THE NEED FOR SPEED

Interview with NASCAR's Parker Retzlaff

He may wear glasses and not look like your average "athlete", however, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Parker Retzlaff has been making waves on the track and giving motivation to others around the world to take up the sport for themselves. From getting into racing to tips for those wanting to go fast, and how his career has helped him land the ladies, we spoke to Parker about it all in this exclusive interview!

How does one become a professional race car driver? This is a tough question. It can go two ways. I feel like a majority, not including myself, come from the background of racing. Most of the time you hear about how their fathers or grandfathers have been in the racing world for many years. For me, I grew up around it but my dad or grandfather never raced. Being from Wisconsin, there was a ton of off-road racing going on. This is the state where the world championship takes place. Every year my parents and I would go. I always showed an interest in it but at the end of the day, it was way too expensive. My dad and I found a more affordable option, mini sprint cars. This is what I started with. From there we were all hooked as a family. Years following I raced Bandoleros, dirt trucks, asphalt trucks, ARCA, and now Xfinity.

At first glance, you don't "look" like the typical driver. How do you use that to your advantage on the track? I can remember my first Xfinity race, it was at Phoenix, a lot of people were questioning who I was and how I got to be in the Xfinity Series. I had qualified 6th for my first-ever Xfinity race out of 38 drivers. Nobody expected it. Even I was in disbelief. To this day a lot of people will come up to me and talk about the time I qualified 6th in my first-ever Xfinity start. When they bring it up it always brings back a ton of memories. It got me to where I was today. That is a key example of making the most out of every opportunity you get.