Countdown to Daytona
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VaDirt
Dirt Track Fanatic
Since kkfan dropped the ball on the carnage today.
Greg
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In 1980 Balough took this Kenny Weld car to Syracuse, some called it the Batmobile it was probably called worse things.
the 2nd middle left.
Gary raced a lot to say the least, the Black # 112 was unforgettable.
the 2nd middle left.Gary raced a lot to say the least, the Black # 112 was unforgettable.
kkfan91
Everyones an outlaw til its time to do outlaw s%&#
I don't take the pictures myself, nice picture though.
AndyMarquisLive
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
That was random.
Thegroundpounder99
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Greg
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Honestly it was , perhaps a press release connecting her to nascar, she has sung a few national anthems, who knows? I just saw an angel worthy of posting
Tennessee Racing
Formerly Stewart Fan
Blaze
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VaDirt
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Thegroundpounder99
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Tennessee Racing
Formerly Stewart Fan
VaDirt
Dirt Track Fanatic
I'm LOVING all these pictures. Some really bring the memories.
Greg
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The 1980 OLDs is Joe Millikan (sp) he replaced Benny after he left the LG Dewitt Car
I read that Benny on the left worked as a crew member for Wayne Bennett in the early days (yellow car on hauler).
The sprint is just # 72 .
Greg
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Benny was one the greats a great driver and a great man, feel like paying my respect
http://www.legacy.com/ns/obituary.aspx?pid=86030845
Benny Parsons obituary
Benny Parsons, a former taxi driver turned NASCAR champion, died Tuesday from complications stemming from his short battle with lung cancer, his son Keith said. He was 65.
Parsons, the 1973 NASCAR champion, died in Charlotte, N.C., where he had been hospitalized since Dec. 26.
A member of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers, Parsons retired from racing in 1988 and moved into the broadcasting booth. He spent the past six years as a commentator on NBC and TNT, and continued to call races from the booth during his treatment.
"Benny was a beloved and widely respected member of the NASCAR community, and of the NBC Sports family," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports.
"He was a great driver and a terrific broadcaster, but above anything else he was a kind and generous human being. His character and spirit will define how he is remembered by all of us. Benny will be sorely missed."
Parsons was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung in July after complaining of difficulty breathing. A former smoker who quit the habit in 1978, Parsons underwent intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments and was declared "cancer-free" in October.
But the aggressive treatment cost Parsons the use of his left lung, and he was hospitalized Dec. 26 when doctors found a blood clot in his right lung. He was transferred to intensive care shortly after his admission, and he remained there in an induced-coma.
Parsons, affectionately known throughout NASCAR as "BP," also continued to host a weekly radio program and kept fans updated on his condition in a blog on his web site.
"As my radiation oncologist told me today, John Wayne lived and had a great career with one lung. There is no reason why I can't do the same." Parsons posted in a Dec. 18th entry after learning of the damage to his left lung.
"It will take a little while for the right lung to pull the weight for the left lung so until then I will still need to use oxygen when I walk. I won't need it sitting or commentating races and to me that is the main thing.
"If given a choice between cancer or losing a lung I would say that I got the right end of the deal."
That feisty spirit was one of Parsons' trademarks, and what helped him rise up from a poor childhood in the foothills of North Carolina to a job driving taxis and then all the way to the top of NASCAR.
He remained popular both with the fans and the current NASCAR community, which had rallied in support of Parsons during his battle. Michael Waltrip came to preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway this week with "We Love You BP" painted on the side of his car.
And Parsons was always on the lookout for new talent, and proved to have a keen eye for it when he discovered Greg Biffle and pushed car owner Jack Roush to hire him sight unseen. Biffle went on to win championships in NASCAR's Truck and Busch Series and is now a top-level Nextel Cup driver.
"It's obvious he's the only reason why I am here in this sport; I would still be in Washington racing local stuff if not for BP," Biffle said. "It seems like this cancer thing ... it's just evil stuff. He told me upfront that it was pretty aggressive cancer, but they caught it real quick and that they were on top of it."
Parsons' death comes eight days after former Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton lost his battle with cancer.
Parsons was born July 12, 1941 at his parents' rural home in Wilkes County and eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing "taxicab driver" as his occupation on entry forms.
Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles. He was also the first Cup competitor to qualify for a race faster than 200 mph when he posted a lap at 200.176 mph at the 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Parsons ended his career with 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million. He also won back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69 when he lived in Detroit, before getting his shot at NASCAR.
His 1973 championship season was built on endurance and consistency: He won only one of the 28 races that season, while second-place finisher Cale Yarborough won four times and David Pearson won 11. But Parsons finished the most miles that year to claim the crown.
He was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994. He was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Parsons began his broadcasting career in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst.
Survivors include his wife, Terri, and two sons by his late wife - Kevin and Keith, a former sports writer for The Associated Press, and two granddaughters.
http://www.legacy.com/ns/obituary.aspx?pid=86030845
Benny Parsons obituary
Benny Parsons, a former taxi driver turned NASCAR champion, died Tuesday from complications stemming from his short battle with lung cancer, his son Keith said. He was 65.
