In Memoriam

Greg Hodnett

A Tennessee native and mechanical-engineering graduate of Memphis State, Greg Hodnett moved to central Pennsylvania to race sprint cars for a living and became one of the most respected members of the Pennsylvania Posse. He was the 1993 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year and went on to win more than 250 sprint car features, including 20 against the World of Outlaws.

Williams Grove Speedway was where he shone brightest: 73 career wins and five track championships (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016), including the 2009 National Open. He also won four Tuscarora 50s at Port Royal and was the 2018 Pennsylvania Speedweek champion.

Fellow racers and fans knew him as humble, generous with his time and quick to give credit to his crews. He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2020, and Port Royal now runs the Greg Hodnett Classic in his honor.

Hodnett died September 20, 2018, after a single-car crash at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa. He was 49.

Jason Johnson

Jason Johnson, 'The Ragin' Cajun' from Eunice, La., learned the sport as a teenager crewing on the World of Outlaws tour for Steve Kinser. He became one of the great 360 sprint car drivers, winning five ASCS National Tour championships (2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) and 79 National Tour features, second all-time.

He joined the World of Outlaws full-time in 2015, earning Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year, and in 2016 outdueled Donny Schatz to win the Knoxville Nationals. He finished sixth in the 2017 standings and won 12 World of Outlaws features, the only Louisiana native to win in the series.

His team carried on after him, winning the 2019 Knoxville Nationals with David Gravel.

Johnson was injured while racing for the lead at Beaver Dam Raceway in Wisconsin on June 23, 2018, and died the next day, June 24. He was 41.

Dave Steele

From Tampa, Fla., Dave Steele was one of the best pavement racers in USAC history. All 60 of his USAC national wins (26 sprint car, 18 midget, 16 Silver Crown) came on asphalt between 1996 and 2007, ranking him 14th on the club's all-time list, even though he usually ran half the schedule or less.

He won back-to-back USAC Silver Crown titles in 2004 and 2005, took the Silver Crown portion of the Copper World Classic five years in a row (2002–06), won the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2001 and 2003, and won the Little 500 at Anderson in 1996 and 2009. He won in all three USAC national divisions in the same season six times, the most in club history.

Back home he was a three-time Tampa Bay Area Racing Association champion and the 2016 Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series champion. He also made starts in the IRL and NASCAR's Busch Series.

Steele died March 25, 2017, after an opening-lap crash at Desoto Speedway in Bradenton, Fla. He was 42.

Bryan Clauson

Bryan Clauson became the youngest winner of a USAC national feature in 2005, aged 16, and went on to win 112 USAC races, among the most in club history. He won the USAC National Drivers Championship three straight years (2010–12), USAC National Midget titles (2010, 2011) and back-to-back USAC National Sprint Car titles (2012, 2013).

He won the 2014 Chili Bowl, the Turkey Night Grand Prix (2009, 2010) and the Belleville Midget Nationals three times, and he also scored USAC Silver Crown wins. He made three Indianapolis 500 starts, leading laps in the 100th running in 2016, the centerpiece of his 'Chasing 200' season across midgets, sprint cars and the World of Outlaws.

He was elected to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2018. The BC39 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his family's organ-donation advocacy carry on his name.

Clauson was injured while leading the Belleville Midget Nationals on August 6, 2016, and died the next evening, August 7, in Lincoln, Neb. He was 27.

Kevin Ward Jr.

Kevin Ward Jr. of Port Leyden, N.Y., grew up in racing. He started in go-karts, won micro sprint championships in 2008 and 2009, and moved to 360 sprint cars with the Empire Super Sprints in 2010.

Across five ESS seasons he made 105 starts and won four features: his first at Autodrome Drummond in 2011, Mohawk International Raceway in 2012, and Autodrome Granby and Evans Mills (the series' first asphalt event) in 2013. His best season-ending result was fourth in the standings in 2011.

He was a young driver still coming into his own, remembered by family and fellow competitors for his determination and his love of the sport.

Ward died August 9, 2014, aged 20, after he was struck on the track at Canandaigua Motorsports Park while out of his car under caution. A grand jury declined to bring charges.

Kramer Williamson

Kramer Williamson raced sprint cars for more than four decades out of Palmyra, Pa. He became a fan favorite in his trademark pink No. 73 and was a fixture at Williams Grove, Lincoln and across central Pennsylvania.

He shared Williams Grove Rookie of the Year honors in 1971, won United Racing Company sprint car championships in 1991, 1992 and 1995, and won features with the World of Outlaws. He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2008.

Williamson was injured in a qualifying-race crash at Lincoln Speedway on August 3, 2013, and died the next day, August 4. He was 63.

Jason Leffler

Jason Leffler came out of the USAC ranks as one of his generation's best open-wheel drivers. He won three straight USAC National Midget championships (1997–99) and the 1998 Silver Crown title, along with the Hut Hundred, the Belleville Nationals and two Turkey Night Grand Prix wins (1999, 2005).

That success took him to Joe Gibbs Racing and to the 2000 Indianapolis 500, followed by a long NASCAR career across the Cup, Busch/Nationwide and Truck series, including a Cup ride with Chip Ganassi Racing.

He never left his dirt roots and kept racing midgets and 410 sprint cars, including at the Chili Bowl, alongside his NASCAR work.

Leffler died June 12, 2013, after a front-suspension failure in a 410 sprint car heat race at Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey. He was 37.

Rich Vogler

'Rapid Rich' Vogler was one of USAC's greatest short-track racers. In 1980 he became the first driver to win the USAC Sprint Car and Midget championships in the same year. He won USAC Sprint titles in 1980 and 1989 and Midget titles in 1978, 1980, 1983, 1986 and 1988.

He won the Hut Hundred eight times and the 4-Crown Nationals four times, won the inaugural Chili Bowl in 1987, and won two Indianapolis Speedrome midget championships. His USAC win total is second only to A.J. Foyt's, and he made five Indianapolis 500 starts with a best of eighth in 1989.

He is a member of the USAC Hall of Fame.

Vogler died July 21, 1990, in a crash at Salem Speedway while leading the Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial, five days before his 40th birthday. He was declared the race winner.

Don Vogler

Don Vogler of Glen Ellyn, Ill., a Navy veteran of World War II, raced USAC midgets from 1965 and was highly regarded as a mechanic and car builder on the midget and sprint car circuits.

He passed his passion to his son Rich, who became one of USAC's all-time greats, and the two raced against each other. The Team Vogler Classic at the Indianapolis Speedrome honors the family.

Don Vogler died May 1, 1981, after a crash during warm-ups for a USAC midget feature at the Indianapolis Speedrome; witnesses believed he may have had a heart attack first.