Raymond Beadle was an American drag racer and auto racing team owner. Beadle was perhaps best known as the driver and owner of the Blue MaxTop Fuelfunny car. Beadle won three consecutive NHRAFunny Car championships from 1979 to 1981 and three IHRA Funny Car championships, 1975–76 and 1981. In NASCAR, Beadle owned a Winston Cup team from 1983 to 1990, winning the 1989 Winston Championship with driver Rusty Wallace. Beadle's car number was 27 and his car was usually a Pontiac. He also owned a World of Outlawssprint car, driven by Sammy Swindell.
Drag racing career
Almost immediately after joining Harry Schmidt's Blue Max team, Beadle rivaled "Jungle Jim" Liberman in popularity and Don Prudhomme in on-track success. By the end of his first year with the Max, Beadle won the NHRA U.S. Nationals Funny Car class, and by the end of the decade, he was the reigning world champion and a bona fide superstar. Beadle never claimed to be a tuner, and Schmidt was not interested in driving, promoting, or worrying about the day-to-day business of racing. Beadle was. He had the Blue Max name copyrighted, lined up sponsors and race dates, and immediately demanded four times what Schmidt had commanded in appearance fees, and got it. In 1975, the car had been Harry Schmidt's Blue Max, and in 1976, it said Beadle and Schmidt. The 1977 car, also a Ford Mustang II, was Beadle's alone, sponsored by English Leather and Napa Regal Ride. Beadle won the NHRA championship in 1979 with two wins in five finals against Tom Hoover, Gary Burgin, Billy Meyer, a young John Force, and Jim Dunn.
NASCAR owner
Beadle entered NASCAR Winston Cup as a team owner in 1983 by buying out the equipment of M.C. Anderson, continuing with Anderson's No. 27 number. He started with sponsorship from Old Milwaukee beer and driver Tim Richmond. Mixed success followed for Beadle's Blue Max Racing team. When Richmond moved to Hendrick Motorsports in 1986, Beadle picked up Rusty Wallace. In its penultimate year of operation, the team won the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup title, with Wallace driving the No. 27 Kodiak Pontiac. Jimmy Makar was the chassis specialist during that 1989 championship. The 1989 championship year was reportedly marked with acrimony between Wallace and Beadle. However, Wallace remained under contract with the team for the 1990 season. For 1990, the Kodiak sponsorship moved to Hendrick Motorsports to sponsor the No. 25, and Beadle's team was sponsored by Miller Genuine Draft beer. The four-year sponsorship deal was specifically tied to Rusty Wallace, meaning it went where the 1989 champ went as well. Wallace left Beadle's team in 1990. Beadle's team suspended operations and left Winston Cup at the end of the 1990 season. Penske acquired their equipment and the car runs today as the No. 2 Miller Lite car driven by Brad Keselowski. Post-racing, Beadle operated cattle ranches in West Texas and Arkansas, as well as a quarter horse farm near Valley View, Texas. He said he opened the ranch at least partially as a way to entertain sponsors while racing and bred grand champions at both. During the 1989 Championship, Beadle's car with Rusty Wallace as a driver, battled the Richard Childress Racing car driven by Dale Earnhardt, Sr., for the Cup title. Both Beadle and Earnhardt's sons are connected together. Ryan Beadle, an attorney, is General Counsel for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s motorsport operations, JR Motorsports. Tyler Reddick noted that during the Old Milwaukee throwback car announcement, crediting Ryan Beadle for negotiating the deal.
Death
In July 2014, Beadle suffered a heart attack and underwent surgery to relieve artery blockages. Beadle died on October 20 of the same year.
