The inaugural NHRA Texas Stampede of Speed Shootout concluded with John Baker, driving Jim Whiteley’s ’63 Corvette Pro Mod, taking top honors and $25,000 for winning the Pro Mod Shootout. Stevie “Fast” Jackson was the No. 1 qualifier of the event with a 3.593 second pass at 215.86 mph during qualifying.

J.R, Baxter of Waxahachie, Texas, won $5,000 in Top Dragster and Lance Abbott of Midland, Texas, won $5,000 for his Top Sportsman win before Abbott claimed the head-to-head shootout bonus of $5,000 driving his ’98 S-10 pick-up to his second winner’s circle of the night.
 
“We witnessed some outstanding Pro Mod action tonight and the final round battle between John Baker and Bubba Stanton was worth the price of admission,” said Andy Carter, Texas Motorplex General Manager. “The Top Sportsman and Top Dragster competitors also brought their A game all night. The Shootout between Lance and J.R. for the extra $5,000 was a something we would like to do more over in the future. Tonight was about celebrating some of the wild and unique classes in drag racing leading up to the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals.”
 

The 16-car qualified field of Pro Mods started the night battling round by round for a chance to race for the $25,000 but it was Baker with Bubba Stanton the eventual runner-up outlasting the field. For his runner-up efforts Stanton pocketed $10,000. Stanton was able to avenge his Monday night loss to Stevie Fast Jackson in the $140,000 grudge race with a semifinal round win to advance to the big money round tonight.
 

The Stampede of Speed event calendar will feature ticketed and non-ticketed events leading up the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals. Fans can visit www.texasmotorplex.com or www.stampedeofspeed.com for more information. Highlights of the Stampede of Speed include:
 
Wednesday, October 6 – NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Invitational (10a – 6p)
                                               Pub Crawl and Movie night with The Snake (6p – 10p)
 
See the fastest, most powerful race cars on the planet make test laps in advance of the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals. The stars of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will be on-site preparing for the fourth race of the NHRA Countdown. This first ever for NHRA open schedule test session is a chance for curious motorsports fans to get a taste of the ground pounding excitement that will play out Friday-Sunday.
 
Join the stars of the NHRA as they sample local brews and eateries in Waxahachie on a walking Pub Crawl followed by an exclusive showing of the film Snake & Mongoose featuring drag racing legend Don “The Snake” Prudhomme hosting an in-person Q&A and autograph session.
 
Thursday, October 7 –   Texas Fall Nationals sportsman qualifying (9a – 6p)
                                             Fan Fest in downtown Waxahachie (6p – 9p)
 
Racing action continues at Texas Motorplex as the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals officially begins with sportsman qualifying action.
 
The wildly popular and free Fan Fest event will begin in downtown Waxahachie highlighting race cars interactive games, live music and family fun. A massive driver autograph session will be the highlight of the evening which will be capped off with a fireworks show.
 
Friday, October 8 – Friday Night Live at Texas Motorplex
 
For the second year in a row Friday Night Live will turn the traditional qualifying schedule on its head as music, exhibition runs and a special guest DJ will surround the Friday night NHRA pro qualifiers as they try and run to the top of their respective categories at speeds over 330 mph in under four seconds. The quickest runs of the night in Top Fuel and Funny Car will be awarded $15,000 each for their efforts with Pro Stock earning $5,000 and one Pro Stock Motorcycle rider pocketing $1,500. The night will conclude with a free after-party on the starting line.
 
Saturday, October 9 – Final Qualifying for NHRA Texas Fall Nationals
 
The last day for teams and drivers from across the country to make the highly competitive sixteen car fields will conclude on Saturday. Teams will only have two chances to make the show or be relegated to spectator status so tension will be high and the competition jumps to a new level as teams vying to be one of the lucky 16. The annual DRAW auction will begin following racing action.
 
Sunday, October 10 – NHRA Texas Fall Nationals Race Day
 
Following a massive opening ceremony the top drag racers from around the country will be racing to get one step closer to a world championship at the only playoff race in the state of Texas. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will be on the line as well as the chance for racing immortality. The pits as always will be open for fans to mix and mingle with the racers throughout the day. At the conclusion of the event fans are welcome to join the winner’s circle celebration on the starting line where the Stampede of Speed will be closed with the largest fireworks display of the week.