Nitro Revival sponsor and Land Speed racer Geoff Stilwell has arrived in Pomona with his team Nick Davies, Rob Loaring and Scott Barnes. Geoff has kindly sent in some updates on the condition of the salt at Bonneville and pre-event work going on with his 7707 Modified Fuel Roadster.
The Southern California Timing Association have been posting updates about the condition of the salt with pictures which you can see at the following links:
Update #1: 24th-26th July
Update #2: 27th July
Update #3: 28th July
Update #4: 29th July
The smoke haze is still thick, but the weather is perfect for racing. They will start letting people out on the Salt on Thursday, the salt condition is great. Geoff and his team will be heading to Wendover, near Bonneville on Wednesday.
Geoff commented: "Starting at the Mick's Paint shop very early morning today, we started to work on the car, with Scott Campbell looking at the bottom end. An oil leak was discovered so the heads came off, and after it was fixed it was fire up on gas time. Crew Chief Nick Davies got our fuel mixed and ready."
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Huge thanks go out to BAE (Brad Anderson) and ARP (Chris Raschke) for all their help in getting the 7707 ready for Speedweek.
Thanks for Markus Münch from Dragmag.de for sending in this Mantorp Drag Festival report from 25th to 28th July, Markus writes:
The chicken rides again. Or how six Top Fueller can be the icing on the cake.
As last year, Henrik Vormdohre and I, Markus Münch from Dragmag.de attended the Drag Festival for an obvious reason. It is one of the smoothest races in the whole season. It’s relaxed running is organized by the SHRA (Swedish Hot Rod Association) since 1969. It is absolute top notch.
The racing surface provided grip for 4.00 second runs in Top Fuel and 3.7 second runs in Top Doorslammers. The preparation paid off. So we sure will come back to Mantorp as well as many Swedish and even English Fans. For me, as going to Hockenheim since 1986, the spirit reminds me on the old Hockenheim days. Camping, Car show and of course proper racing.
Top Fuel made a great turnout with six Dragster. Great runs were to be seen. Quickest and most consistent was Tommy Haapanen, running a 4,00 @478 Km/h, (297 mph) in the Cannonball final with the chicken Dragster. Great to see those fast rails out there in droves. Thank you to Susanne Callin, Dennis Nilsson, Duncan Micallef, Stig Neergaard, and Timo Lehtimäki. All put in great runs and great show for everyone. Like back in the good old FIA days. On Thursday, Teddy Larsson was licensing in Dennis Nilsson Dragster. He needs two more full passes to get the license, he is not sure when to do this.
Top Methanol saw two of the „Swedish A Fuel Team “Dragsters. Tony Bryntesson put in the quickest Run with a 5.28 @ 401 Km/h (249 mph), Jonny Lagg put in a 5.43 @ 430 Km/h (267 mph) as his best. Those two veterans of Top Methanol racing didn’t ‘t have too much time behind the wheel, cause the young guns taking care of licencing most of the weekend in that Dragsters. Isak Lagg did in his father’s Dragster.
He gained the license throughout the weekend with some strong passes up to the 5.3’s. On his last pass at Sunday afternoon he nearly had liftoff. Obviously, a Top Fuel rear wing was fitted to the dragster and the downforce made the rail lift the front tyres from 60 feet out to halftrack, were he aborted the run, to avoid a flip over. Great driving. Tindra Christensen licensed in Bryntessons Dragster.
She also gained the license with when i remember right a best time in the 5.4’s. Not 100% sure. Our colleagues of European Drag racing Videos have a video with some of the licensing passes and some Top Fuel onboard. (Licensing passes: this link or click the video to view| Top Fuel onboard: click here)
Great stuff here. Both newly licensed drivers met in round one of Super Bracket (Supro ET). Tindra broke out and Isak went to the final of the four-car field. In the final he beat young Sarah Romahn from Germany in her beautiful white Corvette. She won in Round one against an outbreaking Jens Könnecke from Germany. Yes, there were at least some travellers from England and Germany which visited the Mantorp race. That’s great to see, that Teams are willing to travel in these days. Also two Swiss Bike riders made the trip. Olaf Menzi and Martin Bühler.
The Top Doorslammers saw a healthy 16 car entry. 15 Scandinavians and Jens Zimmermann from Germany. His first season with that nitrous assisted Camaro. Still getting familiar with the car (formerly driven by Klaus Romahn, father of Sarah Romahn) who drove it in CE bevor he sold it. Jens started in SG years ago, lately he was running a nitrous assisted Jaguar also in CE. He is getting familiar with a new 4 stage nitrous Engine. He already won the Top Doorslammers event at Malmö. This time, with new engine it is testing. Top Contenders in this class are Mathias Wulcan in the Blackbird Camaro (clocking a 3.77 @ 324 Km/h | 201 mph in first round of eliminations) and Jaakko Lauhasmaa in his newly acquired Mustang from the States. He managed a 3.78 @ 319 Km/h (198 mph) in the semifinal. Lauhasmaa won the event against Jesper Stenberg in his nitrous Corvette. Wulcan was a no show in Round two.
Pro Street, the 7.6 seconds heads up class saw two English contestants. Billy Gane, who was here last year too, and Kevin Jenkins with the Fraudster Escort. Both did well in Qualifying. Jenkins was 6th in a 14-car field, clocking a 7.635 second pass, Billy Gane was 9th with a 7.650 second pass. Unfortunately, they met in round one. However Jenkins didn’t have the time to get the engine up to a good temperature, so he did not run a good time. Billy was too quick and broke out. Jenkins lost on a hole shot to the later event winner Svend Holst. They have more chances next weekend in Gardemoen and later in Tierp, where they also compete.
Jenkins, Mercer and Könnecke, as well as Gane and Thomas Bublitz are doing a Scandinavian Tour. All the best of luck and have a great time.
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Mercer, Team Annie also been there in Bracket (Pro ET) and did ok in Qualifying. 21 out of 37 and in Round one he lost to the later winner Fredrik Edlund. Team Annie also has more chances for good results in Gardemoen and Tierp. Robin Sattler from Germany, usually running and winning in CE made the trip and competed in Bracket. Unfortunately, he suffered damage in qualifying and was unable to race on Sunday.
Nostalgia Funny car, two Cars, „Tre Kronor “and a tribute car to the „Fighting Irish “match race the whole weekend. Tre Kronor managed a 6.5 @ 303 Km/h (188 mph), the Fighting Irish (build by the Chassis builder which build the original car back in the days. There are two tribute cars out there, build by the original manufacturer) was still in search of a setup.
Top Fuel Bike. It was an 1/8-mile setup, and it was all Rikard Gustafsson. There were twins and four-cylinder bikes in one class. Rikard did a 3.88 @ 322 Km/h (200 mph) in Qualifying. 77-year-old Peter Andersson Strom was second with a 4.05 second pass, then Greger Johansson and Marko Lantto. Unfortunately, Swiss Olaf Menzi had an incident (touching the wall and coming off the Bike). He stood after that accident; we have no information about any injuries. Get well soon. Rikard won the race easy.
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Pro Stock Bike saw three entries, Jörg Lümant, wo is in the battle for the FIM E Pro stock title with Bertrand Maurice won the event with the by far quickest runs. His best was a 7.19 @ 290 Km/h (180 mph), and he won over Theodor Vic on his Suzuki. At least it was a ¼ mile race, Lymant had to lift early, and even just managed to stop before the gravel trap at top end. For two-cylinder man Lymant it was testing, with new stuff in the trailer. Thank you Jörg and Team for the time you spend on Saturday evening to explain so many things Pro Stock wise we did not know yet.
Five Gasser fought for the win. „Moonlighter “Jim Johansson did best and succeeded. Vintage Outlaw also is a heck of a pleasure to watch. Slingshots, Altered, Funny car fight heads up for the win. The fastest was Arne Krister Kallevik in his „Skunk Rat “Slingshot, running 6.72 @ 327 Km/h (203 mph). Unfortunately, he couldn’t start in the race. Leif Andersson won in his „General Leif “Slingshot. Great to watch all these pieces of history (even if not all are „old “cars). Olaf Martens from Germany was in the field with his Slingshot and won first round, then he was eliminated.
Pro Comp saw Dragster and FC’s and Altered. Fredrik Larsson won in is stunning Psychotic Express Altered. 3.98 @ 294 Km/h (182 mph) on the 1/8 mile. A hell of a ride. If i remember right, he is also the driver of the “Nitrocalypse “. Nostalgia FC… There is a new Fuel Altered in the making.
We also get to know that for next year, the Sturhan family Mercedes Pro Stocker should have a comeback. Fingers crossed for that to happen.
So, there were so many great cars and bikes to be seen, worth travelling there, with 6 Fuellers as a bonus.
You can view all the pictures in our event coverage page by clicking here or by clicking events at the top on the menu bar and then clicking Mequiar's Drag Festival event.
Markus Münch / Dragmag.de // Pictures: Henrik Vormdohre and Markus Münch. // Videos: Pascal Koch - European Drag Racing Videos.
Bob Beck and Randy Kerdoon from POWERtube TV's Talking About Cars released this interview with Wayne Allman.
You can view the interview by clicking here.
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Mugridge Motorsport posted earlier today on their Facebook page this report on Luke Mugridge's at Clastres Dragway in France last weekend, They wrote:
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What a fantastic time we had in France at Clastres Dragway. Our first time Booking the ferry through the Santa Pod Deal they’ve got with DFDS. The whole process from booking, to getting on and off the ferry was extremely painless.
The crossing took one and half hours on the ferry and a two-hour drive to Clastres, ended up being a lot easier to do than it’s been made out to be.
Just the declaration form you receive when booking the ferry with the racer discount, which informs the ports that you’re running with private equipment and therefore don’t require the GMR or GWR, whichever it was form that need for transporting goods that’s being sold. Just TWO forms, the booking confirmation, and the declaration form of being private. That’s all you need.
The booking process and racer account can be found on the Santa Pod Racers Club website under Information, entering Junior Dragster in Clastres is FREE (providing you do it before the deadline).
So it’s an accessible race for British Teams that want to dip their toe into racing in Europe for the first time. All you need to do is to upgrade to a National Licence next year and give it a go.
If you enjoyed the experience of driving to France, why not travel a bit further and race at Hockenheim. Certainly recommended.
The 25th European Dragster, Clastres Dragway, France took place at the weekend 27th-28th July.
Congratulations to all the UK racers Luke Mugridge in Junior Dragster, Clive Dandridge in Street Run, John Dewey and Brian Waskett in Speed-Flex RWYB Auto for making the journey to France to compete.
Winners of the 25th European Dragster event are:
- Speed-Flex Junior Dragster - T. WOLF
- Street Run - Clive DANDRIDGE
- Super Gas - C. LIMASSET
- Speed-Flex Pro ET - J. ARNAUD
- DULAMON Auto Super Pro ET - A. ROMERO
- Super Comp - G. HABERMANN
The event is part of the Association Trophee Dragster
Supported by John Woolfe Racing supporting racers since 1967.
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Happy Birthday for today to VWDRC racer Zaykk Benoit, Nostalgia Superstock racer Harvey Bosomworth, Wild Bunch racer and builder Antony Colliver, Swedish Super Twin Bike racer Anders Hörnström and VW Caddy racer Mike Whittaker, Outlaw Anglia racer Chris Kenny (hopefully returning soon), we hope you are all having a fantastic day.
Congratulations to the winners at Mequiar's Drag Festival at Mantorp Park, Sweden over the weekend:
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- Top Fuel: Tommi Haapanen (4,005/479km/h) def. Dennis Nilsson.
- Top Fuel Bike: Rikard Gustafsson (4,159/302.4km/h)
- 440 Outlaw: Ulf Kajgard (4,640/234.8km/h)
- 4to6: Tobias Johansson
- A Gasser: Jim Johansson (9,400/220.5km/h)
- Bracket: Fredrik Edlund (9,891/211.90km/h)
- Junior Drag Bike: Indy Lyren (11,120/85.5km/h)
- Junior Dragster Pro: William Johansson (7,923/128.9km/h)
- Modified Street: Dennis Modig (9,654/221.5km/h)
- Pro Comp: Fredik Larsson (4,112/287.2km/h)
- Pro Comp Bike: Christer Hansson (7,83/279.9km/h)
- Pro Street: Svend Holst: (7,634/275.4km/h)
- StreetWeekAll: Sebastian Svndin (7,925/119.0km/h)
- Street 8.60: Freddie Carsting (8,696/251.1km/h)
- Super Bracket: Isak Lagg (7,947/238.8km/h)
- Super Comp Bike: Jorgen Ulriksen (8,890/235.6km/h)
- Super Twin Top Gas Bike: Conny Karlsson (4,777/235.7km/h)
- Top Doorslammer: Jaakko Lauhasmaa (3,800/324.6km/h)
- Vintage Outlaw: Leif Andersson (7,267/292.9km/h)
You can see Patrik Jacobsson's galery from the weekend at Mantorp Park by clicking here, we will have our event coverage gallery update soon once the pictures have been received and uploaded.
We will be posting more Mantorp Park articles soon this week, keep checking our news page. sponsored by John Woolfe Racing
Congratulations to the winners at Bug Jam '37 held at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend:
- VW Sportsman - Jordan Clark (13.99) 14.3484/94.03 def. Jake Fronda (12.50) 12.6453/109.63
- VW Pro - Joe Hall (12.99) 13.0326/91.97 def. Ed Keech (10.75) 11.0166/119.28
- Pro Modified - Andy Robinson 6.0016/242.52 def. Bobby Wallace 7.9345/125.46
- Funny Car - Kevin Kent 5.6402/131.39 def. Steve Ashdown BROKE
- 7.60 Heads Up - Mark Turner 7.7186/159.06 def. Brian Pateman 7.8682/174.40
- Outlaw Flat Four - Adam Lowe 10.9205/120.15 def. Martin Friedschroeder RED
- Street Eliminator - Alan MsSweeney 7.4476/190.60 def. Anthony Higgs 7.6796/194.61
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You can see the official timing data for the event by going to this link or by clicking on Data, then Timing Date in the main menu above.
Congratulations to Steve Ashdown setting a new PB and setting a new Santa Pod Raceway track record ET for Funny Car with 4.180/294.86mph.
Andy Bond had a big incident on the track, we have spoken with Andy and luckily he is okay. Eurodragster.com would like wish Andy all the best and a speedy recovery and hope to see the Ugly Sister back soon.
If you've a report on the race you'd like us to include, contact us on [email protected].
You can see our coverage of Bug Jam '37, sponsored by John Woolfe Racing, with on-track and pitside galleries thanks to Julian and Kirstie, at our event page. Also massive thanks to Graham for his live reporting over the 3 days in hot conditions and long days bringing coverage from the event.
Thanks for Remco Scheelings from Drag Racing Europe for sending in this links on Tierp preview.
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Team Brothers on Super Street Bike duty for Summit.
The Team Brothers quartet will only be represented in FIM-E Super Street Bike at the forthcoming Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena, Sweden as unfortunately Eric Richard (currently sitting in third spot in FIM-E Top Fuel Bike) will be unable to attend. However, Krisztián Jász will return after skipping the previous Tierp event in June.
You can read the full article by visiting this link.
Head overcomes travails, looking forward to challenges ahead.
The transition to FIM-E Super Street Bike has been somewhat character building for class rookie Bradley Head, but as we head into the second half of the season the Brit is looking to continue learning and improving at each and every event.
You can read the full article by visiting this link.
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Mogens multitasks and heading for Summit.
Class veteran Mogens Lund has seen a lot of things in FIM-E Super Street Bike, but after taking a tenth off his PB with a 6.826 in qualifying at the SpeedEvents Internationals back at the start of June, followed by a couple of blow-ups halted any progression in eliminations, the Dane has had a lot to do before the championship resumes early August.
You can read the full article by visiting this link.
Happy Birthday for today to longtime Finnish supporter of the site Kai Plathan, to UK racers Phil Bloomfield (Outlaw Anglia), Al Smith (Top Fuel Bike), Paul Lorne (Modified 100e), Joe Bristow (Golvo) and Damion Redshaw. A special Happy Birthday to US-based retired VP Racing executive and author Jim Kelly.
The British Drag Racing Historians are proud to present the second part of the Wally Park's stories which was orginially published on the 12th January: Throughout his long career developing hot rodding and drag racing in the United States, Wally Parks kept a detailed journal relating his candid thoughts at the time. That journal was obtained and edited by his son Richard who has kindly given permission for Eurodragster.com to publish extracts from it relating to the period when British drag racing was being founded. The opinions are those of Wally, who is referred to by Richard as ‘Parks’ or occasionally ‘my father’.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival and this part includes the selection of American drivers to join the trip to England, the involvement of the British Drag Racing Association and Drag Festivals Ltd, the RAC forbidding any advertising on race cars and a tentative schedule for shipping and lodging.
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The story which you can see by clicking here, or clicking on the above picture, was produced by Richard Parks, photos, images chosen by Nick Pettitt and John Hunt and published by editor of Eurodragster.com Simon Groves. We all thank Jim Miller of the American Hot Rod Foundation for scanning the photos and adding captions.
Straightliners hosts its 2024 Championship Round 6 this weeked 3rd-4th July at Melbourne Raceway.
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Melbourne Raceway's E.T bracket classes this year will be racing, Sportsman ET (up to 7.90), (Pro ET (6.90-7.89) and Pro Extreme (5.90-6.89) with dial-ins used on the Sportsman tree. There's also the NSCC Hot Rod Gazette heads up option for modified street legal cars. And for quicker cars that want to run a heads up pro tree, we have Pro Comp running a Cannonball style format with the two quickest running a shootout in the final.
If racers don't have a Motorsport UK or ACU licence for bike racers, a Nora licence is needed but can be purchased easily and cheaply at this link.
For more details on the car rules, click on this link. The No Mercy Bike series offers bracket racing opportunities to bikers, jnr bikes, scooters, Ultimate Street bikes for modified bikes, stock and 2 strokes, racing legends for the over 70s among others. For more details on the bike rules, click on this link..
Specatator entry, available on the gate, is £11 a day, or £27 per weekend with camping available free from 17:00 on Friday 12th July. Bar and catering facilities are open with Statis Quo are playing Saturday night.
Run what ya brung is now exclusively pay on the gate, so no pre booking is required for RWYB. Racer and spectator tickets can be purchased at straightliners.events.
Class racers should be quick to secure their place in the weekend's activities.
Eurodragster.com will be covering post report and pictures by former editor Andy (Tog) Rogers, which you will be able to see via our coverage page supported by John Woolfe Racing.
Thanks for Remco Scheelings from Drag Racing Europe for sending in this link about Linn Fløysvik that she will be at Tierp in a Top Fuel Dragster.
A familiar name at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena, but in a different car and a different class. Linn Fløysvik will be back in action in Sweden in a Top Fuel dragster!
