Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 DOW Chevrolet, speaks to the media during a press conference after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 60th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team decided to steal a page from the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, it would be entirely appropriate. Continue reading
1973: Benny Parsons inside his L. G. DeWitt-owned Chevrolet at a NASCAR Cup race. Parsons finished in the top-ten in 21 of 28 races and won the Volunteer 500 at the Bristol (TN) Motor Speedway on his way to winning the NASCAR Cup championship.
Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images
A single word defined the late Benny Parsons: Beloved.
It mattered not whether you were fellow competitor, race fan or television viewer. Parsons was more than just a top premier series driver or broadcaster.
To race with him – or just to meet him – Parsons had the aura of being the best friend you wished you had.
Parsons became the NASCAR premier series champion in 1973. He won 21 times, a resume that included the 1975 Daytona 500.
“Benny didn’t win a lot of races – some thought he wasn’t ruthless enough – but few drivers won more friends and fans,” wrote Larry Woody in a 2014 Racin’ Today story.
“Ten minutes and you bonded with him,” said Rick Hendrick, whose Chevrolets Parsons drove in 1987.
Parsons, who died in 2007 at age 65, will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN). His fellow inductees among the Class of 2017 include Hendrick, Richard Childress, Mark Martin and Raymond Parks. Continue reading
Richard Childress made 41 starts in the NASCAR Grand Touring/Grand American division between 1969 and 1971 before moving on to Cup racing. He finished 22 of those races in the top ten.
Photo – ISC Archives via Getty Images
Note: This is the first in a five-part series of features detailing the careers of the five inductees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2017. The inductees, who will be officially enshrined on January 20th at 8 pm ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, are Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Mark Martin, Raymond Parks and Benny Parsons.
Journeyman stock car racer Richard Childress caught lightning in a bottle, not once but twice.
NASCAR’s only driver strike, on the eve of the 1969 inaugural race at Talladega Superspeedway, gave Childress the opportunity to earn enough money to build his first race shop and lay the foundation for Richard Childress Racing, the powerhouse Chevrolet organization which to date has claimed 11 owner titles across NASCAR’s three national series.
Nearly a decade later, the Winston-Salem, N.C. native met Dale Earnhardt. Together, the pair won six NASCAR premier series championships along with 67 races between 1984 and 2000.
Earnhardt entered the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a member of its 2010 inaugural class. Childress will be enshrined in the hall on January 20 in Charlotte, NC at 8 pm ET on NBCSN, along with Rick Hendrick, Mark Martin, Raymond Parks and Benny Parsons.
Childress, 71, grew up selling peanuts and popcorn at Winston-Salem’s legendary Bowman Gray Stadium.
Soon after, he bought a 1947 Plymouth for $20. Continue reading