| Full name | Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Parnelli Jones Velko Miletich |
| Noted drivers |  Mario AndrettiAl UnserJoe Leonard |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1974 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 16[1] |
| Engines | Cosworth |
| Constructors' Championships | 0(best finish: 10th,1975) |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0(best finish: 4th,1975 Swedish Grand Prix) |
| Points | 6 |
| Pole positions | 0(best grid position: 3rd,1974 United States Grand Prix) |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| Final entry | 1976 United States Grand Prix West |
Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing, commonly referred to simply asParnelli orVPJ, was a motor racing constructor and team from the United States. The team was formed in 1969 by formerUSAC racerParnelli Jones and his business partnerVelko "Vel" Miletich. Parnelli was initially solely concerned with USAC racing, where success came quickly; their driverAl Unser won theIndianapolis 500 race in 1970, driving a VPJ Colt, after leading 190 of the 200 racing laps. Unser went on to win the USAC championship. Unser repeated the Indy 500 win in 1971 with a new Colt built without the left side chassis offset that had been made illegal by 1971 rules, ending the season in fourth place in the USAC drivers points while teammateJoe Leonard won the championship.
Parnelli secured the services of ex-Team Lotus designerMaurice Philippe and driverMario Andretti for USAC racing in the early 1970s, and in 1974 decided to move intoFormula One racing, with financial support from tire manufacturerFirestone. After a brief foray into Formula One at the end of the1974 season, Vel's Parnelli Jones mounted a full campaign in1975. TheirParnelli VPJ4 car owed much to Philippe'sLotus 72 design. It appeared for the North American races at the end of the 1974 season and was gradually developed through 1975. However, Firestone's decision to quit racing at the end of 1974 meant that a major partner was lost. Jones was unable to find a replacement title sponsor and despite improvements made to the car the team folded only three races into the1976 season. Andretti only learned of the Formula One team's future from journalistChris Economaki, as he sat in the car on the grid for theLong Beach Grand Prix. This led to some bad feeling between Andretti and Jones, and Andretti returned toLotus for the remainder of the season. In total, Vel's Parnelli Jones participated in 16 Grands Prix and scored 6 championship points.
Concurrent with the Formula One venture, VPJ was developing aturbocharged version ofCosworth's legendaryDFVV8 Formula One engine, building on their experience from the previous two years. It was developed at their facility inTorrance, California, under the direction of engine builder Larry Slutter and dyno engineer Takeo "Chickie" Hirashima. The car debuted at the Speedway in 1975 in a modified Indy version of the Formula One Parnelli chassis, although it was not run regularly until late in 1976. This private project was quickly adopted by Cosworth itself, and the Parnelli engine evolved into the equally legendaryCosworth DFX, an engine which would go on to win every Indianapolis 500 race and USAC/CART Championship between 1978 and 1987.
| Year | Champion | Wins | Chassis | Engine | Tires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Al Unser | 10 | Colt, King | Ford | Firestone |
| 1971 | Joe Leonard | 1 | Colt 70, Colt 71 | Ford | Firestone |
| 1972 | Joe Leonard (2) | 3 | Parnelli VPJ1 | Offenhauser | Firestone |
| Year | Champion | Chassis | Engine | Tires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Al Unser | Colt 70 | Ford | Firestone |
| 1971 | Al Unser (2) | Colt 71 | Ford | Firestone |
(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Tires | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Parnelli VPJ4 | FordCosworth DFVV8 | F | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | 0 | NC | ||
| Mario Andretti | 7 | DSQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Parnelli VPJ4 | FordCosworth DFVV8 | F G | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | USA | 5 | 10th | |||
| Mario Andretti | Ret | 7 | 17 | RetF | Ret | 4 | 5 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | ||||||||||
| 1976 | Parnelli VPJ4B | FordCosworth DFVV8 | G | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | JPN | 1 | 13th | |
| Mario Andretti | 6 | Ret |
(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Parnelli VPJ4 | FordCosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ROC | INT | SUI | |
| Mario Andretti | 3 |
|