Bruce Rogers, the longtime owner and promoter of Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., died Wednesday night at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa.

Rogers, 82, of Bechtelsville, Pa., succumbed just over a year after suffering serious injuries in an automobile accident in Daytona Beach, Fla. Both Rogers and his wife, Teresa, were hospitalized, but Bruce’s recovery proved to be more difficult; while he improved enough to come home last year, his condition gradually deteriorated after he was hospitalized in January due to infections he had repeatedly battled to overcome.

The son of Grandview Speedway founder Forrest Rogers, Bruce took over operation of the high-banked, third-mile oval following the passing of his father in 1967, four years after the elder Rogers opened the track. Alongside his wife and family, Rogers built the eastern Pennsylvania facility into a popular Saturday-night venue with NASCAR-sanctioned 358 Late Models running weekly alongside the headline small-block modified division. Among the attractions that Rogers brought to Grandview as part of the Thunder on the Hill special-event series he co-promoted with Bob Miller was a 2009 World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series show.

“He loved his family and his racetrack more then life,” Rogers’s family said in a statement announcing his death.

Along with his wife, Rogers is survived by son Kenny (husband of Colleen); daughter Tina (wife of Don Schaeffer); grandchildren Bradley Missimer, Justin Rogers, Brittany Rogers, Kasey Missimer and Taylor Rogers; great-grandchild Hunter Missimer; and sister Edna Shaw.

Visitation will be held April 5 from 6-9 p.m. at Catagnus Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Inc., 1020 E. Philadelphia Ave., Gilbertsville, Pa. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Bruce’s memory to the Checkered Flag Fan Club at P.O. Box 79, Kutztown, Pa.,19530, in support of injured drivers.