Benny Parsons

Benny Parsons

Benjamin Parsons (born July 12, 1941 in Wilkes County , North Carolina , † January 16, 2007 in Charlotte , North Carolina) was an American NASCAR driver. After the end of his racing career, he worked as a motorsport commentator for various broadcasters. His greatest successes were winning the Winston Cup in 1973 and winning the prestigious Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in 1975 . He was often called The Professor because of his dry comments and casual demeanor .

Life

He spent his childhood in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina . After high school, he moved to Detroit , Michigan , where his father ran a taxi company. Before his debut as a NASCAR driver, he worked in a gas station and as a taxi driver. His younger brother Phil Parsons (who was born in Detroit) was also an active racing driver and won a Cup and two Busch Series races.

In 1964 he drove a NASCAR race as a teammate of the young Cale Yarborough in the renowned Holman Moody team. In 1968 and 1969 he was respectively champion in the ARCA Racing Series , the stock car racing series of a smaller organization. In 1969 he came in four starts in NASCAR races three times in the top ten.

In 1970 he drove the full season for the first time and was able to achieve 23 top 10 positions and eighth place in the championship in 45 races for the LG DeWitt team. In the following year he achieved ten top 10 placements and eleventh place in the championship in 35 starts, but was also able to celebrate his first victory. In 1972 he achieved 19 top 10 placements in 35 starts and finished the championship in fifth place.

In 1973 he finally managed to win the NASCAR championship with just one win - but with 21 top 10 placements in 28 races. Most of the victories (11) this season had been achieved by David Pearson , who had only started 18 races and therefore had no chance of winning the title due to the points system. In the crucial race at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham , North Carolina, the Parsons pit crew, with the help of many other teams (who supported the underdog), got the car damaged after an accident on lap 13 back on the road to the point that he could still reach the 29th place. Since the favorite long-term winner Richard Petty with engine failure was only rated 35th, Parsons secured the title; Petty was even overtaken by Cale Yarborough, Cecil Gordon and James Hylton in the championship and dropped back to fifth place.

Since 1973 also marked the beginning of the modern era at NASCAR (limitation to fewer races - only 28 instead of the previous 40, changed point system), Benny Parsons is also regarded as the first champion of the modern era. He is also the only driver who has won the title at both ARCA and NASCAR.

In the years 1974 to 1980 he finished the championship in places between three and five. In 1975 he celebrated his biggest win at the Daytona 500.

In 1979 he joined the MC Anderson team, where he won the longest race of the season in 1980, the World 600 in Charlotte , North Carolina.

In 1981 he started for the Bud Moore team and finished tenth in the championship with victories in Nashville and the last race at Texas World Speedway .

In Harry Ranier's team, he was the first ever to qualify for the Winston 500 on the Talladega Superspeedway in 1982 at an average speed of over 200 miles per hour. The second half of the season he played for four other teams.

In the years that followed, Parsons drove in the Johnny Hayes team no longer the whole season, but only about half of the races. He celebrated his last victory in 1984 at the Coca-Cola 500 in Atlanta .

A kind of comeback with several placings in the top five had Parsons in 1987, when he some races in the team of Hendrick Motorsports to replace the on AIDS diseased Tim Richmond denied.

His final season was 1988 for Junie Donlavey's team.

During his active career, Parsons began working as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS. After retiring as a driver, he became a reporter, first for ESPN, then for NBC and TNT. He has also received various awards for his work.

After having difficulty breathing in the summer of 2006, he was diagnosed with lung cancer . He later announced that the treatment had worked and was completely healthy again. When breathing problems reappeared, it was said that the radiation had damaged his left lung . Doctors said the body would adjust to the healthy lung. Parsons gave up smoking in 1978.

On December 26, 2006, he was hospitalized again and treated in the intensive care unit at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC for complications related to lung cancer. He died there on January 16, 2007.

statistics

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1976	BMW Motorsport North America	BMW 3.0 CSL	David Hobbs		failure	malfunction
1986	Texas Enterprises US Tobacco	Oldsmobile Calais	Terry Labonte	Phil Parsons	failure	accident

Web links

Commons : Benny Parsons  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Racing Reference - Internet site: Benny Parsons. At: www.racing-reference.info , accessed on January 4, 2019 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Britannica - Internet site: Benny Parsons. In: www.britannica.com , accessed on 4 January 2019 .