by Bill Bogan
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This documentary is written as a tribute to my father and mother, Bob &
Norma Bogan, and to
highlight the impact of their lives and contribution to the sport of Open Wheel
racing. It includes photos taken by many of the photographers that graced the
various tracks over the 40 plus years my father participated in auto racing.
Many thanks go to family and friends as they help me round out the accounts of
events and make sure they're in order. Credits for the
photos cannot always be provided, but they are appreciated and recognized as
contributions to this document.
Bob, Robby Flock, Norma at a 1986 Awards banquet
My father, Robert (Bob) Bogan, had a serious hobby in automotive racing. He participated in various levels of racing starting with full Midgets, Indy cars, Sprint cars, Three Quarter midgets (TQs), full Midgets again, and eventually he worked restoring vintage midgets. In 1944 he married Norma and together they had five children, 2 girls and 3 boys. Bob was born and raised in Indiana, which may go a long way toward explaining his interest in sports in general and his huge fascination and involvement in automobile racing.
During the early racing years, from spring to fall, the family would be at the race track each weekend watching the action and visiting with friends. Norma would take steno pads for recording qualifying times and race results for each event. Those steno pads came in real handy in the years that followed, when Dad and friends "bench-raced," dredging up the stories of races and results. Mom's racing records were the means for resolving debates and mistakes about the results. Her hard work and effort are not to be overlooked.
Racing was what we knew from childhood until we left home to be on our own.
These shots are from around 1952/3 in Grants Pass. There were only we three older
children at that time - Linda, Beverly, and I.
The car had a throttle and a hand brake. I recall one time, driving it back from the school with Dad riding on the bumper. As we were turning onto our street he told me to hit the gas - guess I was going too slowly for his taste. I did, and he immediately was thrown off the rear bumper. He had to run to catch up with me.
Linda getting her turn at the wheel.
Dad was involved in racing before any of us children came along. Some of the earliest photos date back to the late 1940's and early 1950's. Bob was primarily an owner/mechanic on the midgets, however, late in his career he managed to become a driver too. Before we get to that... let's roll back the calendar and explain how things progressed.
During the 40's and early 50's Bob could be found at the race tracks of southern Oregon - Grants Pass (Caveman Speed Bowl) and Roseburg.
I only remember one story about those years,
it involved Donnie Hood and his racing technique. Donnie would pull along the outside of
another race car, so the other driver would see the nose of his car,
then when going into the turn Donnie would tap the brakes as his competitor
would drift a little high in the turn and he'd turn left and drop in below the
other car, making a clean pass. Here are some pictures of Donnie in action.
Donnie Hood in the Bob Bogan midget
The Bogan car is the one with the 'B' in the grille.
As I recall it, Buddy Lee drove for dad that weekend. Here's a picture of Buddy at Western Speedway.
Buddy Lee - Western Speedway (?)
During the midget years, Bob built and painted a midget that would be shipped to race in Australia. The car had a candy apple red nose highlight, pearl white body, and candy blue highlight on the tail and featured the number 1 over the American flag. The car was shipped to Australia and ran there for a month or so. As you can see on the side, Lowell Sachs was the driver.
Bob sitting on LR tire of the car before it left for Australia.
Foreground: The car when owned and driven by Merv Neill. Bob Tattersall in background.
Ascot Track
Jim Steele (?), Bogan No. 123 - Balboa Stadium, San Diego, CA, USA.
Jim Steele (?), Bogan No. 123 - Balboa Stadium, San Diego, CA, USA.
Driver ?, Bogan No. 23 (front) - Barstow race track
Gary Hill, Bogan No 8. This shot shows one of those things you notice when watching midgets, especially the
older ones - the left front tire is off the ground and has essentially stopped spinning with brake application.
After the weight evens out the tire drops back to the track and rolling again. I remember when some of the
cars would really hike the tire up, as if the higher you went the faster you'd go.
