Parker Johnstone

Parker Johnstone III
Nationality American
Born (1961-03-27) 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 16th in 1997
Previous series
1989-1993
1987-1990
1987
1987
1986
1984-1986
1984-1986
1984-1985
IMSA Camel Lights
IMSA International Sedan
Pro Formula Altantic
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]

Early career

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.

CART/IndyCar

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.

Retirement

After he retired from professional racing, Parker became the color analyst commentator for ABC's/ESPN's coverage of IndyCar/CART racing. When ESPN stopped covering IndyCar/CART he was moved to cover the pit action and work as the technical pit analyst for the NHRA coverage. After three years of covering the NHRA Drag Racing Championship, he left broadcasting to oversee and operate Parker Johnstone's Wilsonville Honda in Wilsonville, Oregon. Several of his historically significant race cars are on display there. He is currently racing in SCCA competition in a Huffaker built HP MG Midget 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]

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year Track Car Engine Class Finish Start Status
1986 Road Atlanta Honda CRX GT-4 1 1 Running

American Open Wheel

(key)

CART

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
1994 Comptech Lola T94/00 Honda HRX V8t SRF PHX LBH IND MIL DET POR
19
CLE
17
TOR
Ret
MIS MDO
23
NHM VAN
13
ROA NZR LS
17
35th 0
1995 Comptech Reynard 95i Honda HRH V8t MIA SRF PHX LBH NZR IND MIL DET
Ret
POR ROA
12
TOR CLE
11
MIS
Ret
MDO
Ret
NHM VAN
11
LS
17
27th 6
1996 Comptech Reynard 96i Honda HRH V8t MIA
DNS
RIO
Ret
SRF
Ret
LBH
2
NZR
20
500
Ret
MIL
16
DET
14
POR
5
CLE
Ret
TOR
Ret
MIS
Ret
MDO
Ret
ROA
Ret
VAN
11
LS
13
17th 33
1997 Team Green Reynard 97i Honda HRR V8t MIA
8
SRF
Ret
LBH
5
NZR
Ret
RIO
12
STL
7
MIL
Ret
DET
Ret
POR
9
CLE
10
TOR
12
MIS
Ret
MDO
12
ROA
Ret
VAN
11
LS
12
FON
11
16th 36

References

  1. "Parker Johnstone Fact Sheet". Legacy Tobacco Documents Library. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  2. Johnson, Patrick (May 27, 2009). "Prisoners counted in city population". Wilsonville Sokesman. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
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