You can read the full article by visiting this link.
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Happy Birthday to Sportsman ET racer and 2023 champion Gary Lake, we hope you have a great day!
Today we also wish a Happy Birthday to Swedish photojournalist and EDRS reporter Lena Perés, to Serck Motorsport General Manager and Street Eliminator racer Graham Smith, we hope you have a fantastic day.
Good Morning, We are ready to bring you live coverage here at Bug Jam '37, Santa Pod Raceway. Supported by John Woolfe Racing.
To follow our coverage, go to our event index by clicking here or to follow the live reporting click here.
Many thanks to Julian and Diana for covering day two at the Bug Jam '37, Santa Pod Raceway, you can see all the pictures at this link, supported by John Woolfe Racing.
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A massive Happy Birthday to former editor Simon Groves, we hope you have a great day relaxing.
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Few weeks ago at Dragstalgia the team at Eurodragster.com presented Simon with the Certificate of Appreciation for his long service and dedication, Thank you Simon.
Today we also wish a Happy Birthda to Veedubracing head honcho Simon Letkey, we hope you have a fantastic day.
Good Morning, We are ready to bring you live coverage here at Bug Jam '37, Santa Pod Raceway. Supported by John Woolfe Racing.
To follow our coverage, go to our event index by clicking here or to follow the live reporting click here.
Many thanks to Julian and Diana for covering day one at the Bug Jam '37, Santa Pod Raceway, you can see all the pictures at this link, supported by John Woolfe Racing.
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Many thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell for an exclusive preview of the Bonneville Speedweek which takes place 3rd-9th August at Bonneville Speedway, Nevada.
Well here we go again, its July and Speedweek set on the Salt Flats of Utah is nearly here. For anyone who has been following the 7707 Landspeed Team will know that the past few years have been a challenge to say the least. Rainout after rainout and then last year sitting and waiting only to basically have a course that wasn’t really good but we still achieved a 235mph speed and with me pulling the chutes early dropped it down to 223mph in the beams.
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Bringing everyone up to date, we made some changes in the earlier part of the year to the car which have made it easier to drive. Back in May, we put 2 back to back runs at around 225mph in the mile which really boosted my confidence . Make no bones about it, 7707 is quite an animal with what is basically a Top Fuel Motor running on 70% nitro through a 2 speed trans and skinny tyres. It’s a fun ride.
Well, this year it looks like Mother Nature is going to give us a helping hand. The forecast is showing dry weather but it is going to be brutal in terms of temperatures…with forecasted 38 to 44C during speed week. One blessing is that the humidity will be less than 20% which makes it bearable. To help me deal with the temperatures and the fact i have to wear a 20 layer Top Fuel suit, I have invested in a new Swedish body cooler. almost as thin as a t-shirt. No water involved. just 4 mil thin packs that absorb your body heat. It’s fire proof and you can wear it under your fire suit. II will report on that when I am on the salt.
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So, we are told we should have two 9 mile courses this year. The SCTA have been out to the salt over the past few weeks marking out and setting the courses. This weekend coming sees the main team from the SCTA arriving out on the salt to set out all the pits, staging lanes, return roads oh and run miles and miles of copper cable for the timing systems. At this point i need to thank everyone involved at the SCTA for all the tireless work and long days they put in to make this happen.
For those interested, there are a number of Brits running this year at Speedweek in various classes, from Bikes to my Blown Fuel Roadster.
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Our target this year is to reset my record and to really push it to the limit. The Team at 7707 are frankly one of the best crews out there. It consists of Nick Davies, Rob Loaring, Scott Barnes, Scott Campbell, Pauly Rivera, Mick Jenkins, Tony Thacker and not forgetting our trainee crew member Sebastian, and I cannot thank them enough for being part of this adventure.
Lastly, if anyone fancies coming out to see Speedweek, we are racing from the 3rd August to the 9th. You can fly into Salt Lake City and it’s a 2 hour drive to Wendover, or into Las Vegas with a 5 hour drive. If you make it, please come say hello as our pit will be in the LSR Club area around the 4 mile marker.
To see results from the event go to the SCTA web site at scta-bni.org. To see live streaming of Speedweek, head to lsrlive.com.
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Happy Birthday for today to Drag Race Union club secretary and photographer Markus Münch. Have a great day Markus!
Good Morning and welcome to Bug Jam 2024 at Santa Pod Raceway, a Celebration of VW culture and track action. Bug Jam Festival, held at Santa Pod Raceway, is Europe’s largest VW and Camper van show. This vibrant and family-friendly event brings together enthusiasts, showcasing the very essence of VW culture.
The schedule is full of on and off track action whether you are here for the cars, the vans, the straight line action including Drag Racing. Witness some of Europe’s fastest and wildest drag cars and VWs. The Motorsport UK Pro Modified cars headline the action, hitting sub-6 second passes at 240mph! Nitromethane-powered Funny Cars also make sub-4 second 1,000-foot runs. Other classes include VWDRC, Outlaw Flat Four, Street Eliminator, and 7.60 Heads Up. Run What Ya Brung (RWYB), drivers take their own VWs down the drag strip and get timing data with ETSlips.
A chance to prove their car’s mettle! Show & Shine Sunday is the day for head-turners. Drivers will be showing off their perfectly painted VW, cool custom rides, rare vintage VW, and even rat-rides. The famous Human Powered Racing, a fun race from start-line to finish-line—no engines allowed! Trophies await the quickest bicycle, skate (boots and boards), runner, and most imaginative entry. Finally, the renowned "Fire Force 2" Jet Car will be hurtling down the strip on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Supported by John Woolfe Racing.
To follow our coverage, go to our event index by clicking here or to follow the live reporting click here.
Meguiar's Drag Festival at Mantorp Park takes place this weekend 25th-28th July.
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The event has 189 team entries so far with Billy Gane, Kevin Jenkins and Ronnie Mercer making their way to Sweden from the UK, you can view the update list at dragracing.eu or by clicking here.
Classes: Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Top Methanol Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, Pro Stock Car, Top Fuel Bike, Pro Stock Bike, Pro Comp Bike, Pro Comp, Top Doorslammer, Stock/Super Stock, Pro Street, Super Twin Top Gas Bike, Super Comp Bike, Super Gas Bike, Super bracket, 4to6, Real Street, Bracket, Vintage Outlaw, A Gasser, 440 Outlaw, Modified Street, StreetWeek-all, VW, Junior Dragster Pro
Street 8,6, Street Altered, Junior Dragbike
Eurodragster.com event coverage is supported by John Woolfe Racing. We will update over the racing weekend results and post-gallery.
Many thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us details of track opening and signing on at the Bug Jam being held this weekend 27th-28th July, including scrutineering times.
The main gates to the track will open at 14:00-22:00 on Thursday 25th July, they will then reopen at 08:00 on Friday 26th July for the remainder of the event.
Friday 26th July
- 10:00 – Signing on open for RWYB
- 12:00 – Signing on open for Race Vehicles/Competitiors
- 14:30 – 19:00 – Scrutineering open for competitors at the Scrutineering building
Saturday 27th July
- 07:00 – Signing on open (competition licence required)
- 09:30 – 13:00 – Track open for RWYB
- 14:30 – Track open for Race Vehicles/Competitiors
Sunday 28th July
- 08:00 – Signing on open (competition licence required)
- 08:00 – Scrutineering open for vehicles at the Scrutineering building
- 09.30 – Track open for qualifying/eliminations
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Sportsman Car Racers, please note that you only need to attend Scrutineering if this is your first event in 2024 or you have had major changes to your vehicle requiring a Scrutineering inspection.
Entry fees must be paid 3 days prior to commencement of the race event entered. There is now a small fine applied to late payments (late being asked for your payment in the signing on office) this will be £25 for the first offence and £100 for future failings within the race year.
Thanks to Abi Tether, Treasurer and Secretary from VWDRC Committee has kindly send Eurodragster.com this update on VWDRC awards this weekend at BugJam.
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Bug Jam is here and the VWDRC will be having a busier than usual race event, with additional prize fund and awards on offer.
Firstly, Thanks to SPRC Class Sponsor, Quantum Leap Racing, who have very kindly offered a £50 prize and trophy to the number 1 Qualifier in VW Sportsman. To be awarded in memory of VW Sportsman Racer Laurence Clark, who passed away last year.
VWDRC Club Sponsor, BJ Bates Electrical have offered a £100 Prize to the first VWDRC Member who achieves a Perfect ET in either VW Pro or VW Sportsman. A £50 Prize to the first VWDRC Member to get a Perfect light in either VW Pro or VW Sportsman. Thanks to Sambasaurus.com and in honour of 20 years of ownership, and 21 years of Akciddento.
Along with the additional prize fund and competition the VWDRC Racers will hold their annual "Bug Jam Pro vs. Sportsman Shootout.
The shootout was revived in 2011 by long-time member and multiple Champion Paul Herbert, who was the driving force and whose business 'Herbies Autos' is title sponsor of the competition.
This year however, Paul has decided that he would like to take a step back and in doing so, would also like to honour his very good friend, and much missed VWDRC Sportsman Racer Laurence Clark.
The shootout will continue to run in the same way it always has, with racers from each class race head-to-head. Thanks to the generosity of Tisha Clark and the family, the 'Laurence Clark Pro vs. Sportsman Shootout' perpetual award will be presented at the annual VWDRC Awards Ceremony.
The recipient of the award will be the winner of Bug Jam in whichever class is victorious in the shootout. With a Prize fund of over £1000 and with VW Pro and VW Sportsman on equal wins it is all to play for.
Thanks to the support of racers and sponsors Herbie Autos and BJ Bates Electrical
The third Finnish Hot Rod Association championship competition of the 2024 season was held on July 13-14 at the LSK Business Park, Kauhava. More than 500 passes were made on Saturday 13th in qualifying and eliminations were completed on Sunday. Detailed results are available on fhra.fi at this link.
Congratulations to the winners:
Top Doorslammer: Jaakko Lauhasmaa (70 Cuda, see photo) 4.081/289.45 def. Jens Lönngren (38 Plymouth) 4.116/289.87
Top Street Suomen Cup: Pauli Kuki Nivala (BMW E46) 7.345/300.37 kph def. Pauli Stamblewski (66 Nova), NT
Super Pro ET: Kim Döfnäs (Chevelle 598ci, see photo) (8.35) 9.175 def. Seppo Iivonen (9.10) 11.640
Pro Street Suomen Cup: Tony Ståhl (Camaro 500ci) 7.619/286.43 def. Tony Vaahtera (Olds Omega 531ci) 7.661/290.76
SKIL Pro ET: Johanna Ruusunen (’73 Valiant 440ci) (11.05) 11.081 def. Petri Tikkaoja (9.85) 10.068
Original Street: Jani Svensberg (unopposed)
Junior Dragster: Peppiina Kangas (8.12) 8.179 def. Eetu Laine (8.07) 8.130
Top Fuel Bike Suomen Cup: Mikko Rajaniemi (unopposed)
DRAGRACE.FI Pro Comp Bike: Jussi Elomäki (Suzuki Hayabusa) 7.569 def. Juha Ollikainen 7.570
SKIL Super Comp Bike: Kimmo Hamari (Suzuki Hayabusa) 8.608 def. Teemu Kaivola (Honda CBR 900 RR) 8.593
Super Gas Bike: Teemu Honkanen (Kawasaki ZX12R) 9.417 def. Juha Erälähde (Suzuki GSX R1) 9.289
Street Bike: Jone Kiljala (Suzuki GSXR 750) (11.50) 11.936 def. Jenniina Kiljala (Suzuki GSXR 1000) (10.60) 10.753
SKIL Junior Dragbike: Frans Vihreäsaari (Suzuki GSXR 600) (9.00) 10.742 def. Kaapo Majuri (7.40) 7.644
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You can see photos of the event at the Facebook page of Pekka Rouvinen by clicking here and TMu Photography on Facebook by clicking here and in his website by clicking here. Streaming video can be seen at this link.
Points in the Finnish Championship are at this link.
A Big Happy Birthday to Nitro Junkie and Top Fuel Bike racer Kev Charman and to Tierp Arena Press Officer and photographer Fredrik Värnebjörk, we hope you both have a great day!
Well done to www.airmighty.com for posting an excellent video of European Bug-In #10 in Chimay, Belgium held on 28th-30th June from various videographers which you can see by clicking here. The site reported:
The atmosphere at the European Bug-In was great! There was plenty of drag racing, the show and shine was full of magnificent cars. The smell of petrol and the sound of air-cooled engines filled the air as people jostled for the best spots. The campsite was busy …and full it was, by all accounts this was the busiest EBI ever attended, great to see and hear that this VW scene is still alive and kicking!
Besides the vibrant atmosphere and exciting activities at the European Bug-In #10 in Chimay, Belgium, there was a special corner that made VW enthusiasts’ hearts beat faster: the Cal Look Display. This was a tribute to the timeless style of air-cooled Volkswagens.
The California Look phenomenon originated in the 1960s and 1970s in California, USA. It is all about minimalism and performance. The characteristics of a Cal Look VW are:
– Clean lines: No unnecessary chrome details or trims. Everything is streamlined.
– Ass Up, Nose Down: A low ride height for an aggressive look.
– Smooth body: Door handles, emblems and even the rain gutters were removed for a clean look.
– Performance upgrades: Powerful engines, custom exhausts and lightweight parts.
Some of the most stunning Cal Look VWs were on display at the European Bug-In #10. Visitors could enjoy the perfect balance of vintage charm and modern performance. There were Cal Lookers from all over Europe and far beyond – like coming from America and het guys at FLAT4 Japan even had a car brought over from their shop in Yokohama!
Whether you are a seasoned VW connoisseur or just curious about Cal Look culture, the display offered a visual feast. The clean lines, glossy and colorful paintwork and personalized details on all these cars were a high level and great to spent many hours of drooling over these amazing VWs.
Herewith, we have put together a video with video’s many show visitors made and where send it to us so we can put together this little after-movie. To be honest, we received almost 2,5 hours of footage, we had to bring and trim back to this 22 minutes video.
Thanks everyone for contributing, and hopefully this allows you to look back, enjoy and look forward to another great European Bug-In weekend.
Subscribe to the magazine you never miss an issue!
You can see plenty of other coverage at this Facebook link, and to see information about next year’s event go to europeanbugin.com/
Happy Birthday for today to blown Alky VW Type 2 constructor and racer Wayne Allman, British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Ian Lloyd, and VW Sportsman racer Steve Stone. We hope you all have a great day.
In a happy coincidence, Bob Beck of Powertube TV's Talking About Cars has an interview with Wayne Allman which is available to subscribers at this link with a clip showing on Facebook at this link
Netflix just has just started streaming a new, five-part documentary series (by Law & Order producer Dick Wolf) called Homicide: Los Angeles. The series' second episode which subscribers can see by clicking here delves into the 1988 murders of Mickey & Trudy Thompson, and is a detailed look at the investigation into that truly unfortunate incident involving the drag racing legend who came to the UK in 1963 to race his AA/FD at the Brighton Speed trials. As a preview, People Magazine have published a piece about it which you can see by clicking here.
The British Drag Racing Historians are proud to present the second part of the Gerry Belton stories: Originally published on the 8th January: In the sixtieth anniversary year of the first UK Dragfests our fourth series of Pioneer Stories concentrates on the people and events surrounding these massively influential meetings. The First British International Drag Festival was organised by Gerry Belton who thankfully kept all his correspondence leading up to, during and after the Drag Festivals. Part 2 includes letters which relate to requests for magazine, press and newspaper advertising or film coverage before, during and after the Drag Festival.
Allen Friedrich who lived in England and was a British editor of the American Motor Sports Illustrated was looking to do a feature on the Drag Festivals. Southern Television wanted to feature the series on their programs 'Here and Now' and ‘Day by Day’ and the BBC were also interested. American Rodding magazine ran a competition in their first magazine to fly the winners to the Festival as well as a stay at the London Hilton. Not only that but they were planning to have over 2000 trucks throughout America with posters on their sides talking about the Drag Festival in London, England, and they asked Gerry to get Sydney Allard to give them one of his Dragsters in kit form to give away free in their next magazine contest!
You can see this story at this link, or by clicking on the photo. It was produced by John Hunt from Gerry's letters, edited by Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves. Simon Belton, son of Gerry, and Allan Allard, son of Sydney, have given their kind permission to publish letters and other paperwork.
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Thank you to photographer Paul Evans (Mad Welshman) for sending in pictured from the Mustang Nationals last weekend. You can see his galleries of on-track and off-track pictures from day 1 of the event, plus results by going to our event coverage page at this link supported by John Woolfe Racing.
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Last weekend, Santa Pod Raceway held three events, the Mustang Nationalson Friday-Saturday, Transitmania show on Friday – Sunday and The Ford Show on Sunday. The combined event featured Ford only RWYB, Show & Shine Competition, Handling Track, Drag Racing Demos, Stunt Shows and Jet Cars - an amazing array of attractions!
You can see footage of the RWYB from The Ford Show on the Mk1KieranYoutube chanel at this link. You can also see photos of the events at SPR’s Facebook page at this link.
Racing took place in the Modified 100e Challenge with the 100e cars running a close to dial in competition. Taking part were Scott Collin, Julian Davison, Stuart Flitton, David Mott, Matthew Stanley, Notable times came from Scott who backed up his new PB of 8.0604 back in June with a series of 8.1s passes.
Also notable from the weekend was Carl Cox whose Procharged Cuda ran a 5.9754/242.92 after a series of low six second passes.
Happy Birthday for today to Nitro Revival sponsor and land speed racer Geoff Stilwell, Swedish drag racing official Kristina Lotta Andersson, Funny Car and Nostalgia Superstock team member Grace Roaf, VW racer and author Keith Seume, Super Gas racer Wayne Hiscock and Swedish Pro Stock racer Simon Ekengren. We hope you all have a great day.
We were sorry to hear of the death of Top Fuel, Top Gas and Funny Car racer and builder Norm Wilcox.
Whilst Norm drove many different cars in the US, he will be particularly remembered in the UK for his appearances at Santa Pod Raceway and HMS Daedalus Royal Navy Air Base. Gosport, Hampshire, in the 1973 Petersen Publishing Series. Norm came over to race his former car, built by Don Long with one of the first Donovan 417ci hemi engines, which he had sold to Dennis Priddle under the name “Mr Revell”. Whilst the car suffered a broken axle in its first race at SPR, Norm took quickest time of the day at HMS Daedalus, 5.83/168.63 over 1000ft. In the final event of the series, Norm Nancy lost to Tony Nancy with a red lighting 6.55 to Tony’s 6.59/221 in the quickest race outside America (see photo - Norm in far lane).
