Very sad news if your a nascar fan Benny Parsons is dead

[Jaguarsfan2004]

Benny Parsons, the taxi cab driver from Detroit who became one of NASCAR's most beloved characters as a championship driver and affable broadcaster whose generosity and infectious, good-natured personality had no bounds, died on Tuesday morning due to complications from lung cancer.
Parsons was diagnosed with the disease in July the day after he turned 65. After chemotherapy and radiation, Parsons said in October that he was cancer free. But the aggressive treatment badly damaged Parsons' left lung, and he had been hospitalized at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, since Dec. 26.

"Benny Parsons was a true champion, both on the racetrack and in life," NASCAR Chairman Brian France said. "Benny loved our sport and the people that make it up, and those people loved him. He will be remembered as being a great ambassador for the sport."

Parsons was born July 12, 1941 and grew up in the mountains of northwestern North Carolina. He became a NASCAR fan and developed a passion for automobiles in the rural environs of Wilkes County, N.C., which also produced legend Junior Johnson.

"Everybody loved the cars," Parsons said during an interview last May with USA TODAY Sports Weekly. "Your car had to have two doors, two exhausts, and it had to be spotless."

Two months after buying his first car — a 1948 Mercury — as a teenager, Parsons moved to Detroit to work at his father's gas station, which also doubled as a taxi cab stand. Parsons worked mostly as a mechanic on the cabs but "if they were all running and we had one sitting there, I'd jump in it and pick up passengers."

In 1960, Parsons was captivated by a truck stopped at the gas station with a stock car in tow. Told by the driver they were heading to a race in Anderson, Ind., Parsons grabbed a toothbrush and pair of underwear and hitched a ride with the team.

He soon became hooked on the sport and bought a stock car for $50 three years later. He tuned on it until midnight every day after work and competed at short tracks around Michigan, listing "taxi cab driver from Detroit" as his occupation on entry forms.

In his first start at Daytona International Speedway in 1965, he finished third in an ARCA race. After capturing consecutive ARCA championships in 1968-69, Parsons moved full time into NASCAR's premier division in 1970.

He made 526 starts in the Cup series and notched 21 victories, 20 pole positions and 283 top-10 finishes while building a reputation as one of NASCAR's cleanest and most consistent drivers.

"Benny Parsons was the kindest, sweetest, most considerate person I have ever known," said Fox analyst and three-time champion Darrell Waltrip. "He was almost too nice to be a race car driver, and I say that as a compliment. In my 30 odd years of racing Benny Parsons, I never knew of anyone being mad at Benny."

The kindness was repaid when Parsons clinched the points championship in the 1973 season finale at North Carolina Speedway. A crash on Lap 13 ripped the sheet metal off the right side of Parsons' car. A team that failed to make the race donated a roll cage, and several mechanics from other teams helped fix the car.

Parsons returned to the track in 1 hour, 15 minutes and finished 67 points ahead of Cale Yarborough. His crew chief estimated the repairs would have taken two 20-hour days by a two-man crew.

"You don't repair damage like that," Parsons recalled in 2003. "One of the neatest moments of my career was pulling out back on the backstretch. (The crowd) did the wave. It was unbelievable."

Parsons' career highlight was outdueling Yarborough, Bobby Allison, David Pearson and Richard Petty to win the 1975 Daytona 500. He was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers and also was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame.

But he drew nearly as much attention for helping his peers as beating them. In the mid-1970s, Parsons took an interest in an upstart from Georgia named Bill Elliott. He provided driving and setup tips and helped hook Elliott up with car owner Harry Melling. They won a championship together in 1988.

In 1995, Parsons discovered Greg Biffle, an unknown from Vancouver, Wash., tearing up ESPN's "Winter Heat" series in Tucson Parsons convinced Jack Roush to hire Biffle sight unseen for a ride in the Craftsman Truck Series. Biffle has won championships in the truck ('00) and Busch ('02) series and finished second in the Nextel Cup standings in '05.

Parsons moved into broadcasting after retiring from driving in 1988 and became a fan favorite as an analyst for ESPN, NBC and TNT. One of his most popular segments was called "Buffet Benny," a nickname he was given by Ernie Irvan that spawned a cookbook authored by Parsons.

Always cognizant of rewarding NASCAR's unsung heroes, Parsons also honored the fastest pit crews each week.

"He was a great driver and a terrific broadcaster, but above anything else he was a kind and generous human being," NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said. "His character and his spirit will define how he is remembered by all of us."

"This sport is more popular and more people know about it because of Benny," Michael Waltrip said. "He knew how to take this sport and explain it to people. He could take a story (about) the nuts and bolts and turn it into the people who put it together."

Parsons is the second NASCAR champion to die this year after a bout with cancer. Bobby Hamilton, who won the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series title, died Jan. 7.

Parsons is survived by his wife, Terri; sons Keith and Kevin by his late wife who died in 1991; two granddaughters and a brother, Phil, who also raced NASCAR before becoming a broadcaster.