Pomona, CA, Apr. 24 - More than 200 persons attended a gala
exhibit preview ceremony /reception titled "A Salute to
Parnelli Jones" Thursday evening at the Wally Parks NHRA
Motorsports Museum at the Fairplex on the grounds of the Los Angeles
County Fairgrounds. Surprise guests included fellow drivers
Dan Gurney and Bobby Unser, who spoke to the audience about Parnelli,
as did his son P. J. The evening kicked off a four-month
exhibit of champion racer and 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli
Jones memorabilia and seven racing cars on loan from the collection
of Jones and his late
business partner, Vel Miletich. The display is open to the
public from April 26 through August 31.
The historic and fun evening featured hors
d'oeuvers, complimentary beverages, no host cocktails, door prizes,
a raffle, and an auction of unique racing objects from the stage in
the museum's lobby. Proceeds went to the host museum, which
displays cars and memorabilia from all forms of motor sports.
A preview of the exhibit dedicated to Parnelli's race driving and
car owning career followed in a room at the east-end of the
building. A continuous video played highlights of Parnelli's
career on a screen in the exhibit room.
Included in the exhibit loaned from Parnelli's
collection of artifacts and personal memorabilia are driving
uniforms, helmets, photos, letters, posters, trophies, signed
checkered flags, momentos, and racing car pieces.
The following historic racing cars are a featured part of the
exhibit:
- The No. 98 J. C. Agajanian "Old
Calhoun" 1963-Indy 500 winning car roadster replica which Chris
Paulsen completed in 1999 by copying the original No. 98 roadster
housed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
- The 1964 No. 6 Lotus 34 Ford rear-engine car
raced by the late Jimmy Clark and in which Parnelli won at
Milwaukee.
- The 1968 No. 60 STP Lotus 56 Pratt &
Whitney turbine raced to an almost victory by Joe Leonard in the
Indy 500.
- The No. 1 Johnny Lightning 1971 VPJ-Colt
chassis 001 Indy 500 winning car driven by Al Unser, Sr.
- The 1969 "Big Oly" Ford Bronco truck
Parnelli drove to victories in Baja 1,000 and Baja 500 races with
co-pilot Bill Stroppe.
- The No. 1 Viceroy 1969 Grant King-built,
four-cam Ford USAC Champ Dirt Car that Al Unser raced to numerous
victories/1973 Silver Crown title.
- The Vels-PJ Racing 1976 Ford Mustang drag
racing funny car raced by Danny Ongais.
Emcee Dave McClelland introduced distinguished
guests, including legendary NHRA founder and chairman Wally Parks,
90, who welcomed guests to the museum named in his honor. NHRA
President Tom Compton, Executive Director Sam Jackson, and museum
Curator Greg Sharp welcomed guests. The Agajanian
brothers-Cary, Jay and Chris-spoke about Parnelli and his racing
career with their late father J.C. Agajanian.
Guests in the audience introduced included: USAC
President/CEO Rollie Helmling, USAC V-P News/Communications
Dick Jordan; author/TV personality Dave Argabright; Miletich and
Jones family members, including Parnelli's wife Judy and sons P.J
and Page; Irwindale Speedway owner/CEO Jim Williams; plus racing
videographer/author Dick Wallen, Jim Dilamarter, Louie Senter, Ed
Justice, Junior Kurtz, Chris Paulsen and Mr. Russell, builder of
"Big Oly"--one of Parnelli's favorite racing cars along
with "Old Calhoun".
Others in the audience included Shav Glick and
Martin Henderson of the Los Angeles Times, racing author Joe Scalzo,
Arciero family members, Gary Schroeder, Linda Vaughn, Dean Jeffries,
Jim Bartosh and Jim Bruce. Drivers in attendance included:
Danny Ongais, Billy Wilkerson, Dick Dixon, Wally Pankratz, Jeff
Heywood, Jay East and Dale Crossno. Many other notables moved
freely about the fascinating exhibit during the 6:00 to 10:00 p.m
plus affair. A chartered bus brought employees from the Jones
business headquarters in Torrance, where the cars and memorabilia
have been housed for years. Parnelli credited Miletich for
saving most of the vehicles in the collection of historic racing
vehicles.
Born Rufus Parnell Jones during 1933 in Arkansas,
he moved to Southern California when he was age two. His
racing career spanned CJA jalopies, CRA, IMCA and USAC sprint cars,
plus Midgets, champ dirt cars and Indy 500 cars, NASCAR and USAC
stock cars, SCCA Trans-Am cars, SCORE off-road racing vehicles and
the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. Parnelli, 69, won 1961 co-rookie of
the year honors. In 1962 he was the first driver to qualify
for the 500 at 150+ mph. He had two Indy 500 poles (1962-63) and six
Indy Car victories. He "retired" at age 34 after the
1967 season, although he never formally announced his retirement.
He owned and operated a chain of 45 Firestone
retail stores in partnership with Miletich, although they sold that
business years ago.
Parnelli's racing team with partner Miletich
began in 1967 and it quickly became known as "the Super
Team". They won two Indy 500s with Al Unser in 1970-71,
five USAC championships, won 53 Indy Car races and had 100 top three
finishes. The team competed in Formula One, SCCA Formula 5000,
NHRA drag racing and SCORE off-road racing. Team drivers
included Unser, Mario Andretti, Kevin Cogan, A.J. Foyt, Joe Leonard,
and Danny Ongais.
Parnelli welcomed guests to the exhibit and said
he was honored to share his racing career with fans at such as
esteemed motor sports hisorical museum. One could spend many
hours in the building and not see everything. Parnelli and NHRA
Museum employees welcome everyone to visit the museum and see the
Parnelli exhibit until the end of August.
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