Benny Parsons

Born:  July 12, 1941
Died:  January 16, 2007
Hometown:  Ellerbe, North Carolina

"BP," as he was known, was a former NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver between 1969 and 1988.  He retired with one Winston Cup Championship and 21 wins, including the 1975 Daytona 500.

His last job was as a NASCAR racing commentator for NBC and TNT.

In July of 2006 he was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung.  He underwent both chemotherpy and radiation treatments, eventually declared cancer-free in October.  However, the treatments left him without the use of his left lung.  He was hospitalized again in December 2006 when a blood clot was found in his right lung.  He was placed in an induced coma.  He died on January 16th, 2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1968 ARCA Racing Series Champion
1969 ARCA Racing Series Champion
1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion
1975 Daytona 500 Winner
First NASCAR Winston Cup driver to qualify over 200 mph (200.176 at the 1982 Winston 500)
Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers

Darrell Waltrip once said of him that, "Benny Parsons was the kindest, sweetest, most considerate person I have ever known.  He was almost too nice to be a race car driver, and I say that as a compliment."

Photographs

	1983 Van Scoy 500 The Johnny Hayes Skoal Buick of Benny Parsons had a good run in the 1983 Van Scoy 500, finishing 5th. Photo by Mike Traverse View photo of Benny Parsons at the 1983 Van Scoy 500 - 424KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License (CC BY-SA 2.0).
	1985 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1985 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,547KB
	1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,477KB
	1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,403KB
	1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,512KB
	1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,191KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,383KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,289KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 320KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,195KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,484KB
	1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,278KB
	1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,383KB
	1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,208KB
	1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,323KB
	1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak.  All Rights Reserved.  Used with permission. View photo of Benny Parsons Car at the 1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,284KB

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