Parnelli Jones, the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner, died Tuesday at Torrance Memorial Medical Center after a battle with Parkinson's disease, his son said. Jones was 90. Jones was the oldest living winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
TORRANCE, Calif. — Parnelli Jones, the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner, died Tuesday at Torrance Memorial Medical Center after a battle with Parkinson's disease, his son said. Jones was 90.“Parnelli Jones was the greatest driver of his era,” his contemporary Mario Andretti once said. “He had aggressiveness and also a finesse that no one else possessed. And he won on everything he put his hands on.
A friend came up with “Parnellie,” which was painted on the door of Jones’s 1934 Ford jalopy. The final “e” was eventually dropped, the name remained.Jones in 1962 became the first driver in at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to qualify at over 150 mph with a four-lap average of 150.370. He was the Indy 500 pole-sitter in 1962 and 1963 and co-rookie of the year with Bobby Marshman in 1961.
Considered one of the most versatile drivers of his time, Jones moved to other vehicles and won the Baja 1000 twice and a Trans-Am championship, in a legendary 1970 Boss 302 Mustang painted orange to stand out. He also had four Cup Series victories in NASCAR as well as wins in USAC sprint cars and midgets.
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