NASCAR honored 1973 champion Benny Parsons at the Rockingham race in 2003. Credit: Autostock

Parsons held on to 1973 title due to consistency

Legend fended off Pearson, Petty despite one victory during season

Benny Parsons never won a race at North Carolina Speedway, and has always maintained winning the Daytona 500 in 1975 was a greater thrill than becoming the Winston Cup champion in 1973.

Stats at a Glance Benny Parsons' Cup career Year Races Ws T5s T10s Poles 1964 1 0 0 0 0 1969 4 0 2 3 0 1970 45 0 12 23 1 1971 35 1 13 18 0 1972 31 0 10 19 0 1973 28 1 15 21 0 1974 30 0 11 14 0 1975 30 1 11 17 3 1976 30 2 18 23 2 1977 30 4 20 22 3 1978 30 3 15 21 2 1979 31 2 16 21 1 1980 31 3 16 21 2 1981 31 3 10 12 0 1982 23 0 10 13 3 1983 16 0 4 5 0 1984 14 1 7 10 2 1985 14 0 1 6 0 1986 16 0 2 4 1 1987 29 0 6 9 0 1988 27 0 0 1 0 Totals 526 21 199 283 20 PARSONS DIES AT 65 Former champion and TV analyst Benny Parsons died Jan. 16 from lung cancer. He was 65.  •   Complete story, click here •   By the Numbers: B. Parsons •   Flashback: 1973 title •   NASCAR remembers B.P. •   Jenkins remembers colleague PHOTO GALLERY •   In Photos: B. Parsons MESSAGE BOARD •   Post your condolences and memories of Benny Parsons Parsons dies at 65Benny Parsons died Jan. 16 at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte Remembering B.P.Drivers share their favorite memories of Benny Parsons Parsons' true lovesMarty Snider says racing and people were B.P.'s passion Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

"It wasn't that big a deal, winning the championship, back then," Parsons said in 2003. "Winning the Winston Cup is big now, but when I won the Daytona 500 in 1975, it was a much bigger deal than the championship."

Parsons was reliving the past in 2003 as Matt Kenseth sped toward the championship despite winning only one race that year, becoming just the second driver in the Modern Era to do so. The first: Parsons in 1973.

And while he says one of his biggest disappointments was never having won at North Carolina Speedway -- which set a mere 10 miles from his race shop in his native Ellerbe, N.C. -- it was at The Rock where Parsons enjoyed perhaps the most emotional moment of his career.

Parsons needed a remarkable recovery in the season's 28th and final race that season to beat out the likes of Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty for the title. Parsons came into the race leading second-place Petty by 194.35 points.

But trouble found Parsons early. A collision with another car on Lap 13 ripped apart the right side of his No. 72 Chevrolet, owned by then-track president L.G. DeWitt.

"My heart sank because I knew it was over," Parsons said. "You don't repair damage like that.

"I got hit by a car coming out of the second turn and it knocked the entire right side off the car, including the roll cage. We had brought extra equipment, things like rear ends, springs, bell housing ... but obviously no roll bars.

"The car was still on the wrecker when someone noticed a car sitting in the garage that had failed to qualify."

That's when crew chief Travis Carter went to work. Under the watchful eye of NASCAR officials, Carter and volunteers from other teams worked a miracle and got the car back on the track.

"We went and took the roll cage out of that car and put it in ours," Parsons said. "It took an hour and 15 minutes before we got back on the track.

"One of the greatest moments of my career was pulling out from pit road after the repairs. When I got down the backstretch, it was like a wave with all the fans standing. Same thing when I got to Turn 4."

Parsons soon received another ovation that day. As Parsons drove his car to the winner's circle following the race, other team members stood on pit wall and applauded.

Parsons completed only 308 of the 492 laps in the American 500, failing to complete the race even after returning. He finished 28th and beat Yarborough, who was third, by 67.15 points for the title. A broken camshaft resulted in a 35th-place finish for Petty, who dropped to fifth in the final point standings.

"I think we parked it, once we got to where we knew we had the championship in hand," Parsons said of his shaky car. "There wasn't much drama.

"My reaction was mostly, 'Whew, it's over.' It was more a sense of relief than joy."

As Kenseth closed in on his championship in 2003, a sense of pride came over Parsons for what he had achieved in 1973. Kenseth, much like Parsons years before, came under fire for winning the title with only one race win to his credit.

David Pearson won the final race in 1973, one of 11 checkers he brought home that year. Petty won six times and Yarborough was a four-time winner. Parsons wasn't even in the car when it crossed the finish line for the only win in which he was credited, on July 8 at Bristol.

"I had a pinched nerve in my neck and Bristol is about the toughest track physically we ran," Parsons said. "Most of the time, you're fighting to keep from sliding out the door."

Parsons said he drove about 300 laps and then handed off to relief driver John Utsman to become the only car on the lead lap at the completion of the 500 laps.

"It was July, and it was blistering, and it was only four days after the Firecracker 400 at Daytona," Parsons said. "I could have never done it all myself."

Inside the Numbers Parsons' 1973 results Race Start Finish Status Riverside 10 14 running Daytona 13 30 engine Richmond 2 10 running Rockingham 2 31 engine Bristol 9 5 running Atlanta 5 3 running Wilkesboro 6 2 running Darlington 6 2 running Martinsville 12 6 running Talladega 20 3 running Nashville 5 2 running Charlotte 8 5 running Dover 21 6 running Coll. Station 9 7 running Riverside 7 3 running Michigan 6 9 running Daytona 7 5 running Bristol 2 1 running Atlanta 14 25 pump Talladega 6 38 engine Nashville 5 19 engine Darlington 7 5 running Richmond 7 4 running Dover 2 4 running Wilkesboro 3 5 running Martinsville 10 6 running Charlotte 7 4 running Rockingham 5 28 vibration Average 7.7 10.1

Parsons had 15 top-five finishes with a series-high 21 top-10s in 28 races. Despite his high win total, Pearson started in just 18 races.

"I felt like we had won the championship," said Parsons, who later would amass 18 wins in a seven-year period from 1975-81. "Pearson failed to show up for 10 races; therefore he relinquished his right to the championship."

Parsons earned $182, 321 in winnings, only fifth-best that year. Pearson won $228,408, participating mostly in those events with a larger payout. It sparked a change in the points system the following two years, but Kenseth proved it didn't solve the problem.

That is, if it was a problem.

"I think we need to reward the teams for finishing races and being there at the end," Parsons said in 2003. "Our season was kind of like Matt Kenseth's season. We only won one race, but we were terribly consistent finishing in the top-five, top-10."

Beginning at Bristol in March and ending there with his summer victory, Parsons put together a 14-race stretch of top-10 finishes. Ten of those were top-five runs as he jumped to the top of the point standings.

Parsons put together a late-season stretch where he finished no worse than sixth in six consecutive races leading up to the season finale.

"I could have bad luck, yet I'd always manage to finish in the top 10," Parsons said.

Yet all the while, defending Cup champion Petty was closing the gap.

Petty kept the heat on Parsons by putting together a seven-race streak of two wins, three second-place finishes and no worse than seventh going into the October finale when Parsons was put between a Rock and a hard place. He responded by celebrating a title that day at his beloved Rockingham.

"L.G. DeWitt loved the Sandhills of North Carolina and wanted that area represented in NASCAR," Parsons said.