Biography
Johnnie Parsons, whose full name was John Woodrow Parsons, was born in Los Angeles on 4 July 1918. He began racing midgets in California in 1940 and won the United Midget Association championship in 1942. In 1947 he moved to the American Midwest and competed in AAA events across the United States. He took the AAA Midwest Midget title in 1948. In 1949 he finished second in his first Indianapolis 500 and won the AAA national championship.
From 1950 to 1960 the Indianapolis 500 counted towards the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Parsons started it every year from 1950 to 1958, nine times in all, mostly in a Kurtis Kraft, with a Kuzma in 1956. He won on his championship debut in 1950 and ended that season sixth in the standings. Together with Nino Farina and Giancarlo Baghetti, he is one of only three drivers to win their first World Championship race. It remained his only win and only podium. In 1957 he initially failed to qualify, but he took over Dick Rathmann's car as replacement driver and started from the position Rathmann had earned.
In the 1970s Parsons served as chief steward of the USAC Midget division on the West Coast. He died on 8 September 1984. His son Johnny Parsons Jr. also became a racing driver. His first name appears as "Johnny" rather than "Johnnie" on the Borg-Warner Trophy. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inducted him in 2004.
Source: Wikipedia, “Johnnie Parsons”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Rates
Click a ring to see every race behind it, with circuit and analysis.
Season by season
1950: wins 1 · podiums 1 · starts 1
Yellow: title season, purple: selected season. Click another season to see every win and podium with its circuit.
Yellow: championship season.
Best circuits
Where the most wins and podiums came.Statistics: F1DB by Marcel Overdijk and contributors, licence CC BY 4.0, prepared by Hotlap Delta.