Parsons, the 1973 NASCAR champion, died in Charlotte, N.C., where he had been hospitalized since Dec. 26.
A member of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers, Parsons retired from racing in 1988 and moved into the broadcasting booth. He spent the past six years as a commentator on NBC and TNT, and continued to call races from the booth during his treatment.
"Benny was a beloved and widely respected member of the NASCAR community, and of the NBC Sports family," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports.
"He was a great driver and a terrific broadcaster, but above anything else he was a kind and generous human being. His character and spirit will define how he is remembered by all of us. Benny will be sorely missed."
Parsons was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung in July after complaining of difficulty breathing. A former smoker who quit the habit in 1978, Parsons underwent intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments and was declared "cancer-free" in October.
But the aggressive treatment cost Parsons the use of his left lung, and he was hospitalized Dec. 26 when doctors found a blood clot in his right lung. He was transferred to intensive care shortly after his admission, and he remained there in an induced-coma.
Parsons, affectionately known throughout NASCAR as "BP," also continued to host a weekly radio program and kept fans updated on his condition in a blog on his web site.
"As my radiation oncologist told me today, John Wayne lived and had a great career with one lung. There is no reason why I can't do the same." Parsons posted in a Dec. 18th entry after learning of the damage to his left lung.
"It will take a little while for the right lung to pull the weight for the left lung so until then I will still need to use oxygen when I walk. I won't need it sitting or commentating races and to me that is the main thing.
"If given a choice between cancer or losing a lung I would say that I got the right end of the deal."
That feisty spirit was one of Parsons' trademarks, and what helped him rise up from a poor childhood in the foothills of North Carolina to a job driving taxis and then all the way to the top of NASCAR.
He remained popular both with the fans and the current NASCAR community, which had rallied in support of Parsons during his battle. Michael Waltrip came to preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway this week with "We Love You BP" painted on the side of his car.
And Parsons was always on the lookout for new talent, and proved to have a keen eye for it when he discovered Greg Biffle and pushed car owner Jack Roush to hire him sight unseen. Biffle went on to win championships in NASCAR's Truck and Busch Series and is now a top-level Nextel Cup driver.
"It's obvious he's the only reason why I am here in this sport; I would still be in Washington racing local stuff if not for BP," Biffle said. "It seems like this cancer thing ... it's just evil stuff. He told me upfront that it was pretty aggressive cancer, but they caught it real quick and that they were on top of it."
Parsons' death comes eight days after former Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton lost his battle with cancer.
Parsons was born July 12, 1941 at his parents' rural home in Wilkes County and eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing "taxicab driver" as his occupation on entry forms.
Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles. He was also the first Cup competitor to qualify for a race faster than 200 mph when he posted a lap at 200.176 mph at the 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Parsons ended his career with 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million. He also won back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69 when he lived in Detroit, before getting his shot at NASCAR.
His 1973 championship season was built on endurance and consistency: He won only one of the 28 races that season, while second-place finisher Cale Yarborough won four times and David Pearson won 11. But Parsons finished the most miles that year to claim the crown.
He was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994. He was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Parsons began his broadcasting career in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst.
Survivors include his wife, Terri, and two sons by his late wife - Kevin and Keith, a former sports writer for The Associated Press, and two granddaughters.
Greg
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Tom Higgins: A Christmas story
Tom Higgins' Scuffs
By Tom Higgins - ThatsRacin.com Contributor
Friday, Dec. 23, 2011
It’s a story of Christmas past, one of long, long ago.
And although it took place well back in the 1970s, what occured remains among my very favorite Yuletide memories.
Those recollections move me to reprise the story once more as the most glorious and meaningful holiday for the world’s Christians draws near.
I hope that somewhere a fellow now approaching middle-age remembers this tale of uncommon caring and generosity as well. It happened in the small town of Ellerbe, located deep in the heart of North Carolina’s piney Sandhills.
The hamlet had gained a measure of notice as the home of 1973 NASCAR Cup Series champion Benny Parsons, who moved there from Detroit to drive for local team owner L.G. DeWitt.
One wintry, dreary December day Benny’s two young sons, Keith and Kevin, came home from school with sad faces. Their glumness made the day seem even grayer for Benny, who had been elected president of Ellerbe’s elementary school.
The boys were upset because they had learned that some of their classmates were not going to receive presents or anything special to eat for Christmas.
Benny immediately checked with teachers and administrators at the school. He found that the situation was even worse than he imagined in the area stricken by a high rate of poverty.
Parsons, known throughout motorsports for his tenderness of heart and good-guy nature, sat about to rectify the sad situation. He began calling in favors from his many friends in racing.
Donations of winter jackets, shoes, food, toys and Christmas candy began accumulating.
