Remembering BP always ends in long, fun stories

My role as a member of a network announce team covering NASCAR began on Sept. 4, 1994, at the Southern 500 in Darlington. Over the years I have called races on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, NBC and, of course, TNT.

This past Sunday I did something I have never done before as a network broadcaster. I did a race without Benny Parsons. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. Granted, over the years, Benny missed a race here and there and last season worked a limited schedule while being treated for the cancer that eventually took his life this past January. But he was always part of the team, and part of our race. But this past weekend, he wasn't there.

After his funeral I spent some time thinking about what it was going to be like going back to the track without the Big Guy. I didn't like the thought so I buried it the back of my head, somewhere behind remembering to get my lawn mower blade sharpened. I was just trying to delay the inevitable.

This spring Wally Dallenbach and I were working a Champ Car race for NBC. We were quietly having a drink at the hotel bar one night waiting for a table for dinner when, out of the blue, Wally said "You know, it sure is going to be strange calling those races without BP."

That pretty much yanked those well-hidden thoughts out from behind my lawn mower blade and I have to admit that I heard those words from Wally echo around in my head for months. I don't want this column to be about us, and especially not about me. I want it to be about Benny. While I try to get you there, I will also try to leave the "me" out of it, but so many of my memories of Benny involved things we did together, or as a group.

I had met him before joining the ESPN announce team, but we never really hung out together. We knew each other professionally, but he did call the week after the Southern 500. We talked about the race and the broadcast. By the time we talked, he knew ESPN was going to add me to a few more races, so he finished the conversation by saying, "Well, Weber, welcome to the team." I can remember his voice, his tone and his words. We were teammates all the way through the end of 2000 Nextel Cup season, when we both left to join the TNT/NBC team. (By the way, except occasionally on the air, he never called me Bill, it was always Weber. On the flowers we sent to the celebration of his life, we signed the card "Teresa and Weber.")

Benny was always the guiding arm in the garage. My favorite thing to do was be a part of a conversation between Benny and someone in the garage ... make that ANYONE in the garage. Sometimes I would walk into his conversations, sometimes he would walk into mine, but either way, when he was a part of it, the conversation was better, more revealing, more insightful and just more fun.

We were doing a race at Michigan a number of years ago and I stumbled onto a Roush team making an engine change on Sunday morning. Back then it wasn't uncommon to find a team changing engines during the weekend, but this was a little late on Sunday morning for the guys to be taking on this task. I found out the reason from the crew, they had found some metal shavings in an oil filter and did not want to take the chance that significant damage had been done to the engine, so they were making the change. I make no secret of the fact that I am not an engine specialist, so I tracked down BP and told him what was happening.

"Weber, let's go check this out," he said.

By the time we were done, Benny and Jack Roush were under the hood giving me a lesson on engine parts, engine oil and the Oberg filter that had trapped the metal shavings. I don't remember how the car did that day but I do remember telling the story on the air, complete with an Oberg filter as a prop. Again, not being the engine guy, I wanted to make sure I got the story right.

"Benny," I said on the air, "is that pretty accurate?"

"Weber," he said, "I am impressed. That's exactly how Jack told us it happened."

Benny made his comments with that "tone" in his voice that I loved the most, that not only had someone accomplished something, but that he had seen the project from start to finish, and was able to contribute to it being successful. Teamwork.

It is going to be hard to keep this column short, which was my original goal, because every time I tell one Benny story, I think of another. But, when he got that "tone" in his voice, you knew something good had happened to someone good.

To the viewers, the best evidence of that was the Golden Benny that we created in the early years of our TNT/NBC races. It was the perfect opportunity to let Benny do something he loved the most, acknowledging the people who work in the sport for a special accomplishment. As it turns out, the Golden Benny will be forever linked in lure to the Sports Illustrated cover jinx. We would tape the Golden Benny piece over the weekend and air it Sunday in the Countdown to Green. But it seemed whoever got the award that morning, had terrible luck that afternoon.

As I recall, we gave it to Randy Dorton at Talladega for something that had occurred in a previous race. Randy was the head of the engine department at Hendrick Motorsports, a wonderful guy and a very good friend to Benny and myself. Randy was always a soft-spoken guy who liked the shadows more than the spotlight. But BP convinced him to accept the award. Roll tape.

"Congratulations, Randy!" Benny bellowed in front of the camera.

"You and your boys in the engine department are this week's winner of the Golden Benny!" And with that he stuck out that big paw of his, shook hands with Randy, and handed him the Golden Benny.

We ran the piece in the pre-race show at Talladega. In the race that day, all four Hendrick cars blew up. It might have been five Hendrick cars. It might have been more. I think two of their rental cars wouldn't start after the race. It was unbelievable.

It wasn't funny then. But as time passed, the story has grown and we all shared a laugh over it. Something else that Benny and Randy had in common was a love for red wine. We lost Randy in the Hendrick plane crash in Martinsville, Va. I feel certain those two have shared a laugh about that day at Talladega over a glass of red wine.