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Once in the hands of Dennis Priddle, Mr Revell became the quickest slingshot on the planet with a 6.04 in April 1975, a record that lasted until the 1990s when Nostalgia Top Fuel cars were developed. Eventually Mr Revell became Micky Naylor’s Medicine Man which flipped over in September 1978 after a weight bar came off the front axle.
Nitro Revival organiser Steve Gibbs wrote “Norm worked his way through the ranks, setting records in Top Gas in Steve Levy's car, and moved into nitro competition. He drove Leonard Van Luven's Charger (which later became the Keeling & Clayton California Charger) and served time in Roland Leong's Hawaiian FC. Norm definitely left his impact on our sport, and many great memories. Our condolences The Wilcox Family.”
Eurodragster.com adds its condolences to all those who knew, worked with or competed against Norm.
For more on the Petersen Publishing Series, see our Pioneer Stories article by clicking on this link.
Now is your chance to own one of the most stunning Nostalgia Funny Cars outside of the USA. Due to health problems, the owner realises he will not be able to get this beauty to the track. It is 99% ready to go with a van full of spares. This has cost £70,000 to build plus many hours labour. Contact Martin Maxwell or Tony Betts, but please, no messers!
We reported on 23rd December 2021 that Martin gathered parts for the Chevy Vega with the help of Dave Bryant and Rune Fjeld. With the help of Bill at Comanche race cars a NFC was built. The rolling chassis, tin and a whole host of other things were built by Bill, with much of the design being from both Bill and Martin. The body, a 1972 Chevrolet Vega, came from what was originally going to be a car built by Rob Loaring and Nick Davies and was effectively brand new.
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The body was originally made for a 118 inch wheelbase so it had to be modified by moving wheel-arches around in the body rather than cutting and lengthening to suit the standard 125 inch wheel base that these cars have. Again, these works were completed by Bill and the whole package prepped and painted by Kerry Fowler and Kristy at Chamelion Auto Refinish Ltd in Derby, the paint job being initially designed by Martin himself. Machining works for items within the motor have been comprehensively carried out by Tom Craddock of Frontline Performance Engineering. The airbrushing and detailed artwork has been done by Luke Bryant.
The resulting car is going to be a credit to the class and to the greater extent is period correct visually in so many ways, with lots of the right bits underneath it will hopefully be one to watch, once the car is sold to a new owner.
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Greenlight Nationals which is held at Santa Pod Raceway on 17th-18th August. This is a reminder that the closing day is this Friday 26th July. *A surcharge will occur after this date.
The current entry list for the event is at this link. You can enter by clicking here. Late entry may cost extra, so competitors are urged to sign up today.
Watch drag racing like never before and immerse yourself in the action with a 360 interactive start-line view of a full Gasser Circus session from Dragstalgia 2024!
Rotate your phone, use your mouse on a PC or VR headset using the YouTube VR app to look around the Santa Pod Raceway start-line.
Happy Birthday for today to Fuel Altered racer and team owner Dave Grabham, Elona Webster (aka Mrs Steve Splinter Nash), Stock Super Stock crew lady Christine Buckland, and Sportsman ET racer Ash Symons, have a great day all.
Congratulations to Outlaw Street racer Matthew Southcott whose Plymouth Scamp ran into the sevens on 13th and 14th July. Matt's best time was 7.8531 and best speed 177.15.
Thanks to Yasmine Bengtson for supplying details of the Junior Dragster rules that apply this year in Sweden. Junior racers in other European countries will recognise the differences:
"In Sweden you can in the year you turn 6 yrs take a license. But they do not compete with the others and have also stronger limitations.
"Overall the minimum age during a racing season for each category are:
Junior Dragster Kids 6yrs
Junior Dragster Stock 8yrs
Junior Dragster Modified 8.90 10yrs
Junior Dragster Modified 7.90 12yrs
Junior Dragster Pro 16yrs or "Junior 15 years" is 15yrs
"The SB (safety breakout) rules for ETs and speeds, and chassis material required for each are:
Junior Dragster Kids SB is 16.90sec to 1/8 mile, 8.70 to 330 feet and 138 Km/h.
Junior Dragster Stock SB is 12.70 sec to 1/8 mile, 6.50 sec to 330 feet and 138 Km/h.
Junior Dragster Modified 8.90 (with steel chassis) SB is 8.70 sec to 1/8 mile, 4.70 sec to 330 feet and 138 Km/h.
Junior Dragster Modified 7.90 (Docol R8 or chrome moly chassis) SB is 7.70 sec to 1/8 mile 4.30 sec to 330 feet and 138 Km/h.
Junior Dragster Pro SB is 7.50 sec, 1/8 mile , 4.10 sec 330 feet and/or 144 km/h."
This information may be useful for those European teams wishing to compete in Junior Dragster in Sweden - but reading the rule book is highly recommended!
The Mid Sweden Nationals took place last weekend at Sundsvall Raceway in sunny weather. Results are available at www.dragracing.eu/results.asp (search Mid Sweden Natoinals). The championship points in the EDRS (European Drag Racing Series) have also been updated following the event which you can see at this link on the Drag Racing Europe web site.
Congratulations to the winners:
Top Doorslammer (1/8 mile): Lars Sjöholm 6.347/117.8kph def. Kenneth Lingvald, no-show
Competition Eliminator: Niklas Heikkilä 6.860/284.2kph def Per Mikkelsen 7.221/306.6
Pro Street: Lars-åke Söderling 7.621/294.1 def. Renate Rosén Skinne 7.619/291.1
Street: Lars Erik Persson 8.647/220.6 def. Magnus Johansson 10.493/145.4
StockSuper Stock: Torbjörn Låås 11.003/189.4 def. Rick Mccann 9.790/216.3
Super Pro ET: Isak Lagg 7.849/271.6 def. Wilma Andersson 7.722/277.1
Pro ET: Sophia Sandström 10.705/184.2 def. Martin Larsson 10.692/200.6
Super Car Class: Mats Karlsson 9.903/236.8 def. Tomas Hägg 10.896/194.0
Junior Dragster: Alice Åberg 9.775/101.5 def. Izabelle Svensson 8.458/119.1
Pro Comp Bike: Peter Rundström 7.586/284.8 def. Peter Svensson 8.036/271.8
Super Comp Bike: Tomas Jonsson 8.671/237.3 def. Mats Damberg 8.683/247.4
Super Gas Bike: Mikkel Jensen 9.601/209.6 def. Kai Elling Os 9.620/237.3
Junior Dragbike: Figge Lundin 9.96/106.8 def. Anton Åberg 7.15/166.70 (best of 3)
A couple of notes. A new class titled Junior Kids had timed runs in Junior Dragsters limited to 16.9s and the three competitors were Albin Eklund (age 5), Moa Aggelid (age 7) and Billy Nilsson Öhlén (age 7). More on this season's changed Junior Dragster rules above.
The Super Car class is a combination of Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street to enable these racers to compete in a field of sufficient size using their indices of 8.9, 9.9 or 10.9 for handicap.
Also congratulations to expat UK racer Rick McCann for his runner up position which makes him second in the EDRS points to Theodor Brandt by only 5 points. Carla Pittau is third in the points, making this their most successful year since they moved to Sweden
Happy Birthday for today to Nostalgia Superstock racer-in-waiting Micky Churchill, VWDRC racer Ethan Lisle, Outlaw Street racer Russ Pursley, Super Comp racer Richard Tunstall, and Swedish Pro Modified owner and crew chief Magnus Petersson. We hope you all have a wonderful day.
A very Happy Birthday for today to Willys Wars racer Richard Warburton, have a great day Richard!
Also a belated Happy Birthday to Dirty Deeds crewman Carl Kirk, FWD racer Dean Hyndman, Willys Wars racer Kim Bishop and longtime Swedish racer Stanley Mellström. We hope you all had a great day.
Another belated Birthday to Michael Collins, a long serving drag racing journalist (55+ years), publishing in Street Machine magazine. We hope you had the bestest of days yesterday.
Eurodragster.com sponsor John Tebenham's amazing Pop is for sale!
JT writes "Engine, gearbox, slicks and converter all with 0 miles on them. Everything has just been re-built. Engine 414 cu/in by the best, I.C.E. engines, and gearbox/converter by Edge. This is a no expense car. Easy to drive, and incredible fun 8.8/ 151 mph. My Pro Mod needs feeding, so price is £36,000.00. Call me on 07583 615973, no part ex, got enough sh*t already.
You could be driving it next weekend.
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Happy Birthday for today to UK Drag Bike legend and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member John Hobbs, hope you had a great day John!
Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET and Super Gas racer Dave Fulton, Maltese Top Methanol Dragster legend Monty Bugeja, inventor of the "Maltese 60ft" full pass, and Top Methanol Dragster racer Tina Høst Nedregård. We hope you all have a great day.
Meguiar's Drag Festival at Mantorp Park takes place next weekend 25th-28th July.
The event has 189 team entries so far with Billy Gane, Kevin Jenkins and Ronnie Mercer making their way to Sweden from the UK, you can view the update list at dragracing.eu or by clicking here.
Over the coming days we will be posting updates from teams on their journey to Sweden.
Classes: Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Top Methanol Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, Pro Stock Car, Top Fuel Bike, Pro Stock Bike, Pro Comp Bike, Pro Comp, Top Doorslammer, Stock/Super Stock, Pro Street, Super Twin Top Gas Bike, Super Comp Bike, Super Gas Bike, Super bracket, 4to6, Real Street, Bracket, Vintage Outlaw, A Gasser, 440 Outlaw, Modified Street, StreetWeek-all, VW, Junior Dragster Pro
Street 8,6, Street Altered, Junior Dragbike
Eurodragster.com event coverage is supported by John Woolfe Racing. We will update over the racing weekend results and post-gallery.
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Clastres Dragway, France is holding the 25th European Dragster event, which takes place next weekend 27th-28th July. It see's UK racers Luke Mugridge in Junior Dragster, Clive Dandridge in Street Run, John Dewey and Brian Waskett in Speed-Flex RWYB Auto.
116 racers so far expected to attend the weekend in the following classes, you can view the updated entry list by clicking here.
- Speed-Flex Junior Dragster
- Mtech Street Run
- Nitro Mag Pro ET
- Speed-Flex Super Pro ET
- Dulamon Auto Electric Sportsman ET
Follow this Facebook link for information.
The event is in part of the Association Trophee Dragster
Happy Birthday for today to Supercharged Outlaws racers Joe Bond and Steve Wright, Pro Modified racer Bert Englefield and Custom Car magazine writer Dave Biggadyke. We hope you all have a fantastic day.
Spottedmotors Dale Ackworth announced on Facebook this video on Cortina and Hoonigan at Santa Pod Raceway, Dale writes:
It was an honour and a pleasure being featured on Hoonigan. We went with the intention of having as much fun as we possibly could and that's exactly what we did. So proud of how the car preformed and how Michael drove the car that day.
Thank you to everyone who follows our journey and a special thanks has to go to Mk1Kieran . If it wasn't for him, this would not have happened. Thank you Kieran..
Thanks to Nick Brooke-Langham from The Gasser Circus for sending Eurodragster.com this report of the Gasser Circus Dragstalgia event, which took place at Santa Pod on 6th-7th July. Nick writes:
13 is considered by some to be an unlucky number, a bad omen, and the rain that visited during Friday evening qualifying at the 13th Annual Dragstalgia event at Santa Pod gave support to that. When the deluge hit, the Gasser Circus had only run half the field through and with a bow wave ahead of the Pod tractor on the track, the day was called. With remaining Gassers returning to the pits via the old Fire Up Road, a sense of frustration arrived. With 22 Gasser gathered in the pits, every driver knew they had to be on their game, so losing a qualifying run was a setback.
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The weekend had begun so well and for most racers it began on Thursday, but that was not without issue. Simon Prest, who having failed to find a local welder where he lived, stopped on route, and gratefully visited the workshops of fellow Gasser Circus racer Tony Pearson for him to conduct a spot of maintenance.
Despite the rain on Friday evening and the torrential downpour at 2am, this year’s event had all the hallmarks of a classic as The Bradford’s were in town to continue their battles with the ever-impressive Nick Davies in his now legendary Havoc Fuel Altered. The Los Palmas and Mooneyes dragsters had kept the Bradford’s Fiat company on the cruise across the Atlantic and with massed ranks of Nostalgic Superstocks, Willys Wars, Cannonball contenders, Outlaw Anglia, Wild Bunch, Supercharged Outlaws, and a ton of bikes, all we needed was good weather.
With Fridays qualifying now void, and the weather still hampering the event, the Gasser Circus entered the fire up road at 3:30 on Saturday and by 4:15 Gasser Circus slicks were lighting up as we commenced qualifying Round 1. Once again everyone was on their dial ins, most noticeable was the double wheelie by Sean ‘Chili’ Milsom, a Pre-Stage dual by Keith Bartlett and Jason Hollamby, and a big wheelie by Tony Pearson in his Guzzler 56 Chevy.
When the round concluded the top 5 were: - Harvey Turner, Steve Matthews, Simon Prest, Dean Maudsley and Keith Bartlett. The final round of qualifying took place following a stirring on track tribute to the late Ron Hope.
Round 2 of qualifying began just after 8 at its conclusion the top 5 had only one change with Keith dropping to number 9, Nick Hewison climbing into number 5, the biggest mover was (last minute) Adam Kruczynski in his Not So Mellow Yellow 55 Chevy moving up from not in the show 22nd to number 8 qualifier. Adam having converted his 55 for travel on his trailer, thinking he was out, and we would not get another qualifying round, had numerous drivers and crew from other Gasser Circus teams dive in to help get his 55 back to race spec.
A casualty from qualifying was Andy Cobb in his Bad to the Bone Model A, having installed a new clutch in the car, the sparks flying out from underneath during the burnout signalling all was not well. With 16 Gassers qualifying, those drivers just outside the top 16 were in Alternate mode. Number qualifier Harvey could not make the call, so Patrick Hobbs slotted in, and Ray Irish made it in with Adam also not appearing in the fire up road!
Simon Prest ‘The Rocket’ took on Sam Glenn in the Glenn & Glenn Austin pickup with Sam winning with a 10.65 on his 10.64 dial in. Ray Irish Gas Junkie lined up against Jason Hollamby in his Jumpin Jalapeno, the win immediately going to Ray as Jason left early.
Nick Hewison in his Short Fuse Fordson line up against The Traitor Ford Pop with Drew Mason taking over the driving with Nervous Nick recovering from a chest infection. Drew dialled 11.10 and Nick Hewison 9.96, at the end of the run Nick Hewison advanced with a 10.3.
Next up was a fine pair of Tri Chevy’s with Steve Mathews in his Honky Tonkin 57 against Ray Turner in his ‘Green Onions’ 55 Chevy. Steve dialling 9.60 and Ray 10.91 when they left the start line the cars were soon side by side as they crossed the lights Steve was ahead, but excruciatingly for Steve the win lights went on above Rays Lane. Steve had run a breakout 9.5999 on his 9.60!
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Tony Pearson could not figure out why each time he races he seems to take on the car he built for Chris Layram, and that happened again. They came to the line with 10.45 on Tony’s ‘Guzzler’ 56, and Chris 10.20 on his ‘Outa Gas’ Pop. It appeared as the tree activated Chris became bemused by Tony and another huge wheelie, as he appeared to just sit there, his reaction time confirming this with a 0.502 which cost him at the end of the run with Tony advancing.
Brian Gibson in one of the ex-Dale Snoke cars competing in the Gasser Circus, prepared to take on Sean Milsom in his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ Morris van. Another wheelie from Sean with a 0.006 reaction time helped him cover Brian’s ‘Identity Crisis’11.69.
Dean Maudsley in his ‘The Defiant One’ Chevy Coupe, produced another stonking rolling burnout, as he got ready to take on Paul Dominey. It was great to see Paul back with the Circus with a new highly potent Small Block Chevy in his ‘640’ Dorset. Dean taking the win with 11.68 on an 11.65.
Final pairing had number 17 qualifier and first alternate Pat Hobbs ‘Southern Flyer’ burning out alongside Keith Bartlett in his ‘Roarin Rat’ 57 Chevy. Pat taking the win which had a lot to do with reaction times with Pat on a .01 and Keith a 0.1.
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Quarterfinals
Tri Chevy festival with Ray Turner and Tony. The ‘Guzzler’ had been pulling huge wheelies all weekend but this time it was a low level one as Tony set off after Ray, but Ray stayed ahead and did not breakout so advanced. Tony would later be awarded the trophy for wheel stand of the weekend.
Next pairing had alternate Ray Irish in his ‘Gas Junkie’ Willys pickup taking on Dean Maudsley. With burnouts complete they came to the line, Dean with 11.62 on his Coupe and Ray with 10.22. The cars were close during the race, but Dean broke out with an 11.61 handing the victory to Ray.
The ‘Short Fuse’ Fordson of Nick Hewison sounded strong as he edged to the line in the opposite lane sat alternate Pat Hobbs in his ‘Southern Flyer’ Ford. Pat left first on an 11.94 dial and Nick was soon off after him, unfortunately too soon leaving a cherry on the tree. We now had two alternate drivers into the semi-final.
The final pairing was Sean and Sam. As the tree activated Sam went red and Sean launched a wheelie that took the van first to visit the centreline, before getting back in it only to then visit the wall, thankfully he did not cross the first or kiss the other. Sean taking the win at great cost as once back in the pits you could see the rear wheels were not sitting in the arches as they should and the wheelie bars, were no longer in line with the car.
Semi-final
The two Rays, Irish and Turner one in a 55 Chevy and the other in a Willys pickup.
Ray Turner dialling 10.91 and Ray Irish dialling 10.22, with the two top bulbs lit the tree activated and Ray Irish was away leaving a glowing red on his side of the tree. Ray Turner into another final but just to emphasise how much he knows his Gasser he ran a 10.91 on a 10.91.
The final pair in the semi were Sean Milsom and Pat Hobbs. Sean returning to the scene of his last wheelie after extensive work by his crew the always hardworking Drew Mason. The Gasser edged to the line and when they hit the load pedal Sean was ahead of the game as he also left a cherry glowing in his lane. Pat ‘Alternate’ Hobbs was through to the final where he would meet Ray Turner.
Final
Both drivers began and completed big burnouts rolling forward as they prepared for the battle. The tree activated with Pat scheduled to leave fractionally earlier then Ray and so it was, with Ray swiftly following but as the lights surrounding the timing information on the gantry lit up in Pats Lane, we realised that Ray had left fractionally too early. Pat Hobbs had just won the Dragtsalgia Round of Gasser Circus racing. He had not qualified but had taken his alternate slot and driven it all the way into the winner’s circle, what a superb achievement.
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All the Gasser Circus drivers gathered at the winner’s pit where the awards were handed out from our sponsors Neil Meillard and his Modern Pinstriping & Lettering business, The Rocket Racing Team, Tom Margesson, and Goodale American Speedshop. A big THANK YOU to all of them and of course the track crew that keep us and all racers safe.
