Benny Parsons, a Wilkes County, North Carolina, native who called Detroit home after driving a taxi for a living during his years in the northern city, won the 1973 NASCAR premier series championship in one of the most dramatic fashions in series history.
Born: July 12, 1941 Died: Jan. 16, 2007
Hometown: Ellerbe, North Carolina
Championship Premier: 1973
Premier Series Stats
Competed: 1964-88
Starts: 526
Wins: 21
Poles: 20
Parsons could be called an everyman champion: winning enough to be called one of the sport’s stars but nearly always finishing well when he wasn’t able to reach Victory Lane. He won 21 times in 526 career starts but finished among the top 10 283 times — a 54 percent ratio.
One of Parsons’ biggest victories came in the 1975 Daytona 500. He also was the first driver to qualify a stock car at more than 200 mph (200.176) in 1982 at Talladega Superspeedway. He was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.
Parsons also was known as a voice of the sport making a seamless transition to television following his NASCAR career. He was a commentator for NBC and TNT until his passing in 2007, at age 65.
NASCAR Hall of Fame, Class of 2017 and Landmark Award nominee
Raymond Parks is one of stock-car racing’s earliest — and most successful — team owners.
Born: June 5, 1914 Died: June 20, 2010
Hometown: Dawson County, Ga.
Championship
Premier: 1949 (owner)
Premier Series Owner Stats
Competed: 1949-55
Starts: 18
Wins: 2
Poles: 2
Funded by successful business and real estate ventures in Atlanta, Parks began his career as a stock-car owner in 1938 with drivers Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall.
His pairing with another Atlantan, mechanic Red Vogt, produced equipment good enough to dominate the sport in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Red Byron won the first NASCAR title (Modified, 1948) and first premier series title (1949) in a Parks-owned car.
Though Parks’ team competed for only four seasons — 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1955 — his place in NASCAR history is secure. Parks’ team produced two premier series wins, two poles, 11 top fives and 12 top-10s in 18 events. Drivers Red Byron, Bob Flock and Roy Hall drove his cars during the 1949 season. Byron drove for him again in 1950. Fonty Flock drove for Parks in 1954, and Curtis Turner drove for him in 1955.
The founder and owner of Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick’s organization is recognized as one of NASCAR’s most successful. A longtime racing enthusiast and driver himself, Hendrick owned drag-racing boat teams that won three championships before founding “All-Star Racing,” the team that would evolve into Hendrick Motorsports, in 1984
Born: July 12, 1949
Hometown: Palmer Springs, Virginia
Hendrick Motorsports owns an all-time record 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner championship titles — seven with Johnson, four with Gordon and one with Terry Labonte. Hendrick also has 14 total NASCAR national series owner championships, which is most in NASCAR history. Gordon and Labonte combined to win four consecutive titles from 1995-98. In 2010, Johnson won a record-extending fifth consecutive championship.
Some of NASCAR’s most prominent drivers have driven for Hendrick. Geoff Bodine was the first, snaring the organization’s first victory on April 29, 1984, at Martinsville Speedway. The late Tim Richmond, three-time series champion Darrell Waltrip and the late Benny Parsons, the 1973 champion, also are Hendrick alumni.
One of the original pioneers of stock car auto racing, H. Clay Earles played an integral role in the early years of NASCAR’s development. Earles built and opened Martinsville Speedway in 1947, and the short track remains the only facility to host NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races every year since the series’ inception in 1949.
Born: August 11, 1913 Died: Nov. 16, 1999
Hometown: Martinsville, Virginia
The speedway held its first race on Sept. 7, 1947 — three months before the creation of NASCAR. That initial race drew more than 6,000 fans to the track, which had just 750 seats ready.
Built as a dirt track, the .526-mile asphalt speedway has grown from a dusty, primitive operation into a multi-million dollar facility covering over 340 acres. The track’s unique paperclip shape makes it especially challenging with 800-foot straights and tight turns banked at only 12 degrees.
In 1964, Earles decided it was time for a “different” type of trophy for his race winners. He gave winners grandfather clocks, a tradition that continues today.
Earles passed away on Nov. 16, 1999 as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the speedway.
Long before he became one of the preeminent car owners in NASCAR history, Richard Childress was a race car driver with limited means. Still, he persevered, which is what you do when you purchase your first race car for $20 at the age of 17.
Born: Sept. 21, 1945
Hometown: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Premier Series Owner Stats (Through 2014)
Competed: 1969-present Starts: 2,495 Wins: 105
Poles: 46
Childress, the consummate self-made racer, was respectable behind the wheel. Between 1969-81 he had six top-five finishes and 76 top 10s in 285 starts, finishing fifth in the NASCAR premier series standings in 1975.
Having formed Richard Childress Racing in 1972, Childress retired from driving in 1981. The rest, as they say, is history.
Much of that history is linked to one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers, inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, who won six championships and 67 races between 1984-2000 for RCR.
