Gary Beck & Ray Peets
Motorsport Team- Special Legends Class of 2025
One of the most successful teams in Canadian motorsport history, Gary Beck and Ray Peets captured the 1974 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Top Fuel World Championship, the highest honour in the fastest and most competitive class in drag racing. Based in Edmonton, the duo won an astounding 79% of the NHRA and American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) events they entered that year, achieving 59 victories in 74 runs. They were runners-up in the 1975 NHRA World Championship. In recognition of their achievements, Beck and Peets were inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2017.
Gary Beck
Born in the United States, Beck moved to Edmonton in 1969 with his wife Penny and became part of the Capital City Hot Rod Club. He quickly made his mark on the drag racing scene, bursting onto the national stage in 1972 by winning the NHRA U.S. Nationals just weeks after earning his top fuel license. Beck narrowly missed the NHRA title in 1981, becoming the first top fuel racer to record times in the 5.5-second range in 1981, 5.4 in 1982, and 5.3 in 1983. That year, he captured his second NHRA World Championship alongside engine builder Bernie Fedderly. By the time he left the NHRA tour in 1986, Beck had amassed 19 top fuel event victories and two world championships. In 2000, as part of the NHRA 50th Anniversary Celebration, he was ranked 24th among the top 50 drag racers of all time. He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1998.
Ray Peets
Peets began his racing career at age 17, building and competing in stock cars throughout the 1950s and 1960s, winning numerous major events. In 1962, he constructed a Hilborn-injected Chevy V8 for a C Dragster, which went undefeated in Western Canada and won the NHRA Inland Empire Championship in Eastern Washington. In 1972, Peets entered a partnership with Beck, supplying engines and engine work for a top fuel dragster. He left the partnership in 1978 as his engine business in Edmonton expanded and required his full attention.
Together, Beck and Peets left an indelible mark on Canadian and international drag racing, setting performance standards and establishing Edmonton as a hub for the sport.
