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]
| Parker Johnstone III | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | March 27, 1961 Ft. Benning, Georgia |
| 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 |
Early career
editHe 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.
CART/IndyCar
editA 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 1995 Michigan 500, 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.
Retirement
editAfter 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]
Racing record
editSCCA National Championship Runoffs
edit| Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Road Atlanta | Honda CRX | GT-4 | 1 | 1 | Running |
American Open Wheel
edit(key)
CART
edit| 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 V8t | 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 V8t | 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 V8t | 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 V8t | 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] |
References
edit- ^ "Parker Johnstone Fact Sheet". Legacy Tobacco Documents Library. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ Johnson, Patrick (May 27, 2009). "Prisoners counted in city population". Wilsonville Spokesman. Archived from the original on 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
- ^ "Parker Johnstone".
- ^ "Parker Johnstone – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Parker Johnstone – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Parker Johnstone – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Parker Johnstone – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.