message to the media - NHRA.com

NHRA PRO MOD DRAG RACING SERIES
At the 2001 NHRA Awards Ceremony, Parks was presented the prestigious Blaine Johnson Award
for his dedication, perseverance and nurturing commitment to the sport over the years.
In 2002, Parks again was recognized for his many contributions to the sport of drag racing. He was
presented with the inaugural Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth annual
Hot Rod & Performance Trade Show in Indianapolis. Petersen, a renowned automotive publisher
and creator of multiple automotive magazines, presented Parks with the all-bronze sculpture which
was created to honor the entrepreneurs who have contributed to the history, growth and well-being
of the hot rod industry.
In late 2003, Parks received another honor of distinction when he was named the Dean Batchelor
Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Motor Press Guild in Los Angeles.
During his final days, Parks was active on NHRA’s board of directors and dedicated much of his
time to his personal involvement with the cultivation and expansion of the Wally Parks NHRA
Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona. Although much of the museum’s historical focus is
on the evolution of NHRA and drag racing, it also features many other forms of motorsports that
relate closely to the formative years of NHRA, including dry lakes, Bonneville, oval track racing
and allied performance industries.
Those are elements that appealed most to Wally Parks, a guy who had been there, done that and
enjoyed and appreciated it for decades.
DALLAS GARDNER
NHRA Chairman of the Board
Although he was exposed to drag racing briefly as executive vice
president of Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway (OMS), Dallas Gardner’s
experience in a variety of other professional sports has served him well
since joining NHRA in 1973. With his extensive corporate and sports
administration background, he has helped mold NHRA into one of the
most recognizable and respected organizations in the industry.
Upon graduation from California Polytechnical College, where he
earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting and business
administration, Gardner worked for three years for Arthur Young & Co., a national accounting firm.
After a year on special assignment as a management consultant for Arthur Young, Gardner left
the company to begin his long and distinguished career in sports administration. Gardner joined
California Sports Inc. as controller of the sports operation that included the Los Angeles Lakers
basketball team, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, ice shows, concerts and other special events.
That company later built the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Following a two-year stint as controller, Gardner served as director of ticket operations with
responsibility for all Forum ticketing.
In 1969, he joined the OMS management team as controller and director of ticket operations.
Later, as executive vice president, he was involved with event promotions, advertising, facility
operations and ticketing.
Gardner joined NHRA as treasurer in 1973. He began serving as vice president and general
manager in 1978, and on Jan. 1, 1984, he was promoted to NHRA president. Gardner spent
15 years as president before accepting his current position as chairman of the board beginning
Jan. 1, 2000. At the 1999 NHRA Awards Ceremony at the Cerritos Center for Performing Arts,
Gardner was honored in a video tribute by NHRA’s founder Wally Parks and was then presented the
prestigious Don Prudhomme Award for his effective tenure as the leader of the sanctioning body
over the last two decades. Gardner also was presented a special award of recognition for his many
years of dedicated service from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco’s Sports Marketing Enterprises.
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