But Childress has had other successes. In addition to Earnhardt’s championships, Childress drivers have given him five others. His total of 11 national series owner championships is second all-time. Childress was the first NASCAR owner to win championships in all three of NASCAR’s national series.
The No. 2 Ford will sport a 1972 design by Miller Lite with a lighter shade of blue and a line of gold between the primary colors of blue and white.
“We’re showing the old-school Miller Lite colors for this race,” Keselowski said after pulling the cover off the car. ” … It’s very old school, and it’s going to be another fun weekend.”
Kenny Humpe (The TEAM) once again showed everyone why he is the defending NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series champion, leading 168 of 200 laps en route to a dominant victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Humpe started on pole and was only challenged by Ray Alfalla (Slip Angle Motorsports) before a late caution created a five-lap dash to the finish.
Humpe and Alfalla, along with nine others, chose to stay on the track for the shootout and hoped their track position would overcome worn tires. Corey Vincent (Overclock Motorsports) had been fast throughout the race and was the first car on four tires, restarting 12th. When the green flew, Humpe shot out to the lead as Vincent began to quickly pass cars using the top groove in Turns 1 and 2. However, Vincent’s run was cut short when Nicholas Johnston (HPM) and Dylan Jones (Nexxus) sparked a massive crash exiting Turn 2, causing the race to end under yellow.
Humpe took the win over teammate Justin Bolton, who came on strong in the second half of the race, with Alfalla coming home third ahead of PJ Stergios (ineX Racing). Dylan Duval’s fifth place result made it three cars from The TEAM in the top five. Vincent could only manage eighth on the abbreviated last run, but almost surely would have won if the race stayed green to Lap 200.
The race started with an 82-lap green flag run, complete with two rounds of green flag pit stops. Humpe and Alfalla were in another zip code early on with Alfalla the only sim racer within seven seconds of the lead by Lap 60.
After a yellow on Lap 83 for Adam Gilliland’s (Aftermath Motorsports) spin, Alfalla found new life in his car and challenged Humpe for the lead as the race approached the halfway point. Humpe was too strong though and held Alfalla at bay using the momentum from the outside lane.
The middle segment of the race had its share of carnage as cautions broke-up the runs and led to some differing strategies when everyone pitted on Lap 120. On this round of stops Trey Eidson opted for just right side tires and inherited the lead while Humpe had a bad pit stop and found himself fourth on the restart behind Bolton and Alfalla.
Humpe grabbed third from Alfalla on the restart before a huge crash in the back of the field brought the pace car out yet again. On the following restart Humpe was on the move again, this time picking off Bolton after just one lap and setting his sights on Eidson for the lead.
Eidson and his old tires did not stand a chance as Humpe reeled him in after only four laps, but the pass for the lead nearly ended in disaster for both drivers when they went for the same piece of track off Turn 2 and made contact. The impact sent Eidson into the wall, damaging his car, while Humpe continued unscathed and leading once again.
The last 65 laps were paced comfortably by Humpe, save for Alfalla having one more go for the lead with 11 laps remaining. As was the case earlier in the race, Humpe held-off the two time champion on the top as passing on the bottom proved difficult on old tires.
Despite missing-out on the victory Alfalla built on his championship lead and now sits 14 points ahead of PJ Stergios as the 2016 season reaches the halfway point. Humpe continues his rise up the standings and is now 58 points back in third. After a 14th place finish last night, Jake Stergios is fourth while Vincent rounds out the top five.
With the first half of the season in the books the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series has a five-week break before starting the second half of the season at Chicagoland Speedway on June 28. The break, along with a new iRacing build due for release before the race, could shake-up who has speed when cars return to the track. Can Alfalla continue on his way to a third championship? Or, can Humpe continue his hot streak and complete an unprecedented comeback to win his second title in as many years? Be sure to catch the sim racing action when the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series reopens for business the evening of June 28 in iRacingLive!
The NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2017 will be selected, and announced, today. There are 20 nominees up for five spots, and five nominees for the Landmark Award, which goes to one person.
NASCAR’s official Twitter account, @NASCAR, will provide behind-the-scenes updates throughout the voting period. Check the timeline below for updates throughout the afternoon.
The Class of 2017 will be announced at 5 p.m. ET. NASCAR.com is live streaming the event (click here to bookmark), and NBCSN is televising.
If you haven’t noticed, emojis are just about everywhere you look, and options are as clever as they are varied. Name an emotion — there is likely an emoji for it. Name a food — definitely an emoji for it. Animal … emoji. You get the picture.
Well, the emoji phenomenon has hit NASCAR. In advance of this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), fans will have the chance to share their favorite driver emojis wherever and whenever they want. Today marks the launch of NASCAR Emoji Garage, a brand-new app filled with NASCAR-themed emoji stickers available for free at the Apple App Store — click here.
The app is designed to be a platform for fans to engage with their favorite teams and drivers through the use of themed stickers. Teams and drivers helped choose their favorite sticker designs, making NASCAR Emoji Garage the latest platform allowing fans to connect with the sport any day of the week.
