Nascar Pioneer, Raymond Park Dies At 96

By Rose Scott

Atlanta, GA – The last living founding member of the NASCAR pioneers has died.

A Georgia native, Raymond Parks was the racing sport's first owner.

Parks legacy is tied to a southern era that early on defined NASCAR.

WABE's Rose Scott reports:

What you see in today's NASCAR is completely different from Raymond Parks era as Neal Thompson explains, “back then it was this hard scrabble home made sport Raymond was a moonshiner.”

Neal Thompson spent a lot of time interviewing Parks and other NASCAR legends for his 2008, book, Driving With the Devil.

It details how stock car racing grew out of moonshiners who literally would outrun the law through the back roads of states like Georgia.

Thompson says Raymond turned his interest to cars and money from moonshining into supporting the sport of stock car racing.

Buz McKim is the historian with the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

He says despite how Parks got started, once he became a legitimate business owner, he focused on operating an elite racing team.

McKim says Parks didn't mind putting into the equipment, the best cars, the best mechanic in Red Voght and the best drivers

McKim thinks a lot is owed to Raymond Parks and his contributions to the beginnings of what now is a billion dollar entity.

Rose Scott, WABE news.