Project LMP1: Acura’s… (HD) • 3:00pm
  • Media
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Check out the latest SPEED podcasts on iTunes
  • Mobile
This could be your avatar!
Username
Password
Register
ben_blake's avatar
Author:
Ben Blake
Login For More
Rate this article:
  • 0/5 Stars
SPEEDtv.com Store
REVIEWED: “Rust In Peace” By Malcolm Tucker
Malcolm Tucker delves into the photographic archives of the celebrated motoring historian Mike Worthington-Williams
Our Price: $49.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
"Le Mans", Starring Steve McQueen
The greatest racing film of all time! Dramatization of a man's tentative participation in the Le Mans race
Our Price: $14.99
Visit Button
Buy Button
“Monaco Grand Prix"
A photographic portrait of the world's most prestigious motor race.
Our Price: $75.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
Signed Bobby Allison Coca-Cola 1/24
1/24-scale die-cast replica is now available and personally autographed by Bobby Allison on the windshield!
Our Price: $54.95
Visit Button
Buy Button
Man-Made Thunder
Examine how the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has transformed from a performance-based sport into a personality-driven enterprise.
Our Price: $49.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
Footer Bg
  • Zoom More Photos Button
  • Camera Icon
CUP: Benny Parsons Passes Away
Written by: Ben Blake   http://www.racer.com
01/15/2007 - 07:00 PM
Charlotte, N.C.
 
Benny Parsons (1941 - 2007) ยป More Photos

For the second time in just over a week, death cast a shadow over the 2007 NASCAR season with the passing overnight of former champion and popular broadcast commen tator Benny Parsons.

Parsons, 65, died of complications of lung cancer at a Charlotte, N.C., hospital. He had been in critical care since just before the new year, when he was admitted due to a blood clot in one of his lungs.

Parsons's death follows by eight days the death of Bobby Hamilton, the 2005 Craftsman Truck champion and former Cup racing winner. Hamilton had survived a year of intense treatment for cancer, which began with tumors in his neck.

Parsons retired from driving in 1988, after a career which saw him win championships in ARCA (1968, 1969) and on NASCAR's big circuit in 1973. He did not finish lower than fifth in points between 1972 and 1980, driving largely for long-time patron L.G. DeWitt, then cut back to part-time racing after 1981.

Parsons also was the first driver to qualify officially for a race at more than 200mph, making at lap at 200.176 at the May Talladega race in 1982.

After he retired from racing, well-spoken and personable Parsons began a second career as television analyst on NASCAR broadcasts. That culminated in his being hired as lead analyst for NBC/TNT when NASCAR commenced its national broadcast arrangements in 2001.

Parsons also had a radio talk show in Charlotte and was well known as a master of ceremonies and a spokesman for the sport.

"He was a great driver and a terrific broadcaster, but above anything else he was a kind and generous human being," said Dick Ebersole, chairman of NBC Sports.
"His character and spirit will define how he is remembered by all of us."

Parsons's spirit was central to his character. Born poor in Wilkes County, N.C., he moved with his family to Detroit, where he worked in a gas station and drove cabs for his father. He became involved in the Ohio-based ARCA circuit in the mid-1960s, then migrated to NASCAR.

His championship in 1973 was a result of dogged persistence. Driving a lesser car against the likes of Richard Petty, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough, Parsons came to the finale at Rockingham, N.C., needing to complete enough miles to win the title.

Parsons got wrecked early in the race, but he and his Travis Carter-led crew managed to patch the car together enough to complete the miles necessary (under the complex formula of the time) to clinch the season trophy.

Parsons received his diagnosis in mid-summer, when he complained of shortness of breath. He underwent very heavy treatment, which caused damage to his lungs, but by October he was able to return to the broadcast booth and declared himself cancer-free.

Parsons made friends easily and was solicitous of younger racers. He befriended current mega-owner Jack Roush when Roush joined NASCAR in 1988, an extension of the hand that Roush has never forgotten.

Drivers such as Greg Biffle have said openly that they owe their careers to a recommendation from Parsons. Parsons noticed Biffle on short tracks in Washington and Oregon and persuaded Roush to take him on.

Parsons is survived by his brother Phil, also a former racer turned broadcaster; his wife Terri, sons Keith and Kevin, and two grandchildren.