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 and Andretti. 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.
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