2008 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance
Honors one of America's Most Versatile Racers - Parnelli Jones

The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is proud to announce that motorsports icon Parnelli Jones has agreed to be our honoree for the 13th Annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance scheduled for March 7-9, 2008, at The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach. Jones' dynamic career spanned many types of racing, including sports cars, sprint cars, Indy cars, midget racers, stock cars, and off-road competition, a form he helped to popularize in the sixties.

Born in 1933 in Texarkana, Arkansas, Rufus Parnelli Jones moved to Torrance, California, as a child and unbeknownst to his parents was racing cars by the time he was a 17-year-old high school junior. His first major title was the 1960 Midwest Sprint Car Championship, and California racing promoter J.C. Agajanian immediately took notice and became his sponsor. It was the start of a memorable stint in Indy car racing for Jones.

In 1961, it was off to the "Brickyard" for his first Indianapolis 500 where Jones finished a respectable 12th picking up Co-Rookie of the Year honors along the way. The following year at Indy, Jones earned the pole by becoming the first driver to break 150 m.p.h. in 500 qualifying and he finished in the top ten. He again started on the pole for the 1963 Indy 500 and drove one of the most challenging races of his career. With less than 40 laps left in the race and the great Scotsman Jim Clark closing in from second position, Jones' engine developed an oil leak and began spraying oil on the track. Despite protests from Clark's team owner Colin Chapman to have his car black-flagged, Jones' oil level eventually dropped below the crack and he went on to win the race.

Jones also played a part in perhaps one of Indy's most famous chapters, when he piloted Andy Granatelli's revolutionary turbine-powered race car in the 1967 Indy 500. Fans were horrified at the silent racer, and Jones managed to qualify the STP-sponsored car 6th on the grid ? three miles an hour off the pole. But the race was a different story. Jones built a huge margin over the second place car until rain halted the race. When the 500 resumed the next day, he had raced to a commanding, almost full lap lead over second place A. J. Foyt, but a bearing seized in the gearbox on the 197th lap and took Jones out of the race with just three laps remaining. Changes in the rules rendered turbine power uncompetitive after 1968.

In addition to his success in Indy Car racing, Jones also won the 1970 SCCA Trans-Am Championship in Bud Moore's famous "grabber" orange Ford Mustang Boss 302. His off-road racing career earned him many wins, too, including the 1970 and 1971 Baja 1000 races. All totaled, Jones won six Indy Car races, 25 sprint cars races, 25 midget races, and 13 stock car races. He also found success as a team owner. Along with his long-time associate Vel Miletich, the Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing Team won the Indy 500 in 1970 and 1971, and won three straight United States Auto Club (USAC) series championships.

"When one talks about versatile race car drivers, the name Parnelli Jones is right at the top of the list for most people," says Bill Warner, Concours founder and chairman. "We're thrilled to have him at our event. He was a champion in Indy, Trans-Am, sprint cars, stock cars, USRRC, and off-road racing. There aren't many drivers who can claim that kind of a record."

Today, Jones, 73, is a highly successful businessman and most recently lent his name to Steve Saleen's new limited production, high performance version of his Trans-Am-winning Mustang Boss 302. Jones has been inducted to numerous motorsports halls of fame, including the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, International Motorsports Hall of Fame, National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

"I am very honored and humbled to be selected as the 2008 honoree of the 13th annual Amelia Island Concours d' Elegance, known worldwide for the quality and beauty of the vehicles presented for judging and for the viewing enjoyment of so many," says Jones. "More importantly, however, I'm equally proud that my name will be associated with a charitable event which, through the years has contributed considerable monetary benefit to the welfare of the community."

On Friday morning, March 7th, Jones will serve as grand marshal for a vintage car procession featuring Thomas Flyer and Ford Model T automobiles departing from The Ritz-Carlton's main driveway, and he will be the keynote speaker for the black tie dinner on the following night, Saturday, March 8th. On Sunday, in what has become one of Amelia's most recognized trademarks, he will enter the show's "field of dreams" at approximately 9:30 a.m. piloting one of his famous race cars. Jones will be available to meet his fans and sign autographs throughout the day until the show ends at 5 p.m.

Tickets for the 2008 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance are $40 for adults in advance, $50 the day of the show; $20 for children ages 12-18; and children under 12 are admitted at no charge with an adult. Advance tickets will be available in early December at the Concours website ? www.amelaconcours.org. The show's Foundation has donated nearly $1.5 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida and other local charities since 1996.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 1963 Indianapolis 500 Champion

• First Driver To Break 150 m.p.h. at Indy

• Inducted Into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame; Member of Nearly 20 Other Halls of Fame

• 1961 Indy Co-Rookie of the Year

• 1964 USAC Stock Car Champion

• USAC Sprint Car Champion 1960, 1961 & 1962

• Tans-Am Series Champ in 1970

• Piloted the Famous STP-sponsored Gas Turbine Car in 1967 Indy 500

• Won the Indy 500 as a Team Owner in 1970 & 1971 under the Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing Banner

• Jone's Team Won Three USAC National Championships Named the "Greatest Sportscar Driver in the last 50 years"