Parnelli Jones

Parnelli is not his real name. Rufus Jones’ middle name is Parnell. His mother named him after a Judge Parnell whom she admired. Jones’ friend, Billy Calder, added the “i” to his middle name to make a name change when Parnelli wanted to race while underage. I remember drivers in the fifties calling him “Rufus,” and some old friends still do.

Parnelli is one of those legendary drivers of the second half of the twentieth century who learned his craft in Southern California. At the wheels of midgets, sprinters and stock cars, he developed into one of the very best race drivers. And at Indy, he was a standout.

He started his career driving jalopies during the fifties and lasted until 1974 when he tapered off from racing. During that time, he scored over 100 wins, including six in Indycars, 20 in NASCAR, 13 in USAC stocks—including the 1964 championship—and 25 in both midgets and sprints, as well as a number in off-road.

Rufus Parnell Jones was born on August 12, 1933 in Texarkana, Texas. When he was little more than a year old, the family moved to Fallbrook, California and, when he was seven, to Torrance, a suburb of Los Angeles, and he’s lived nearby ever since. Today the Jones family lives in Palos Verdes and Parnelli’s office is in Torrance. Jones went to grammar school in Torrance and then attended Narbonne High School where he played football.

Jones started racing while still in high school. His first race was in a jalopy at the old Carrell Speedway in Gardena (near Torrance) in 1950. In 1952 he competed in a stock car event on a dirt oval. He soon became a professional, driving all sorts of cars. His sponsor was a local Ford dealer, Vel Miletich. Parnelli and Vel formed a relationship and a partnership that was to last Vel’s lifetime. After winning a number of West Coast stock car events, Jones started racing sprint cars in 1959 and went on to win three USAC Sprint Car championships.

Parnelli started running Indycars in 1960, driving for J.C. Agajanian at Phoenix where he finished 2nd his first time out. He raced at Indianapolis starting in 1961 when he was named “Rookie of the Year.” In 1962, he was the first driver to qualify at over 150 mph. After sitting on the pole and leading the race, he fell back, letting Rodger Ward pass and win. Afterward, Rodger told him, “Not to worry about what happened today, one day you’re going to win this race.”

The next year—1963—he was on the pole again with a new record and led the race until the closing laps when Jim Clark in a factory Lotus-Ford began closing on him. His car had developed a crack in the oil reservoir, causing it to leak. Eddie Sachs crashed in oil, bringing out the yellow. Lotus chief Colin Chapman urged the starter to black-flag Jones, but Agajanian argued otherwise. Parnelli went on to win the race, in the process setting another new record. In 1964 a fuel tank explosion during a pit stop sidelined him while he was leading the race.

In 1967 he was leading Indy by more than a lap in Andy Granatelli’s controversial STP Turbine car with only three laps to go. Then a driveshaft bearing failed and he was cheated out of another win. Granatelli entered Jones again for the following year in a new STP Turbine. On inspecting the car, Parnelli—an expert in suspension—thought it unsafe, so he didn’t drive. Andy assigned it to Joe Leonard, who put it on the pole, but then it broke late in the race.

After the ’68 Indy 500, Jones announced his retirement from open-wheel racing and changed to other forms, including road racing. He confided to me that he had come to realize open-wheel cars were just too dangerous, and he felt a responsibility for his growing family.

 His first taste of a road circuit came in 1958 at Riverside during a three-day event. The first day—running counter-clockwise—was in Midgets; the second in sprinters and the third—running clockwise—in stockers.

Parnelli’s first sports car experience was in Frank Arciero’s Lotus 23 at Riverside and Kent, Washington, in 1963. Then Jones’ good friend Carroll Shelby entered him in the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside on October 11, 1964. Driving a King Cobra, he won. He recently told me he found road racing easy. (Easy for him to say!)

In 1967, Jones entered a NASCAR event at Riverside. He started last and went to first in 20 laps. As a result, Ford hired Jones and George Follmer to run the SCCA Trans-Am starting in 1969. After winning the championship in 1970,  Parnelli decided to try off-road racing.

After winning and breaking the stock car record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in a Mercury prepared by Bill Stroppe, Parnelli and Bill won the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000, twice each, plus the Mint 400 in a special that looked like a Ford Bronco. He named it “Big Oly” after his sponsor, Olympia Beer.

Driving, however, isn’t the end of the story. In 1969, he started his own team with Vel Miletich. The Vel’s-Parnelli team ran Indycars, Formula 5000, Formula One and the drags during the ’70s. With Mario Andretti, Joe Leonard and Al Unser as drivers, the team won the Indy 500 twice and the U.S. National Championship three times.

In 1974, with Mario driving, the team introduced a U.S.-built Parnelli, powered by a Cosworth engine, to Formula One. With Firestone sponsorship, they ran the full 1975 season and part of 1976. Jones decided to pull out after losing the sponsorship and failing to find another.

Parnelli has appeared as himself in two different TV movies about Indianapolis, and in 1974 he played himself in the first version of the feature film, Gone in 60 Seconds. It featured Jones and his famous Bronco, stolen in the story. In 1977 he again played himself in another feature film, Checkered Flag or Crash.

In 1979, Vel and Parnelli disbanded their race team and devoted themselves to their business interests. As it turned out, Jones is as good a businessman as a driver. They owned and operated a chain of 47 Firestone tire stores as well as distributing shocks, tires and other auto products wholesale to retail tire dealers. In addition, Parnelli has quite a number of commercial and industrial properties in Torrance. He invented an engine-flushing machine made and distributed by Power Flush. He also invented a sports back brace sold by Bio-Cybernetics International. In 2000, his long-time partner and best friend, Vel died. Since then, Parnelli has carried on the various business interests by himself. At age 78, he is usually found in his office every day.

Parnelli Jones garnered a large number of awards during his career, and has been inducted into Halls of Fame for Indianapolis, Off-Road Motorsports, International Motorsports, National Motorsports, National Sprint Car, USAC Midget Racing and the San Diego Auto Museum. Among many others, he received a “Special Achievement Recognition from the Presidents of the U.S. and Mexico.” The City of Hope has given him its “Lifetime Achievement Award.” He is the recipient of a Doctor of Human Letters degree from National University.

Most important for the Jones family is Godspeed, a charity established by Parnelli devoted to the recovery of those with head injuries. In 1994, Parnelli’s son Page suffered a near-fatal head injury while racing a sprint car. After two years of therapy, his doctors gave up, but Parnelli persisted and today Page is married with children. It is standard practice to cease therapy after two years, but Jones proved that recovery is possible even after that period. Godspeed is also involved with injured members of our armed forces.

Parnelli and his wife, Judy, have two boys, PJ and Page, and four grandchildren. Parnelli plays golf as well as snow and water sports, and has participated occasionally in celebrity races at Watkins Glen, Long Beach and, most recently, the Monterey Historics.