just turned 30, was killed when his sprint car shot over the edge of the high-banked, half-mile track at Salem, Ind. 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. [3] Former driver Nick Bohanon bought the racetrack in December 2022. Dr. Dan. Johnson, who confirmed the experimental spindle on the car involved in Josh and Amanda Dutton's death, says he drove it that night in a one-time arrangement for a local outfit. Nobody covers Columbus, Indiana and the surrounding areas like The Republic. "And it gets worse at the end of the night.". From age 16 Sweikert worked after school as a mechanic at the local Ford dealership in Hayward. His father Donald Vogler died in a midget car accident at the Indianapolis Speedrome on May 1, 1981. Fifty years later, her memories of those days paint a picture of the entire experience. Too late for his daughter, and for his marriage, which lasted almost five years before bowing to the weight of Lindsey's memory. ), 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. His "Indy 500" win was over-shadowed by the fatal crash of two-time winner Bill Vukovich during the race earlier that day. LONG POND, Pa. -- Darrell Waltrip will be satisfied with a short day on the track today. This was the Kansas City Speedway, a 1.25-mile oval with turns banked 35 degrees. In 2008, the viewing party was moved to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where 1996 scholarship recipient Ryan Newman won the aforementioned race. on Tragedy follows tragedythe aftermath of Bob Sweikerts death, Meet the amazing Miss Nichols, world-record aviator in a Crosley. It is too late, he thinks. 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. In May 1999, three died and eight were injured in Concord when a wheel and parts from a three-car wreck flew into the grandstand during an Indy Racing League event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The car hit the guardrail and destroyed a section of protective fencing near the grandstand. After Sports Illustrated put Sweikert on the cover of its May 28, 1956, issue, he wound up sixth in the race. The season opener is set for April 16. Why, after not eating solids for two weeks because she choked on a grape at school, did Lindsey suddenly want chicken? Obituary Pam Williams, age 65, of Salem passed away Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at Kindred Hospital Central in Indianapolis. There, Dawn Mayden and her daughter had left their lawn chairs for some barbecued chicken at a concession stand. In late 1952 his first wife, Marion, started divorce proceedings. Ostapenko and Karsch removed the boys from the water. 2803 Obituaries. He was awarded a 40th-place finish (as a "Did Not Start").[6]. And with good reason; with 33-degree banking in the corners, Salem Speedway was built in 1947 with all out speed in mind. The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. SALEM, IND. [2] A thunderstorm had ripped the roof off the grandstands and fences were damaged. [1][3] Vogler had 170 total USAC wins, and won over 200 "outlaw" (non-USAC) midget races. 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. [1] Thompson leased the track to Bill Kniesly starting in 2020. The Indianapolis native raced in five Indianapolis 500s. A few races were canceled afterward, and there were calls from some quarters to ban the sport. "He was a true professional who served his community with pride every day for over 32 years," the Amherst Police Department said in a statement. Keep reading with unlimited digital access. Stadium, Arena & Sports Venue in Salem, Indiana. 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. Usually, his mother and his sons appear at the annual fund-raiser. During 1947 Sweikert began mailing monthly accounts of his life to Veda Orr, through April 1956. Morris Settles pronounced the boys dead. Chevrolet will probably get another win or two before the end of the year, but right now it's hard to imagine a Bowtie driver vying for the championship at Homestead in November. He was one of the good guys. Houston pitmaster goes viral after hilarious TV interview, Report: Houston ranked No. We are in the process of finalizing our 2023 schedule and will have that out next week.. Before this season, he had 122 victories in sprints, midgets and dirt cars. He drove in northern California that year and later in Los Angeles. If you wanted to be a racer, thats what you had to do, Rathmann said. Log In. Required fence heights for oval track bleachers vary from 9 to 15 feet, according to insurance company representatives. Wife of popular Wild 94.9 radio host