Bob Beadle, age 73, passed away Sunday August 12, 2007.
Dorothy, his wife of 45 years, was instrumental in his adventure into auto racing. They met at Sunshine Dairy in Ballard and when Bob saw her he was stricken. "I asked her out of course" says Bob. Dorothy may have had some doubts but "She wasn't having anything to do with me paying her way. She agreed to a "Dutch-Treat", no strings attached and took me to the old Sea-Tac Speedway." Bob would go onto say, " I guess I passed the test because we were together from then on." That was when Bob took on racing as one of his main hobbies and later one of his businesses.
Bob started drag racing at the Puyallup Drag Strip when a close friend, Chuck Evans, convinced him to buy a modified from Worth Skinner with urging from Dorothy to race at Sky Valley Speedway in the mid -1960's. Bob continued to race around the Northwest including Skagit Speedway, Evergreen, Elma, Port Angles, Yakima and the brand new Tri-City Raceway where he christened the track with a tremendous wreck coming out of turn 4. Losing a right front wheel on his modified racecar, he hurdled full throttle into the railroad ties at the end sending one right through the modified barely missing him. The accident slowed his career with a lot of torn muscles.
Bob then turned to help to promote and announce at Sky Valley Race Track partnering up with Marv Larson. Bob continued to race at Skagit Speedway on Friday nights.
Bob helped to bring in super star California racer, Jimmy Gordon, to begin a two-day dirt championship between Sky Valley and Skagit Speedway attracting the best northwest open wheel drivers. This event was the ceremonial start of the annual Dirt Cup.
With his experience at Sky Valley he came together with Reg Midgley from Victoria BC to start an open wheel series called the International Drivers Challenge Series (IDC). The series included both asphalt and dirt tracks with seven races in ten days drawing the top open wheel drivers including Roy Smith.
Bob and Reg used the same format and started a stock car series and that is when his interest in NASCAR racing began. Bob became a car owner with Roy Smith driving. After winning many open competition races and NASCAR sanctioned races, Bob partnered in the Vice President position with Dick Midgley to run what was then known as the Winston West Grand National Series. With Roy Smith at the helm Bob went on to purchase his own team winning multiple Grand National Championships as a car owner.
During the period of 1978 Bob, with brother John, Terry Forsyth and Reg Midgley won the lease at Evergreen Speedway with his son Mickey helping with the operations. In 1980 Bob arranged for Cup superstar David Pearson to race at Evergreen. Pearson quipped that Evergreen was the "Super Speedway of the West" and the phrase is still used today. 1985 became a catalyst year for Bob, John and Mickey negotiating with Dennis Huth and Brian France to help with the beginning of NASCAR'S Northwest Tour. Evergreen sanctioned as a NASCAR Weekly Series Track and hosted the first ever NASCAR Northwest Tour race. By the time the tour ended in 2006, Evergreen Speedway had hosted more Tour races than any other track in the Northwest.
Bob's biggest achievement was to announce with Brian France that Evergreen Speedway would be holding the first ever NASCAR 500 lap race in the Northwest. The first Washington 500 was in 1985 and a huge success being won by Derrick Cope who went on to win the Daytona 500. After the first year of the Washington 500, Motorcraft became the sponsor.
Bill Elliott became the first Cup driver to participate in the Washington 500 winning it in 1987 starting a series of Cup drivers to participate in the race including; Junior Johnson's Dream Team of Bill Elliott, Sterling Marlin, and Geoff Bodine. Geoff Bodine won in the now famous Bud Light car, winning the race from the back after a little miscommunication, starting with the NASCAR Officials. Other Cup drivers participating would include Davey Allison, Dave Marcus, and Kenny Schrader. Chad Little and Derrick Cope started their careers in the Northwest and went on to be very successful cup drivers. Bob also made the race the richest race on the West Coast by announcing a $50,000.00 purse to win, which at that time was more than the Winston Cup race at Phoenix.
Bob became a legend in the auto racing industry spanning over 50 years. He was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2003. Bob was a kind-hearted soul whose life revolved around youth, sports, family and friends. A celebration of Bobs life will be held Friday August 24th 1:30pm at the Mill Creek Country Club. Remembrances may be made to Seattle Junior Hockey or a charity of your choice. | 