Gasser Circus Round 4 will be at Mopar Euro Nationals in August.
Happy Birthday for today to writer, Gasser Circus racer and Nostalgia Superstock committee member Nïamh Frances Smith, FWD racer Allan Duthie, ET Bike racer Gary Hester, Super Comp racer Steven Hudson, Top Methanol Dragster racer Dennis Habermann and Maltese video producer and streamer Oliver Attard. We hope you all have a great day.
Thanks to Ian Messenger for sending in this fanastic latest news about Lesley Wright, Chair of The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, is the latest recipient of the prestigious Peter Crane ‘Spirit of 76’ Award for outstanding contributions to Nostalgia Drag Racing in the UK. Presented over the Dragstalgia weekend, this proved to be a popular & well-deserved choice.
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Short of driving a racecar, Lesley Wright has done most things in Drag Racing during a lifetime’s involvement in the sport. As Lesley Digby, she cut her administrative teeth dealing with the pit gate money in that distant time when spectators were charged to enter Santa Pod’s pits. The tragic death of her partner, racing legend and Santa Pod track manager Allan Herridge, in 1983 did not lessen her involvement. She served as a committee member of the then-BDR & HRA, representing the interests of street classes.
In 1988, Lesley accompanied Al O’Connor and his car Al’s Gasser on a season-long tour of the United States to compete on the NHRA circuit, documenting the experiences, and of a further tour two years later, in the UK’s Fire Up Magazine.
Exposed to the US bracket racing scene, she became a proponent of bracket racing in the UK in her role as a committee member of the newly formed Santa Pod Racers Club & sought and won sponsorship for the Super Gas Drag Racers Association. As SPRC Secretary, she drove forward the Club’s formation as a limited company and worked on revisions of the Drag Racing rule book with the Technical Committee.
In 1997, Lesley’s marriage to John Wright created a formidable partnership and she became a key motivating figure in the Wildside and Chaos racing teams, and latterly with Tony Betts’ Venom Nostalgia Funny Car team.
In 2006, Lesley was one of a small group involved in the founding of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame but did not maintain her involvement beyond the organisation’s formative seasons. In 2017, she and John were inducted, jointly and severally, into Membership of the Hall of Fame in recognition of their achievements benefiting the sport’s development in Britain. Subsequently she was invited to join the Hall of Fame’s committee of directors and advisers, in 2020 Lesley was asked to chair the organisation in succession to its founding chairman, the late Stuart Bradbury, and today invests that honorary role with the same vigorous energy and attention that she has dedicated to the sport of Drag Racing throughout her adult life.
The award was devised and founded in 2016 by Peter, who is a legend of UK Drag Racing for his own outstanding achievements at the 1976 10th anniversary Internationals at Santa Pod (hence the name). He ran the first 5 second pass (5.97s) outside of America with the Crane & Edmondson Top Fuel Dragster ‘Stormbringer’ and beat visiting American legend ‘King Rat’ Don Garlits during eliminations. The ‘Spirit of 76’ Award is to acknowledge those involved in any aspect of Nostalgia racing from racers to admin, crew members and anyone else involved in running or shaping the nostalgia racing scene. The award is also in association with Santa Pod Raceway.
The British Drag Racing Historians are prond to announce this rerun of the Wally Parks stories: Throughout his long career developing hot rodding and drag racing in the United States, Wally Parks kept a detailed journal relating his candid thoughts at the time. That journal was obtained and edited by his son Richard who has kindly given permission for Eurodragster.com to publish extracts from it relating to the period when British drag racing was being founded. The opinions are those of Wally, who is referred to by Richard as ‘Parks’ or occasionally ‘my father’.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival and this part includes the British Hot Rod Association and their publication Kool Kams, the 1963 Yankee Invasion of England when Dean Moon and Dante Duce brought over the Mooneyes dragster and Mickey Thompson arrived unexpectantly with his AA/Fueller and the initial steps to organise the 1964 Drag Festival.
The story, which you can see by clicking here or on the photo, was produced by Richard Parks, photos, images chosen by Nick Pettitt and John Hunt and published by former editor of Eurodragster.com Simon Groves. We all thank Jim Miller of the American Hot Rod Foundation for scanning the photos and adding captions.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Straightliners Championship round 5 at Melbourne Raceway.
Complete lists of ETs and speeds recorded on Saturday and Sunday, including RWYB bikes, are available by clicking on this link. Thanks to Martyn Greathead for supplying Straightliners Championship results and points, which are available by clicking here.
With mixed weather at the weekend the staff and marshalls at Melbourne did well to have these classes race.
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Overall Winners for Melbourne:
- NO MERCY SHOOTOUT: Stephen Holt (8.07/89mph) def. Eric Cope (8.31/84mph).
- JUNIORS: Jack Taylor (10.74/60mph) def. Arron Gregory (11.45/55mph) Breakout.
- SCOOTER SHOOTOUT: Jim Eastwood (10.95/60mph) def. Kayle Stephens (10.05/64mph) Breakout.
- 6.00 SEC CLASS: Chris Hodgson (6.27/120mph) def. Ashley Hodgson (6.70/117mph).
- JUNIOR SPRINT CAR: Jude Elliott (11.71/56mph) def. Dexter Wilson (11.07/62mph).
We would like to thank Mike Burrowes for covering the weekend with his pictures. You can check out our John Woolfe Racing sponsored Melbourne Raceway results and gallery by clicking here or by clicking on the Events link in the main menu above.
Thank you to guest photographer Mike Burrowes at Melbourne Raceway for this weekend's Straightliners Round 5 coverage. You can see his galleries of on-track and off-track pictures from day 1 of the event, plus results by going to our event coverage page at this link supported by John Woolfe Racing.
Melbourne Sunday's off- and on-track galleries and best times (courtesy Martyn Greathead) now showing on Eurodragster.com.
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Johan Zetterholm reports on Street Week Sweden's website, Johan writes:
We are all winners, functionalists, the audience, team members and drivers who are involved in every way in Street Week. And in what way you do this event, I can't describe in words how it feels.
Start from Laxå to be at the checkpoint in Askersund at 11 am at the earliest and arrive at Mantorp Park between 12 noon but absolutely no later than 3 pm. About 10+ miles to drive, many felt, have it you do in your sleep. But for Hannu Hellman Hellray Racing, for example, the race was coming to an end at these miles.
The engine started to growl, but as it is he and his wife Sari are, they tore them out and replaced the connecting rod bearings and some lifters, on a small rest pocket along the road. This couple shows Finnish sisu and is going to the finish line by car, there is only one word for such feats and that is respect! This is exactly what you see many of you doing, you don't give up until it's impossible to continue, hats off to all of you!
After the finish, the banquet and award ceremony for Street Week 2024 awaited and what a huge prize table was set up!
Like all fairy tales, there is a winner and this year was Johan Gehrke's year, hats off to you and Niklas Nisse Ahlgren's achievement, it's not an easy match to win Street Week you know, but you did it with bravura!
However, I want to say that we are all a winner, we functionalists, the audience, team members and drivers who are involved in every way in Street Week. And in what way you do this event, I can't describe in words how it feels.
Class winners of Street Week Sweden:
- Max Outlaw: 68 - Johan Gehrke - Cheva -63 - 4.9361
- Street Outlaw: 146 - Henrik Nygren - BMW E30 - 5.1855
- Ultimate Street: 94 - Toni Nurminen - Dodge Dart - 5.7114
- True Street: 46 - Mattias Jansson - Ford Mustang - 6.0788
- Pro Touring: 12 - Henrik Andersen - Mazda RX8 - 6.3175
- Import War (RWD): 41 - Jonas Jansson - BMW M3 - 6.0524
- Import War (FWD): 147 - Nicolai Heering - Toyota Starlet - 9.2086
- 4WD: 187 - Christian Dalgas - BMW E46 Compact - 5.7429
- Diesel Power: 116 - Sandra Larsson - Audi A6 - 8.9419
- Classic: 177 - Peter Eriksson - Chevrolet -56 - 6.7227
- Hot Rod: 197 - Jyrki Laakso - Ford T -26 - 6.5806
Johan Gehrke with Co-driver Nisse Ahlgren wins Street Week 2024 with his Cheva - 63 in the Max Outlaw class.
A track record was needed to decide this year's Street Week.
Johan Gehrke and co-driver Nisse Ahlgren curbed the nerves on the last day of the race and showed why they are worthy winners. Laxå Motor Stadium as host offered a fantastic summer weather and a wonderful sea of spectators on Friday evening. We have seen fast times throughout the week on prepped tracks, now the drivers were met with poorer grip.
The mentality of the winner to challenge the limits to take home the title would show the way. Johan Gehrke pulled off the worst scratch of the week and got under 5 seconds and a new course record with 4.99 which meant that the title was theirs.
You can view the full results by clicking here.
Picture from Street Week Sweden website
Happy Birthday for today to VWDRC racers Gareth Bates and Phil Unsworth, FWD racer Ben Faggetter Top Fuel crew member Jamie Willis and current owner of the legendary Mr Torquer Fordson Paul Dawson, we hope you all have a great day.
Thanks to Keith Lee for sending this Dragstalgia NSA Bike review, Keith writes: Despite the challenges thrown at everyone by the weather, the track crew were the real stars once again, as they battled to get the track fit to run on. It ensured that nostalgia fans were able to enjoy many memorable moments during Dragstalgia 2024.
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The much anticipated return of Hogslayer came to fruition, due to the non-stop work of the small team involved, both in the weeks beforehand, and during the event itself. One of the biggest issues was was getting the bike to fire up - despite various tactics to get the igniter fuel into the injector intakes. The black Norton put in three runs during the event, and there were two riders who got the chance to ride this piece of drag bike history.
Ian King put in two passes over the event. Meantime, on Saturday, Graham Sykes managed to put in a run on Shotgun - and make it back to the rollers in time to jump on Hogslayer for his single run on the machine. That ride proved to be the quickest run for the bike, at 11.71s/121mph.
Ian Messenger did say to me when the bike was firing up; “Take your ear defenders off, and enjoy the glorious sound of the motors.” Running around 90% nitro, the unblown bike has a much more mellow sound to it. Thanks for the reminder Ian - it was indeed a lovely sound. Thanks also to the National Motorcycle Museum for giving us the chance to see this slice of history come to life once more - and to everybody involved in making the dream happen.
A few of the bikes succumbed to gremlins, at this once a year outing for most of them. Unfortunately, Colin Fallows was sidelined with a blown inlet manifold on Super Cyclops, and Tim Howell frustratingly suffered damage to his blown BSA after a major rebuild - but did have his interesting street BSA available to use.
Justin Newell was still kept busy in trying to tame the demanding launch characteristic of the little 250cc blown CB Honda, but his last run was a best yet 11.25/121. Nice to see Mick Hand down on the line to see his old bike perform, on a day off from working on the Storm funny bike. Talking of needing taming - the 500 Jawa single of Jan Honee was like watching a bucking bronco in action! Improved fuel pump, clutch and sparks all combined to produce more power than the intrepid Dutch rider had ever experienced. Dragstalgia was the first time the bike was fired up, to test the new combination. Looking forward to next year already!
It was pleasing to see The Grenade back at this event again. Sadly we lost the jovial Simon Rees last year, who was such an enthusiastic participant at this event. Happily, his son Paul now has the bike down in Cornwall, and was determined to come to this year’s event with the refreshed machine. He had a smile reminiscent of his father all weekend. His father would be so pleased at that.
Good to see George Hughes now really looking at home on the Ram-Rod blown Triumph. It was novel seeing the nitro-burner being push started, but it worked. The bike ran very cleanly, as the grandson of the bike’s original builder/rider clocked a best of 11.58/120. Gary Norman was another rider pleased at how cleanly his double Norton was now sounding, as it will allow him to concentrate on improving the setup.
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Graham Sykes took the NSA Shootout win again on Shotgun, as he beat Ray Law’s double Triumph in the final. Ray had earlier returned home to reweld his split manifold, but with lack of run time, could not match Graham’s 10.58/135 winner.
There were plenty of visitors to the bike pits during the weekend - including a fair number of old racers, enjoying catching up again. The social side of this event is an important part of why Dragstalgia is so successful. Our thanks to Chris Schreier and Max Frost - and indeed the whole Santa Pod team - for making it such an enjoyable weekend. Finally, I would like to add my congratulations to Ray Baskerville and Pete Miller on their induction into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Nice to see both of them over the weekend - and I hope Ray has now recovered, after a non-stop weekend working on Hogslayer!
Thanks to Christian Charger from The Engine Ghost Team for cotacting Eurodragster.com to announce this update, Christian writes:
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The Engine Ghost Team was not present at the FIA Championship round in the Top Methanol class in Tierp (Sweden) this year. Unfortunately, various damages last season led to an ungrateful fourth place. Widespread support from fans and friends motivated the team to invest a lot of time and money over the winter. The necessary financial resources were raised without any major sponsorship to get the dragster fit again for this season.
Both engines were completely rebuilt, including new crankshafts, camshafts and pistons. The cylinder heads were also professionally overhauled - many thanks to NG Motorsports. Other investments included new methanol pumps, a new weather station, new spray bars and of course new rear tires, to name a few.
At the season opening in Santa Pod (England), the car finally showed the great performance again without tire shakes. Unfortunately, due to a defective clutch, the engine block with crankshaft broke again and the chassis needed an update.
Therefore, my call: I, who am very close to the team, would like - like you too - to help ensure that the dragster can be seen again on the race tracks in Europe as quick as possible in order to build on the successes of the brothers of the Peter Schöfer Racing Team. After all, it is currently the only top methanol dragster from Germany taking part in the European Championship.
If you would like and can support the Engine Ghost Team financially, please make a donation via PayPal. I think the boys deserve it with their effort and hope that with your help they can go full throttle again soon. Your contribution makes the difference and brings them back to the racetrack!
Click here for your support
If anyone doesn't have Paypal and would like to donate via bank transfer, please send me a message at this link.
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Thanks for Remco Scheelings from Drag Racing Europe for sending in this news report on Kim Kristiansen.
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Kim Kristiansen was a regular contender of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, until the coronavirus pandemic forced him to take a break. That period of not racing was extended with another few years, but now he will be back. After almost eight months of hard work by Joeri Woudenberg in the Netherlands to update the famous Pontiac Firebird ‘68, the man from Denmark will make his comeback at Tierp Arena.
You can read the full article by visiting this link.
Guest photographer Mike Burrowes is at Melbourne Raceway for this weekend's Straightliners Round 5. You can see his galleries of on-track and off-track pictures from day 1 of the event, plus results by going to our event coverage page at this link supported by John Woolfe Racing.
Melbourne Saturday off- and on-track galleries and best times (courtesy Martyn Greathead) now showing on Eurodragster.com.
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Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Goodale has organised bracket race and RWYB day at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th August. Chris writes:
GAS BASH bracket race & RWYB (day after Mopar Nationals and if you are already at the Mopar Nationals Santa Pod have said its fine to stay over for an extra night )
Nostalgia Super Stock vs Gasser Circus vs Nostalgia Eliminator
All cars that are eligible for any of the classes above are welcome to enter the bracket race – the nostalgia eliminator rules are extremely loose – please check their facebook page for their class requirements
Entry details is: Cost is £150 per car
Bracket race Prize vouchers for Goodale American Speedshop as follows
- £750 winner
- £500 runner up
- £150 3rd place
- £75 4th place
- #1 Qualifier £150
Trophies by Craige Ainge Traditional signwriter
Racing will be usual bracket format with 2 qualifiers in the morning
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Track will be open all day for anyone knocked out of the bracket. Also for other classes/musclecars/ hot rods we have RWYB available at £100 – there will be a massive amount of track time available at this event so why not enter and have a day at the track with minimal queues !
We have cars from Outlaw street entered as well in the RWYB and will be offering a £50 voucher for the best reaction time for a member of outlaw street
All entries will receive a souvenir T shirt of the event .
Please email Chris at this link for an entry form
Claire Meaddows updates The Wild Bunch website, Claire writes: Here are the results from the amazing 13th Annual ‘Dragstalgia’ event at Santa Pod last weekend, 5th - 7th July. The whole event field was really big with over 240 amazing entries!
The Wild Bunch had a brilliant field of 32 teams taking part in this great event. There had been 39 on the internet entry list, but several of those were double drivers and a few teams had to withdraw. Really good to see a nice big field of Wild Bunch including 3 newcomer teams and 1 new car and driver! Wishing a really warm Wild Bunch welcome to Terry Robbins & Mark Houghton with the "Soultown Shaker" slingshot, Tim Evans with the "Buford T Justice" altered, Colin Child with the "Boxo Bomb" Topolino altered and Ian Armitage & Damian Halliwell with their slingshot. Great to have you all join us!!
The weather was very mixed this weekend to say the least!! Several Wild Bunch teams took place in the RWYB day on Friday, with the track opening delayed to 11am, but continuing mostly uninterrupted until 4:30pm. In the extra class session on Friday evening, the Wild Bunch round was around 5:30pm and a couple dozen teams had queued up in the hopes of running the practice round. But unfortunately it started to rain, and that just got a bit heavier and the organisers were forced to call racing off for the day! A real shame, as the rain had not been due to come in for another hour or so!!
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On Saturday we were scheduled for 4 rounds of practice. Around 4am that morning, there had been the most torrential rainstorm, with thunder and lightning thrown in!! Needless to say, the track and pits were soaked that morning! The forever hardworking Pod track crew started off the drying procedure, and it was going well mid-morning, only for there to be some more rain, and the process started all over again! But the clouds started to hold and the crew got the track ready to roll around 2pm! Fair play to them for another mammoth effort! The Wild Bunch were then called out as the fifth class to run, and we all had a run not long after 3pm!! Around 20 teams took part in this session. A real bonus! Again, incredible efforts by the whole Santa Pod team enabled every single class to get a run in! One highlight for one of our inaugural
Wild Bunch members (since 1995) was that my very own ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell got to run both our slingshot “Backdraft” in the Wild Bunch and his 1976-framed dragbike “Backdraft Two” with the NSA bike shootout on the same day!! In fact just an hour and six minutes apart! His ETs were not the quickest they have been, but the runs were both thoroughly enjoyable and a fantastic experience and a unique Dragstalgia feat becoming the same racer to run a car and bike at the event! (Also a rarity in British drag racing with only a few others having done so before at any event!). Well done and Congratulations to the recently retired Crazy Chris!!
There was due to be another round for Wild Bunch, but with some downtime delays, and the large volume of entries, only one class was able to get their second run in, before the planned ‘Cracklefest’ took place at around 8:15pm.
