[2] The ARCA qualifying record is 16.785 seconds/119.035mph by Gary Bradberry in 1994.[6]. Sweikert was pronounced dead upon arrival at Washington County Hospital. ". 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. 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. "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. One of his frequent local competitors on the streets was Ed Elisian, a teenage boy from nearby Oakland, California. ''They were both at the track practicing. Six days before, on Sept. 4, 1993, the family spent Saturday night as usual -- at the 81 Speedway, a three-eighths-mile clay oval at the north end of town where Paul Dutton raced sprint cars. He died a week later. That wasnt what qualified him as an early victim of the SI jinx. [2] He won USAC National Sprint Car Series championships in 1980 and 1989, USAC National Midget Series championships in 1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, and 1988. You hear the story about how someone can walk into a room and everyone turns and looks that was Sweikert, she said. [1] The track received major storm damage in 1981 and it was not used until 1987. Bohanon, a Southern Indiana. He was leading the race at the time, when his car crashed with just over a lap to go. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! 2894 Gallahad Drive, around the corner from the Sweikert house, ran to her aid. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Josh, 9, and Amanda, 7, sat in the grandstand with their mother, their grandparents and 5-year-old brother, Justin. A naturally gifted mechanic, he frequently won street races throughout the East Bay. It had been there in my head and in my heart for a long time, she said. Sweikerts car flew over the outside wall, through a photographers booth and crash-landed in a weed patch. Roger Bruce Hassing. had intended to finish the job the day after the fatal Salem race. As Baker left his seat for a drink from the concession stand, a wheel came loose from a car on the track. The car hit the guardrail and destroyed a section of protective fencing near the grandstand. Find the History Mystery Man on social media! He actually maintained his sprint car, even after he won (Indy).. 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. "I'm happy to be in the front of the field, even if it's not on the pole.". Published In. When I hit 30, I figured Id better quit.. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Find an obituary, get service details, leave condolence messages or send flowers or gifts in memory of a loved one. Dorie Sweikert recalls being able to see her husband smile as his car sprinted past, his head and shoulders exposed to potential peril. So what does Sabres GM Kevyn Adams do this week? The season opener is set for April 16. On September 17, 1922 Roscoe Sarles, a respected racer with six AAA feature wins and four starts at Indy, broke a steering knuckle on his Durant, tangled with Pete After a complicated, sometimes off-and-on courtship, they were married in 1953. Weinberger and Ostapenko began artificial respiration. Dr. Dan. This was the Kansas City Speedway, a 1.25-mile oval with turns banked 35 degrees. Most prominently, three spectators were killed and six injured by a flying wheel and debris in June 1998 when driver Adrian Hernandez hit the Turn 4 wall during a Championship Auto Racing Teams. Most race fans don't. the 25-by-12 pool with prideful anticipation. This was his 170th win. SALEM, IND. 4.3. 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. It is too late, he thinks. The first major fund-raiser for the fund has been a Daytona 500 viewing party in Indianapolis, today well-attended with a silent auction and notable names in auto racing in the state as guests. Some neglect even those, conducting superficial prerace walk-throughs or no checks at all. A grim reminder of the darkness of the board-track era of the 1920s. She went back to California He drove in northern California that year and later in Los Angeles. She is one of 29 spectators since 1990 to be killed by cars or their flying parts at U.S. auto racing events. It is definitely going to be an investment, but this place has such a great history that I think it can still be one of the nicest short tracks in the country., Bohanon added, We want to continue our Great American Stocks series, they have a great following and put on great racing. One day I just said, OK, and I wrote it., Dorie doesnt blame anyone for Sweikerts death. If you wanted to be a racer, thats what you had to do, Rathmann said. which Sweikert was building of tall cedar stakes when he was killed at Salem, Usually, his mother and his sons appear at the annual fund-raiser. One compromise is to offer pit access to fans who sign a liability waiver, which isn't so much a safety solution as acknowledgment that the best viewing is also the most dangerous. "Fans are their own worst enemy," says Dickie Gore, owner of Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Va. From The Third Turn, an online resource for all news and results stock car racing. That car now resides in the Museum at the Indianapolis racetrack. It would do no good for anyone to tell Bob Sweikert to quit racing. You could still light them on fire, said Rathmann, 79, the oldest living Indy 500 winner. Lindsey, who wanted to be a veterinarian and a midget car racer. At Clay's I-30 Speedway, track officials weren't aware of a hole in a wire fence near the pit area outside the track's oval. 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. They entered the pool area through a gap in the high fence Insurance companies, some fearful of legal liability, are reluctant to mandate any driver or car inspections. While completing the third lap, Sweikert was running near the outside wall in 4th place, side by side with his past teenage East Bay streets rival, Ed Elisian, in 5th. To get to Indy, Sweikert had to challenge what were known collectively as The Hills tracks that comprised the Midwest sprint car circuit. SALEM, IND. In late 1952 his first wife, Marion, started divorce proceedings. An Observer survey of track officials showed that few speedways inspect cars closely for more than basic safety items such as restraints and helmets. Please subscribe to. backstretch wall to his death. He ran seventy-two races that first BCRA season, finishing 14th out of 130 active members in the annual point standings. During 1947 Sweikert began mailing monthly accounts of his life to Veda Orr, through April 1956. History Mystery Man: Historical Storyteller, Small Town Traveler, Auto Racing Icons. Send flowers, find service dates or offer condolences for the lives we have lost in utah. [5], As of 2019, the track has held more ARCA races than any other track (106th visit); it held races at the track since 1955. Racing close with Elisian, both cars pushed high. [4], Salem Speedway has seen many great racers who are household names, such as Ruttman, Carter, Sweikert, OConnor, Parnelli Jones, A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, Mario Andretti, Vogler, Allison, Parsons, Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Busch, Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Joey Logano, and the list goes on. It bounded free down the small-track straightaway and into the pits, slamming off a car's hood and leaping, faster than fright, into the Salem (Ind.) Josh, shoved into the bleachers by the impact, suffered massive head injuries. I didnt even think Id hit 21. 