250px | |
Nationality | ![]() |
Born | 12 July 1914 |
Malvern, Pennsylvania, United States | |
Died | 13 November 1988 |
Huntsville, Alabama, United States | |
World Stock Car Championship | |
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8 races run over 1 season(s). | |
Rookie Season | 1951 |
Championships | 0 |
Pole Positions | 1 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Top 5s | 0 |
Top 10s | 3 |
Best Finish | 8th |
First Start | 1951 Round of Harrisburg |
Last Start | 1951 Round of Ohio |
WSCC Canon Driver |
James Randolph Parks (12 July 1914 - 13 November 1988) was an American stock car driver who was active in the World Stock Car Championship during the early 1950's.
Early Life and Career[edit | edit source]
Parks was born in Malvern, Pennsylvania on 12 July 1914; his father, Randolph Easton Parks, was a sailor in the U.S. Navy and was killed in action during World War I while Parks was still a boy. During the Great Depression, Parks supported his family by running moonshine; he would develop his abilities to tune a race car while trying to evade police attention. Parks attempted to enlist in the Navy during World War II, but failed the medical evaluation due to a health concern; he instead began working for a military contractor in Virginia.
When the war ended, Parks remained in Virginia for two years before returning to Pennsylvania; he brought with him a taste for the burgeoning stock car racing scene, and would enter races at many of the local dirt tracks that cropped up in the post-WWII boom.