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2012 Hall of Fame
Jim Beattie
Founder and
Owner of
ATI Performance Products
ATI Racing Transmissions
and Jim Beattie are
synonymous in the field
of drag racing, with ATI
equipped vehicles
winning throughout the
country. Much of Jim's
history and success has
taken place right here
at Maryland
International Raceway.
In the early 1960s, Jim
left the Navy and opened
a general transmission
rebuilding shop. He also
began to race a Plymouth
Valiant equipped with a
small block Chevy. Then
he moved on to a
Chevelle with a big
block Chevy.
Jim used this racing
experience to grow ATI
into one of the largest
suppliers of quality
high performance
transmissions, torque
converters, and
driveline components in
the industry.
As ATI continued to grow
in the 1970s, Jim
decided that he wanted
to race all out, without
indexes or breakouts. He
decided to go funny car
racing! Jim built and
sponsored the popular
Black Magic Fuel Funny
Car, which became an
immediate crowd
favorite. Despite being
extremely busy at ATI
during the week, Jim and
his crew went out on
weekends and raced the
Black Magic car from
Canada to North
Carolina! But among all
these match race dates,
Maryland International
Raceway was the team's
home track.
Jim raced the Black
Magic at MIR on several
occasions. One of Jim's
most distinct racing
memories was of running
at Budds Creek on a
Friday night, and then
hitting the road for
Epping, New Hampshire,
to make a Saturday night
race! That's a ten-hour
trip under the best of
conditions! Apparently,
sleep was not part of
the ATI success story!
The Black Magic cars set
records everywhere, and
in 1975, the team won
the Summer Nationals at
Englishtown, New Jersey,
over racing legend
Jungle Jim Liberman.
This win made the Black
Magic team the only pro
drag racing team to win
a national event in the
same year it debuted.
The Black Magic Chevy
Vega was driven by funny
car veterans Al Segrini
from Massachusetts and
by Maryland's own RC
Sherman. A year later,
Jim added the 'Black
Stang' Ford Mustang to
the stable, with
Virginia veteran Pee Wee
Wallace at the wheel.
Jim used to fly his
plane to the races at
MIR, landing and taking
off right from the
strip. On occasion, MIR
owners Larry Clayton and
Tod Mack would be on
board and the trio would
head to Atlantic City
for some post-race fun!
In addition to the
racing success, Jim
Beattie and ATI
continued to innovate,
often using MIR as their
test bed. Jim designed
an early weather system
that measured air
density. Now a common
part of the serious
bracket racer's arsenal,
Jim had one of the first
units in the sport.
Budds Creek has been a
huge part of the ATI
legacy because Jim and
his team used to test
their Stock and Super
Stock transmissions at
MIR every Friday night.
The practical, real
world experience gained
on the legendary MIR
starting line proved
invaluable to making ATI
transmissions some of
the best in the
business.
Today, ATI manufactures
a multitude of high
performance parts
including Competition
Transmissions,
Treemaster Converters,
Torsional Super Dampers,
Compu-Flow Valve Bodies,
Flexplates, Adapter
Kits, and a wide variety
of performance enhancing
internal components.
ATI's commitment to
racing has allowed it to
maintain a prominent
position on the cutting
edge of high performance
component design and
manufacturing.
And its long history
with Maryland
International Raceway
makes Jim Beattie and
ATI true Legends of
Budds Creek.
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