The ‘Cracklefest’ was a very small, but nonetheless great show. There was one nitro car, Bill Sherratt’s, and this was spectacular as always! The whole rest of the show was made up by Wild Bunch cars!! Two altereds, one funny car and two slingshots: our great Italian friend Luca Govoni and partner Simona Mazzali had brought their beautiful Topolino “Fast Forward” for its first time at Santa Pod, James Griffen was next in the row with his stunning looking “Kiss my Gas” Topolino, then next along was Ruaridh Hart with his fantastic “BraveHart” Opel-bodied funny car, next to him was Wild Bunch champion Dan Wilson with his period-correct “Antique Toy” slingshot and nearest the Christmas Tree was the Brown brother’s awesome “Rebel” slingshot. Though Pete & Rob have taken part in many Cracklefests, neither were the driver this time! That role went to none other than American drag racing legend Bob Muravez aka ‘Floyd Lippencote III’!! This was a plan that had been discussed with the Americans who were attending the event, and thankfully was able to take place after the Marra team’s massive effort to get their gearbox fixed and installed and fixed again after a severe breakage just the Sunday before! Needless to say, Floyd really enjoyed his fireup in the alky injected rail, and Rob & Pete and team were beyond over the moon with him doing so!! Massive congratulations to the whole team on the incredible efforts that made this possible and on this amazing nostalgia display and driver hookup, no doubt one of the best highlights of their 10-year racing career!!!! Huge well done to all 5 Wild Bunch teams who put on a great show for the Cracklefest and made it happen!! Sure they all thoroughly enjoyed taking part!!
On Sunday, the Wild Bunch were scheduled for 3 runs. There were still a load of clouds around, and we were hoping they would miss us! Thankfully, we were able to get a round in between 11am and 11:20am, despite one or two brief spots! The Wild Bunch went through slickly and 23 teams took part with unfortunately one other being shut down on the line. After this point, Graham Rawlings in the “Rawspeed” slingshot was leading the Bunch with a great .015 off Dial-in! Fantastic!! Welcome back to Graham & Wendy and the whole team!! Unfortunately, some more rain was looming, and with a 7 hour drive home, the team had to leave! But it was great to see them doing well so quickly on their return (including some PBs!!).
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We did get some more rain, but the ever hard working Santa Pod track team went to work to dry the track, as the radar showed better conditions to come! Huge thanks again!! Luckily, the weather held and actually improved, and we were able to get a second round in from about 3:30 to 3:50pm!! Hooray!! It was even that good, and there was more track time, so we nearly got a third round, but most teams needed to call it a day! However 6 teams did go down for a final ‘fun run’ at about 5pm! For bragging rights, James Auld would have emerged the winner! Well done James!!
So we were all happy to get 2 rounds in when it looked like we would not get any! In fact, the Santa Pod crew managed to get the whole event completed! An amazing achievement, given all the bad weather Saturday and Sunday other delays!
Here are the Top 6 at the event after the 2 rounds of competition, with average difference to Dial-in shown. Many Congratulations to all! :
- 1st Place: Dan Wilson in ‘Antique Toy’ .0087 (many congratulations on a 3rd Dragstalgia win in a row Dan!)
- 2nd Place: James Auld in ‘Little Fauss’ .0569 (a repeat 2nd place after last year, in a tough field!)
- 3rd Place: Elliott & Danny Jones in ‘Ragin’ Cajun’ .0796 (brilliant to see the brothers earn a Top 4 after so much hard work and years of trying! Well done guys and Mum and Dad too!!)
- 4th Place: Andy Roy in ‘Shawcrank Redemption’ .1153 (great to see another Top 4 for Andy!)
- 5th Place: Rob & Pete Brown in ‘Rebel’ .1176 (fantastic effort after literally just getting the car fixed!!)
- 6th Place: Ian Wild in ‘WildScat’ .1459 (great to see Ian earning a trophy!)
Plus the other finishers to complete both rounds without redlights were the following, who all deserve an honourable mention: 7th - Pete & Rob Brown in ‘Wrathchild’, 8th – Rich Butcher in ‘4orth Dimension’, 9th – Tim Evans in ‘Buford T Justice’, 10th – Ruaridh Hart in ‘Bravehart’, 11th – Paul Tarry in ‘Trigger’s Broom’, 12th – Terry Robbins in ‘Soultown Shaker’, 13th – Dave Shoemark in ‘The Crewman’, 14th – Gavin Meanley & Pete Ayres in the ‘Charles Bang Special’. Well done to all!!
Here are the Spot Prizes that were won. Many Congratulations to all! :
- Closest to Dial-in (in the rounds): Dan Wilson in “Antique Toy” with .0002 off in Round 2!! (even better than last year’s .0005 off!! Fantastic!! )
- Best Reaction (in the rounds): Ruaridh Hart in “Bravehart” .109 (great stuff!)
- Quickest E.T. of the event: Alan Lloyd in “Gonzo the Great” 7.896 (also fastest with 164.27 mph!)
- Best Burnout: Ford Skipp in “Chasin’ Time” (fantastic to see Ford get into the 8’s also!! Congratulations!)
- Best Appearing Car: Pete Ayres & Gavin Meanley with the “Charles Bang Special” (plus fantastic Model A towcar!)
- Best Appearing Team: Ruaridh & Ian Hart and Team “BraveHart” (love the kilts!)
- Best Backup Girl: Mel Seward from “The Crewman” Team (fab show Mel!)
- Best Showmanship: newcomer Tim Evans with the recently finished “Buford T Justice” altered (great performance into the 8’s after a couple of runs, plus cool crew wear! Welcome to the Wild Bunch as a driver Tim!!)
- Spirit of Nostalgia: Luca Govoni & Simona Mazzali with their fabulous period perfect “Fast Forward” Topolino (and such a long drive to get here! Congratulations also on their 8 year Anniversary of their first Dragstalgia! Fantastic to have you racing with us!)
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Many Commiserations to all those who had breakages or issues. Hope you can get them fixed real soon and be back out having fun!!
There were loads of PB’s at the weekend, including some first 10’s, first 9’s and first 8’s! I will add all these into this report in a few days, when I am able to check through all the spreadsheets and ET slips!!
Highlights of this weekend included: The really big field of amazing Wild Bunch cars and great people including newcomers, great backup girls, a fantastic show all round, getting more runs in than expected, and the weather turning right round so that we got 2 great rounds in!!
As I worked Monday morning and have been away since, I apologise for the slow update!! I will be adding details of all the teams taking part and some more highlights when I get the chance over the weekend, so tune back in then! So many more great stories amongst the teams and great individual and team performances!!
Everyone in the Bunch really did themselves proud as usual!! What a fantastic weekend!!
Congratulations to everyone who took part!! Many thanks to all the organisers, starters, track and fire and safety crews, marshals and officials, timing crew, Graham and Chris and the whole eurodragster.com team, commentators Colin Theobald, Darryl Bradford and Thomas Cook-Abbott for brilliant and informative commentary as always, and special thanks to Mark Coulsell for great colour commentary for the Wild Bunch sessions! Thanks to all for their support of the Wild Bunch!! Thanks to all the photographers and media, Max Frost and team at Santa Pod, and Keith Bartlett for his vision and passion and absolutely, and especially again to all the hardworking track crew who did so much to get as many runs as possible!!
Massive thanks to everyone at Santa Pod, for all their hard work this weekend, to run this event which just keeps getting better and better!! Their amazing efforts despite the terrible weather are so much appreciated!! We had a brilliant time!!
Dragbike.com published last week this announcement: UK racer Dale Leeks has the Maxxecu USA Pro Xtreme class on lockdown. After a season-opening win, he secured the number-one qualifying spot with a blistering 4.038. He was set to face class champion Chris Cutsinger in round one but got a bye when Cutsinger couldn’t make the call due to mechanical issues. With another bye lined up for the semi-final, Leeks cruised into the final with ease.
Rob Garcia, who missed the 2023 season, has emerged as Leeks' fiercest competitor this year. These two heavyweights squared off in the final for the second time this season. Garcia grabbed the starting line advantage with a sharp .147 reaction time, while Leeks lagged with a .089. However, pre-run issues left Garcia’s bike with unsecured clamps, causing a loss of power and handing the win to Leeks, who posted a 4.040 ET.
Keep your eyes peeled because Garcia won't go down easy at the 6th annual FuelTech Bike Bash on August 23-25, 2024. This rivalry is far from over!
MaxxECU Pro Xtreme is presented by Billy Vose Racing, Fast by Gast, Dunigan Racing, DME Racing, Grothus Dragbikes, Harley Haul, Rob Bush Motorsports, Robinson Industries, Schnitz Racing, Timblin Chassis, and Worldwide Bearings.
Read the full race report at https://dragbike.us/3RPkkVy
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Ida Zetterström and JCM Racing announced on Facebook on Thursday this update, Ida writes:
We got a total of seven passes in during testing, three passes in my car with my new team. Basically everything from crew guys, trailer, parts, tools & routines were new but we got three runs in, everyone worked really hard and we learned a ton. Made four passes in Tony’s Leatherwood Distillery car with his team and they got some good data too and I got to pick up some valuable extra runs Overall a really good test day for both JCM Racing teams and a great start for us!
Thank you Ashley Keller for these great shots which can be seen at this link.
Happy Birthday for today to Nitro tuner and former Fuel Altered racer John Wright, Outlaw Anglia racer Rob Stone, Pro ET racer Simon Innes, Anger Management crew member Ben Fisher and hot rod show organiser and author Rodger Attaway. Have a great day all.
The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is delighted to announce that a total of £4,000 was raised for the BDRHoF Benevolent Fund over the Dragstalgia weekend. This includes the quest by Colin Theobald to have every vehicle entered sporting BDRHoF Benevolent Fund stickers – thank you Colin!
We would also like to thank Santa Pod Raceway for allowing us to be part of the weekend’s activities and are grateful to everyone who kindly donated items. In particular, the last-minute contributions from the Dos Palmas, Mooneyes and Bradford’s teams went down a storm.
If anyone has any pre-loved or new artefacts, artworks, T-shirts, books, models, stickers or anything at all Drag Racing or Hot Rod related for our future Auctions, please do contact Lesley Wright at this link.
We were privileged to be able to show Rob & Pete Brown’s historic collection of driver protection gear to a wider audience and thank them and also Keith Bartlett and Bev Bradbury who entrusted us with their precious items to display.
The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame’s 2024 Gala Awards Dinner takes place on Saturday 23rd November. The location will again be Oatlands Park Hotel at Weybridge, Surrey, whose elegant, four-star luxury has served the Hall of Fame so well since 2017.
The highlight of the evening will be the induction of this year’s five new Hall of Fame Members revealed at Dragstalgia: Ray Baskerville & Pete Miller, the Huxley Family, Martin Hill, John Spuffard and Straightliners. Notable presentations will also include the Stuart Bradbury Junior Drag Racing Awards to the season’s winning Junior Dragster and Dragbike racers. Last year the popular pre-dinner drinks reception hosted by Santa Pod Raceway featured the unveiling of a new addition to Santa Pod’s growing historic racecar collection. Perhaps this year’s occasion might include a similar revelation.
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Further details of the Gala will be announced soon. Until then, please save the date in your diaries: Saturday 23rd November 2024.
Thanks to Johan Zetterholm for providing daily summaries. On the first day, Sunday 7th July, the day at Mantorp was a huge success with as many as 19 4-second runs over the eighth, lots of wild passes; Mantorp Park - what a facility, what teams there were and what fantastic functions took place!
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On Monday, Street Week once again visited Dala-Järna race track. SHRA Vansbro ran their first event since last year's Street Week and it came quickly and magically became fast! Car culture in Dalarna has been around for a long time, but over 3 kilometers of queues show the incredible dedication and commitment to Street Week and Drag and Drive events. Even though the facility is large, it was crowded. Some of the audience sat down already 3 hours before the start, respect! 14 4-second runs were ran, lots of fast 5s and 6s, winning times just a few years ago.
The event visited Sundsvall on Tuesday, one of Sweden's best tracks, fully prepared, world-class track stood for the day, 22 four-second runs, 2 side by side fours were run. Loads of personal bests, nice runs and what a pace! The lanes were full until 20:50.
Wednesday saw the event move to Söderhamn starting at 2pm. The no-prep surface was being used for the first time, but the staff at Söderhamn have been with Street Week Sweden for a long time and are professionals to their fingertips. There was a certain tense delight in the drivers. No fours were run, but could have been if there hadn't been rain.
After a rest day on Thursday, on Friday the event moves to Laxå, with more fours in store. Leading the standings at the start of Friday is Kim Åkerblom's Chevrolet Camaro '69 with an average time of 4.9114, with Johan Gehrke Chevy '63 in second place with an average of 4,9219. You can download the full results to Wednesday at this link.
Updates can be seen at Street Weekend Sweden For many videos and team updates visit the Street Week Sweden Facebook group by clicking here.
This week Malta Drag Racing Hal Far announced on Facebook with this important news for International Racers at MDRA National Finals:
They wrote that minimum ET Requirement : Cars: 9.99 or quicker, Bikes: 8.99 or quicker.
You need to send a video link by email, together with timeslip attached. Passes before 1/1/2021 are not valid. Make sure date is visible. Once this is approved by MDRA, you will get a confirmation email and you are eligible to sign-up.
In an effort to keep the National Finals for the best of the best, and to provide the spectators with the quality show that they have come to expect, we have implemented a strict Minimum ET policy for both Cars & bikes travelling from overseas.
This Minimum ET policy has been put in place and will be strictly enforced. Only proven vehicles that have met the Minimum ET requirements above will be able to sign up for the event. If your vehicle does not pass the Minimum ET requirements above then you will not be permitted to race at the National Finals no matter what travel arrangements are already in place.
All entries are subject to confirmation by MDRA
You can start sending emails at [email protected]
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MK1Kieran posted on his Facebook earlier this week that he will be attending Meguair's Drag Festival in Sweden, Kieran writes:
Very excited to announce at the end of this month I will be attending the Meguair's Drag Festival at Mantorp Park in Sweden for the first time and working trackside as media hoping to bring you the best content!
The entry list at the moment looks awesome with 6 Top Fuelers on site and plenty of other great drag cars. This will also kick off Fraudster C20LET Mk1 Escort's Swedish adventure where we will be competing in the Pro Street (7.60) class.
Happy Birthday for today to Pro Stock Bike racer Len Paget, Top Doorslammer racer Johan Gustafsson and blown doorslammer/funny car racer Jan Birkenes. We hope you all had a fantastic day.
Thanks to Geoff Stilwell for sending this news article on the first two episodes of an interview with expat British hot rodder and author Tony Thacker can be obtained at the American Hot Rod Foundation website at https://ahrf.com/rodcast/ or various podcast outlets. Photo credit Nick Mellett.
Many saw Tony at Dragstalgia, he has an inexaustable fund of stories. After the historic Dos Palmas dragster which he owns as part of a consortium failed to fire, he posted "A mag failure, possibly caused by salt contamination, prevented more squirts at Santa Pod Raceway Dragstalgia, but thanks to Scott Campbell, Antony Billinton and nimble-fingered Lisa, we ID’d the issue and will try to fix before the Hot Rod Drags in Sept.
Thanks to James Forster, Max Frost, Keith Bartlett and the whole Santa Pod crew for a great weekend. We’ll be back."
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Kevin Melling posted on the Old School Stockers UK Facebook with this Dragstalgia 2024 report: Kevin Writes:
The weather forecast throughout the weekend of this now long established and brilliant event was looking questionable at times. But as ever you never know what’s going to happen, so you turn up and hope for the best. I’m incredibly pleased to report, that despite what mother nature threw at Santa Pod Raceway these last few days, Dragstalgia once again did not disappoint.
We had seventeen entries for Old School Stockers this year, but for various reasons three of those were sidelined, leaving us a strong fourteen bike field. Once again, we were blessed with the attendance of Dan Esposti, hauling his small team and two bikes all the way from Italy, to be ably assisted locally by Paul Watson and Andy Haley. Dan had built a brand new and beautifully turned-out Suzuki GSX ES ride (naturally resplendent in his usual bright Yellow ‘Moon’ paint scheme), with the plan being for Paul to also ride on Dan’s old Suzuki EFE bike. Also new to this event was long established Pro Stock stalwart Len Paget, who had hastily put together a Suzuki GSX ET OSS bike, from ‘some old crap I had laying about the garage’! Len has a huge amount of experience, and there was no doubt that within a few runs his new bike would be competitive. Steve Howe is close to completing his all-new Suzuki EFE bike but took advantage of Nick Peppers kind offer to ride his recently reacquired ex Steve Tong white and green GS1000.
This was the bike that Rod Spry had re-tweaked last year, enabling it to turn its first ever eight second pass, whilst also making it go in a straight line! On his second Dragstalgia appearance, ‘young gun’ Freddie Smith was also graciously accepting of Rod Spry’s offer to ride his beautiful Sid Pogue replica Kawasaki Z1R stocker. Freddie more used to riding Kawasaki two stroke triples, had never thrown a leg over a big four dragbike before, but he quickly settled in to it like an old pro. Talking of the notorious Spry brothers, Rod this year was on his now eight second Paul Gast replica red H2 (that Freddie Smith campaigned last year), whilst younger brother Chris was on his trusty brown Bob Carpenter replica 74 H2B stocker (one of the bikes that established the class back in the mid-seventies). The Spry’s as usual also brought along a couple of gorgeous Kawasaki period hot street bikes to add some colour and variety to the pits, including Rod’s black and orange ZIR Turbo and Chris’s blue Z1B turbo.
The rest of the field comprised of much of last year’s competitors, namely Super Street regular Chris ‘Bois’ Reed riding one of Andy Lamberts black Z1 stockers (complete with pink tutu of course!), Sean ‘Biffo’ Biddlecombe on his white and red GS1000S Ice Cream Van, last year’s Dragstalgia winner Richard Peachey on his regular eight second turning black GSX, Alan Ward on his black GSX ET ride, and our current championship leader Claire Rule on her super quick black EFE, not long back from her win at the Retro Show in June. Pete McGuiness on his rapid tiny 500cc Kawasaki H1 triple, Dean Steven’s on Dad Nipper’s lime green Kawasaki H2, and myself on our now sparkly red H2, completed the field.
Seven took advantage of the Friday RWYB test session, for some final tweaking, before the scheduled first qualifying session late on the Friday. However, although a few car classes managed to get some qualifying runs in, unfortunately the heavens opened before our scheduled slot, with proceedings for the day being called shortly afterwards.
