This past weekend long time Hot Rods by Boyd driver and friend Pete Peterson passed away. Pete Peterson started working for my dad before I can remember. They called him Purple Pete because of his beyond red face. Pete was hard to miss with his white curly hair and that red face and the great attitude. Pete was my dad’s go to guy when it came to hauling a car cross country or going to a car show. Some of you might remember Pete from the 90’s when he used to drive Big Red and Big Yellow attending car shows for Hot Rods by Boyd and Boyds Wheels across the country. Pete was notorious for his sayings. My dad could call him at 3am to go pick up a car back east and he’d hop in truck and say “It all pays the same”. Pete was the posterchild for the saying “Don’t work hard, work smart”. I don’t know how many times we’d get to a car show and he’d tell me to get up on top of the rig to put up the awnings(which easily took a couple hours start to finish) and Pete would say”I’ll be right back I need to go find a screwdriver”. 2 hours later he would show up once we had it all torn down or put up with that screwdriver. So Pete was smart by making lots and lots of friends across this country so a helping hand was never too far away for him. Pete had an uncanny knack of schmoozing people over and getting into places for free or a small fee. The stories of Pete getting into the Winternationals every year with a box of donuts for the people at the gate are absolutely true.
We will miss Pete. I am thankful that I have many fond memories of the guy and I want to thank him for all the ‘Indian Tricks’ he taught me over the years.