Comments on: Tune In To Parnelli On “Trackside”

By: james t suel

james t suel — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:25:38 +0000

Parnelli was one of the best to ever turn a wheel at the speedway. I was lucky enought to see him in all 7 of his races at Indy. watching THIS MAN WHEEL OL CALHOUN AROUND THE SPEEDWAY WAS A THING OF BEAUTY! IT WAS A ENOUGH TO BRING TEARS TO YOUR EYES!

By: Mike Rice

Mike Rice — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:15:54 +0000

Parnelli was my hero too. My Dad worked at Bill Stroppe’s shop in So CA, and Parnelli drove one of their stock cars pretty much every year for a while at the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, which used to be the first race of the year.
In 1990, I worked on PJ and Page’s USAC Midgets for a short time as I also went to work on PJ’s Indy Lights car (ARS at the time). Had the extreme privilege and honor (I was somewhat in awe) of riding with Parnelli, PJ, and then-crew chief Mike Horvath from Toronto after the race down to the airport in Buffalo NY where Parnelli caught a plane. PJ and Mike sat in the back seat talking, and I was able to sit and talk one-on-one for a couple hours with Parnelli about his career and what-not about the current (1990) era. He was just a regular guy who had some amazing accomplishments. He remained and still remains my biggest racing ‘hero’.

By: JohnMc

JohnMc — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:31:00 +0000

May of 1964, while in second grade, was my build-up to my first Indianapolis 500. Like all good Hoosier kids, I had watched all of the Indy 500 specials on Indianapolis television since the crib so I knew who the drivers were and to me they were supernatural. Rodger Ward, AJ Foyt and Parnelli Jones were three fresh 500 winners and I knew that Eddie Sachs was fast. With all of that, the cars were like excalibur to me, particularly Ol’ Calhoun, not so much for it’s speed, but because it was so damn pretty. Still is, too. Anyway, that day I was pulling for Foyt, but I liked Jones and seeing those two go after it from my perch in Section “B” was taking my breath away. I remember Jones leaping out of Calhoun and rolling in the pit, too. Take away the first two laps and it was an amazing race.

By the way, I am still mesmerized by Silent Sam.