Phil Parsons

This article is about the NASCAR driver. For the voice actor, see Phil Parsons (voice actor). For the Australian dramatist and publisher, see Philip Parsons.

Phil Parsons
Parsons (right) alongside brother Benny
Born	(1957-06-21) June 21, 1957 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Achievements	1988 Winston 500 Winner
NASCAR Cup Series career
203 races run over 13 years
Best finish	9th (1988)
First race	1983 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race	1997 TranSouth Financial 400 (Darlington)
First win	1988 Winston 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 40 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
285 races run over 17 years
Best finish	5th (1982)
First race	1982 Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Last race	2001 Outback Steakhouse 300 (Kentucky)
First win	1982 Southeastern 150 (Bristol)
Last win	1994 Champion 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 96 6

Phillip Gregory Parsons (born June 21, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and analyst for FOX NASCAR since 2003. After years racing in NASCAR Winston Cup, he returned to the Busch Series where he enjoyed modest success.

After his racing career, Parsons also embarked on a career as a racing TV commentator, providing color analysis for the Mizlou Television Network. He was also a commentator for the DirecTV NASCAR Hot Pass during Sprint Cup races. Most recently he has been a color analyst for FS1's coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and, currently, the ARCA Menards Series.

He was the starter for the 2007 Daytona 500, waving the green flag. In 2008 he became a part-owner of a new Nationwide Series team, MSRP Motorsports.

Beginnings

Phil Parsons began racing in the Late Model Series and the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series. When the Late Model Series became the Busch Series in 1982, Parsons joined the circuit full-time, driving the No. 28 Skoal Pontiac for Johnny Hayes. He won his first career race, at Bristol Motor Speedway, and led the championship points early in the season. He won the pole in two of the last three races of the season and finished fifth in points. The following season, he competed in a limited schedule, 22 out of 35 races, but won four poles and had twelve top-tens, finishing fifth in the points. That season, he also ran five Winston Cup races with Hayes in the No. 66, posting two top-ten finishes.

Winston Cup

1985 Jackson Bros. Motorsports No. 66

In 1984, Hayes and Parsons joined the Cup Series and ran twenty-two races, posting three top-eight finishes and ended the season placing 24th in the standings, second behind Rusty Wallace for NASCAR Rookie of the Year. The same year, his Busch ride was bought by Jack Ingram and Parsons ran five races for him, and had two top-five finishes. In 1985, he ran the full season, splitting time between Jackson Bros. Motorsports and Roger Hamby's car. Despite four top-tens, he failed to finish in thirteen races, and wound up 21st in points.

In 1986, Parsons ran seventeen races, and had a best finish of fifth at Talladega. He had four more top-tens, but finished twenty-seventh in the final standings. The following season, he got his first full-time Cup ride, with the Jackson brothers, when he signed on to drive their No. 55 Oldsmobile, garnering seven top-10s and a fourteenth-place finish in the final points standings. In 1988, Parsons led 52 laps at the Winston 500 and achieved his only Cup win. He also had a career-best points finish of ninth that season. The next season, however, he only had two top-five finishes and lost his ride at the end of the season.

He began 1990 driving the No. 4 car for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, but was released only three races into the season. He ran at Bristol for Jackson in a one-race deal, finishing the race in 25th, and also drove for Phil Barkdoll and Lake Speed. He made his most starts with the fledgling Diamond Ridge Motorsports, his best finish with them was a 21st at Darlington. He did not run the Cup series in 1991, but rather a handful of Busch races in his own equipment leased from Diamond Ridge. He had two top-10s, including a fourth-place finish at Darlington. After beginning 1992 with a tenth-place at the Daytona 500 with Melling Racing, he returned to Busch to run seven races, and had five top-10s.

In 1993, Parsons returned to the Cup series, running the No. 41 Chevy for Larry Hedrick Motorsports. Despite an eighth-place finish at North Carolina Speedway, Parsons was released near the end of the season. Phil ended the 1993 season with a ninth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway while driving for Butch Mock Motorsports.

Return to Busch Series

In 1994, Parsons returned to the Busch Series on a limited schedule in a car owned by his wife Marcia. He won his second and final Busch race at the Champion 300, and finished 25th in points after running just seventeen races. He went back to full-time racing in 1995 in the No. 99 Luxaire Chevrolet for J&J Racing, posting nine top-tens and finishing eighth in points. The following season, he and Marcia returned to car owner duties with the No. 10 Channellock Chevrolet. He began the season with consecutive third-place finishes but moved down to ninth in points. The next season, he finished in the top-ten in each of the first six races of the season posted a best finish of sixth in points. He also made his final Cup start that season for SABCO Racing at Darlington, when he replaced Joe Nemechek, who was on bereavement leave (Nemechek's brother John was killed at Homestead the previous week). He finished 31st.

