Roger McCluskey (August 24, 1930 – August 29, 1993) was an American

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

driver. He was raised in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. He won championship titles in three divisions of the

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...

: Sprints, Stocks, and Champ Cars. He won the USAC

Sprint Car Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval, circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primar ...

title in 1963 and 1966, the

USAC Stock Car The USAC Stock Car division was the stock car racing class sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC). The division raced nationally; drivers from USAC's open wheel classes like American Championship car racing, Indy cars, Silver Crown, spri ...

title in 1969 and 1970. The Champ Car title in 1973. His first USAC Stock Car start resulted in a runner-up finish in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

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 American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...

(national championship) wins (including his last start at Milwaukee in 1979, which is a rarity since most drivers don't win their last race in their career). He was the USAC national champion in 1973. He started every

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

race from 1961 to 1979 except 1964, with a best finish of 3rd in 1973. He also made four

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (the top NASCAR series, known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 and 1970, then the NASCAR ...

starts from 1969 to 1977 with a best finish of second in 1970 at

Riverside International Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riversid ...

. He represented the USAC series in the 1974

International Race of Champions International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an American-motorsports equivalent of an all-star game. Despite its name, IROC was primarily ...

. 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 Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and American open-wheel racing, IndyCar from 1964 USAC Championship Car season, 1964 to 1994 IndyCar se ...

to safety-and thus saving his life-after Andretti had seriously crashed his Ford GT40 Mk.IV when a front brake locked. McCluskey died of cancer in

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

Award

He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993. He was also inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles ...

in 2011.Roger McCluskey
at the

Racing record

Complete USAC Championship Car results

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Complete PPG Indy Car World Series results

Indy 500 results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

Winston Cup Series

International Race of Champions

( key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

References

Other references

*Patrick Finley;
McCluskey memorial race at local dirt track gaining momentum each year
; December 30, 2006;

Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tucson, Arizona, and owned by Lee Enterprises. It serves Tucson and surrounding districts of Southern Arizona in the United States. History 1877–1925 L. C. Hughes was the ...

; Retrieved January 15, 2007
NASCAR and IROC statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCluskey, Roger 1930 births 1993 deaths Racing drivers from Arizona Racing drivers from Tucson, Arizona Champ Car champions Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers International Race of Champions drivers NASCAR drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers USAC Silver Crown Series drivers USAC Stock Car drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers