Veteran Funny Car driver Terry Haddock took the win light over Top Fuel driver Mitch King during the inaugural Texas Invitational match race to kick off the opening weekend of the 3rd annual Stampede of Speed. Haddock outran fellow Funny Car competitor Jeff Diehl on Saturday in the opening round of the Texas Invitational to set up the monster tilt with King for the Texas Invitational championship belt. King advanced to the final by outrunning a tire smoking Buddy Hull on Saturday. After the win Haddock was thrilled to have put on an exciting show for thousands of concert goers as well as drag racing fans.
“Any win is awesome, and I am super proud of my guys,” said Haddock, surrounded by his crew. “I am super grateful and thankful to the Meyer family for putting this event together. They are trying to grow the sport of drag racing and we need more people like them out here. This Stars of Texas event with the concerts, bull riding, drag racing is just awesome. We had so many people come up to our Funny Car that had never seen anything like it and now they are fans. This was a great two days of racing and music. I can’t wait to get to the Texas Fall Nationals.”
“I like racing Mitch King and those guys as well as Jeff Diehl and Buddy Hull. This was a great group of drivers to show off for the fans on Saturday and Sunday. When you can run a Funny Car against a Top Fuel dragster and do something different that’s a lot of fun. It was cool at the top end to see a Top Fuel dragster make the turn and pull up beside us. This was a great time,” added Haddock.
The Texas Invitational was a new addition to the already packed line up of the Stars of Texas Music Festival weekend. On Saturday fans were treated to a star-studded line-up of 90s country music stars capped off with great sets from Texas country legends Sawyer Brown and Clay Walker. Throughout the day fans were treated to junior bull riding and a variety of vendor booths. Between sets fans were thrilled by drag races and an awesome country music themed drone show. On Sunday more country music filled the sky with headliner Midland capping a fun-filled day that included a beautiful lantern release by thousands of the fans in attendance. There was also a beer expo, Jambo’s BBQ contest, and more bull riding.
“The first three days of the Stampede of Speed exceeded all our expectations with bigger crowds, great weather and so much exciting action on and off the track,” said Christie Meyer Johnson, co-owner of the Texas Motorplex. “This event will only get better next year with more acts, racing and satellite events. Our goal is to make this the destination event in October for racing, music and family fun for fans from across the country.”
The Stampede of Speed will continue for seven more days with highlight events including the Champions’ Dinner on Wednesday, October 11 and the Pre-Stage FanFest on Thursday, October 12 in downtown Waxahachie. The 39th annual NHRA Texas Fall Nationals will start on October 12 as well and run through championship Sunday on October 15. For a complete schedule and ticket information fans can visit www.stampedeofspeed.com.
This story was originally published on October 9, 2023. 
