427:, Roper's no. 89 Mueller Brother's Racing Ford slowed on lap 17 and began to bounce off the inside wall. The car then found the pit entry and crashed into some pit equipment, sending spectators running. Roper was pulled from the car and rushed to the hospital. It was announced at the conclusion of the race that Roper had suffered a heart attack, resulting in the odd crash. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Roper died less than one year after his son Tony was killed in a Truck Series Race at
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361:, and was able to avoid problems to come home 15th, six laps down. Roper would run one other race that season at Talladega, starting 30th and finishing 18th at the Winston 500. Roper would run three races in 1984, once again running for the Mueller Brother's Racing team. Roper would finish 16th at the
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Roper would finish third at
Springfield, while winning races at Indianapolis and DuQuoin. Roper would remain winless in ARCA until 1994, collecting what would be his final victory. By 2000, Roper was beginning to consider retirement, as ARCA was becoming more competitive, and small teams like the
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Mueller
Brothers were having trouble keeping up. During an interview before the 2001 Par-A-Dice 100, Roper hinted that it could be his final start. Because of his success on dirt, Roper acquired the nickname "ARCA's Dean of Dirt".
365:. Roper would also run the first Talladega race, where oil pump problems left him 28th, and the Firecracker 400, finishing 21st. Roper's final NASCAR attempt came in 1985, missing the Daytona 500 driving for Ron Spohn.
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Most of Roper's major success came in ARCA racing, where he would score 10 wins, eight of which came on dirt tracks. Roper made 37 starts in the series, most of which came at two tracks, Springfield and
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Roper made his final start at
Daytona in 1986, finishing last in the field of 40 cars after a lap four crash. Roper would win once again at Springfield and DuQuoin, and would come in seventh at
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Roper was an accomplished dirt late model racer in the
Midwest. Roper's racing career began in 1960. He won five St. Louis area track titles from 1967 to 1973.
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Roper would only run two races in 1984, Springfield and DuQuoin, losing the engine at
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Roper won the USAC Stock Car
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536:"Driver Dean Roper 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info"
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518:"05/01/1983 race: Winston 500 (Cup) - Racing-Reference.info"
500:"02/20/1983 race: Daytona 500 (Cup) - Racing-Reference.info"
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46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
423:While competing at the 2001 Par-A-Dice 100 at the
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313:. He was also the father of NASCAR driver
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106:Learn how and when to remove this message
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378:. Roper won in his series debut at the
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584:driver statistics at Racing-Reference
1238:Racing drivers who died while racing
44:adding citations to reliable sources
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1233:People from Greene County, Missouri
350:Roper made his NASCAR debut at the
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449:"Motorsport Memorial - Dean Roper"
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202:5 races run over 3 years
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1263:USAC Stock Car drivers
118:American racing driver
1182:Contreras Motorsports
715:NASCAR Xfinity Series
162:Springfield, Illinois
429:Texas Motor Speedway
299:Fair Grove, Missouri
145:Fair Grove, Missouri
40:improve this article
1132:NASCAR Hall of Fame
835:ARCA Menards Series
770:NASCAR Truck Series
656:Ken Schrader Racing
591:Sporting positions
453:Motorsport Memorial
311:ARCA Racing Series
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29:This article
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1161:1999 (Baird)
1018:Billy Thomas
985:
981:Will Rodgers
948:Ross Kenseth
943:Jimmy Horton
920:Scott Hansen
915:Kevin Hamlin
894:Tyler Dippel
871:Tobey Butler
854:Hunter Baize
845:Lyndon Amick
820:Mike Wallace
795:Scott Hansen
785:Tobey Butler
780:Lyndon Amick
750:Jimmy Horton
740:Doug Heveron
735:Scott Hansen
725:Bobby Dotter
680:Ken Schrader
663:Years active
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561:. Retrieved
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484:December 23,
482:. Retrieved
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326:Local tracks
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179:Achievements
173:Heart Attack
157:(2001-08-19)
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96:January 2021
93:
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55:"Dean Roper"
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38:Please help
33:verification
30:
1223:2001 deaths
1218:1938 births
1113:Cole Custer
1106:(2007–2013)
1073:Kyle Fowler
1068:Cole Custer
1046:(2008–2014)
1031:Perry Tripp
976:Scott Riggs
938:Bret Holmes
905:Kyle Fowler
901:Jeff Finley
879:Cole Custer
858:Kelly Bires
838:(1989–2020)
773:(1995–2015)
760:Dave Marcis
755:Ernie Irvan
718:(1987–2002)
599:Joe Ruttman
369:ARCA Racing
228:Daytona 500
208:Best finish
1212:Categories
1192:RAB Racing
1118:Boris Said
1093:Matt Tifft
1078:Quin Houff
1027:Matt Tifft
1009:Bob Strait
1004:Brad Smith
994:Boris Said
990:Brian Ross
986:Dean Roper
850:Bill Baird
706:Brian Ross
611:1981–1983
582:Dean Roper
435:References
396:Bob Brevak
315:Tony Roper
221:First race
195:Cup Series
138:1938-12-26
127:Dean Roper
66:newspapers
866:Chad Boat
673:Personnel
667:1987–2020
608:Champion
239:Last race
929:Bob Hill
898:Ed Dixon
790:Ron Esau
458:31 March
264:Top tens
186:champion
563:18 July
376:DuQuoin
359:Pontiac
80:scholar
700:(1990)
346:NASCAR
212:49th (
197:career
192:NASCAR
164:, U.S.
147:, U.S.
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419:Death
268:Poles
87:JSTOR
73:books
565:2022
486:2020
460:2023
334:USAC
309:and
261:Wins
243:1984
225:1983
214:1984
152:Died
132:Born
59:news
42:by
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