‘UnPHILtered’: Sports radio host remembers racing legend Parnelli Jones

UnPHILtered: Remembering former Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Racing fans are mourning the death of a legend Tuesday night.

Former Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones passed away at the age of 90 after a decade-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.  

Jake Query, a sports radio host, is one of the voices of the Indy 500. He joined News 8’s Phil Sanchez for an “UnPHILtered” conversation about Jones’s death.

“There are so many things about him that personified what made the Indy 500 is,” Query said. “He ran seven races in Indy, led in five of them, was third all-time in laps led. He won the race of course in ’63, but it might be the innovation in which he was most known. (He broke) the speed mark at 150 mph during qualifying in 1962.”

Jones, born Rufus Parnell Jones in Arkansas in 1933, began racing at only 17 in California. He was technically too young to race at the time, so he needed an alias to cover his identity, which is how he came up with the name “Parnelli.”

“It shows the will to be able to run anything, and race as soon as you could,” Query added. “And Parnelli Jones had that drive and then once he was driving, one of the best to ever run Indianapolis.”

In addition to his Indianapolis 500 win as a driver in 1963, Jones won the prestigious race as the car owner for Al Unser in 1970 and 1971.

“Truly humble, a guy who was well aware of his accomplishments, but you would really have to bring that out of him. When we would talk and I would interview him about racing, he would talk about his competitors (instead),” Query said.

Query says Jones was always aware of the legacy of the 500, but believed he was a small contributor to it.

“(In fact,) he was a giant contributor to it. Parnelli Jones was as big as any name that you’re going to have around that place,” he said. “The true greatness of the place and his testament to it is the fact that he carried himself in the way in which he thought he was just a contributor. But he was absolutely one of the pillars of the legend. And that’s what made him legend, right?”

Parnelli Jones, Ford Mustang driver and race winner, before the Trans Am race held June 7, 1970 on the Mid-Ohio track near Lexington, Ohio.
LEXINGTON, OH-JUNE 7: Parnelli Jones, Ford Mustang driver and race winner, before the Trans Am race held June 7, 1970, on the Mid-Ohio track near Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Alvis Upitis/Getty Images)

News 8’s Michaela Springer contributed to this article.