Dick Beaty (December 16, 1924-November 30, 1998) was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. He raced motorcycles and cars part-time and competed in thirty-eight NASCAR Cup Series events between 1955 and 1958. His best Cup finish was a fifth at Asheville-Weaverville (NC) Speedway on March 31, 1957. He served for many years as assistant manager of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

Beaty had been a part time inspector for NASCAR since 1958. In 1980 he became NASCAR's director of competition. As the organization's "top cop," he was seen by drivers and crew chiefs as fair and knowedgable. Said legendary crew chief Harry Hyde, "he knows how to give a warning. He knows how to talk to you....And he's down the line. He treats everybody alike." Beaty said that for him a successful race was to have no problems during inspection or the race and to have a safe race. Beaty's reputation for fairness led to his being asked to serve on a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) appeals board that heard an appeal by Penske Racing over the denial of its protest of the disqualification of its car #1 in the June 25, 1995 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's Portland 200. Documents related to that appeal are included in this collection.

One of Beaty's safety measures in NASCAR was established a rule requiring vehicles to pass on the right at the restart.

Beaty retired in at the end of the 1992 season and was replaced by Gary Nelson, his personally selected successor. In later years he and his wife Mae split their time between Charlotte and a mountain home near Sparta, NC. Mae died in Charlotte on August 19, 2010.

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