On short notice a big party was scheduled for the auditorium at Ellerbe Elementary the night before holiday recess was to begin.
Some of stock car racing’s foremost stars showed up to take part.
The Wood Brothers, Glen and Leonard, had a choir from their church in Stewart, Va., travel down by bus to sing the Christmas carols.
Children who never had known much of a Christmas were wide-eyed as Santa called their names to come on stage and receive gifts.
One little fellow, a lad of 7 or 8, strode over to where Benny and I stood watching. He held a toy truck in one hand and a pair of new sneakers in the other.
“Mr. Benny, what am I supposed to do with these?” he asked.
Benny was stunned.
“Why, take them home, son. They’re yours,” he said.
The kid’s face expressed astonishment.
“To keep!?” he asked.
Benny gulped. His eyes moistened and he leaned down to give the little guy a hug.
Then Benny excused himself to be alone for a bit.
I knew why…I was crying, too.
Benny Parsons, the winner of 21 races, 20 poles and named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers, passed away on Jan. 16, 2007 at age 65 of complications from cancer.
Left to mourn this magnificent man, who became an award-winning motorsports broadcaster, were his wife, Terri, his two sons, many other family members and millions of fans.
God rest ye, Merry Gentleman.
Read more here: http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/12/23/80153/tom-higgins-a-christmas-story.html#storylink=cpy
Tom Higgins' Scuffs
By Tom Higgins - ThatsRacin.com Contributor
Friday, Dec. 23, 2011
It’s a story of Christmas past, one of long, long ago.
And although it took place well back in the 1970s, what occured remains among my very favorite Yuletide memories.
Those recollections move me to reprise the story once more as the most glorious and meaningful holiday for the world’s Christians draws near.
I hope that somewhere a fellow now approaching middle-age remembers this tale of uncommon caring and generosity as well. It happened in the small town of Ellerbe, located deep in the heart of North Carolina’s piney Sandhills.
The hamlet had gained a measure of notice as the home of 1973 NASCAR Cup Series champion Benny Parsons, who moved there from Detroit to drive for local team owner L.G. DeWitt.
One wintry, dreary December day Benny’s two young sons, Keith and Kevin, came home from school with sad faces. Their glumness made the day seem even grayer for Benny, who had been elected president of Ellerbe’s elementary school.
The boys were upset because they had learned that some of their classmates were not going to receive presents or anything special to eat for Christmas.
Benny immediately checked with teachers and administrators at the school. He found that the situation was even worse than he imagined in the area stricken by a high rate of poverty.
Parsons, known throughout motorsports for his tenderness of heart and good-guy nature, sat about to rectify the sad situation. He began calling in favors from his many friends in racing.
Donations of winter jackets, shoes, food, toys and Christmas candy began accumulating.
On short notice a big party was scheduled for the auditorium at Ellerbe Elementary the night before holiday recess was to begin.
Some of stock car racing’s foremost stars showed up to take part.
The Wood Brothers, Glen and Leonard, had a choir from their church in Stewart, Va., travel down by bus to sing the Christmas carols.
Children who never had known much of a Christmas were wide-eyed as Santa called their names to come on stage and receive gifts.
One little fellow, a lad of 7 or 8, strode over to where Benny and I stood watching. He held a toy truck in one hand and a pair of new sneakers in the other.
“Mr. Benny, what am I supposed to do with these?” he asked.
Benny was stunned.
“Why, take them home, son. They’re yours,” he said.
The kid’s face expressed astonishment.
“To keep!?” he asked.
Benny gulped. His eyes moistened and he leaned down to give the little guy a hug.
Then Benny excused himself to be alone for a bit.
I knew why…I was crying, too.
Benny Parsons, the winner of 21 races, 20 poles and named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers, passed away on Jan. 16, 2007 at age 65 of complications from cancer.
Left to mourn this magnificent man, who became an award-winning motorsports broadcaster, were his wife, Terri, his two sons, many other family members and millions of fans.
God rest ye, Merry Gentleman.
Read more here: http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/12/23/80153/tom-higgins-a-christmas-story.html#storylink=cpy
Greg
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Daytona memories starting with Tiny Lund’s win it has to be right
Note at about 4:35 Benny recites his poem about winning Daytona, counting down to 72 days, the timing is right
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http://www.stockcarracing.com/featurestories/scrp_0000_benny_parson/viewall.html
NASCAR Scrapbook: NASCAR Legend Benny Parson Reveals Some of His Most Poignant Racing Memories
A Miraculous Winston Cup Title, Daytona 500 Thrill, and a Revealing Confession
From the February, 2009 issue of Stock Car Racing
By Benny Parsons
Photography by Petersen Publishing Archives
Miraculous!
People who were in the garage at Rockingham for the October 21, 1973 race, when I miraculously won my first and only Winston Cup championship, still tell me they experienced one of the most dramatic hours in racing. It certainly was an anxious moment for me. I had a 194.35-point lead (under the old points system) over Richard Petty going into the season finale.
