Billy Meyer turned back the clock — twice. The Texas Motorplex founder and Funny Car legend brought the house down not once, but twice during the 40th anniversary celebration of his groundbreaking dragstrip, performing back-to-back burnouts that reminded fans what drag racing used to feel like — loud, raw, and unforgettable.
On Friday night, Meyer strapped into Buddy Hull’s Funny Car Chaos entry, adorned in a special 40th anniversary livery, and delivered a thunderous, old-school burnout that rolled past the 330-foot mark. It was the first time Meyer had driven a nitro-burning Funny Car in 37 years, and the sight of him muscling the machine through a haze of tire smoke sent fans into a frenzy.
As the roar subsided, Meyer backed up carefully through the smoke, climbed out through the roof hatch, and waved to a standing ovation. Waiting for him at the starting line were former Funny Car world champion Jack Beckman, who helped remove his belts, and current star Ron Capps, who snapped photos of the moment on his phone. It was a living postcard of drag racing’s lineage — a legend from the past standing shoulder to shoulder with the heroes of today.
“I wanted to go,” Meyer said with a grin. “But my family — my daughter Christie — would’ve killed me. I wanted to do it again, because I did the first burnout here, and this is the 40th anniversary. So I wanted to do it one more time.”
Fans didn’t have to wait long for that encore. On Saturday, just before the third round of professional qualifying, Meyer climbed back into the car and did exactly what he’d promised — laying down another burnout that drew cheers from the packed Motorplex grandstands. It was another full-circle moment, proving that even after nearly four decades, the instinct never leaves a racer.
“Yeah, no, it went farther than that, actually, on video,” Meyer said with a laugh. “Now that they have throttle stops on them, they kind of start grabbing a little bit. So it’s just a little squirrelier down there. If you had a little bit more throttle, you could spin a tire a little farther and go farther. Yeah, it was fun. It was very fun.”
For many fans in attendance, Meyer’s return wasn’t just a showpiece — it was a living bridge between the Motorplex’s rich history and its modern identity. When he built the facility in 1986, Meyer defied industry norms with an all-concrete racing surface, stadium-style grandstands, and amenities that elevated drag racing from fairgrounds to professional arenas. Friday and Saturday’s burnouts were reminders of the vision that made it possible.
“It was never just about building a racetrack,” Meyer said earlier in the week. “It was about giving fans and racers a place that felt big-league, something that made them proud to be part of this sport.”
Meyer’s legend runs deeper than just the Motorplex. As a teenager, he was one of drag racing’s earliest prodigies, turning professional at 16 and quickly earning a reputation for fearlessness behind the wheel. He battled the sport’s biggest names through the 1970s and ’80s — drivers like Don Prudhomme, Raymond Beadle, and John Force — often in cars of his own design. Off the track, he pushed boundaries as a promoter, entrepreneur, and innovator who helped bring corporate sponsorships into drag racing’s mainstream.
So when the 69-year-old Meyer climbed back into a Funny Car, it wasn’t just for nostalgia — it was a celebration of a life spent building the sport from the ground up.
When asked if he would’ve gone to the eighth-mile if given the chance, Meyer didn’t hesitate. “Oh, yeah,” he said with a smirk. “With the throttle stop, you’re kind of at its mercy.”
The throttle-stop might have kept him from making as full of a pull as he wanted, but it couldn’t contain his spirit. “I was already inspired to want to make a full run,” he admitted. “My family would shoot me.” Saturday, he came back sans throttle-stop.
Those who know Meyer best weren’t surprised. His career has always been defined by that same combination of daring and discipline — the impulse to push limits balanced by a self-awareness that comes from surviving the most dangerous era of Funny Car racing.
“You get in a car and you’re a race car driver,” Meyer said. “It’s just like being a pilot.”
That simple analogy summed up everything about the moment — and about Meyer himself. The man who once risked everything to chase 250 mph in a quarter-mile hasn’t lost the mindset that made him a pioneer. To Meyer, climbing into a nitro car isn’t an act of nostalgia. It’s an affirmation that even time can’t throttle back passion.
The burnouts — one spontaneous, one planned — became instant folklore among those who witnessed them. Fans compared the spectacle to Meyer’s legendary runs from the 1980s, when his cars were among the fastest and most fearless in the world. As the smoke drifted through the Texas air, it felt as if four decades of drag racing history were collapsing into a single moment.
It was also symbolic of something greater — the legacy of a racer who refused to just participate in the sport, but to reinvent it. From the Motorplex’s concrete lanes to its ongoing role in NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship, Meyer’s fingerprints remain visible everywhere.
As the crowd finally quieted and Meyer smiled from the starting line, there was a sense that the story had come full circle — from the man who made the first burnout at the Motorplex to the same man doing one 40 years later.
“I did the first burnout here,” Meyer said once more, looking down the strip he carved out of a cornfield in 1986. “And this is the 40th anniversary. So I wanted to do it one more time.”
He paused, then laughed. “But you know, the truth is — once you smell nitro again, one more time is never enough.”
