Raymond Beadle stood face to face with the widowmaker and two-and-a-half months later lived to tell about it.

In his first drag racing appearance since suffering a major heart attack in July, the three-time NHRA Funny Car Champion, 79, 80 and 81, spent much of the day congregating with admirers and drag racing fans checking out the Ronny Young-built, Blue Max tribute Funny Car.

Beadle showed no ill-effects of the potentially fatal heart attack he suffered on July 15.

“I’m feeling good, there are no problems,” said Beadle as he autographed a retro handout for a race fan.

Raymond Beadle stood face to face with the widowmaker and two-and-a-half months later lived to tell about it.

In his first drag racing appearance since suffering a major heart attack in July, the three-time NHRA Funny Car Champion, 79, 80 and 81, spent much of the day congregating with admirers and drag racing fans checking out the Ronny Young-built, Blue Max tribute Funny Car.

Beadle showed no ill-effects of the potentially fatal heart attack he suffered on July 15.

“I’m feeling good, there are no problems,” said Beadle as he autographed a retro handout for a race fan.

Beadle readily admits for much of his drag racing career he had a penchant for being in the right place at the right time. This time it made the difference between life and death.

Beadle was on the way to visit his mother when he began to feel discomfort similar to what a heart attack victim would feel. He experienced chest pains and shortness of breath. Beadle just happened to be in close proximity of the Baylor University Heart Center.

“I was right there, so I decided to pull in and see what was going on,” Beadle explained. “I went in and they checked me out and they rushed me in when they realized what was going on. They put the stent in and I’ve been good ever since.”

Beadle confirmed that since the incident, his physician has put him on a cardio-heavy workout. He’s listening to the doctors but on the fateful day, he’s grateful he followed his instincts.

“For once, I listened to myself and it saved my life. Any other time, I might have gone home and took a nap on the couch,” Beadle admitted.

Beadle had a 100-percent blockage on the artery known as the “widowmaker”. He had a 70-percent blockage on another artery.

A “widowmaker” is a nickname used to describe a highly stenotic left main coronary artery or proximal left anterior descending coronary artery of the heart.

This term is used because if the artery gets abruptly and completely occluded it will cause a massive heart attack that will likely lead to death. The blockage that kills is made up of platelets streaming to the site of a ruptured cholesterol plaque.

“The doctors told me there’s a less than ten percent survival rate of this kind of blockage,” Beadle said.

And for Beadle, the cagey drag racing veteran, beat the odds one more time.