Great Ones Have Nothing on This Retiree

By Shav Glick

Oct. 8, 1999 12 AM PT

This has been the year of sport’s great retirements-- basketball’s Michael Jordan, hockey’s Wayne Gretzky, tennis’ Steffi Graf and football’s John Elway.

None, however, dominated their sport any more than Scott Parker, who is retiring Sunday after riding his Harley-Davidson in the Del Mar Mile, climaxing an unparalleled career of 20 years of dirt-track racing.

“I’ll ride maybe three or four races next year, but as far as running seriously for the championship is concerned, Sunday is the end,” said Parker, 37, winner of 92 Grand National races and nine American Motorcyclist Assn. championships.

How dominant has he been? The second-most successful rider, Jay Springsteen, has 42, fewer than half of Parker’s victories, and no other rider has won more than six championships. Joe Petrali won six in the 1930s.

Mile track races are considered the premier dirt-track events and Parker has won 34 times on the mile, including three of four held at Del Mar.

“The only person who has ever beaten Parker at Del Mar is Kevin Atherton,” said Chris Carr, who clinched his second championship last week. “I’d like to be the second. Parker is definitely a really tough guy to chase and I’m sure going to miss him next season.

“He is a true champion. His record speaks for itself and none of us will ever match what he has done. However, that doesn’t stop me from wanting the final win of the season and of the century.”

Parker has won only once this year, a half-mile race at the Delaware State Fairgrounds last May. It extended his record to 16 of having won at least one race every year since 1984.

“I knew when the year started it would be tough for me,” Parker said. “As soon as I said I was going to retire, it put a bigger bull’s-eye on my back. Everybody wanted to say ‘I beat Scotty in his last year.’ But that’s OK, I could still finish the year with two wins--the one I got and the one Sunday.”

Parker’s achievements fill the AMA record book:

* Most victories--92, from 1979 to 1999.

* Most championships--nine: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998.

* Fastest mile--105.06 mph, Springfield, Ill., 1992.

* Youngest winning rider--17, DuQuoin, Ill., 1979.

* Only three-time AMA MotoWorld Professional Athlete of Year, which includes riders from motocross, road racing, speedway and hill-climbing, as well as dirt tracks.

“I’m always getting asked what was the most memorable,” said the rider from Swartz Creek, Mich. “That’s easy, the first win and the first championship were the best, because they were the first.

“Especially that first Grand National championship. It took me 10 years before I won it. After that, it sort of got easier, but there was nothing like winning those last two races at Ascot Park and Sacramento in ’88 to beat out Bubba Shobert.”

Parker misses dirt-track racing in the Los Angeles area. He won three races at Ascot before it closed and six on the half-mile at the Pomona Fairgrounds.

“One thing that’s holding dirt-track racing from growing is that it’s getting harder to find dirt tracks,” he said. “It’s so much easier to maintain a paved track that most promoters are going to pavement.

“Southern California used to be a hotbed for racers, a lot of guys came up from Ascot, but that’s gone, and so is our racing around here, except the one race Chris Agajanian puts on at Del Mar.

“I like Del Mar, maybe because I’ve won there, but also because it’s more like tracks I grew up on, sort of rough. It doesn’t make for close racing, like Springfield, for instance, because it’s soft and tends to be a one-groove track. You cut a couple of fast laps and you can get away and nobody’ll catch you.”

Unlike many former riders, such as Kenny Roberts, Kevin Schwantz, Jeff Ward, Rick Johnson and Eddie Lawson, Parker has no plans to race automobiles.

“If a nice package appeared for me, I might give it a shot, but if somebody isn’t opening the door for you, it’s not a good idea,” he said. “I’m just going to kick back, run my three or four races to keep my hand in, and find out what it’s like to spend weekends at home. You know, do all those things with the wife and kids that I’ve been missing for 20 years.”

Parker’s wife, Wanda, daughter Ashley and son Austin will be at Del Mar for his retirement party.

WINSTON CUP

Procter and Gamble’s decision to pull its Tide sponsorship from Ricky Rudd in 2000 meant that the popular veteran driver had to give up competing as an independent. Rudd wound up joining Robert Yates’ team as a teammate of series leader Dale Jarrett.

The Tide sponsorship money went to a new Winston Cup team headed by Cal Wells, owner of Precision Preparation Inc. of Santa Marguerita. Wells announced this week that Scott Pruett, 39, who has been driving Wells’ CART champ car, would switch to the Winston Cup program next year.

Adding intrigue to the new team is that Yates will build the engines for the Ford Taurus that Pruett will drive next year--against Rudd and Jarrett.

Wells also took over another lucrative NASCAR sponsor, McDonald’s, which will field a Busch car next year, then switch to Winston Cup in 2001. That will leave another veteran driver, Bill Elliott, without a primary sponsor.

“I guess some people down there think I stole away sponsorships from people, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Wells said. “In every case, we have been approached about our possible interest in talking about a program.”

Anthony Lazzaro will move from the Toyota Atlantic series to drive Wells’ Busch car.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

NASCAR officials have rejected the appeal of Roush Racing over penalties given Craftsman Truck crew chief Randy Goss and the Ford truck driven by series leader Greg Biffle.

Goss was fined $46,800 and the car docked 120 points in the championship race after Biffle had won the Orleans 250 at Las Vegas two weeks ago. A post-race inspection disclosed that an unapproved intake manifold was used on the engine.

With three races remaining--tonight at Louisville, Ky.; Oct. 15 at Fort Worth and Oct. 30 at California Speedway--Biffle has a 25-point lead over Jack Sprague, 3,232-3,107.

LAST LAPS

Two famous racing names, Gurney and Luyendyk, will race Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway. Jim, son of Dan, and Arie Jr., son of the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, will drive in separate races. Gurney, 37, will drive the No. 48 Chevrolet in the 100-lap super-late model main event, and Luyendyk, 18, will drive a Ford pickup in the Action American Race Truck feature.

Motorcyclists Takeshi Koikeda of Los Angeles and Travis Preston of Hesperia earned top awards in the U.S. Tobacco Co.’s Pro Privateer Challenge. Koikeda won in the 250cc class, Preston in 125cc. Preston was also top privateer at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. Each won a $5,000 bonus.

Local knowledge paid off in the U.S. Speedway Nationals last week when Brad Oxley, who does the track preparation at the Orange County Fairgrounds facility which his family operates in Costa Mesa, won his second national championship. He also won in 1987.

NECROLOGY

Rookie AMA dirt track series rider Toby Jorgensen died last Friday of multiple injuries he suffered in a crash during the Grand National race Sept. 11 at Lone Star Park in Dallas. Jorgensen, 17, of Stockton, was the nephew of Alex Jorgensen, who rode for many years at Ascot Park.

This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP, UAW-GM Quality 500

* When: Sunday, race (TBS, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Lowe’s Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns), Concord, N.C.

* Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.

* Defending champion: Mark Martin.

* Next race: Winston 500, Oct. 17, Talladega, Ala.

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL, All Pro 300

* When: Today, second-round qualifying, 10 a.m.; Saturday, race (TNN 10 a.m.)

* Where: Lowe’s Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns), Concord, N.C.

* Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

* Defending champion: Mike McLaughlin.