America’s motorsports history is full of daring, courageous, and downright criminal characters who helped mold and shape racing into what it is today. While there are many heroes in American racing lore, a few stand above the rest, like Richard “The King” Petty, Smokey Yunick, and Parnelli Jones.
It is Jones in particular who will be the focus on this post. Ford Racing sat up with the senior racer to chat about life, love, and race cars. It’s an interesting look into the personality of a racing legend like Jones.
The video starts off with Jones telling the camera that his first little hot rod was a Model A Ford with a T-bucket on it. Jones was a Ford guy from the get go, he says, and according to him most of his career was in the oval track. But he says that going to road racing for him was like a duck taking to water. And it showed. For the interview they also brought in Jones’ team owner, Bud Moore, who called Jones a “helluva driver.”
According to Jones, road racing requires a little bit of everything, which made it way different from oval racing. As for Jones’ most famous win, the Trans Am Championship of 1970? He calls it a blessing, and goes on to say that they should have also won in 1969. The six-minute interview is really interesting if you love American motorsports history, and is a much-watch for any Ford Racing fan.