I was attracted to the sport of landspeed racing because its very nature isrooted in the freedom of unencum-bered thinking, experimentation anddaring. I remained intrigued becausethe vast majority of people whoachieve repeatedsuccess and startlingspeeds do so from apassion powerbasetempered by com-mon sense andmade manifest bypractical technicalsmarts. In short, it’sanyone’s game.

Wally Parksknew that was truedecades ago. Mostfolks recognize thespry and spunky 92year old as thefounder and execu-tive shepherd of theNational Hot RodAssociation (NHRA),but don’t realize hisspeedy roots gowaaaaaayyyy back tothe wild, untamedearly days whenAmerican high per-formance waspercolating up andout of youthfuldreamers. Wallyinvited me to brunch at the NHRAMuseum in Pomona, California andwe hit upon the idea of sharing someof his recollections with land speedersof today (and hopefully, tomorrow!).Fill up that coffee cup, or go get a cold

one, its pitside chat time with Wally. Of the three southern California

dirt tracks - Muroc, Harpers, El Mirage- I wondered which held the mostmemorable delights for Parks. Hisanswer made me realize just what a

pioneer the fellow is – drag racingnotwithstanding. “Without question,Muroc ranks first among my ownmemories of dry lake activities, as itwas the first such event I had attend-ed, in 1932,” revealed Parks, “ Igained my first time tag in ‘33 drivingmy 1925 Chevy-4 cabriolet at 82.19mph. After Muroc we ran at Rosa-mond, Harper and El Mirage dry lakes,each one of which produced its shareof fast action and legends.”

Back then, for Parks to run 82clicks and change was a big thing.Think about that the next time yousee a ’25 Chevy, if you even knowwhat one looks like. Today, Rosamondand Harper are only memories. Murocis locked up behind the secure gates ofEdward’s Air Force Base. Only ElMirage continues to host time trials –just as it has for more than 80 years.

What about the salt? Could hereach back, recall what overwhelmedhim most the first time he wanderedout onto the crystalline pancake?Everyone is awestruck by its majesty

and size, but I knew he had gone upto Utah in hopes of rescuing landspeed racing. The hot rodders weregetting faster and rapidly outgrowingthe “dinky” dirt acreage. SCTA knew itneeded another venue to keep interestpiqued.

“My first visit to the Bonnevillesalt flats was in 1948, where the AAAwas conducting land speed runs forFIA world records recognition. Mostoverwhelming was the contrastbetween Bonneville’s smooth salt sur-face and vast spaciousness, ascompared with the California desert’sdry lakebeds where we had been run-ning our hot rod cars since the 1930s”explained Parks.

Remember, this was at a time inour national psyche when hot rodderswere dismissed as little more thanannoying nuisances and some Ameri-can car dealers refused to sell parts tothem, so it was no easy job to earnrespectability for land speed racers.

“A purpose of my being there wasto determine whether there was achance that the SCTA might gainaccess to the salt for conducting oneof its speed trials events,” recountedParks, “ After contacting Bonneville’s

Utah custodian of the salt, the SaltLake City Chamber of Commerce, wewere able to gain permission for a“one time trial” venture, whichresulted in SCTA’s presentation of itsBonneville Nationals in 1949 - anevent that has continued to gain inpopularity every year since. As driverof the Burke & Francisco belly tanklakester at the initial event, I hadthe first spin-out on the race course,thus confirming the salt’s added safe-ty over desert dirt.”

That’s right, the SCTA was toldthey could run only ONE event and ifthe participants didn’t behave them-selves the salt would not be madeavailable to them again. The SLCChamber had an iron-grip on saltaccess at the time, the current custodi-an, the BLM, did not even exist yet.On a lighter note, it is amusing thatParks was the charter member of the“spin-out” club. Now there’s a Jeop-ardy question for you. Thousandsconsider Parks a hero in his own right

for his indefatigable attention togrowing the sport of drag racing, but Iwondered what spun his crank, whowere his heroes, the speedsters headmired and what ripples of theiractions still exist today. He offered upfolks across the years:

“My dry lake and salt flat heroeswere many - starting with early ‘30sracers at Muroc and continuingthrough later salt flats years. Buildersand racers of stripped T-bodied, flat-head 4-cylinder roadsters, withimprovised homemade speed equip-ment were among the first, while lateryears introduced new innovations incylinder heads, cams and carb setups.Some of the early names includedFrankie Lyons, Johnny Junkin, ErnieMcAfee, Bill Warth, Carl Orr, VicEdelbrock and of course, Bob Rufi andStu Hilborn, plus the Summers Broth-ers and Al Teague, magicians of morerecent years.

