Benny Parsons

Benjamin Stewart Parsons, or as he was more popularly known Benny Parsons was mostly famous for his 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup championship win. He began working with his father, who owned a taxicab company and began his NASCAR career in 1964, with a single race for Holman-Moody. Parsons went on to win two ARCA championships in 1968 and 1969.

It was only in 1970 that Parsons joined NASCAR full time. With a total of 21 NASCAR Cup Series victories and a further 20 pole positions and an impressive 283 top-10 finishes, Parsons became one of the most respected drivers in NASCAR.
In 1973, the season Parsons won the championship, he managed only one race win, but remained on top with most miles driven. A sign of sheer endurance, even though second position winner in the championship Cale Yarborough had four victories, and David Pearson had 11 wins, Parsons completed all 28 races in the season.

The two biggest wins in his career were in 1975, at the Daytona 500 and in 1980 at the Coca-Cola 600, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Another achievement was when Parsons became the first NASCAR Cup Series competitor to qualify for a race at over 200 mph. He achieved this for the Winston 500, in 1982, at Talladega Superspeedway, marking a speed of 200.176 mph.

Parsons retired from racing at the end of the 1988 season, and became a respected analyst on NASCAR racing telecasts. He even won a NASCAR Emmy in 1996. Parsons achieved a lot in this field as well, and even had his own show "Fast Talk with Benny Parsons", on Performance Racing Network, which he hosted till his death.

In the year 2006 Benny Parsons was diagnosed with lung cancer, and even though the treatment was successful, damage to his left lung led to his death on January 16th, 2007.

To honor this multi-talented driver, Parsons was inducted into the Hall of Fame of International Motorsports, and also into the Court of Legends, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in the year 1994.