Champion drag racer Raymond Beadle dies at 70

WACO, Texas (AP) Raymond Beadle, a three-time NHRA Funny Car world champion and a championship NASCAR team owner, has died. He was 70.

The NHRA said Beadle died Monday at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

Beadle won 28 NHRA national events and titles from 1979-81. He was a two-time winner of the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.

Beadle fielded his first NASCAR team in 1983 with the late Tim Richmond, who won two races for the car owner. Beadle then fielded cars for Rusty Wallace for five seasons, and Wallace won the 1989 Winston Cup championship in his No. 27 Kodiak Pontiac.

Wallace posted his condolences on Twitter: ''Really saddened by news about Raymond Beadle. Without him, I would have never gotten to where I am today. He will be greatly missed.''

Beadle was ranked 20th on the NHRA's list of greatest drivers through its first 50 years. He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Michigan.

Beadle retired from motorsports in 1990 and operated cattle ranches in Arkansas and his home state of Texas. He is survived by his wife, Roz.