Parnelli Jones, one of the great racers.
Jones was best known for his exploits at the Indy 500 in the 1960s, when it was still the premier event in auto racing. He was the oldest surviving winner of the race.
“Parnelli Jones was the greatest driver of his era,” his contemporary Mario Andretti once said. “He had aggressiveness and also a finesse that no one else possessed. And he won on everything he put his hands on.”Jones captured dozens of races, winning six times in Indy races and four times in NASCAR events and triumphing in off-road, sports car, sprint and midget races as well.
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Jones’s final Indy 500 came in 1967, when he drove Andy Granatelli’s revolutionary turbine-powered car, which was considerably faster than the traditional piston-engine cars. He was leading A.J. Foyt by more than a mile with seven and a half miles to go when a bearing, reportedly costing $6, failed in his gear box, forcing him to limp into the pits as Foyt went on to his third Indy 500 triumph.
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