Parnelli Jones |
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Wikipedia: Parnelli Jones
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Biography
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Parnelli Jones page on 24 September 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (born August 12, 1933 in Texarkana, Arkansas) is a retired American racing driver and race car owner. He is most remembered for his accomplishments at the Indianapolis 500. In 1962, he became the first driver to qualify over 150 mph. He won the race in 1963, then famously broke down while leading the 1967 race with three laps to go in a turbine car. During his career as an owner, he won the Indy 500 in 1970-1971 with driver Al Unser, Sr.
Jones won races in many types of vehicles: sports cars, IndyCars, sprint cars, midget cars, off-road vehicles, and stock cars. He is also remembered for bringing the stock block engine to USAC Sprint car racing as one of the "Chevy Twins" with Jim Hurtubise. He is associated with the famous Boss 302 Mustang with his wins using the engine in the 1970s. Jones' son P. J. Jones was also a diverse driver, with IndyCar and NASCAR starts and a championship in IMSA prototype sports cars. His other son Page Jones was an up-and-coming driver before suffering career ending (and life-threatening) injuries in a sprint car at the 4-Crown Nationals, and has been in rehabilitation, working with his father-in-law. Following the death of 1960 Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Rathmann, Jones is now the oldest living "500" winner.
Date | Article | Author/Source |
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8 April 1997 | CART Media Conference | Parnelli Jones P.J. Jones |
23 October 2001 | CART Media Conference | Townsend Bell Parnelli Jones |
18 November 2010 | Indy Racing League Media Conference | Dany Bahar Randy Bernard Parnelli Jones |
Type & Item # | Name | Details |
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Model Kit - AMT T162 | Parnelli Jones Watson Roadster '63 Indy 500 Winner | 1:25 scale |