President's Corner: By Jim Miller
  Well I'm off to Bonneville tomorrow morning at the unGodly hour of 3 AM to soak in more land speed history
  so I'll keep it short.  If you didn't go to the Gas Up you really missed something.  Seeing your friends inducted
  into the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame makes you want to cry.  To me the most touching part was seeing and hearing
  Julian Doty talk about the Baldwin and Sommerfeld shop in Hollywood as a tribute to his newly inducted friends
  from over 60 years ago.  Mrs. Sommerfeld was even there and what a nice lady she is.  For those who don't
  know, the boys and their car were two-time S.C.T.A. Champions.  I thought it would only be fitting to show a
  picture of their lakester taken on the great white dyno in 1953.  A Model B block fitted with a Riley four-port
  head propelled the car to 150.00 mph.  The mystery photo from last week is the Duesenberg "Double Duesey"
  under construction in 1919.  On April 27, 1920 at Daytona the car set a record but didn't when it ran 155.343
  in the kilo and 156.047 in the mile (no FIA recognition).  Tommy Milton drove the twin-engined car.  It was
  tested before the record on the beach by his former riding mechanic Jimmy Murphy and it's claimed he drove it
  faster than Milton who was in Cuba at the time enjoying himself.  Chew on this for a minute.  The combined
  horsepower for both straight-8 engines was 184 at 3,800 rpm.  The speed is really incredible when you think
  of the junk gas and tires they had then.  In the future I'll share some Frank Lockhart "Stutz Blackhawk" pictures
  taken at Daytona with you.   (Photo enclosed)

Editor's notes: The Newsletter is being sent out a day early due to technical problems.  Due to the volume of

  email, a second edition for this week will go out on Friday.

1) Dear Friends and Family: My brother David and I want to thank you for your emails, letters and phone calls re-

  garding our father's passing.  We visited him on September 23 and he was ready to come home, but an infection

  developed.  David and Marilyn saw him on Thursday, September 27 and he was in critical condition. On Friday,

  September 28, around 7 pm, he passed away in the presence of about 18 of his family and friends.  It happened

  so suddenly that we were unable to send out word except by the www.NHRA.com website.  My Dad, brother

  and I were nearly finished with his book on the origins of the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) and

  after that he was going to finish his memoirs.  Our loss is also a great loss for all those who knew and loved him

  and looked up to him for guidance and wisdom.  Plans to honor him are being formed by the NHRA, family and

  friends.  We look forward to knowing more about him through your memories of him. My brother and I hope to

  complete his life story, though we know it will never match the story that he wanted to leave to us all.  Since his

  lifelong goal in life was to perpetuate safety in racing and to get young people to use safe racetracks and stop

  street racing, that is the way to honor his memory.  In lieu of flowers, if you wish, you can send a donation to the

  Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and support the museum, whose goals are to foster the ideals for

  which he dedicated his life. Thank you again for your love and support at this time. Our thanks to you all for your

  kind words and concern.  Richard and David Parks and our families 

Editor's notes: Tributes received for the recent passing of Wally Parks, past president and secretary of the SCTA.