ATLANTA (AP) — Raymond Parks, owner of NASCAR’s first championship winning car and an integral part of the series’ formation, has died. He was 96.
NASCAR said Parks passed away at his home Sunday morning in Atlanta. He had attended a reception May 20 for the induction of the inaugural Hall of Fame class, and NASCAR president Mike Helton says he is glad the industry had that opportunity to mingle with Parks.
Parks was the last living member of the group of men who created NASCAR in 1947 during a meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Parks was one of NASCAR’s earliest team owners, and he fielded the car Red Byron drove to the inaugural Cup Series championship in 1949.
