With his race car’s graphics not yet ready, Parker Guldin decided to provide a makeshift teaser with duct tape. He did so for the practice session at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
When Guldin’s wrap arrives, he’ll proudly display his main sponsorship from Penny’s Shear Heaven in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. His parents, Penny and John, own the beauty salon.
“My mom was disappointed that the wrap wasn’t done in time,” Guldin, of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, said. “Like any sponsor, she wanted her business name out there, even if it is for practice day.”
Guldin hopes to please his sponsor for the season opener.
“I’m real grateful to have my parents sponsor my racing from the start,” said Guldin. “They are there every week to help me and watch me race. I appreciate their support so much. I just didn’t want to let them down.”
Guldin started racing sportsman modifieds in 2019.
“That first season was a struggle at the start,” Guldin said. “I was changing everything. Then, I found out I had a bad carburetor. Fellow driver Craig Whitmoyer helped me figure it out. I went on to win two features in my rookie season.”
Last year, Guldin switched to an open engine.
“Short and simple — it was a gad awful season,” said Guldin. “I finished fourth once, and that was my best finish. I couldn’t get the setup right. Pin the blame on me — I had everything wrong.”
For 2021, Parker Guldin looks to turn his fortunes around. He put a Chevrolet Performance 602 crate engine back under the hood.
“This was my first Grandview Speedway practice day,” Guldin said. “It snowed out in 2019. Last year, we missed it with all the pandemic changes going on. I got a lot accomplished. We worked the bugs out of the car, and now I feel it is stout and ready to race this coming weekend.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