I qualified the L.G. DeWitt Racing Chevrolet fifth, and the race started perfectly. The first four or five cars pulled about a half-straight ahead of me and the next group was a half-straight behind, leaving me where I wanted to be--by myself. At that time we had two-way radios, but no spotters. On the 13th lap (of 492), I came off Turn 2 and saw a car that had spun sitting in the track between me and the leaders. I tried to turn under it but caught the front end right behind my right-front tire.
There was a big collision, but my car didn't spin. I got the engine fired, but the car wouldn't roll. The right side was gone, I don't mean sheetmetal, the rollbars were gone. My greatest fear, a wreck, was reality. My heart sank because we had everything there to fix the car except rollbars. I was just sick. I knew I was going to lose the championship. We neglected to put a wrecker on standby, so we lost four or five valuable minutes getting the car to the garage. We looked at the damage and said, it's over.
Somebody suggested cutting the rollbars out of another car. Ralph Moody, whose engine shop furnished power for our team after he left Holman-Moody, came (to the race) with another team and driver Bobby Mausgrover. The car was parked in the garage and was the only one there that hadn't made the field. Moody said to cut the bars out of the car, he'd explain and settle up later. While the bars were being welded in place, members of my team and numerous volunteers from other teams replaced the rear-end housing, the trailing arms, steering linkage, and made other repairs. One hour and 15 minutes later, at the 136-lap mark, I got back on the racetrack.
As I drove my air-conditioned modified down the backstretch, people stood in the grandstand in a wave effect as I approached, and the wave preceded me all the way to the far end of the front grandstand. Watching that wave was incredible. We made 308 laps and finished 28th, enough to save the championship and beat Cale Yarborough, who finished third in the race, by 67.15 points.
Biggest Thrill
After a disastrous season that was so frustrating, I thought of quitting. But fate smiled on me at the Daytona 500 and gave me the biggest thrill of my racing career. Richard Petty’s Dodge was in a class by itself. But during the race a radiator seam split and he had to stop for water every 10-12 laps, knocking him out of contention. After a caution with 30-35 laps to go, David Pearson was leading and I was second. I hung with David a few laps before he opened a 7-second lead. With 12 laps to go, Petty made his last stop for water and came back on the track directly in front of me. He raised his arm.
That signal told me to hook up (draft) with him. We started gaining, and with three to go I was 2.5 seconds behind Pearson. It looked to me we were going to catch him on the white-flag lap. As I came off the second corner on Lap 198 (of 200) I saw the caution lights blinking and some dust. Pearson's car was going in circles. I was shocked to see the Wood Brothers' #21 car in trouble, for it rarely happened. When I got to the third corner it dawned on me that I was going to win the Daytona 500.
Humble Start
In 1960 I went from near North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, where I was born and raised, to Detroit, where my dad ran a service and repair station. I was there a couple of months when I met two guys my dad knew who had a race car. I started going to the track, into the pits. The only time I’d been to a racetrack was as a spectator. Three years later, in 1963, one of these guys stopped by Dad’s station and asked me if I’d like to drive a race car. I said I thought so. He said he had a car he’d give to me, a Ford. We went to his garage, and the first thought I had when I saw that car was that he had got cheated. It was torn all to pieces. We fixed it, though, and I ran my first race, a figure-eight feature on a 1/4-mile dirt track, and spun out. As a footnote to the Daytona 500 victory, all I could think about afterward was the level I started racing at in that old Ford, and 12 years later I was the Daytona 500 champ. It was a very humbling experience.
The Test
In 1968, I was broke. I was trying my best to get some help from Ford Motor Company to run the ARCA circuit. Ford had a party in Dearborn in December that year for its drivers and invited me, complete with my name on a reserved table. I asked myself what this was all about? Somebody said Ford was going to give me some help. That was news to me because I’d been calling the motorsports director and never could get him. Finally, he called in January and asked if I wanted to drive a Holman-Moody Ford in the ARCA race at Daytona. The deal was, I would pick up the car from Holman-Moody and build a qualifying engine. They would furnish a race engine. I was tickled to death. Well, the car was just the body and frame and all the parts to put it together. I had 10 days to get that car ready to go to Daytona. I had never seen one of those cars and knew nothing about preparing it. It seemed physically impossible to get the car ready, but we had to. And I knew why. This was Ford’s test to find out if I really wanted to race. If I called and told Ford I couldn’t get the car ready, I could kiss the company good-bye and my racing career would be over. We took the car to Odie Skeen’s two-car garage. At times there were 14 people working on it. Skeen built the engine. Somehow we got to Daytona and sat on the ARCA pole at 185 mph.
