Todd Parrott Back Seeking Work

After his recent reinstatement, champion crew chief Todd Parrott is back in the NASCAR garage. Parrott was at Preseason Thunder testing Friday and Saturday at Daytona International Speedway talking to teams about possible jobs. It's the first time he's been in the garage since NASCAR suspended him Oct. 17 for violating its Substance Abuse Policy. Richard Petty Motorsports released Parrott after he was suspended. NASCAR reinstated him Jan. 7, allowing Parrott to enter the garage.

"It was pretty embarrassing to be gone for what happened," said Parrott, who declined to reveal the cause of his suspension. "It was good to be back (Friday) in the garage. Lot of people came up to talk to me. I'm a lot better person than I was two-and-a-half months ago." He was reinstated after completing NASCAR's Road to Recovery program. Parrott said the time away from the sport also helped him with reflection.

"I learned more about myself, the downtime, not having to go to the shop, not having to go to the racetrack, being at home with my family," he said, adding he's lost about 25 pounds since.

"I thought about a lot of things, a lot of things I've done in the sport, what I want to do." Parrott, who turns 50 next month, has 31 victories as a crew chief and guided Dale Jarrett to the 1999 series title. He first started as a crew chief in 1995. Motor Racing Network