INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is paying its respects to a former Indianapolis 500 champion.
On Thursday, June 6, they honored Parnelli Jones by putting his car on the track and his photo on the pylon.
Jones won the Indy 500 in 1963. That was before Borg Warner gave miniature trophies to winners, but he was the first recipient of a "Baby Borg" trophy in 2013.
Jones died on Monday, June 3 at the age of 90. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Judy, his two sons and six grandchildren.
At the time of his death, Jones was the oldest living winner of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
Rufus Parnell Jones was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, in 1933 but moved to Torrance, California as a young child and never left. It was there that he became "Parnelli" because his given name of Rufus was too well known for him to compete without locals knowing his true identity and that he wasn't old enough to race.
A friend came up with "Parnellie," which was painted on the door of Jones's 1934 Ford jalopy. The final "e" was eventually dropped, the name remained.
In 1962, Jones became the first driver at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to qualify at over 150 mph with a four-lap average of 150.370. He was the Indy 500 pole-sitter in 1962 and 1963 and co-rookie of the year with Bobby Marshman in 1961.
He made seven starts at Indianapolis from 1961 through 1967 and led in five of those races for a total of 492 laps — which is the eighth-highest laps led total in the race's history. In the only two starts he didn't lead in 1965 and 1966, Jones ran mostly in second place. He finished second in 1965 and retired from there with mechanical trouble in 1966.
Jones was inducted into numerous Halls of Fames, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, the National Motorsports Hall of Fame and both the National Sprint Car and National Midget Halls of Fame.