Kevin Cogan

Kevin Cogan

Born	March 31, 1956 (1956-03-31)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1980 - 1981
Teams	RAM, Tyrrell
Races	2 (0 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1980 Canadian Grand Prix
Last race	1981 United States Grand Prix West

Kevin Cogan (born in Culver City, CA, March 31, 1956) is a former racecar driver who drove in Formula One from 1980 to 1981. Driving a RAM Williams in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, he failed to qualify, suffering the same result driving for Tyrrell at the 1981 US GP West. He then moved over to Indy cars in 1982 but his career was cut short by a series of accidents.

1982 Indianapolis 500

For 1982, showing much potential, despite not having yet won a race, Cogan was hired to drive for Penske Racing. During time trials, he set a new one-lap track record of 204.638 mph (329.333 km/h), and a record four-lap average of 204.082 mph (328.438 km/h). He was beaten only by his Penske teammate Rick Mears.

Cogan started from the middle of the front row, next to pole-sitter Mears, and A.J. Foyt. As the field approached the start/finish line to start the race, Cogan suddenly swerved right, touching and bouncing off of A.J. Foyt's car, and directly into the path of and collecting Mario Andretti. The cars of Dale Whittington and Roger Mears, deeper in the field, were also damaged due to the field checking up. Bobby Rahal also reported getting hit from behind, but was undamaged. The race was immediately red flagged.

Cogan's shocking accident took out four cars, including himself. Foyt's team was able to make repairs, and pushed his car out for the restart attempt. Meanwhile, Andretti and Foyt were furious and outspoken about their displeasure with Cogan. Andretti shunned Cogan's attempts to explain himself with a light shove.

Andretti on live radio and television made the comment:

“

This is what happens when you have children doing a man's job up front.

”

Back in the garage area, Andretti complained about Cogan's abilities, claiming that Cogan was "looking for trouble," that he "couldn't handle the responsibilities of the front row," and that the Penske car he was driving was "too good for him."

The commonly outspoken Foyt also chimed in during comments to ABC-TV's Chris Economaki with:

“

...he ran right square into my goddamned left front...'Coogin'

”

Later Foyt said back in the garage area of the crash and of Cogan that:

“

It was a stupid deal. The guy had his head up his ass.

”

Johnny Rutherford and Bobby Unser later placed some blame of the accident on the polesitter Rick Mears, for bringing the field down at such a slow pace. Gordon Johncock, who went on to win the 1982 race, pointed out that Andretti had jumped the start, and could have avoided the spinning car of Cogan had he been lined up properly in the second row. Neither observation gained much attention.

Aftermath

Cogan quickly fell out of favor following the humiliation stemming from the accident. It was followed by a noticeable "blacklisting" by fans and press. Cogan nearly had the dubious distinction of taking out two of the most famous American auto racing legends (Foyt and Andretti) in one move in the biggest race of the season. The incident also further rehashed a standing feud between Penske Racing and Patrick Racing. A year earlier, Penske and Patrick were the key fixtures in the controversial 1981 race.

Cogan never managed to win a race in 1982, and was possibly fired by Roger Penske because of it.

The accident was never explained by the Penske team, however, several experts had reasonable opinions. Rodger Ward, working for the IMS Radio Network immediately believed the rear brakes locked up. It was a common practice for drivers in the turbocharged era to "ride the brakes" during warm up laps in order to engage the turbocharger. Others theorized it may have happened due to a broken CV joint. Some feel that Sam Posey on ABC-TV inadvertently may have added to the controversy when he proclaimed "absolutely no idea" to the question of how it could have happened, and saying "it was as if he turned the wheel intentionally." The comments led many to conclude, albeit unfairly, that the accident may have been entirely of Cogan's doing. As soon as he climbed from the car, Cogan was observed looking at the rear end axle, suggesting that he thought something broke.

Years later Donald Davidson, the historian for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, mentioned that team driver, and the more experienced, Rick Mears had a nearly identical accident during private testing at Michigan International Speedway. The accident was never disclosed to the public, even though it could have vindicated Cogan.

Later races

Four years later in 1986, Cogan switched to the Patrick Racing team and scored his first victory at Phoenix. At Indianapolis, Cogan was among the leaders all afternoon. With 13 laps to go, he made a bold pass from third to first on the mainstretch when Mears and Bobby Rahal were blocked by a slower car. Cogan held the lead late, but a yellow flag came out bunching the leaders. With 2 laps to go, the green came out and Rahal got the jump on the restart. Rahal passed Cogan just prior to crossing the start/finish line, a move that was permissible under the rules at the time, and went on to win. Cogan settled for second.

