Jeff Gordon won both IROC races on the temporary street circuit ahead of IndyCar qualifying for the Freedom 250.
The two-race exhibition featured eight former champions in historic Pontiac Firebirds, with the field set by random draw for Race 1. Bobby Labonte and Bill Elliott started on the front row, while Gordon rolled off seventh in the eight-car field.
That didn’t slow him down much. Gordon worked his way through traffic and passed four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves with five laps remaining to take the lead. Kurt Busch, NASCAR’s first playoff-era champion, followed him through for second place.
A First Street Course Win for a Road Course King
The victory carried some extra weight for Gordon, who holds the NASCAR record for road course wins with nine. It was his first time racing on a street course at all.
“I mean, it’s awesome to be on a street course,” Gordon said. “My first time ever on a street course, but to just have to learn the different nuances of where the bumps are, where you can go into the braking zones, how to get the downshifts done smoothly. And I’m learning from all these guys, but more importantly, I’m just having a blast being out there with heroes of mine and legends in racing.”
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The win puts Gordon in some interesting company. Shane van Gisbergen, the driver most likely to chase down Gordon’s NASCAR road course record, won in his first-ever NASCAR start on a street course too. van Gisbergen sits with eight wins in 14 starts.
Gordon credited his familiarity with the car for the smooth transition. The IROC Firebirds, built to 1996-2006 specifications, feel close to what he drove in his Cup Series days.
“I mean, this car’s very natural to me,” Gordon said. “I’ve driven cars like this. They’re very similar to, say, an O’Reilly car or the older Cup cars that I raced. So I’m very familiar with it. It’s probably a little bit more of a learning curve for guys like Helio and Tommy [Kendall].”
Castroneves, who finished third in the first race, said he had a chance to push harder for second but held back with another race still to come.
“This is a blast, let me tell you,” Castroneves said. “I mean, racing with those guys, they are absolutely amazing. Kurt and Jeff, I mean, all the rest of it. But in the end, we’re just getting so tight together with those guys. I had a little moment that I could try past Kurt, but I thought about, okay, we have a second race. I got to take care of this car. But I want to talk to my team owner to see if I can put a little scratch and be a little more aggressive.”
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Race 2 Repeats the Script
The second race inverted the field, putting Gordon on the back row again. He and Busch repeated their charge, finishing first and second once more.
Gordon celebrated with a burnout on the start-finish line along Pennsylvania Ave.
Castroneves was running toward another podium finish when he spun in turn four with four laps left while battling Tony Kanaan, a fellow Indianapolis 500 winner. Kanaan, who started on pole after finishing last in Race 1, took third.
The event gave fans who secured free tickets a chance to see a generation of racing talent share the same track, with Gordon showing that even a first street course appearance can look routine when the car feels right.
