In 1987 during the Transouth 500 held in the spring at Darlington, Benny Parsons had taken over the Hendrick No 35 that season for the ailing Tim Richmond.
Early in the race as Parsons would recall at the time a car in front of him was dropping gear oil, he would hit it causing him to wreck and damage the car. After multiple pit stops for repair and approaching halfway Parsons would call to crew chief Harry Hyde asking to come in to make repairs.
Hyde at the time would tell Parsons he and team were on break eating ice cream.
“During a caution about halfway, I asked Harry if he wanted me to pit. Not right then, he replied. I drove another lap and asked again. No, not until he and the crew finished their ice-cream cones, he answered. On the pit stop, I got four tires and ice cream.” Parsons would tell HodRod back in 1998.
The story would later be told in the movie Days of Thunder during an exchange between Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall when Cruise’s character Cole Trickle would wreck and ask to pit, when refused similar to Hyde, Trickle would park the car on pit road and get out and end his day.
Parsons however for his effort would continue logging laps that day finishing 21st after starting in ninth completing 314 of 367 laps that day.
NASCAR returns to Darlington Raceway tonight on NBCSN at 6 P.M. for the 68th running of the Bojangles Southern 500.