Throughout most of the evening and into the early hours the rain continued, as the winds picked up, resulting in quite an unpleasant storm around 4am. Anyway, we had four more scheduled qualifying opportunities to look forward to during the Saturday, so not to worry, eh! However, Saturday proved one long washout, but thanks to some gargantuan efforts by the Santa Pod track crew, our patient OSS competitors did eventually see one qualifying session around 6.30pm on the Saturday. With the huge overall event entry numbers, and a dodgy looking forecast for Sunday, there was no chance of another qualifying round on the Sunday, and so the ‘one shot’ qualifications is what most classes had to work with. Accordingly, without the opportunity to set up their bikes properly, we ended with several ‘out of position’ qualifiers, which would make for an interesting mix on the elimination ladder. Here’s how we all ended up:
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- Kev Melling – 8.7012 @ 145.82mph
- Rod Spry – 9.0987 @ 138.16mph
- Steve Howe – 9.3595 @ 135.64mph
- Dean Stevens – 9.4398 @ 136.16mph
- Freddie Smith – 9.8234 @ 131.41mph
- Len Paget – 9.9451 @ 135.36mph
- Claire Rule – 10.3105 @ 146.76mph
- Alan Ward – 10.3554 @ 103.98mph
- Chris Reed – 11.4099 @ 128.30mph
- Sean Biddlecombe – 11.4673 @ 90.34mph
- Chris Spry – 11.5311 @ 123.57mph
- Pete McGuiness – 11.6946 @ 116.10mph
- Richard Peachey – 16.1612 @ 63.08mph
- Paul Watson – 16.3927 @ 99.28mph
Sunday morning started dry and bright, and we eagerly awaited our first round of eliminations, whilst constantly glancing to the skies, and checking weather apps. By late morning we were ready in the fire up lanes, and first pairing was me against Dan Esposti. Now Dan didn’t manage to sort his new bike troubles in time to qualify, whilst Paul Watson on Dan’s back up bike did. Since Paul was fighting a little back pain, the decision was made for Dan to take Paul’s place on the back up bike (as he rode at last year’s event). Unfortunately, at the line Dan just rolled out of stage, and so the win went my way with an [email protected], whilst Dan’s run didn’t record a time. Next up was a Kawasaki versus Suzuki ‘two valve’ pairing of Freddie Smith against Sean Biffo Biddlecombe. With Sean’s motor dying just before the burnout, and being unable to restart, Freddie took a solo pass, albeit with his own issues, slowing to a [email protected]. Freddie was therefore only too pleased to be gifted the win on this occasion. Third pair up were good friends and pit marquee sharing Alan Ward and Claire Rule. The drama continued as Alan had the unfortunate incident of the starter nut undoing from the end of the crank, whilst trying to fire it up in the water box (we’ve all been there!).
Despite their best efforts, Alan and crew Kyle were unable to start the bike without the necessary big spanner and hammer to hand, and so Claire took a solo win with an [email protected]. For the first time in the eliminations so far, the fourth pairing did complete full side by side runs. However, Steve Howe’s big GS Suzuki was too much of a challenge for Pete McGuiness’s little Kawasaki H1, and Steve cruised through to a [email protected] win, against Pete’s off form [email protected]. Next up was one of the closest races ever in OSS, with Rod Spry on the Kawasaki H2 up against Richard Peachey on the big black GSX. They both cut respectable lights, with Rod having the slight edge and pulling the quicker 60ft time putting him in front from the start. But the stonking power from the big Suzuki saw Richard start to reel Rod in, and by the stripe Rod just held for the win by 0.004 seconds, with his [email protected] Richard’s quicker, but loosing [email protected].
Neither rider knew who had one, until their pit crew met them at the top end, brilliant racing! Next up an all two-stroke triple contest with Chris Spry on the brown H2 against Dean Stevens lime green H2. Dean comfortably taking the win with his [email protected], against Chris’s usually consistent, but on this occasion troubled [email protected]. Final match up was Bois Reed on Andy Lamberts black Z1 paired up to Len Paget on his newly created GSX ET machine. Unfortunately, Bois pulled a red handing Len the win with a stout [email protected](on only this bikes second ever pass down the strip!), against Bois’s loosing and off form [email protected] run.
It was over four hours later by the time that our second round of eliminations arrived, and first up was an all Kawasaki affair with Fredie Smith on the Z1R pitted against Dean Stevens on the H2. Freddie cut the sharper light, but Dean on the quicker H2 managed to power through to a winning [email protected] pass, to Freddie’s [email protected]. Next up saw a very much on form Rod Spry on the red H2, against championship leader Claire Rule on her GSX EFE. Rod cut the slightly better light and once again the lightweight H2 took the lead past 60ft, but Claire’s 1428cc motor gradually reeled Rod in, taking the win with an [email protected] against Rod’s very respectable, but loosing [email protected]. Steve Howe on the GS1000 knew he’d have to cut a cracking light to hold off Len Paget on the big four valve GSX, and indeed he did, running a solid [email protected] in the process. But it was to be no match for Len’s ever improving new Suzuki, which ran [email protected] to take the win. Last up was me on a convenient bye run, with an [email protected].
Into the semi-finals then just 50 minutes later, and first up was the battle of the mighty GSX Suzuki’s of Claire Rule against Len Paget. Both riders cut almost identical 0.06 second reactions, but Len’s GSX smoking like a two-stroke seemed to lack some of its earlier power, running an off form [email protected] to Claire’s stronger and winning [email protected] pass. The other semi saw Dean Stevens against myself, both H2 mounted of course, with Dean’s [email protected] sadly unable to catch my [email protected] run.
So the final round was set to be a remarkably close match, with both Claire and me solidly in the 8.7’s or thereabouts, and each keen to take the win. My teammate Alan Smith and myself were both concerned at our significantly slower terminal speed during the semi’s, wondering if we’d hurt the motor perhaps? In the few minutes available nothing could be found on inspection, so we decide to bite the bullet and hope for the best. During the burnout however, we quickly lost power and the motor died, and we were out of the final. So Claire took the solo with her weekends best run of [email protected], to earn a richly deserved win, with plenty of power, consistency, and sharp riding throughout the eliminations. We all felt a little robbed of a close final race, but well-done Claire, another fantastic performance!
And so another Dragstalgia had come to pass, with plenty of weather, waiting and excitement thrown in for good measure. As always, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event, and once again the camaraderie of this small group was evident. None more so than the unsung behind the scenes’ friends and family, who stepped up to offer their support throughout the weekend. I won’t name them, they know who they are, and their kindness and contributions was appreciated by everyone participating in OSS. Thanks all!
Bob Hawkins announced on Facebook this week with this report, Bob writes:
Tuesday evening in the workshop after Dragstalgia Cannonball '24, one or two folks may be wondering what happened to us after round three on Sunday morning?
We nipped no.1 piston at around three-quarter track. This in turn, for various reasons, well mainly as it’s a nitro motor, banged the blower, blew out the burst panel and broke the blower belt.
I don’t have the heads off just yet, but hopefully we may have got away with it lightly. The EGT’s it was caused by a lean situation, which is strange as normally that’s the coldest cylinder and usually wet on idle, further investigation obviously still required.
I do feel had I not decided to turn on the high speed lean out we may have saved it, however we had just moved up from eighth to fifth on our previous run and needed to find another two tenths to jump into fourth. I’m there to race and have always believed if you don’t try then don’t bother!
I don’t think the high speed is the main cause, but it certainly wouldn’t have helped matters on this occasion.
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The good news is that we achieved a new PB of 212mph plus we wound up in the top six of a 17 car field consisting of some of the best teams outside the USA.
Not too disappointing for an old iron Chevy truck block on nitro with a torque converter and two speed Power glide bolt to it!
Picture shows the slicks smoking with wheel spin on the last launch, we had this problem all weekend unfortunately and this requires some thought to tune out and the edge of the piston came away from number one cylinder wall. The metal piece looks like top ring to me, I’ll know for sure tomorrow when the heads come off.
Good Guys Racing posted on their Facebook page 10th July with this report from Dragstalgia 2024, Steve Clarke and Nigel Rigden's Supercharged Outlaws team reports:
Well that was quite the weekend, not a promising beginning as the rain started on Friday at the very moment that we were about to go down for our first run and it didn’t stop, just went from heavy to torrential and then on to plain ridiculous. Sleeping in the trailer on Friday night during the storm was like being in Keith Moon’s drum kit on one of his livelier days.
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Our first two runs after some sort of normality had resumed were way off form, the car just wasn’t pulling like it normally does. Investigation revealed that there was an issue with the window box and the trans was shifting at 5500 rpm not 7000 rpm. A bit of messing (technical term) and all was well again. Run three and the old car was back, running a new PB of 8.41.
We thought that that was it for the weekend until we were told that we were in the Supercharged Outlaws final, in all honesty none of us are quite sure how we got there but, even though the car was still hot, it seemed rude not take part. We got soundly thrashed by Mr Hadfield who took the win, many congratulations to Team Twister.
All in all we had a fantastic time, it was an incredibly special weekend with a lot of cars and visitors that, in all honesty, we never thought we would see in one place ever again. Those deserve a whole separate post of their own. We even got to watch a bit of racing on the Saturday evening after our last run which felt very indulgent.
Shout outs go to Supercharged Outlaws UK, Meghan Evans (for doing all the behind the scenes stuff that everyone else runs away from screaming), Birch Performance, all at Santa Pod Raceway for putting on a great show against all the meteorological odds, British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame Limited, BDRHoF Benevolent Fund, Colin Theobald, Dougie Hill and his team for being just so damn nice and last but not least that unique and wonderful creature who’s earthly name is Wayne Allman.
Here are links to media for Dragstalgia, anyone who posted pictures or videos please send your link to [email protected]:
Nïamh Frances Smith (Facebook album)
Chris Tarling (Yellow Hound Photography) (Facebook album) also website at this link, thanks to Geoff Stilwell for link
James Catley: (Facebook album)
Alfie Holmes (Facebook album)
Santa Pod Raceway (Facebook album)
Eurodragster.com (Website galleries)
We have a Birthday on the team, the Happiest of Birthdays to photographer, Pro ET, Sportsman ET racer and crew member Kirstie Tramm, have a great day Kirstie. Happy Birthday also for today to former York Raceway and Santa Pod announcer, also BDRHOF supporter Graham Beckwith, Street Eliminator racer and Junior Dragster dad Mark Todd, Pro ET racers Roy Walker and Gino Bernadine, Santa Pod Raceway marshall Angie Woods and crew member and apparel producer Craig Dixon, have a great day all.
Lesley Anne Brown, one-time crew member and mother of Paul Brown, Santa Pod’s two seater dragster driver, has published her debut novel - Finding Carla, a story inspired by her travels across America.
Her book is included in Good Housekeeping’s 100 Best Books for Summer Reading, has featured in numerous car magazines and also on BBC local radio.
Lesley published Finding Carla after adding writing a book to her list of 60 things to do to celebrate being 60. The novel follows the journey of Carla, a prematurely retired 50-something mum and grandmother who jets off to the USA for the trip of a lifetime along the legendary Route 66 after her husband ups and leaves her out of the blue.
She took the ‘write what you know’ approach and based many of her characters adventures on the ones she had with her husband, Dave, when they travelled together across the USA. They drove 32 000 miles, crossing 22 states, over a 7 year period in their eye-catching 1931 hot-rodded Ford Model ‘A’ Phaeton, making lots of good friends along the way.
The book chronicles the background and landscapes of Route 66, bringing it to life through Carla’s eyes during an exhilarating and sometimes perilous journey in a classic red Corvette (Lesley’s dream car).
The book was published to rave reviews, including this five star Amazon review from Paula Atkins of the South London Press.
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‘... Once I started reading I found it very hard to put down. I loved the way Lesley Anne describes Route 66 and all the places Carla stops off to visit or stumbles across on her journey. I cried at the start of this book and I cried again at the end but in between I was cheering Carla on to find her true self.
Well done Lesley Anne Brown a great read and I look forward to reading your next book/s.’
The story appeals to men too - Andy Gardiner’s five star review said,
‘I found it to be a gripping story that kept me enthralled throughout, wanting explanations. Enjoyed the differences between the English and American cultures and personalities.
I can highly recommend this book especially for anyone who has contemplated or taken a road trip along Route 66.’
Finding Carla is published by Wrate’s Publishing and signed copies can be purchased from Lesley’s website www.authorlesleyannebrown.co.uk . It is also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Lesley will be at the National Finals. If you spot her, do go and say hello!
Happy Birthday to former Street Eliminator racer Gary Gooding and VW exponent Paul Venners, have a great day both!
The British Drag Racing Historians will be publishing stories throughout this year leading up to the 60th anniversary of the 1st British International Drag Festival in September and October.
There will be reruns of some of the stories that featured the Drag Festival plus some new stories featuring all of the Allard dragsters and drivers plus witness accounts of the Drag Festival from those who went on to build and race their own dragsters and a three part in depth report on each of the six meetings that made up the Drag Festivals.
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The British Drag Racing Historians are proud to announce that Gerry Belton's personal collection of letters and memorabilia has been accepted by the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu into their archives. We believe this will lead the way to more original memorabilia being accepted to increase the presence of Drag Racing in the museum's archives.
Sarah Wyatt, Senior Curator (Archives & Trading) at the National Motor Museum said:
“We are grateful to receive his fascinating material as it fills a gap in our collections relating to this area of motor sport and shines a light on the early days of drag racing in the UK.”
Gerry was one of the main organisers of the 1964 Drag Festival and this is explained in the following two-part story.
You can read Part 1 of Gerry's story by clicking here.
Straightliners hosts its 2024 Championship Round 5 this weeked 13th-14th July at Melbourne Raceway.
After a hugely successful weekend at Dragstalgia we welcome a number of the SuperCharged Outlaw’s among other cars!!! Mark Windridge is organising a Retro Revival! If you have a pre-76 car get yourself up to Melbourne and get involved! Some serious burnout contenders, which is your favourite!
Aaron Windridge, Andy Fadster, Joel Kerr, Keith Freeman and Ian Merryweather is his new gorgeous blown altered Anglia! Kris Thoburn will be joining them in his blown Mustang.
We obviously also have the No Mercy bikes, Lee Dennick’s Jet funny car, the GLS Scooter Shootout, the Juniors, the good folks at tye NSCC, RWYB for cars and bikes available too!
Melbourne Raceway's E.T bracket classes this year will be racing, Sportsman ET (up to 7.90), (Pro ET (6.90-7.89) and Pro Extreme (5.90-6.89) with dial-ins used on the Sportsman tree. There's also the NSCC Hot Rod Gazette heads up option for modified street legal cars. And for quicker cars that want to run a heads up pro tree, we have Pro Comp running a Cannonball style format with the two quickest running a shootout in the final.
If racers don't have a Motorsport UK or ACU licence for bike racers, a Nora licence is needed but can be purchased easily and cheaply at this link.
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For more details on the car rules, click on this link. The No Mercy Bike series offers bracket racing opportunities to bikers, jnr bikes, scooters, Ultimate Street bikes for modified bikes, stock and 2 strokes, racing legends for the over 70s among others. For more details on the bike rules, click on this link..
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Specatator entry, available on the gate, is £15 a day, or £27 per weekend with camping available free from 17:00 on Friday 12th July. Bar and catering facilities are open with Statis Quo are playing Saturday night.
Run what ya brung is now exclusively pay on the gate, so no pre booking is required for RWYB. Racer and spectator tickets can be purchased at straightliners.events.
Class racers should be quick to secure their place in the weekend's activities.
Eurodragster.com will be covering post report and pictures by guest photographer Mike Burrowes. which you will be able to see via our coverage page supported by John Woolfe Racing.
Many thanks to Suze Morris sending in this report to Eurodragster.com, Suze writes: We were honoured to be invited by Santa Pod Raceway and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame to represent the 92nd Bombardment Group at Dragstalgia 2024, and what a weekend it was, with some very emotional moments reducing me to tears!
One in particular was being presented with a stunning die-cast model of B-17 42-31713 "Snake Hips" of the 327th Bomb Squadron, 92nd BG. Keith Bartlett had donated the stunning model, to be prepared by former Commentator Graham Beckwith for our dear, and much missed, friend Stu Bradbury, Chief Starter and founder of the BDRHoF. Unfortunately Stu didn't get to see the finished model, but Graham, along with Stu's lovely wife Bev, decided that, as Stu was so supportive of what we do to keep the memory of the 92nd alive, he would want us to have it. We cannot thank Keith, Graham and Bev enough for trusting us with this very special piece, which we will treasure in Stu's memory.
We had so many people visit our display in the Historic Marquee and at times the reactions from our visitors was overwhelming. They didn't just read our walls and watch the video footage, they shared stories of their family wartime experiences with us too, meaning more of those "bring out the tissues" moments for me!
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We were so busy, it's no wonder my feet feel like they don't belong to me and my voice is pretty much non-existent (some might say that's a good thing). We gave away hundreds of booklets, leaflets, posters and goody bags... all in honour of the 92nd BG as we continue to do everything we can, albeit in our small way, to pay tribute to the those who served at Station 109.
Our "Satan's Lady" may have been in the centre of our display but, it was the 'real' Lady, her crew, and other boys, because that's what they were, who were the main focus of everyone's attention... as it should be.
Unfortunately "Satan's Lady HQ" got flooded out on a couple of occasions, prompting one gent to say "I don't know about USAF, you should be calling the RNLI"... Although the quote of the weekend for me was from a little boy who told me that he was learning about WW2 and Adolph Hitler who, in his exact words, "really wasn't a very nice man at all"!!
We have to say a massive, massive Thank You to Max Frost and Santa Pod Raceway, along with The British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame for inviting us to represent the 92nd, and to every single person who took time out of their day to Salute "Fame's Favoured Few". Thank you all.
Street Week in Sweden is well underway, the first day of the race at Mantorp Park, what a success! A total of 19 four second runs, lots of cool scratches: Street Week website reports:
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When you thought it was difficult to "beat" day 1, then Dala-Järna stepped forward!! We know that StreetWeek enjoys visiting this fine facility!
SHRA Vansbro has not run anything since last year, but what does it matter when Janne Rud and company arrange. They dusted off the track and what a stick it came quickly, magical!
The fact that you have a car culture in Dalarna is old, but over 3 kilometers of queues in, shows what incredible commitment and dedication to Street Week and Drag and Drive events. Even though the facility is big, it was jam-packed Some of the audience sat down already 3 hours before the start, respect! And what a show the girls and boys offered! Not only have they rubbed a 30+ mile to get to the track, they drive like the last day has come.
(Picture taken from www.streetweeksweden.se)
14 four second runs were offered, lots of fast 5s and 6s, winning times just a few years ago, but now I don't have the energy to keep track of them.
2 days, 33 four-second runs, beat it if you can over there. Today, Sundsvall another incredible facility, and the weather is super good, bring solar oil dear audience.
You can see thr full results so far by clicking here or by visiting https://streetweeksweden.se/resultat/2024
Street Weekend a few weeks ago in England wasn't enough for Street Elminator racers Rob Carter VW Passat Sheffield and Alan Mc Sweeney Volvo Waltham Cross as they both made the journey to Sweden to compete in Street Week, keep checking Street Week Sweden website for daily updates or visit the Street Elminator Facebook page by clicking here.
