Parsons' humility will be sorely missed
Benny was one of the most selfless people I know. During my earliest days in NASCAR, I was fortunate to work with him on Fast Talk with Benny Parsons for Performance Racing Network at Lowe's Motor Speedway and the Volusia Mall during Speedweeks. His humility was striking. Never had I met a champion in any sport that made me feel as welcome. And he was like that with everyone.
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Motor wiz Waddell Wilson first met Benny in the late 1960s. Parsons hung out at Holman-Moody during the ARCA off-season. When Ford auditioned Benny and Cale Yarborough at Asheville-Weaverville (NC) Speedway. Yarborough won the ride, but Wilson won the opportunity to work Parsons at L.G. DeWitt's during its heyday when the No. 72 won the championship. But his most surprising moment was the 1975 Daytona 500.
"We raced with very little money," Wilson said. "I was doing my best to put together an engine for the 500 with leftover pieces. A guy out in Riverside gave Benny a box of pistons — but it was for a dragster and I told him it would never work. I built the engine anyway and we blew up during the Twin 125s (qualifying race). We had to start 32nd. David Pearson was leading the race in the No. 21 car, tangled with Cale with a few laps to go and Benny won the race.
"Benny never changed from the first time I met him. When Benny moved to Ellerbee to work with L.G., I was building their engines. It was some of the best times I ever had in racing. I really enjoyed working with him. Drivers didn't make the kind of money back then that they do now, but every Christmas, Benny would take care of the less-fortunate children around Ellerbee. He was always giving."
Wilson left DeWitt Racing, but the pair was reunited on the No. 28 Ranier Racing Ford. As both a crew chief and an engine builder, one of Wilson's proudest moments was having Benny break the 200-mph barrier during qualifying for the 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega.
"You couldn't help but like him," Wilson said. "He was intelligent. He was funny. For him to go from racecars to TV was natural — just like Ned Jarrett."
The transition for Benny from competitor to TV analyst was seamless. He brought a unique and genuine perspective first to ESPN in 1989 and as a member of the NBC/TNT booth in 2001. For the last 15 years, Benny was Doug Rice's Monday night date for Fast Talk. But for Rice, president of Performance Racing Network and Benny's co-host, he was so much more.
"I don't know what I'm going to do on Monday nights anymore," Rice said "He had tremendous presence. He was a 'bigger than life' person. When he walked into the room you knew instinctively he was there. It wasn't a celebrity thing. Benny never acted like a celebrity. He was an exceptional person that didn't come across that way. He treated everyone the same whether it was the president of NASCAR or a fan greeting him during the radio show. That's what separated him from other people — his ability to get along with everyone.
"If you were around him for any time at all you became his friend, whether you were his colleague or a casual contact. He had a passion for racing like no one else I've ever met. He truly loved racing and did everything he could to advance the sport. He only wanted it to be better and he crusaded for that whether it was SAFER barriers or the HANS device, he was a true champion of the sport. And as much as he liked interviewing other celebrities, he really liked talking to the race fans. They were really, really important to him. He genuinely cared about everyone. This is a void that's going to be hard to fill."
As news filtered out into the garage on Tuesday morning, the loss was already being felt. There was hardly a person who hadn't been touched by Benny in some fashion.
"My father and I visited Benny in Ellerbee when I was just a teenager to get advice on my career," said Mark Martin. "He told me not to rush into Winston Cup right away ... get some experience first in Late Model Sportsman or another feeder series.
"He was a great driver and a great person. He had a lot of style and a lot of grace."
Michael Waltrip leaned on The Professor when he popped the question to his wife Buffy.
"He was in victory lane the day I asked my wife to marry me," Waltrip said. "He sort of facilitated that, and helped me through it. I have a lot of wonderful memories of Benny because I appreciated who he was and how he handled himself. He will be missed. It's sad to be in Daytona. He won here and I'll think about him a lot this year.
"He was so sweet. He didn't want to argue with anybody. He just wanted to have a good time. He wanted to be there to help you if he could and wanted you to let him know what you needed out of him, that's what I remember most about him. Just a real caring, giving person and we had some great times over the years."
Team owner Robert Yates believes we could all learn a lesson from Benny.
"He was always so optimistic," Yates said. "He always had a kind word for you even on your worst days. We should all be more like Benny. The world needs more Benny Parsons."
Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com.
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