Tim Beebe was first introduced to the world of
racing by his father Merrill Beebe who was racing midgets and
sprint cars at the local circle tracks. Tim’s first car
was a 53 Olds that he started modifying and taking to the local
drag races. Even while he was drag racing the Olds, Tim felt
a strong loyalty to circle track racing because of his dad but
it was easier for him to go drag racing so that is where he stayed.
The Olds was followed by a modified ’56 Chevy that Tim raced
with some success.
Tim’s first step become
involved with the highly modified part of drag racing came when
he teamed up with Frank Fedak on an Altered Fiat powered by Tim’s
blown and carbureted small block Chevy engine and driven by John
Mulligan. The car was a class contender from the very beginning
and paved the way for his future success. Next came an Altered
Bantam Roadster powered by the Chevy engine out of the Fiat and
driven by his brother, Dave Beebe. Like he Fiat, the Bantam was
very competitive but like all racers, Tim wanted to go quicker
and faster go he made the move to AA/Fuel Dragsters.
In the mid sixties, Tim decided
to become a full-time race car mechanic/crew chief/owner and
teamed up with his brother Dave and Lee Sixt on the highly successful
Beebe Brothers and Sixt Top Fuel Dragster with Dave doing the
driving.
In 1967, Dave Beebe decided he
was just too busy to continue driving and suggested that their
neighbor, John Mulligan take over the driving chores. Tim and
John both liked the idea and soon he now legendary Beebe and
Mulligan AA/FD team was born. Tim and John were soon on tour
with the car and are still counted among the original touring
pros of drag racing. At the 1969 NHRA Winternationals in Pomona,
California, the Beebe and Mulligan car beat Don Prudhomme in
the final round to win the event. Later that year, Tim and John
ran two-tenth of a second quicker than the rest of the entire
field at the NHRA Nationals in Indy to set a new E.T. record
at 6.43 seconds. Unfortunately, in the first round of eliminations
there was a fiery crash in which John lost his life and the car
was destroyed.
The following year Tim and Dave
built the Beebe Brothers AA/FC and spent the entire season racing
locally in Southern California. At the last points race at Orange
County Raceway they set a new NHRA Elapsed Time record and secured
an invitation to the 1970 World Finals. In 1971 Tim built the
“Fighting Irish” Funny Car, hired Dick Roseberg as
his driver and again became a touring pro. 1973 saw Tim back
in the AA/FD wars when he teamed up with Jim Murphy to run a
rear engine Top Fuel dragster. The highlight of the 1974 season
for the pair was winning the UDRA Championship. In 1975 Tim decided
to retire from racing and moved to Porterville, California where
he went to work at B & J Transmissions that at that time,
was building one of the more successful automatic transmissions
used in drag racing. After as short time at B & J, Tim opened
B & B Transmissions “down the road a piece” but
still in Porterville and has built it into a very successful
business.
Tim came out of retirement in
2001 when he rejoined Jim Murphy as crew chief for Jim’s
WW2 Racing effort in the nostalgia Top Fuel wars. With Tim as
crew chief, the WW2 Racing team has managed to chalk up a number
of event wins, run a record top seed of 256 mph and set the E.T.
record at 5.71 seconds. It also won the VRA Fuel & Gas Championship
in 2004. among his other awards and records, Tim won the Car
Craft Magazine Top Fuel Dragster Crew Chief of the Year award
in both 1969 and 1970.