Benny Parsons, a former taxi driver who became a NASCAR champion in 1973, died yesterday from lung-cancer at 65 at a Charlotte, N.C., hospital.

A member of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers and a lovable fixture at the track, Parsons won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles. He was the first Cup competitor to qualify for a race faster than 200 mph, going 200.176 mph at the 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

He retired from racing in 1988 and entered broadcasting. He spent the past six years as an NBC and TNT commentator and continued to call races from the booth during his treatment.

He remained popular with fans and the driving community. Michael Waltrip came to preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway this week with “We Love You BP” painted on the side of his car.

Parsons was born July 12, 1941 at his parents’ rural home in Wilkes County and eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing “taxicab driver” as his occupation on entry forms.

Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He ended his career with 283 top-10 finishes, and had career earnings exceeding $4 million.

He was honored as one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1998, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994.

Parsons began broadcasting in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst in his first season in the booth. He also created the popular ESPN segment “Buffet Benny” on food available at race tracks.