Beadle's entry into top-level drag racing came when he joined Harry Schmidt's Blue Max team, where he quickly established himself as a rival to "Jungle Jim" Liberman in popularity and to Don Prudhomme in on-track results. At the end of his first year with the team, Beadle won the NHRA U.S. Nationals Funny Car class, setting the trajectory for a decade of dominance.
By the mid-1970s, Beadle had taken on an increasingly central role in running the operation. He had the Blue Max name copyrighted, secured sponsors, and aggressively negotiated appearance fees, demanding and receiving four times what Schmidt had previously commanded. In 1977, the car became solely Beadle's, running a Ford Mustang II sponsored by English Leather and Napa Regal Ride.
His championship three-peat began in 1979, when he claimed the NHRA title with two wins in five finals, defeating competitors including a young John Force. In 1980, he won events in Columbus, Denver, and Seattle, defending the championship. The 1981 season brought a third straight title — this time in a Plymouth Horizon — with four final-round appearances including another U.S. Nationals victory, and once again Prudhomme finished second in points.
Beadle also earned three IHRA Funny Car championships, in 1975, 1976, and 1981, demonstrating his dominance across multiple sanctioning bodies.
After a competitive 1982 season where he drove a Ford EXP but slipped to fifth in points, Beadle continued racing through the mid-1980s. In 1985, he placed veteran "Lil' John" Lombardo in the seat, and Lombardo delivered Beadle's final great drag racing victory at the U.S. Nationals, defeating Dale Pulde's Miller High Life-sponsored Buick Regal. Beadle made a brief return to driving in 1987, reaching finals at two events, before Richard Tharp — one of the car's original drivers under Schmidt — took over in 1988.
In 1983, Beadle expanded his motorsport footprint by entering NASCAR Winston Cup as a team owner, purchasing the equipment of M. C. Anderson Racing and retaining the No. 27. He initially fielded Tim Richmond with Old Milwaukee beer sponsorship. When Richmond departed for Hendrick Motorsports in 1986, Beadle hired Rusty Wallace and secured sponsorship from Alugard Antifreeze and later Kodiak.
The Blue Max Racing team's pinnacle came in 1989, when Wallace claimed the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship in what was reportedly a contentious year between driver and owner. Despite the friction, Wallace remained under contract for the 1990 season, which brought Miller Genuine Draft sponsorship. At season's end, Wallace departed and the team suspended operations, closing out an eight-year run in the Cup Series. The team's equipment was subsequently acquired by Roger Penske, forming part of the foundation of Team Penske.
Beadle also fielded a World of Outlaws sprint car driven by Sammy Swindell during this era, further demonstrating the breadth of his motorsport interests.
Beadle was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2014, the same year of his death. He was also inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame as part of its 11th class, ranked 20th on the NHRA Top 50 Drivers list for 1951–2000, and received the Bruton Smith Legends Award from the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006. He earned American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association All-American team recognition in 1980.
Away from motorsport, Beadle operated cattle ranches in West Texas and Arkansas and a quarter horse farm near Valley View, Texas, breeding grand champions at both operations.
Beadle died on October 20, 2014, following a heart attack and surgery to relieve artery blockages sustained in July of that year.
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