WASHINGTON – Jeff Gordon has won a race in a single-seater for the first time since 2015. The 55-year-old won both of the International Race of Champions races on the streets of Washington, D.C., on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s IndyCar race, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.
Gordon came from seventh in the eight-car field to outlast Kurt Busch and Helio Castroneves in the first race. The starting grid for the second race was then inverted from the results of the first race, meaning Gordon started last and finished first in the 10-lap race on the 7-turn, 1.7-mile street course.
Gordon, a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and five-time Brickyard 400 winner, outdid a star-studded lineup of former NASCAR and IndyCar champions – Busch, Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Tommy Kendall and Bobby Labonte. The race was done inside Pontiac Firebirds. For Gordon, who retired from NASCAR after the 2016 season, Saturday’s exhibition felt like the real deal again.
“By the way, I didn’t sleep at all last night,” said Gordon, who has a new exhibit in the IMS Museum. “I mean, these days, I sleep like a baby; I have no problem sleeping. I could not sleep last night at all. So it goes to show that it doesn’t matter what’s on the line. You can’t help but be competitive and take it serious.”
IROC was invented in 1973 by Roger Penske, Les Richter and Mike Phelps. Typically running four races per year, the stock car series served as a motorsports all-star event, with IndyCar and NASCAR legends participating. IROC’s last full season occurred in 2006 before it shut down and sold its equipment in 2008.
In 2024, Ray Evernham – who’s now the secretary and treasurer of IndyCar’s new Independent Officiating Board – revived IROC racing alongside motorsport executive Rob Kauffman. Saturday’s race served as the fifth IROC race since its revival.
“It’s great to see the mix and how Ray can bring all of us together,” Kanaan said. “And there’s not this NASCAR (vs.) IndyCar – it’s racing. Everybody loves racing.”
While Gordon has the most road course wins in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series, he had never raced on a street course until Saturday. The Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman went 2-for-2 in his first career street races, to which Kanaan joked, “Oh great, rub it up.”
Gordon’s win serves as the warmup for Sunday’s 147-lap, 250-mile IndyCar race (1:13 p.m. green flag). The 25 IndyCar drivers will endure a much longer battle to win the one-time event.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Jeff Gordon wins Freedom 250 IROC exhibition: ‘It doesn’t matter what’s on the line’
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