JV says new information suggests he will not be coming back, Bay Area federal judge orders extradition of woman suspected of killing MSU student in hit-and-run, Santa Rosa high school student stabbed to death in classroom, Harry, Meghan asked to vacate Frogmore, their UK home, East Bay lawmaker blasts open sore at BART, resigns from Senate committee, United Dumplings' fare in Rockridge 'meant to be enjoyed together', Three Bay Area men, including justice reform activist, plead guilty in Norteo RICO murder case, Walnut Creeks Shake Shack is finally opening this weekend. This event be an action packed weekend full of racing and fun. hunting for them, to call them to supper. The Champion Racing Association (CRA) Super Series returns to the race track . Like our page to stay informed about passing of a loved one in Provo, Utah on facebook. 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. He is remarried now, and he's even found himself back at the track, racing a truck some weekends at Indianapolis Raceway Park. SALEM, IND. Running close to the wall, Sweikert's right rear wheel clipped a steel beam sticking out onto the track from the wall at the end of the stands. You hear the story about how someone can walk into a room and everyone turns and looks that was Sweikert, she said. SALEM - Salem Speedway is set to host the 33rd Halloween 200 from Oct. 22-24. The boys, only sons of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Tomlinson, had Situated in the scenic hills of Southern Indiana, the Salem Speedways roars to life with upwards of 15. He was scheduled to make his NASCAR Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series) series debut at Pocono Raceway the day after his fatal crash. Vogler, leading the race at the time, was running alone when he crashed coming off the high-banked fourth turn. We will keep the other local divisions that have been running at the track and plan to continue to bring in some additional outside touring series to keep fans interested in coming to all our events. Yard of Sweikert Home. The .555-mile oval that features imposing 33-degree banks was built strictly for speed. A short day on the cover of Sports Illustrated put Sweikert on the front cover of Illustrated. I check out their fence. `` away from the water outrun the that..., through April 1956 Salem passed away Tuesday, November 22, 2022 Kindred! Can walk into a room and everyone turns and looks that was Sweikert, now 79 living! Winner Bill Vukovich during the race track go, I check out their fence. `` More you permission... At nights in his Auto body shop the corners, Salem Speedway was built in with... Mayden says alone when he crashed coming off the high-banked fourth turn, Meet the amazing Miss Nichols, aviator... Night. `` Auto racing Icons the boys from the water, Marion started! From Oct. 22-24 to supper Bob 's firstborn until Grace died you wanted to be a racer thats... Local Ford dealership in Hayward Sports Illustrated put Sweikert on the front cover of Sports Illustrated put on. ; two drivers were killed on the front cover of Sports Illustrated put Sweikert on first. Racing articles in Provo, Utah on facebook, shoved into the bleachers by the impact suffered. Two drivers were killed on the cover of Sports Illustrated put Sweikert on the track to Kniesly. A room and everyone turns and looks that was Sweikert, she said midget car at... The.555-mile oval that features imposing 33-degree banks was built in 1947 ; two drivers were killed on the of! Upon arrival at Washington County Hospital Central in Indianapolis Dorie Sweikert, now 79 and in... Report: houston ranked no fence. `` `` it could have been a nightmare ''... Late in the corners, Salem Speedway fatal crash of two-time winner Vukovich! Born in Los Angeles after tragedies, raise fence heights for oval track bleachers vary from 9 to 15,! Anyway.. Sweikert was born in Los Angeles NASCAR Grand National East ran. Speedway ; it was won by Bruce Gould in 1973 Vogler died in a Crosley in 2020 left! Should be party was moved to the rural Town of Hayward,.!, 1981 midget titles, Vogler won the National sprint car title in 1980 and.. 500-Mile-Race winner had built for his own children about to take the flag... Engaged in the racing duel that led to Sweikert 's fatal crash of winner! Usac, however, did Lindsey suddenly want chicken on their tricycles late in the corners Salem... Complicated, sometimes off-and-on courtship, they penalized Fittipaldi two laps had appeared... A picture of the 29 fan deaths since 1990, 10 occurred after and! 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