Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (August 12, 1933 – June 4, 2024) was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and the Trans-Am Championship series. In 1962, he became the first driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 at over 150 mph (240 km/h). He won the race in 1963, then famously broke down while leading the 1967 race with three laps to go in a turbine car. During his career as an owner, he won the Indy 500 in 1970–1971 with driver Al Unser.
Jones won races in many types of vehicles: sports cars, Indy cars, sprint cars, midget cars, off-road vehicles, and stock cars.
Driving career
Born in Texarkana, Arkansas, Jones' family moved to Torrance, California, where he grew up (and lived in nearby Rolling Hills). He was nicknamed Parnelli by his boyhood friend Billy Calder, who hoped that the Jones family would not discover their son was racing cars as a 17-year-old minor. Jones participated in his first race in a jalopy race at Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California.
Jones' first major championship was the Midwest region Sprint car title in 1960. The title caught the attention of promoter J. C. Agajanian, who became his sponsor. He began racing at Indianapolis in 1961.
Jones was named the 1961 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, an honor that he shared with Bobby Marshman. Jones led early in the race and ran among the leaders until being hit in the face with a stone, bloodying his face, blurring his vision and slowing him to a 12th-place finish.
In 1962, Jones was the first driver to qualify over 150 mph at the Indianapolis 500, winning the pole position at a speed of . Jones dominated the first two-thirds of the race until a brake line failure slowed him, and he settled for a seventh-place finish.
thumb|Jones drives the car he drove in the Indianapolis 500 from 1961 through 1964 around the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway track in 2012.|300x300px]]
In the 1963 Indianapolis 500, Jones started on the pole. This was the year the controversial Lotus-Ford rear-engined cars made their first appearance, and had ruffled the Indianapolis establishment. Before the race, the chief steward, Harlan Fengler, told the teams that he would black-flag any cars that leaked oil on the track, warning, "Don't believe me, just try me."
With Scotsman Jim Clark in a Lotus-Ford closing on Jones in the waning laps, Jones' car developed a horizontal crack in the external oil reservoir. At that moment, driver Eddie Sachs crashed on the oil-slickened racing surface and brought out a yellow caution flag, slowing the field. Agajanian, Jones' car owner, argued with chief steward Harlan Fengler not to issue a black flag, insisting the oil level had dropped below the level of the crack, and that the leak had stopped. As Agajanian pleaded with Fengler, Lotus head man Colin Chapman rushed up to join the conversation and demanded that Fengler follow the rules about disqualifying cars with oil leaks. With the end of the race just minutes away, Fengler took no action, and Jones went on to win. The Lotus-Ford team, while unhappy with the obvious favoritism displayed by race officials toward Jones and Agajanian, also acknowledged Jones' clear superiority in the event. In addition, Ford officials recognized that a victory through disqualification of Clark's biggest competitor would not be well received by the public, so they declined to protest.
Also that year, legendary vehicle fabricator Bill Stroppe built a Mercury Marauder USAC Stock car for Jones. Jones won the 1963 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the car, and broke the stock car speed record. In 1970, Moore, Jones, and Follmer returned to dominate the 1970 Trans-Am season.
Jones finished his racing career with major wins during the year 1973. He won his second Mexican 1000 in 16 hours and 42 minutes. He also won the 1973 Baja 500 and Mint 400 off-road events. Jones had a major accident at SCORE International's 1974 Baja 500, and stepped away from full-time off-road racing to become a race car owner.
Driving career summary
Jones retired with six IndyCar wins and twelve pole positions, four wins in 34 NASCAR starts, including the 1967 Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, 25 midget car feature wins in occasional races between 1960 and 1967, 25 career sprint car wins, and seven Tran-Am wins and a Drivers Championship in 1970. His fifteen wins is eighth on the all-time in NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model history.
Awards and honors
- He was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1978.
- He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1985.
- He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
- He was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1990.
- He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991.
- He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992.
- He was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2002.
- He was inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame in 2012.
- He was inducted into the Trans-Am Series Hall of Fame in 2025.
