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With Deep Roots in Dirt, Parker’s Determination Paying Off in Pro Trucks Rookie Season

By Chuck Corder

Many routes lead drivers to milestone victories.

Jarrett Parker’s path to his first career victory at Five Flags Speedway, not to mention asphalt, was unconventional to say the least.

Parker, 21 and a Beef “O� Brady’s Pro Trucks rookie, overcame no practice on race day and a backup transmission to break through with his first win — and first pole, oh by the way — last month at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.

“We changed transmissions in the pits that night,� said Parker, a go-kart wunderkind on dirt since he was 9. “We got two courtesy laps and then qualified, and got the pole. Even though we got the win, and I’m ecstatic over that, the truck is still not where I want it to be.

“If a driver says he’s ever there, then he’s not trying to find that extra bit. There’s always something to get out of a vehicle.�

The inspired and motivated Molino native, now Pensacola resident, is in his first year driving a full-bodied vehicle after a decorated career in go-karting.

Parker enters the Beef “O� Brady’s Pro Trucks 40-lap feature Friday just 27 points out of first.

That close proximity to the front comes thanks to three top-four finishes after a “DNF� derailed Parker’s debut when a wreck ruined the season opener.

The Super Late Models in the Deep South Crane Blizzard Series, in conjunction with the Super Series, return to Pensacola’s high banks Friday with the SERF, Inc. 125. The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen and the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers add another chapter to their seasons.

Gates open at 4 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; free for kids 5 and under.

A night after wowing Pensacola fans, Parker brought his winning act to Mobile International Speedway and took home a checkered flags across the bay, too.

“Honestly, I couldn’t explain how I felt after the win Five Flags,� he said. “And to win in Mobile the next night, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. It was pure happiness for the team and all the sponsors.�

Among them are Grocery Advantage, Shannon’s Heating and Cooling LLC, A-1 Small Engines and Parker Roofing, the family business.

Racing has been the family’s other business since Scott Parker, Jarrett’s father, was running roughshod in Hobby divisions at dirt tracks across the Gulf Coast with close friend Scott Stedham, one of the founders of A-1 Small Engines.

“I’ve got old VHS videos of the two of them,� Jarrett Parker said. “They always said it was the ‘Scott and Scott Show.’ �

Parker seemed predestined to become a hotshoe. In addition to his father’s footsteps, Parker follows in the shadow of long-distance cousins, Joe and Troy Ruttman, wheelmen from past generations.

Joe Ruttman, 71, won 13 Camping World Trucks Series races from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s. Troy Rutman, who died in 1997, became the youngest driver to ever win the Indianapolis 500 when he drank the iconic milk at the tender age of 22 years and 80 days in 1952.

“It has always been racing for me,� Jarrett Parker said. "I played baseball when I was younger. But I made the decision that racing was more important to me. Being around racing meant more to me than anything.�

Scott Parker didn’t need much convincing as Jarrett approached 9. Father and son took the go-karts’ plunge. The pair embarked on a journey that took them across the southeast and brought them 15 state championships.

For a few years in his mid-teens, Jarrett Parker estimated he and his father were on the road every single weekend in search for prized hardware.

“It clicked,� Jarrett Parker said, underscoring all the success and coveted custom-made leather jackets he was rewarded with. “Once you had one of those, everyone knows you’re gonna be tough to beat.�

He has quickly proven tough to beat in his Pro Trucks No. 46, which so happens to be the same truck Steven Davis drove to win the Pro Trucks Snowball Derby last December.

Parker and his team, which includes short-track veteran Mike Garvey, rebuilt the car following the accident in Turn No. 1 of the opener.

“It was a really good truck to begin with, but it didn’t suit my driving style,� Parker said. “It fit Steven perfect. I had never been in one. And it wasn’t my driving style.

“Momentum is the key in go-karting. It’s the same with these trucks. If you can get through the corners, you can increase your momentum going down a straightaway. Mike talks about rolling through the centers of the corners of turns, then you’re good.�

Along with Garvey, Parker’s team is just as good as the truck and its driver. Scott Parker is right by his son’s side, just like from Day 1. Steadham is lending his talented hands, as is Gary Barnes, who the Parkers know from their karting days. More recently, Barnes has helped Chopper Stagner build his championship-caliber Pro Truck.

“We wanted to go to the next step from karting,� Jarrett Parker said. “We found this Pro Trucks class, and we couldn’t be happier. I want to run another year of Trucks and then look to late models.�

Parker believes most classmates misunderstood his ambition throughout high school. They were dumbfounded Parker had no social schedule. Racing was his life, plain and simple. And sometimes that life kept Parker from attending prom. Heck, any kind of dance, to be frank.

Unfortunately for Parker’s peers, they mischaracterized his passion for privilege.

Only in this sense were they right: It’s a privilege to watch Parker drive.

It’s a privilege to see one’s ambition take root and shape a young driver.

“No one at all can be taken for granted in this class,� Parker said. “I don’t have a big head at all just because of my last win. I was extremely lucky in the last race. It was then where we got the truck close to where I want it.

“I just need to continue to be smooth.�

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