Parker Johnstone III | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | Ft. Benning, Georgia | March 27, 1961
Retired | 1997 |
CART World Series | |
Years active | 1994 – 1997 |
Teams | Comptech (1994–1996) Team Green (1997) |
Starts | 48 |
Wins | 0 |
Poles | 1 |
Best finish | 2nd Long Beach Grand Prix in 1996 |
Previous series | |
1989-1993 1987-1990 1987 1987 1986 1984-1986 1984-1986 1984-1985 | IMSA Camel Lights IMSA International Sedan Pro Formula Atlantic Tasman Formula Pacific SCCA GT-4 Playboy/Escort Series Firehawk Series IMSA Renault Cup |
Championship titles | |
1991-1993 1987-1988 1986 1985 | IMSA Camel Lights Champion IMSA International Sedan Champion SCCA GT-4 National Champion Renault Cup National Champion |
Parker Johnstone III (born March 27, 1961) is a former race car driver and motorsports announcer from Redmond, Oregon. An accomplished musician, he was the principal trumpet of the International Youth Orchestra, touring Europe, playing with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, and famed pianist Van Cliburn. Instead of attending Juilliard School of Music, he went to the engineering school at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his degree in 1982. [1]
He began his amateur racing career while in high school while working as a systems programmer in Silicon Valley part-time to pay for his new hobby, racing automobiles. Winning at SCCA events, he worked as an instructor at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving after college. He continued to win while driving Corvettes and import sedans. Honda hired him to drive during the 1984 season. He won numerous events in the IMSA Firehawk series. He finished 2nd in the Renault Cup National Championship in 1984, earning a spot with the factory Renault team to race in Europe. He returned to the United States to win the Renault Cup championship in 1985. In 1986 he won the SCCA National Road Racing Championship driving for Honda in the GT-4 class. He also won IMSA championships in International Sedan for Acura in 1987 and 1988. In 1987 he was also the rookie of the year in the pro-Formula Atlantic division. He competed in the Tasman Formula Pacific series in New Zealand in 1987. He won the IMSA Camel Lights sports car championship 3 years in a row, from 1991 to 1993, setting all-time qualifying and race win records, including winning the 24 Hours of Daytona twice, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and 1000km Suzuka event in Japan. He finished second in both 1989 and 1990 in the IMSA International Sedan Championship. He left professional sports car racing having set the all-time IMSA race win record at 54 victories.
A road course specialist, he drove in mainly road course races in the 1994 and 1995 CART/IndyCar seasons for Comptech Racing. Significantly, in his oval debut at the Michigan 500 in 1995, he qualified on the pole with a new track record, giving Honda its first ever champ car pole position. He dominated the race until sidelined with a mechanical problem. In 1995, he also set the closed course world speed record in excess of 238 mph. He then moved up and ran the full season in 1996. For 1997, he moved to Team Green Racing. Although he led several IndyCar races, his best CART finish was a second place that came in 1996 at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
After he retired from professional racing, Parker became the color analyst commentator for ABC's/ESPN's coverage of IndyCar/CART racing. When ABC stopped covering IndyCar/CART he was moved to cover the pit action and work as the technical pit analyst for the NHRA coverage for ESPN. After three years of covering the NHRA Drag Racing Championship, he left broadcasting to oversee and operate a Honda dealership in Wilsonville, Oregon. Several of his historically significant race cars are on display there. He is currently racing in SCCA competition as well as competing in vintage racing in several different types of cars.
