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NASCAR HALL-OF-FAME INDUCTION CEREMONYJanuary 20, 2017Patricia DePotteyViolet ParksKevin ParsonsKeith ParsonsTerri ParsonsCharlotte, North Carolina THE MODERATOR: We're going to double up here. It's getting late and we certainly want to allow people to get home, so we're going to have a double honor here to help us celebrate the inductions of both Benny Parsons and Raymond Parks. Here representing Benny are his widow, Terri Parsons, and sons Keith and Kevin. A reminder on Benny, 1973 premier series champion and certainly one of the most beloved figures in NASCAR history, not only for being a driver but also being one of our colleagues for a long time. And then Raymond Parks, here representing and help us honor him, granddaughter Patricia DePottey and widow Violet Parks. A reminder on Raymond, won the first two championships in NASCAR, the modified championship in 1948 and the premier series championship in 1949. Q. We'll start with the Parsons clan. Terri, we've talked about this before. Benny had a little list that he wanted you to take care of if he passed away after battling the cancer, and one of those was please don't let them forget me, right, and that's sort of driven you to keep promoting him for the Hall of Fame. Can the three of you talk about now he won't be forgotten, he's kind of etched in the wall forever? TERRI PARSONS: Well, I mean, as far as my list, there's still one thing on that list that isn't complete, but this was a big one, the big one, that he‑‑ I thought he had only said that to me, was Terri, don't let them forget me. I've found out since then from different crew chiefs that he had from years ago that he said the same thing to them while he was battling cancer. So we all knew that this was what he wanted. We didn't know how we were going to make it happen, but we knew we didn't want people to forget him, and then when the Hall of Fame‑‑ he knew he was on the original list for the Hall of Fame. Winston Kelley had called and told him that, and he was so deeply honored that he would even make a consideration list at that point in time. But then when he got into the Hall of Fame and it was announced that day here that he had made it, one of the crew chiefs, and I don't remember which one it was, and I want to say it was Waddell Wilson actually, that mentioned to me, he said, well, there is it is. And I said, what. He said, he said, don't let people forget me. They can't now, he's in the Hall of Fame. So I really didn't put the two together unless somebody else said, well, there it is, and it happened that way. I'm sure the next question is going to be what's the next one that I didn't get done. Everybody needs to call Bruton Smith. He wanted me to get the North Wilkesboro Speedway reopened and so you know how that's going right now. But, anyway, we're still working on that. Q. Can Keith and Kevin talk about maybe their favorite memory? KEVIN PARSONS: At the track, probably when he started driving the 55 car, they were gracious enough to let Keith and I be involved. Up until then, we had been there sitting in the stands, or in the infield in the car with our mother. And we each drove for Mr.Jackson and Johnny Hayes. They were nice enough, Keith and I ran gas when they put the gas in the car, so we felt more involved. And then I started sticking the head in the window and listening to conversations. Back then it was more family like I think than it is now. I don't go now, so I wouldn't know, but the drivers all talked to each other in the garage. But that was just really good times. KEITH PARSONS: I think it would be tonight but maybe not for the reason you'd think. We were fortunate enough to have‑‑ I guess everybody gets to bring people, and we had his crew chief when he won his two ARCA championships was here, a man named Ralph young, Travis Carter who was his crew chief when he won the championship and the Daytona 500 was here, David Ifft, who was his crew chief in 1979 and '80 was here, Leo Jackson that Kevin was mentioned that was his owner was here, Andy Petree that worked on those cars for years was here. That group of people has never been together that close in my lifetime that I can remember, and it was just neat to see those guys and to just know that they were such a big part of this and they enjoyed it. Yes, Terri's thing about not letting nobody forget him, I mean, you guys probably know Tex Powell, who's been in the sport for a long time, and I'll try to be brief, but he tracked down the car my dad won the championship in that had been sold multiple times about seven or eight years ago and dedicated his life to restoring that car. He didn't do it for any money. He paid for it out of his pocket or got help from people. He just did it for our dad. I knew that he would never be forgotten with people like Tex Powell and Mike Powell and Richie and Les Barz out there that rebuilt that car. That means everything that those guys did that for him. TERRI PARSONS: And that car he's talking about is the car that is here in the Hall of Fame, and the end of that story is that as they put that car together there was