View source for Chuck Rodee

{{Short description|American racing driver}}

[[File:Chuck Rodee circa 1963.jpg|thumb|Rodee, circa 1963]]

'''Chuck Rodee''' (born '''Charles J. Rodeghier'''; September 8, 1927 – May 14, 1966) was an American racecar driver who died while attempting to qualify for the [[1966 Indianapolis 500]].<ref name=NMARHoF>[http://worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Chuck_Rodee.htm Biography] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927033055/http://worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Chuck_Rodee.htm |date=September 27, 2007 }} at the [[National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame]]</ref>

==Midget car racing career==
Rodee won the [[Fort Wayne]] Indoor [[midget car racing|midget car]] title in 1955 at the 1/10 mile cement track, and finished third in the USAC National Midget championship. He repeated with Fort Wayne championships in 1957 and 1958. He collected his fourth track championship in 1966 before his death. He finished second in the 1956 USAC National Midget points, and third in 1965.

==Championship car career==
He drove in the [[United States Automobile Club|USAC]] [[Championship Car]] series, racing in the 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1962–1965 seasons. He finished in the top ten 4 times, with his best finish in 5th position in 1965 at Atlanta. He had 16 career starts, including the [[Indianapolis 500]] races in [[1962 Indianapolis 500|1962]] and [[1965 Indianapolis 500|1965]]. He finished in 32nd in 1962 after crashing to avoid [[Jack Turner (driver)|Jack Turner]],<ref name=NMARHoF /> and 28th in 1965.

==Death==
Rodee died while attempting to qualify for the 1966 Indianapolis 500. He spun on a second lap warm-up and backed the car into the wall exiting Turn 1. The impact appeared minor but the rigid chassis transferred virtually the entire force of the crash to the driver. Rodee suffered a ruptured aorta and lapsed into a coma. He was pronounced dead after emergency surgery failed to save him.<ref name=NMARHoF />

==Career award==
*He was inducted in the [[National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame]].<ref name=NMARHoF />

==Indy 500 results==
{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Car
!Start
!Qual
!Rank
!Finish
!Laps
!Led
!Retired
|-
![[1962 Indianapolis 500|1962]]
|88
|21
|146.969
|16
|27
|23
|0
|Steering
|-
![[1965 Indianapolis 500|1965]]
|19
|30
|154.546
|25
|28
|28
|0
|Rear End
|-
|colspan=6|'''Totals'''
|51
|0
|
|}
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Starts
|2
|-
!Poles
|0
|-
!Front Row
|0
|-
!Wins
|0
|-
!Top 5
|0
|-
!Top 10
|0
|-
!Retired
|2
|}
{{col-end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[List of Indianapolis 500 deaths|List of Indianapolis fatalities]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* {{Find a Grave|19353}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodee, Chuck}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Racing drivers from Illinois]]
[[Category:Racing drivers who died while racing]]
[[Category:Sports deaths in Indiana]]


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