My dear friend Dick Wells sent me the following earlier this evening: 

“I'm sorry to report that Wally Parks passed away this evening. Wally had been struggling with a cracked hip bone and during hospitalization developed heart problems and came down with pneumonia. He passed peacefully shortly past 7 p.m. this evening. No plans have as yet been announced for a memorial service, but information will likely be carried on nhra.com and in National Dragster.” 

We have lost a giant motorsports statesman, the likes of which will not be seen anytime soon again. Pioneers with visionary conviction are hard to come by.  

I did notice how frail Wally was at the Winternationals and made it a point to sit and talk with him much longer than normal. From his response to my conversation I could tell he enjoyed the talk immensely – and it all about dry lakes racing. It was a bit surreal because we were chatting away trading historical notes and details halting only momentarily as the pro cars blasted off the line in the semi-finals. We had the best seats in the house for the drags but spoke of nothing but Bonneville and the dry lakes. I knew where the guy’s heart was.

 Speedy Regards,"LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth

Member: Board of Directors/Motor Press Guild, American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters,
Society of Automotive Historians, Western Automotive Journalists