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Gordon Johncock
Gordon Walter Johncock (born August 5, 1936) is an American former racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, and was the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion.
Johncock initially began racing at Michigan tracks like the Old Hastings, MI Raceway, Capital City Speedway in Lansing, MI, the Grand Rapids MI Speedrome, and later at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. Johncock began his USAC and CART/IndyCar career in 1964 when he drove for Weinberger Racing. He ran four races in 1964, and then went full-time in 1965. Johncock's first USAC victory was scored at the Milwaukee Mile in August 1965. In 1966, he went winless in nine starts out of 16 races, so he left Gerhardt Racing at the end of the year, to form his own team, Johncock Racing. His primary sponsor became Gilmore Broadcasting and Johncock was the only other "owner-driver" in IndyCar other than A. J. Foyt. Although Johncock's team won six races in a three-year period (1967-1969), things went downhill when Johncock lost the Gilmore sponsorship at the end of 1970. Between 1970 and 1973, Johncock went winless, his team shuttered operations, and Johncock found himself in bankruptcy court. He also was involved in a divorce with his ex-wife.
Johncock's winless drought came to an end when he joined the STP/Patrick Racing team ahead of the 1973 USAC season. At the 1973 Indianapolis 500, a major accident at the start involving Salt Walther, coupled with two days of rain, postponed the race until late Wednesday afternoon. When the race was held, Johncock's teammate Swede Savage was severely injured in a fiery crash on lap 58. A moment later, Armando Teran, a pit crew member on the same STP/Patrick team, was struck by a fire truck going northbound in the pits, and was fatally injured at the scene. When the race resumed, Johncock took the lead on lap 73 and held it until rain fell again on the 133rd lap. Nearing 6 p.m., the race was red flagged and declared over. After a short and muted victory lane celebration, Johncock went to visit Savage at the hospital. Afterward, the celebratory victory banquet was cancelled. Instead, Johncock and his crew went to a local fast-food restaurant for hamburgers. 33 days after the race, Savage died from his injuries.
Johncock won the USAC national championship in 1976, snatching the title from Johnny Rutherford in the final race of the season at Phoenix International Raceway. In 1976 and 1978 he finished third at Indianapolis, and in 1977 he was leading A. J. Foyt when the car's crankshaft broke with sixteen laps to go. In 1979, he won the inaugural race contested under CART sanction, the Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150 at Phoenix.
Johncock took a second Indianapolis 500 victory in 1982 by a car length over Rick Mears. After falling behind on the final sequence of pit stops, Mears was rapidly closing on Johncock in the final laps, and on the 197th and 198th laps came from 3 seconds back to within car lengths. Johncock's tires were deteriorating by the lap, and with each turn, the car understeered more severely. Mears caught Johncock at the start of the final lap and tried to pass him for the win, but Johncock made a decisive defense of first place in Turn One and held on to win by 0.16 seconds. At the time it was the closest finish in history and remains the fourth-closest behind the 1992, 2014, and 2006 races. Mears would later joke about watching the race over and over "to see if this time I get around Gordy". Johncock, during a live interview on ABC years later, offered that if the dramatic duel had occurred two or three years later—when Mears had additional experience—the Californian would probably have pulled off the winning pass.
Johncock took another three Indycar races, including the 1982 Michigan 500 to complete two legs of what was then known as the Triple Crown (Indianapolis, Michigan, and Pocono) before retiring from full-time racing in 1985. He returned for occasional appearances in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991 and retired for good after the 1992 Indianapolis 500.
Johncock's last Indycar win was in the opening round of the 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series at the Atlanta Motor Speedway driving a Cosworth powered Patrick Wildcat. Johncock, who started third on the grid, won the 200 mile, 132 lap race at an average of 146.133 mph from the Penske-Cosworth of Al Unser and John Paul Jr. in a 1982 model Penske-Cosworth.
Johncock competed in 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in his career. He earned three top-fives and four top-tens in his limited schedules. The best of those finishes were a pair of fourths in 1973 at Daytona and 1966 at Rockingham.
