Phil Parsons | |||||||
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![]() Parsons (right) alongside brother Benny | |||||||
Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | June 21, 1957||||||
Achievements | 1988 Winston 500 Winner | ||||||
NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
203 races run over 13 years | |||||||
Best finish | 9th (1988) | ||||||
First race | 1983 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
Last race | 1997 TranSouth Financial 400 (Darlington) | ||||||
First win | 1988 Winston 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
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NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
285 races run over 17 years | |||||||
Best finish | 5th (1982) | ||||||
First race | 1982 Goody's 300 (Daytona) | ||||||
Last race | 2001 Outback Steakhouse 300 (Kentucky) | ||||||
First win | 1982 Southeastern 150 (Bristol) | ||||||
Last win | 1994 Champion 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
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Phillip Gregory Parsons (born June 21, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and analyst for FOX NASCAR since 2003.[1] After years racing in NASCAR Winston Cup, he returned to the Busch Series where he enjoyed modest success.
After his racing career, Parsons also embarked on a career as a racing TV commentator, providing color analysis for the Mizlou Television Network. He was also a commentator for the DirecTV NASCAR Hot Pass during Sprint Cup races. Most recently he has been a color analyst for FS1's coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and, currently, the ARCA Menards Series.
He was the starter for the 2007 Daytona 500, waving the green flag. In 2008 he became a part-owner of a new Nationwide Series team, MSRP Motorsports.
Beginnings
[edit]Phil Parsons began racing in the Late Model Series and the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series. When the Late Model Series became the Busch Series in 1982, Parsons joined the circuit full-time, driving the No. 28 Skoal Pontiac for Johnny Hayes. He won his first career race, at Bristol Motor Speedway, and led the championship points early in the season. He won the pole in two of the last three races of the season and finished fifth in points. The following season, he competed in a limited schedule, 22 out of 35 races, but won four poles and had twelve top-tens, finishing fifth in the points. That season, he also ran five Winston Cup races with Hayes in the No. 66, posting two top-ten finishes.
Winston Cup
[edit]![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/PhilParsonsRustyWallace1985.jpg/220px-PhilParsonsRustyWallace1985.jpg)
In 1984, Hayes and Parsons joined the Cup Series and ran twenty-two races, posting three top-eight finishes and ended the season placing 24th in the standings, second behind Rusty Wallace for NASCAR Rookie of the Year. The same year, his Busch ride was bought by Jack Ingram and Parsons ran five races for him, and had two top-five finishes. In 1985, he ran the full season, splitting time between Jackson Bros. Motorsports and Roger Hamby's car. Despite four top-tens, he failed to finish in thirteen races, and wound up 21st in points.
In 1986, Parsons ran seventeen races, and had a best finish of fifth at Talladega. He had four more top-tens, but finished twenty-seventh in the final standings. The following season, he got his first full-time Cup ride, with the Jackson brothers, when he signed on to drive their No. 55 Oldsmobile, garnering seven top-10s and a fourteenth-place finish in the final points standings. In 1988, Parsons led 52 laps at the Winston 500 and achieved his only Cup win. He also had a career-best points finish of ninth that season. The next season, however, he only had two top-five finishes and lost his ride at the end of the season.
He began 1990 driving the No. 4 car for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, but was released only three races into the season. He ran at Bristol for Jackson in a one-race deal, finishing the race in 25th, and also drove for Phil Barkdoll and Lake Speed. He made his most starts with the fledgling Diamond Ridge Motorsports, his best finish with them was a 21st at Darlington. He did not run the Cup series in 1991, but rather a handful of Busch races in his own equipment leased from Diamond Ridge. He had two top-10s, including a fourth-place finish at Darlington. After beginning 1992 with a tenth-place at the Daytona 500 with Melling Racing, he returned to Busch to run seven races, and had five top-10s.
In 1993, Parsons returned to the Cup series, running the No. 41 Chevy for Larry Hedrick Motorsports. Despite an eighth-place finish at North Carolina Speedway, Parsons was released near the end of the season. Phil ended the 1993 season with a ninth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway while driving for Butch Mock Motorsports.
Return to Busch Series
[edit]In 1994, Parsons returned to the Busch Series on a limited schedule in a car owned by his wife Marcia. He won his second and final Busch race at the Champion 300, and finished 25th in points after running just seventeen races. He went back to full-time racing in 1995 in the No. 99 Luxaire Chevrolet for J&J Racing, posting nine top-tens and finishing eighth in points. The following season, he and Marcia returned to car owner duties with the No. 10 Channellock Chevrolet. He began the season with consecutive third-place finishes but moved down to ninth in points. The next season, he finished in the top-ten in each of the first six races of the season posted a best finish of sixth in points. He also made his final Cup start that season for SABCO Racing at Darlington, when he replaced Joe Nemechek, who was on bereavement leave (Nemechek's brother John was killed at Homestead the previous week). He finished 31st.
With sponsorship from Dura Lube in 1998, Parsons matched his 1997 points finish. Alltel joined as primary sponsors for 1999, but Parsons failed to qualify for the NAPA 200 and dropped to fifteenth in the standings. At the end of the season, he merged his team with ST Motorsports to drive the No. 59 Chevrolet, and finished twelfth in points despite just two top-tens. His last start in NASCAR competition came at Kentucky Speedway in 2001. Driving the No. 97 Curb Agajanian Performance Group car, Parsons started fifth but finished 34th after a wreck late in the race.
Motorsports career results
[edit]NASCAR
[edit](key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
[edit]Daytona 500
[edit]Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Johnny Hayes Racing | Buick | 32 | 13 |
1984 | Chevrolet | 13 | 11 | |
1985 | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Chevrolet | 12 | 29 |
1986 | Oldsmobile | 18 | 24 | |
1987 | 19 | 11 | ||
1988 | 19 | 3 | ||
1989 | 7 | 5 | ||
1990 | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 8 | 42 |
1991 | Italian Connection | Chevrolet | DNQ | |
1992 | Melling Racing | Ford | 19 | 10 |
1993 | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 16 | 22 |
1995 | TriStar Motorsports | Ford | 32 | 41 |
Busch Series
[edit]ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series
[edit](key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | APSC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||
1980 | 27 | Pontiac | DAY | NWS 1* |
FRS | FRS | MCH | TAL | IMS | FRS | MCH | NA | 0 | [34] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1981 | Jerry Harris | 48 | Pontiac | DAY 4 |
DSP | FRS | FRS | BFS | 16th | 310 | [35] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Pontiac | TAL 7 |
FRS | COR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1991 | Melling Racing | 18 | Ford | DAY | ATL | KIL | TAL | TOL | FRS | POC | MCH | KIL | FRS | DEL | POC | TAL | HPT | MCH | ISF | TOL | DSF | TWS | ATL 21 |
133rd | - | [36] |
24 Hours of Daytona
[edit](key)
24 Hours of Daytona results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Class | No | Team | Car | Co-drivers | Laps | Position | Class Pos. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1986 | GTO | 28 | ![]() |
Oldsmobile Calais | ![]() ![]() |
3 | 66 DNF | 23 DNF |
References
[edit]- ^ https://www.foxsports.com/presspass/bios/on-air/phil-parsons/ [bare URL]
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1982 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1983 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1984 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1985 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1986 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1989 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1991 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1992 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1993 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1997 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1999 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1980 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1981 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ "Phil Parsons – 1991 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
External links
[edit]- Phil Parsons driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Phil Parsons owner statistics at Racing-Reference
- Parsons on SPEEDtv.com