He was born Rufus Parnell Jones.
But nobody called him that — except maybe his mother.
At an early age, when Jones was growing up in Torrance, a teenage friend knew Parnell had a crush on a girl named Nellie so he put an “ie” on Parnell and Parnellie stuck (after the “e” was taken off at the end).
Eventually, he became known to the world as Parnelli Jones, one of the greatest stars in motorsports history, who many observers say should be on the Mt. Rushmore of racing legends alongside Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney.
At 89, he is the oldest living winner of the Indy 500, which he won in 1963. He also has been dubbed “Mr. Versatility” for all of the different cars he has raced in and owned.
And while he never won the Long Beach Grand Prix, having retired from open-wheel racing before his hometown event began, he has always supported it — and been a regular attendee.
But because of health issues related to Parkinson’s disease and advancing age, Jones will not attend this year’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which takes place Friday to Sunday, April 14-16. Instead, he will watch the race on TV from his longtime home in Rolling Hills, he said in a phone interview last week.
“Parnelli is truly a major contributor to the racing world and a great supporter of the Long Beach Grand Prix over all of these years,” Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, said last week. “We’ll miss seeing him this year.”
It’s hard to imagine that one of motorsport’s greatest drivers and fiercest competitors doesn’t drive his own personal car anymore.
“I stopped driving about three years ago,” he said. “I miss it, but there are some things I just can’t do.”
Jones had been involved with the Grand Prix since it started. Jones and his business partner, Velko “Vet” Miletich, were co-owners of Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing team for the first Formula 5000 race in Long Beach on Sept. 28, 1975….
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