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ST. PETERSBURG — Don Marks didn't do the slow lane. His
was the canary yellow Corvette whizzing through a daily
commute to the Polk County town of Mulberry, where for a
decade he was president and chief executive of W.S.
Badcock Corp. And that was his cautious driving.
After hours, Mr. Marks was a drag racing enthusiast —
two cars, side by side, on a quarter-mile strip. He'd
brag to his family that he got more "G's" in his Top
Dragster than any astronaut in a shuttle launch.
Mr. Marks, who lived in northeastern St. Petersburg,
died Saturday at age 62. He had a longtime goal: to race
fast enough to finish in "the five-second zone."
"His true passion was his racing. When he was not doing
it, he was preparing to do it," said Teena Marks, his
wife of 26 years. "He was reading about doing it, or he
was working on it, or he was watching it."
Drag racing offered a grownup alternative to the street
races that helped to pay for his college education at
UCLA. Even as a child, Mr. Marks enjoyed tinkering with
mechanical parts — clocks and radios, then car engines.
Racing also tapped the competitive nature that propelled
him into a succession of management roles at
household-name corporations, including Bank of America,
McDonald's, Taco Bell and Rent-A-Center.
He liked to win, even in family pool tournaments. "He
got really mad at you if you were on his team and you
led to him losing," said his daughter, Jamie Marks.
Yet Mr. Marks was also the family goofball. During a
formal birthday dinner, he received a pair of Monopoly
boxers from his daughter. He wore them over his dress
pants for the rest of the night.
Mr. Marks was the first person outside the Badcock
family to run the privately held company. He made sure
that employee birthdays were recognized, and each month
invited diverse groups to question him. "Those are the
things that leaders of Don Marks' caliber develop and
learn, and he brought that experience to Mulberry," said
Wogie Badcock, executive vice president of public
affairs.
Just over a year ago, Mr. Marks retired. Then doctors
found that he had late-stage kidney cancer.
This summer, he set out in his RV on a 8,100-mile trip
for a three-race series known as the Western Swing.
Family members joined along the way to help with chores
that had become painful. A hospital detour midway into
the journey could not keep Mr. Marks from finishing the
races in Denver, Seattle and California.
Mr. Marks' family tucked into his pockets the time
sheets from his memorable races, including the 2008
Snowbird Outlaw Nationals.
He was the runner-up that year, but it was his biggest
celebration. Going 231 mph, he crossed the finish line
in 5.97 seconds.
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