Gordon Johncock (1973, 1982)

A Tale of Two Races.

Gordon Johncock's 24 career starts in the Indy 500 can be broken down into his two biggest races - the two times he crossed the finish line first. One of those races ended in the most exciting finish in 500 history to date. The other was filled and marred with such tragedy that most racers and fans were probably just happy that the race ended before anything more could go wrong.

Ups and downs, that's pretty much what defined the career of Gordon Johncock.


The 1973 Indy 500 is one nobody is soon to forget, though everyone involved with that horrific day wishes they could, including the winner of the race.

On race day, rain delays the start nearly four hours. As the field heads towards the green flag in perfect rows of three, Stan Walther (middle of row 6, literally the middle of the field) crashes into the outside wall and catch fence. His car flips over, bursts into flames, sprays fuel everywhere, including into the stands. 11 spectators are injured in the wreck, and 11 cars are caught up in the incident.

Shortly after the wreck, rain returns and the race is postponed. Rain washes out the next day as well, the first time in history that the race is postponed two straight days. Finally, the next day, the green flag would fly again. However, another rain delay in the morning gave drivers even more time to think about what they have already gone through.

Johncock takes the lead on lap 40, but quickly relinquishes it to teammate Swede Savage three laps later.  Savage only holds on to the lead for 11 laps, and then four laps later on lap 58, tragedy strikes again. He loses control coming out of turn 4 (he may have grazed the turn 4 wall), slides across the track and slams into the inside wall, bursting into flames. Many consider his crash to be the worst single-car incident in motorsports history. Fire trucks speed through pit lane to try to reach Savage's burning car. As they do, one truck strikes and kills Armando Teran, a crew member for another one of Savage's teammates.

A red flag waves while track members clean up the wreck. The race resumes over an hour later (after a thorough attempt to clean up not only the wreck but the rest of the track as well) with Al Unser in the lead. 14 laps later on lap 73, mechanical problems slow the leader and Johncock takes over the lead. He controls the rest of the attrition-filled race when the yellow flag comes out on lap 129 for rain. Four laps later, the checkered flag waves as the rain intensifies. Only ten cars remain running at the end with Johncock in the lead.

To end a terrible month, an unforgettable 500, Savage passes away on July 2nd from injuries sustained in the lap 58 wreck.

The 1982 race is a much nicer story for Indy lore. The race features a three way battle between Johncock, consistent front-runner Tom Sneva, and legend Rick Mears. On lap 160, Johncock blows by Mears into first place, but Mears and Sneva keep Johncock in sight. Johncock makes his pit stop five seconds quicker than Mears and leads by 11 seconds after all three pit. Mears has just 15 laps to try to catch Gordy.

Mears cuts that 11 second lead in half by lap 193 and is running fast laps of the race. By lap 196 he's only 3 seconds behind Johncock. Mears dodges and weaves through lapped traffic as he tries to catch the leader. Sneva tries to stay close, but he loses his engine and limps into the pits with smoke pouring out of the back of his machine just three laps short of the finish line.

With the white flag waving, Mears darts inside and pulls even with Johncock, but Gordy slams the door as they go into turn 1. Mears catches him again going into turn 3, but Johncock holds him off once again. Coming out of turn 4 it's a drag race, and Gordy holds off the great Rick Mears by 0.16 seconds, less than a car length, for the closest finish in Indy history to date (currently the third closest). Mears to this day still watches that race replay again, thinking "Maybe this time I'll get around Gordy." He didn't, though, and Johncock has his second Borg-Warner Trophy.

Ups and downs. Big ups of winning, the downs of losing your friends. Johncock has distanced himself from auto racing, has said that he does not have much interest in the sport any more. A sad ending to a great career, Johncock still is one of the greatest to lap the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.