CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Benny Parsons has beaten the odds before, rising up from the foothills of North Carolina to a job driving taxis and then all the way to the top of NASCAR.
Now he'll try to win an even bigger battle -- this time with cancer.
Parsons, the 1973 champion and current NASCAR commentator on NBC and TNT, was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung and began treatment Wednesday.
``It is winnable,'' said Parsons, affectionately known throughout NASCAR as ``BP.''
``But positive attitude is very important in this -- you need to think you can win before you will win, and I will do it. I've got races to see won and champions to see crowned, and I've got granddaughters to see raised.''
Parsons said he'd never really been sick before, but began having trouble breathing a few months ago. It led him to the family physician, who diagnosed the cancer two weeks ago.
``The first thing everyone asks me is, 'Are you a smoker?' The answer is that I smoked my last cigarette way back in 1978, and since then I've hated being around smoking. I don't even allow anyone in my foursome to smoke on the golf course.''
The 65-year-old Parsons will undergo chemotherapy three days a week for three weeks, and also will receive radiation five days a week. He's seeing Dr. Steven Limenpani, who treated NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick during his battle with leukemia in the late 1990s.
Parsons was in good spirits and said he felt fine after his first treatment on Wednesday.
``It's only in the left lung. It's not spread to any other organs. This is a small-cell cancer that is no place else,'' he said. ``I am assuming these are all good things.''
Parsons, who lives in Concord, plans to remain in the booth during his treatments.
``One of Benny's greatest qualities is how unconditionally supportive he is to the racing community,'' said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports. ``Now it's our turn to provide that support to him. I ask all of his friends and fans to put him in their prayers tonight.''
Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles.
He also had 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million. He also won back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69 when he lived in Detroit, before getting his shot at NASCAR.
Parsons said he's been overwhelmed by the outreach from the NASCAR community and fans, and had a short conversation earlier Wednesday with former chairman Bill France Jr., who had his own successful battle with cancer.
``We talked for five minutes and we never mentioned the word racing or NASCAR,'' Parsons said. ``We talked about friendship and cancer.''
NASCAR chairman Brian France, Bill's son, said the entire organization was praying for Parsons.
``As one who has seen this battle fought head-on in my own family, I am confident that with the support of his family and the entire NASCAR community, Benny will show all of us, once again, why he is a true champion,'' he said.
Parsons was born at his parents' rural home in Wilkes County and eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing ``taxicab driver'' as his occupation on entry forms.
He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Parsons began his broadcasting career in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst.
He said he hoped to remain in the booth for years to come.
``To all those people out there who say `I hate this for Benny,' well, the doctors say its winnable and I hope I'll be in their living rooms for a long, long time,'' he said.
Now he'll try to win an even bigger battle -- this time with cancer.
Parsons, the 1973 champion and current NASCAR commentator on NBC and TNT, was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung and began treatment Wednesday.
``It is winnable,'' said Parsons, affectionately known throughout NASCAR as ``BP.''
``But positive attitude is very important in this -- you need to think you can win before you will win, and I will do it. I've got races to see won and champions to see crowned, and I've got granddaughters to see raised.''
Parsons said he'd never really been sick before, but began having trouble breathing a few months ago. It led him to the family physician, who diagnosed the cancer two weeks ago.
``The first thing everyone asks me is, 'Are you a smoker?' The answer is that I smoked my last cigarette way back in 1978, and since then I've hated being around smoking. I don't even allow anyone in my foursome to smoke on the golf course.''
The 65-year-old Parsons will undergo chemotherapy three days a week for three weeks, and also will receive radiation five days a week. He's seeing Dr. Steven Limenpani, who treated NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick during his battle with leukemia in the late 1990s.
Parsons was in good spirits and said he felt fine after his first treatment on Wednesday.
``It's only in the left lung. It's not spread to any other organs. This is a small-cell cancer that is no place else,'' he said. ``I am assuming these are all good things.''
Parsons, who lives in Concord, plans to remain in the booth during his treatments.
``One of Benny's greatest qualities is how unconditionally supportive he is to the racing community,'' said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports. ``Now it's our turn to provide that support to him. I ask all of his friends and fans to put him in their prayers tonight.''
Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles.
He also had 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million. He also won back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69 when he lived in Detroit, before getting his shot at NASCAR.
Parsons said he's been overwhelmed by the outreach from the NASCAR community and fans, and had a short conversation earlier Wednesday with former chairman Bill France Jr., who had his own successful battle with cancer.
``We talked for five minutes and we never mentioned the word racing or NASCAR,'' Parsons said. ``We talked about friendship and cancer.''
NASCAR chairman Brian France, Bill's son, said the entire organization was praying for Parsons.
``As one who has seen this battle fought head-on in my own family, I am confident that with the support of his family and the entire NASCAR community, Benny will show all of us, once again, why he is a true champion,'' he said.
Parsons was born at his parents' rural home in Wilkes County and eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing ``taxicab driver'' as his occupation on entry forms.
He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Parsons began his broadcasting career in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst.
He said he hoped to remain in the booth for years to come.
``To all those people out there who say `I hate this for Benny,' well, the doctors say its winnable and I hope I'll be in their living rooms for a long, long time,'' he said.
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