Wally Parks was an automobile writer and hobbyist, and editor of the magazine "Hot Rod", in the late 1940s and 1950s. As editor he began to promote safety in organization of drag racing, both in the magazine and by organizing "safety safaris" which taught drag racing organization and safety at several tracks around the country.

He helped to found the National Hot Rod Association, the largest drag racing sanctioning body, and became its head for several decades after leaving the magazine business.