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Thanks for Martyn Hannis for sending in this racer report from Dragstalgia at Santa Pod, Martyn writes:
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First thanks to all those people that purchased our 50th Anniversary in Drag Racing T Shirts. The monies are well appreciated. The weather wasn’t the best all weekend with the rain upsetting the run timetable.
Saturday Joe had two runs, the first Qualifier of which was a bit of a wild ride at the top end, thankfully Joe kept it off the wall and on four wheels recording a 6.407 @ 193.89. Second qualifier run was a lot straighter with a 6.383 @ 221.24.
Sunday around 3pm and third qualifier was arrow straight with a 6.346 @ 220.05, Joe said the car had nosed over at about 1000ft.
This final qualifier put us in third place for the third and fourth final run off.
Unfortunately back in the pits the nosing over was found to be caused by number one cylinder dropping an exhaust valve putting a hole in the piston, even though we had the parts with us to repair it, in the time available we decided to call it a day. On Monday the car is back in the workshop, I started stripping the engine to machine out the damaged valve seat and fit a new one rather than use one of the spare heads, other parts piston and valve are in stock.
Thanks to all the Santa Pod track crew who worked so hard drying the track to make this event happen.
Happy Birthday to Santa Pod Social Media guru Callum Pudge who tirelessly supplies news snippets and event updates for Santa Pod via Facebook and other platforms, also Happy Birthday to Pro Modified racer Andres Arnover, Gasser Circus racer Steve Matthews and to Matt Davison's wife Rach Davison. We hope you all have a fantastic day!
Thanks to Nick Pettit for sending in this link to his YouTube page for videos from Dragstalgia 2024, you can see all of the videos by clicking here.
Congratulations to the winners at Dragstalgia held at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend:
- Gasser Circus : Patrick Hobbs (11.91) 12.0135/108.17 def. Ray Turner (10.91) 12.1059/108.17
- Nostalgia Superstock : Jim Smith (10.37) 10.4057/127.24 def. Chris Tyhurst (12.16) 13.7818/72.39
- Supercharged Outlaws : Andy Hadfield 7.9420/170.52 def. Nigel Rigden 8.7889/157.93
- Outlaw Anglia : Colin Miller 8.3368/143.90 def. Barnaby Levy 9.7107/114.92
- Willys Wars : Daniel Bates (10.09) 10.0949/130.26 def. Shawn Hinden (10.96) 11.1147/131.66
- Dragstalgia Cannonball : Tim Garlick 9.5675/75.16 def. Tony Betts BROKE
- Old School Stockers : Claire Rule 8.6281/147.22 def. Kevin Melling BROKE
- Wild Bunch : We will announce the final result once it has been confirmed.
- NSA Bike Shootout : Graham Sykes 10.582/135.71 def. Ray Law 14.4145/116.73
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Showmanship Trophies
- Low ET of the meeting: Tim Garlick (Apache Nostalgia Funny Car): 5.9458
- Best appearing car: Simon Hayward and team (Houndog Nostalgia Funny Car)
- Best appearing team: Santa Pod Raceway's track crew's Mooneyes hats and Revell uniforms
- Burnout of the weekend: Aaron WIndridge (Supercharged Outlaws)
- Driving job of the weekend: Joe Bond (Nostalgia Cannonball)
- Wheelie of the weekend: Tony Pearson (Gasser Circus)
- Backup girl of the weekend: Evela Romanowska (Paul Harris Racing Nostalgis Funny Car)
- Moment of Dragstalgia: Nick Davies (Havoc Fuel Altered's new record 6.0440)
- Spirit of Dragstalgia: Shige Suganuma (Mooneyes dragster and display with Chico Kodama)
You can see the official timing data for the event by going to this link or by clicking on Data, then Timing Date in the main menu above.
Congratulations to Nick Davies and "Havoc" backs up his previous run and officially sets the new European Record and MSUK Record with a 6.0440/237.43. If you've a report on the race you'd like us to include, contact us on [email protected].
Congratulations to Don Scott who won the bonus Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award of £50 supported by Cath and Tig Napier with 0.0007 RT and to Dan Wilson who won the bonus Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award of £50 supported by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield with 10.3502 on 10.35 dial in..
The event was marked by a thunderstorm on Saturday early hours which drenched the track; due to a fantastic effort by the track crew, the track was dried in order continue with the qualifying sessions.
You can see our coverage of Dragstalgia, sponsored by John Woolfe Racing, with on-track and pitside galleries thanks to Julian and Kirstie, at our event page.
Happy Birthday for today to Sportsman ET racer James Grew. Have a wonderful day James.
Good Morning, We are ready to bring you live coverage here at the Dragstalgia, supported by John Woolfe Racing.
To follow our coverage, go to our event index by clicking here or to follow the live reporting click here.
Many thanks to Julian and Kirstie for covering the day two here at the Dragstalgia, Santa Pod Raceway, you can see all the pictures at this link, supported by John Woolfe Racing.
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Happy Birthday for today to Nostalgia Superstock racer Howard Holmes, Sportsman ET racer Michael Franklin, Wild Bunch crew member Vinnie Killington former VW Sportsman racer Dean Clatworthy and Pro Mod wife Brigitte Hilt-Suter. Have a wonderful day to you all.
The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has existed to celebrate the sport since 2006 and is pleased to reveal the individuals and organisations selected for induction into Membership this year when the annual Gala takes place on Saturday 23rd November.
Nominees are eligible by dint of having raced, owned, designed, built, maintained, prepared, promoted, officiated, supported or taken part in British drag racing in any capacity, having been involved for at least 20 years or having made a significant or recognisable contribution to the sport.
A full profile of each inductee is available on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame website at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk
Ray Baskerville and Pete Miller began drag racing motorcycles independently in the late 1960s and carved separate early careers of distinction while also developing and fabricating equipment for their own and competing entries. Having become good friends, they teamed up as BM to build a complete new bike powered by the UK’s first purpose-built drag racing engine. Several leading teams of the era found success using BM transmission components. Their involvement continues to this day. Ray and his son Neil have helped revive the legendary 1970s bike Hogslayer due to appear on track during this Dragstalgia weekend.
You can read Ray and Pete's full citation on the BDRHoF weboste by clicking here or by clicking the picture.
The Huxley Family celebrates 45 years as a fixture on the British drag racing scene. After 10 years as a grass track racer, Brian Huxley switched disciplines in 1979 to the straight-line sport with a renovated ’69 Ford Mustang which ran flawlessly for several championship-winning seasons at Long Marston. Subsequent Toyota and Mitsubishi entries earned even more success which grew when Brian persuaded eldest son Lee to enter a ’32 Model B Roadster. Second son Marc joined the fray while ministering to the motorsports community through his Huxley Motorsports business and third son Darren completed a family quartet whose dragstrip presence is as vital now as ever.
You can read the Huxley's full citation on the BDRHoF weboste by clicking here or by clicking the picture.
John Spuffard holds a special place in British drag racing history as the sport’s longest-serving Funny Car driver, having piloted the volatile machines almost continuously from 1985 to 2015. Inspired to sample drag racing by 1970s visits to the Chelsea Cruise, John bought his first Funny Car in 1984. After fielding Funnies in conjunction with Trevor Young and Andy Craddock, John’s long and successful partnership with Bob Jarrett began in 1990. Acquiring and driving an ex-Tom Hoover car imported from America, the pair also inherited Hoover’s Showtime car name which would continue to identify John’s mounts throughout his career while his company Titanium Racing Products has supplied components to the sport at home and abroad.
You can read John's full citation on the BDRHoF weboste by clicking here or by clicking the picture..
Martin Hill has been the doyen of Europe’s Jet Car drag racing scene since debuting the first of his FireForce fleet of Funny Cars and a Dragster in 1989. The Yorkshire-born racer and engineer began his drag racing career on two wheels, with six successful years aboard a self-built, Street-class Kawasaki, before a fascination with jet machinery was sparked by watching Santa Pod’s Jet Cars of the time in action. Dissatisfied with the first two Jet Dragsters he had built, Martin imported a Jet Funny from America which became FireForce1, the first of five models he would run at home and abroad with an exhibitionist panache that belies his softly-spoken manner.
You can read Martin's full citation on the BDRHoF weboste by clicking here or by clicking the picture.
Straightliners have offered a ‘stepping-stones’ approach for new riders and drivers into the sport of drag racing. The organisation, founded and led by Trevor Duckworth, originated from the Streetfighter magazine class of motorcycle in the mid-1990s and grew in the early 2000s with a broader spectrum of race and street bikes competing over the quarter-mile. Since then Straightliners have successfully run grass-roots motorsports events on temporary tracks across the UK and have recently found a permanent home at Yorkshire’s Melbourne Raceway, which they are working to develop. Straightliners events continue to encourage newcomers, on two wheels and four, to start in drag racing.
You can read Straightliner's full citation on the BDRHoF weboste by clicking here or by clicking the picture.
Good Morning, We are ready to bring you live coverage here at the Dragstalgia, supported by John Woolfe Racing.
To follow our coverage, go to our event index by clicking here or to follow the live reporting click here.
Many thanks to Julian for covering the day one here at the Dragstalgia, Santa Pod Raceway, you can see all the pictures at this link, supported by John Woolfe Racing.
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Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET racer Marie Mills, NSS crew chief Michael Dowdy and Swedish drag bike team manager Roger Lyrén. We hope you all have a great day.
Following the article posted Thursday 13th June describing the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia taking place at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee over Dragstalgia weekend, 5th-7th July, we present the last five lots for auction:
Lot 46 – Santa Pod Tribute Poster
First released as a Lancaster flypast over Santa Pod with all the noise, history and the magnificence this classy warbird brings to the masses, Motoring Artist Ian Guy decided to go one step further by adding two purely inspired fictional slingshots to bring even more drama and excitement to what is already a significant rendition of one of the RAF’s iconic and majestic planes piloted by our forefathers protecting our hallowed ground and runways too eventually go racin’. A superb piece of art that will grace any fans wall.
Lot 47 – Rat Trap Wall hanger, 2 hats, XL & Small T-shirt
In memory of the late great Ron Hope, from US Automotive, a wall hanger which replicates the side of the famous Rat Trap fuel altered together with 2 hats & 2 T-shirts bearing the Rat Trap logo.
Lot 48 – Hor Rodding in the San Fernando Valley book
This book by author Tony Baker chronicles the once-vibrant hot rod scene in California’s San Fernando Valley from the iconic Bob’s Big Boy drive-in to the San Fernando drag strip. It also tells the story of the Road Kings of Burbank car club and we have club member Bob “Floyd Lippencotte” with us at Santa Pod this weekend. Bob, Jo Schubek & TV Tommy Ivo have signed the book.
Lot 49 – Fuel Altereds Forever book
These supercharged, 2000 bhp cars demand the utmost respect as do the racers who pilot them. Most would quake at the thought of driving these short, ill-handling beasts and it takes a rare (or slightly crazy) breed of drag racer to slide behind the wheel. Author Steve Reyes has included more than 200 of his favourite pictures of the class along with stories that bring the action right to you.
Lot 50 – Roland “The Hawaiian” Leong book, memorial sticker & Celebration of Life pamphlet.
As the son of a Harvard graduate, it could have been difficult for Roland Leong to live up to his family’s expectations. However that wasn’t the case, “The Hawaiian” knew at a young age that Drag Racing was his career path. This is a tale of family, friends and forging a path which showed the world that a Harvard education isn’t required to achieve greatness. Signed by author Lou Hart and presented with a memorial sticker and Celebration of Life pamphlet.
How does the auction work? See an item at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee that takes your fancy, then write your bid on the bid sheet for the item at any time and raise it as often as you want if you find someone else outbidding you. The Auction runs on Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am, closing at 5pm when successful bidders will be notified by text. Winners can pay for and collect their items up to 6pm that day or on Sunday till 4pm.
There will be no Auction on Sunday but the Sale of memorabilia will continue on all three days. Credit card payments are accepted for Auction and Sale purchases.
As well as the Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia, there will be a unique display of Competitor Protection Gear harking back to the earliest days of British drag racing.
Happy Birthday for today to Super Street Bike racer Alan Morrison Jnr and Huxley crew man and web guru Richard Bell, have a great day guys!
Following the article posted Thursday 13th June describing the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia taking place at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee over Dragstalgia weekend, 5th-7th July, we present the next six lots for auction:
Lot 40 – Signed TV Tommy Ivo Poster
TV Tommy Ivo, a member of the visiting American Drag Racing Team way back in 1964 for the International Drag Festivals recently celebrated 30 years of drag racing and 19 years as a movie actor with this A2 size poster depicting all of Tommy’s Dragsters, Funny Cars and Jet Cars (36 in total). He was the ultimate drag racing showman.
Lot 41 – Ed Pink – The Old Master autographed book
Ed Pink: The Remarkable Life and Times of Racing’s Most Versatile Engine Builder is packed with motorsport history, pictures and behind the scenes, first-hand accounts of Ed’s seven decades of building high performance racing engines. From drag racing’s golden era to IMSA sports cars to Indy cars, Pink built championship-winning engines for racing’s top teams. Now you can read the whole story in this signed 264 page autobiographical non-technical hardback book.
Lot 42 – Parachute from Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car
One of the most vital stopping aids to be found on any dragster is the parachute! This one has been attached to and has stopped the fire breathin’ ‘FireForce 3’ Chevy Lumina Jet Funny Car of jet ace Martin Hill from 0-290 mph in the blink of an eye at Santa Pod Raceway. Fully displayed this would make for an interesting conversation piece on any home or mancave wall.
Lot 43 – Original Gary Page Firesuit
Want to own a piece of drag racing history as worn by one of British drag racing prolific racers Gary Page and member of the BDRHoF. Well now here’s your chance. Although outdated and beyond certification Gary’s suit was commissioned by Kendall Oils we believe in the 2000s when he drove for Mark & Jackie Hawkins in British Funny Car Championship. Truly a great piece of drag racing history.
Lot 44 – Hot Wheels Snake & Mongoose '72 Plymouth Cuda & Duster Funny Car 2-piece set
Since the sports mega deal sponsorship in the early seventies with American toy giant Mattel The Snake & The Mongoose Funny Cars of Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen are the most sought after Hot Wheels cars since first release in 1971. Manufactured from the original tooling these recreations are recent releases from the 1:64 scale Hot Wheels Premium Car Culture 2022 series with one addition: rear rubber tires. A great item with its backing board artwork and unopened blister pack.
Lot 45 – 32 Ford book by Tony Thacker
In 1931, Henry Ford famously announced that his company would produce an eight-cylinder car, if only because its competitors were building fours and sixes. The result, introduced in 1932, was Ford Motor Company’s first V8-powered car. The Deuce was a design and technological milestone that would become the quintessential hot rod platform. Arriving just in time for the Deuces 75th anniversary, this is the story of that 32 Ford written and signed by BDRHoF Gala announcer Tony Thacker. This spectacular soft back edition, for vintage-car enthusiasts and hot rodders alike, also includes a foreword by Edsel B. Ford II, grandson of the Deuces principal stylist.
How does the auction work? See an item at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee that takes your fancy, then write your bid on the bid sheet for the item at any time and raise it as often as you want if you find someone else outbidding you. The Auction runs on Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am, closing at 5pm when successful bidders will be notified by text. Winners can pay for and collect their items up to 6pm that day or on Sunday till 4pm.
There will be no Auction on Sunday but the Sale of memorabilia will continue on all three days. Credit card payments are accepted for Auction and Sale purchases.
As well as the Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia, there will be a unique display of Competitor Protection Gear harking back to the earliest days of British drag racing.
Thanks to Caroline Holden from Santa Pod Raceway has announced that Coated Race Bearings have entered into a new partnership with Santa Pod Raceway, the most iconic dragstrip in Europe, located in England.
This exciting new collaboration will benefit both Coated Race Bearings and Santa Pod Raceway, offering the opportunity to further expand their involvement in the motorsport community.
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Santa Pod Raceway is renowned worldwide for its fantastic events and races, and we are proud to associate our name with this legendary location. Through this partnership, we will be even better positioned to highlight our high-quality bearings to a broad audience of car enthusiasts and motorsport fans.
"We are incredibly excited about this collaboration with Santa Pod Raceway," says Richard Batist, owner of Coated Race Bearings. "It is a fantastic opportunity for our young company to be part of the rich history of this iconic raceway and to strengthen our presence in the automotive and motorsport world.
The coated bearings we offer are designed to withstand extra stress, making a partnership with Santa Pod Raceway a perfect fit. Drag racing is a sport where engines certainly face a lot of resistance, aligning perfectly with the capabilities of our products.”
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Santa Pod Raceway’s commercial manager Caroline Holden said “We look forward to developing our relationship with Coated Race Bearings over the coming seasons. Their products are clearly of a high quality and drag racing will certainly put them to the test!”
For more information contact Coated Race Bearings by email at this link or visit their website by clicking here. You can also contact them by telephone on this number: +31620858540.
Many thanks to Claire Hartnell from Backdraft Drag Racing Team for sending Eurodragster.com this update Crazy Chris and The Backdraft Team, Claire writes:
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‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell has informed of an exciting first for him. At this weekend’s ‘Dragstalgia’ event, he will be running both his nostalgia slingshot “Backdraft” with the Wild Bunch, and his nostalgia bike “Backdraft Two” with the NSA sprint bikes!
We hear that this is a first for a racer at ‘Dragstalgia’ to run in both a car and a bike class, but please do let us know if any different! It is not unique in today’s drag racing, since young Andrew Willcox runs both a Junior Dragster and a Junior Dragbike at the same MSUK events, but we believe it is very rare for a British drag racer to do this at one event!
Chris is really looking forward to his first event of this season racing with the fantastic Wild Bunch, in which he was Chairman for some 13 years. He is also really looking forward to pairing up with the guys from the brilliant NSA on his bike, for the first time at Santa Pod! Many thanks to Keith Lee for making that possible!
Chris and partner Claire and the team are celebrating the 30th Year since they first started running their much loved “Backdraft” slingshot, which was originally built in 1969 as “Malibu Express”. In that time, Chris has gone from a first run of 24 seconds at 24mph, to a current Personal Best of 8.629 @ 153.57mph!
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He is only in his second year of running his dragbike, the frame of which dates back to Easter 1976 with a John Clift and Mick Warne build, which is a great coincidence as that is the very first event Chris ever attended at Santa Pod!! Chris’ PB’s on the bike are 13.328 @ 101.06 mph so he hopes to improve on that. The whole team can’t wait for Chris’ first ever double duty event at the awesome nostalgia event that is ‘Dragstalgia’!
Look forward to seeing everyone at the drags!
Many thanks to sponsor Peter Walters and points co-ordinator Yvonne Tramm for updating the points for the classes at the Summer Nationals, which you can see on our points page by clicking here or on the Santa Pod Racers Club website.
