Parnelli Jones, who loved success in just about every thing he raced from pavement to off-road, has handed away on the of 90. His son P.J. Jones defined Tuesday that he had been battling Parkinson’s illness “for the previous few years.”
Jones is most well-known for profitable the 1963 Indianapolis 500, his third of seven makes an attempt from 1961 to 1967. He was an open-wheel common in USAC through the Sixties which he balanced with choose begins within the NASCAR Grand Nationwide Sequence (now Cup Sequence), the place he received 4 occasions, and the Pacific Coast Late Mannequin Sequence that has since turn into the ARCA Menards Sequence West.
Invoice Stroppe, who constructed his USAC and NASCAR vehicles, additionally designed his Mercury with which he received the Pikes Peak Worldwide Hill Climb in 1963. On the flip of the last decade, Stroppe challenged Jones to check out off-road racing, getting into the NORRA Mexican 1000 in 1968. Stroppe later constructed a Ford Bronco nicknamed “Massive Oly”, with which Jones received the Mexican 1000 in 1970, the Baja 500 in 1970 and 1973, and back-to-back Baja 1000s in 1971 and 1972. Jones and Stroppe additionally received the 1973 Mint 400. Fellow Indy 500 champion Rick Mears and off-road nice Walker Evans additionally raced alongside Jones within the desert.
After ending his driving profession, he remained concerned as a workforce proprietor. Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing received the Indy 500 with Al Unser in 1970 and 1971 and three consecutive USAC titles courtesy of Unser and Joe Leonard from 1970 to 1972, whereas the good Mario Andretti raced for Jones in Components One from 1974 to 1976. The workforce’s Class 8 Chevrolet truck additionally claimed the 1976 SCORE Worldwide truck championship and sophistication wins on the Baja 500 and 1000. Chevrolet additionally enlisted Jones with constructing the BFG Blazer, which went on to race with Scoop Vessels and Bob Gordon.
He has been inducted into over twenty halls of fame together with the Worldwide Motorsports Corridor of Fame, Nationwide Motorsports Corridor of Fame, and Off-Highway Motorsports Corridor of Fame.
“The racing world has misplaced an important competitor and a real champion,” reads a press release from IndyCar Sequence boss Roger Penske. “Parnelli Jones was probably the most achieved racers in historical past, and his dedication and can to win made him one of many hardest opponents I’ve ever seen.
“From racing in opposition to him on observe to competing in opposition to him as a fellow workforce proprietor, I all the time revered Parnelli’s ardour and dedication to the game he cherished. I used to be proud to name Parnelli a very good pal for a few years, and our ideas are along with his household as we keep in mind one of many true legends of motorsports.”
