January 8, 2021
at 2:26 AM
By Rick Houston
It was just the second Winston Cup race of Phil Parsons’ career, and it ended spectacularly.
And not the good kind of spectacular, either. Going into turn one on lap 72, Parsons got together with Darrell Waltrip. The contact triggered a huge multicar melee in which Parsons suddenly found himself flipping violently and on fire.
Incredibly, Parsons’ only injury was a broken shoulder blade.
Benny Parsons, Phil’s older brother, saw the carnage and what was left of his sibling’s car, and immediately asked his crew to find a relief driver so he could attend to Phil. Told that Phil was going to be okay and that his injuries appeared to be minor, the elder Parsons stayed in his car and eventually finished a very close second to Richard Petty.