The Benny Parsons way was the right way

Benny Parsons passed away one year ago, and if you knew him you miss him. Maybe you never actually met the jovial man from the hills of North Carolina, but if you followed NASCAR for any length of time you had him in your home during his long and distinguished career as a broadcaster.

He was the definition of affable, a man who loved people in the broadest collective sense of that word. At the same time, though, Benny had an uncanny knack of making anybody who knew him feel like he cared specifically about them.

Benny always had a smile in his heart, and most of the time it made it to his face, too. He loved to talk with people, not just to them. Benny had conversations with people, and he’d sit there and look you right in the eye and make you feel like that, at least for those few moments, what you were talking about was critically important.

After his brilliant driving career in NASCAR, Benny made his living talking about a sport he loved. He wanted everybody to like racing as much as he did, and there’s absolutely no question that there are people today who’re fans of NASCAR who never would have been if they’d never heard Benny do a race.

What made Benny good at that job, aside from the fact that his genuine good nature simply flowed through the camera into living rooms all around the country, was that he also was a great listener.

Benny would walk around the garage all weekend. He’d stop and talk to drivers, crew chiefs, NASCAR officials and reporters. He’d also talk to fans and people who just wanted to say hello to ol’ B.P. He listened to them, too, and learned what they wanted to hear from their televisions on Sunday.

Benny listened to people in the television business who helped him develop his craft as a broadcaster, but never let them change him from who he really was. There was absolutely nothing phony about him whatsoever, and there aren’t many people in the world you can truthfully say that about.

Benny Parsons was a man of uncommon common decency. He couldn’t have put on airs if they’d come with handles attached.

One year after his passing, it would do us all a lot of good to see if at least once a day we could try to treat somebody – a family member, a friend or even someone we’re meeting for the first time – the way we think Benny would have treated them.

That would make the world a better place, but I am afraid it still wouldn’t make it as good as it was when we had Benny here with us.