It is a sad day in racing, I was working with ESPN that night and had produced many features with Rich. Sitting in the stands was my wife Cindy [now x wife] who was Rich's ex-wife with our kids. So it was a very bad night for my family as well.
No matter how Rich & I family ties were twisted we were friends. He could be a azz at times but you had to understand that he was a racer first, out to win from hot laps to the feature and you had to respect that in him. I was lucky enough to spend time with him in his shop, sitting him down with a camera for the various TV features I would produce. He really was a good guy deep inside away from the track, at the track he was hell on wheels.
I still remember him in the Armstrong #43 at Eldora, dumping it into turn 3 and it took off over the wall. He acted like that was just a part of racing, bouncing back to the next race.
You didn't have to like him or cheer for him but he would put on a show on the track. It's terrible that his career was cut short, only God knows where he could of gone in his career.
With your thoughts of respect for Rich Vogler you might want to contact Eleanor Vogler and make a donation to the Rich Vogler Collage fund and she also has a very nice tribute DVD produced by Lingner Group Productions. Contact Racefan20 [John Hoover] or Eleanor if you would like one, it a very nice piece. Bob Jenkins, Larry Nuber, Gary Lee and Steve Chassey are the announcers in the Thunder stuff. I think it's only $20.00. Plus she might have a few book left. All that money goes to the Rich Vogler Scholarship fund.
God Bless Rich Vogler and his family as they lost D.J. Vogler in the past year as well.
Rich Vogler Remembered DVD
http://www.richvoglerscholarship.org/multimedia.html
evogler@mibor.net to reach Eleanor
R.I.P. Rapid Rich
Dan O. Laycock and Family