Popular NASCAR Personality Parsons Dies

Wednesday, January 17th 2007, 6:31 am

By: News On 6

Greg Biffle believes that without help from Benny Parsons, he never would have reached NASCAR's highest level. Michael Waltrip credits Parsons for giving him the courage to propose to his wife in Victory Lane.

Parsons was remembered Tuesday in every corner of the NASCAR garage for his generous nature, lovable personality and overwhelming popularity. The 1973 NASCAR champion died in Charlotte, N.C., of complications from lung-cancer treatment. He was 65.

``Every time I think about how lucky I am to have the job and the life I have, I think of ``BP'' because he's the reason I ever got this opportunity,'' said Biffle, whom Parsons discovered in the mid-1990s and then convinced car owner Jack Roush to hire him site unseen.

Diagnosed with lung cancer in July, Parsons attacked his battle with the same aggressiveness that helped him rise up from a childhood of poverty in the North Carolina foothills to a job as a Detroit cabbie, and eventually, becoming a NASCAR champion.

Parsons carried an oxygen tank around the race track, but the former smoker couldn't win this fight. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments cost Parsons the use of his left lung, and he was hospitalized Dec. 26 when doctors found a blood clot in his right lung. He was placed in an induced-coma and never recovered.

``Benny Parsons was a true champion _ both on the race track and in life,'' NASCAR chairman Brian France said. ``Benny loved our sport and the people that make it up and those people loved him. He will be remembered as being a great ambassador for the sport.''

The 1973 NASCAR champion, Parsons was a member of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles. He was the first Cup competitor to qualify for a race faster than 200 mph, going 200.176 mph at the 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

He retired from racing in 1988 and entered broadcasting, where his folksy style and straight-shooting manner endeared him to fans and drivers. Sometimes referred to as ``The Professor'' because of his relaxed ability to deliver information, Parsons spent the past six years as an NBC and TNT commentator and continued to call races from the booth during his treatment.

``When you talked to him he brought out the human element,'' said Waltrip, who tested this week at Daytona International Speedway in a car that had ``We Love You, BP'' painted on the side.

``The cars are nuts and bolts, but he talked through that. He was able to deliver to the people. He just tried to be passionate about what he believed and he did a great job of explaining what people were seeing.''

Known throughout NASCAR as ``BP,'' Parsons hosted a weekly radio program and kept fans updated on his condition in a blog on his Web site.

``As my radiation oncologist told me today, John Wayne lived and had a great career with one lung. There is no reason why I can't do the same.'' Parsons said in a Dec. 18 entry after learning of the damage to his left lung.

``If given a choice between cancer or losing a lung I would say that I got the right end of the deal,'' he added.

That feisty spirit was one of Parsons' trademarks, carrying him from a poor childhood in Wilkes County, N.C., to a job driving taxis and then to the top of NASCAR. He remained popular with fans and drivers long after his retirement.

``Benny Parsons was the kindest, sweetest, most considerate person I have ever known,'' said Darrell Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR champion. ``He was almost too nice to be a race car driver, and I say that as a compliment. In my 30 odd years of racing Benny Parsons, I never knew of anyone being mad at Benny.''

Parsons' death comes eight days after former Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton lost his battle with cancer.

Born July 12, 1941, at a rural home that lacked running water and electricity, Parsons was raised by his great grandmother near the community called Parsonsville. He eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father.

After winning ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing ``taxicab driver'' as his occupation on entry forms.

Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He ended his career with 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million.

His 1973 championship season was built on endurance and consistency: He won only one of the 28 races that season while second-place finisher Cale Yarborough won four times and David Pearson won 11. But Parsons finished the most miles that year to claim the crown.

He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.

Parsons began broadcasting in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst in his first season. He also created the popular ESPN segment ``Buffet Benny'' on food available at race tracks.

Survivors include wife Terri, sons Kevin and Keith, a former sports writer for The Associated Press, and two granddaughters. Parsons was preceded in death by his first wife, Connie.