Roger Rager

Who is Roger Rager?

Roger Rager, is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series.

Rager wasn't quite five years old when he ran a "space ship" go-kart around the track during an intermission for a race program that included his dad, Bob, at the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln.

At age 14, Rager purchased a stock car for $35 and raced at a local track. He later moved to Lincoln and raced on weekends. His first sprint win was at Jefferson County Speedway in Nebraska,

Rager enjoyed numerous milestones as a sprint car racer in the early 1970s. He won many races all over the country and also was the United States captain for a sprint car team competing in South Africa in 1973. He returned to North America and moved to the Twin Cities in the mid-1970s. It was about that time that Rager also set a world record for the fast lap on a one-mile dirt track piloting a spring car without a wing. He also won the points championship at the famed Knoxville track. He would become the only driver to win at Knoxville in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Rager had many accomplishments as a sprint car racer, but he changed his race focus to the Indy Car series in the late 1970s. Rager started running some USAC events in 1976 and made his first Indy 500 qualifying attempt in 1977. His admirable qualifying run ended in a crash at 190 mph. Despite running on a small budget against some million dollar race teams, Rager just missed qualifying at the brickyard by one spot in 1979. He did make the Indy 500 field in 1980 with the 10th fastest qualifying time.