Police said Thursday evening that the father of former NASCAR and IndyCar racer Robby Gordon strangled his wife and then fatally shot himself in their Southern California home.
The deaths of Robert Gordon, 68, and Sharon Gordon, 57, were an apparent murder-suicide, Orange Police Lt. Fred Lopez said a day after the bodies were found. No further details on the motive or circumstances were released.
Robby Gordon, 47, said earlier Thursday that his family is in shock and grieving the loss of his father and stepmother.
"I'm so sad and I can't believe it," the racing star told reporters near the gated house where police discovered the bodies Wednesday.
"He taught me at a young age that 1 horsepower wasn't going to be enough -- go do something different," Gordon recalled his father, who started out in horse racing at the local track in Los Alamitos before getting into auto racing, saying. "And I was fortunate enough to do something different."
He said he will speak about the deaths again once authorities conclude their investigation. He thanked the racing community for its support and said his father, a onetime off-road racer known as "Baja Bob," instilled in him a passion for motorsports and competition.
Gordon said an event featuring his off-road racing team scheduled for this weekend in Orange County will go on as planned.
Officers discovered the bodies inside the house in an upscale neighborhood after receiving a 911 call Wednesday afternoon from a neighbor making a welfare check at the request of a relative, Lopez said.
Robby Gordon told the Orange County Register that family members had become concerned when his father missed a doctor's appointment.
Officials said a weapon was found at the scene.
"The truth will come out, what went down there," Gordon said.
Six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had ridden with Gordon's father and drove for him once during his off-road racing career. Johnson spoke briefly Thursday with Robby Gordon.
"[He said] 'My dad was so proud of you. He used to brag that he rode with [Johnson] in desert cars,'" Johnson said Thursday. "But he didn't go into anything emotionally. He just said that his dad was a big fan. It made me smile a little bit, but it's still just complete and utter shock."
Robby Gordon now races in an off-road series he created in 2013 called Speed Energy Formula Off-Road, following the path of his father.
The younger Gordon has raced on numerous circuits, including NASCAR, IndyCar, Champ Car and IROC.
Known for his aggressive style, he earned three wins in parts of 19 seasons in what is now Sprint Cup. He was a full-time driver early last decade and finished a career-high 16th in the points standings in 2003 driving for Richard Childress Racing. Gordon last raced in Sprint Cup in 2012.
Gordon is one of only four drivers, joining John Andretti, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch, to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. He almost won the 1999 Indy 500 before running out of fuel in the closing laps.
One of Robert Gordon's daughters, Beccy Hunter-Reay, is married to IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay. The driver posted on Instagram Wednesday that his wife had given birth to a son, the couple's third child. Ryan Hunter-Reay will appear as scheduled in a weekend race in Sonoma County, Robby Gordon said.
ESPN's Bob Pockrass and The Associated Press contributed to this report.