With sponsorship from Dura Lube in 1998, Parsons matched his 1997 points finish. Alltel joined as primary sponsors for 1999, but Parsons failed to qualify for the NAPA 200 and dropped to fifteenth in the standings. At the end of the season, he merged his team with ST Motorsports to drive the No. 59 Chevrolet, and finished twelfth in points despite just two top-tens. His last start in NASCAR competition came at Kentucky Speedway in 2001. Driving the No. 97 Curb Agajanian Performance Group car, Parsons started fifth but finished 34th after a wreck late in the race.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1983	Johnny Hayes Racing	66	Buick	DAY 13	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	NWS	MAR																											43rd	458
			Pontiac								TAL 28	NSV	DOV	BRI	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL
			Chevy																				MCH 31	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 19	CAR	ATL 28	RSD
1984				DAY 11	RCH 18	CAR	ATL 29	BRI 13	NWS 15	DAR 8	MAR 16	TAL 7	NSV	DOV	CLT 31	RSD	POC 21	MCH 15	DAY 13	NSV 13	POC 17	TAL 20	MCH 29	BRI 26	DAR 7	RCH	DOV	MAR 20	CLT 31	NWS 15	CAR	ATL 28	RSD 41				24th	2290
1985	Jackson Bros. Motorsports			DAY 29			ATL 41		DAR 8			TAL 34		CLT 33		POC 11	MCH 19	DAY 27	POC 8	TAL 31	MCH 6		DAR 39					CLT 27		ATL 14							21st	2740
	Hamby Racing	17	Chevy		RCH 15	CAR 19		BRI 28		NWS 15	MAR 9		DOV 29		RSD 33							BRI 21		RCH 27	DOV 12	MAR 20	NWS 13		CAR 13		RSD 33
1986	Jackson Bros. Motorsports	66	Olds	DAY 24			ATL 18	BRI				TAL 5	DOV	CLT 24	RSD	POC 31	MCH 33	DAY 9	POC 37	TAL 13	GLN 14	MCH 9	BRI	DAR 22	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 10	CAR	ATL 10	RSD					27th	1742
	Hamby Racing	17	Olds		RCH 29	CAR 30
	Jackson Bros. Motorsports	66	Pontiac						DAR 31	NWS	MAR
1987		55	Olds	DAY 11	CAR 11	RCH 15	ATL 27	DAR 9	NWS 7	BRI 20	MAR 4	TAL 31	CLT 8	DOV 22	POC 11	RSD 11	MCH 21	DAY 15	POC 39	TAL 29	GLN 7	MCH 14	BRI 19	DAR 12	RCH 20	DOV 29	MAR 16	NWS 14	CLT 27	CAR 9	RSD 13	ATL 8					14th	3327
1988				DAY 3	RCH 30	CAR 15	ATL 37	DAR 8	BRI 22	NWS 7	MAR 9	TAL 1	CLT 8	DOV 39	RSD 5	POC 8	MCH 7	DAY 3	POC 31	TAL 11	GLN 4	MCH 20	BRI 19	DAR 6	RCH 24	DOV 14	MAR 21	CLT 27	NWS 2	CAR 8	PHO 9	ATL 16					9th	3630
1989				DAY 5	CAR 39	ATL 14	RCH 27	DAR 41	BRI 23	NWS DNQ	MAR 13	TAL 17	CLT 13	DOV 10	SON 18	POC 12	MCH 15	DAY 3	POC 12	TAL 41	GLN 17	MCH 33	BRI 11	DAR 21	RCH 36	DOV 13	MAR 14	CLT 20	NWS 28	CAR 24	PHO 37	ATL 42					21st	2933
	Combs Racing	60	Chevy							NWS 12
1990	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Olds	DAY 42	RCH 26	CAR 14	ATL	DAR																													39th	632
	Leo Jackson Motorsports	33	Olds						BRI 25	NWS	MAR
	Barkdoll Motorsports	72	Olds									TAL 35	CLT	DOV	SON	POC
	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	29	Pontiac														MCH 22	DAY	POC	TAL 41	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR 19	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS
	Speed Racing	83	Olds																										CLT 18	CAR	PHO	ATL
1991	Italian Connection	96	Chevy	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL					NA	-
1992	Melling Racing	9	Ford	DAY 10	CAR 30	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL					53rd	207
1993	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	41	Chevy	DAY 22	CAR 8	RCH 16	ATL 39	DAR 36	BRI 31	NWS 18	MAR 20	TAL 19	SON 37	CLT 12	DOV 37	POC 14	MCH 13	DAY 25	NHA 39	POC 18	TAL 22	GLN 33	MCH 19	BRI 14	DAR 21	RCH 20	DOV 37	MAR 19	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO					29th	2454
	Butch Mock Motorsports	75	Ford																														ATL 9
1994	J&J Racing	99	Olds	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC DNQ	TAL	IND	GLN														50th	243
	Melling Racing	9	Ford																					MCH 31		DAR 15	RCH DNQ	DOV	MAR	NWS 36	CLT DNQ	CAR	PHO	ATL
	Hagan Racing	14	Chevy																						BRI DNQ
1995	TriStar Motorsports	19	Ford	DAY 41	CAR DNQ	RCH	ATL 42	DAR DNQ	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL			60th	77
1997	Team SABCO	42	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR 31	TEX	BRI	MAR	SON	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	CAL	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO	ATL		62nd	70
1998	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	1	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL DNQ	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	CLT	DOV	RCH	MCH	POC	SON	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	NHA	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	DAY	PHO	CAR	ATL	NA	-

