Former NHRA sportsman racer J.C. Beattie Jr.’s venture into Pro 632 presented by Mark Williams Enterprises in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series is finally showing the rewards for the team’s hard work over the last few seasons. Beattie recently switched to a new nitrous-fed powerplant under the hood scoop in his ATI Performance Products ’18 Camaro, and when you combine that with Beattie’s driving and Dave Hanlon’s tuning, you end up with a dominant start to the 2026 season.
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #200, the WSOPM Issue, in May/June 2026.
At the season-opening KTR Drag Racing Carolina Nationals presented by Pee Dee Fleet at Darlington Dragway, half of the drivers in Pro 632 dipped into the 4.10s, but Beattie separated himself from that pack with a 4.127-second pass at 172.55 mph. That pass in the final qualifying session was enough to give Beattie his first career No. 1 qualifier award.
“It’s been a long time coming for us,” Beattie said. “We’ve tried for three years now. We started with N/A [naturally aspirated]. We waited almost two years on a motor, which is well worth the wait now. We stuck it in the car for Bristol last year and came out swinging. Had very few passes on the car and really learned a lot. Made a bunch of mistakes, but Reher-Morrison and Brad [Morgan] put together a really good piece. I’ve got an awesome tuner and the car was a bracket car with a .14 to a .17, and then we turned it up for the final qualifier. It took it. I knew as soon as it got past 60 feet, I think I was already pretty excited, and I saw the .12 pop up. I was like, ‘All right, we got it.’”
Beattie carried that performance into eliminations, but cold temperatures led to the postponement of the semis and finals to the next stop on tour, the Summit Racing Equipment East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech at Darana Motorsports Park – Benson, NC. When racing resumed, Beattie earned a confidence-boosting semifinal win over two-time and defending world champion Jeff Melnick with a 4.179 before taking a side-by-side win over Jeff Pittman in the final round. Pittman left first, but Beattie fired off a 4.117 at 172.72 to drive around Pittman’s 4.136 at 171.01. It was Beattie’s first career win in Pro 632 competition.
“Well, we had to wait a few weeks, and last time we ran [Jeff] Melnick, the two-time champion, he got us, so I was hoping it was our turn – and it was – to beat him in the semis and then go on to the finals,” Beattie said in the winner’s circle. “We had a goal of qualifying No. 1 and winning a race, and we checked those off quick. We want to double-up with my son [James Beattie III] winning a race in Pro Jr. Dragster. He lost in the semifinals, but we’ll try again starting this weekend, which is great, and I’m going to try to keep on going and take the No. 1 points position a little farther.”
After completing the Darlington race on Thursday, Beattie qualified No. 2 for the East Coast Nationals on Friday and extended his win streak by four rounds on Saturday, ultimately getting the win over a red-lighting David Cook Jr. in the final round. Beattie ran a 4.170 at 170.17, while Cook posted a quicker 4.163 at 168.87 after going .004 red.
“We’ve been around 632, paid our dues running with an N/A motor, and last year we just had stupid stuff learning the car,” Beattie said. “We have a total of about 60 runs on this car now between racing and testing, and it’s still a little bit of a work in progress. But we’ve got a great tuner, Dave Hanlon. We’ve got a great motor from Reher-Morrison. We’ve got Todd and Scott and the guys at the shop as well, doing the transmissions and converters. I’m always grabbing them, moving them all over the place. It all just came together, and two 660 Men is pretty awesome.”
While Beattie was fielding his own car, he was also managing a multi-car Jr. Dragster program that includes his son, 2024 PDRA Top Jr. Dragster world champion James Beattie III. That effort also netted the event win in Top Jr. Dragster with driver Kole Paone.
“We had four Juniors on the other side [of the pit] that we run with my son and Richard Tilghman’s two kids. I brought my girlfriend’s son down as well, so we ran a bunch of Juniors around the big car,” Beattie said. “We were able to win in Top Jr. as well with my girlfriend’s boy and then rack up another one with [the Pro 632 car]. Another goal was to win with one of the Juniors, so we’ll take it. I’d sure love to be in a winner’s circle picture with my son in one of them, as would Richard with either of his kids. So that’s the next goal.”
Having already checked off the team’s goals of getting a No. 1 qualifier award and a win in Pro 632, Beattie is thrilled with the progress, but he’s not resting. He’s motivated to stay on top of the class as the series continues into the summer months.
“We just need to tighten the package up a little more,” Beattie said. “We didn’t qualify No. 1. We were right there and we think there’s a little bit left here and there. We’re picking at small numbers now. It kind of brings me back to my class racing when I’d run Stock, Super Stock, things like that, where you’re looking for thousandths, and that’s where we are. That’s what’s fun about 632. The top grouping, everybody’s right there. It’s a race four or five guys can win, and I just wish some more people would put them together and come race with us because it’s fun. It’s a lot of fun.”
This story was originally published on June 23, 2026. 
The post On A Roll: J.C. Beattie Jr. Off to Career-Best Start in PDRA Pro 632 first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
