SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- When the checkered flag waved Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon had one more lap to run.
As Tony Stewart finished his final Brickyard 400 start, he asked Gordon to take one more trip around the speedway to acknowledge the fans.
"It was cool," Stewart said. "I knew when we got the checkered we just didn’t want to come in just yet. I wanted to run one more lap and Jeff was around us -- before that last green run I told my spotter to go get his spotter and said after this thing is over, we need to go a lap around here together because most likely is the last time we’ll both get a chance to do that."
So they took to the track one final time.
"Thank you to Tony Stewart," Gordon said. "What a class act he is. It meant a lot to me that he invited me to come and make that last lap with him. It was a special moment.”
Gordon said that he and Stewart have become "really good friends" over the years of competing against one another.
"I’ve always known what a great guy and what a great race car driver he is, and now I know more about who Tony Stewart really is," Gordon said. "I’m just so proud that I was able to be here and race with him in his final race."
"I couldn’t think of a better guy to share that moment with than Jeff,” Stewart said.