Parnelli Jones' big surprise The video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS5ajIANFdY
Tuesday, 06 December 2016

Robin Miller / Image by IMS Photo

Above: Jim Clark, Andy Granatelli and Parnelli Jones testing the new turbine at IMS in 1968. Clark would be killed in a racing accident several weeks later.

When: 1967
Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
What: Retirement
Who: Parnelli Jones
Nico Rosberg dropped a bomb on the racing world last week when the newly crowned 31-year-old champion announced he was quitting Formula 1. But nearly 50 years ago, another tremor was felt when Parnelli Jones walked away from IndyCar racing at the age of 34.


"The turbine quit so I quit," said Jones with a laugh, referring to the '67 Indy 500 that he had locked up before Andy Granatelli's turbine coasted to a stop six laps from the checkered flag. "No, you know I'd been thinking about it all that month but I just didn't talk about it to anyone, so it shocked a lot of people.
"I always said I'd quit if I won Indy, and of course that didn't happen, but I'd just gotten married and I always wanted kids and I'd survived a pretty deadly era. And my business (Firestone) had really started to take off so it was time."






But the 1963 Indianapolis victor made it clear he wasn't done racing.
"I quit midgets, sprints and Indy cars but I loved road racing and Trans Am was getting going so I knew I wanted to do that. And then I tried off-road racing and loved it because it was still dirt.
"I always wanted to see what was on the other side of the hill; that's why I ran Pikes Peak and NASCAR and sports cars."
Granatelli, who paid Jones a mind-blowing $100,000 to drive the STP turbine in 1967, didn't easily accept P.J.'s decision.
"Andy wanted me to drive the '67 turbine again in 1968 and I think I could have got $200,000 if I'd asked, but I knew the new turbine with four-wheel drive would be better so I passed. And I didn't want to drive the '68 because (Colin) Chapman's cars were pretty flimsy.
"The only time I was tempted to come back was in 1969 when Al (Unser) broke his foot on a motorcycle and he was driving my car. I thought about it and then remembered Jimmy Bryan quit, came back and got killed so I stuck to my guns."
At 83, the oldest-living Indy winner says he understands Rosberg's move.