A source close to the #53 Team Marines team says that the whole pit crew has quit. One left Saturday; the rest are leaving after Homestead. Apparently, owner Hank Parker Sr. hired a Winston Cup pit crew to crew the car at Phoenix and it didn’t go over too well with the team(StockCarFans BGN Newsletter)(11-8-1999) – UPDATE: from Team Marines – One crewman did leave, but he had planned to leave at the end of the year anyway to return home to California. He did not leave because Hank Parker, Sr. decided to bring in a Winston Cup Series team to pit Hank Jr’s car at Phoenix. He was closer to California and decided it was easier for him to leave now rather than wait until after the Homestead race. No other crew members have left the team and Dave McCarty, the crew chief and team manager at Hank Parker Racing says that the guys were disappointed at having their pit crew jobs taken from them at Phoenix. However, he said that they realize that this was done to give Hank Jr the best shot at staying up front during the race, and since they were short-handed in terms of personnel anyway, Hank Sr took the opportunity to bring in a full over-the-wall contingent. If anyone does leave the team at the end of the season it will be for other reasons like a better job opportunity elsewhere, especially since the Team Marines program has finally given Hank Parker Racing the financial support it had been lacking through most of the season. The new money from Team Marines starting with the 2000 season will enable Dave McCarty to hire more men and give Hank Jr. a legitimate, in-house pit crew with which to race each time out rather than with a crew pieced together with crew members from other teams(Team Marines)(11-9-1999)
