Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon Put On Electric IROC Battle In Exhibition Event at Ten Tenths

By Toby Christie, April 10, 2026 //

In a thrilling battle, where the two NASCAR Cup Series legends swapped the lead numerous times over the course of the 12-lap event around the 1.7-mile road course, the two NASCAR Hall of Famers brought the sold-out crowd to their feet.

In the end, it was Busch, who crossed the finish line first, in his purple IROC Pontiac Firebird, but Gordon was right there on his heels, driving his silver IROC Firebird.

On the top step of the podium, after the race, Busch was in awe of how it felt like the clock had been turned back on Friday afternoon in the IROC exhibition race.

"It's amazing. Just the camaraderie and the fun that we all got to have. Just seeing all the cars on the track, all the colors, and the teamwork," Busch said. "Everyone, from IROC, Ray Evernham -- round of applause for Ray. He told me to get my car out from under a cover that it had been under for 20 years, and it's cool. It made us feel like kids again."

As Busch was locked in a hard-fought battle with Gordon, he had to reach into his old bag of tricks to pull off the win, as both drivers had sections of the course where they excelled.

"And like Jeff was saying, Jeff was strong on the fast rights and into the braking zone, and it was like old school, like who is quick and where? And then the track did grease over, so, it was like that old school fun of I've got to figure this out to bring home the [win]," Busch explained.

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