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Gordon Johncock, two-time Indy 500 winner, dies at 90
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Gordon Johncock, two-time Indy 500 winner, dies at 90
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Gordon Johncock, a two-time Indianapolis 500 champion, died Monday, Sept. 28 in his South Branch, Michigan, home. He was 90 years old.
Johncock won the Indy 500 in 1973 and 1982. He is survived by his wife, Sue, five children – Peggy, Patsy, Pamilee, Wally and Gordon Jr. – stepdaughter (Valerie Heffelbowe and Traci Burnsed), 12 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.
Johncock was not one to be in the light often. After his second retirement from racing, he owned Quigley Lumber, a Michigan business where he cut and sold timber.
"I've never been a person who wanted to be out in public and make appearances – I don't like that stuff," Johncock told IndyStar in 2016. "I've never said this before, but that's one reason I never pressured Roger Penske for a ride. He had his guys doing PR work constantly; there never was any relief.
"Although, if I had (joined Team Penske), I probably would have had a lot better record than I did."
Johncock was inducted into the IMS Museum Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002. He won 25 races, 20 poles and the 1976 IndyCar (then USAC) championship. Johncock competed in 24 Indy 500s, finishing in the top five eight times and leading 339 laps. Johncock also started 21 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, although he was never a full-time driver.
Johncock said the 1982 Indy 500, which he won by just 0.160 seconds over Rick Mears, was the "biggest thrill" of his racing career. Johncock outdueled Mears, who has a record-tying four Indy 500 wins, by the sixth slimmest margin in Indy 500 history (at the time it was the closest margin). Johncock felt more gratitude for his second Indy 500 win after his first came in a rain-shortened, 133-lap race.
"The way it happened, the competition, so many near wins after 1973 and it all came together and the car lasted in 1982," Johncock said in 2023. "Plus I've got amazing respect for Rick Mears – one of the very best. He was never my teammate but I think we could have been good ones. I think the more pressure that was on me during a race the better I did and with the car pushing so bad and Rick on my tail, it was great. I'll never forget it. There are so many memories from that day – the crazy start, my final pit stop and winning by such a narrow margin – lastly pushing so hard the final laps with Rick in my mirrors."
Johncock was part of one of the most accomplished rookie classes in Indy 500 history in 1965. That was the same year that Mario Andretti and Al Unser debuted in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. In Johncock's final Indy 500 start in 1992, he became the second oldest driver to compete in the race at 55 years and 272 days old. Only A.J. Foyt, who was 57 years and 129 days old in that same 1992 race, has done it at an older age than Johncock.
Johncock drove for most of his career at Patrick Racing, where he won both of his Indy 500s. He made 76 podiums in his career.
Zion Brown is IndyStar's motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar's motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Gordon Johncock, two-time Indy 500 winner, dies at 90
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