Texan Terry Haddock showed the kind of grit and resilience that ranchers and cowboys exhibit across the state. The owner and driver of the Concho Supply Inc. Funny Car qualified No. 16 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in one of the stoutest fields in recent memory before losing in the opening round at Texas Motorplex. For Haddock and his team, the early exit did not take away from the positive momentum the team will carry into the final two races of the NHRA Countdown.
“I’m super proud of my guys for this weekend,” said Haddock. “We’ve had a lot of adversity, and all the guys just keep stepping up to the challenge. It just shows that there’s a lot of good stuff happening here with this team. These guys work hard, and we never give up. Very fortunate to have the sponsors that helped us this weekend: Concho Supply, T&D Express, P&C Cable, and Priority Systems. Without all my friends and family feeding money to this car, we couldn’t keep racing.”
On Saturday Haddock had one shot to get into the field and his team stepped up with a solid final effort. The Concho Supply Inc. Funny Car blasted to the finish line with a 4.033 second at 310.97 mph pass that moved him into the final spot in the field.
“We broke something on Friday and when I finally found it, it was too late for us to make the second session on Friday night,” said Haddock. “That was on me, not on my guys. We fixed it but it was hard to know where to start again. I started conservatively yesterday. It put some cylinders out and didn’t go as fast as it should have on the first run. We came back and we thought that we could run 3.98 or 3.99 in that last session to make it an all three-second field. We’re blessed we got through it all.”
For his efforts Haddock faced No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman in the first round. Haddock made his best run of the weekend, a solid 4.000 second at 315.21 mph beside Beckman’s 3.884 second pass at 335.12 mph, the third quickest run of the session.
“That was an adventurous run,” said Haddock. “I always like to do the big, long burnouts. I know that this is entertainment as much as it is racing, and the burnouts are so much fun to do. I always do big burnouts when I can. It got exciting at the finish line because the throttle hung wide open. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Haddock was a part of every level of the Stampede of Speed and Texas Fall Nationals. On Wednesday night he was the guest of sponsor Concho Supply Inc. at the annual Champions Dinner. Thursday night he was a featured driver at the Pre-Stage FanFest presented by Red Line Synthetic Oil in downtown Waxahachie. Saturday morning he participated in a Q&A in the Champions Club in front of a packed house.
“The Meyer family goes all out with this race and tries to make it a special event for everybody who attends,” said Haddock. “The Texas hospitality is shown around the world. It’s awesome. We’ve got a group of people here from Europe and England, and we got to show them what it was like, to be a Texan and an American. The Stampede of Speed is just incredible.”
Haddock and the Concho Supply Funny Car team will be back in action at the Las Vegas Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 29-November 1.
