HEY, WILLIE! Don't forget Raymond Parks' role in getting NASCAR cranked to life
HEY, WILLIE!
I read with interest your recent article on the birth of NASCAR.
While the France family has long had a monopoly on who founded NASCAR, team owner Raymond Parks was also considered a founder and provided a lot of start-up cash to get things moving.
If you will check the book written by Neil Thompson called “Driving with the Devil,” you will get the proverbial rest of the story.
TIM S
HEY, TIM S!
If Big Bill France is largely credited for organizing the NASCAR world, Raymond Parks is remembered as the guy who classed up the joint.
Clean equipment, sparkling cars, and his own dapper appearance paved the way for others to clean off their boots, comb their hair and say, “we can be better.”
The article you mentioned, however, focused on the events of December, 1947, which served as the launchpad for Bill France as the head of NASCAR. Raymond Parks was at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach for those meetings, and would serve a big role in the earliest days of the sport.
He’s one of several of whom it could be said, “Not sure Big Bill could’ve done it without him.”
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR '23Buckle up, here comes 2023, and look what's ahead | KEN WILLIS
NASCAR10 drivers most likely to make 2023 playoffs that didn't in 2022 | RYAN PRITT
HEY, WILLIE!
Perhaps your editor needs to use that FishVerify app you wrote about. The picture with the article was of a redfish, not a snook.
PHIL
HEY, PHIL!
At least you blamed an editor and not me. Thanks for that. A few others gleefully pointed out that I apparently don’t know the difference between two very different-looking fish.
Turns out, the photo caption in the Dec. 23 fishing report was abbreviated during the print layout phase and appeared to show the world’s only snook that traded its racing stripe for a big spot on its tail.
That’s show business, you know.
The FishVerify app is amazing, by the way. From what I'm told, of course. If I ever (and I mean EVER!) catch another fish, I'm gonna test it myself.
HEY, WILLIE!
When the college football playoffs expand, how long before the rest of the bowl schedule dries up?
With so many star players electing not to play in their school’s bowl game, what’s the point? Who will pay for tickets to see second-stringers? Who will watch?
When players sign with a college out of high school, isn’t that a form of contract that states they will be prepared to play every game on the schedule?
DOUG
HEY, DOUG!
You’re asking the guy who paid to join a sold-out crowd at last week’s Gator Bowl. Granted, many bowl games were played before nearly empty stadiums and watched only by those with the most basic cable (and marital issues, I’m guessing).
Many of us, I trust, are unhappy with the current landscape and how things have trended toward chaotic. Hopefully, common-sense equilibrium will be found, but with so many constituencies to appease, it won't be easy.
As long as bowl organizers are willing to play hosts, and as long as TV is willing to pay for the broadcast rights, there will be bowl games and, frankly, I hope that lasts forever.
Also (and maybe we should’ve led with this), don’t forget the gambling aspect. The wagering devotees — hardcore and casual alike — won't be turned off by losing players to the transfer portal or the opt-out ramp. Not when there's money to be won!
As long as there’s gambling at Rick’s Cafe, there will be ballgames, and the more the merrier.
HEY, WILLIE!
I haven’t seen your column lately. Did you retire?
If so, all the best.
TIM F
HEY, TIM F!
To quote grandpa’s not-so-secret crush, Peggy Lee: “Is that all there is?”
A guy takes a week off. One week! And ol’ Tim here figures he must be gone for good, so he rummages through his trove of sentimentality and offers, “all the best.”
I realize the days of a gold watch are long gone. In today’s disposable world, even a party platter and 30-minute Friday afternoon set-aside might be too much to ask.
But “all the best”? I thought we had more than that.
As they say at the biggest ceremonies, I am humbled. Only in a different way.
Oh well, as Peggy closed, if that’s all there is, let’s keep dancing, let’s break out the booze and have a ball.
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR pioneers, college bowls, snook and happy trails! | HEY, WILLIE!
