36 Facts About Parnelli Jones

Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner.

Parnelli Jones is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and the Trans-Am Championship series.

Parnelli Jones won the race in 1963, then famously broke down while leading the 1967 race with three laps to go in a turbine car.

Parnelli Jones 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.

Parnelli Jones participated in his first race in a Jalopy race at Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California.

Parnelli Jones developed his racing skills by racing in many different classes in the 1950s, including 15 stock car racing wins in the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series.

Parnelli Jones was named the 1961 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, an honor that he shared with Bobby Marshman.

Parnelli 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.

Parnelli Jones dominated the first two-thirds of the race until a brake line failure slowed him, and he settled for a seventh-place finish.

Parnelli Jones won the 1963 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the car, and broke the stock car speed record.

Parnelli Jones won the Turkey Night Grand Prix midget car event.

Parnelli Jones won five of the nine midget car events that he entered in 1966, including the Turkey Night Grand Prix.

Parnelli Jones finished fourteenth in the final points despite competing in only nine of 65 events.

Parnelli Jones dominated the race but dropped out with three laps to go when a small, inexpensive transmission bearing broke.

Also in 1967, as part of his stock car contract with the Lincoln-Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company, Parnelli Jones drove a Mercury Cougar for Bud Moore in the second-year Trans Am series.

Stroppe suggested that Parnelli Jones try his hand at off-road racing in front of a large crowd at a Christmas party in 1967.

Parnelli Jones hit a dry wash at full speed, which broke the wheels and blew out the front tires.

In 1968, Parnelli Jones headed a super-roster of seven drivers signed by Andy Granatelli to drive STP Lotus 56 turbine cars in an unprecedented single-team assault on the Indianapolis 500.

Parnelli Jones stepped out of the car, which was assigned to Joe Leonard, who promptly wrecked the car in practice.

Parnelli Jones entered the 1968 NORRA Mexican 1000.

Parnelli Jones named the vehicle "Big Oly" after his sponsor Olympia Beer.

Parnelli Jones used the vehicle to lead the 1971 Mexican 1000 from start to finish in a new record time of 14 hours and 59 minutes.

In Big Oly, Parnelli Jones won back-to-back Mexican NORRA 1000s, a Mint 400, a Baja 500, along with other victories.

In 1967, to help with the vehicle launch, Parnelli Jones raced a prepped 1967 Mercury Cougar.

Parnelli Jones returned to Bud Moore and Trans-Am in 1969 to help with the debut of the Boss 302 Mustang.

Parnelli Jones finished his racing career with major wins during the year 1973.

Parnelli Jones won his second Mexican 1000 in 16 hours and 42 minutes.

Parnelli Jones won the 1973 Baja 500 and Mint 400 off-road events.

Parnelli 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.

Parnelli 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.

Jones started Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing, which won the Indianapolis 500 again as an owner in 1970 and 1971 with driver Al Unser driving the Johnny Lightning special.

Parnelli Jones returned to off-road racing as owner of Walker Evans' 1976 SCORE truck, and Evans won the championship.

Parnelli Jones owned vehicles that took class wins at the Baja 500 and Baja 1000.

Parnelli Jones Enterprises was a chain of Firestone Racing Tires in 14 Western United States.

Parnelli Jones Wholesale was a reseller which sold and distributed shock absorbers, passenger car tires, and other automotive products to retail tire dealers.

Parnelli Jones died in Torrance, California, on June 4,2024, at the age of 90.