Pee Wee Wentz- has been an automotive enthusiast from birth. He has always loved Hot Rods, Customs & Speed. As a teenager Pee Wee had several cool cars starting with a ’34 Ford 5W Channeled coupe. He then moved on to a couple ’46 Fords, 1 Coupe and a Chopped Top 2dr Sedan. At 17, he had purchased a ’56 Ford T-Bird and began doing some heavy modifications on the car all the while never missing an opportunity to show his wares at the regional car shows. In 3 years of showing this car, it only took 1st Place trophies. It was never beaten, not even once. Quite a feat for a 17-18 year old kid. So was the launching of a Hot Rod Parts company named Pee Wee’s Speed Shop.
Pee Wee began racing go-carts at 19 winning many races which eventually lead to the opportunity to jump to big cars. He would race in NASCAR for the next 14 years in every class from Late Model to what is now the Sprint Cup Series. Even with his heart fully into racing he never lost his desire for Hot Rods.
Immediately after he hung up his helmet, Pee Wee started on a ’34 Ford 4dr Sedan. Hot Rod all the way with Corvette suspension, a Corvette small block chevy engine, and a chopped top. Continuing to build cars, Pee Wee and his son Jay started P & J Automotive in 1985. When they sold the company shortly after the turn of the century, still having this desire to build Hot Rods, there was nothing to do but continue on with the company that was born as Pee Wee’s Speed Shop.
Jay Wentz – has been involved in the automotive world all his life. Born into a Nascar racing family, he spent his early years going from track to track racing with his Dad. By the time his Dad retired from what was then the Nascar Winston Cup Series, Jay had already began his automotive career building a 1955 Chevy that graced the cover of “Popular Hot Rodding” magazine, at the age of 18.
Furthering his career, Jay then started P & J Automotive with his Dad, Pee Wee, that would grow into a worldwide automotive aftermarket parts company manufacturing chassis and suspension products for performance and race cars. Jay also worked with the TV show “Street Rodder TV” on ESPN2 for several years as an on air personality during one of the shows segments each week.
During his automotive career, having grown up at the race track, Jay has also worked with several race teams as a crew chief, engineer and race strategist as well as serving as team manager on several occasions.
Gary Echols- has been involved with Pee Wee's Speed Shop since the 1970's. Though he has held jobs with other companies including a stint with MAC TOOLS, he has always worked on projects on the side. Gary has built and worked on some very interesting cars and has a keen eye for style and design. He is also very meticulous which is a must for building high quality cars. Gary is also the resident expert on early chevrolets as you may tell by looking at a couple of his personal cars below.
1935 CHEVY 2DR SEDAN
1932 CHEVY 2DR SEDAN WITH 348 ENGINE
FEATURED IN RODDER'S JOURNAL
SUPER ROD MAGAZINE TOP 10 AWARD
ROD & CUSTOM MAGAZINE TOP 100 AWARD
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