Benny Parsons

Born

Benjamin Stewart Parsons
July 12, 1941
Wilkes County, North Carolina

Died

January 16, 2007 (aged 65)
Charlotte, North Carolina

Cause of death

Complications resulting from lung cancer

Achievements

1973 Winston Cup Series Champion
1968 ARCA Racing Series Champion
1969 ARCA Racing Series Champion
1975 Daytona 500 Winner
1980 World 600 Winner
1969 Daytona ARCA 300 Winner
1982 Daytona 500 Pole Sitter

Awards

1965 ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year
Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1994)
Court of Legends at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1994)
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2005)
ESPN Emmy (1996)
ACE Award (1989)
NASCAR Hall of Fame (2017)

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career

526 races run over 21 years

Best finish

1st (1973)

First race

1963 (Weaverville)

Last race

1988 Atlanta Journal 500 (Atlanta)

First win

1971 Halifax County 100 (South Boston)

Last win

1984 Coca-Cola 500 (Atlanta)

Wins	Top tens	Poles
21	283	20

NASCAR Grand National East Series career

2 races run over 2 years

Best finish

33rd (1973)

First race

1972 Buddy Shuman 300 (Hickory)

Last race

1973 Sunoco 260 (Hickory)

Wins	Top tens	Poles
0	2	0

Statistics current as of October 31, 2013.

Benjamin Stewart "Benny" Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup) champion, and was a 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee. He was the older brother of former NASCAR driver car owner and broadcaster Phil Parsons of Phil Parsons Racing.

He was nicknamed "BP" and The Professor, the latter in part because of his popular remarks and relaxed demeanor.

He was the founder of Rendezvous Ridge, a winery in North Carolina, which opened shortly after his death.

Parsons was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He spent his childhood years in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and played football at Millers Creek High School (now known as West Wilkes High School). Following high school, he moved to Detroit, Michigan where his father operated a taxicab company. Parsons worked at a gas station and drove cabs in Detroit before beginning his racing career. While working at the gas station one day, a couple of customers towing a race car invited him to a local race track. The driver of the car never showed up for that evening's race, and Parsons drove the car in a race for the first time later that night.

Parsons began his NASCAR career by running a single race in 1964 for Holman-Moody with a young Cale Yarborough.

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