Getting a win at Grandview Speedway was about more than just a win for 22-year-old Parker Guldin.
“It‘s like, you’re watching a show on TV and you‘re a fan of the show. You love that show, you have the posters on your wall, you have the t-shirts. Everything,” Guldin said. “And one day you get a chance to be in that show and you become the main star. It‘s not about being famous, it‘s about being a part of something you dreamed of being a part of your entire life. It‘s something that‘s on a whole nother level of reward.”
On June 16, Guldin took the checkered flag at Grandview, a third-mile banked clay oval in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania, that has seen the likes of Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin and Kyle Petty in the past. As he crossed the finish line for a win in the track’s TP Truck Equipment Sportsman division, Guldin’s mind went blank. He slammed the brake in excitement and almost accidentally put his car in the wall.
Standing in Victory Lane, he heard someone in the crowd yell “get up!”, so he climbed to the top of his car.
“I didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said. “I remember looking down as I was celebrating and I was like ‘I’m in Victory Lane with my car. This is nuts.‘”
Getting a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature race win at Grandview Speedway was about more than just getting his first win at a new track. Guldin grew up at Grandview. His mom was a scorer there from the time he was little kid, and his dad was a ticket taker. His grandfather and two uncles both raced on its dirt.
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Some of Guldin’s best memories as a kid were at that racetrack, just 20 minutes from his home. When he was really little, he would take a bag of toy cars with him to play with in the stands while races went on.
When he was in high school, he told anyone who would listen that one day he would race there.
“That‘s always a dream racing there,” he said. “I told my whole family, this is when I was in high school, ‘when I graduate high school, you mark my words, I’m getting a job, I‘m getting a car, and I‘m going to run at Grandview.’ Obviously that‘s changed over time, I realized how incredible tough it is.”
Guldin knew he couldn’t start his career at his home track, because he saw with his uncles how tough and cut throat the racing there can be. So he spent his first season at Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey, racing in their sportsman rookie class. He wanted to get some races and experience under his belt — he won two feature races last season — so he knew what he was doing behind the wheel and developing his own driving style.
That doesn’t mean his first season at Grandview hasn’t been without issues though. Several times this season his car has had to be completely torn apart and put back together, and Guldin said they’ve dealt with a lot of bad luck. At least five weeks in a row they’d show up to the track and realize there was something little wrong with the car that would turn into a major malfunction that would ruin the night.
“In the beginning of the season I told everybody, ‘I just want one feature win.‘ I just want one. But as the year went on I started thinking, ‘You know what, I kind of just want to finish features from here on out.‘ I‘m thankful enough just to be running at this track,” he said.
Guldin said he’s had a huge learning curving this season, and he knows his car doesn’t have the same power that a lot of his competitors’ cars have, so he has to be nearly perfect night-in and night-out.
“If I‘m missing a line, if I come into a turn pushing just a little bit, well there goes any little edge I have and I have no power to get back,” he said. “For me it really is cut throat because I have to be on my game 100 percent of the time I‘m out there. It‘s tough, especially at Grandview. Racing anywhere, they want to get to the front, but for me it‘s been a lot more tough.
“In racing, you’re never really 100 percent comfortable because you have to always be changing. With dirt tracks especially, tracks are always changing. With Grandview being so fast, so intense, so in your face, just being constantly aggressive. Every weekend I learn something different.”
All those struggles made the win even sweeter for Guldin, and thankfully he had his family there beside him through it all. When Guldin decided to start racing last year, both his mom and dad quit their positions at Grandview so they could be there for him each race.
Now that he’s back at Grandview, they haven’t returned to their old jobs because now they’re on his crew, standing in the pits during races and providing constant support through the ups and downs.
“She‘s my mom, she’s my biggest supporter I‘ve ever had in my entire life. There‘s no way she could watch me and score at the same time. There‘s no way,” Guldin said with a laugh.
“You can never have enough tools, but your biggest tool you‘ll always need is support, and the support I get from my mom and dad is unexplainable. I can‘t explain to them how important that is and how much it helps everyone. If you have a rough night, the best thing you could hear is, ‘Hey, you did a good job. At least we have a car at the track. We could be sitting in the stands being miserable… so good job.‘ And that‘s what they both do.”
Grandview Speedway Points Standings
Now that he’s got his win, the rest of the season for Guldin is now about moving up in the points some, keeping the car straight, and still having fun. Guldin sits lower than 20th in points, but a fan of his made him promise he can get up into the top 15 by the end of the year.
Whatever happens, though, he just wants to continue having fun and making more memories at his favorite track.
“My crew is God’s gift. I tell everyone I have the best in the business around me,” Guldin said. “They’re there 100 percent of the time giving me 100 percent of their time and 100 percent of their effort, so I owe it to them to give them and myself a strong car every week.. I owe it to them just to have a strong finish to the year and just a relaxing time and enjoy racing like we always were and we always do.
“When it‘s not racing season I walk around like a dog with no lease. I don‘t know where to go on a Saturday night. That‘s what I live for.”
Racing will return to Grandview Speedway this Saturday night with Modifieds, Sportsman, and MASS Sprints beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Grandview Speedway schedule