“See you at Indy next year” - NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon reacts to IndyCar broadcaster’s retirement

Former NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon has shared his reaction to sports broadcaster Dave Calabro’s retirement. The latter worked as a broadcaster for nearly 40 years and joined the WTHR team in 1992. After 32 successful years with WTHR, Calabro will be retiring at the end of the current year. He is the Sports Director for the television station.

Gordon took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a picture of himself and Calabro with a mic from his early racing years. He wrote:

“Congratulations Dave Calabro on your retirement from WTHR Channel 13! You’ve been a staple in the Indy market for years and helped cover a kid from Pittsboro who just wanted to race at the big track. We’ll see you at Indy next year!”

Calabro announced in June that he will be retiring at the end of the year. The broadcaster has been the voice of the Indy 500 and has been the track announcer since 1985. Calabro plans on continuing his work at the Indy 500 even after retirement. While making his retirement announcement earlier this year, Calabro said (via WTHR):

“I also look forward to volunteering behind the scenes with some local organizations. I’ll be on Channel 13 until the end of the year. I plan to keep playing on the microphone at my backyard sandbox, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!...as long as Captain Roger Penske lets me! Thank you all.”

Although Jeff Gordon never got the opportunity to race in the Indy 500, he's always been an admirer of the open-wheel racing series.

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“It certainly was at one time”: Jeff Gordon on his Indy 500 dream

Jeff Gordon wanted to join the IndyCar series in the 1990’s but a lack of funds and sponsorships stopped him from entering the open-wheel racing world. He later joined the NASCAR Cup Series in 1993 and never looked back. However, Gordon grew up watching IndyCar and idolizing the drivers from the open-wheel racing.

“It certainly was at one time. You know I love that race. My heroes growing up were Indy 500 champions like AJ Foyt, Rick Mears, and Johnny Rutherford. So I thought maybe, you know, that was on the rise for me, but no, it's not now. They got fulfilled... so many of my goals through NASCAR racing in Indianapolis and winning the Brickyard 400. But I would like to drive some other types of race cars,” Jeff Gordon said in November 2016 via Sports Illustrated.

“So, I'm not retired completely, but it's just going to be something that makes sense and is interesting to me. IndyCars, I just don't... you know, I have too much respect for those cars and what they are capable of doing and how difficult (it) would be without having the proper amount of time in the car.”

Jeff Gordon is currently the Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. HMS driver Kyle Larson participated in the Indy 500 this year. Gordon's stepfather John Bickford suggested afterwards that Gordon "is living his dream" via Larson.

The HMS driver qualified in the top six for the 2024 Indy 500 but a penalty for speeding into the pitlane during the race stripped him of any chances of finishing in the top five. Larson eventually finished P18.