Benny finishes out his career with Junie Donlavey (1988)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
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| Courtesy Brian Cleary |
Why? After five years of running part-time schedules, Benny Parsons returned to a full-time run with Hendrick Motorsports in 1987, bringing stability to the 25/35 team during Tim Richmond’s illness. After that, Parsons would run (most) of a final season for longtime team-owner Junie Donlavey in the iconic #90 Ford.
How successful were they? Not at all. Parsons posted a single top-ten all season long. While there was an expected drop in performance for BP going from Hendrick to Donlavey, this was like falling off a cliff.
What was the aftermath? It would turn out that Donlavey’s run in the previous year with Ken Schrader was his team’s last season as a mid-pack contender. The 90 car would remain an also-ran for the rest of its existence. Parsons, meanwhile, stepped into his new role as a full-time broadcaster.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 8 “wow”s out of 10—this was really strange. You go from being a team known for developing young drivers to fielding a veteran who was obviously on the last legs of his career.
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