Both the dry lakes and salt flatstime trials have produced countlessheroes. Much of today’s equipmentused and marketed in the perfor-mance fields had its roots planted indry lakes activities. Ed Winfield, withhis camshafts, carburetors and cylin-

der heads, wasamong the firstand most promi-nent. Edelbrock,Evans, Meyer,Weiand, Navarro,Offenhauser andothers producedintake manifoldsand aluminumcylinder heads,Harman-Collins,Spalding and KongJackson were igni-tion gurus, whileIskenderian was inthe forefront as agrassroots camgrinder, Schieferand Weber fly-wheels andclutches dominat-ed. Speed shopslike Lee Chappel’s,Bell Auto Parts,Karl Orr’s and So-Cal were earlyoutlets, and hang-outs, for membersof the fast growinghot rod fraternity.

All these and many more can be cred-ited for many of the majoradvancements that originated in drylakes and salt flats performances,before drag racing.”

Long before Parks ran the NHRA,he was “tuned up” for the job as theSCTA’s first elected post-WWII presi-dent, a job that was more work thanfun. “Among the toughest hurdlesSCTA had to tackle was overcoming abad image of illegal street racing bylocal media’s condemnation of all hotrods,” noted Parks, “That reflectedagainst the association and its mem-ber clubs. To counter, we organizedthe first public Hot Rod Show, pre-sented in the Los Angeles Armory - asa public-relations effort that alsoserved as Hot Rod Magazine’s launchpad. Some other problems were in pla-cating area residents around the drylakes, where unruly weekend anticswere reflected against SCTA’s orga-nized events.”

Parks had lots of help. The sport

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Fuel For Thoughtwith “Landspeed Louise” Ann Noeth

Speedy Thoughts fromWally Parks

September 200514

On display at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum are some of the most legendary record-setting land speedracecars in history. In the display case behind the cars are various memorabilia of land speed racing.

Goodguys Goodtimes Gazette 15

was, and still is, populated by folksdetermined to shepherd the hot rod-der into better and faster cars. Unlikethe corporate world where big salariesattract the best and brightest, in landspeed racing volunteers dominate.They bring with thempassion, something thatmoney will never buy.Did he have any ideawhy folks like to go fast?I asked him why hethought the sport hasnot simply survived, butthrived.

“Land speed racinghas prospered because ithas always been one ofthe most dedicated autosports in existence. Itsparticipants and officialshave maintained alabor-of-love conceptthat overrides attemptsto commercialize—andwhere record-settingsare the prime rewards,”he sagely observed, “Ithas always been one ofthe most challengingand exciting forms ofmotorsports competi-tion. It allows veterans andnewcomers to compete against theclock in its myriad classes of straight-line action, where nothing reallybecomes obsolete. The feel and thrillof chasing a single black line to itsextremity, headed for a floatingmountain in the distance and thenturning out to await one’s results inmiles per hour - it’s hard to match!Max speed achievement has alwaysbeen a measure of skill and efficiency,almost as much as winning races.With recorded speeds as targets to beconquered, land, water and air con-tests aimed at official recognition, orjust bragging rights, are goals foradventurers.”

Parks has “been there, done that”

for so long in the sport, that I thoughthe might have an opinion what thebiggest specter facing the sport mightbe. A speed thinker to the core, henailed it straight away. “In my opin-ion, one of the biggest problems land

speed racing faces today is the provi-sion of tires that are capable of today’s400+ mph potentials,” he said, “ It haslong been a problem, due in part to alimited number of potential users -but the prospects are now lookingbetter.”

OK, but what about the folks whoare supposed to observe, record andcertify world records? The FIA’s shab-by treatment of Americanrecord-breaking hopeful who risk theirvery lives is well known. Still, theFrench group is a powerful force. DidParks believe a BNI World Record iscomparable to an FIA World Record?“World land speed records, today, areno longer ‘International’ - not sincethe years when governments, likeGreat Britain, helped to underwritethe high costs for official FIAattempts,” he explained, “With so fewvenues in the world, other than Bon-neville, that are suited for modernland speed contests, World records areof little value or interest to today’sFIA. As the most experienced authori-ty for conducting, timing andverifying land speed records, theSCTA and its BNI arm are well quali-fied and equipped to establishrecognizable world performancemarks.”

