Pete Hill was born in Greenville, S.C., in 1932. A dragracer and builder of high-performance Harley-Davidson motors, Hill earned multiple top-fuel dragracing championship titles.
In 1948, the teen-aged Hill built his first dragracing machine—based on a Harley-Davidson Knucklehead—in an attempt to better a friend’s Triumph. His efforts paid off.
Early in his career Hill worked as an auto body repairman, but in 1976 he and his wife, Jackie, opened a performance motorcycle shop in Greenville.
In 1981, Hill won his first International Drag Bike Association (IDBA) championship title. That year he also won the AMA Dragbike Top Fuel title aboard a modified 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead. He went on to win four more IDBA titles, and four titles with the American Motorcycle Racing Association (AMRA).
Jackie served as Pete’s crew chief throughout his race career. In 1979 the IDBA presented the Hills with the First Family of Drag Racing award.
Hill retired from racing in 1994, and was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1990.