Phil Parsons - Winston Cup

Winston Cup

In 1984, Hayes and Parsons joined the Cup series and ran twenty-two races, posting three top-8 finishes and wound up 24th in the standings, second behind Rusty Wallace for Rookie of the Year. The same year, his Busch ride was bought by Jack Ingram and he ran five races for him, and had two top-five finishes. In 1985, he ran the full season, splitting time between Jackson Bros. Motorsports and Roger Hamby's car. Despite four top-tens, he failed to finish thirteen races, and wound up twenty-first in points.

In 1986, Parsons ran seventeen races, and had a best finish of fifth at Talladega. He had four more top-tens, but finished twenty-seventh in the final standings. The following season, he got his first full-time Cup job with the Jackson brothers when he signed on to drive their #55 Copenhagen Oldsmobile, garnering seven top-tens and a fourteenth-place points finish. In 1988, Parsons led 52 laps at the Winston 500 and won his only career Cup race. He also had a career-best points finish of ninth that season. The next season however, he only had two top-fives and lost his ride at the end of the season.

He began 1990 driving the #4 Kodak car for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, but was released three races into the season. He ran at Bristol for Jackson in a one-race deal, finishing 25th, and also drove for Phil Barkdoll and Lake Speed. He made his most starts with the fledging Diamond Ridge Motorsports, his best finish with them a 21st at Darlington. He did not run the Cup series in 1991, instead running a handful of Busch races in his own equipment leased from Diamond Ridge. He had two top-tens, including a fourth at Darlington. After beginning 1992 with a tenth-place at the Daytona 500 with Melling Racing, he returned to Busch to run seven races, and had five top-tens.

In 1993, Parsons returned to Cup, running the #41 Manheim Auctions Chevy for Larry Hedrick Motorsports. Despite an eighth-place at North Carolina Speedway, Parsons was released near the end of the season, but ended with a ninth at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Butch Mock Motorsports.