Tara Parker Update: Canandaigua(NY) native Shawn Parker said his wife, Tara, is “doing OK” after a heart transplant July 28 in North Carolina. Parker, 27, a former mechanic for dirt-track racer Danny Johnson, has lived in the Charlotte area since graduating from high school in 1993. He works as a rear tire changer for Mark Martin’s #6 Viagra car(and is the car chief). Shawn and Tara were married last November, and doctors determined in May that Tara, who was born with a heart defect, would need a new heart. “We haven’t even been on our honeymoon yet,” Parker said. Shawn found out the weekend of the Winston Cup race at Pocono Raceway that a heart was found for Tara. He was surprised when team owner Jack Roush flew him back to the Winston-Salem area hospital to be with his wife. Parker visited one of his old haunts, Canandaigua Speedway, for a Thursday night DIRT race and said he was able to renew some old acquaintances. “I had a lot of people come up to me and ask about Tara,” Parker said. “That means a lot to me and her. That’s what keeps her going.”(Syracuse Online)(8-13-2001)