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1983	Johnny Hayes Racing	Buick	32	13
1984		Chevrolet	13	11
1985	Jackson Bros. Motorsports	Chevrolet	12	29
1986		Oldsmobile	18	24
1987			19	11
1988			19	3
1989			7	5
1990	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Oldsmobile	8	42
1991	Italian Connection	Chevrolet	DNQ
1992	Melling Racing	Ford	19	10
1993	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	16	22
1995	TriStar Motorsports	Ford	32	41

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NBSC	Pts	Ref
1982	Johnny Hayes Racing	28	Pontiac	DAY 8	RCH 9	BRI 1	MAR 36	DAR 17	HCY 3	SBO 16	CRW 19	RCH 6	LGY 3	DOV 7	HCY 23	CLT 22	ASH 7	HCY 9	SBO 3	CAR 3	CRW 22	SBO 18	HCY 8	LGY 6	IRP 20	BRI 27	HCY 9	RCH 20	MAR 6	CLT 7	HCY 9	MAR 7							5th	3783
1983				DAY 4	RCH 7	CAR 9	HCY 8	MAR 16	NWS 11	SBO 24	GPS	LGY	DOV	BRI	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU 8	SBO 7	ROU	CRW 19	ROU 4	SBO 16	HCY 17	LGY	IRP 4	GPS	BRI 13	HCY	DAR 13	RCH 13	NWS 7	SBO 6	MAR 4	ROU	CLT 32	HCY	MAR 7	15th	2904
1984				DAY 9	RCH	CAR	HCY	MAR	DAR	ROU	NSV	LGY	MLW	DOV	CLT 37	SBO	HCY	ROU	SBO	ROU	HCY	IRP	LGY	SBO	BRI 3	DAR	RCH	NWS	CLT 2	HCY	CAR	MAR 17							35th	637
1985				DAY 42	CAR	HCY	BRI 25	MAR	DAR	SBO	LGY	DOV	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	IRP	SBO	LGY	HCY	MLW	BRI	DAR	RCH	NWS	ROU	CLT	HCY	CAR	MAR									95th	37
1986	Ingram Racing	11	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	HCY	MAR	BRI	DAR	SBO	LGY	JFC	DOV	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	IRP	SBO	RAL	OXF	SBO	HCY	LGY	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	ROU 16	CLT	CAR	MAR					119th	0
1989	Beverley Racing	55	Olds	DAY 24	CAR 35	MAR	HCY	DAR 4	BRI 12	NZH	SBO	LAN	NSV	CLT 27	DOV 2	ROU	LVL	VOL	MYB	SBO	HCY	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR 2	RCH	DOV 31	MAR	CLT 10	CAR 2	MAR							33rd	1098
1991	Phil Parsons Racing	29	Olds	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	MAR	VOL	HCY	DAR 4	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	CLT 42	DOV	ROU	HCY	MYB	GLN 15	OXF	NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR 29	RCH	DOV	CLT 9	NHA	CAR 29	MAR					46th	605
1992				DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL 10	MAR	DAR 31	BRI	HCY	LAN	DUB	NZH	CLT 10	DOV	ROU	MYB	GLN 27	VOL	NHA	TAL	IRP	ROU	MCH 7	NHA	BRI	DAR 9	RCH	DOV	CLT 10	MAR	CAR	HCY					45th	838
1993			Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR									DOV 5	MYB					MCH 39	NHA	BRI	DAR	RCH			CLT 22	MAR	CAR DNQ	HCY									43rd	813
			Olds			RCH 36	DAR 35	BRI	HCY	ROU	MAR	NZH	CLT 6			GLN 32	MLW	TAL	IRP						DOV 8	ROU
	Three Star Motorsports	18	Chevy																												ATL 40
