Funny Car legend Raymond Beadle dies at age 70
Raymond Beadle. Photos courtesy NHRA.
One of professional drag racing’s honest-to-nitro immortals has left us. Raymond Beadle, famed for his exploits with the Blue Max series of Funny Cars, died Monday in his hometown of Dallas at the age of 70.
Beadle achieved legend status in Funny Car competition in the most difficult way imaginable. In 1975, Beadle shocked the NHRA circuit by stopping Don Prudhomme in the final round at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. It was the only race that Prudhomme, piloting the dominant Army-backed Funny Car, would lose that entire season. That would launch Beadle into orbit as a Funny Car star; he won three straight NHRA Funny Car world titles between 1979 and 1981.
Starting out in the Texas ranks of Top Fuel, Beadle transitioned into Funny Cars during the 1970s, eventually teaming with Blue Max team owner Harry Schmidt. After upending Prudhomme at Indy, Beadle bought out Schmidt and stormed along the national event and match racing circuits with the Blue Max before winning his NHRA titles.
He was also hugely active in other branches of racing, having established Chaparral Trailers, which was the gold standard for traveling race teams in the 1980s. That same decade saw Beadle also establish a NASCAR Winston Cup team, first with the late Tim Richmond as his driver, and then achieving its best success with a young Rusty Wallace, out of the Late Model wars in the Midwest. Additionally, Beadle founded a Sprint car team which achieved marked success in the World of Outlaws, with the now-retired Sammy Swindell as its driver.
Beadle folded his teams shortly after he retired as an active driver in 1987. Wallace subsequently went on to co-found Penske Racing South. Beadle was later placed number 20 on the NHRA’s list of its 50 greatest drivers.
Prudhomme, his erstwhile arch-rival, told the NHRA, “I was very sad to hear that Raymond Beadle had passed. I really, really liked the guy and admired him. We always remained close, even during the days when we were racing against each other. He did so much in drag racing and in NASCAR. He led a life that most people could only dream of, like a high-stakes gambler, and was a cool guy to be around. When our rat pack of a group got together, he was at the top of the heap. I was glad to be a buddy of his, and he is going to be missed.”
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I used to service the generator on the Blue Max trailer.Still have some pictures of Beadle and his crew chief. With me sitting in the Blue Max Also tested generators at Chaparral Trailers. Which was off of I-35 at the time. Beadle was a great man to work for. He will be missed.
Wow! …….I was at Indy in ’75 when he beat the Snake…….the Blue Max was always tough…….at 70 years old he sure got shut off early……..RIP Raymond………thanx for the memories……..
Always sad to hear when the pioneers of my favorite sport, begin to go. Kind of like when a rock star from my younger days, passes. I remember an interview with John Force, and in it, praised people like Raymond Beadle as the people he looked up to in his early days, and how exciting it was to finally race them.
Beadle made an appearance (along with his old funny car crew) at the Racers Reunion in Irving, Texas back on September 27 a few weeks ago. He was using a wheelchair, although he was able to stand and take a few steps (internet story I read yesterday noted that Ray had a heart attack back in July). Lots of interesting stories told that afternoon and evening.
I think this was the first Reunion in Texas that added drag racers to the mix–previous Reunions centered on Indy racers and short trackers.
Beadle looked OK for someone in his condition, but it was clear that the wheelchair was there for a reason. He seemed jovial…and maybe a little happy that the room was full of “his” fans.
There was also a display of restored race cars there, and one of them was one of his Blue Max funnys–the ’81-2 Ford EXP-bodied car that carried Rio Airways sponsorship. Rio was based in my hometown of Killeen, and I wonder how THAT deal was done.
Got his autographs, along with his crews’ and the midget and sprint car racers who were also feted.
Didn’t ask Beadle about his ownership of Chaparral Trailers, I worked for the company it eventually morphed into–Champion Trailers, owned by Harold Peck–and I am still curious about how that deal was done.
All the Heavy Hitters of Drag Racing from the 60′s are starting to head upstairs. Raymond tell Grumpy I said hello !