Hillenburg makes three NASCAR legends fixtures at Rockingham
By SceneDaily Staff
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Three men considered instrumental in the legacy of Rockingham Speedway now have a permanent place at the track.
The late NASCAR champion Benny Parsons, retired NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd and “Papa” Joe Hendrick, the father of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, were honored by new track owner Andy Hillenburg on Friday with parts of the facility named in their honor.
The frontstretch tower housing race control, scoring, the track’s suites and press box is now the Benny Parsons Tower. Parsons, a former Ellerbe, N.C., resident, claimed NASCAR’s Winston Cup title at the 1.017-mile track in 1973.
Rudd’s name was etched on the first- and second-turn grandstands. The garage was named for Hendrick.
Parsons’ family called the naming of the tower for the late driver and broadcaster “outstanding” and “quite an honor.”
“I think Benny would be so proud to have the tower named after him, because this was his home track,” said Terri Parsons, Benny’s wife. “For us, as a family, it means a lot. For Benny, personally, I think it would be huge in his mind; he would be very humbled by it.”
Rick Hendrick recalled the feeling that came with winning a pole at Rockingham during his team’s first season of 1984.
“I started going to races there back in 1975, and it’s always been a great track with really good, close racing,” the seven-time Cup champion car owner said. “It’s exciting that Andy [Hillenburg] is reviving it the way he is. I know I speak for a lot of people when I say that.
“Andy has been a close friend of our family for a long time, and my dad always thought so highly of him. Pop loved Andy, and he loved the old tracks – the ones with great racing history – so he would be truly humbled and honored by this gesture. It means so much to my family and to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports.”
Hendrick Motorsports garnered four victories, six poles, 25 top-five and 47-top 10 finishes at Rockingham between the track’s opening in 1965 and 2004, its final season on the Cup schedule.
Rudd, who made his Cup debut at Rockingham in 1975, called having the grandstands named for him a “tremendous honor” and “something I never expected.”
“I always liked that speedway because you could run on the bottom and nobody ever handled perfectly there,” the Chesapeake, Va., native said. “That was the good thing about it; it made for good racing all day long.
" ... To have [Andy] name a grandstand after me, it’s unbelievable.”
Hillenburg, who bought the track last fall from Speedway Motorsports Inc., unveiled the newly-named areas on the first day of a two-day ARCA test at Rockingham. The ARCA teams were preparing for the May 4 Carolina 500.
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