Biography
Although the educational focus of Ray’s studies at USC were
in electrical engineering, his knowledge of things mechanical, and specifically
his interest in performance cars, enabled him to serve with efficiency
as an associate editor, research editor, technical editor and eventually
publisher of Hot Rod magazine. He was with Wally Parks on Daytona Beach in 1957
when Wally drove the “Suddenly” Plymouth project car into the record books. He
took hot laps around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1967 Camaro that
paced the Indy 500. He helped Mickey Thompson set speed records at Bonneville
in a modified 1969 Mustang Mach 1. He covered the Pikes Peak Hill Climb more
times than we can count. Ray also did Baja racing, Bashes Rally in Australia
and other races as well as acted as judge at concours d’ elegance, including
Pebble Beach. He was involved with starting the SEMA Show and in helping to
form the National Street Rod Association.