Legendary Car Owner Raymond Parks Attends 51st Daytona 500

NASCAR President Mike Helton (left) and NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France (right) flank Raymond Parks, the first owner to win a championship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Over half a century after his cars and drivers raced their way into history, former NASCAR team owner Raymond Parks returned to the track for Sunday's 51st Daytona 500.

Parks, who celebrates his 95th birthday in 2009, attended the pre-race drivers meeting. He also participated in several photos with NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and NASCAR President Mike Helton, plus another photo with one of his historic race cars – a black 1939 Ford Coupe on display in Daytona International Speedway's Sprint FANZONE.

A Dawson County, Georgia native, Parks is one of stock-car racing's earliest – and most successful – team owners. NASCAR founder Bill France drove for him and his cars were considered among the best of their time.

"Raymond Parks is one of the nicest men the sport has ever known," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president for corporate communications. "He's a true southern gentleman, and he supported the sport long before NASCAR was a household word."

Funded by successful business and real estate ventures in Atlanta, Park began his career as a stock-car owner in 1938 with drivers Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall.

His pairing with another Atlantan, mechanic Red Vogt, produced equipment good enough to dominate the sport throughout much of the 1940s. Driver Red Byron won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title in 1949 in a Parks-owned car.

Parks retired from racing in 1952.