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. Its like Iraq its that kind of grief.. Veda wrote many racing articles. After 1949 Sweikert became close friends with Johnny Boyd of Fresno, California when he met him on the California racing circuit. Required fence heights for oval track bleachers vary from 9 to 15 feet, according to insurance company representatives. 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. At least 70 have been injured, some suffering life-altering afflictions, including a Florida father of three now living in a New Jersey home for people with brain damage. He was about to take the white flag for the final lap at the alf-mile oval in a race televised nationally by ESPN. I never talked about how brave I was. More often, like Lindsey Mayden, spectators die with less publicity at smaller ovals and asphalt drag strips on Friday and Saturday nights. Vogler was declared the winner when officials decided not to complete the the 30-lap event. His mother had married his stepfather, an electrician for the state of California, when Bob was an infant. Search Provo obituaries and condolences, hosted by Echovita.com. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Dr. Dan Anderson pronounced Vogler dead at 11:40 p.m. at the Washington County Memorial Hospital in Salem, according to Bill Marvel, vice president of the U.S. Auto Club. Bob Sweikerts death in an auto race last June was reflected It is, perhaps, racing's worst fear: a car or its disconnected parts hurtling over fences into fans. The worst such incident occurred in 1955 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, where Pierre LeVegh's Mercedes flew over a 3-foot grass bank and small white fence into a crowd of spectators near the pit straightaway, killing more than 80. While completing the third lap, Sweikert was running near the outside wall in 4th place, side by side with his past teenage East Bay streets rival, Ed Elisian, in 5th. Washington Township volunteer firemen and an Indianapolis fire department Auto racing in the post-World War II era wasnt the slick, big money business its become today. [1] He competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and his best finish was eighth in 1989. And for each spectator killed, there are tales of others spared when cars or wheels flew over fences and through pits, striking no one. or. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich". 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. 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. "It could have been a nightmare," the track's owner said then. A dozen years later, Elisian and Sweikert were engaged in the racing duel that led to Sweikert's fatal crash at Salem Speedway. After winning the55 Indy title, Sweikert began plotting his next move. In Charlotte, speedway officials made no changes in the 10 months after the Michigan wreck, then raised their fences from 15 to 21 feet after their own open-wheel racing accident. In January 1953, Sweikert married his high school sweetheart, divorcee Dorie with her two children, with whom he had recently become reacquainted. hunting for them, to call them to supper. [1] Don Gettelfinger Sr. bought the track in 1987 and he replaced the fence with concrete. Dorie Sweikert never had attended an auto race until she met her future husband. High powered sprint cars accelerate down the straights at speeds reaching nearly 140 miles per hour. 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. First there was the business of trying to defend his Indy 500 title. Speedway infield. Track officials voiced the same hesitance. 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. At the time, Vogler was scheduled to run the full Winston Cup Series in the near-future for U.S. This event be an action packed weekend full of racing and fun. 1 sprint car, just one year after he won the worlds most famous race, tumbled over the turn one wall at Salem Speedway. None of todays safeguards existed then. There, Dawn Mayden and her daughter had left their lawn chairs for some barbecued chicken at a concession stand. The track has 33 degrees of banking in the corners. 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. Vogler's helmet flew off his head and he suffered severe head injuries that proved to be fatal. The car hit the guardrail and destroyed a section of protective fencing near the grandstand. Saturday's sponsor is Crosleybrands.com. Amant. 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. [1] In 1987 he won the inaugural Chili Bowl Midget Nationals race. The names, logos, and other source identifying features of newspapers depicted in our database are the trademarks of their respective owners, and our use of newspaper content in the public domain or by private agreement does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement from, the publishers of the newspaper titles that appear on our site. Too late for his daughter, and for his marriage, which lasted almost five years before bowing to the weight of Lindsey's memory. 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.. Vogler was the National Alliance of Midget Auto Racing (NAMAR) midget champion in 1973. 2803 Obituaries. 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. Always open. another. Vogler, a native of Glen Ellyn, Ill., who lived in Indianapolis with his wife and three children, was pronounced dead from massive head injuries at Washington County Memorial Hospital, said USAC Vice President Bill Marvel. In 1988, Vogler was running 20+ laps down in the race when he waived his position to former Formula 1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi. For Dorie Sweikert, the loss never really went away. a ride on their tricycles late in the afternoon. Sweikert's mother, Grace, often visited Bob's firstborn until Grace died. Sheriff Robert A. ONeal ordered the pool be drained. Like our page to stay informed about passing of a loved one in Provo, Utah on facebook. There is also a Team Vogler Classic at the Indianapolis Speedrome. And with good reason; with 33-degree banking in the corners, Salem Speedway was built in 1947 with all out speed in mind. As a sad, ironic twist, Sweikerts tragedy helped fuel I saw him coming out of the fourth turn, he and Ed up so high, Dorie Sweikert said. No other cars were involved and no other injuries reported. Sanctioning bodies, some of which require driver safety equipment, don't demand that tracks inspect cars, a survey by the Charlotte Observer found. * Most laps led. And there were sad ones. Perhaps in part because Bob Sweikert refused to accept fear, Dorie convinced herself he was safe from harm. On the morning of his June 17 race at Salem, Dorie Sweikert recalled her husband complaining his car wasnt handling quite right. [2] Major auto racing series that run at Salem are ARCA and USAC . You have permission to edit this article. 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