Parnelli Jones

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Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones, born on August 12, 1933, is an American former professional racing pilot and racing team owner.

He is best known for his victories in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert races.

In 1962, he became the first racer to reach more than 150 mph.

He won the championship in 1963 and then sadly retired while leading the 1967 race in a turbine car for three laps.

Al Unser, Sr. Jones, a pioneer, won the Indy 500 in 1970–1971, winning championships in several classes of cars: sports cars, IndyCars, sprint cars, midget cars, off-road vehicles, and stock cars.

Jim Hurtubise is also known for bringing the stock block engine to USAC Sprint car racing as one of the "Chevy Twins" group.

He is best known for his victories with the Boss 302 Mustang in the 1970s.

Jones' son P. J. Jones was also a versatile racer, with IndyCar and NASCAR debuts and a IMSA prototype sports cars.

Page Jones, his older son, was an up-and-coming driver before suffering career- ending (and life-threatening) injuries in a sprint vehicle at the 4-Crown Nationals and being in rehab, working with his father-in-law.

Jones, the 1960 Indianapolis 500 champion, is now the longest-living "500" winner.

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Driving career

Jones' family was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, and they later moved to Torrance, California, where he grew up (and lives in nearby Rolling Hills). Parnelli was referred to by his boyhood buddy Billy Calder, who wished that the Jones family would not learn that their son was racing cars as a 17-year-old youth. Jones rode in his first run in a Jalopy Classic at Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California. He developed his racing skills in the 1950s, with 15 in the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series winnings.

In 1960, he captured the Midwest region Sprint Car Championship for the first time. Promoter J. C. Agajanian, who became his sponsor, was attracted by the name. In 1961, he began racing at Indianapolis.

Jones was named the 1961 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, an award shared with Bobby Marshman. Jones led early in the competition and remained a leader until being struck with a brick, bloody his face, blurring his vision, and slowed him to a 12th-place finish.

He was the first driver to qualify over 150 mph at the Indianapolis 500 in 1962, winning the pole position at a speed of 150.370 mph (241.997 km/h). Jones dominated the first two-thirds of the race until a brake line malfunction slowed him, and he settled for a seventh-place finish.

He got his pole in the 1963 Indianapolis 500. This was the year the controversial Lotus-Ford rear-engined cars made their first appearance, and the Indianapolis establishment had smacked the city. Harlan Fengler, the team's chief steward, told them that he would black-flag any cars that leaked oil ahead of time, including: "Don't believe me, just try me."

Jones' car developed a horizontal crack in the external oil reservoir, with Scot Jim Clark in a Lotus-Ford closing on Jones in a waning lap. At that moment, driver Eddie Sachs crashed on the oil-slickened track surface and brought out a yellow caution flag, slowing the field. Agajanian, Jones' vehicle owner, begged Harlan Fengler not to issue a black flag, saying that the oil level had fallen below the crack level and that the leak had stopped. When Agajanian pleaded with Fengler, Lotus chief man Colin Chapman rushed to join the discussion and demanded that Fengler follow the rules prohibiting vehicles from entering oil leaks. With the end of the race just minutes away, Fengler did not take no action, and Jones went on to win. Although dissatisfied with the obvious favoritism demonstrated by race leaders toward Jones and Agajanian, the Lotus-Ford team acknowledged Jones' apparent superiority in the case. In addition, Ford officials understood that a victory over disqualifying Clark's biggest competitor would not be well-received by the public, so they declined to protest.

Bill Stroppe, a legendary vehicle fabricator, designed a Mercury Marauder USAC Stock car for Jones at the same time last year. Jones rode the 1963 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the car and set a new record for the stock car.

On his way to the USAC Stock Car Championship in 1964, he won seven races (and tied for a victory) and finished tied for seventh. He won the Turkey Night Grand Prix midget car competition. After the season, Mercury decided to drop out of stock car racing. Jones came close to winning Indy for the second time this year, finishing second behind Jim Clark.

He won five of the nine midget car races he competed in in 1966, including the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Despite participating in only nine of 65 events, he came in 14th in the final rankings.

He rode in the Indianapolis 500 for owner Andy Granatelli in the era of the pioneering STP-Paxton Turbocar. Jones led the race but was forced to leave with three laps to go when a small, inexpensive transmission bearing failed. Turbine-powered cars were banned from racing after 1968, according to the company's founders.

Jones drove a Mercury Cougar for Bud Moore in 1967 as part of the Ford Motor Company's Lincoln-Mercury division. Jones competed in a 102-degree heat with colleague, friend, and foe Dan Gurney in a brutal 300-mile (4-hour) match in Green Valley, Texas, losing by inches to Gurney in April.

In front of a large audience at a Christmas party in 1967, Stroppe suggested that Jones try off-road racing. Jones said no, since he had enough dirt to cover. Stroppe suggested that perhaps off-road racing was too strenuous for Jones, and that the challenge began Jones' off-road career. In early 1968, Jones and Stroppe teamed up for the 711-mile (1,144 km) Star Dust 7/11 race over the Nevada desert. Jones had never driven or pre-run the Ford Bronco. Jones spun out the front tires and began a dry wash. Jones will appear in the original film Gone in 60 seconds starring him and his Bronco, which was stolen in the plot. Jones had fallen in love with off-road racing.

In 1968, Jones led a super-roster of seven riders forged by Andy Granatelli to drive STP Lotus 56 turbine cars in an unprecedented single-team assault on the Indianapolis 500. The deaths of Jim Clark and Mike Spence, as well as a serious injury to Jackie Stewart, brought the entry to a close end to four. Jones, who was putting the car into service with the newer "wedge"-shaped Lotus 56 turbines, was dissatisfied with the car's results, and had concluded that it was unsafe. He stepped out of the vehicle, which was then assigned to Joe Leonard, who then wrecked the car in practice. Jones retired from driving IndyCars, but later revealed, "If I hadn't already won Indy, they may never have kept me out of the car."

Jones competed in the 1968 NORRA Mexican 1000 (now Baja 1000). Jones rode up to the 150-mile (240 km) marker. Jones' racing style is described in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame: "Jones and Stroppe had to find a way to keep their cars in one piece." Jones would push the cars to their limits before they finally gave way, with Stroppe yelling him at maximum speed the whole time to make it easier on the vehicle."

Jones had a special car built that looked like a Bronco, but the latter had racing parts that could withstand jarring that off-road vehicles withstand. Since his sponsor Olympia Beer sponsored the car, Jones named it "Big Oly." Jones led the Mexican 1000 from start to finish in a new record time of 14 hours and 59 minutes.

In the 1973-19 season, Jones had major victories. In 16 hours and 42 minutes, he won his second Mexican 1000m. He has also competed in the 1973 Baja 500 and Mint 400 off-road competitions. Jones was involved in a major crash at SCORE International's 1974 Baja 500, where he moved from full-time off-road racing to become a race car owner. In May 2020, "Big Oly" was auctioned for $1.7 million.

Jones rode SCCA Trans Am sedans owned by Bud Moore (1967) and Ford Mustang (1969-1971). Ford's 1970 season dominance gave the company's championship to Parnelli.

Jones retired with six IndyCar titles and twelve pole positions, four wins in 34 NASCAR starts, including the 1967 Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, 25 midget car feature victories in occasional races between 1960 and 1967, as well as 25 career sprint car victories. His fifteen victories are the eighth on the all-time NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series.

Jones took part in the Fast Masters in 1993. He made it to the final championship round and finished 6th overall.

Career awards

Jones is inducted into over 20 Halls of Fame, including:

Source

Career awards

Jones is inducted in over 20 Halls of Fame including: