The Scoop
PARKER DERKS – GIVING FORD FANS SOMETHING TO CHEER ABOUT
Posted on: Sunday October 1, 2023
Parker Derks is flanked by family and crew members in victory lane at Gravity Park USA in Chilton. (Joe Holz photography)
Parker Derks did his best to give fans of the blue oval something to cheer about on Friday nights this summer.
The third-generation racer from Chilton wheeled a 1974 Ford Torino to the Unified Dirt Street Stock track championship at Gravity Park USA in Chilton this year. Derks, a recent spring graduate from Chilton high school, is the third generation of diehard Ford racers.
Derks’ uncle Al Derks got the racing thing kicked off in the late 1980’s and into the ‘90’s where he piloted a Pro 4 at the now defunct quarter-mile bullring at the Calumet County Speedway in Chilton. Parker’s dad kept the tradition going, wheeling both Pro 4’s and then street stocks. All racing with Ford-powered machines – something of a rarity in dirt short track racing these days.
Parker Derks’ dad Eric Derks in victory lane at the now defunct Calumet County Fairgrounds in Chilton. (danlewisphoto.net)
Parker does recall his dad Eric racing at the fairgrounds as a little shaver. “I was born in 2005 and one of my earliest memories is my dad racing that blue number 88,” Parker recalled. “Our family ran Ford products then, including the motors.”
This year at Gravity Park Derks and his dad drove the only Fords in the field. The car Parker drove to the title is a story unto itself. In 2013 Al Derks had decided he wanted to get back into racing after a hiatus. Uncle Al bought a Ford Torino from Dave Neitzke of Eureka. Uncle Al’s intentions were to finish the car and eventually climb back behind the wheel.
However, with his business Al Derks Auto Body he got too busy and didn’t have time to finish the Ford. The car sat outside behind the shop in the elements for several years. In 2018 Parker and Eric Derks were looking at options to put Parker in a car for the 2019 season. “We had originally bought a Crown Victoria chassis with a Mercury Cyclone body,” Parker said. “It was a cool looking car, but the frame was terrible and even unsafe for a first year driver.”
This is the Ford Torino before Parker and Eric Derks restored it in 2018 and 2019.
The Derks wound up selling the Crown Vic. Al Derks asked Eric and Parker if they wanted his Ford Torino that was rusting behind the shop for several years. They agreed and Al wound up giving the car to his nephew and great nephew.
Up until this point, Parker had wheeled a kart at several Wisconsin ovals and road courses. The work began to restore the Torino in November 2018. The car was finished in August of 2019. Parker chose number 87 to pay homage to Uncle Al who also sported number 87 during his racing career.
A young Parker Derks.
There are most certainly pros and cons to racing Ford products on the local dirt track scene. “One of the pros is not many other people know too much about Ford cars and Ford products,” Parker suggested. “It’s pretty easy to find motor parts for Ford stuff but everything else Ford is tougher to find. Things like upper and lower control arms. And it’s more expensive. I mean it’s not like everybody’s got an old Ford Torino laying around their backyard for parts.”
The Derks’ family allegiance to the blue oval goes back even before stock car racing. Al’s dad Bill Derks, a taxicab driver, drove nothing but Fords as his street cars. At one time Uncle Al had like five different Mustangs,” Parker pointed out. “It’s a generational thing I guess.”
Parker only captured one feature win during his championship run at Gravity Park USA this year. However, the third-generation racer was a model of consistency, netting 13 top five finishes, which propelled him to the track title.
Although Parker misses the Chilton Fairgrounds track, he enjoys the layout of Gravity Park’s quarter-mile, clay oval. “(Gravity) has real tight corners and the straightaways aren’t real long,” Derks said. “It can be more than a one lane track when it slicks off and gets really dry. They do put on good racing for such a tight little bullring.”
In addition to Gravity, Derks spread his wings a little and raced at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek for a $1,000-to-win street stock feature. More cars and more of a stacked field than what Derks normally competed against weekly. “I took a swing with a setup, and it didn’t go so well,” Parker said. “I didn’t make the feature. When we went back to 141 in July I qualified into the feature through the heat and dad won his B main and made the show.”
On Friday nights at Gravity, Derks pointed to Shaun Bangart and Matt Warner as two of his toughest foes week in, week out.
Parker describes his driving style as ‘conservative,’ quick to point out that his big old Ford has never been pitched sideways into the corners intentionally. “As far as a preference on the track surface I like I prefer dry with a little bit of tackiness. My dad loves the real tacky tracks. Not me. But if the track gets way too slicked off then the show can get boring. It’s a fine line.”
The youngest racing Derks family member is ready to embark upon a new challenge. This week Derks began classes at University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) where he will study High Performance Technology. The school in Lima, Ohio near the Indiana border hosts the two- and one-half-year program which many young students use as a springboard to launch a career in motorsports. “My goal would be to work full time in the motorsports industry whether that’s working with sportscars, NASCAR, Indy or even a World of Outlaw team,” Derks said. “I just want to get school started and eventually get my foot in the door with a team somewhere.”
It was while scrolling through the website Racingjunk.com during his written communication class where an ad popped up stating “Kick start your racing career.” “Truth is I almost never click on these types of ads, but I did click on this one and discovered that it’s actually a racing college of sorts,” Derks said. “One of their big selling points is 80 percent of their graduates go on to land jobs somewhere in professional motorsports.”
The typical UNOH class schedule doesn’t follow traditional four-year college semesters. The coursework is for the most part continuous with a sporadic week or two off spread through the classes. “They call them ‘sessions’ instead of semesters so there really is no summer break per se,” Derks explained. “One class for example goes for six weeks for five hours a day, four days a week. Because of that my racing obviously will be on hold for a bit. Maybe I can sneak in a race whenever I am able to come home for break.”
The team members turning wrenches and lending a hand in Parker’s racing efforts include Grandpa Joe Derks, Uncle Mark Rader, Dad Eric Derks, Todd and Mariah Hephner, former grand national racer Scott Sorwheide, Kaden Bennin and Braeden Kiesow. Uncle Al comes occasionally, when he’s not busy tending to his business.
The team’s marketing partners include Al Derks Auto Body, Hilde’s Deli and Bakery, Riverview Auto Transport, Think Reliable Auto Sales, Brady’s Automotive, Scott’s Towing.