This letter was delivered to me last night from my father via e-mail. Attached to the letter was a note from him telling me of racing's loss Monday. Garland Parker of Parker's Speed Shop passed away Monday, May 15th. It was to be that we were to visit with Garland in a few days to draw up the workings for a bio on him for this site. Unfortunately, we waited a bit too long. Now we will never get that opportunity. We missed a chance to re-live great memories with a true legend of our sport. It is our sincere hope that when Garland, Fireball, Curtis, and all the rest of the drivers finish their bench-racing sessions in Heaven, and call it a day, that perhaps Garland will see this letter and know how much he is missed here. It is with a deep sense of loss that I present this letter to you. It is a personal note to a true hero of ours from my dad. Garland will be greatly missed by many. 

DEAR GARLAND,

I JUST GOT SOME SHOCKING NEWS. MY BROTHER E-MAILED ME TO SAY THAT YOU HAD LEFT US. I KNOW THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT BECAUSE YOU'RE STILL HERE, IN THAT NEVER ENDING STORY WE CALL OUR MEMORY. IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY A LITTLE WHILE AGO; I WAS JUST A BOY AND MY UNCLE STEVE TOOK ME TO MY FIRST RACE AT LANCASTER SPEEDWAY. I HAD NEVER SEEN SO MANY NEAT RACE CARS IN ONE PLACE. IN FACT, I HAD NEVER SEEN ANY REAL RACE CARS IN PERSON BEFORE. BUT THAT SATURDAY CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER AND SENT ME DOWN A PATH TO SO MANY GOOD MEMORIES, TIMES , AND FRIENDS.

I REMEMBER HEARING THAT YOU HAD A NEARLY NEW THUNDERBIRD AT THE TRACK DURING THE LATE 50's AND MY DADDY DROVE ME ALL OVER TOWN THAT SUNDAY TRYING TO FIND IT, JUST SO I COULD SEE IT. WHEN I GOT OLDER MY GRANDPA WOULD TAKE ME TO SEE YOU RUN. WE'D EAT POPCORN AND BAR-B-Q SANDWICHES WHILE YOU PUT ON YOUR SHOW. WHEN I GOT OLD ENOUGH TO WORK, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS I STARTED TO DO REGULARLY WAS GO TO STARLITE SPEEDWAY. LATER, I BEGAN PAINTING SOME OF THE CARS THAT RACED THERE AND AT LANCASTER. ONE OF THE FIRST CARS I LETTERED THAT I WASN'T ASHAMED FOR PEOPLE TO SEE ( I WAS JUST LEARNING ) WAS FRANCIS ROLLINS' 1956 FORD UP AT YOUR OLD SHOP ON 521. THE LONGER I WENT TO THE RACES THE FURTHER I GOT INVOLVED UNTIL ONE BY ONE I MET MOST OF MY HEROES INCLUDING YOU. 
THE FIRST TIME WE MET WAS A LITTLE STRANGE AS I DIDN'T KNOW JUST HOW TO "TAKE" YOU. I WAS UP AT THE SHOP LETTERING A RACE CAR FOR ONE OF THE MANY PEOPLE THAT YOU WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING ALONG (MOST OF WHICH YOU NEVER TOOK CREDIT FOR). WE BEGAN TALKING AND EVENTUALLY THE CONVERSATION GOT AROUND TO RACING. YOU GAVE ME WHAT I FOUND TO BE ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE INVITATIONS," COME ON UP TO THE TRACK AND I'LL CARRY YOU AROUND SO FAST YOUR EYES WILL WATER IF YOU GET OUT OF THE FLOORBOARDS LONG ENOUGH TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON." YOU DIDN'T KNOW I HAD SHOT SOME HOME MOVIES IN ERVIN CARPENTER'S CAMARO A FEW WEEKS EARLIER. WE PULLED OUT OF THE PITS IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE FIELD INCLUDING JAMES SEARS, DOUG ALDRIGE, AND LARRY WALLACE FOR THE HOT LAPS. AT THE END OF THOSE HOT LAPS, WE PULLED BACK INTO THE PITS  STILL IN FRONT OF THEM. SO I SAID, "WHEN YOU OUTRUN THAT LITTLE WHITE #58 CAMARO, THEN TALK TO ME ABOUT WATERY EYES." TO YOUR CREDIT YOU DIDN'T TELL OFF A SMART-ALECKED KID, AND STILL TALKED TO ME AFTERWARDS.

THE YEARS ROLLED ALONG AND I GOT TO KNOW YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WELL. I WONDERED WHERE SOME OF THE "BETTER" PEOPLE GOT THEIR OPINION OF RACING FOLKS AS "NO-ACCOUNT HOODLUMS". EVERY TIME I SAW YOU, YOU WOULD HAVE A SMILE AND A HELLO. (EVEN BEFORE I WAS THE ONE TAKING THE NEWSPAPER PICTURES AND COULD GET YOU SOME INK.) THEN THERE WAS THE TIME I BROUGHT MY CAR TO YOUR SHOP.....

