NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominees: Richard Petty, David Pearson, and...?

3.  Raymond Parks.  Raymond Parks was the car owner of the first Strictly Stock [now “Cup”] series champion. Parks entered six of the eight races in that first year of 1949 with Red Byron and won two races. (Parks also had two other entries in 1949, one each for Bob Flock and Roy Hall, who was one of the top short trackers of the Atlanta area.) This gave Parks and Byron their second straight championship in NASCAR after becoming the first champions in NASCAR history, after taking the sanctioning body’s Modified Championship in 1948. More importantly, Parks introduced professionalism with the appearance of his cars and drivers. Parks’ cars won many races on the short tracks and he kept all the trophies his cars won, for an impressive collection. This collection of trophies would be a great addition to any Hall of Fame, but from the interviews of Mr. Parks I’ve read, I suspect he has no inclination to donate them to anything NASCAR does. (And I don’t blame him.) Parks’ involvement in the bootleg trade (and who wasn’t in those days of racing?) may keep him from any consideration as one of the first important owners in the sport. That, and the fact that Parks’ cars ran only 10 races after the 1949 season (four each in 1950 and 1955 and two in 1954) in the “Cup” series may also keep Raymond Parks out of consideration. [I believe that Mr. Parks is still alive and what a great thing for the sport, to have one of those who was “there at the beginning” to give their perspective!]

4.  Wood Brothers. This team’s first effort dates back to 1953, and their last two wins were in 1993 and 2001 (one each year). They still compete today; but their best days were from 1972 to 1978, the first seven years of the so-called “Modern Era.” During those seven years, David Pearson entered 148 races with 40 wins, out of the 209 races run during those years. Also, Pearson had 50 poles from 1972 to 1978 for the Wood Brothers. Add the two wins in six starts for AJ Foyt (plus three poles) in 1972, and many top 5/10 finishes, and you can see why they were the team to beat.

     The Wood Brothers were the first team to realize the importance of quick pit stops. In fact, Ford took the team to Indianapolis in 1964 to pit for Jimmy Clark’s Lotus-Ford. They were very successful in knocking seconds off the pit stop times and the Indy crowd noticed, and Colin Chapman took the idea to Formula One.

5.   Rick Hendrick

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