Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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RIP to one of my sprint car heroes...saw him many times as a kid growing up in the 70's in the Twin Cities when we did the Sunday night races at North Starr Speedway.  You knew it was going to be a great night when Doug Wolfgang and John Stevenson and Wild Bill Dollansky were also there.  Just as cool was watching him take down a WoO heat race at Princeton, MN in about 2005 or 2006 (when The Outdoor Channel would put them on a weekly show).

May 15, 1996

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Roger Rager will forever be remembered as the junkyard scavenger who lifted a Chevy engine from an old school bus and put his hybrid race car at the front of the Indianapolis 500.

It was 16 years ago that the veteran sprint car driver made his first and only appearance in the world’s biggest auto race. After leaving racing for a number of years, Rager got back into sprints a couple of years ago and showed up this month as one of dozens of drivers eager to join Tony George’s Indy Racing League.

This year, however, Rager is still looking for a car to drive at Indy.

``Right now, it’s going slow. There’s a lot of guys looking around″ for rides for the May 26 race, said Rager, whose resume lists five other 500-milers at other tracks besides Indianapolis.

``I understand that Tony needs to get the younger drivers in if he can, because that’s his racers for the next 10, 15 years,″ the 47-year-old Rager said. ``But the way I look at it is, he’s got enough kids in the race now. Now he needs some names that have been here and people that have done things. We’re part of history here with what we did in 1980 with the stock block motor.″

Rager first came to Indianapolis in 1978, but failed in one qualification attempt. The next year, he practiced in a stock-block Eagle, but did not make an attempt to qualify.

Then came 1980 and Rager’s moment of fame.

``When USAC said we were going to run the stock block here, we had to find a motor that had been well-used ... It all starts with the block,″ he recalled.

``My theory was if I got a block out of a truck or a heavy unit that had been hot and cold and pulled a lot of weight, that block would have already done everything it was ever going to do,″ he said.

``So we were at the junkyard, and there sat a bus, and it was a Chevrolet and it had what we wanted ... We pulled two or three motors out of different vehicles, but that one looked to be in the best shape, so we used that block. After the thing was bored and line-bored and oil passages cleaned out and aligned, that was the one we felt most confident in,″ he said.

Rager qualified his car at 186.374 mph, faster than such veteran drivers as A.J. Foyt, Tom Sneva and Gordon Johncock, and started in 10th place, the inside of the fourth row.

On laps 16 and 17, Rager led the Indianapolis 500.

His fling at history lasted just over a quarter of the way through the race. On the 56th lap, Jim McElreath spun in Turn 1 and hit the wall. Rager, trying to avoid McElreath’s spinning car, hit the inside wall and finished 23rd.

Roger was a helluva sprint car driver as well.   I remember when he led at Mazanita in the Westerm World (one of the big 3 - Knoxville, Manzy & Pacific Coast at Ascot) and the car broke.  He lamented after the race that no one would ever remember that he led the race and almost won.   Roger - I remember.   He held his own when the Outlaws were Opperman, Weld, Ferkel and Allen.  He certainly left his mark on racing in the U.S. (and I guess also in South Africa when they raced sprints down there).    He was an innovator as well as a top racer.  RIP - indeed.   Thanks for the memories.

I saw this article a few days after I heard the news. Pretty cool that he was looking to jump back in a car at that age. I also heard there is a brief interview with him after he got knocked out at Indy but I never could find it. 

I was young but I was there and I seem to remember Roger driving a blue number 8 but could be mistaken. That place is what got me hooked!

Here is Roger's campground. If you want the best deal on the internet check out the merch tab.

https://ragersacresmn.com/

Heaven got another good one. Rest in Peace Champ... 

Have you heard anything about a visitation or memorial?  Maybe it was private and if they have one I'm guessing it will be up in the Brainerd area.  Has Chuck said anything?

Stan Meissner

It will be this summer up north in the Pequot Lakes area.

Never forget the time Roger ran Calistoga.

He was throwing the car sideways at the flag stand.

Never seen anybody ever start the corner on the straight away there like that since.

If you ever seen non wing sprint cars at Calistoga then you know how far away the corner starts from flag stand.

It was amazing to see him sideways and everyone else still going straight.haha

RIP Roger Rager