Hall of Fame Iowa driver dies at 87
National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Roger Dolan, the inaugural NASCAR Busch All-Star Tour champion in 1985 and two years later the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series champion, died Tuesday at the Rehabilitation Center in his hometown of Lisbon, Iowa. He was 87.
An obituary from Stewart Baxter Funeral Home listed the cause as dementia.
Dolan (pictured third from left above at his Hall of Fame induction in 2017) collected more than 400 victories during his career, more than 100 of them in the famed “Flying 50” owned by fellow Hall of Famers Larry and Penny Eckrich.
He was a seven-time winner on the NASCAR Busch All-Star Tour, one of them in the tour’s ’85 finale as he captured the tour title by a single point over fellow Hall of Famer Steve Kosiski. Dolan’s best season came as a 50-year-old in 1987 when he racked up 33 feature victories en route to NASCAR’s short-track title for the Eckrich team.
Among his major victories were a pair of Miller 100s at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as well as the 1970 Freeport (Ill.) Invitational and the 1975 Illinois State Championship on the Springfield Mile.
He was the All-Iowa points champion in 1985 and ’87 and won 11 track championships among five Iowa tracks: Hawkeye Downs, Farley, Dubuque, West Liberty and Eldon.
Dolan founded and operated a metal fabricating business, Dolan Metal Products Lisbon.
Survivors include his wife Barbara, daughter Carrie Dolan-Heeren and son Ryan, also a successful Dirt Late Model competitor. Dolan also had two grandchildren. No services were planned although a private family graveside gathering will be held later. Dolan donated his body to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine for scientific purposes.
