Trucks In The 252 - Spare Parts

By: Robert Heikens

Spare Parts Mud Racing team consists of a group of close friends and families that have a passion for mud racing! These friends, men and women, love the sport and family oriented action that mud racing provides. They all have enjoyed playing in the mud with everything from golf carts, four wheelers, trucks, and even derby cars and tuff trucks.

Spare Parts started out building a purple chevy pick-up truck pulled out of the woods by Eddie and Sherry Wissman, Paul Garrenton, and Tom Bowen.  The truck was built with "spare parts" lying around Eddie's shop! This truck started it all and soon other friends wanted to do the same, they all came together and built several other trucks. Now the team consists of Eddie & Sherry, Paul Garrenton, Casey Carr, Chris Connie, J.P. & Jen Marshall, J.R.Rishel, and Tom Bowen who has since moved to Michigan but still comes back to race and visit.

Spare Parts runs several trucks that include their famous "pink truck" called "Save a Rack" which is a square bodied, stock 350 ci. motor running 4.88 gears with lockers in the street class. Casey Carr's truck,"Down To The Wire", is a white '88 Chevy truck with stock suspension, Dana 60 front end,14 bolt rear on 44 inch tires. Sporting a Buster Melson Racing engine big block chevy motor, this truck has plenty of power for the super street class. Paul Garrenton occasionally runs a '87 Suzuki Samaria with a self proclaimed 1.6 liter motor of Pure Fury, running tractor style tires but is also building a new, four link truck with a Buster Melson Racing engine in it for next year. J.p. & Jen Marshall salvaged a '96 Suburban from Obx Chevrolet and have competed at Monster's on the Beach and five tuff truck competitions with Jen driving over Mother's Day weekend at Monster's on the Beach! Chris Connie has an '80 model Jeep CJ 5 with half ton running gear that he runs in tuff trucks. Tom Bowen and his '89 leaf sprung Dodge, Big block, one ton running gear truck still runs in Michigan but is in the middle of rebuilding his truck now.

These friends have been hunting, fishing, competing in bbq competitions, racing, and hanging out together for fifteen years. Spare Parts Bbq has completed in several competitions and placed 7th out of 68 competitors at their first event in Little Washington, N.C at the "Smoke on the Water" event!

Hometown, hard working, life loving, redneck, back yard racers with hearts of gold sums up this group of friends. They work and play hard and always have a good time together! That's what the sport of mud racing is all about!