Parnelli Jones, who was the oldest residing Indy 500 winner, dies at 90
Parnelli Jones in 2012. (AP)
TORRANCE, Calif. — Parnelli Jones, the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner, died Tuesday at Torrance Memorial Medical Middle after a battle with Parkinson’s illness, his son mentioned. Jones was 90.
Jones was the oldest residing winner of “The Best Spectacle in Racing.”
“Parnelli Jones was the best driver of his period,” his modern Mario Andretti as soon as mentioned. “He had aggressiveness and likewise a finesse that nobody else possessed. And he received on every little thing he put his fingers on.”
Rufus Parnell Jones was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, in 1933 however moved to Torrance as a younger baby and by no means left. It was there that he turned “Parnelli” as a result of his given identify of Rufus was too well-known for him to compete with out locals realizing his true id and that he wasn’t sufficiently old to race.
A good friend got here up with “Parnellie,” which was painted on the door of Jones’s 1934 Ford jalopy. The ultimate “e” was finally dropped, the identify remained.
Parnelli Jones within the 1963 Indy 500. (AP)
Jones in 1962 turned the primary driver in at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to qualify at over 150 mph with a four-lap common of 150.370. He was the Indy 500 pole-sitter in 1962 and 1963 and co-rookie of the 12 months with Bobby Marshman in 1961.
He made seven begins at Indianapolis from 1961 via 1967 and led in 5 of these races for a complete of 492 laps — which is the eighth-highest laps led whole within the race’s historical past. In the one two begins he didn’t lead in 1965 and 1966, Jones ran principally in second place. He completed second in 1965 and retired from there with mechanical hassle in 1966.
Thought of probably the most versatile drivers of his time, Jones moved to different automobiles and received the Baja 1000 twice and a Trans-Am championship, in a legendary 1970 Boss 302 Mustang painted orange to face out. He additionally had 4 Cup Sequence victories in NASCAR in addition to wins in USAC dash automobiles and midgets.
Jones is survived by his spouse of almost 57 years, Judy, sons PJ and Web page and 6 grandchildren. Each of Jones’ sons had skilled racing careers. PJ Jones adopted in his father’s footsteps by beginning the Indianapolis 500 in 2004 and 2006. Web page Jones was making nice strides on Midwest brief tracks till he suffered severe accidents in a crash in 1994, ending his driving profession.
Parnelli Jones was inducted into quite a few Halls of Fame, together with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corridor of Fame, the Nationwide Motorsports Corridor of Fame and each the Nationwide Dash Automotive and Nationwide Midget Halls of Fame.
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