To our broadcast family, Benny was our leader, to some, a father figure, to others, a best friend. He knew everyone's name and everyone's job. One of his most endearing qualities was that he could bust on anybody about anything, and they could bust on him. Fun with Benny meant fun for everyone.

The stories of Benny helping people are endless, and I do mean endless. And if someone tells you a story about BP, there is a good chance the story will involve them, and something Benny did for them, or with them. You know, it might just be about getting his autograph or taking a picture or seeing him win a race or waving to them on his way to the booth. There's also a chance it might have involved a meal, but I am not going down that road!

I talked to Terri Parsons on the telephone Saturday night before Pocono. I just wanted to let her know I was thinking about her and the Big Guy as we were getting ready to get back on the air. Terri was just getting her voice back. She said she had lost it. I can hear Benny ready to deliver a line, but I would never use it!

Terri is doing terrific and more so than any of us she really misses Benny. She is working very hard getting their winery, Rendezvous Ridge Vineyard, up to speed and opening a museum for BP in Wilkes County. There is a blog at www.bennyparsons.com that helps her keep fans and friends up to date. I can tell you this, if you're in the area of Wilkes County, N.C., on Monday, July 16, keep the afternoon free. There could be a little museum opening on Highway 421 that will be, let me think, how should I put this? BIG!

I did so many things with Benny, it would be impossible to explain to you all the fun we had together. We played golf with our attorney Alden Webb several years in a row in Arizona in the days leading up to the Phoenix race. The first year Teresa and I had a Super Bowl party at our home in Charlotte, Benny came and we made him the "Commissioner." If you won the "quarterly" pool during the game you got the money and your picture taken with BP. I don't think any cared about the money. The Packers were in the Super Bowl that year so, going along with our theme, we naturally had a cheese head. You know, that big plastic slice of cheese you wear like a hat? People got their picture taken with Benny Parsons wearing a cheese-head. Priceless.

We did pre-race shows together. We worked charity fundraisers together. Benny was invited to play in the charity pro-am for the Chrysler Classic in Greensboro a few years ago. Charity and golf, all mixed in together, perfect for him. I jokingly said I would caddy for him. Be careful what you wish for. NBC sent him a golf bag and I was caddy for a day. It just so happens he got paired with PGA professional Fred Funk, who is one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. And here is the amazing part; Fred told us that a number of years earlier, Benny had given him a ride around Lowe's Motor Speedway in a two-seater stock car. Benny remembered giving the rides but didn't realize one of his passengers was star-golfer-to-be Fred Funk.

Benny also gave actor James Woods a ride one time, to the NASCAR awards ceremony in New York in the snow. They shot a piece for the opening sequence. Then all of us sat with Woods while he and Benny swapped stories before the show.

BP used to charter a bus to take a group of us from Charlotte up into the mountains so we could play in his charity golf tournament. A bus, a big comfortable bus. Yes, it had a cooler. Charity and golf. And a cooler. Perfect.

He introduced me to Oysters Rockefeller.

"Come on Weber, you wimp, just try it," he said.

How could you refuse that kind of encouragement?

We did the old Winter Heat series with our old buddy Bob Jenkins. Man, did we have fun. Fun and racing. Perfect.

Perhaps this is the best story that tells you what kind of a guy Benny is. Sorry, I mean was. At Winter Heat, a six-race series in Tucson in December and January, Benny watched Greg Biffle compete. Now many of you know the story, but the following spring when Jack Roush mentioned to BP he was looking for a driver to fill a seat, Benny said he would keep his eyes open and walked away. He stopped, turned around and told Jack he really should take a look at this kid he saw at Winter Heat, named Greg Biffle.

The rest, as the cliche goes, is racing history.

One more story. And, yes, it is about me! A year ago Benny asked me to play in the member-guest golf tournament at his club in Daytona Beach. Man, was I thrilled! Well, we played the practice round on Wednesday, but on Thursday, the first day of the tournament, it rained. OK, it poured. Still, being the optimistic-type, ol' BP called the pro shop to see if the opening round was still on. The guy at the shop just laughed. No, Benny. No golf today.

I told BP and Terri a friend of mine, Harry Allen, owns Daytona Magic and I was thinking about going over to visit. Benny said he wanted to come along. Harry was in the shop that day and the show was awesome. Harry had Benny and me, amazed. And Benny was laughing the whole time. I won't tell you how much I spent that day, but I did buy a couple of tricks for Benny. "BP THE MAGNIFICENT." Hey, it could have happened, especially with those big hands.

As for the tournament, well, we each won a golf bag. OK, everybody got a golf bag. But not everyone got a golf ball autographed by Benny Parsons. The one I got sits on the desk in my office. And, to me, that is big.

Benny won at Michigan on June 15, 1980, Father's Day. It was his only win in his adopted "home" state.

Thanks for taking the time to let me salute my wonderful friend. And as Benny would always say:

"Have a large day."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.