Wally and Barbara Parks
Like drag racing itself, Wally Parks is a product of the California dry lakes. In 1937, he helped form the Southern California Timing Association, becoming SCTA president in 1946. A year later, he teamed with Robert Petersen to present history’s first hot rod show. It was during this LA Hot Rod Exposition that the two men discuss creating a magazine for hot rodders. In 1949, Parks quit SCTA to become the second editor of Hot Rod Magazine. In 1951, he cofounded the NHRA, which began sanctioning drag races in 1953. From 1954 through 1956, Wally dispatched NHRA’s Safety Safari to all points of the United States educating hot rodders and nervous civic leaders about the benefits of organized drag racing. Wally remained with Peterson Publishing Company, where he met his future wife Barbara, until 1963. Wally simultaneously built Hot Rod next into the world’s largest automotive publication and the NHRA into the world’s biggest auto racing organization. He also edited the weekly National Dragster and authored a 1966 book, Drag Racing Yesterday and Today. More than four decades after founding NHRA, he continued to serve the organization as Chairman of the Board. Wally and Barber Parks are the best ambassadors that drag racing has ever had.