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Wally Parks
Born	January 23, 1913 (1913-01-23) (age 94) Goltry, Oklahoma, United States
Died	September 28, 2007 (aged 94) Burbank, California, United States
Occupation	Founder, President, Chairman of NHRA; automobile writer, editor, and hobbyist.

Wallace Gordon ("Wally") Parks (January 23, 1913 – September 28, 2007) is widely known as the Father of Drag Racing. He was the Founder, President, and the Chairman of the Board of the National Hot Rod Association, or better known by the acronym NHRA. Mr. Parks was also an accomplished automobile writer and hobbyist, and co-founder and first editor of the magazine Hot Rod in the late 1940s. He was also instrumental in the founding of Motor Trend magazine in 1948. As editor of Hot Rod, he began to promote safety in the organization of drag racing, both in the magazine and by organizing "safety safaris," which taught drag racing organization and safety at several tracks around the country. This was the first concerted effort in getting racers off the streets and into controlled race tracks. Image File history File links Gnome_globe_current_event. ... // The following is a list of notable deaths in 2007. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2048 pixel, file size: 2. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Oklahoma. ... Goltry is a town located in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,898 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_California. ... Burbank is a common place name in English speaking countries. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Cover of Hot Rod magazine, featuring Don Garlits dragster Hot Rod magazine is the oldest magazines devoted to the hobby of hot rodding, modifying automobiles for performance and appearance, having been published since 1948. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In 1951, he founded the National Hot Rod Association, the largest drag racing sanctioning body, and became its head for several decades after leaving the magazine business. His second wife, Barbara Parks, who preceded him in death in 2006, worked for the NHRA as its Chief Secretary in its formative years. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada. ...

Prior to his death, he was Chairman of the Board of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, is located at 1101 W. McKinley Ave. ... Location in Los Angeles County and the State of California Country State County Los Angeles County, California Government  - Mayor Norma Torres Area  - City 22. ...

Winners of National Hot Rod Association national events are awarded a trophy statue nicknamed the "Wally." The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada. ...

Mr. Parks passed away on Friday, September 29, 2007 at the age of 94 at Providence - St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California. The cause of death was due to complications from pneumonia. He is survived by his two sons -- Richard and David -- five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Today, the organization he founded -- the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) -- stands as the world's largest motorsports sanctioning body, with more than 80,000 members and 140 member tracks around the world. Races are held on a quarter-mile paved track and involve 23 national class events (named the Powerade Drag Racing Series) each year. The top classes, Top Fuel Dragster and Top Fuel Funny Car, reach speeds in excess of 330 mph in a standing start quarter-mile track.

During the early 1930s, racing fans gathered at impromptu races on the dry lake beds, back roads, and city streets in and around Southern California.

Mr. Parks was one of a group that formed the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), the precursor to the NHRA. Both local governments and the media began to scrutinize the SCTA, due to street racing incidents on city and country streets.

Mr. Parks was instrumental in starting a campaign to get racers off the streets. He noted that after WWII they could use abandoned air strips or occasionally-used air strips for their off-street racing events.

The Santa Ana (CA) Drag Strip was formed on an unused runway on what is now the John Wayne Airport in Orange County (CA). It is widely considered as the first drag racing track to charge an admission fee in Southern California. Another strip near Goleta is believed to be the first formal drag race strip in Southern California.

In the beginning, racing was side by side racing, using whatever the racers brought to the strip. It was widely termed as "run what you brung" racing. Mr. Parks is credited with determining that it was important that all races be a standard length so strip times could be compared from one track to another. This determination ended with the standard distance of 1/4 mile for drag races in the U.S. and a similar metric distance of 400 meters in international racing today.

Wally Parks, Robert (Bob) Petersen, and Bob Lindsay established Hot Rod magazine in 1947 in Los Angeles, CA, with Mr. Parks being its first editor. Mr. Parks also was responsible for the proposal to open the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah for speed trials in 1949 for land speed racing. To this day, several of the land speed racing meets are sanctioned and administered by the SCTA.

Mr. Parks used Hot Rod magazine to advocate and promote legal drag racing and built it into a mainstream culture and audience. In 1951, he formed the NHRA and became its first president.

Mr. Parks organized Safety Safaris through the NHRA, which traveled around the country to show how to conduct a safe and standardized drag meet. They also met with law enforcement and enlisted their cooperation to bring racing into a safe, legitimate, and controlled structure.

Today, the NHRA is second only to NASCAR in United States racing popularity.

After the war, Mr. Parks worked for General Motors (GM) as a road test driver and engineer until 1947. During that span, he became General Manager of the SCTA. He was president of the NHRA until 1984, when he elevated himself to the inagural position of Chairman of the Board. Mr. Parks was also the Founder and Chairman of the aptly-named Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at the Pomona Fairplex, in the City of Pomona, California.

Mr. Parks was drag racing's first inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992 at Talladega, Alabama., and the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993 at Novi, Michigan.

Within the NHRA itself, Mr. Parks was the first recipient of the Don Prudhomme Award in 1994, given to an individual who made a profound impact on the growth of NHRA drag racing.

In 1957, Parks drove his Plymouth Hot Rod Special to a speed record for closed-bodied cars at Daytona Beach, Florida during NASCAR's Speed Weeks.

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Awards

He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum in Novi, Michigan for American motorsports legends. ... The International Motorsports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame dedicated to enshrining those who have contributed the most to auto racing either as a driver, owner, developer or engineer. ...