Beginnings
The team was formed in 1985 by two brothers, Leo and Richard Jackson. At the Daytona 500 that year, the team entered the #55 and #66 cars, sponsored by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco through its Copenhagen and Skoal brands and driven by another pair of brothers, Benny Parsons and his brother Phil. Benny finished 31st and Phil finished 29th, both suffering engine failure. Phil ran fourteen races with the team that year and posted three top-tens while splitting time with another ride, and Benny ran fourteen races as well and had six top-ten finishes running a limited schedule. The two returned for 1986, when BP had four top tens and won the team's first pole position. Phil ran a limited schedule himself and had five top-tens. After Benny left at the end of the year, his brother moved from the #66 to the #55. In his first year with the #55, Phil Parsons finished a then career-high 4th at Martinsville and finished 14th in points. The #66 ran only one race that year, with IndyCar driver Tom Sneva running at Daytona before dropping out with engine failure. In 1988, Parsons improved to a 9th place finish in points, with the highlight of his year coming with his victory at the Winston 500 despite running out of fuel earlier in the race. In 1989 the team returned to a two car operation, signing Harry Gant away from Mach 1 Racing with the Skoal sponsorship coming with him. The Jacksons also traded numbers with Mach 1 owner Hal Needham and ran the #33 alongside the #55. Gant won early in the season at Darlington Speedway and finished seventh in points, while Parsons, despite additional sponsorship from Crown Petroleum, only had three top-tens and dropped to 21st in points. At the end of the year, Parsons left for Morgan-McClure Motorsports.
Read more about this topic: Andy Petree Racing
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