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The Corkscrew - Official Newsletter of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
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Remembering a Legend – Parnelli Jones
Photo by Ken Manfred. Parnelli with longtime friend George Follmer in 2021 at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
As we prepare for this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix, we pay tribute to one of the most competitive drivers who won at every level of motorsport that he raced, Parnelli Jones, who peacefully passed away June 4 at the age of 90.
“I am very fortunate to have been a friend of Parnelli’s for more than 40 years,” commented Bruce Canepa, vice president of Friends of Laguna Seca. “He was an extremely competitive racer – in every type of race car and on every type of racing surface. Tough and compassionate! I will miss him every day.”
Parnelli regularly competed at Laguna Seca where he had some of the most heated battles with his friend and rival George Follmer. Closely associated with the famous No. 15 Ford Mustang Boss 302, he had numerous wins using the familiar Bud Moore orange Ford in 1970, enroute to capturing the Trans-Am championship that year.
Multi-talented, he was the 1961 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, returned the following year and qualified at 150.370 miles per hour, becoming the first person to qualify with a speed over 150 miles per hour. He then went on to win the 1963 Indianapolis 500 as a driver, and then won it twice as an owner, in 1970 and 1971, with driver Al Unser.
Parnelli Jones as the 1970 Trans Am Champion at Laguna Seca
He retired with six IndyCar wins, victory at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, back-to-back wins in the Baja 1000, and four wins in 34 NASCAR starts. He also has been inducted into more than 20 Halls of Fame.
Parnelli was last at Laguna Seca in 2021 when he was reunited with his friend George Follmer as co-Grand Marshal of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion that was featuring Ford in Trans-Am. Celebrating his 88th birthday at Laguna Seca, a special birthday cake in the shape of his Ford Mustang Boss 302 was served up by another Trans-Am legend, four-time champion Tommy Kendall, who led the audience in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.
Wherever he went, fans flocked toward him to catch a glimpse of the icon of American motorsports. Rest in Peace Parnelli.