Speechless
The first couple of years as an ESPN commentator I worked the pits for Busch races and in the booth for Winston Cup events. We were doing the Busch race at Darlington, my fourth or fifth race with ESPN. Timmy Wallace was working with his cousin Kenny Wallace’s team. About the time the race started, the ESPN director said he needed a Track Fact. I didn’t know what to do. Finally, my idea was to feature an innovative tire cart, which crewmen still use to scoop up a set of tires at once. I instructed Timmy on what to do. Just as the camera swung to show the cart, the communications went awry and Wallace pulled the cart out of sight behind a truck. There was nothing to show. I froze, my mouth locked, I couldn’t say a word and have never been so embarrassed in my entire life.
Written on Wind
They say the Lord looks after fools and gamblers. And I guess at the L.A. Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway, the Lord looked after this fool. I clearly did not have the best car and it was my final race for owner M.C. Anderson. Right away I had a flat tire and lost more than a lap. The caution came out and I dove into the pits so I could come out near the front. We had a bad pit stop and lost a second lap. Darrell Waltrip was leading and I was behind him, two laps down. After several laps, I got a great run on Waltrip off Turn 4. Just as I got to the start-finish line, I pulled in front of him by two feet and got a lap back. I ran along with the lead pack one down and Waltrip had trouble. Near the end of the race, Cale Yarborough took the lead in Junior Johnson’s car. The caution appeared again. I ran wide open and kept up with Cale but couldn’t gain an inch.
That day the wind was blowing from Turn 2 to Turn 4, with gusts that had to be 50-60 mph. Cale, trying to beat me to the line, turned into Turn 4. A gust of wind caught his car and literally pushed it out of the groove. I turned under his car and got my second lap back. Everybody had to make one more stop with 10-15 laps to go. For some reason the leaders decided to gas and go. In fact, a miscommunication between Dale Earnhardt and his crew over gas and/or tires almost cost him the championship, his first. I took on gas and rightside tires. I caught Neil Bonnett in the Wood Brothers' car and Cale, passed them both in the same corner and won the race by six seconds over Bonnett. There's no way I should have won that race--the last Winston Cupper at the 2.5-mile showplace. It's just as true now as then--when it's your day you're going to win, and it doesn't take the fastest car.
Pause that Refreshed
In 1987 I drove for Hendrick Motorsports while the late Tim Richmond was ill. Harry Hyde was crewchief. We were at Darlington, the late Elmo Langley was driving then and his car dropped gear oil on the track. My car hit the stuff, which is as slippery as ice, and went straight into the wall. It was similar to what happened to Dale Jarrett’s car when he was going for the Winston Million bonus in 1996. Repairs were made, and I came back to log laps for points.
During a caution about halfway, I asked Harry if he wanted me to pit. Not right then, he replied. I drove another lap and asked again. No, not until he and the crew finished their ice-cream cones, he answered. On the pit stop, I got four tires and ice cream. The story was in the movie Days of Thunder.
I Confess
The details of Richard Petty’s 200th career victory, in the Pepsi Firecracker 400, are well-documented: how they beat and banged on one another racing to the line to take the race-ending caution flag, dropped when Doug Heveron’s car wrecked. It isn’t generally known, however, that I caused the caution, unintentionally of course. With about two to three laps to go, I was fifth battling Bobby Allison for fourth place. We came upon the lapped car of Heveron. I went to the outside and sensed he didn’t know I was there. I bumped him in the rear and his car spun and flipped, triggering the caution. I held on to fifth in Johnny Hayes’ Chevy, behind Allison.
I’ll Never Know
In 1970, at the Raleigh North, Carolina Fairgrounds, the last dirt-track race for what is now Winston Cup cars was run. I started on dirt and ran several races in the Detroit area. The dirt up North is so dry, hard, and slick that it’s almost like racing on asphalt. At Raleigh, I’ll never forget that Ellerbe, North Carolina, won the front row--John Sears on the pole and me on the outside. We lived one block apart in the town of 900. The race started and John blew up. I got the lead, and here came Richard Petty jerking (pitching) his car sideways into a broad slide in the corners and nailing the gas. He passed me easily. This was red clay and stickier than what I was used to, and I was still driving the car like I would on a dirt track in Michigan. I said I’d only heard about pitching a car, but if I was going to keep up with Richard I had to change my style. I made up my mind to drive like Richard. Just as I came off Turn 4 and prepared to pitch the car into Turn 1, the engine blew. So I still don’t know if I could have driven on dirt like Richard Petty, doggone it.
Read more: http://www.stockcarracing.com/featurestories/scrp_0000_benny_parson/viewall.html#ixzz2EzeQJCRX
Daytona memories starting with Tiny Lund’s win it has to be right
Note at about 4:35 Benny recites his poem about winning Daytona, counting down to 72 days, the timing is right
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http://www.stockcarracing.com/featurestories/scrp_0000_benny_parson/viewall.html
NASCAR Scrapbook: NASCAR Legend Benny Parson Reveals Some of His Most Poignant Racing Memories
A Miraculous Winston Cup Title, Daytona 500 Thrill, and a Revealing Confession
From the February, 2009 issue of Stock Car Racing
By Benny Parsons
Photography by Petersen Publishing Archives
Benny Parsons, 56, host of this month's Scrapbook: Memories of NASCAR '47-'97, won the '73 Winston Cup championship, scored 21 victories, 13 of these wins on superspeedways, and grossed almost $4 million in a 20-year big-league driving career. He retired as a driver in 1988. Parsons, a North Carolina native who grew up near North Wilkesboro and started racing in Michigan in 1963, needs no further introduction as a popular ESPN motorsports commentator. He and his wife, Terri, reside near Concord, North Carolina.Miraculous!
