During the summer of 1985, my dad took me to Denver, NC for Harry Gant's "open house" day.  At that time Harry was by far my favorite driver.  It was a day of fun, looking at  racecars, and an afternoon spent dreaming of meeting my favorite Nascar driver, Harry Gant.

We spent most of an hour or so in line just to meet Harry.  As I got closer, I noticed the man to Harry's right was Benny Parsons.  I got even more excited, I really didn't know who Benny was, but heck, a 5 year old boy about to meet two drivers was a thrill.

These men had spent hours signing autographs for countless fans on a hot and humid summer day.  Just to see them and get their signature would have been enough, but what happened next changed how I looked at Benny Parsons forever.

As I approached the table, I was scared to death.  My mom had brought her camera, and stepped back to try to snap a quick picture.  When Benny handed me his autographed card, he noticed out the corner of his eye, that my mom was trying to get my picture from a distance.  Anyone else would simply have smiled, or just ignored the moment and signed the next card for the next fan.  Not Benny Parsons.  Benny smiled, looked at my mom and stopped her momentarily.  He smiled at me and said, "Young man, come around this table here, and smile really big for your mom."  He kindly asked everyone waiting in line at the table to back up for a second.  He tapped Harry Gant on the arm and told him his biggest fan was here for "his picture".  I was the happiest 5 year old boy on earth.  My mom couldn't get the film developed fast enough for me.

That moment really touched me.  Benny became more than a racecar driver, he became my friend.  I know that Benny did that with everyone he met.  He touched them.  Whether it was driving a racecar or through his work in television, Benny Parsons made people smile.

I will always be grateful to him, for that one moment that he shared with me and my and parents.  I later met him again, and had him sign this picture.  He said I was much better looking at age 5.  We both laughed. Even though those were the only two times I ever talked with him, he made it seem like we've known each other my whole life.

His battle with cancer was hard, and it was wearing him down in the end, but it couldn't keep him from smiling, because that's what Benny did best. I may never get to see him on this earth again, but that's ok, because for two short moments of my life, I knew Benny Parsons......and those will last forever.

(Written by Jason Sherrill, HMS Race Director)