TERRY HADDOCK: CONFIDENCE SOARS
Thu, 2008-10-16 12:54
Fires and duct tape, flavored with undying persistence and a fierce
determination to succeed have marked Terry Haddock’s 
journeyman drag
racing career. Labeled as a perennial underdog, he has filled the field
and killed a few giants along the way, but according to the
Hackettstown, New Jersey native, that’s all changed. For the first time
in his career, Terry is on top of the pack and has a commanding
65-point lead in the IHRA World Championship chase with only one race
remaining.
Definitely having the best season of his career, Terry says he can point out several keys to his most recent success: new sponsors, a full tool chest, and most critically, by his own admission, a change in the way he thinks.
“I spent a career learning how to qualify instead of learning to win races,” he explained. “After winning the race in Grand Bend earlier in the season, it was like a light bulb went on and I said to myself ‘we can actually do this. We can win this championship.’ From there, it’s been a whole new ballgame.”
Fires and duct tape, flavored with undying persistence and a fierce
determination to succeed have marked Terry Haddock’s journeyman drag
racing career. Labeled as a perennial underdog, he has filled the field
and killed a few giants along the way, but according to the
Hackettstown, New Jersey native, that’s all changed. For the first time
in his career, Terry is on top of the pack and has a commanding
65-point lead in the IHRA World Championship chase with only one race
remaining.
Definitely having the best season of his career, Terry says he can point out several keys to his most recent success: new sponsors, a full tool chest, and most critically, by his own admission, a change in the way he thinks.
“I spent a career learning how to qualify instead of learning to win races,” he explained. “After winning the race in Grand Bend earlier in the season, it was like a light bulb went on and I said to myself ‘we can actually do this. We can win this championship.’ From there, it’s been a whole new ballgame.”
After the dramatic win in Canada, former NHRA US Nationals Champion Funny Car driver and business owner Mike Ashley became an integral part of Terry’s season and future. Ashley’s mortgage company, Lend America, has long been a supporter of Terry’s dreams, and the company took over the title sponsorship position on the Funny Car giving Terry and his all volunteer team the positive boost they needed to keep their title hopes alive.
“It was really the first time I can remember when we didn’t have to worry about running out of parts or having to run conservatively so we could make the next race.
“Mike is more than a sponsor for us though. He’s a mentor and a life coach, someone that has really helped me with my thought-processes and looking at things with a positive view. His eternal ‘expect to win’ attitude has really infected me and my crew, and now, when we pull up to the line, we really do expect to win, not just qualify and then live to race another day,” Terry said.
Terry’s path to success has been long, littered with fires, explosions,
rolls of duct tape and thousands and thousands of cans of brake clean.
After starting his career by racing stock cars in 1990, he made the
move into drag racing behind the wheel of a front-engine dragster in
1995 and then an AA/Altered Funny Car in 1996. He learned the ropes on
the crews of veterans like Doug Herbert and Tim Wilkerson, and in 1998,
Terry finally earned his Funny Car license.
For the next several years, Terry raced when he could scrape together support and a crew, always mindful of his lack of sufficient funding. He hit a huge bump in the road in 2000 when he was involved in a fire during qualifying for the NHRA AutoZone Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park which left him in the care of the burn unit for more than three months with severely burned hands.
“I thought about hanging it up right then. I wasn’t sure I would get behind the wheel of a car again, but there was this feeling, this drive, deep inside that kept me going and moving forward,” he said.
Terry continued to piece together support and was back in the seat not long after he was cleared to race. Ever burdened by a low-budget operation, he was still able to run 11 out of 23 NHRA events in 2001, finishing in the top 20 in points, and even competed in the Australian National Drag Racing Association World Finals.
Fire struck again in 2002 at the US Nationals in Indy when his car
dropped a cylinder early followed by engine failure and a spectacular
fire under the body of the car. With his prior experience, he knew he
didn’t want to stay in the cockpit any longer than necessary. He
battled to get the car stopped, unbuckling his belts and then sitting
on the roof, Haddock steered the car with his feet, pushing the car
into the wall to stop it.
“I definitely didn’t want to go through all that rehab over again. I knew I had to get the thing stopped, so I did what I could from inside, and then got out as quickly as possible,” he said.
Terry used the experience of the infernos to help others who suffer burns, raising more than $10,000 for burn-related charities.
“I was taught as a child and young adult to always give back, and I really felt that I had an opportunity to make something good out of my pain.”
Nothing in racing, however, could have prepared him for the personal pain he suffered in 2005 when he and his wife lost their first child, McKailee Mercedes. Working through the pain and loss, Terry and his wife Bambee again gave back, this time with a spectacular exhibition burnout on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville for the Children’s Miracle Network of Shands Children's Hospital at the University.
"The heartache of losing McKailee just 12 short hours after receiving
her into our lives was indescribable, and I wanted to do everything I
could to help find a cure so other parents don't have to go through
what Bambee and I went through."
Although the loss never completely healed, the couple was relieved and renewed when their son, McKailen Skyler, was born a year later. “Bambee and I were so nervous after losing McKailee, but our boy was just fine, and today is our complete treasure,” he said.
Call it karma or the golden rule, Haddock is definitely on the receiving end this season of positive payments he has made into eternity. Racing to the top position with his perpetual budget issues and then to attract not only Mike Ashley and Lend America but also sponsors like DJ Safety, Race Girl, Aircat and Burke Designs, the bootstrapping New Jersey native is proud of his path to success.