I WAS HAVING SOME DIVORCE SETTLEMENT PROBLEMS THAT YOU KNEW ABOUT AND YOU WEREN'T TOO SURPRISED WHEN I CAME BY THE SHOP ONE DAY AND ASKED YOU IF YOU HAD ANYWHERE I COULD PARK A CAR OF MINE. TRUE TO THE WAY YOU ALWAYS TREATED ME, YOU THOUGHT A MINUTE AND SAID, "HOW ABOUT OVER ON THE HILL BEHIND THE SHOP ?" YOU LOOKED A LITTLE PUZZLED WHEN I SAID I'D WALK OUT AND GET IT. IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION OF WHERE IS IT, I GOT IT OUT OF THE SEAT OF THE CAR THAT I DROVE UP IN. IT WAS A MODEL OF YOUR RACER, A '56 FORD. I STILL REMEMBER THE WAY YOUR EYES LIT UP AND YOU WENT AROUND TELLING EVERYONE ABOUT WHEN YOU USED TO DRIVE THE REAL THING AND HOW MUCH YOU LIKED IT. 


AS I GOT OLDER, I WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE TRACKS AND WE SORT OF LOST TOUCH. BUT EVERY TIME I CAME BY THE SHOP I WOULD BLOW THE HORN AND YOU WOULD WAVE. THEN ONE OF MY YOUNG DREAMS WAS ABOUT TO COME TRUE. 
I WAS GOING TO OWN A 1964 FORD GALAXIE JUST LIKE MY HEROES FRED LORENZEN AND FIREBALL ROBERTS DROVE. WELL, SORT OF LIKE THEIRS. MINE WOULD BE BUILT TO RUN ON THE ROAD RATHER THAN THE HIGH_BANKS OF DARLINGTON. PARTS WERE SCARCE TO SAY THE LEAST AND MY FRIEND MIKE WILLIAMS ASKED , "HOW ABOUT GARLAND? I DONT KNOW IF HE'LL BE EXPENSIVE OR NOT." WELL IT SEEMED YOU HAD A LONG MEMORY. AS SOON AS I ARRIVED AT YOUR SHOP, I WAS WELCOMED AS AN OLD FRIEND. WHEN YOU BROUGHT OUT THE A-FRAME AND SUPPORT I NEEDED YOU TOLD ME HOW IT HAD BEEN ON A RACE CAR OF YOURS. THEN WHEN I ASKED YOU HOW MUCH YOU WANTED FOR IT YOU GOT A FUNNY LOOK ON YOUR FACE AND SAID' "I DON'T BELIEVE I GAVE YOU ANYTHING FOR YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY." AND WALKED OFF LEAVING ME WITH MY MOUTH HANGING OPEN. THAT WASN'T THE LAST PART I GOT FROM YOU FOR WAY LESS THAN MARKET VALUE FOR THAT CAR, SO WHEN I GOT IT ON THE ROAD AND HAD IT ALL SORTED OUT, YOUR SHOP WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PLACES I HEADED. YOU TOLD ME ALL ABOUT DRIVING CARS LIKE MINE SIDEWAYS ON THE DIRT OF STARLITE AND LANCASTER. IT WAS ALL REAL TO BOTH OF US THAT DAY-- MAGIC AND GOOD TIMES.

BUT IT WASN'T ALWAYS GOOD TIMES. YOU WERE KNOWN AS A "CHARACTER" AND A LITTLE STAND OFFISH AT TIMES, BUT WHEN I WAS ROLLING ALONG IN A BLACK HAZE BROUGHT ON BY MY PERSONAL LIFE FALLING APART, I WOUND UP AT THE SPEED SHOP ONE SATURDAY. THE TOUGH GUY RACER SAT DOWN WITH ME AND TOLD ME STORIES OF SOME OF HIS HARD TIMES AND THAT ANYTIME I NEEDED SOMEONE TO TALK TO THAT I WOULD BE WELCOME ANY TIME . I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT TO ME AT THE TIME OR EVERY TIME I THOUGHT OF IT LATER. I MEAN HERE WAS A MAN THAT RACED WITH THE LIKES OF FIREBALL ROBERTS AND BUCK BAKER AND ALL MY HEROES TELLING ME THAT HE WAS THERE IF I NEEDED HIM. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNEW IT OR NOT, BUT YOU PASSED ALL THOSE GUYS THAT DAY IN MY ESTIMATION.
I WAS PLANING ON DOING A STORY ABOUT YOU WITH MY SON FOR HIS INTERNET COLUMN VERY SOON, BUT TIME JUST CAUGHT UP WITH US I GUESS. TIME IS THE GREATEST ENEMY OF MEN AND RACERS. WE'LL STILL DO THE FEATURE BUT IT WON'T BE AS MUCH FUN AS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN. I WOULD LIKE TO SEND YOU MY THOUGHTS THE SAME AS A "REAL" WRITER DID FOR FIREBALL MANY YEARS AGO, "MAY THE TURNS BE BANKED , THE STRAIGHT-AWAYS LONG, THE TRACK SMOOTH AND FAST LIKE YOU LIKE IT." IN THE END IT IS THE ONES THAT STAY WHO SHOULD BE PITIED, BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE THIS WORLD AND NO REAL KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT WONDERFUL THINGS THAT ARE TO COME. SO LONG MY CHERISHED FRIEND


SIGNED, THE OL' REDNECK
JERRY SIMS