Fri, 24 Oct 2014, 09:45 AM Rest in Peace Raymond!

By Steve Reyes Photo copyright 2014 Steve Reyes

Well, I was fresh off the plane from this year's California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield, California, and the news came that Raymond Beadle had passed away. To be honest, it wasn't exactly a surprise. The buzz at CHRR was that Raymond was very ill. Don Prudhomme had been by Dave Wallace's tent on Thursday and informed us about the gravely ill Beadle. He had just returned from visiting his old rival and friend. Sadly Don explained that Beadle had been battling heart issues for some time.

Like everyone that knew Beadle, they had a Beadle story or two to share and I have mine as well. I first met Beadle when he was going to college and driving Mike Burkhart's Vega funny car. I think that was in early 1972 when we did a feature for Drag Racing Magazine on Beadle and the funny car. The next time our paths crossed he was at the controls of Don Schumacher's Stardust/Wonder Wagon 'Cuda in 1973. Then, it was fast forward to the late 1970's when he jumped to owning the Blue Max operation.

Everyone knows how much Raymond Beadle did to market the Blue Max name and image. I was the photo director at Argus Publisher's and Beadle knew I had some influence on who appeared in Popular Hot Rodding as well as some of Argus's other titles. it was about mid-1978 when I got a phone call from Beadle saying, "Hey Reyes, what you doin' in September? Wanna go to England with the Blue Max?" I had always wanted to go to the races at Santa Pod in the United Kingdom and now was my chance! Beadle said he would pick up my plane ticket and room if I would like to tour with the Blue Max. Well, Beadle didn't wait long for my answer, I was soon a touring member of the Blue Max crew. September came and we were off across the big blue pond.

It was classic Beadle style as Raymond charmed the English drag racing fans. They fell in love with this Texan with the cool Mustang funny car. The Blue Max put on one heck of a show that weekend by setting low ET and top miles per hour, not to mention winning Funny Car Eliminator. Now if you think that was easy, think again. The funny cars of Dennis Priddle, Owen Haywood , Lee Anders, and Allen Herriage were not push overs. Remember they had all run at Santa Pod before, where as this was a strange track to the American visitors. Dale Emery and Waterbed Fred Miller tuned Beadle's ride and the Blue Max celebrated at the end of the weekend. By the end of the race it seemed everyone in the grand stands was wearing the Blue Max tee shirt or tank top. Of course, the Blue Max guys were like rock stars of the quarter mile.

With the invasion of England complete, we headed back to the United States. The Blue Max crew flew home but the race car stayed in its new home. Roy Phelps, the owner of Santa Pod, purchase the entire Blue Max funny car complete with spare engines and parts. This in turn lead to a second trip to Santa Pod in 1978. This time Beadle was going to match race Gene Snow and his Arrow funny car. So then I received another trip to Santa Pod to photograph Santa Pod's international race event. This event featured cars from Sweden, Germany and all over Europe as well as the American cars.

Again, the Blue Max gang charmed the European crowd. Again, Beadle and Snow were American rock stars in England. Of course, when we returned I provided Beadle with the ink I had promised him and he was very happy with the results. So whenever, Beadle wanted some ink on a new car or his sprint car team, I would get a call and a plane ticket to fly to Texas. Beadle always treated me very well and always had a smile and a handshake for me. He was one of the true funny car heroes of the 1970's and 1980's and will surely be missed. If you never got to meet him, you missed out. Rest in peace Raymond!

If you wish to purchase prints of the photos below, they may be obtained by contacting us at breyes@reyesontour.com. Other photos may be viewed by following the link at the bottom of the page at www.reyesontour.com.

My first Beadle sighting was in 1971 at the NHRA World Finals in Amarillo, Texas.
Beadle was behind the wheel of Prentiss Cunningham's top fuel dragster.
The team of Cunningham and Beadle raced on the Texas top fuel circuit.

In 1972, the Cunningham and Beadle team ran very well at the World Finals.
They made it to the semi-finals and lost to the top fuel winner, Jim Walther.

When Beadle first went funny car racing he was one of Burkhart's 'trainee's."
Burkhart helped quite a few young Texas funny car drivers get their start in the class.
Raymond was an excellent student and Burkhart's Vega did well on the match race circuit. At the Tulsa PRA race in 1972, Beadle went to the semi-final before losing to Tom McEwen.

After his Burkhart ride, he became a member of Don Schumacher's Stardust funny car team.
When Schumacher landed the Wonder Bread sponsorship,
Beadle was at the controls of the Wonder Wagon 'Cuda.

Upon leaving Schumacher, Beadle teamed with fellow Texan Harry Schmidt,
driving one of the most popular funny cars in the class.
When Schmidt wanted to leave drag racing, Beadle put the funds together to buy his partner out.
So then the Blue Max belonged to Raymond Beadle.

Many changes occurred to the Blue Max under Beadle's ownership of the operation.
He trademarked the Blue Max name and medal and immediately began T-shirt sales
which paid for the entire season's nitro costs.
Racing in Europe and promoting the Blue Max brand were paramount to Beadle.
Racing in England was not easy for the Blue Max team.

Allan "Bootsie" Herridge was one of the drivers Beadle had to crush at Santa Pod.
Herridge drove the former Chadderton & Okazi AA/FC now owned by the Santa Pod owner, Roy Phelps.
Beadle was treated like a rock start at Santa Pod,
delighting the English crowd with his Texas drawl and special brand of humor.

Just prior to the Blue Max's England adventure, Beadle could be found
match racing all over the United Sates.
Here at Green Valley, Texas, he squared off against his soon to be crew chief Dale Emery.
Like Emery, Beadle also had been a Burkhart driver.

The Blue Max crew at Martin, Michigan, sometime in 1983.
"Waterbed" Fred Miller (shirtless), Dale Emery (hands on hips) a nd Dee Gant adjusting puke tank in the rear.
This trio made the Blue Max thunder the quarter mile.

In 1980, one of the biggest rivalries in drag racing was Beadle vs. Prudhomme.
They were bitter rivals when it came to racing. However,
off the track they became two of the greatest friends.
Upon hearing of Beadle's serious heart problems,
Prudhomme went to Texas to visit him four days before Raymond passed away.

The "never say die" attitude was part of the Blue Max credo.
After losing the roof in a semi-final, the crew sawed off the roof of Kenny Bernstein's AA/FC
and taped, riveted, etc., the roof to the body of the Blue Max for the final.
It was to no avail as Billy Meyer took the win in the final.
However, that race was fondly known as the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

Two of the most popular funny cars ever to grace the quarter mile did battle
at Pomona, California, when Frank Hawley in the Chi-Town Hustler went up
against Raymond Beadle and his Blue Max.
These two teams were in demand for match racing throughout the country.

When Beadle picked up a major beer sponsor he called me to help get some magazine ink for his new sponsor.
One plane ticket later and the Blue Max was photographed for
Popular Hot Rodding which made Beadle a very happy car owner.

Beadle expanded the Blue Max racing team by adding Sammy Swindell's WoO sprint car into the fold.
I know Beadle went NASCAR racing but I really never cared too much about NASCAR
so I tried to promote the funny car and sprint car.
FYI, there was also a Blue Max top fuel dragster too.

One thing I can say about Beadle, he was fearless.
He had the driver skills and brains to back up his fearless driving style.
RIP Raymond!