“I learned a long time ago that if you have a goal and a dream, you can get there. With the committed support of my wife and family and the help and coaching of Mike Ashley, I’ve been able to realize a dream I’ve had since I was a little boy – of being the champion. Now, we just have to take it to Rockingham and close the deal. No matter the outcome, though, we’re all winners,” he said.
journeyman drag
racing career. Labeled as a perennial underdog, he has filled the field
and killed a few giants along the way, but according to the
Hackettstown, New Jersey native, that’s all changed. For the first time
in his career, Terry is on top of the pack and has a commanding
65-point lead in the IHRA World Championship chase with only one race
remaining.Definitely having the best season of his career, Terry says he can point out several keys to his most recent success: new sponsors, a full tool chest, and most critically, by his own admission, a change in the way he thinks.
“I spent a career learning how to qualify instead of learning to win races,” he explained. “After winning the race in Grand Bend earlier in the season, it was like a light bulb went on and I said to myself ‘we can actually do this. We can win this championship.’ From there, it’s been a whole new ballgame.”
New Thinking Leads Haddock to Brink of a Dream Come True
Years after just focusing on qualifying, Terry Haddock now looks to the potential of his first career world championship. Shown here with son McKailen Skyler, he's battled the odds to reach success.
Definitely having the best season of his career, Terry says he can point out several keys to his most recent success: new sponsors, a full tool chest, and most critically, by his own admission, a change in the way he thinks.
“I spent a career learning how to qualify instead of learning to win races,” he explained. “After winning the race in Grand Bend earlier in the season, it was like a light bulb went on and I said to myself ‘we can actually do this. We can win this championship.’ From there, it’s been a whole new ballgame.”
After the dramatic win in Canada, former NHRA US Nationals Champion Funny Car driver and business owner Mike Ashley became an integral part of Terry’s season and future. Ashley’s mortgage company, Lend America, has long been a supporter of Terry’s dreams, and the company took over the title sponsorship position on the Funny Car giving Terry and his all volunteer team the positive boost they needed to keep their title hopes alive.
“It was really the first time I can remember when we didn’t have to worry about running out of parts or having to run conservatively so we could make the next race.
“Mike is more than a sponsor for us though. He’s a mentor and a life coach, someone that has really helped me with my thought-processes and looking at things with a positive view. His eternal ‘expect to win’ attitude has really infected me and my crew, and now, when we pull up to the line, we really do expect to win, not just qualify and then live to race another day,” Terry said.
I thought about hanging it up right then. I wasn’t sure I would get behind the wheel of a car again, but there was this feeling, this drive, deep inside that kept me going and moving forward. - Haddock after his 2000 Memphis fire
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 |
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Even though fires and mayhem presented itself, aresilient Haddock fought his way through.
For the next several years, Terry raced when he could scrape together support and a crew, always mindful of his lack of sufficient funding. He hit a huge bump in the road in 2000 when he was involved in a fire during qualifying for the NHRA AutoZone Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park which left him in the care of the burn unit for more than three months with severely burned hands.
“I thought about hanging it up right then. I wasn’t sure I would get behind the wheel of a car again, but there was this feeling, this drive, deep inside that kept me going and moving forward,” he said.
Terry continued to piece together support and was back in the seat not long after he was cleared to race. Ever burdened by a low-budget operation, he was still able to run 11 out of 23 NHRA events in 2001, finishing in the top 20 in points, and even competed in the Australian National Drag Racing Association World Finals.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
Lend America stepped up this season with much neededmonteary support, but the mental confidence instilled by the company's leader proved to be more valuable.
“I definitely didn’t want to go through all that rehab over again. I knew I had to get the thing stopped, so I did what I could from inside, and then got out as quickly as possible,” he said.
Terry used the experience of the infernos to help others who suffer burns, raising more than $10,000 for burn-related charities.
“I was taught as a child and young adult to always give back, and I really felt that I had an opportunity to make something good out of my pain.”
Nothing in racing, however, could have prepared him for the personal pain he suffered in 2005 when he and his wife lost their first child, McKailee Mercedes. Working through the pain and loss, Terry and his wife Bambee again gave back, this time with a spectacular exhibition burnout on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville for the Children’s Miracle Network of Shands Children's Hospital at the University.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
Win, lose or draw, Haddock has experienced the time of his life in 2008.
Although the loss never completely healed, the couple was relieved and renewed when their son, McKailen Skyler, was born a year later. “Bambee and I were so nervous after losing McKailee, but our boy was just fine, and today is our complete treasure,” he said.
Call it karma or the golden rule, Haddock is definitely on the receiving end this season of positive payments he has made into eternity. Racing to the top position with his perpetual budget issues and then to attract not only Mike Ashley and Lend America but also sponsors like DJ Safety, Race Girl, Aircat and Burke Designs, the bootstrapping New Jersey native is proud of his path to success.
“I learned a long time ago that if you have a goal and a dream, you can get there. With the committed support of my wife and family and the help and coaching of Mike Ashley, I’ve been able to realize a dream I’ve had since I was a little boy – of being the champion. Now, we just have to take it to Rockingham and close the deal. No matter the outcome, though, we’re all winners,” he said.
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