Al Gordon (racing driver) explained
| Al Gordon |
| Birth Name: | Edgar Alan Gordon |
| Birth Date: | 27 March 1902 |
| Birth Place: | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Titles: | AAA West Coast Big Car (1933) |
| Module1: | |
Edgar Alan Gordon (March 27, 1902 – January 26, 1936) was an American racing driver.[1]
Life and racing career
A postman from Redlands, California[2] who also became a Long Beach night club owner among other things, Gordon took up racing in 1925.
Gordon made nine starts in the AAA-sanctioned national championship from 1932 to 1935 and entered two non-points paying races after that, scoring a win at Oakland Speedway in January 1936. He drove in the Indianapolis 500 in 1932, 1934, and 1935, but never finished the race, having qualified second in 1935.[3] A regular at Legion Ascot Speedway, Gordon won the AAA Pacific Coast championship in 1933.[4]
Death
While competing in another AAA non-championship race in January 1936, both Gordon and his riding mechanic, Spider Matlock, were fatally injured in a crash at Ascot,[5] [6] which ended racing at the Los Angeles track.[7]
Awards and honors
Gordon was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1999.
Motorsports career results
Indianapolis 500 results
| Year | Car | Start | Qual | Rank | Finish | Laps | Led | Retired |
|---|
| 1932 | 26 | 37 | 111.290 | 17 | 40 | 3 | 0 | Crash T4 |
|---|
| 1934 | 51 | 17 | 116.273 | 5 | 22 | 66 | 0 | Crash T1 |
|---|
| 1935 | 6 | 2 | 119.481 | 2 | 30 | 17 | 0 | Crash T4 |
|---|
| Totals | 86 | 0 | | |
| | Starts | 3 |
|---|
| Poles | 0 |
|---|
| Front Row | 1 |
|---|
| Wins | 0 |
|---|
| Top 5 | 0 |
|---|
| Top 10 | 0 |
|---|
| Retired | 3 | |
|---|
| |
[8] Notes and References
- Web site: Al Gordon. OldRacingCars.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20210116124141/https://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Al_Gordon. 2021-01-16. live.
- Web site: Al Gordon. National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum. https://web.archive.org/web/20190619150458/https://www.sprintcarhof.com/helper_pages/FileGet.aspx?id=96. 2019-06-19. live.
- Web site: Al Gordon. ChampCarStats.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20221127075002/http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/GordonAl.htm. 2022-11-27. live.
- Web site: AutoRacingRecords.com . 2024-03-31 . www.autoracingrecords.com.
- Web site: Essential racing history. Donnelly. Jim. September 28, 2009. Hemmings Motor News. https://web.archive.org/web/20220305141043/https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2009/09/28/essential-racing-history. 2022-03-05. live.
- Web site: Legion Ascot Speedway 1924–1936. Lincoln Heights LA. https://web.archive.org/web/20180727093348/http://www.lincolnheightsla.com/ascot/. 2018-07-27. dead.
- News: Crash ends racing at Legion Ascot. Los Angeles Times. January 27, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20220228202521/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-27-me-a2anniversary27-story.html. 2022-02-28. live.
- Web site: Al Gordon Indianapolis 500 stats. IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20190801083730/https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/history/historical-stats/driver-stats/drivers/al-gordon. 2019-08-01. dead.