People who were in the garage at Rockingham for the October 21, 1973 race, when I miraculously won my first and only Winston Cup championship, still tell me they experienced one of the most dramatic hours in racing. It certainly was an anxious moment for me. I had a 194.35-point lead (under the old points system) over Richard Petty going into the season finale.
I qualified the L.G. DeWitt Racing Chevrolet fifth, and the race started perfectly. The first four or five cars pulled about a half-straight ahead of me and the next group was a half-straight behind, leaving me where I wanted to be--by myself. At that time we had two-way radios, but no spotters. On the 13th lap (of 492), I came off Turn 2 and saw a car that had spun sitting in the track between me and the leaders. I tried to turn under it but caught the front end right behind my right-front tire.
There was a big collision, but my car didn't spin. I got the engine fired, but the car wouldn't roll. The right side was gone, I don't mean sheetmetal, the rollbars were gone. My greatest fear, a wreck, was reality. My heart sank because we had everything there to fix the car except rollbars. I was just sick. I knew I was going to lose the championship. We neglected to put a wrecker on standby, so we lost four or five valuable minutes getting the car to the garage. We looked at the damage and said, it's over.
Somebody suggested cutting the rollbars out of another car. Ralph Moody, whose engine shop furnished power for our team after he left Holman-Moody, came (to the race) with another team and driver Bobby Mausgrover. The car was parked in the garage and was the only one there that hadn't made the field. Moody said to cut the bars out of the car, he'd explain and settle up later. While the bars were being welded in place, members of my team and numerous volunteers from other teams replaced the rear-end housing, the trailing arms, steering linkage, and made other repairs. One hour and 15 minutes later, at the 136-lap mark, I got back on the racetrack.
As I drove my air-conditioned modified down the backstretch, people stood in the grandstand in a wave effect as I approached, and the wave preceded me all the way to the far end of the front grandstand. Watching that wave was incredible. We made 308 laps and finished 28th, enough to save the championship and beat Cale Yarborough, who finished third in the race, by 67.15 points.
Biggest Thrill
After a disastrous season that was so frustrating, I thought of quitting. But fate smiled on me at the Daytona 500 and gave me the biggest thrill of my racing career. Richard Petty’s Dodge was in a class by itself. But during the race a radiator seam split and he had to stop for water every 10-12 laps, knocking him out of contention. After a caution with 30-35 laps to go, David Pearson was leading and I was second. I hung with David a few laps before he opened a 7-second lead. With 12 laps to go, Petty made his last stop for water and came back on the track directly in front of me. He raised his arm.
That signal told me to hook up (draft) with him. We started gaining, and with three to go I was 2.5 seconds behind Pearson. It looked to me we were going to catch him on the white-flag lap. As I came off the second corner on Lap 198 (of 200) I saw the caution lights blinking and some dust. Pearson's car was going in circles. I was shocked to see the Wood Brothers' #21 car in trouble, for it rarely happened. When I got to the third corner it dawned on me that I was going to win the Daytona 500.
Humble Start
In 1960 I went from near North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, where I was born and raised, to Detroit, where my dad ran a service and repair station. I was there a couple of months when I met two guys my dad knew who had a race car. I started going to the track, into the pits. The only time I’d been to a racetrack was as a spectator. Three years later, in 1963, one of these guys stopped by Dad’s station and asked me if I’d like to drive a race car. I said I thought so. He said he had a car he’d give to me, a Ford. We went to his garage, and the first thought I had when I saw that car was that he had got cheated. It was torn all to pieces. We fixed it, though, and I ran my first race, a figure-eight feature on a 1/4-mile dirt track, and spun out. As a footnote to the Daytona 500 victory, all I could think about afterward was the level I started racing at in that old Ford, and 12 years later I was the Daytona 500 champ. It was a very humbling experience.
The Test
In 1968, I was broke. I was trying my best to get some help from Ford Motor Company to run the ARCA circuit. Ford had a party in Dearborn in December that year for its drivers and invited me, complete with my name on a reserved table. I asked myself what this was all about? Somebody said Ford was going to give me some help. That was news to me because I’d been calling the motorsports director and never could get him. Finally, he called in January and asked if I wanted to drive a Holman-Moody Ford in the ARCA race at Daytona. The deal was, I would pick up the car from Holman-Moody and build a qualifying engine. They would furnish a race engine. I was tickled to death. Well, the car was just the body and frame and all the parts to put it together. I had 10 days to get that car ready to go to Daytona. I had never seen one of those cars and knew nothing about preparing it. It seemed physically impossible to get the car ready, but we had to. And I knew why. This was Ford’s test to find out if I really wanted to race. If I called and told Ford I couldn’t get the car ready, I could kiss the company good-bye and my racing career would be over. We took the car to Odie Skeen’s two-car garage. At times there were 14 people working on it. Skeen built the engine. Somehow we got to Daytona and sat on the ARCA pole at 185 mph.
