Raymond Beadle
Raymond Beadle | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | Dallas, Texas | December 16, 1943
Retired | 1987 (as racer), 1990 (as owner) |
Years active | 1970s–1990 |
Teams | Don Schumacher Racing; Blue Max Racing |
Best finish | 1st (7 times) in 1975, 1976, 1979–1981, 1989 |
Awards | |
2014 | Motorsports Hall of Fame of America |
Raymond Beadle (December 16, 1943 – October 20, 2014) was an American
Beadle was perhaps best known as the driver and owner of the
In
He also owned a World of Outlaws sprint 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
In 1975, the car had been Harry Schmidt's Blue Max, and in 1976, it said Beadle and Schmidt. The 1977 car, also a
Beadle won the NHRA championship in 1979 with two wins in five finals against
In 1983, Beadle won just once, at the Springnationals,[citation needed] and in 1984, he scored back-to-back wins, in Englishtown and Denver, with another blue Mustang Beadle put veteran "Lil' John" Lombardo in his red and blue Schlitz Blue Max[citation needed] in 1985, and Lombardo won the U.S. Nationals, defeating Dale Pulde's Miller High Life-sponsored Buick Regal and giving Beadle his last great win.[citation needed]
Beadle got back in the seat in 1987 and reached the final round of two races late that year. Richard Tharp, one of the car's original drivers when Schmidt owned the car, drove in 1988.[citation needed]
NASCAR owner / Blue Max Racing
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.[3] 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 and sponsorship from Kodiak. Jimmy Makar served as the team's chassis specialist. In its penultimate year of operation, the team won the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship.[4] That year was reportedly marked with acrimony between Wallace and Beadle. However, Wallace remained under contract with the team for the 1990 season.[5]
For 1990, the Kodiak sponsorship moved to
As the No. 27 won two races with Wallace in 1990, Beadle was eligible to participate as a winning team owner at The Winston in 1991. Because of this, Beadle struck a deal with team owner Dick Moroso to field the No. 27 Oldsmobile driven by Bobby Hillin Jr. for the exhibition race. Hillin finished the race 19th after experiencing engine valve issues.[7]
Post racing
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.[8]
NASCAR family connections
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. Beadle and Earnhardt's sons are connected. 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.[9]
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.[10]
Awards
- He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2014[11]
- Finalist for 2014 International Motorsports Hall of Fame[12]
- Ranked 20th on the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951–2000[13]
- Member of the 11th class of inductees into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame[14]
- 2006 recipient of the Bruton Smith Legends Award in the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame[15]
- American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association's All-American team in 1980
References
- ^ Raymond Beadle Winston Cup Owner Statistics - Racing-Reference.info
- ^ NHRA.com (retrieved 22 September 2018)
- ^ "M. C. Anderson". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ "Jimmy Makar". Joe Gibbs Racing. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Siano, Joe (December 11, 1989). "Wallace a Million-Dollar Man". The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ Siano, Joe (June 19, 1990). "Wallace Revs Up in Bid for Title". The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ "1991 The Winston". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ "Raymond Beadle – 21St Marketing in a 20Th Century Drag Racing World". Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
- ^ "JR Motorsports".
- ^ "BEADLE, TITLE-WINNING TEAM OWNER, DIES AT 70". NASCAR. October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Raymond Beadle at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
- ^ "Home". motorsportshalloffame.com.
- ^ Raymond Beadle #20 - NHRA profile Archived 2005-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "International Drag Racing Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
- ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-14.