Parnelli Jones, who was my first racing hero back in the mid '60s, has passed away at 90:...
Parnelli Jones, who was my first racing hero back in the mid '60s, has passed away at 90: https://www.speedsport.com/indycar/ntt-indycar-series/parnelli-jones-dies-at-90-years-old/
I recall that he always seemed to be partial to Mercurys in the world of stock cars. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Bummer. As a young driver, my father would yell at me, "SLOW DOWN THERE PARNELLI THIS ISN'T THE INDY 500 !! Tried to use that on my kids, they looked at me like I was from another planet. RIP D
My Dad said the same to me during my first-ever drive. “Easy there, Parnelli”. Sad to hear of his passing; he was a very fast driver in multiple disciplines, and won the Indy 500 as an owner. His was a Motorsports career the likes of which we won’t see again.
While that is so, the one race that I remember was Riverside '67, when he interrupted Dan Gurney's four-year win streak there, and he was, like Gurney, in a Ford.
I've said for years that the best single season any American racing series has ever had was the 1970 Trans Am, an absolutely fabulous season, and the champ was Parnelli, in one of Bud Moore's coral-orange Boss 302 Mustangs. His car was never pristine at the end of any of his races, but he did what it took to win.
Why did Parnelli Jones stopped racing at Indy, anyone knows ? I don't think he ever raced there after nearly winning on the STP Turbine car.
Parnelli was an absolute legend of his time. We only have AJ and Mario left and it is nothing shy of a miracle these three men lived to see old age. My favorite Parnelli quote was his reference to the Baja 1000 as 'An all day plane crash'
I was just going to use that quote. Its a classic. Very sad, yet another of the can drive anything fast drivers of the old days. Raced and won on dirt and pavement, single seaters, tin tops, door slammers, Indy cars, Sprint cars, hill climbs, Off road, you name it. They dont grow them like that anymore. How many policemen introduced themselves to you by saying "OK Parnelli, wheres the fire? If there is racing in the afterlife it must be a hell of a show.
He was actually supposed to race the same car in 1968, though the restrictions placed after the 1967 race made it less competitive. He felt uncomfortable in it and stepped out, and then another driver wrecked it. Granatelli had planned to race Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart in the Lotus turbine wedges, but first Clark and then his replacement Mike Spence were killed, and Stewart had been injured. Parnelli might have been available, but he waited too long and by then Joe Leonard and Art Pollard had agreed to drive the Lotuses and there was no room left for Parnelli. And by 1969 his focus had shifted to the Trans Am and to off-road racing.
It was racing that he enjoyed and he excelled in both venues. His TransAm racing was epic, the height of that epic series. Great stuff!
Joe Leonard was also one of the greats on motorcycles, both on dirt and pavement. He moved from So Cal to Northern California to race for Tom Sifton.
In 2013 I attended the Indy 500 for the one and only time, and on Legends Day (the day before the race) they were highlighting Parnelli on the 50th anniversary of his win. He did a Q&A session with the fans, autographed copies of his new book (The Cars of Vel Miletich and Parnelli Jones) and even drove his winning roadster "Ol' Calhoun" around the track a few times. It was great fun. BTW, as far as stepping out of the STP turbine car in '68, he said that if he hadn't already won the race, he wouldn't have done that. I guess that to him, having won the race, he felt he didn't have to risk it all in a car he no longer trusted.
Parnelli driving in 1969-70 Trans-Am was a negotiated deal with FoMoCo. . Gratis Ford Indy V8's for his Indy Car team,in turn requiring him to drive in Trans-Am for Bud Moore.
