Johnnie Parsons

Johnnie Woodrow Parsons (4 July 1918 - 8 September 1984) was an American racing driver who won the rain-shortened 1950 Indianapolis 500 and competed in Formula One through the race's inclusion in the World Championship. Born in Los Angeles, California, on Independence Day, Parsons came from a show business family and by age three was participating in his family's song-and-dance act, working vaudeville theaters across the country. This early experience performing gave him a flair for showmanship that later made him a great favorite with racing fans. After his parents separated in the mid-1920s, Parsons went to live with his uncle Jack Bridges, who owned a garage in Los Angeles where local dirt track racing legends Fred Lecklider, rising star Frank Lockhart, and the great Ralph DePalma leased space.

This exposure to racing's elite figures during his formative years inspired Parsons to pursue a racing career rather than continuing in show business. Parsons's open-wheel racing career began in 1940 when he competed in a midget race at Atlantic Boulevard Speedway in Los Angeles. Later that year, he scored his first victory at a race held in Colton, California, beginning a successful career that would span over two decades. World War II interrupted his racing, but he returned stronger and more determined following the war's conclusion.

Parsons finished second in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1949, demonstrating immediate competitiveness at America's greatest race. He won the AAA National Championship that season, establishing himself as American open-wheel racing's new star. His consistency and speed throughout 1949 marked him as a favorite for the 1950 Indianapolis 500. At the 1950 Indianapolis 500, Parsons won the rain-shortened race, taking victory when officials stopped the event due to deteriorating weather conditions.

While some victories in shortened races are controversial, Parsons was leading when the race was stopped and had demonstrated superior pace and car control in the treacherous wet conditions, making him a deserving winner. His victory came in the first year that the Indianapolis 500 counted toward the Formula One World Championship, giving Parsons the distinction of being one of only three drivers to win on their World Championship debut, alongside Giuseppe Farina and Giancarlo Fisichella. Parsons participated in nine Formula One World Championship races (all Indianapolis 500s from 1950-1958), accumulating 12 championship points total. His best championship finish was ninth in 1950, the year of his Indianapolis victory.

Though he never competed in European-style Formula One races, his Indianapolis performances counted toward the World Championship during the 1950s. Throughout his career, Parsons maintained the showmanship he had learned in vaudeville, always aware of the fans and media. He understood that racing was entertainment as well as sport, and his engaging personality made him popular beyond his racing results. This combination of speed and charisma helped grow American racing's fan base during the postwar boom.

Following his retirement from racing, Parsons remained involved in motorsport through various business ventures and occasionally attended Indianapolis 500 events. He maintained friendships with fellow drivers and was respected as part of the generation that established Indianapolis racing's golden era during the 1950s. Johnnie Parsons died of a heart attack on 8 September 1984 at his home in Van Nuys, California, at age 66. His son Johnny Parsons Jr.

also became a successful racing driver, continuing the family's motorsport legacy. Parsons is remembered as the 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner and as a driver whose showmanship and racing talent helped define American open-wheel racing during its golden age.