Parker Jr. goes old school in Cup debut

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Minutes before taking the wheel for his first career Winston Cup Series qualifying attempt, Hank Parker Jr. sought out veteran driver Bill Elliott for a last-minute tutorial.

	Hank Parker Jr. Credit: Autostock

Elliott grinned, shrugged his shoulders and offered an elementary response.

"Stand on the gas. Turn left."

Simple enough.

Parker followed Elliott's lead and placed the No. 91 Evernham Motorsports Dodge 25th in the Pop Secret 400 field, qualifying for his first career Winston Cup race at North Carolina Speedway. By qualifying for Sunday's race, Parker becomes the 13th different driver to make his Winston Cup debut in 2002.

"I'm pretty happy, man," he said, trying desperately to hide a face full of teeth. "As I left pit road, I thought, 'ohhhh no, here we go.' I knew all the talk and everything else was behind me. It was time to put up or shut up.

"I was just very fortunate. (Crew chief) Sammy Johns and all the guys did a really good job tuning on the car. It was fast, fast enough to make the race."

Parker's time, 23.963 seconds at 152.786 mph, was identical to that of championship points leader Tony Stewart.

Despite driving a car that includes several research and development pieces, Parker out-qualified the likes of Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip. To give a true idea of the significance of Parker's feat, consider that Dale Jarrett required a provisional to make the field.

"I was pretty nervous going in," Parker said. "We went out fourth (in the qualifying order) and I'm not sure if the draw was really good, but at least it didn't give me time to stop and think about it.

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"I didn't know how much these guys were going to pick up. We picked up, but these other guys were beating us and I was thinking, 'oh my goodness' -- just sweating it, looking at the computer. After we saw we'd beat enough cars, it was just a big sigh of relief."

Parker says this is strictly a one-race program, that nary a word has been spoken of a future collaboration between himself and Evernham. That doesn't mean others aren't taking notice.

"Obviously, when you're racing your first Winston Cup race, other people are going to be looking at you," Parker said. "It could open a door somewhere else down the road. Who knows?

"Ray was nice enough to give me this opportunity, and needless to say I'm stoked. I've learned so much from them just testing, it's unbelievable."

Parker was one of four Busch Series regulars to make Sunday's field. Jamie McMurray continued his fairy-tale season, qualifying second. NBS points leader Greg Biffle qualified 13th and Jack Sprague placed the No. 60 Chevrolet 28th on the grid.

Having been so caught up in simply making the race, Parker hasn't given much thought to Sunday.

When asked, he paused for a moment, then used a old standby.

"I hadn't really thought about Sunday, honestly," he said. "Just stand on the gas and turn left. I guess that's what I'll do Sunday, too."