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Phil Parsons | |||||||
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![]() Parsons (right) alongside brotherBenny | |||||||
Born | (1957-06-21)June 21, 1957 (age 67) Detroit,Michigan, U.S. | ||||||
Achievements | 1988Winston 500 Winner | ||||||
NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
203 races run over 13 years | |||||||
Best finish | 9th (1988) | ||||||
First race | 1983Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
Last race | 1997TranSouth Financial 400 (Darlington) | ||||||
First win | 1988Winston 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
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NASCARXfinity Series career | |||||||
285 races run over 17 years | |||||||
Best finish | 5th (1982) | ||||||
First race | 1982Goody's 300 (Daytona) | ||||||
Last race | 2001Outback Steakhouse 300 (Kentucky) | ||||||
First win | 1982Southeastern 150 (Bristol) | ||||||
Last win | 1994Champion 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 forFOX NASCAR since 2003.[1] After years racing in NASCAR Winston Cup, he returned to theBusch 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 theDirecTVNASCAR Hot Pass during Sprint Cup races. Most recently he has been a color analyst forFS1's coverage of theNASCARCraftsman Truck Series and, currently, theARCA Menards Series.
He was the starter for the2007 Daytona 500, waving the green flag. In 2008 he became a part-owner of a new Nationwide Series team,MSRP Motorsports.
Phil Parsons began racing in the Late Model Series and theNASCAR Goody's Dash Series. When the Late Model Series became theBusch Series in1982, Parsons joined the circuit full-time, driving the No. 28SkoalPontiac for Johnny Hayes. He won his first career race, atBristol 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 fiveWinston Cup races with Hayes in the No. 66, posting two top-ten finishes.
In1984, 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 behindRusty Wallace forNASCAR Rookie of the Year. The same year, his Busch ride was bought byJack Ingram and Parsons ran five races for him, and had two top-five finishes. In1985, he ran the full season, splitting time betweenJackson Bros. Motorsports andRoger Hamby's car. Despite four top-tens, he failed to finish in thirteen races, and wound up 21st in points.
In1986, 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. 55Oldsmobile, garnering seven top-10s and a fourteenth-place finish in the final points standings. In1988, Parsons led 52 laps at theWinston 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 began1990 driving the No. 4 car forMorgan-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 forPhil Barkdoll andLake Speed. He made his most starts with the fledglingDiamond 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 theDaytona 500 withMelling Racing, he returned to Busch to run seven races, and had five top-10s.
In1993, Parsons returned to the Cup series, running the No. 41 Chevy forLarry Hedrick Motorsports. Despite an eighth-place finish atNorth Carolina Speedway, Parsons was released near the end of the season. Phil ended the 1993 season with a ninth-place finish atAtlanta Motor Speedway while driving forButch Mock Motorsports.
In1994, 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 theChampion 300, and finished 25th in points after running just seventeen races. He went back to full-time racing in1995 in the No. 99 LuxaireChevrolet 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. 10ChannellockChevrolet. 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 forSABCO Racing at Darlington, when he replacedJoe Nemechek, who was on bereavement leave (Nemechek's brother John was killed at Homestead the previous week). He finished 31st.
With sponsorship fromDura Lube in1998, Parsons matched his1997 points finish.Alltel joined as primary sponsors for1999, but Parsons failed to qualify for theNAPA 200 and dropped to fifteenth in the standings. At the end of the season, he merged his team withST Motorsports to drive the No. 59Chevrolet, and finished twelfth in points despite just two top-tens. His last start in NASCAR competition came atKentucky Speedway in2001. Driving the No. 97Curb Agajanian Performance Group car, Parsons started fifth but finished 34th after a wreck late in the race.
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
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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 |
(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] |
(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 | 66DNF | 23DNF |