Haddock Gears Up for Rockingham

Terry Haddock was not happy with how he drove his new H57 Hoodia ’05 Monte Carlo at the eMax Drag Racing Series lid-lifter in San Antonio. He had problems getting down the track and suffered a first-round defeat to eventual event champion, Gary Densham.

Haddock thinks things will be different in Rockingham for the Nicko’s New York Style Pizza Spring Nationals April 21-23 at Rockingham Dragway.

“What you saw in San Antonio wasn’t characteristic of this team,” Haddock said. “San Antonio definitely was not indicative of how we can run, and we are really looking forward to Rockingham. We found a few small problems we didn’t find in San Antonio and we should run a whole lot better.”

Despite the first-round exit at San Antonio Raceway, Haddock enjoyed his venture from the NHRA series to the eMax circuit.

“I was disappointed we didn’t run better, but I thought it was a real nice race track,” Haddock said. “I also have to thank all the track officials for how we were treated. The customer service IHRA provides will be one of the things, I think, that will make this class grow. Racers respond to being treated well.”

Densham ended up in the winner’s circle at San Antonio Raceway, but he had to drive through a solid field of competitive cars to get there. Along with Haddock, Densham knocked off Cruz Pedregon and Paul Lee.

“I think a lot of people thought it was going to be easy pickins in San Antonio,” Haddock said. “It really wasn’t and I think Nitro Funny Car is going to be a very competitive class this year and for years to come.”

One thing Haddock is convinced will lead to the class’ growth is the benefits the eMax Drag Racing Series can provide to the small to medium-budget Nitro Funny Car team.

“On the NHRA side, the smaller teams they really don’t care about,” he said. “I don’t think the smaller teams with, say, a $500,000 sponsorship can actually give their sponsor value because the bigger teams with the million dollar sponsorships hog up all the television time. We have to have something we can take back to our sponsors to show they are getting something for their money, and I really think IHRA can provide that. I’m looking forward to watching this class grow and being a part of that growth. I really like the whole program.”