NASCAR Hall Of Fame Profile: Raymond Parks

RAYMOND PARKS – Owner (b. 6/5/14 – d. 6/20/10)

Hometown: Dawson County, Ga.

Competed: 1949-55
Starts: 18
Wins: 2
Poles: 2

Raymond Parks is one of stock-car racing’s earliest – and most successful – team owners.  

Funded by successful business and real estate ventures in Atlanta, Parks began his career as a stock-car owner in 1938 with drivers Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall.  

His pairing with another Atlantan, mechanic Red Vogt, produced equipment good enough to dominate the sport in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Red Byron won the first NASCAR premier series title in 1949 in a Parks-owned car.

Though Parks’ team competed for only four seasons – 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1955 – his place in NASCAR history is secure. Parks’ team produced two wins, two poles, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s in 18 events. Drivers Red Byron, Bob Flock and Roy Hall drove his cars during the 1949 season. Byron drove for him again in 1950. Fonty Flock drove for Parks in 1954, and Curtis Turner drove for him in 1955. 

Parks retired from racing in the mid-1950s.  

This is the latest in a series of GodfatherMotorsports.com biographies profiling the 25 nominees for the 2012 class of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame. Each of the 25 candidates will be profiled in the coming weeks, in alphabetical order.