Phil Parsons has done it all. From being the little brother of a NASCAR Legend, a racer, a team owner and a broadcaster, the only thing he hadn't done was come to the Bojangles Studio to sit down with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Until now. On his 65th birthday, Parsons sits down with Dale Jr. and Mike Davis about his fascinating life.
All he wanted to do is race. Plain and simple. From the age of five, watching his brother Benny in daring Figure-8 races through his older brother's monumental ascension through the sport, little brother just wanted to drive. When he got his shot, it didn't come easy. He took a Vega and some infrequent opportunities and made the most of them by winning races in NASCAR's Baby Grand Series, which was to become the Dash Series. He won at places like Hickory Motor Speedway, Caraway Speedway, North Wilkesboro and Nashville. It's a period of Parsons’ story not often talked about and a time that Dale Jr. came to the table with curiosity about.
Parsons’ racing career hit rock bottom, when family money and opportunity ran dry. So, he humbly went to Humpy Wheeler for help. The advice led him to a "real job" working with Travis Carter on Hal Needham and Burt Reynold's Skoal Bandit team. The team's drivers were stuntman Stan Barrett and the legendary Harry Gant. The job created a relationship with U.S. Tobacco which blossomed into funding for his own chances back behind the wheel. The sponsorship sent Parsons on a course for Cup. At first, he was just trying to stick in NASCAR's Late Model Sportsman ranks (now known as the Xfinity Series). His rookie season produced success and an opportunity the next year with the Skoal Bandit team in NASCAR's Cup Series.
Parsons is well known for a massive crash he experienced at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama which sent his racecar tumbling violently on the high-banks. He details the wreck from his vantage point and the pain it produced. Phil also experienced the jubilation of winning in NASCAR's elite series, when he captured a win, five years after his flip, at Talladega. He explains the Zen of having the perfect car that day and matching it with perfect strategy and drive.
At the end of the 1989 season Phil elected to have cataract surgery. After the successful procedure, Parsons started in his next big opportunity, for the powerful Morgan McClure Racing team. But, only three races into his tenure with the team, he got a call saying that the team was going in a different direction. Phil opens up about taking that phone call and the decision that ultimately cut the growth of his Cup career. Parson's also reveals how false rumors about his eyesight then hindered potential chances in Cup.
His decision to return the Xfinity Series was a family matter. He details the choice and how he built part-two of his racing career.
Parsons goes into detail about his brother Benny and the wild repair job that netted him the 1973 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. He also talks about Benny's role as a television broadcaster and how his legacy lives on. Phil too followed in Benny's footsteps with a successful television career of his own, to which he still enjoys to this day.
DIRTY AIR
Before Parsons joins the show, Dale, Mike, Hannah and Matthew talk about:
Dale and Amy's wild commercial travel adventures and their trip to France.
The upcoming live DJD show at Nashville's Ole Red.
Jeremy Mayfield and others winning after being on the show.
The sport needing more short-track style road courses.
ASKJR presented by Xfinity
The fan questions came rolling in about:
What songs pump up Dale Jr.
Road Course suggestions like running a green Sonoma or The Boot at the Glen!
Dale Jr driving a V8 Supercar.
Dale Jr. asked to Le Mans for Garage 56?
and more
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