L-R: No. 20 (driver?), Gary Hill (Bogan Midget), 3rd Car - 'H' Grille - Manzanita Speedway
Bob's success in auto racing was not limited to the west coast. In 1961 he was a pit crew member for the Kelso Indy roadster. The car had problems throughout May. As it turned out there was faulty tubing in it and the loss of multiple engines was too much for the car owner. They didn't make the show and the car was withdrawn from qualifying and the owner parked it in his yard and planted flowers in it. The following year, 1962, Bob was Crew Chief on the Ray Crawford roadster. This time things went well and they qualified to run in the race. The driver was Bob Veith. Dad's good friend Edgar Elder was the designer and builder of the race car.
Bob (Bogan) would never return as a participant in the Indy 500. Instead, he turned his attention back to his racing roots, dirt track racing, both midget and TQ's. It was at this time that Bob began to help revolutionize racing on the west coast. How so?
Bob went to work, for awhile, for Ron Ward brother of famed Indy driver Roger Ward. Bob worked for Ron building sprint cars and what he would learn there about chassis design would soon make its way into midget racing. The technology that was improving Sprint Car handling and performance, Bob realized, could be applied to full midgets with the same result. The technology was commonly known as 4-bar suspension - two torsion bars at the front and two at the rear of the chassis. These bars transferred the weight of the car to the chassis. One of the great features of this chassis was that the car would not spin out as easily. The chassis "worked" better in the corners and as a result, even when "crossed up" pretty hard, it would still allow recovery. In 1964, Bob scaled the technology to use in midgets and built the first 4-bar midget on the West Coast. At the same time Don Edmunds, famed chassis builder, was developing the same technology for midgets in the Midwest. In the following photo of this 4-bar car, Bob is standing and the driver is the young and talented Mike Mosley. Mike eventually went on to drive at Indianapolis.
1966 El Toro, CA, USA
?, Jimmy Caruthers, ?, Bob, Doug Caruthers, ?, me (checkered shirt), ?
Left: Bob sitting in his new 4-bar TQ. Right: Bob showing Rob (standing) and Rick the new car.
Read the article here - Rod & Custom, Nov 1965
Racing was definitely a family affair. As children our summers were spent
going to race tracks in Southern California on Saturday nights, Western
Speedway, Gardena Speedway, Ascot, Corona, Orange Show Stadium (San Bernardino),
Oildale (Bakersfield), Kearney Bowl (Fresno), El Centro, El Toro, and many
others over the years. We even ran indoors at The Forum in Los Angeles and the Anaheim Convention Center.
Jimmy Caruthers racing indoors in the No. 4 car. I think that's Bob McCaw pointing in the other direction.
With all of this racing history it was no surprise that some of the children participated in racing too. Linda, the oldest child has been a faithful follower of auto racing for decades. Lin recalls the early days in Oregon when Dad would prepare the race car, then test it at a local track. "I can remember his taking newly built cars to the track in Grants Pass and running them to verify everything was correct. My treat was to sit on his lap for a lap or two around the track after the test sessions." Dad's race cars were reputed for their mechanical soundness. No one ever had to worry about something "falling" off due to negligence, he double checked everything before a race. Unfortunately, in those days women were not allowed to be in the pits, let alone be drivers. Otherwise, Linda's name might be listed as a driver too! However, the honor to be the first of the Bogan children to pilot a Bogan Racer fell to the oldest son, Bill. From 1968 to 1972, with some time out for service in the military, I drove for my father.
I still think that Dad's cars had some of the nicest lines, body style, I've seen in racing.
Two memorable experiences came while racing at South Gate raceway. The first was a heat race, 8 laps, where I started on the pole and Frank Tifft started outside on the front row. Frank had one of my Dad's cars with a Honda engine in it. He worked for a Honda dealer at the time. We were still running the Fiat engine. The green flag dropped and it was wheel-to-wheel for 8 laps. Never once did we bump each other. Frank's car was performing better than mine because he stayed beside me (on the outside) the entire 8 laps. Then coming out of turn 4 on the final lap Frank pulled me a little coming out of the turn and won the race by a nose. It was then that Dad realized he needed to take a more serious look at using motorcycle engines in the future.
