Raymond Beadle

Raymond Beadle was an American nitro funny car and dragster racer, as well as a prolific auto racing team owner. He is the only team owner to win championships in both the NHRA and NASCAR.

In the sport of drag racing, Beadle's 'Blue Max' cars he won three consecutive NHRA funny car championships from 1979 to 1981 and three IHRA funny car championships.

In NASCAR, Raymond Beadle owned a NASCAR Winston Cup team from 1983 to 1990, winning the 1989 Winston Cup Championship with driver Rusty Wallace. His team's car number was always #27 and his car was usually a Pontiac. [ [http://www.racing-reference.info/owner?id=beadlra01 Raymond Beadle Winston Cup Owner Statistics - Racing-Reference.info ] ]

Drag Racing Career

NASCAR Owner

Beadle entered NASCAR Winston Cup as a team owner in 1983 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 Rusty Wallace driving the #27 Kodiak Pontiac. Jimmy Makar was the chassis specialist during that 1989 championship. [http://www.joegibbsracing.com/j_makar/jmakar_prhist.php]

The 1989 championship year was reportedly marked with acrimony between Wallace and Beadle. However, Wallace was stuck with the team for 1990 due to his contract [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFD61531F932A25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 Wallace a Million-Dollar Man - New York Times ] ] .

For 1990, the Kodiak sponsorship moved to Hendrick's team, 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. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFD61531F932A25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 Wallace a Million-Dollar Man - New York Times ] ] .

By June 1990, Wallace had chosen to leave Beadle's team [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DB123DF93AA25755C0A966958260 Wallace Revs Up in Bid for Title - New York Times ] ] , and he landed at Penske Racing for 1991, bringing the Miller beer sponsorship with him.

Beadle's team suspended operations and left Winston Cup at the end of the 1990 season.

Awards

* Ranked 20th on the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951-2000 [ [http://www.nhra.com/50th/top50/R_Beadle20.html Raymond Beadle #20 - NHRA profile] ]
* Member of the 11th class of inductees into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame
* 2006 recipient of the Bruton Smith Legends Award in the Texas Motor Sports Hall of Fame
* American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association's All-American team in 1980

References