|
|
| Busch Grand National Series |
|
|
In-Car Radios | Silly Season | Forum | Photo Gallery | Newsletter | In the Pits
Subway 300 - Hank Parker Jr. Notes Hank Parker Jr. / GNC Live Well Racing Pre-Race Notes EVENT INFORMATION - Event: NASCAR Busch Series Subway 300; Time and Date: 1 p.m. EDT, Saturday, April 21; Site: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala. Live Coverage: FOX Network (television) and MRN (radio); Qualifying: 5 p.m. EDT, Thursday, April 19; Happy Hour: Friday, April 20, 2:20 p.m. EDT. LAST RACE (Pepsi 300) - Hank Parker Jr. and the No. 36 GNC Live Well Racing team finished 25th after a broken throttle linkage forced the crew to replace the carburetor, costing five laps. Parker had twice clawed his way from the back of the field before that incident, moving from his 29th-place starting spot to 14th. A pit road miscue knocked him back to 31st around lap 72. Parker again made his way through the field, getting as high as seventh, before the problem with the carburetor ended the team's chances for its first top-10 finish of 2001. STANDINGS - Parker is 23rd in the Busch Series Drivers' Points Standings and team owner Scott Welliver holds the 24th spot in the Owners' Points Standings. OUTSIDE INFLUENCES - The car Hank Parker Jr. and the No. 36 GNC Live Well team will use at Talladega is the first car they have used this year that was not built in-house at the Cicci-Welliver Racing shops. The car is a three-year-old chassis that was fitted with a new body during the off-season for Parker to race at the season-opener in Daytona. It was purchased bearing the No. 53 of Parker's family-owned race team, Hank Parker Racing (HPR). When Parker signed with Cicci-Welliver Racing in December of 2000, he and his father shut down HPR. When Cicci-Welliver went looking for a car for Parker to race at Talladega, the young driver convinced his new owners to purchase the car from Parker's father. "I think it's going to be a great car to drive," Parker said. "The guys who worked for Hank Parker Racing really put a lot of sweat and effort into getting that car just right for Daytona. Then circumstances didn't allow us to run it there. It's a nice way to honor all the hard work that the guys at Hank Parker Racing did for me during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. I hope that we make them proud." QUIET ON THE SET - If Hank Parker Jr. wasn't comfortable in front of a camera before this season, the practice he's gotten lately should certainly help ease any remaining discomfort. Parker spent Tuesday, April 17, at Concord Motorsports Park in Concord, N.C., filming a commercial for his sponsor, GNC Live Well. The spot will air during race broadcasts throughout the 2001 season. CHANGES FOR TALLADEGA? - Don't ask Hank Parker Jr. to weigh in on the debate concerning changes at the Talladega Superspeedway. He believes that, regardless of what a driver says, someone isn't going to be happy. "As long as the rules are the same for every driver," Parker said, "it really doesn't matter to me what they do to the track. Bad things can happen anywhere at anytime. A driver assumes a certain amount of risk every time he climbs in his car." HANK PARKER JR. ON TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY - "I've only raced here a couple of times, but I love it. "I especially love the mental rush you get driving at those speeds in those cramped situations, there's nothing like it. "I love the fact that at this track, it's anybody's game. It doesn't matter where you qualify, because a 43rd-place qualifier can find himself at the front of the field in a matter of a couple of laps. You have to be on your toes on every lap, but that's the kind of racing I like. I'm looking forward to getting back out there in the middle of it all. If we can just escape the bad luck for one week, I think a top-10 finish is a realistic goal." ON THE TEAM'S MORALE - "I think our team was really psyched up after last week's race in Nashville. The finish didn't show it, but we had one of the most dominant cars in the race. I feel like I passed almost everybody on that track at least twice. The car was just awesome in the middle of the corners, and I wasn't having near as much trouble with turn two as some of the other guys seemed to be. I was hooting and hollering on the radio, having a lot of fun out there for probably the first time this year. I know the team sensed that. That's always a confidence boost when you know you have a car capable of finishing in the top-three. I just want to carry that feeling over for the rest of the season." CREW CHIEF BILLY NACEWICZ ON TALLADEGA - "It's a very nerve-wracking race. I think it's more nerve-wracking for the guys in the pits than it is for the driver, if that's possible. You hold your breath when your guy is running three abreast, so you're holding your breath pretty much the entire race. Practice and qualifying is not so bad, because everyone's out there running by themselves. But happy hour can be tense. "Your spotter is probably the most important guy on the team at a track like Talladega. He's got to keep the driver in the right line all day long. He's got to be able to predict which line's going to be moving, he's got to see it moving way ahead of time and he's got to be able to let the driver know when to jump into that line. Anticipating which line is going to be the fastest is a big part of the job for a spotter here and at Daytona. ON LAST WEEK'S RUN AT NASHVILLE - "The car ran real well in happy hour and in the race. Hank seemed to like the track from the very start, and when we finally got him comfortable in the car, he really took off. I think that our run lifted everybody's spirits on the team, in spite of the finish. When you're struggling like we have this season, you start thinking that you've forgotten how to race. Having a car that was as good as that one helps to let you know that you still have what it takes."
In-Car Radios | Silly Season | Forum | Photo Gallery | Newsletter | In the Pits
©Copyright 2001 Race 2 Win |