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Long before Jeff Gordon was a NASCAR Hall of Famer and one of the greatest stock car racers in history, he was a young hotshoe who excelled on the short tracks of Indiana and the Midwest up against the best that the United States Auto Club (USAC) had to offer. While Gordon's racing legacy was forged with fenders instead of open-wheel cars, Gordon never forgot the racing discipline he came from -- and is set to show that he's still got it behind the wheel of the cars he grew up racing.

On Wednesday, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that Jeff Gordon will serve as the honorary starter for the first night of next week's Driven2SaveLives BC39 Powered by NOS Energy Drink at the speedway's quarter-mile dirt track. As part of his duties as a dignitary, Gordon will climb behind the wheel of a USAC midget car prepared by Clauson Marshall Racing and make several exhibition laps prior to the start of the Stoops Pursuit race, which he will wave the green flag for.

This will mark the first time in nearly 30 years that Gordon has driven a midget car in front of a crowd. Gordon was a young phenom in the USAC ranks prior to the start of his NASCAR career in the early 1990s, winning USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year honors in 1989 before becoming National Midget Series Champion in 1990 and Silver Crown Series Champion in 1991.

"Like so many others, racing on dirt played a huge role in my driving career, so it was very special to get the opportunity to make some laps recently at The Dirt Track at IMS," Gordon said in a press release by the Speedway. "I had forgotten how much fun it was to slide a dirt midget around a quarter-mile dirt track. With the BC39 coming up, it creates a great opportunity to come back and do it again.

"I'm very thankful to everyone at IMS for making this possible, and I'm excited to be the honorary starter for night one. I'm also thankful to my longtime friend Tim Clauson and Clauson Marshall Racing for providing me a great car to drive. It's going to be a fun night!"

Gordon's car will be adorned with the logos of Driven2SaveLives as well as the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation, which benefits children with pediatric cancer and their families. Driven2SaveLives, part of the Indiana Donor Network, is a program to raise awareness around organ, tissue, and eye donation established in honor of two notable racers.

Driven2SaveLives began in honor of IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, who died after being struck in the head by flying debris during a race at Pocono in 2015. A registered organ donor, Wilson was able to save the lives of five people following his death, and his brother Stefan piloted the Driven2SaveLives program at the following year's Indianapolis 500.

In August of 2016, Bryan Clauson -- an accomplished midget car racer who competed in three Indianapolis 500s as well as a brief stint in NASCAR -- also saved five lives as an organ donor after he was killed in a racing accident. The BC39 is named in his honor, and the Driven2SaveLives program continues its work in encouraging race fans to register as organ donors.

While his path beyond USAC led him to NASCAR instead of IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway nonetheless became central to Gordon's decorated career. Gordon is the all-time winningest driver in the history of NASCAR's Brickyard 400, including the first one ever held in 1994.