Speechless
The first couple of years as an ESPN commentator I worked the pits for Busch races and in the booth for Winston Cup events. We were doing the Busch race at Darlington, my fourth or fifth race with ESPN. Timmy Wallace was working with his cousin Kenny Wallace’s team. About the time the race started, the ESPN director said he needed a Track Fact. I didn’t know what to do. Finally, my idea was to feature an innovative tire cart, which crewmen still use to scoop up a set of tires at once. I instructed Timmy on what to do. Just as the camera swung to show the cart, the communications went awry and Wallace pulled the cart out of sight behind a truck. There was nothing to show. I froze, my mouth locked, I couldn’t say a word and have never been so embarrassed in my entire life.
Written on Wind
They say the Lord looks after fools and gamblers. And I guess at the L.A. Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway, the Lord looked after this fool. I clearly did not have the best car and it was my final race for owner M.C. Anderson. Right away I had a flat tire and lost more than a lap. The caution came out and I dove into the pits so I could come out near the front. We had a bad pit stop and lost a second lap. Darrell Waltrip was leading and I was behind him, two laps down. After several laps, I got a great run on Waltrip off Turn 4. Just as I got to the start-finish line, I pulled in front of him by two feet and got a lap back. I ran along with the lead pack one down and Waltrip had trouble. Near the end of the race, Cale Yarborough took the lead in Junior Johnson’s car. The caution appeared again. I ran wide open and kept up with Cale but couldn’t gain an inch.
That day the wind was blowing from Turn 2 to Turn 4, with gusts that had to be 50-60 mph. Cale, trying to beat me to the line, turned into Turn 4. A gust of wind caught his car and literally pushed it out of the groove. I turned under his car and got my second lap back. Everybody had to make one more stop with 10-15 laps to go. For some reason the leaders decided to gas and go. In fact, a miscommunication between Dale Earnhardt and his crew over gas and/or tires almost cost him the championship, his first. I took on gas and rightside tires. I caught Neil Bonnett in the Wood Brothers' car and Cale, passed them both in the same corner and won the race by six seconds over Bonnett. There's no way I should have won that race--the last Winston Cupper at the 2.5-mile showplace. It's just as true now as then--when it's your day you're going to win, and it doesn't take the fastest car.
Pause that Refreshed
In 1987 I drove for Hendrick Motorsports while the late Tim Richmond was ill. Harry Hyde was crewchief. We were at Darlington, the late Elmo Langley was driving then and his car dropped gear oil on the track. My car hit the stuff, which is as slippery as ice, and went straight into the wall. It was similar to what happened to Dale Jarrett’s car when he was going for the Winston Million bonus in 1996. Repairs were made, and I came back to log laps for points.
During a caution about halfway, I asked Harry if he wanted me to pit. Not right then, he replied. I drove another lap and asked again. No, not until he and the crew finished their ice-cream cones, he answered. On the pit stop, I got four tires and ice cream. The story was in the movie Days of Thunder.
I Confess
The details of Richard Petty’s 200th career victory, in the Pepsi Firecracker 400, are well-documented: how they beat and banged on one another racing to the line to take the race-ending caution flag, dropped when Doug Heveron’s car wrecked. It isn’t generally known, however, that I caused the caution, unintentionally of course. With about two to three laps to go, I was fifth battling Bobby Allison for fourth place. We came upon the lapped car of Heveron. I went to the outside and sensed he didn’t know I was there. I bumped him in the rear and his car spun and flipped, triggering the caution. I held on to fifth in Johnny Hayes’ Chevy, behind Allison.
I’ll Never Know
In 1970, at the Raleigh North, Carolina Fairgrounds, the last dirt-track race for what is now Winston Cup cars was run. I started on dirt and ran several races in the Detroit area. The dirt up North is so dry, hard, and slick that it’s almost like racing on asphalt. At Raleigh, I’ll never forget that Ellerbe, North Carolina, won the front row--John Sears on the pole and me on the outside. We lived one block apart in the town of 900. The race started and John blew up. I got the lead, and here came Richard Petty jerking (pitching) his car sideways into a broad slide in the corners and nailing the gas. He passed me easily. This was red clay and stickier than what I was used to, and I was still driving the car like I would on a dirt track in Michigan. I said I’d only heard about pitching a car, but if I was going to keep up with Richard I had to change my style. I made up my mind to drive like Richard. Just as I came off Turn 4 and prepared to pitch the car into Turn 1, the engine blew. So I still don’t know if I could have driven on dirt like Richard Petty, doggone it.
