Johnnie Parsons

Interesting facts

Johnnie Parsons finished second at the 1949 Indianapolis 500 but won that season's AAA championship outright. In 1950, on his World Championship debut, he won the Indy 500 - only three drivers have ever managed that feat, alongside Nino Farina and, later, Giancarlo Baghetti - starting eighth and leading 138 of the 200 laps in a race cut short by rain. His nickname "the Charger" came from his habit of tearing through the field from the back on race day. He kept racing the Indy 500 through 1958, later becoming chief steward of USAC's West Coast midget series. Johnnie Parsons raced in Formula 1 from 1950 to 1958, across 9 seasons as an American driver. He scored a total of 12 championship points over his career.