Two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Gordon Johncock died Monday from natural causes at his home in South Branch, Michigan. The veteran racer and 25-time IndyCar race winner was 90 years old, a family spokesman said.
Johncock competed against top drivers at The Brickyard. His rivals included A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford and Mario Andretti. He carved out his own niche with small-town roots and flannel shirts.
Johncock won the 1976 USAC title in an IndyCar. He secured his first Indianapolis 500 victory in 1973. He won the race again in 1982 by beating Mears by 0.16 seconds.
“By far the biggest thrill of my racing career was winning Indianapolis in 1982,” Johncock once said. “The way it happened, the competition, so many near wins after 1973 and it all came together and the car lasted in 1982. 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.”
Rain forced the 1973 race to run over three days. Officials shortened it to 133 laps. Fatal crashes took the lives of drivers Art Pollard and Johncock’s Patrick Racing teammate, Swede Savage. Savage was pronounced dead in early July.
A Patrick Racing crew member died when struck by a responding fire truck. Driver David “Salt” Walther suffered severe burns in a fiery catch-fence crash that injured nearly a dozen fans. Johncock started 11th and stayed on the lead lap before rain stopped the event.
“I didn’t feel that race was given to us,” Johncock told Autoweek. “If we had only led one or two laps and happened to be settin’ there when they stopped it and won it that way, then I guess you wouldn’t have earned it very well.”
Johncock drove a family tractor at age 5 in Hastings, Michigan. He entered the IndyCar Series in 1964 and placed fifth in 1965 as an Indianapolis 500 rookie. He made 24 starts in the race, finished third twice, and took fourth twice.
Johncock ran 262 IndyCar races between 1964 and 1992 and retired twice. In 1967, he joined Foyt as the sport’s only owner-driver. He also made 21 NASCAR starts, including three at the Daytona 500.
He entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1997. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999.
IndyCar represents the highest level of open-wheel auto racing in North America. The Indianapolis 500 takes place annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sanctioning bodies organize these competitive track events.
Survivors include his wife, Sue, along with three daughters, two sons and two stepdaughters. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