only one piece missing, and it was the gas cap, and back then it was blue and the car was orange, and Les made one of the‑‑ one of the crew guys that helped put the car back together, made the comment, too bad we don't have the original gas cap, and Tex Powell said, wait a minute, and he went out to his brand new Cadillac Escalade, got the gas cap off of the truck and brought it back inside and said I've had this on every car I've ever owned since 1973. Q. Violet, we heard today especially from Rick Hendrick that everything is sponsorship driven and money and with all the sponsors you cannot race, not in NASCAR, not in any kind of other championship. How was the time back in 1948 when Raymond had a team? How was it financed? Did you have sponsorship already, too, at that time? VIOLET PARKS: I have no idea because I didn't know him then. PATRICIA DePOTTEY: I would imagine he financed it himself. Yeah, he financed it himself. Q. Patricia, your grandfather sort of left racing all of a sudden after doing so well. Did he talk much to you over the years about that, and did he talk about really missing it and wanting to get back? PATRICIA DePOTTEY: He always carried NASCAR with him. He did tell me one time, we were in a car and we were talking about racing, and I asked him why he left, and his exact words were, "Well, it was expensive," and he said, "I had a family to take care of." As most of you know, he left home at 14 and he had 15 brothers and sisters, and throughout their lifetime, he always wanted to make sure his family was taken care of and that he was there for them. But when he left, like I said, he didn't leave it. He physically left, but if you went into his office in the store, he had everything he loved right there. He had his trophies. He had his pictures. He had his family surrounding him in the stores. And he had his business. Q. That office, did he work there until‑‑ PATRICIA DePOTTEY: He worked in the stores until he was in his late 80s. He would go two or three times a day into the store for as long as I can remember. He was very hard‑working, had very strong work ethic. He was a very honest man. He wanted everyone to be honest with him. But he was also very much a gentleman and very humble. Q. I know you've met a lot of drivers and they have a tendency to be a bit insecure. For Benny to ask people not to forget him when he was such bigger than life and so unforgettable, why do you think he thought that way, that people would forget him when he was just such an incredible, beloved‑‑ TERRI PARSONS: He didn't know he was bigger than life. He didn't know that he was as famous as people tell me now. He didn't see himself in that way. To him, he was still the same guy that was born and raised in Wilkes County, that lived in Detroit, that drove a cab. He saw himself with the common person, not somebody that got someplace to be famous. And I think that's why really in reality, I think that's why he connected so well with the people that were listening to him on television commentate races, because that came across in everything that he said. He didn't talk above their heads. He talked so that people understood what he was talking about whenever he was explaining how a car worked or what was wrong with the car, and he didn't know that he was as big a deal as he really turned out to be. Q. And for the Parks family, to hear people talk about Raymond's contribution and that NASCAR might not have evolved to the sport it is today without his presence, without his contribution, can you touch on that and what the people‑‑ how the people described that tonight? VIOLET PARKS: I don't know how to answer that exactly. PATRICIA DePOTTEY: I see it almost as a partnership between Bill France and Raymond. Bill France created the idea, started it, brought everyone in, into the Streamline Motel. But I think my granddad loved the sport and what he was doing and the racing that to contribute financially was to help build that part of the dream. And I honestly do not believe he ever imagined it would get to where it is today. I don't know if that answers what you're asking. Q. Kevin, your father, whenever fans watched him on TV, they felt like they could relate to him. Could you talk about his ability to communicate with whoever it is in the garage or in the grandstands and also how he made racing fun for everybody? KEVIN PARSONS: Well, he was a big race fan. He got that from his father. There was not a bigger race fan than our grandfather, and he took him to his first race at Wilkesboro. He just loved, as Keith said earlier, loved everybody in racing, and that came across. I was talking to Ned Jarrett earlier tonight, and when the two of them and Bob Jenkins worked on their team together, I'm biased, but that was, I think, the pinnacle because they all got along, and it was like they were sitting in their living room. I think just his regular speak, for lack of a better phrase, came through to the fans. He didn't use $10 words. THE MODERATOR: We certainly appreciate you all being here this evening. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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