Гордон Джонкок: Легенда автоспорта Индианаполиса

American racing driver (born 1936)

Gordon 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 began racing 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. 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 3rd 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.

Johncock abruptly retired from IndyCar racing during the first week of practice for the 1985 Indianapolis 500, just before qualifications. He served on the IMS Radio Network in 1985 but decided to return to racing in 1986. He planned to enter the 1986 Indianapolis 500, but his funding for a car fell through. He wound up sitting out the race. He attempted another return in 1987. During the first week of time trials, Jim Crawford suffered serious injuries to his feet. Johncock was hired to drive in replacement and qualified for the race.

Johncock completed a sixth place finish in the 1991 Indianapolis 500, despite having flu like symptoms the morning of the race. His final race was the 1992 Indianapolis 500, where he dropped out with engine failure. Since his retirement, Johncock has distanced himself from motorsports, and focuses on his timber business in Michigan. He participated in a 2004 interview on ESPN Classic's "Big Ticket" review of the 1982 Indy 500. In the interview, he admitted that his interests in racing were now limited, and was no longer his daily focus. In discussing the 1973 race, Johncock appeared to have made peace with the circumstances. While most discredit the race as being rain shortened, and for its overall miserable memories, Johncock insisted that his car was undoubtedly the fastest on the track, led easily, and was not simply in front at the time of the red flag by chance. Johncock chose not to attend the 2011 Indianapolis 500, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first race. Despite the fact that all living former participants, and particularly living former winners, were invited, Johncock did not attend any of the festivities, seemingly by choice. A year later, Speedway officials again invited him to attend, and he did return to the Speedway and participated in pre race festivities at the 2012 race. During the lead up to the 2023 Indianapolis 500, officials from Borg Warner invited Johncock to Indianapolis in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his win there in 1973. Johncock and his extended family took a ceremonial lap around the Speedway in a tour bus. After stopping for pictures at the Yard of Bricks, Johncock got into the driver's seat of the bus and took his family for an impromptu second, and final, lap around the track. During a ceremonial banquet to receive his Baby Borg, Johncock expounded on his life outside of racing, saying that farming was what he was always "caring to do."

Gordon Johncock was inducted into the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1985. www. mmshof. org
Johncock was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1999 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Johncock was inducted into the Grand Rapids, MI Sports Hall of Fame (www. grshof. com) in 2000. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

NASCAR Grand National Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Pts Ref 1966 K&K Insurance Racing 71 Dodge AUG RSD DAY7 DAY DAY29 CAR BRI ATL19 HCY CLB GPS BGS NWS MAR DAR LGY MGR MON RCH CLT DTS ASH PIF SMR AWS BLV GPS DAY ODS BRR OXF FON ISP BRI SMR NSV ATL CLB AWS BLV BGS DAR HCY RCH HBO MAR NWS NA Junior Johnson & Associates 26 Ford CLT4 CAR27 1967 R. L. Diestler 85 Plymouth AUG RSD43 DAY DAY11 DAY30 AWS BRI GPS BGS NA Ford ATL41 CLB HCY NWS MAR SVH RCH DAR BLV LGY CLT ASH MGR SMR BIR CAR GPS MGY DAY TRN OXF FDA ISP BRI SMR NSV ATL BGS CLB SVH DAR HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR NWS Bud Moore Engineering 16 Mercury CLT42 CAR5 AWS 1968 Lyle Stelter 55 Ford MGR MGY RSD DAYDNQ BRI RCH ATL HCY GPS CLB NWS MAR AUG AWS DAR BLV LGY CLT ASH MGR SMR BIR CAR GPS DAY ISP OXF FDA TRN BRI SMR NSV ATL CLB BGS AWS SBO LGY DAR HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR NWS AUG CLT CAR JFC NA

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Pts Ref 1972 Crawford Racing 22 Plymouth RSD DAY RCH ONT CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV MCH RSD TWS DAY BRI TRN ATL TAL MCH NSV DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT42 CAR TWS35 NA 1973 Ellington Racing 28 Chevy RSD DAY38 RCH CAR25 BRI ATL11 NWS DAR MAR TAL38 NSV CLT DOV TWS RSD MCH DAY4 BRI ATL TAL NSV DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR25 NA 1975 Ellington Racing 28 Chevy RSD DAY RCH CAR BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL36 NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH DAR DOV NWS MAR CLT RCH CAR BRI ATL ONT NA 1976 K&K Insurance Racing 17 Dodge RSD DAY CAR RCH BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT39 CAR ATL ONT NA

Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1966 K&K Insurance Racing Dodge 13 29 1967 R. L. Diestler Plymouth 22 30 1968 Lyle Stelter Ford DNQ 1973 Ellington Racing Chevrolet 5 38

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.) International Race of Champions results Season Make Q1 Q2 Q3 1 2 3 4 Pos. Pts Ref 1973–74 Porsche RSD10 RSD9 RSD11 DAY 11th 1976–77 Chevy MCH7 RSD10 RSD10 DAY 11th 1977–78 MCH6 RSD3 RSD10 DAY3 6th 1978–79 MCH MCH3 RSD RSD6* ATL6 6th 1979–80 MCH MCH1 RSD RSD5 ATL4 4th 26 1984 Chevy MCH3 CLE3 TAL7 MCH5 5th 45