Stefan Parsons Pays Homage to Father Phil with Helmet

CARS Tour regular Stefan Parsons was participating in NASCAR Throwback this summer well before it became in-vogue to do so leading into the Southern 500 at Darlington.

The 18-year-old debuted a new retro-themed helmet in June that paid appreciation to his dad, NASCAR notable Phil Parsons. The design goes back to the late 80’s when the elder Parsons drove a Skoal sponsored car for a variety of owners in both Winston Cup and the Busch Grand National Series.

Stefan said he had wanted to show appreciation to his father with more than a simple ‘thank you’ and the helmet essentially build itself.

“Greg Stumpff from Off Axis Paint had started talking about different ideas for a helmet and I had come up with my own design,” he explained last weekend at Concord Speedway. “Bell Helmets have always been good to me and they sent me a second helmet so I figured it would be cool to do something to show appreciation for my dad.

“So I talked to him to get some ideas and it came down to either the Skoal design or a Channellock (Tools) one he had used in the Busch Series. But I decided to do Skoal because it had the Winston decals and I was really into the classic feel it had.”

The helmet also perfectly replicates the scuffs still lingering on the original. It’s a perfect modern duplicate.

Stefan was only 3-years-old when his father stopped racing but he caught ‘the bug’ anyway. He started racing at 12 when Ken Ragan (David’s dad) leaned on him to let Stefan compete. They moved up through the Bando and Legend ranks are now hoping to find success in Late Model Stock Cars.

For his part, Phil has one Cup victory and it came at Talladega in the Winston 500 for the Jackson Brothers. He also finished ninth in the championship standings that season — by far his best campaign at the highest level of the sport.

Stefan said his dad didn’t crack until he saw the actual finished helmet.

“He was excited at the ideas but he didn’t show a lot of emotion until he saw the helmet,” the younger Parsons explained. “He choked up a little bit. He was really happy and thought it was the coolest thing. I’m glad he felt that way because I really wanted it to mean something to him and it did.”

Stefan, also the nephew of 1973 Cup champion, Benny Parsons wants to follow into the family business but needs some better luck. He feels like he’s matured as a driver and has found more consistent speed working with crew chief Brian Keselowski, but has been ravaged by parts failures and misfortune.

He led a race high 44 laps at Orange County Speedway but was eliminated from contention due to an alternator failure. That’s pretty much summed of his season.

Murphy’s Law.

“It’s just a lot of bad luck — Murphy’s Law — like you said,” Parsons explained. “Whatever could go wrong, will, and has for us this year. Orange County was a huge bummer because I thought we had the car to beat. That was hard to swallow.

“But at the same time, it’s hard to get down on yourself because I feel like I’ve done my job and am doing all the right things. I’ve come a long way from where I was last summer. Brian and everyone that touches this car is doing a great job. I feel like we’re showing up to the race track every week and have to be dealt with.

“That’s all I can ask for and hope that some of the stupid things stop breaking.”

The CARS Tour season continues with Round 8 of 10 on Saturday night at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, North Carolina.