It would be some time before he got steady work. At first, he focused on the karting scene, steering craft powered by Clinton and West Bend engines, but he still had his eye on cars a bit bigger and faster. By 1969, Junior got a real taste of sprint car racing, even if it was a bit by accident.
“We were at Oklahoma City and I think it was an IMCA race,” Junior said. “And, remember, in those days the cars didn‘t have cages. So, dad tells me to go out and warm the car up. I‘m just wearing a short sleeve shirt and I go out there and they dropped the green flag. So suddenly I am out there with Harold Leep and all the tough Wichita guys. When I came in Dad noted that I had passed some cars and was going forward.”
By 1970, he had found a ride in a sprint car with an owner from around Waco, Texas and was getting his feet wet at Devil‘s Bowl. It was a relatively short-lived opportunity that evaporated when the owner decided to sell the car. It was time to take drastic action. Junior had attended Midwestern University (now Midwestern State) in Wichita Falls but knew he wanted to make a go of it in racing.
He told his father he had decided to pull up his stakes and head to Kansas City to try and kick start his career.
By virtue of their racing activities, father and son had spent plenty of time around the Weld family.
“I used to go up there and hang out at Taylor (“Pappy”) Weld‘s shop,” Junior said. “Butch (Jerry) ran the place, and Butch and my dad got to be very good friends. There was a big shade tree on the west side of the building, and that‘s where we would hang out. When we would get back from where we were running on Monday morning they would sit there and talk. I would sit out there and listen to them talk about what race track they ran and how they did.
“So, I just drove into town one afternoon and went to the shop. It was a Saturday, and I knew they ran at Topeka on Saturday night and Jerry was promoting there. They asked me what I was doing and I said I moved up here and was going to start driving some. They said ‘OK, get in the car.‘ I said, ‘Where are we going?‘ They said, ‘We‘re going to Topeka.‘ When we got back and I got in my car Jerry asked where I was staying. I said, ‘I guess in my car.‘ He said, ‘No you‘re not. Follow me home.‘
“So, when I first moved to Kansas City, I slept on Jerry Weld‘s couch.”
One of Jerry‘s best friends was sometime mechanic and racer Whitey Harmon. Harmon‘s father-in-law owned a business in Blue Springs, Missouri called Johnny‘s Service. Whitey had a garage next to the business, and a little two-room hut in the back which became Junior‘s new home.
He found some work, and one of his early rides came with an owner named Harry Graves who worked at a local Ford plant. He also raced for Gary Mullin from Gallatin, Mo., who would later enjoy the services of other top-flight drivers like Eddie Leavitt.
When the new I-70 opened up as a big, high-banked, half-mile paved oval Junior was there. Without pavement experience, in his words, “he looked like a monkey with a football.” He called his dad for advice, who suggested that he approach the pavement much like a dry, slick dirt track.
The next time out he made it a point to watch where people like Ray Lee Goodwin, Jerry Blundy, and Jay Woodside were backing off in the corners. He then told his friend Larry Anderson to position himself in that spot in turn three.
Parkinson was shocked to find that he was fourth-quick at one point, and subsequently learned that Anderson had decided to park himself even deeper in the turn. There were high points in the 1970 season. He would score his first win at Boone, Iowa and then he shocked everyone when he carried Red Forshee‘s car to an IMCA win at the Nebraska State Fair, beating the likes of Bill Utz, Jerry Blundy, Joe Saldana, and Jan Opperman to the line.
Even with the victory, he was scuffling. He commonly raced at Topeka, Knoxville, and Kansas City‘s Olympic Stadium, and he would find his way into the seat of Taylor “Pappy” Weld‘s car. While that may have once been a premiere ride, and Greg and Kenny Weld were on their way to Hall of Fame careers, the car simply didn‘t pack the punch it once had.
Junior recalls that in central Missouri, for example, he could hold his own, but that was less likely at a big place like Knoxville. He was looking to make a change.
He was working at Weld Wheels in Kansas City when Kenny Weld, who was blazing his own trail in the Keystone State, called the shop and asked Junior what he was up to. Parkinson responded that he was pondering a move to Pennsylvania to try to get something going there. When Kenny‘s response was less than charitable Parkinson hung up on him. Kenny called again. Same result. Finally, Kenny got through to his brother Greg, who later wandered down to where Junior was working.
Greg thought Junior‘s plan made sense. Heading east, Parkinson looked up legendary promoter Jack Gunn at Williams Grove to ask for help, and he also made his way to Kenny Weld‘s shop. Kenny told him he could work during the week, but had to get to the race track on his own.
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