Wally Parks: Motorsports Visionary

Any drag race fan who gets the opportunity to meet Wally Parks should really thank him. Although Parks did not invent drag racing, he did found the National Hot Rod Association in 1951 while serving as editor of Robert E. Petersen's budding "Hot Rod" magazine. He says he formed NHRA as a way to promote drag racing and to give fellow hot rodders a place to race other than on city streets. This monumental task, Parks says humbly, was one he couldn't have tackled without the dedicated people who shared his early vision. The tall, deep-voiced Parks said he's always shied away from being called drag racing's chairman emeritus, a title many feel he deserves.

Lifetime Achievements
Born in Goltry, Oklahoma, Parks raced Model-Ts in high school and did a stint as a military tank test driver before serving in the South Pacific in World War II. In 1947, he helped organize the Southern California Timing Association, which sanctioned speed trials.


Parks has received virtually every honor and award the world of motorsports has to offer. In 1992, he became drag racing's first inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, while in 1993 he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame. In 1994, Parks and his wife Barbara, who has actively been involved with NHRA since its formation, became co-inductees into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. In 2002, Robert E. Petersen, founder of "Hot Rod," "Car Craft," and "Motor Trend," presented Parks with the inaugural Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of those who've contributed to the growth and history of the hot rod industry.


At 89, Parks can still be found at select NHRA events. He remains on NHRA's board of directors, but devotes most of his time cultivating the NHRA Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona. His passion for hot rodding is as strong as ever. A few years ago, Parks recreated the '57 Plymouth "Hot Rod Magazine Special" that he drove to the top speed record for closed-bodied cars on Daytona Beach in 1957. Feeling like a guy less than half his age, Parks drove the rebuilt car in land speed events "just for the fun of it," he said. And who says speed isn't the fountain of youth?