He was good and I thought he was funny. What is he doing now?

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7/20/08 - T-bone's first win.
Hoosier, Hoosier daddy?
Visit my page on Youtube for eye candy, cars and racing clips!

You can find Parker at Parker Johnstone's Wilsonville Honda




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Learning From Our Past

The empty seat doesn't buy a hot dog...

Not to get the Paul Page thing going again, but I thought Parker Johnstone did a terrific job during his stint with NHRA events. When he began, his background was definitely not drag racing, but he was visibly excited about being there, and must have done a lot of work on background because in a short period of time he was up to speed on what he was reporting on, knew the people's names, and had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Paul Page, on the other hand, seemed to show none of those characteristics during his stint last season, (in my opinion). I for one wouldn't mind, as someone mentioned before, seeing Dave Rief move to the booth, but I hadn't thought of Parker coming back as an on track man. Call that dealership--Maybe he'd join us for next year.

I completely agree about Parker, and think the same could be said for Gary Gerould making a smooth transition to the NHRA from open wheel racing. I know Gary had done a little drag racing before, but he came right in after Bill left and didn't miss a beat.

I could be wrong (again) but I'd say Parker is enjoying being home with the family every evening after a day at the dealership?
Frey and Reinhart, on the other hand, could easily jump in the booth and make me a very happy man! There's two guys that know almost everything and everyone associated with our sport that could eclipse the talent of Paul Page.
Frey's humor and Reinhart's accidental comments alone would be well worth the admission!

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"The Doctor"
www.wannaberacing.com

totally agree--it would be a dynamite combination--

Bring back Ralph Shaheen

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On my arm until the day I die, but in my heart forever

Darr is right he is running a honda dealership up here in the portland metro area!
right off I-5 at exit 283 wilsonville.

Yep if your on I-5 near Portland you can't miss it.

Samuel, and other Maters,

I too really enjoyed Parker Johnstone when he was part of the ESPN crew at NHRA races, but never knew about his racing background, which was pretty extensive, or his current job/career, as owner of Wilsonville Honda near Portland, OR. I doubt he will be coming back to ESPN doing pit reporting after seeing what he's got going on now. He had a blog on his dealer's website with stuff about his past racing exploits and his current interests. I had forgotten that he had joined Whit Bazemore and Mike Dunn and others on the Mt. Evans bike climb to the peak, of which they all made it this year! Here's Parker's blog about the experience. Pretty cool.
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July 13th
I just got back from Colorado, and <pant... pant...> I found out it's much easier to catch your breath here in Wilsonville!
I climbed Mt. Evans with NHRA drag racers (and my best buds) Mike Dunn and Whit Bazemore, Whit's sponsor from Matco Tools, John Torok, and a few other NHRA members who are avid cyclists. The climb to the summit of Mt. Evans is along the highest paved road in the United States, topping out at 14,186'. The ride started 28 miles down the mountain at a paltry altitude of 7,800'! We all made it (and back) on a perfect day. Although it was toasty at the start of the day (90F+), it was waaaay cold at the summit.

All of us had focused on the oxygen-debt and the challenge of an unrelenting climb for months in our training, giving no thought to the descent. Well guess what? With 60% less air pressure at 14,000' than you experience at sea level, we accelerated like race cars going downhill! Fortunately all of us pay a lot of attention to the maintenance of our bikes, because if our brakes had failed or experienced any significant fade, we would have been launched off the road at a very high rate of speed! We made up for our slow steady pace up the mountain with a rocket descent. Mike and I drafted back and forth, trying to catch Whit and his drafting partner, who were a 1/4 of a mile in front of us. It was a full-on race. Mike and I made some gains, before we both cried "Uncle!" It was an epic ride, followed by huge amounts of food and drink -- while we all relived our day on Mt. Evans. Last year this same group (except for me) had tried this ride, but didn't make it for various reasons. I was so proud of Mike Dunn -- he's had asthma since a kid, and Jon Torok -- a 3-pack-a-day smoker for 30 years until starting cycling 5 years ago. They both dug deep -- overcoming great physical obstacles in the face of no air pressure -- and made it. That's what I'll always remember -- the strength of their will overcoming what would have stopped most people... oh, and being met by a herd of mountain goats at the summit!

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I suspect Whit's friendship with Parker and their biking interests for exercise had a bearing on Whit's decision to move to the Portland, OR area. YOu always want to live near good friends or family whenever possible. Portland and the surrounding areas including all the way up I-5 to Seattle is just a beautiful part of the U.S. and other than the constant rain (drizzle) the weather is pretty nice too.

Check out Parker's Wilsonville Honda website too as it is well done.

Bobby, you're dead on with an 0!!
Frey and Reinhart absolutely rocked at the Vegas Divisional,...funny, witty, and they knew everyone who was in the hunt for both national, and divsional titles..it was pure pleasure listening to them all weekend.

I would live to cycle up a mountain like that , but I 'll be honest , the descent would scare me to death. I hit 40 on a downhill once and I just hung on for dear life. the wind in my ears was so loud. it's really something.

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I'm still DamnYankee

"A Friday night run in a Funny Car is just really intense" - Whit Bazemore