When more than 500,000 car enthusiasts roll into San Bernardino for the
18th annual Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous, it’ll be only natural
to think of Wally and Barbara Parks. After all, Wally founded NHRA – now the
governing body of the world’s largest motorsport – and the two nurtured the
sport together, making drag racing one of the most popular spectator sports in
the country today.
For that reason and many others, Wally Parks and
his late wife will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the
Cruisin’ Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Brunch presented by The Gas
Company, at 9:30 a.m. on September 15 at the Hilton Hotel San Bernardino, 285
East Hospitality Lane, San Bernardino, Calif.
Accepting the award on the couple’s behalf will
be Dick Wells, member, Board of Directors, NHRA.
“I am particularly pleased (to receive this
honor), as it was in following the planned route of 66, in the 1920s, that I
came to California from Kansas with my parents, in a Model-T Ford,” Wally Parks
said. “I have always had an affection for Route 66 since then – that and the
fact that our NHRA headquarters are within a stone’s throw of 66, and our
National Dragster publication’s offices are right on it. I am proud to accept
this Lifetime Achievement award at such an important venue for true automotive
enthusiasts.”