Raymond Parks (June 5, 1914 – June 20, 2010) was an American stock car racing team owner. He was the owner of

Red Byron Robert Nold "Red" Byron (March 12, 1915 – November 11, 1960) was an American stock car racing driver, who was successful in NASCAR competition in the sanctioning body's first years. He was NASCAR's first Modified champion (and its first c ...

's car which won the inaugural

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Strictly Stock Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

championship in 1949. Parks was announced as one of the members of the 2017

NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame and Museum located in Charlotte, North Carolina that honors NASCAR and its history. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs ...

class.

Background

Parks was the first child of Alfred and Leila Parks and great-great-nephew of settler Benny Parks, who found gold in the state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the early nineteenth century. Born in

Dawsonville, Georgia Dawsonville is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Georgia, Dawson County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 3,720 in 2020. Dawsonville is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan ...

, on June 5, 1914, Raymond was the oldest of his father's sixteen children, six of whom were born to Leila, and ten of whom were born to Leila's sister, Ila. Parks left home at age 14 and began hauling moonshine. He served nine months of a one-year and one-day sentence in the federal penitentiary in Chillicothe, Ohio, from 1936 to 1937. Parks served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

during the famous

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He served in the

99th Infantry Division The 99th Infantry Division briefly existed, but never deployed, in the closing days of World War I, was reconstituted as a reserve unit in 1921, was ordered into active military service in 1942, and deployed overseas in 1944. The 99th landed at ...

and was briefly stationed at

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

. Parks bought a new tripple-white Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz in 1979 and owned it until his death in 2010.

Racing career

Most famous for being a

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

runner who helped to start NASCAR, he is recognized as the first "team" owner in stock car racing. Prior to the founding of

, Parks was the car owner for moonshine runner and nephews

Lloyd Seay Carl D. "Lightning" Lloyd Seay (December 14, 1919 – September 2, 1941) was an early stock car racing driver from Dawsonville Georgia. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. described Seay as the "best pure race driver I ever saw". He was shot to de ...

and Roy Hall as far back as 1938. In 1948–1949, with

as the driver Parks's cars won the first two

Championships ever awarded; the Modified class in 1948, and the above-mentioned championship in 1949.

Death

Parks died on June 20, 2010, at the age of 96. Parks was the last living member of the group who created

during a meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1947.

Awards

He was one of eight drivers inducted in the first class of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2002, along with his cousin

, Byron,

Tim Flock Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two-time NASCAR series champion. His brothers Bob and Fonty Flock also raced in NASCAR, as did his sister Ethel Mobley, NASCAR's second female d ...

, and

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Superstar Racing Experienc ...

. He was inducted in the

International Motorsports Hall of Fame The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, Alabama, Talladeg ...

in 2009. Parks was inducted into the

as a member of the class of 2017.

References

External links

*
Raymond Parks, Nascar Pioneer, Dies at 96, The New York Times, 21 June 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Raymond 1914 births 2010 deaths People from Dawsonville, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area NASCAR team owners NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees