Student News
Race car driver, Shawn Parker, getting out of car and into boardroom
IMBA student,
Shawn Parker, 29, crashed his race car in Oxford, Maine, in July, and fractured a
vertebra, which put him a little behind in his studies. That incident convinced him that racing and
pursuing an MBA simultaneously was not such a good idea. It also reinforced his thinking that
transitioning from driving to management was the right career decision.
Car crashes are part of the job of auto racing, Parker says. "I've broken my wrist a couple of times, had surgery, pinned altogether, stuff like that..." But, he adds, "Getting hurt is getting old...I realize how it affects the rest of my life, I have goals."
His major goal for now is to complete his IMBA degree. Parker has been around racing since he was about five years old and began watching his dad, a former motorcycle racer, drive cars on New England tracks. His dad later formed Parker Racing Team, and when Shawn was 17, he, too, got the behind the wheel and onto the track.
In 2000, Parker began to assume management of the team, as well. He led his team to three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002, and team drivers earned Rookie of the Year titles in 2002 and 2003.
Parker holds two undergraduate degrees from Boston University – BS in marketing management and a BA in economics. Earning an MBA would position Parker well for his next goal of working for NASCAR. He chose the Moore School for the international emphasis. "NASCAR is expanding internationally," Parker says. "I'd like to be a part of that expansion."
It just so happens that Columbia is also situated in the cradle of NASCAR. Nearby Charlotte (recently selected as the site of the future NASCAR Hall of Fame) is home to one of racing's largest venues, the Lowe's Motor Speedway, which is managed by another USC alumnus, H. A. "Humpy" Wheeler, Jr., who also influenced Parker's decision to come South. Parker spent some time with Wheeler prior to coming to USC.
"I was amazed at the amount of knowledge in his head about something that I am so passionate
about, and it was one of the more enjoyable hours of my life," Parker says. "I walked out and said,
'Okay, I'd like to work for him or someone like him...to rise to the levels where I can converse in
such a strategic way about the sport.'"
"There are a lot of people like me who've been around the sport for 15 or 20 years, and there are a lot of business people who come into the sport because of the money, but there's not too many people with the combination of the two... and that's what I'm hoping will be an advantage for me when I finish the program."
Parker is currently on internship with F. G. Wilson, a global exporter of electric generators, in Larne, Northern Ireland.
-- Gail Crouch