It’s saying something when youmeet someone who can stay passion-ate, effective and vital for as manydecades as Wally Parks; he’s seen anddone some great things, experiencedsome awful heartbreak shepherdingspeed along a dignified, albeit cir-cuitous route. I finished up our timeby asking if he had any advice for theyoung speedsters who are just nowfinding their way to halls of horse-power. He did not disappoint.

“Today’s ‘young speeders’ are lit-tle different than we were at their age- except that their cars, fresh off theshowroom floor, have much more inpower and maneuverability than mostof our early hot rods. The same urgeis there, to ‘try it out’ somewhere. Buttoday’s traffic, unlike isolated roadsor the dry lakes, is a formidable sub-stitute. The challenges may be thesame, but safe facilities are too few -

except for those fortunate in havingdrag strips that can accommodate go-fast ambitions and energies. Mostdrag strips today offer ‘Street Legal’classes, supported by law enforce-ment, to help discourage illegal street

racing. It’s a farcry from thedesert time tri-als of the1930s, but itcan offer somesame satisfac-tion in results.”

Parks didmore thanbench racewhen he passedthe NHRAtorch, he spear-headed apreservationeffort thattoday stands toprotect the pastachievementsof not only thedrag racingcrowd, but alsochronicles oth-er forms ofmotorsports,

including a healthy, rotating exhibitof land speed racing vehicles andmemorabilia. In 1998 the NHRAMotorsports Museum opened to thepublic after years of planning andmonths of hard work cataloging andarranging exhibits. When Parkscleared his 90th timing light, themuseum honored him by adding hisname to the museum title.

The 28,500-square-foot buildingon the edge of California’s historic LosAngeles County Fairplex, celebratesthe impact of motorsports on our cul-ture by collecting, preserving,exhibiting and interpreting the vehi-cles, stories, and artifacts thatrepresent the affection for, and theinfluence of, automotive speed andstyle in all its forms. This is certainlythe place to view and learn about hotrods, customs, racecars and speedrecords. It is special to note that everyperson who volunteers, or serves onstaff, is a true blue motor head, so weare assured of their commitment toexcellence. The museum is open year-round, Wednesday through Sunday,from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except Easter,Thanksgiving, and Christmas), fea-tures an impressive array of vintage

and historical racing vehicles alongwith photographs, trophies, helmetsand driving uniforms, artifacts, paint-ings, and other memorabiliachronicling more than 50 years ofAmerican motorsports.

In June, the museum kicked offits “Winner’s Circle” endowment pro-gram. The idea is to inspire a tightgroup of members who have benefitedtremendously from the motorsportsindustry to give something back andin doing so have their legacy accurate-ly represented.

“We’re comfortable with our abil-ity to handle daily operations, butnow we’d want to gather resources totake the museum to the next level,”explained Sam Jackson, ExecutiveDirector of the Wally Parks NHRAMotorsports Museum, “We want theability to reach out and develop spe-cial programs and exhibits.”

Those exhibits still cost moneyand range from $10,000 to $50,000each; a big chunk pays for transport-ing vehicles. When the museum sentseven cars back to Indy for the 50thanniversary, the tab was $15,000 evenafter Reliable Trucking discounted thecost by half-price. In October 2005,the museum will present a new dirttrack roadster exhibit in a full-blownactual dirt-based diorama on a bare-bones budget.

“Our history started on the dirt,went to the salt and then the quarter-mile,” concluded Jackson, “Althoughit has only just begun, response to theWinner’s Circle has been very strongand the goal is to have an annualendowment of at least $125,000 tofund special exhibits.”

In today’s mega-buck economy,that amount seems paltry, perhapseven shortsighted. However, I find itrefreshing that Wally and crew arerealistic about what they want to doand I hope the campaign nets themtwice their target so they can afford tooffer an exhibit of historical LSR vehi-cles gathered from around the nation.That would be stupendous.

Land speed racers know all aboutdoing great things on tight budgetsand I venture a guess that scarcity ofmoney keeps racers humble, focusedand hungry to always do their bestwith what little is available. It is why Irevel in their company and hope theirpassion never wanes. There’s a geniusin the speed and wonder in the deed.

Louise

Former SCTA president Wally Parksstands on Bonneville’s famous longblack line.

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Doubtless few who attend the historic event recognized the grey-haired gentwho humbly came before the custodians of the salt, the Salt Lake CityChamber of Commerce a half century prior seeking to stage the first Bon-neville Nationals Speedweek.