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Ron Hill
04-25-2008, 07:44 PM
I made a couple of props for Parnelli back in the days he had a Schiada, and had a place at Parker...

I picked up the newspaper this morning and it said, "Autograph session with Grand Marshall Parnelli Jones" Sunday, April 27, 2008 at Cal State Fullerton....I'm going with my camera, and autograph book...Some of my best memories of racing was A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones.....running Midget (Not politically correct) at Ascot...going with Ted May, my brother and the Edmissions...back when Sammy Tanner was "THE FLYING FLEA" of motorcycle flat track racing....

Parnelli would stop by my prop booth at the LA SHOW, on Wednesday, and if no one was around we'd talk...

Parnelli was the first INDY winner to ever really get rich ($$$) from winning Indy...He bought or developed a chain of Parnelli Jones Firestone tire stores....kind of a Walmart of the day for tires.....

As a kid, I remember Dick Lane announcing from Ascot Park, in the mud....Jaloby Derby...Later Dick Lane announced Speedboat Redeo....

Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (born August 12 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_12), 1933 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933) in Texarkana, Arkansas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texarkana%2C_Arkansas)), is a retired American racing driver and racecar owner. He is most remembered for his 1963 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_Indianapolis_500) Indianapolis 500 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_500) win, and almost winning the 1967 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Indianapolis_500) Indy 500 in a turbine car. <SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-NMARHoF_0-0>[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnelli_Jones#cite_note-NMARHoF-0)</SUP> He is also remembered for bringing the stock block engine to USAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Automobile_Club) Sprint car racing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_car_racing) as one of the "Chevy Twins" with Jim Hurtubise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Hurtubise). <SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-NMARHoF_0-1>[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnelli_Jones#cite_note-NMARHoF-0)</SUP>
In his career, Parnelli Jones won races in many types of vehicles: sports cars, IndyCars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Championship_Car_Racing), sprint cars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_car_racing), midget cars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midget_car_racing), off-road vehicles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-road_racing), and stock cars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_car_racing). He is associated with the famous Boss 302 Mustang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_302_Mustang) with his wins using the engine in the 1970s. Jones' son P. J. Jones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._J._Jones) was also a diverse driver, with IndyCar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CART) and NASCAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR) starts. His other son Page Jones (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Page_Jones&action=edit&redlink=1) was an up-and-coming driver before suffering career ending (and life-threatening) injuries in a sprint car at the 4-Crown Nationals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldora_Speedway), and has been in rehabilitation, working with his father-in-law.

Clipping is from today, April 25, 2008, Orange Count Register Newspaper...

Skoontz
04-26-2008, 07:01 AM
Here is his Boss 302. We used to watch he, Bentenhausen, and Foyt go wheel to wheel at Terre Haute speedway, a track where MissKTDoodle showed the boys how it was done many years later.

russhill
04-26-2008, 08:48 AM
One of my little Russ Hillian games I played when I raced stock and alky, quite a few years ago was to shake hands with the Referee after the Drivers" meeting. I'd thank him for being there, helping run a race, and how he was the most important part of the race. We could live without any of the entrants, but not the referee. I never got DQ'd that much.

Anyway quite a few years later, I was referee at an Offshore race in which Parnelli was entered. I only slightly knew him at that time. After the Drivers' Meeting he came to me, shook my hand and told me how much he appreciated my service as referee.

I stopped him in mid dissertation, and told he was one of the greatest racers of all time, but I wished he wouldn't steal my 25 year old a$$ kissing technique. We were pretty good friends after that.

Ron - We going to Fullerton tomorrow?