Cogan had a huge crash during the 1989 Indianapolis 500. Coming out of turn four, Cogan spun and hit the end of the pit wall. His car exploded into hundreds of pieces. The tub came to rest on its side with the engine still loosely mounted to it in one of the first few pit boxes. Cogan climbed out of the wreck. As a result of crashes like this one and a horrific 1991 practice session crash by Mark Dismore, IMS improved the pit attenuator at the end of the wall. It was tested in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 by Tomas Scheckter who walked away from a very similar crash with a very different result.

At the 1991 Indianapolis 500, Cogan broke his arm and leg in an accident during the race. Original video footage was inconclusive, and it appeared perhaps that Roberto Guerrero was to blame. An amateur home video shot from the grandstands, however, surfaced, clearly showing that Cogan was at fault for the crash.

Cogan retired from racing in 1993, with the win at Phoenix as his lone victory.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Points
1980	RAM / Rainbow Jeans Racing	Williams FW07B	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN DNQ	USA		NC	0
1981	Tyrrell Racing	Tyrrell 010	Cosworth V8	USW DNQ	BRA	ARG	SMR	BEL	MON	ESP	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	CPL	NC	0

American Open Wheel racing results

(key)

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1981	Jerry O'Connell Racing	PHX	MIL 2	ATL1 Ret	ATL2	MIS Ret	RIV Ret	MIL2 Ret	MIS2	WGL	MEX	PHX2							23rd	23
1982	Team Penske	PHX 3	ATL Ret	MIL 5	CLE 10	MIS Ret	MIL2 5	POC 2	RIV Ret	ROA Ret	MIS2 Ret	PHX2 4							6th	136
1983	Bignotti-Cotter	ATL Ret	INDY 5	MIL Ret	CLE Ret	MIS Ret	ROA Ret	POC Ret	RIV Ret	MDO 6	MIS2 Ret	CEA Ret	LS Ret	PHX 6					15th	26
1984	All American Racers	LBH Ret	PHX 8	INDY Ret	MIL 9	POR Ret	MEA Ret	CLE Ret											24th	17
	Forsythe Racing								MIS 8	ROA 10	POC DNS	MDO	SAN	MIS2	PHX2	LS	CEA
1985	Kraco Enterprises	LBH Ret	INDY 11	MIL 16	POR 5	MEA 7	CLE 9	MIS 7	ROA Ret	POC Ret	MDO Ret	SAN 9	MIS2 4	LS Ret	PHX Ret	MIA Ret			14th	44
1986	Patrick Racing	PHX 1	LBH Ret	INDY 2	MIL Ret	POR Ret	MEA Ret	CLE Ret	TOR 5	MIS Ret	POC 2	MDO 4	SAN 4	MIS2 4	ROA Ret	LS 9	PHX2 Ret	MIA 4	6th	115
1987	Patrick Racing	LBH Ret	PHX Ret	INDY Ret	MIL Ret	POR	MEA 12	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	POC 9	ROA Ret	MDO 5	NAZ 5	LS Ret	MIA Ret			16th	25
1988	Machinist Union Racing Team	PHX 8	LBH 3	INDY 11	MIL Ret	POR Ret	CLE 10	TOR Ret	MEA	MIS	POC	MDO	ROA Ret	NAZ Ret	LS 9	MIA 4			13th	40
1989	Machinist Union Racing Team	PHX 10	LBH Ret	INDY Ret	MIL Ret	DET Ret	POR Ret	CLE 11	MEA Ret	TOR 9	MIS Ret	POC Ret	MDO 10	ROA 18	NAZ	LS 8			14th	18
1990	Granatelli Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY 9	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR									23rd	4
	Stoops Racing										MIS Ret	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS
1991	Team Menard	SRF	LBH	PHX	INDY Ret	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS	51st	0
1993	Galles Racing	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY Ret	MIL	DET	POR Ret	CLE 13	TOR 15	MIS	NHM	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS		35th	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Entrant
1981	Phoenix 80	Ford Cosworth DFX	12	4	Jerry O'Connell Racing
1982	Penske PC-10	Ford Cosworth DFX	2	30	Team Penske
1983	March 83C	Ford Cosworth DFX	22	5	Bignotti-Cotter
1984	Eagle 84SB	Pontiac V8	27	20	All American Racers
1985	March 85C	Ford Cosworth DFX	32	11	Kraco Enterprises
1986	March 86C	Ford Cosworth DFX	6	2	Patrick Racing
1987	March 87C	Chevrolet 265A	24	31	Patrick Racing
1988	March 88C	Ford Cosworth DFX	13	11	Machinist Union Racing Team
1989	March 88C	Ford Cosworth DFX	27	32	Machinist Union Racing Team
1990	Penske PC-18	Buick	15	9	Granatelli Racing
1991	Lola T91/00	Buick	16	29	Team Menard
1993	Lola T93/00	Chevrolet 265C	14	14	Galles Racing