Cogan made his Indycar debut at the 1981 Indianapolis 500, driving the No. 32 Sugaripe Prunes Phoenix PR-01-Cosworth DFX for Jerry O'Connell Racing, as part of the USAC Gold Crown Championship. Cogan qualified in 12th place and finished the race in fourth place with 197 laps complete. Despite this Cogan lost the Rookie of the Year Award to Josele Garza. Cogan then competed in the rival &lt;a href="Champ%20Car"&gt;CART/PPG World Series&lt;/a&gt; for O'Connell. In his debut, the Gould Rex Mays Classic at the Milwaukee Mile Cogan qualified in seventh place and finished in second. After the race Cogan was ranked fifth in points. Cogan participated in four more races that season with his best finish coming at the Los Angeles Times 500 at Riverside International Raceway. Cogan finished his debut CART season 23rd in points.