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Hardee's 250 - Hank Parker Jr. Notes Hank Parker Jr. / GNC Live Well Racing Pre-Race Notes EVENT INFORMATION - Event: NASCAR Busch Series Hardee's 250; Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT, Friday, May 4; Site: Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va. Live Coverage: FX Network (television) at 7 p.m. EDT, and MRN (radio) at 7:15 p.m. EDT. Qualifying: 7:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 3; Happy Hour: Friday, May 4, 2:15 p.m. EDT. LAST RACE (Auto Club 300) - Hank Parker Jr. claimed his first career NASCAR Busch Series victory at California Speedway on April 28. Taking on four tires and topping off the fuel tank on lap 89, the No. 36 GNC Live Well Racing team gambled on fuel mileage, making 61 green flag laps for the win. All but one other competitor was forced to pit for fuel during that stretch. PAST PERFORMANCE AT RICHMOND - Hank Parker Jr. has had a string of bad luck at Richmond International Raceway. In four races he has suffered one DNQ (September 1999) and has been involved in accidents in the other three events in which he has participated. NO PRESSURE - The car that Hank Parker Jr. will drive this week is simply called "No. 7." It is the same car Tim Fedewa drove to the pole position and Victory Lane at New Hampshire International Speedway last year, and Parker hopes to take it back to Loudon for the May 12 CVS/pharmacy 200. In addition, the team hopes to use "No. 7" in a test session at Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania on Monday, May 8. However, races at Richmond International Raceway are known for leaving drivers with damaged sheet metal. While the team hopes it will only have to wash "No. 7" after Friday's Hardee's 250 to get it ready for Monday's test session, they do have two other cars ready to go, just in case. UNUSUAL CELEBRATION - Following his win at California Speedway, Hank Parker Jr. elected to celebrate his victory with the fans. While many other drivers might have chosen to hang out with family or friends after his first trip to the Busch Series victory lane, Parker insisted on going to his souvenir trailer to sign autographs for race fans. Most fans seemed a bit shocked to see the race winner signing hats, t-shirts and programs for a long line of well-wishers. That evening Parker had dinner with members of his crew before heading home to North Carolina on a red-eye flight late Saturday night. NOT RESTING ON THEIR LAURELS - Despite winning their first race of the season, the No. 36 GNC Live Well Racing team knows it still has work to do to achieve the consistency that has eluded it in 2001. The team is taking steps to improve consistency in several areas, including using Roush engines, testing at the wind tunnel and scheduling more test sessions, such as the one planned for Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania on Monday, May 8. MMMMMM ... DOUGHNUTS - Since his Auto Club 300 win, Hank Parker Jr. has taken quite a bit of ribbing from his teammates about the quality of his frontstretch burnouts at California Speedway on Saturday. Parker said he knows how to do doughnuts on the track, but a lack of fuel in the tank kept frustrating his efforts. "My team told me that wasn't a doughnut that I did," Parker said. "They claim it was more like a half a bagel with no cream cheese. I told them I ran out of fuel, but they tell me they're just going to have to get me some more practice by winning some more races. That's fine with me." HANK PARKER JR. ON RICHMOND - "I love racing at Richmond, even though my finishes don't show it. It's a fun short track and I love night racing. It reminds me a lot of when I was running Late Model Stocks a few years back. I know I had a car capable of a top-10 finish here last fall, we just got caught up in an accident, which is always a risk at Richmond. I'd like to come out of here just once with all the fenders on the car. If you do that, you've got a decent shot at a top-10." ON WINNING HIS FIRST BUSCH SERIES RACE - "This past week has been a lot of fun and I've enjoyed all the pats on the back and the congratulations, but it's time to put it behind us and move on. We were very lucky to have won that race. We had a decent car, but it was a top-10 car at best. Biffle and Green definitely were the most dominant, but sometimes the fastest car doesn't win. Billy (Nacewicz, Parker's crew chief) made a gutsy call and it worked out. "I'm really happy to have this first win under my belt. It's been a long time coming, but I've got to keep it in perspective. We haven't had the season we've wanted. We're not where we want to be in points and we've still got a long way to go before this race team is as competitive week in and week out as we want to be. I told the guys in the shop that a lot of people probably think this win was a fluke, and it's up to us to prove those people wrong. It's time to step it up a couple of notches." CREW CHIEF BILLY NACEWICZ ON RICHMOND - "This team had some success at Richmond last year with Timmy (Fedewa). Now we'll be dealing with something a little different, since we'll be qualifying at night (7:30 p.m. EDT). I'm used to practicing and qualifying in the morning or early afternoon. When the sun goes down and the temperature drops, the track will probably tighten up quite a bit. "This might be one of those cases where it pays to go out earlier in qualifying, since the conditions will be similar to what they were during practice. If you go out late, you'll definitely want to have your car loosened up quite a bit." ON WINNING THE AUTO CLUB 300 ON FUEL MILEAGE - "It was definitely a 'hero or zero' move, but we got lucky this time. I feel pretty good about the win because we had a car that was capable of being in the top-10, regardless of fuel mileage. When we lost our lap, we were able to run with the leaders and stay close to them to get our lap back when the caution came out, so our car was capable of keeping up with those guys. If we can qualify a little better, this new motor program we're using should help us to be able to hang with some of those front runners." ON WHAT THEIR FIRST 2001 WIN MEANS TO THE NO. 36 GNC LIVE WELL RACING TEAM - "The win really perked up our team's morale, and I think it perked up the other teams (the No. 66 of Tim Fedewa and the No. 34 of David Green) in the Cicci-Welliver shops as well. These guys have been working so hard, with little or no home life to speak of these past few weeks. I know it's got to give them a huge boost of confidence to finally see their efforts rewarded. We've had every bit of bad luck hit us that you can imagine, it was about time that one finally went our way."
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