Parnelli Jones started his racing career at 17 in a Jalopy race at Carroll Speedway in Gardena.
He subsequently moved to stock car racing, winning 15 races in the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series.
His first major championship was the Midwest region spring car title in 1960. He caught the attention of J.C. Agajanian, who became his sponsor. He began racing at Indianapolis in 1961 and shared Rookie of the Year honors with Bobby Marshman. In 1962, he became the first driver at Indianapolis to qualify over 150 mph, and in 1963 he started on the pole and won the race. The following year he won a total of 7 races and the USAC Stock car championship. He went on to win four NASCAR races, 25 midget car feature wins and 25 sprint car victories. Not satisfied with conventional races, Jones participated in off-road racing, winning the Mexican 1000 twice, the Baja 500 and the Mint 400 off-road events. As an owner, his racing team won the Indy 500 in 1970 and 1971 and the USAC National Championships from 1971 to 1973.
