Sure, Junior was an experienced racer, but this was a bit daunting.
“I asked Lee how to run this deal,” he recalled. “I have never done this with 70 gallons of fuel behind me. He told me to just go out there and run a while, keep it straight, keep the tires under you, and just keep a good pace. He also said he would come out and let me know when it was time to go.
We were well past halfway when he came out and pointed at me. It was about lap 85 and Larry Rice was leading. I go by coming off of two, led it a lap, then went down the back straightaway and the fuel pump broke. After the race, Osborne told me to load it on the trailer and take it home.
Over the course of three seasons, Parkinson made nine starts on one-mile dirt tracks, and in 1978, in a career highlight, he finished fifth in the Hoosier Hundred.
He had fun over the course of three years with USAC, but it was time to head back closer to home. He ran into his old friend Gary Mussatto at Devil‘s Bowl Speedway, where he was challenged by a proposition. If Junior could lose 50 pounds, the duo would start working together at the Florida openers. That was all the motivation Parkinson needed.
His final big splash may have been the most significant of all. In 1983 Parkinson finished third in Knoxville season points behind Randy Smith and longtime friend T.J. Giddings. Most importantly, he snared a win in August, making the Parkinsons the first father and son duo to score a victory on this hallowed ground in the premier class. It wasn‘t something Junior took for granted.
“It was a big deal to win at Knoxville,“ he said. “It put you on the map!”
There would be more races, but in so many ways he had put a capstone on a remarkable career. Because he had raced with the IMCA and BCRA in the plains, USAC, and in tradition-laden Pennsylvania, he had matched wits with a plethora of recognized legends and future members of respected Halls of Fame. He would join them.
Parkinson has been inducted into the BCRA Hall of Fame, the Central Auto Racing Boosters Hall of Fame, and has been recently recognized as a Missouri Legend, along with his father. Junior did much more than could be captured here.
In so many ways he embodied the spirit of those racers who weren‘t afraid to traverse the nation in pursuit of their racing dreams. It was his love of the sport that fueled him for so many years and so many miles.
Talk to him to this day and one thing is clear: Junior Parkinson never lost his passion for racing. Not for a single second.