Chris Parisi Hunts for Another NMRA Championship
Chris Parisi is a glass half-full type of guy, so he’s not the least bit embarrassed or even disappointed to look at his BestBet 2020 Mustang and see a big No. 2 plastered on the side windows. Parisi fought hard for the championship in HP Tuners Super Stang last season, but ultimately came up short against multi-time champ Marvin Knack.
Parisi won last year’s Spring Break Shootout and added a runner-up at mid-season at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Those two final rounds gave him hope for a championship, but a pair of early losses to end the season gave the title to Knack. Parisi knows exactly where his season went off the rails and more importantly, how to fix it.
“Marvin and I were basically tied in rounds but he beat me by 50 points which was all in qualifying,” said Parisi. “I spent this winter licking my wounds and kicking myself. I also run True Street and I was chasing the $1,000 bonus from Nitto Tire and I went with a 28-inch tall front tire instead of the 26-inch tire I’d been running. That’s when my reaction times went down the drain and I started to struggle in qualifying.
“The car was excellent in 2021 but It was all on me,” Parisi said. “I’d have people come up and say, ‘Chris, why are your lights so bad?’ and I’d tell them it’s because I’m an idiot. Now, I’m back to a 26-inch tire and I think we’ve fixed the problem.”
So far, the 2023 season has already been good to Parisi. On February 19, he won the Summit E.T. Racing Series opener at Gainesville Raceway. Putting a check mark in the “W” column early in the season is a great way to boost confidence for the rest of the year.
“I went six rounds to get the win in Gainesville, and that felt pretty good,”Parisi said. “That was with the [26-inch tires] so I feel like I’m back to where I’m comfortable but we’ll find out in Orlando. Sometimes, you just need to stop, take a break and go back to basics.”
Parisi doesn’t need anything extra to motivate himself but this weekend in Orlando, he’s got a big reason to hope for positive results as the Spring Break Shootout event will mark the return of his father, Joe, who is a former Fun Ford Weekend champion. Joe Parisi, 69, has been out of the driver’s seat for the better part of a decade but we’ll pilot Chris’ Ford F-150 in the True Street division. Since the truck is fitted with Nitto Tires, he’ll be eligible for a $1,000 bonus should he win his class.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to race with my dad; I think it was about 12 years ago,” said Parisi. “He’s one of the guys from the old Fun Ford days and there’s a lot of people out here who still know him. In 2007, he won the Modular Motor championship. I might try to talk him into racing in Ford Muscle, but we’ll see how he does in True Street.”
Parisi is naturally happy to be racing with his father, but he’s also looking ahead to the rest of the season. He plans to run the Orlando and Rockingham events and then evaluate his chances for a title before deciding to attend all six NMRA events. If past history is any indicator, his familiar blue Mustang will be in St. Louis, Norwalk, Martin, and Bowling Green.
As for the Super Stang class, Parisi agrees that the level of competition has improved in recent years as new and talented drivers have entered the class while many of the veterans have upped their game. The Super Stang class has strict rules that prevent the use of driving aids including two-steps, delay boxes or throttle stops, which puts driver skill at a premium. Parisi is just fine with that.
“It’s tough, but so it almost every form of racing,” said Parisi. “Once you’ve been doing this for a while you’d think it should get easy but It’s not. I don’t want anyone to think it’s a cakewalk. I think before every season-opener I feel a bit like a rookie. Thankfully, this first race is in Orlando which is only 150 miles from home so I’m not even bringing my trailer. My dad and I are going to race old school.”
Should Parisi win a championship this year, whether it’s an NMRA class or the ET series at Gainesville Raceway, it would mark his 10th overall title. For that longevity, he credits a long list of sponsors that includes bestbet Casino, JMS Chip, Circle D Converters, Racer Walsh, and Steeda just to name a few.
Chris Parisi is a glass half-full type of guy, so he’s not the least bit embarrassed or even disappointed to look at his BestBet 2020 Mustang and see a big No. 2 plastered on the side windows. Parisi fought hard for the championship in HP Tuners Super Stang last season, but ultimately came up short against multi-time champ Marvin Knack.
Parisi won last year’s Spring Break Shootout and added a runner-up at mid-season at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Those two final rounds gave him hope for a championship, but a pair of early losses to end the season gave the title to Knack. Parisi knows exactly where his season went off the rails and more importantly, how to fix it.
“Marvin and I were basically tied in rounds but he beat me by 50 points which was all in qualifying,” said Parisi. “I spent this winter licking my wounds and kicking myself. I also run True Street and I was chasing the $1,000 bonus from Nitto Tire and I went with a 28-inch tall front tire instead of the 26-inch tire I’d been running. That’s when my reaction times went down the drain and I started to struggle in qualifying.
“The car was excellent in 2021 but It was all on me,” Parisi said. “I’d have people come up and say, ‘Chris, why are your lights so bad?’ and I’d tell them it’s because I’m an idiot. Now, I’m back to a 26-inch tire and I think we’ve fixed the problem.”
So far, the 2023 season has already been good to Parisi. On February 19, he won the Summit E.T. Racing Series opener at Gainesville Raceway. Putting a check mark in the “W” column early in the season is a great way to boost confidence for the rest of the year.
“I went six rounds to get the win in Gainesville, and that felt pretty good,”Parisi said. “That was with the [26-inch tires] so I feel like I’m back to where I’m comfortable but we’ll find out in Orlando. Sometimes, you just need to stop, take a break and go back to basics.”
Parisi doesn’t need anything extra to motivate himself but this weekend in Orlando, he’s got a big reason to hope for positive results as the Spring Break Shootout event will mark the return of his father, Joe, who is a former Fun Ford Weekend champion. Joe Parisi, 69, has been out of the driver’s seat for the better part of a decade but we’ll pilot Chris’ Ford F-150 in the True Street division. Since the truck is fitted with Nitto Tires, he’ll be eligible for a $1,000 bonus should he win his class.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to race with my dad; I think it was about 12 years ago,” said Parisi. “He’s one of the guys from the old Fun Ford days and there’s a lot of people out here who still know him. In 2007, he won the Modular Motor championship. I might try to talk him into racing in Ford Muscle, but we’ll see how he does in True Street.”
Parisi is naturally happy to be racing with his father, but he’s also looking ahead to the rest of the season. He plans to run the Orlando and Rockingham events and then evaluate his chances for a title before deciding to attend all six NMRA events. If past history is any indicator, his familiar blue Mustang will be in St. Louis, Norwalk, Martin, and Bowling Green.
As for the Super Stang class, Parisi agrees that the level of competition has improved in recent years as new and talented drivers have entered the class while many of the veterans have upped their game. The Super Stang class has strict rules that prevent the use of driving aids including two-steps, delay boxes or throttle stops, which puts driver skill at a premium. Parisi is just fine with that.
“It’s tough, but so it almost every form of racing,” said Parisi. “Once you’ve been doing this for a while you’d think it should get easy but It’s not. I don’t want anyone to think it’s a cakewalk. I think before every season-opener I feel a bit like a rookie. Thankfully, this first race is in Orlando which is only 150 miles from home so I’m not even bringing my trailer. My dad and I are going to race old school.”
Should Parisi win a championship this year, whether it’s an NMRA class or the ET series at Gainesville Raceway, it would mark his 10th overall title. For that longevity, he credits a long list of sponsors that includes bestbet Casino, JMS Chip, Circle D Converters, Racer Walsh, and Steeda just to name a few.
