INDIANAPOLIS — Gordon Johncock spent the later decades of his life farming and wood milling among the wilderness of northern Michigan. On Monday he was back in Indianapolis to be honored for a racing career that reached its pinnacle a half-century earlier.
Johncock is a 2-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, the first coming in 1973.
To mark the 50th anniversary, Borg Warner presented Johncock with his own 'Baby Borg' trophy. It is a smaller version of the famed trophy that features faces of the race winners.
The tradition for the mini-Borg dates back to 1988, and has been given in retrospect to many of the great former champions of years prior.
Dozens of family and friends gathered at Binkley's in Broad Ripple for the occasion on Monday.
There were also a half-dozen former pit crew members from Johncock's days driving the famed STP car of the late 1970's and early 80's.
He would race to his second Indianapolis win in 1982, in between that winning the USAC national championship in 1976.
He made 24 career starts in the Indy 500, which ranks him fourth all-time.
"I wasn't much for media appearances and all that", said Johncock. "I'd get done racing and head back to the farm, back to the woods. I was just getting back to work."
Gordon received a Borg-Warner plaque for his first win in '73, but Monday's Baby Borg presentation brings an amazing and often-overlooked racing career full circle.