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robbybee
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Great Stuff on BP!
Thanks, y'all!
Thanks, y'all!
Greg
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For the longest if you had asked me who made the K&K Dodge in Nascar, I would have said Bobby Isaac, Harry Hyde, and owner Nord I-need-to-look-up-his-namie with confidence. But I just learned a guy named Balmer ran the car prior to Isaac (pictured on the right).
Thegroundpounder99
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Greg
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As a kid the Isaac K&K car made a big impression on me. He won the first race I ever saw, it was at Greenville Pickens in 1970 or 71.
I was a Petty fan, but a bad wheel bearing put him behind the wall, and Isaac won the race.
I was watching from turn two, and I jumped with excitement the whole race, well at least until Petty went out.
The 2nd race Jack Ingram won a 200 lap race, in his signature brown bag colored # 11 55 Chevrolet. Jacks car had a look of military efficiency. They had a few battle scars and dings. His cars weren't pretty, but I never saw him bring an ill prepared car to the track everything worked like it should and you knew he was going to be someone to deal with.
Then I saw Petty win at Greenville in the famous Petty blue, Bobby Allison entered the event on 5 race win streak. 3 wins in a 69 Mercury, 1 in a 69 Dodge and a 70 Dodge. Then he came to Greenville in a 71 Holman Moody Ford. That streak with an assembly of various brands signified Bobby's racing personia. Fast and wiley and he could show up in any brand, all I knew was it sponsored by Coca Cola. They called his car the Coca Cola machine, and that was probably because he was subject to drive anyone of the brands. Shortly afterwards he drove for Johnson in a Chevy. Bobby was rugged and just awful fast, maybe he just never met anyone as good with a chassis and wrenches as he was himself, I don't know. But to me he was the prototype or epitome of pure race car driver, always the villain I worried about in those famous battles with Petty. To much for me as a kid to fully appreciate at the time, but as an adult I couldn't respect any more, I am glad I got to see it happen. Bobby was the epitome of pure natural born racer, maybe the most talented one I ever saw.
But in 71, I just knew he had to be stopped, 5 in a row how dare him, Petty had the 10 in 1967, and Bobby just had to be stopped. I was so relieved when Petty got that June 1971 win, as a 10 year it was a lot of pressure and stress.
During the Saturday night regular races a kid named Butch Lindley was starting to make a name for himself in 57 Chevy. It wasn't his typical orange or red, it was blue with the 16 number.
The impression was made, it wasn't about pretty cars, it was about performance.
The 71 was my favorite scheme, and if I ever raced that was the number and look I wanted.
I was a Petty fan, but a bad wheel bearing put him behind the wall, and Isaac won the race.
I was watching from turn two, and I jumped with excitement the whole race, well at least until Petty went out.
The 2nd race Jack Ingram won a 200 lap race, in his signature brown bag colored # 11 55 Chevrolet. Jacks car had a look of military efficiency. They had a few battle scars and dings. His cars weren't pretty, but I never saw him bring an ill prepared car to the track everything worked like it should and you knew he was going to be someone to deal with.
Then I saw Petty win at Greenville in the famous Petty blue, Bobby Allison entered the event on 5 race win streak. 3 wins in a 69 Mercury, 1 in a 69 Dodge and a 70 Dodge. Then he came to Greenville in a 71 Holman Moody Ford. That streak with an assembly of various brands signified Bobby's racing personia. Fast and wiley and he could show up in any brand, all I knew was it sponsored by Coca Cola. They called his car the Coca Cola machine, and that was probably because he was subject to drive anyone of the brands. Shortly afterwards he drove for Johnson in a Chevy. Bobby was rugged and just awful fast, maybe he just never met anyone as good with a chassis and wrenches as he was himself, I don't know. But to me he was the prototype or epitome of pure race car driver, always the villain I worried about in those famous battles with Petty. To much for me as a kid to fully appreciate at the time, but as an adult I couldn't respect any more, I am glad I got to see it happen. Bobby was the epitome of pure natural born racer, maybe the most talented one I ever saw.
But in 71, I just knew he had to be stopped, 5 in a row how dare him, Petty had the 10 in 1967, and Bobby just had to be stopped. I was so relieved when Petty got that June 1971 win, as a 10 year it was a lot of pressure and stress.
During the Saturday night regular races a kid named Butch Lindley was starting to make a name for himself in 57 Chevy. It wasn't his typical orange or red, it was blue with the 16 number.
The impression was made, it wasn't about pretty cars, it was about performance.
The 71 was my favorite scheme, and if I ever raced that was the number and look I wanted.
klemmabyna
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a dave marcis without the carnage attempt:
Greg
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Just ignore my post, because I sure as hell don't need you to like them or the pissing contest.
M
MOEJOE
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If Dp has to turn this car around because you two keep fighting, there will be no desert tonight.
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Dont know what your talking about moe, apparently someone thought I was talking about them. My sincere apologies to the members that have been enjoying this thread without the histrionics.
