Birth: June 5, 1914 – Death: June 20, 2010 | Birthplace: Dawsonville, GA

Raymond Parks was an unrivaled pioneer when it came to putting super swift cars onto racetracks. Born on June 5, 1914, He became the first major car owner, the moneyman and the ultimate sportsman in stock car racing. He was the leader of the original “Georgia Gang.” An original moonshine baron in Dawson County, GA, Parks began his journey as a race car owner at the urging of his cousins, Roy Hall and Lloyd Seay. He always came to win and he hired the best to help him, like mechanic Red Vogt and and drivers Hall, Seay, Red Byron, Bob and Fonty Flock and Bill France, Sr. Parks supplied the cars that won the first stock car race at Atlanta’s Lakewood Speedway. The same cars won several of the early races at Daytona Beach. Parks’ teams won all five races at Daytona in 1946. In 1948, his team won the first NASCAR sanctioned race. He owned the car that won the first two NASCAR championships. With Raymond Parks, everything was first class. The cars always had a showroom finish for every race and he never put a damaged car back on the track. No one contributed more to the birth of stock car racing. In 1995, he was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, and in 2009, was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. He passed away on June 20, 2010.