NASCAR Loses Colorful Champ

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jan. 16, 2007 — -- NASCAR lost its second champion in less than two weeks when Benny Parsons died Tuesday. He was 65.

Parsons entered the Intensive Care Unit of the Carolinas Medial Center in Charlotte on Dec. 26 due to complications stemming from his battle with lung cancer.

Parsons, the 1973 Winston Cup champion, learned six months ago that he had cancer. He continued to work as a color analyst for NBC after learning about his condition, but missed a couple of races while undergoing treatment.

His death comes only nine days after NASCAR driver Bobby Hamilton, the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series champion, succumbed to cancer.

A member of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers, Parsons retired from racing in 1988 and moved into the broadcasting booth with ESPN. He spent the past six years as a commentator on NBC and TNT, and continued to call races from the booth during his treatment.

Parsons, affectionately known throughout NASCAR as "BP," also continued to host a weekly radio program and keep fans updated on his condition in a blog on his web site.

"As my radiation oncologist told me today, John Wayne lived and had a great career with one lung. There is no reason why I can't do the same." Parsons posted in a Dec. 18th entry after learning of the damage to his left lung.

"It will take a little while for the right lung to pull the weight for the left lung so until then I will still need to use oxygen when I walk. I won't need it sitting or commentating races and to me that is the main thing.

"If given a choice between cancer or losing a lung I would say that I got the right end of the deal."

That feisty spirit was one of Parsons' trademarks, and what helped him rise up from a poor childhood in the foothills of North Carolina to a job driving taxis and then all the way to the top of NASCAR.

Parsons was born July 12, 1941 at his parents' rural home in Wilkes County and eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing "taxicab driver" as his occupation on entry forms.

Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles. He was also the first Cup competitor to qualify for a race faster than 200 mph when he posted a lap at 200.176 mph at the 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Parsons ended his career with 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million. He also won back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69 when he lived in Detroit, before getting his shot at NASCAR.

His 1973 championship season was built on endurance and consistency: He won only one of the 28 races that season, while second-place finisher Cale Yarborough won four times and David Pearson won 11. But Parsons finished the most miles that year to claim the crown.

He was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994. He was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.

Parsons began his broadcasting career in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst.

Survivors include his wife, Terri, and two sons by his late wife -- Kevin and Keith, a former sports writer for The Associated Press, and two granddaughters.

The Associated Press and ESPN.com motorsports writer Terry Blount contributed to this report. Blount can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.