2007 LIFETIME ACHIEVMENT HONOREES,
WALLY AND BARBARA PARKS

Wally Parks established the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) in the early ‘50s. The NHRA proved to be an effective means of getting rodders off the streets and into arenas where the environment was controlled and safety issues and training could be addressed.

Almost from the beginning, local car clubs from coast to coast were invited to join the NHRA and to actively participate by holding organized speed events in their hometowns. Hot-rodding and customizing cars were not popular activities during this time - especially among law enforcement agencies and city fathers. Parks met with these groups to address any safety issues that they might have and to explain the purpose of the NHRA.

Members of the NHRA, chosen by Parks, traveled cross-country in what first became known as the Drag Safari and then the Safety Safari. A ’54 Dodge station wagon towed a Viking trailer with all the equipment needed to put together a drag race event. Parks, as editor of Hot Rod Magazine, wisely used the pages of that young magazine to get the word out about the NHRA.

Through it all, Parks’ wife, Barbara, was there to support her husband and do her part in making the NHRA successful. As a testament to his dedication to motorsports, the National Hot Rod Museum in Pomona, CA, bears his name.