Roger McCluskey

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Roger McCluskey (b. 24 August 1930, d. 29 August 1993) was an American race car driver. He was from Tucson, Arizona.

He won the USAC Sprint Car title in 1963 and 1966, the USAC Stock car title in 1969 and 1970. His first USAC Stock Car start resulted in a runner-up finish in Phoenix, Arizona in January 1968, when he drove as a substitute driver for Norm Nelson.

McCluskey earned four USAC Midget Car wins, 23 USAC Sprint Car wins, 23 USAC Stock Car wins and five USAC Championship Car (national championship) wins. He was the USAC national champion in 1973. He started every Indianapolis 500 race from 1961 to 1979 except 1964, with a best finish of 3rd in 1973.

He also made 4 NASCAR Grand National starts from 1969 to 1977 with a best finish of 2nd in 1970 at Riverside International Raceway.

He represented the USAC series in the 1974 International Race of Champions.

McCluskey raced for the Holman and Moody team in a Ford GT40 Mk.IIB at the 1967 LeMans 24hrs of Endurance, France. During this event, McCluskey is credited with pulling Mario Andretti to safety-and thus saving his life-after Andretti had seriously crashed his Ford GT 40 when a front brake locked.

McCluskey passed away on August 29 1993, just five days after his 63rd birthday after a long battle with cancer. In 2004 the local United Sports Arizona Race Park hosted the Roger McCluskey Sprint Car Classic in his honor.

Contents 1 Award 2 Indy 500 results 3 References 4 Other References

[edit] Award

He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993.

[edit] Indy 500 results

Year[1] Car Start Qual[2] Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1961 22 29 145.068 18 27 51 0 Crash FS 1962 17 9 147.759 9 16 168 3 Spun T2 1963 14 14 148.680 20 15 198 4 Spun T3 1965 25 23 155.186 18 30 18 0 Clutch 1966 8 21 159.271 22 13 129 0 Oil Leak 1967 12 22 165.563 7 19 165 0 Engine 1968 8 7 166.976 7 29 16 0 Oil Filter 1969 82 6 168.350 6 14 157 0 Split Header 1970 11 4 169.213 4 25 62 0 Suspension 1971 6 22 171.241 15 9 188 0 Flagged 1972 14 20 182.686 15 24 92 0 Valve 1973 3 14 191.929 17 3 131 0 Flagged 1974 1 27 181.004 23 16 141 0 Rear End 1975 15 22 183.964 17 5 167 0 Flagged 1976 7 13 186.499 6 30 8 0 Crash T3 1977 11 18 190.992 10 8 191 0 Flagged 1978 11 11 192.256 17 25 82 0 Clutch 1979 72 25 183.908 35 13 191 0 Flagged Totals 2155 7

Starts 18 Poles 0 Front Row 0 Wins 0 Top 5 2 Top 10 4 Retired 13

[edit] References

1. ^ Roger McCluskey Indy 500 Race Stats [1] [2]
2. ^ Roger McCluskey Indy 500 Qualifying Stats [3]

[edit] Other References

• [4] Patrick Finley; "McCluskey memorial race at local dirt track gaining momentum each year"; December 30, 2006; Arizona Daily Star; Retrieved January 15, 2007
• NASCAR and IROC statistics