Frank Peterson graduated from Alameda High School. While there he met a cheerleader by the name of Kaye, who would later become his wife, and from that point on, auto racing became a family affair. The couple first went to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1955 and they have been to every race since that date. In 1956, they raced their Ford on local drag strips and in 1958 built their first sports car, which ran in Sports Car Club of America races at Lowry Field. From the ‘50’s on, they fielded cars that Frank drove on road courses, hill climbs and drag strips. Nick Sanborn won the 1965 Pikes Peak Hill Climb in a Peterson-prepared Plymouth Belvedere. By 1965, they began to team with Oldsmobile, building Toronados for the Hill Climb, driven by a number of successful drivers, including Louie Unser. In 1968, three of their prepared Oldsmobile Toronados were driven to the top three places at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. In 1968, began to prepare cars for off-road racing. Their car, driven by Frank, won the 1970 Hill Climb. In 1988 and 1989, their two sons and Frank all drove the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, the only time that a father and two sons competed in the same race.
