Winners Crowned At 2nd Annual ATI James Beattie Memorial In Maryland

ATI Performance Products held its inaugural James Beattie Stock/Super Stock Memorial race one year ago to honor the passing of its iconic founder, who passed away last March at the age of 73. In what has now become an annual event for NHRA Division 1 class racers, the James Beattie Memorial returned for 2016 as part of the Cecil County Dragway’s Northeast Shootout Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, at which ATI awarded $1,000 to the winner or top finisher in each of the two categories who utilize an automatic transmission and display the James Beattie Memorial decal on their racing machines.

In Super Stock, Smithsburg, Maryland racer Brad Huntzberry drove his GT/D Automatic 1987 Camaro to his fourth career final round, still looking for his first-ever NHRA triumph. Huntzberry did what he needed to on the tree, taking an .026 to .038 edge on Marty Rinehart — one he’d carry all the way through the stripe to capture his first career Wally and the $1,000 James Beattie Memorial check from ATI’s JC Beattie, Jr.

On the Stock Eliminator side, it was a pair of automatic-equipped cars — the Factory Stock/F COPO Camaro of North Carolina’s Adam Berberich, and New Jersey’s Todd Hoven in his D/Stock Automatic 1968 Firebird — squaring off in the finale. Hoven did what he needed on the starting line, gaining a nearly .05-second lead and never looking back as he took the stripe by more than five feet over a charging Berberich. The two drivers later split the $1,000 from ATI, while Hoven basked in his third career Stock Eliminator victory.

ATI, which is headquartered in Baltimore, just a short drive from the fabled Cecil County track, specializes in high performance automatic racing transmissions, torque converters, dampers, flexplates, and a host of other driveline-related components. To learn more, visit them on the web at atiracing.com.