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Gordon Johncock
Gordon Walter Johncock (born August 5, 1936) is an American former racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, and was the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion.
Johncock initially began racing at Michigan tracks like the Old Hastings, MI Raceway, Capital City Speedway in Lansing, MI, the Grand Rapids MI Speedrome, and later at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. Johncock began his USAC and CART/IndyCar career in 1964 when he drove for Weinberger Racing. He ran four races in 1964, and then went full-time in 1965. Johncock's first USAC victory was scored at the Milwaukee Mile in August 1965. In 1966, he went winless in nine starts out of 16 races, so he left Gerhardt Racing at the end of the year, to form his own team, Johncock Racing. His primary sponsor became Gilmore Broadcasting and Johncock was the only other "owner-driver" in IndyCar other than A. J. Foyt. Although Johncock's team won six races in a three-year period (1967-1969), things went downhill when Johncock lost the Gilmore sponsorship at the end of 1970. Between 1970 and 1973, Johncock went winless, his team shuttered operations, and Johncock found himself in bankruptcy court. He also was involved in a divorce with his ex-wife.
Johncock's winless drought came to an end when he joined the STP/Patrick Racing team ahead of the 1973 USAC season. At the 1973 Indianapolis 500, a major accident at the start involving Salt Walther, coupled with two days of rain, postponed the race until late Wednesday afternoon. When the race was held, Johncock's teammate Swede Savage was severely injured in a fiery crash on lap 58. A moment later, Armando Teran, a pit crew member on the same STP/Patrick team, was struck by a fire truck going northbound in the pits, and was fatally injured at the scene. When the race resumed, Johncock took the lead on lap 73 and held it until rain fell again on the 133rd lap. Nearing 6 p.m., the race was red flagged and declared over. After a short and muted victory lane celebration, Johncock went to visit Savage at the hospital. Afterward, the celebratory victory banquet was cancelled. Instead, Johncock and his crew went to a local fast-food restaurant for hamburgers. 33 days after the race, Savage died from his injuries.
Johncock won the USAC national championship in 1976, snatching the title from Johnny Rutherford in the final race of the season at Phoenix International Raceway. In 1976 and 1978 he finished third at Indianapolis, and in 1977 he was leading A. J. Foyt when the car's crankshaft broke with sixteen laps to go. In 1979, he won the inaugural race contested under CART sanction, the Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150 at Phoenix.
Johncock took a second Indianapolis 500 victory in 1982 by a car length over Rick Mears. After falling behind on the final sequence of pit stops, Mears was rapidly closing on Johncock in the final laps, and on the 197th and 198th laps came from 3 seconds back to within car lengths. Johncock's tires were deteriorating by the lap, and with each turn, the car understeered more severely. Mears caught Johncock at the start of the final lap and tried to pass him for the win, but Johncock made a decisive defense of first place in Turn One and held on to win by 0.16 seconds. At the time it was the closest finish in history and remains the fourth-closest behind the 1992, 2014, and 2006 races. Mears would later joke about watching the race over and over "to see if this time I get around Gordy". Johncock, during a live interview on ABC years later, offered that if the dramatic duel had occurred two or three years later—when Mears had additional experience—the Californian would probably have pulled off the winning pass.
Johncock took another three Indycar races, including the 1982 Michigan 500 to complete two legs of what was then known as the Triple Crown (Indianapolis, Michigan, and Pocono) before retiring from full-time racing in 1985. He returned for occasional appearances in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991 and retired for good after the 1992 Indianapolis 500.
Johncock's last Indycar win was in the opening round of the 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series at the Atlanta Motor Speedway driving a Cosworth powered Patrick Wildcat. Johncock, who started third on the grid, won the 200 mile, 132 lap race at an average of 146.133 mph from the Penske-Cosworth of Al Unser and John Paul Jr. in a 1982 model Penske-Cosworth.
Johncock competed in 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in his career. He earned three top-fives and four top-tens in his limited schedules. The best of those finishes were a pair of fourths in 1973 at Daytona and 1966 at Rockingham.