As you may realize by now, Bob was not shy about trying new things when it came to racing. He always participated with the desire to win. If that meant he needed to improve something, then he looked for ways to get more speed, better handling, and so on. One of the tasks he was asked to perform was to put a Corvair (180 degree opposed) engine into a full midget. Bob built the chassis and fit the engine into it. One of the fascinating things about the engine was that the crankshaft turned backwards from its normal direction. The result was that the engine torque helped force the left front wheel down onto the track thereby improving handling.
Many people, famous and not so famous, have driven Bogan Racers at one time or
another. The following is a partial alphabetical list of some of those who have
and the associations they were linked to.
Note: Most of these drivers were also considered friends by Bob. There
are a couple who are noted as close friends because Bob held their friendship as
dear to him for many years, this status is not meant to offend any of the others
who were also friends, but not mentioned here. If a name is missing it is because
I have incomplete or incorrect records available. Feel free to email me with corrections.
One of the highlights of Bob's racing career was the year he drove the cars himself. And so, at age 54, Bob began his rookie driver year.
Bob McCaw thought the rear end had locked up on Dad's car and was told to take his foot off the brake and that would solve the problem. McCaw said he'd never driven a car with such good brakes on it. Another must in Dad's mind - driver safety was a paramount concern for him. - Linda (Bogan) Blackie
I remember one evening at South Gate race track, my rookie year, in a heat race, I was trying to pass Bob (McCaw) on the outside coming out of turn four. He drifted up and hit my left front wheel with his right nerf bar forcing me up into the wall. The car started to climb, but I was able to right the car before anything serious happened. Bob knew how to make the track narrow, and I mean that with all the respect one can have. - Bill Bogan
| Hal was unable to make the trip from Indianapolis and so his daughters, Michelle and Chrisie, were there to represent him. |
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| Here's a photo of Danny at the 2005 Legends of Ascot event, being honored for his contributions to oval track racing. |
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| Robby Flock drove this one. |
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| No.1 sponsored by Jim Steele's Durfee Auto Parts | Later model chassis' incorporated the roll cage into the chassis itself instead of bolting on like the early versions. |
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| Parade lap for a heat race | Mike Shaw (32) and Bill Bogan (31) |
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| Bill Bogan (31) and Dean Thompson (9) | Bill Bogan (31), ?4 |
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| As you can see, for awhile I wore a scarf over my face. I finally got a leather face mask and it was a good thing because when we ran El Toro a rock kicked up and hit me in the left cheekbone. Thanks to that face mask there is no evidence of the event. | No.8 Dave Fender, No.31 Bill Bogan |
Tracks that we used to run at....
Midgets: Ascot, Oildale (Bakersfield), Kearney Bowl (Fresno), Santa Maria, Atascadero, Saugus, Corona, Orange Show Speedway (San Bernardino), Balboa Stadium (San Diego), Manzanita (Phoenix), El Centro, Irwindale Speedway,
TQ's: South Gate, El Toro, Ventura, Carson City, The Forum ( that's right, indoors where the Lakers played basketball), Anaheim Convention Center (indoors),
Author's Note: Feel free to email me if you have a story, photo, or
experience related to Bogan racers you would like to contribute. You will get
credit for your contribution.
Email: bb@b2-design.biz
Work: www.b2-design.biz
Finally.... I'm also working on a small project. I want to model (with CAD
software) one of the later TQ's dad built. Here's what I've done so far.
I'm still trying to locate photos of either a 750CC Honda or similar sized Kawasaki engine. If anyone has photos of an engine alone, I ask that you consider getting a copy scanned and emailing them to me. I'd be happy to just have a photocopy... anything to work from.
Thanks in advance, Bill Bogan Links to other racing webpages.