Raymond Beadle
Raymond, one of drag racing’s most popular drivers, won three consecutive Winston world Championships from 1979-1981. A graduate of Texas Tech University, Beadle started his drag racing career driving a top fuel dragster at weekend races in Texas. The lure of professional racing encouraged him to quit his job with the Texas Department of Agriculture in 1974 and devote his full-time energy to racing. He drove a car owned by Don Schumacher, who retired the following year. Beadle and fellow Texan Harry Schmitt then formed a partnership, with Raymond at the controls of Schmitt’s “Blue Max”. In 1976, Beadle bought Schmitt’s part of the business and set a goal of winning a world championship Beadle’s determination to win came to the limelight in 1978 , his worst season of racing, when his car destroyed more than $200,000 with the parts before a faulty ventilation system in the fuel tank was discovered. He won the Winston World Finals to end that season. The next three seasons Beadle won the world championship knocking Don Prudhomme from being the Funny Car Champion since 1975.