2010 Hall of Fame
Pete Mandes
Sponsor
Among a large group of
generous MIR track
sponsors over the years,
Pete Mandes and his
Speed Unlimited speed
shop stand alone as a
continual source of
encouragement and
financial support. Pete
raced at Budds Creek on
the first or second day
it opened and has been
involved with the track
ever since. In 1967, he
founded Speed Unlimited
as a one-person business
in Suitland, Maryland,
and he immediately began
providing sponsorship
dollars to the track.
Pete grew Speed
Unlimited into one of
the largest and most
well known speed shops
on the east coast, and
he continued his support
of MIR all along the
way. Pete and Speed
Unlimited have been
strong backers of local
racers, sponsoring the
Speed Unlimited E.T.
Series and the Speed
Unlimited Midnight
Madness Street Car
series for decades.
In addition to
supporting MIR, Pete and
Speed Unlimited provide
area racers and hot
rodders with a large
in-stock inventory, fair
prices, and a
knowledgeable sales
staff. These practices
have made Speed
Unlimited one of the top
parts suppliers on the
east coast with a 5,000
square foot retail
superstore that serves
more than 50,000 walk in
customers a year, and a
mail order department
that ships high
performance parts
worldwide. As Pete has
noted, almost every
young man in a tri-state
area who walks in
looking for high
performance parts brings
along greetings from his
father or grandfather
who also bought speed
parts from Pete! Thanks
in large part to the
generosity of Pete
Mandes, several
generations of racers
and fans also got to
enjoy drag racing at
Maryland International
Raceway.
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