He is an Eagle Scout. He is an instrument, commercial, certified flight instructor pilot and has competed and won in aerobatic competitions. He is scuba certified. He has appeared in over 50 TV commercials as well as performed as a stuntman in the movie Speed. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). He has competed in triathlons and cycling races. He lives in Wilsonville where he served as member of the city's Parks and Rec board for 5 years. He also served on the board of directors for the Children's Cancer Association. [2] [3]
Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Road Atlanta | Honda CRX | GT-4 | 1 | 1 | Running |
(key)
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | Comptech | Lola T94/00 | Honda HRX V8 t | SRF | PHX | LBH | IND | MIL | DET | POR 19 | CLE 17 | TOR 27 | MIS | MDO 23 | NHM | VAN 13 | ROA | NZR | LS 17 | 35th | 0 | [4] | |
1995 | Comptech | Reynard 95i | Honda HRH V8 t | MIA | SRF | PHX | LBH | NZR | IND | MIL | DET 19 | POR | ROA 12 | TOR | CLE 11 | MIS 22 | MDO 28 | NHM | VAN 11 | LS 17 | 27th | 6 | [5] |
1996 | Comptech | Reynard 96i | Honda HRH V8 t | MIA DNS | RIO 16 | SRF 24 | LBH 2 | NZR 20 | 500 11 | MIL 16 | DET 14 | POR 5 | CLE 25 | TOR 26 | MIS 18 | MDO 12 | ROA 11 | VAN 11 | LS 13 | 17th | 33 | [6] | |
1997 | Team Green | Reynard 97i | Honda HRR V8 t | MIA 8 | SRF 21 | LBH 5 | NZR 17 | RIO 12 | STL 7 | MIL 25 | DET 20 | POR 9 | CLE 10 | TOR 12 | MIS 25 | MDO 12 | ROA 23 | VAN 11 | LS 12 | FON 11 | 16th | 36 | [7] |
Robert Woodward Rahal is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 and 2020 Indy 500s as a team owner for Buddy Rice and Takuma Sato, respectively.
Edward McKayCheever Jr. is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championship races and started 132, more than any other American, driving for nine different teams from 1978 through 1989. In 1996, he formed his own IRL team, Team Cheever, and won the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as both owner and driver. The team later competed in sports cars.
Michael Mario Andretti is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series and amassed 42 race victories, the most in the CART era and fourth-most all time. Since his retirement from active racing, Andretti has owned Andretti Autosport, which has won four IndyCar Series championships and five Indianapolis 500 races.
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive director of SCCA, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series. IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company.
Ryan John Briscoe is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
James Vasser Jr. is an American former racing driver. Vasser won the 1996 CART IndyCar championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series. Vasser was the last American to win the CART championship.
Jeff Andretti is a former American race car driver. He competed in CART, and was the series' Rookie of the Year in 1991.
Éric Bachelart is a former race car driver and Conquest Racing team owner.
John Andrew Andretti was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. A member of the Andretti racing family, he was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, and first cousin to IndyCar champion Michael and Jeff Andretti.
Scott Donald Pruett is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors. Pruett started racing go karts at the age of 8 and went on to win 10 professional karting championships. In the 1980s, he established himself as a top American sports car racer, eventually winning two IMSA GTO championships and three Trans-Am Series championships.
Scott Sharp is an American professional racing driver in the United SportsCar Championship. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing League.
Gregory Ray is an American former race car driver.
Townsend Bell is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for NBC Sports’ IndyCar Series coverage.
Geoff Brabham is an Australian racing driver. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States.
William Theodore Ribbs Jr. is a retired American race car driver, racing owner, and sport shooter known for being the first African-American man to have tested a Formula One car and to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Ribbs competed in many forms of auto racing, including the Trans-Am Series, IndyCar, Champ Car, IMSA, and the NASCAR Cup Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association.
Brian Till, is a racecar driver who formerly competed in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1992–1995 seasons with 20 career starts.
Simon Pierre Michel Pagenaud is a French professional racing driver. He currently drives the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. After a successful career in sports car racing that saw him taking the top class championship title in the 2010 American Le Mans Series, he moved to the Indycar Series where he became the 2016 IndyCar champion and the 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner, becoming the first French driver to win the Indianapolis 500 since Gaston Chevrolet in 1920 and the first polesitter to have won the race since Helio Castroneves in 2009.
ESPN SpeedWorld is a former television series broadcast on ESPN from 1979–2006. The program that was based primarily based around NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Formula One, NHRA, and IHRA. The theme music is based on the piano interlude from "18th Avenue " by Cat Stevens.
Jack W. Hawksworth is a British professional racing driver from Bradford, West Yorkshire. As of 2020, he competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for AIM Vasser Sullivan.
Lawson L. Aschenbach is an American professional racing driver. He is a four-time Pirelli World Challenge champion, and most recently, the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge GTS Champion. He is the 2006 SPEED World Challenge Rookie of the Year and became the first person to win the SPEED GT Championship in his rookie season. He is also the champion of the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST Championship and 2014 Lamborghini Super Trofeo ProAM World Champion. Aschenbach first raced professionally in 2005. He currently races for Stevenson Motorsports in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.