Gordon Johncock won the Indianapolis 500 twice, nine years apart. The first time, in 1973, the race was cut short by rain after a weekend in which his teammate was fatally injured. The second, in 1982, he won by 0.16 seconds, at the time the closest finish the race had ever had.
Johncock died of natural causes on Monday, September 28, 2026, at his home in South Branch, Michigan. He was 90.
Michigan
Johncock was born on August 5, 1936, in Hastings, Michigan, and spent his life in the state. He left school as a teenager to race on small Michigan tracks and made his debut in USAC Championship Car racing in 1964. Two years later he set up his own team, driving and running it.
1973
The 1973 Indianapolis 500 is remembered as one of the darkest months in the speedway’s history. On lap 58 Johncock’s Patrick Racing teammate, Swede Savage, crashed and suffered injuries that proved fatal. In the chaos, a pit crew member, Armando Teran, was struck and killed by a fire truck. Rain ended the race after 133 laps with Johncock in front.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has said his first victory “was overshadowed by tragedy”, and that the race became “an inflection point for safety, leading to a vital shift in track engineering and regulations.”
Champion
In 1976 Johncock won the USAC national championship, settling it against Johnny Rutherford at the final race of the season in Phoenix.
Six years later he returned to Victory Lane at Indianapolis after a duel with Rick Mears, holding him off by 0.16 seconds. He won the Michigan 500 the same year.
Over a career of 262 races across 26 years he won 25 times.
The sawmill
Johncock stepped back from full-time racing in 1985 but came back for occasional starts, the last of them at Indianapolis in 1992. Away from the track he ran a sawmill and was still working into his 80s.
He married his wife, Suzanne, in 1990. He had five children from his first marriage.
“Gordon left a lasting impact on the world of motorsports,” said J. Douglas Boles, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”