After a horrific accident in Atlanta last month, Hank Parker, Jr. rebounded to a hard fought 12th place finish in Martinsville. 

Hank qualified his Innovative Motorsports #21 Toyota Tundra a disappointing 27th, but the crew made the necessary adjustments during “Happy Hour” and had the Toyota Tundra ready to run on race day. 

Hank quickly began picking up positions at the start and had settled into 20th position when brake problems started to plague him.  On lap 118, he radioed his crew chief that the brakes were locking up in the turns, causing the truck to slide.  Wesley Sherrill, Hank’s crew chief, quickly responded by telling Hank to dial in two turns of brake bias on the front brakes.  This provided a short-term cure for the problem, but Hank would have to battle this problem all afternoon because of the heat that builds up in the brake rotors at short tracks like Martinsville. 

“We overcame some adversity today and I’m real proud of my team.  We had some problems with the brakes, but there was nothing we could do about it.  Wesley (Sherrill) did a great job of telling me how to adjust the brake bias from inside the truck and we bounced back from that problem and had a good day.  We learned a lot today that will help us the rest of the season.  I feel OK, but I’m sure I’m going to be sore tomorrow.  I’m glad that we had a good finish for our sponsors, Jenkins and Jenkins Attorneys at Law, and White House Foods.”

Hank and the No. 21 Toyota Tundra return to the track on May 16, 2004, at the Ohio 250 when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to action in Mansfield, OH.