Jeff Gordon's driving instructor and "one of my biggest fans" dies in road accident

Larry Sparks, a retired Indiana school principal who was NASCAR star Jeff Gordon's driver's education teacher, was killed along with his wife in a crash of their RV while returning home from Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Martinsville.

Officials told WBIR-TV that 78-year-old Larry Sparks and his 77-year-old wife Jacqueline, of Pittsboro, Ind., died Monday when their RV went off Interstate 75 near Jellico, Tenn., and struck a tree.

Larry Sparks was a teacher and principal at Tri-West High School near Indianapolis and his wife was a retired elementary teacher.

"Larry Sparks was my driver's ed teacher but also one of my biggest fans. He'll be dearly missed," Gordon posted on Twitter, along with this photo of himself and Sparks from a recent meeting of the Jeff Gordon Fan Club.