David Parks, 48, married to a generally understanding wife (Barbara), 2
daughters (15 & 10).
Former foreign car mechanic, piping designer, construction inspector, and a
few other weird jobs I had as a 'kid'.
Now an engineer (Civil, work for an environmental engineering company).
Exposed to the dry lakes and drags at an early age, my racing efforts
started with my first car, a 1965 chevelle. 327, TH350. Drove it to the
race, opened up the headers, changed tires and ran it. It went 137 mph at El
Mirage and 146 mph at Bonneville in 1977, which seemed pretty good to me for
a "streeter". Then I took a few years off from racing (like 10).
Have some friends that were racing at the dry lakes, and I decided to come
back out and try it again in the early 90's. Raced my truck for a while with
less than impressive results, and then I bought a 79 camaro (no engine or
trans of course). Ran it with a 302 and a single holley for several years
and made countless runs between 145 and 152 mph. That was about all that
combination was ever going to do. But as luck would have it, I was "adopted"
by Ak Miller, who decided to see what he could do with some turbochargers.
After several versions of that setup, the camaro started running real well
and set records over 200 at Bonneville, Muroc, and El Mirage. It's truly
amazing what a little help can do. Anyway, I have "retired" the camaro after
this years May El Mirage meet. It seemed like a perfect "last run" to
remember because I managed to break one of my own records by the smallest
possible margin (.001 mph). It was just getting to be too much work for one
person. And, I want to spend more time with my daughters before they grow up
and leave. Boy does that happen fast! I'm having a lot of fun at the dry
lakes now that I don't have to be working on the car all the time. I
actually get to watch some of the races and visit with a few people now.
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