1994	Phil Parsons Racing	29	Chevy	DAY 36			ATL 41	MAR	DAR 8	HCY					CLT 1									MCH 17				DOV 8	CLT 16										25th	1839
			Olds		CAR 31	RCH										DOV 12	MYB	GLN 37	MLW	SBO	TAL	HCY				DAR 24
	Shoemaker Racing	64	Chevy								BRI 9	ROU	NHA	NZH									IRP 16
	J&J Racing	99	Chevy																						BRI 18		RCH 16			MAR 14	CAR 16
1995				DAY 30	CAR 6	RCH 9	ATL 14	NSV 11	DAR 5	BRI 23			NZH 23	CLT 22	DOV 7	MYB 25	GLN 10	MLW 29	TAL 35	SBO 24	IRP 35	MCH 6	BRI 13	DAR 4	RCH 14	DOV 3	CLT 17	CAR 25	HOM 6										8th	2985
			Olds								HCY 14
	Phil Parsons Racing	94	Chevy									NHA 24
1996		10		DAY 24	CAR 14	RCH 29	ATL 3	NSV 3	DAR 22	BRI 4	HCY 20	NZH 12	CLT 15	DOV 8	SBO 15	MYB 17	GLN 13	MLW 30	NHA 40	TAL 38	IRP 23	MCH 14	BRI 3	DAR 41	RCH 30	DOV 3	CLT 18	CAR 29	HOM 12										9th	2854
1997				DAY 10	CAR 4	RCH 4	ATL 8	LVS 7	DAR 5	HCY 19	TEX 6	BRI 8	NSV 12	TAL 39	NHA 5	NZH 20	CLT 5	DOV 18	SBO 16	GLN 17	MLW 7	MYB 13	GTY 23	IRP 28	MCH 9	BRI 32	DAR 28	RCH 12	DOV 22	CLT 26	CAL 32	CAR 11	HOM 30						6th	3523
1998				DAY 10	CAR 40	LVS 37	NSV 38	DAR 13	BRI 7	TEX 4	HCY 18	TAL 2	NHA 15	NZH 16	CLT 35	DOV 7	RCH 16	PPR 2	GLN 25	MLW 11	MYB 21	CAL 4	SBO 11	IRP 34	MCH 18	BRI 2	DAR 25	RCH 27	DOV 11	CLT 31	GTY 14	CAR 24	ATL 8	HOM 13					6th	3525
1999				DAY 33	CAR 28	LVS 13	ATL 28	DAR 3	TEX 24	NSV 10	BRI 28	TAL 35	CAL 42	NHA 25	RCH 15	NZH 9	CLT 23	DOV 19	SBO 13	GLN 22	MLW 20	MYB 9	PPR 10	GTY 35	IRP 15	MCH DNQ	BRI 33	DAR 29	RCH 34	DOV 8	CLT 42	CAR 21	MEM 16	PHO 43	HOM 24				15th	2951
2000	ST Motorsports	59	Chevy	DAY 13	CAR 23	LVS 14	ATL 14	DAR 20	BRI 17	TEX 34	NSV 29	TAL 23	CAL 24	RCH 10	NHA 12	CLT 24	DOV 29	SBO 15	MYB 27	GLN 25	MLW 42	NZH 20	PPR 5	GTY 23	IRP 22	MCH 19	BRI 14	DAR 17	RCH 39	DOV 15	CLT 31	CAR 22	MEM 19	PHO 26	HOM 19				12th	3176
2001	Curb Agajanian Performance Group	97	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	KEN 34	MLW	GLN	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	PHO	CAR	HOM			121st	61

ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	APSC	Pts	Ref
1980		27	Pontiac	DAY	NWS 1*	FRS	FRS	MCH	TAL	IMS	FRS	MCH												NA	0
1981	Jerry Harris	48	Pontiac	DAY 4	DSP	FRS	FRS	BFS																16th	310
		8	Pontiac						TAL 7	FRS	COR
1991	Melling Racing	18	Ford	DAY	ATL	KIL	TAL	TOL	FRS	POC	MCH	KIL	FRS	DEL	POC	TAL	HPT	MCH	ISF	TOL	DSF	TWS	ATL 21	133rd	-

24 Hours of Daytona

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
1986	GTO	28	Texas Enterprises	Oldsmobile Calais	Terry Labonte Harry Gant	3	66 DNF	23 DNF

External links

• Phil Parsons driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Phil Parsons owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Parsons on SPEEDtv.com