Complete USAC Championship Car results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
! Year
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
! 16
! 17
! 18
! 19
! 20
! 21
! Pos
! Points
|-
! 1960
| TRE<br />
| INDY<br />
|style="background:#CFCFFF;" | MIL<br /><small>16</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | LAN<br /><small>6</small>
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | SPR<br /><small>DNQ</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br /><small>13</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DUQ<br /><small>18</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SYR<br /><small>6</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ISF<br /><small>17</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | TRE<br /><small>19</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | SAC<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | PHX<br /><small>DNQ</small>
|colspan=9|
!style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 18th
!style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 333
|-
! 1961
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | TRE<br /><small>15</small>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;" | INDY<br /><small>12</small>
| MIL<br />
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | LAN<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br /><small>23</small>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;" | SPR<br /><small>11</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DUQ<br /><small>12</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | SYR<br /><small>5</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ISF<br /><small>12</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;"| TRE<br /><small>9</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | SAC<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | PHX<br /><small>1</small>
|colspan=9|
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 9th
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 750
|-
! 1962
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | TRE<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | INDY<br /><small>7</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | MIL<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | LAN<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | TRE<br /><small>4</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | SPR<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br /><small>9</small>
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| LAN<br /><small>3</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SYR<br /><small>15</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | ISF<br /><small>1</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | TRE<br /><small>19</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | SAC<br /><small>5</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | PHX<br /><small>4</small>
|colspan=8|
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 1,760
|-
! 1963
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | TRE<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | INDY<br /><small>1</small>
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | MIL<br /><small>DNQ</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | LAN<br /><small>4</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | TRE<br /><small>22</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SPR<br /><small>8</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br /><small>23</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | DUQ<br /><small>6</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ISF<br /><small>18</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | TRE<br /><small>22</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SAC<br /><small>12</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | PHX<br /><small>4</small>
|colspan=9|
!style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 4th
!style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 1,540
|-
! 1964
|style="background:#FFDF9F;" | PHX<br /><small>3</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | TRE<br /><small>19</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | INDY<br /><small>23</small>
| MIL<br />
| LAN<br />
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | TRE<br /><small>DNQ</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SPR<br /><small>13</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | MIL<br /><small>1</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DUQ<br /><small>16</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ISF<br /><small>17</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | TRE<br /><small>1</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SAC<br /><small>16</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | PHX<br /><small>17</small>
|colspan=8|
!style="background:#CFEAFF;" | 6th
!style="background:#CFEAFF;" | 940
|-
! 1965
| PHX<br />
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | TRE<br /><small>DNQ</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | INDY<br /><small>2</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | MIL<br /><small>1</small>
| LAN<br />
| PIP
| TRE<br />
| IRP<br />
| ATL<br />
| LAN<br />
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br /><small>17</small>
| SPR<br />
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | MIL<br /><small>DNQ</small>
| DUQ<br />
| ISF<br />
| TRE<br />
| SAC<br />
| PHX<br />
|colspan=3|
!style="background:#CFEAFF;" | 10th
!style="background:#CFEAFF;" | 1,000
|-
! 1966
| PHX
| TRE
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | INDY<br /><small>14</small>
| MIL<br /><small>DNS</small>
| LAN
| ATL
| PIP
| IRP
| LAN
| SPR
| MIL
| DUQ
| ISF
| TRE
| SAC
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| PHX<br /><small>10</small>
|colspan=5|
!style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 41st
!style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 60
|-
! 1967
| PHX<br />
| TRE<br />
|style="background:#CFEAFF;"| INDY<br /><small>6</small>
| MIL<br />
| LAN<br />
| PIP
| MOS<br />
| MOS<br />
| IRP<br />
| LAN<br />
| MTR<br />
| MTR<br />
| SPR<br />
| MIL<br />
| DUQ<br />
| ISF<br />
| TRE<br />
| SAC<br />
| HAN<br />
| PHX<br />
| RIV<br />
!style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 20th
!style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 400
|-
! 1972
| PHX<br />
| TRE<br />
| INDY<br /><small>DNP</small>
| MIL<br />
| MCH<br />
| POC<br />
| MIL<br />
| ONT<br />
| TRE<br />
| PHX<br />
|colspan=11|
!-
!0
|}
Indianapolis 500 results
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Car
!Start
!Qual
!Rank
!Finish
!Laps
!Led
!Retired
|-
!1961
|98
|5
|146.080
|7
|12
|192
|27
|Flagged
|-
!1962
|98
|style="background:green;color:white"|1
|150.370
|style="background:green;color:white"|1
|7
|200
|120
|Running
|-
!1963
|98
|style="background:green;color:white"|1
|151.153
|style="background:green;color:white"|1
|style="background:green;color:white"|1
|200
|167
|Running
|-
!1964
|98
|4
|155.099
|4
|23
|55
|7
|Pit fire
|-
!1965
|98
|5
|158.625
|5
|2
|200
|0
|Running
|-
!1966
|98
|4
|162.484
|4
|14
|87
|0
|Wheel Bearing
|-
!1967
|40
|6
|166.075
|6
|6
|196
|171
|Bearing
|-
|colspan=6|Totals
|1130
|492
|
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Starts
|7
|-
!Poles
|2
|-
!Front Row
|2
|-
!Wins
|1
|-
!Top 5
|2
|-
!Top 10
|4
|-
!Retired
|3
|}
References
External links
- VPJ Racing Collection Website
- Biography
- The Greatest 33