A very Happy Independence Day to all our friends in the USA, have a great day one and all!
Happy Birthday to the ever youthful queen of Signing On at Santa Pod Kathy Taylor, to US fuel altered racer Randy Bradford who thrilled us all in 2016, to Swedish Pro Mod racer Michael Nord and to 8.50 Bike racer Gary Malone, we hope you all have a fantastic day.
Congratulations also to Junior Dragster racers Harry Peters and Jacqueline Bartlet who won the Bob's Photo Finish Award of £50 each posted by sponsor and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts for the closest finish of a green light and non-break out race. Harry and Jacqueline's finish line margin was 0.0008 seconds or 1.0177 inches.
Please can the parents of Harry and Jacqueline's contact Chris Winn to arrange the winnings by email or via Facebook by clicking here.
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Following the article posted Thursday 13th June describing the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia taking place at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee over Dragstalgia weekend, 5th-7th July, we present the next five lots for auction:
Lot 35 – Original Kenny Youngblood Cartoon drawing
Kenny Youngblood is one of America’s prolific automotive artists and graphic designers. Kenny’s love for drag racing also led him to building his own slingshot dragsters as well as racing them in the late sixties. Now he does a lot of personal appearance which is where BDRHoF member Roger Gorringe picked up this one-off cartoon of a wild looking and fire breathin’ Plymouth GTX dedicated to Roger.
Lot 36 – Funny Car Hero Posters ’65-’68, ’68- ’73, ’72- ‘78
Esteemed drag racing photographer and friend of the BDRHoF Bob McClurg produced a series of black & white posters called Funn Car Heroes depicting some of the greatest Funny Cars to ever race down an American drag strip. Names like Ramchargers, Jungle Jim, Blue Max, Tom & Jerry, USA-1 and many more feature covering the years 1965 to 1978 in 3 A2 size posters offered as one lot.
Lot 37 – Paul Whitehouse Painting of Commuter
Although a little bit before his first visit to Santa Pod in 1973 Paul has captured the flowing lines of this iconic late sixties (1968) dragster ‘The Commuter’ driven by BDRHoF member Tony Densham. Against the backdrop of the Pod’s white tower and the infamous Double Diamond advertising board Paul’s painting captures both the moment and the period that made this dragster one of the most photographed race cars back then, and it’s from a picture in Nick Pettitt’s book British Drag Racing The Early Years which inspired Paul to create this unique painting. The painting itself measures 519mm x 380mm (20” x 15”) and is Gouache on art board.
Lot 38 – Two posters signed by Alex Xydias
Triton Poster – This is a recreation poster of a 1950 Autoweek magazine advert issued by Triton Oils in celebration of Alex Xydias and Dean Batchelors record breaking times on the Bonneville Salt Flats for factory-built engines using Triton Oil by 76 Union in the So-Cal boys streamliner.
NASCAR Speed Week poster – Back in the fifties NASCAR sponsored an expo at the Armoury at Daytona Beach. At the show one of the cars on display was the So-Cal boys Special which back then was the fastest car ever built in America timed at 210.986 mph.
Lot 39 – Pure Hell Redline Oils Fuel Altered T-Shirt
Missed out on owning a Pure Hell Racing #1 AA/Fuel Altered T-Shirt! Well now’s your chance with this X-Large 100% cotton T featuring a 5-colour graphic of Rich Guasco’s famous altered Pure Hell along with the teams racing partner Redline Oils.
How does the auction work? See an item at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee that takes your fancy, then write your bid on the bid sheet for the item at any time and raise it as often as you want if you find someone else outbidding you. The Auction runs on Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am, closing at 5pm when successful bidders will be notified by text. Winners can pay for and collect their items up to 6pm that day or on Sunday till 4pm.
There will be no Auction on Sunday but the Sale of memorabilia will continue on all three days. Credit card payments are accepted for Auction and Sale purchases.
As well as the Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia, there will be a unique display of Competitor Protection Gear harking back to the earliest days of British drag racing.
Many thanks to author, photojournalist and announcer Keith Lee for sending in this NSA Bike Shootout preview, Keith writes: Dragstalgia will be upon us imminently, and for those of us bike fans who remember classic racing days of the seventies, it brings with it the much-anticipated reappearance of Hogslayer, which has sparked interest worldwide!
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Having first stood on the start line at Ontario in 1973, where I witnessed the bike take the NHRA Supernational Top Fuel Bike win, it was a pleasure to get to meet up with TC Christenson and John Gregory again when they came over to the UK for two events in '74, where the black double Norton clocked the first 8 second runs in Europe. I have stayed in touch with John over the years since.
When I interviewed TC during that trip, he stated that they aimed to be first into the sevens - and they indeed ran in the sevens just a year later, but frustratingly just after Russ Collins' triple Honda! However, the fearsome black Norton blitzed the field with a string of seven second runs, which was a privilege to witness.
It will not be trying for any records at Dragstalgia, but just enjoy seeing this old war horse out on track again, as a tribute to TC and John, who created this legendary machine. The small team of Neil and Ray Baskerville, and Chris Illman - plus several other bike racers who have contributed - has given us the chance to see this legendary machine back on a racetrack. Hogslayer is up and running on nitro and has performed a short burnout - so all is looking set for the weekend!
A big thank you is due to the National Motorcycle Museum at Solihull, who have been so supportive in loaning out some of their amazing collection of race bikes to appear at Dragstalgia. Alongside Hogslayer, Chris Illman will be riding the Nero Vincent, which dates to the beginning of drag racing in Europe! Sister bike, the blown Super Nero, will be on display in the Historic Marquee.
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There will be a total of four twin-engine bikes on track during the weekend, with three of them using Norton motors. One of the highlights will undoubtedly be the regular appearance of Dutch rider Jan Honee, on his unbelievably powerful Jawa 500 single cylinder machine. A new fuel pump and clutch have been fitted in the search for quick runs - so fingers in ears for that one!
Do look around the bike pits during the weekend, and have a chat to the riders, and note the different style of machinery being raced in the first two decades of drag racing in this country - in a stark comparison to the current state of the art drag bikes.
We are pleased to confirm another bonus the Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award will be available at this week's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway.
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The Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award supported by Andy Hadfield have kindly offered to post £50 The Perfect ET Award will become available at the start of qualifying, currently Gasser Circus Q1 which is scheduled for 17:00 on Friday, and from that point will be available to all racers in all classes. As ever, the money will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event. As this is a bonus event, if the Perfect ET Award is not won at Dragstalgia then it will remain at £50 for Bug Jam on the 26th-28th July at Santa Pod Raceway.
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect ET Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.
Our event coverage is supported by John Woolfe Racing.
The Malta Drag Racing Association Drag Racing Series Round 3 takes place at Hal Far Raceway this 4th to 6th of July. The Summer Shootout, the only night race of the year, action starts each evening at 19:00. The event is presented by Ladmu Chassis Builders and the series is sponsored by Enemed Fuel Stations.
The quickest and fastest teams on the island battle it out halfway through the championship under the lights. 62 racers are registered, and action commences on Thursday with test and tune from 19:00 and qualifying session 1 from 22:00 (21:00 BST).
Another four qualifying sessions are planned for Friday from 19:00 to 01:00, and, after a shakedown session at 19:00 on Saturday, eliminations commence at 20:30 with semi finals at 22:30 and finals at 23:30.
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You will be able to see a stream of the event at Motorsmt Facebook page. In the meantime, as a taster head over to the Youtube channel of committee member Konrad D'Anastasi and you can see video of Round 2 held in May by clicking here.
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This weekend Malmö Raceway will host the Raceway's 20 years Jubilee Summer Nationals on 5th-7th July, a special Top Fuel match race will take place between Dennis Nilsson and Stig Neergaard. As announced last year, Dennis's brother Tindra will also be in attendance.
We believe this is the first time that a pair of the 11,000 horsepower cars will be racing at the eighth mile track.
In the 20th anniversary season, Malmö Raceway has announced 15 dates, including no-prep events and a night race on 17th August. You can see the details by clicking here.
The 2024 Street Week first day of competition is at Mantorp Park. SHRA Mantorp, this Sunday 7th July.
Five competition courses are visited according to a driving schedule where the participants must clock as fast a time as possible on a 200 meter course. Between the tracks, the cars are driven by their own machines, where all See the coolest and fastest street cars in the world travel in Sweden. 200 competing crews drive between five different tracks during an intense week to chase the fastest track times. This is Drag and Drive at its best where the fastest average ET from the week crowns a winner.
To follow and find out more on Street Week Sweden 2024, please click here.
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Thanks to Jon Crawford for sending Eurodragster.com his report from last weekend at Santa Pod Raceway for the Summer Nationals: Jon writes:
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Coming into the SPRC Summer Nationals the Crawford Motorsports season was in danger of stalling. After a near-total rainout at the Festival of Springspeed and a first-round exit at the Sportsman Nationals, the team were languishing in 12th place.
The weather forecast was looking good for the Summer Nationals. The heat and humidity caught a lot out (us included), and we ended the day languishing in 18th place. We were on the wrong side of the ladder and facing a tough series of races. However we were determined to plant the revival of our season, and with a smidge of luck, we waded through the eliminations.
First up was Rhys Finney in the all-white Lupo. Not a lot of difference in dial-ins, so when Jon got to 3/4 track and a wheel spinning Rhys was still a way behind, we could take the stripe with confidence.
Second round paired us with Thomas Webb and his awesome Golf "Jimmy". A bigger difference in dial in this time, and unfortunately whilst Tom and Jimmy needed to wait four seconds for their green, they could only manage 3.89 seconds, putting the win-light on in Jon's lane.
Third race was with Thomas Circuit. Points leader and winner of the previous round, he was the man-in-form. Jon was in chase mode, and the first half of such a race is always exciting. Harold the Lupo is quick to the 1/8th and it was a nervy time until the torque kicked in at the top end and pulled us into the lead. It's counterintuitive at that point to lift to avoid breaking out, but Tom gave us the space at the stripe to be able to do that and squeeze past.
Fourth round (semi-finals) was against Jordan Clark. Unfortunately for Jordan, The Thunder Bug lost its earlier consistency, and we took the win.
So, on to the final, where we were against Phil Jones. Phil dialled about a second and a half quicker than us all day, so when he suggested we went heads up, we were a bit confused. It was his call, of course. A superb reaction time by the silver Audi was not a good start for us, and at half-track Phil was well ahead and heading for a huge breakout. He then slowed, but too early. This allowed Jon to slingshot past and take an unlikely win.
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A cracking result against the odds, and we are back in the game. Up to third equal in the points and a little over 200 points off the lead. Back in the game and heading into Bug Jam with momentum.
Thanks to Super Crew Damian Burke, Dayglow Dave Grundy, and the whole of the VWDRC family.
Happy Birthday to today to British Hot Rod Association pioneer Maurice Takoor, also to former Super Street Car racer Bob Lees and to Comp Bike racer Daniel Bergelin who last ran here in 2018, we hope you all have a fantastic day.
Following the article posted Thursday 13th June describing the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia taking place at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee over Dragstalgia weekend, 5th-7th July, we present the next five lots for auction:
Lot 5 - Brand New 1970s Commuter Dragster Poster (125cm x 47cm)
This poster of BDRHoF member Tony Densham at the wheel of Santa Pod Raceway’s iconic ‘The Commuter’ dragster was first released in the very early 70s by PACE International. The poster is one of two in the series (the other being Bill Weichelt’s Asmodeus/Dos Palmas dragster) which back in the day could be bought at any high street card shop or from Santa Pod’s Dick’s Place. This picture shows a pre-loved poster but we have one on offer which hasn’t been mounted or framed in any shape or form and looks in the same condition as it did when first purchased for just 70p!
Lot 31 – Drag Racing Handbook
Produced by Santa Pod Raceway in 1970 the Drag Racing Handbook was a 48 page A5 glossy booklet featuring British racer, car and bike profiles, facts and figures, a quick history of the NHRA Nationals and American drag racer and land speed record racer Mickey Thompson with period pictures and adverts. A great addition to any fans collection.
Lot 32 – 1976 Drag Racing Calendar by Adsell
Produced by Adsell this large format calendar featured lots of action shots captured at by Simon Adsell, Tony Freeney, BDRHoF member Lawie Gatehouse and Bob Massey while on location at NDRC on-tour meets and at Santa Pod. Swedish photographer Bo Bertilsson also contributed images taken at Mantorp Park. Featuring 8 double sided full colour pages (one of which features picture descriptions) features 2 to 6 images on one page, was ‘back in the day’ a must for any drag racing fans office wall or workshop.
Lot 33 – 1977 Drag Racing Calendar by Adsell
Produced by Adsell this large format calendar featured lots of action shots captured at by Simon Adsell, Tony Freeney, BDRHoF member Lawie Gatehouse and Bob Massey while on location at NDRC on-tour meets and at Santa Pod. Swedish photographer Bo Bertilsson also contributed images taken at Mantorp Park. Featuring 8 double sided full colour pages (one of which features picture descriptions) features 2 to 6 images on one page, was ‘back in the day’ a must for any drag racing fans office wall or workshop.
Lot 34 – Original Kenny Youngblood Cartoon drawing
Kenny Youngblood is one of America’s prolific automotive artists and graphic designers. Kenny’s love for drag racing also led him to building his own slingshot dragsters as well as racing them in the late sixties. Now he does a lot of personal appearance which is where BDRHoF member Roger Gorringe picked up this one-off cartoon of a Top Fuel Dragster racing across London Bridge to the sound of Big Ben at the 2001 SEMA Show.
How does the auction work? See an item at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee that takes your fancy, then write your bid on the bid sheet for the item at any time and raise it as often as you want if you find someone else outbidding you. The Auction runs on Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am, closing at 5pm when successful bidders will be notified by text. Winners can pay for and collect their items up to 6pm that day or on Sunday till 4pm.
There will be no Auction on Sunday but the Sale of memorabilia will continue on all three days. Credit card payments are accepted for Auction and Sale purchases.
As well as the Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia, there will be a unique display of Competitor Protection Gear harking back to the earliest days of British drag racing.
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Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for a reminder that the closing entry date for Bug Jam to be held at SPR on 26th-28th July is this coming Friday 5th July.
The Bug Jam entry list is at this link on the SPRC website, and you can see details of the event at bugjam.co.uk.
Bug Jam '37 entry
closes in 2 Days 11 Hours 14 Mins 58 Secs
We are pleased to confirm that a bonus Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award will be available at this week's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway.
The Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award are usually posted at UK National Championship events but sponsors Cath and Tig Napier of UK Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing have kindly offered to post £50 for the first 0.000 Reaction Time at Dragstalgia.
The Perfect Light Award will become available at the start of qualifying, currently Gasser Circus Q1 which is scheduled for 17:00 on Friday, and from that point will be available to all racers in all classes. As ever, the money will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. As this is a bonus event, if the Perfect Light Award is not won at Dragstalgia then it will remain at £50 for Bug Jam on the 26th-28th July at Santa Pod Raceway.
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Eurodragster.com decals are not mandatory to collect the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate if it they are carried, although we do of course understand about decals on period-correct cars and bikes. If you would like to carry Eurodragster.com decals then they are available in Signing On.
Our event coverage is supported by John Woolfe Racing.
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Thanks for Nigel Charman for sending this news into Eurodragster.com. Nigel says:
"We will be attending Dragstalgia this weekend with the Two Much dragster to honour the loss of Norm and his contribution of around 50 years to Drag Racing
We hope to run the car as exhibition only and will have a book of condolence to sign.
Please come and visit us as this will be our only event this year as it has been a difficult year and much still to do".
Thanks for Niamh Smith for sharing this information for Nostalgia Super Stock racers for this weekends Dragstalgia 2024 event at Santa Pod Raceway: Niamh writes:Our second instalment of our lifestyle championship, and this trophy will be one hard fought over, as we will be running a 64 car ladder WITH bump spots! On that topic, we have had confirmation from Santa Pod that there are a small number of spaces left to enter Nostalgia Super Stock - as of 01/07/24 there are 2. If you wish to take them, please either speak to Don Scott or ring up Santa Pod ASAP.
SCHEDULE (Provisional schedule can be found on the Santa Pod website or by clicking this link.
Nostalgia Super Stock Provisional timetable is:
Friday 5th July
- Q1 - 18:10 hrs
Saturday 6th July
- Q2 - 09:40 hrs
- Q3 - 12:00 hrs
- Q4 - 14:20 hrs
- E1 - 16:40 hrs
Sunday 7th July
- E2 - 10:10 hrs
- E3 - 12:25 hrs
- E4 - 14:40 hrs
- E5 - 13:30 hrs
- Final -16:30 hrs
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We will be having our brilliant BBQ Saturday night as now has become tradition for Dragstalgia! This is a great opportunity for Nostalgia Superstock racers, crew and sponsors to come together and socialise. We are able to do this thanks to our brilliant sponsors, so once again thank you to all of those!
We will be hosting this in the pits after the track closes (so those who want to watch Cracklefest and the end of the racing can), so I expect this will all kick off around 20:30hrs
At our BBQ there will also be a few awards to hand out, as you may have seen on Adrian Portelli’s post, him and Zoe Thompson will be doing their usual bonus awards! They’ll be coming around collecting money for qualifying prizes, as well as some extra fun ones this time! Also the Spirit of Sixty Six - Superstock Racing Team is putting up a Spirit of Dragstalgia award for the first time which will also be presented.
Goodale American Speedshop are putting forward 3 x £75 vouchers to spend with GAS which will be randomly drawn, so start writing up your shopping lists! The brilliant winner and runner up trophies are yet again hand painted by sponsor Craig Ainge Traditional Signwriter - even the missus will let these go on the mantle piece I think…
I believe we won’t receive a pit plan prior to Thursday, however I’m guessing we’ll be sort of in the middle where we usually are; the marshals will direct you where to go when you arrive. As this is a busy event, please do not take up more than your allocated pit space, be conscious of how much room you’re taking up and work with staff to ensure they can fit all the racers in.
We will have our 2024 posters with artwork from Rust & Chrome and MCT photography, Nostalgia Super Stock logo T-shirts and also our 2024 T-shirts with our sponsor logos on the back for sale in the pits! Also possibly a few hoodies and previous years T-shirts. I will also have a few copies of the Drag Seen magazine that I write for at reduced prices (shameless plug). Just come and find me with the Hillbilly Hotel in the Flag Jumper pits!
There may be one or two new cars/drivers to the class. If this is you, please see Chris Goodale to have a little look over your car before racing - this is just an informal scrutineering as per our class rules to make sure your car is safe and complies with our rules.
Thanks to former editor Tog who attended last weekend the MPH Vintage Sprint at Deenethorpe Airfield Corby and has supplied us with two photo galleries, one on-track and the other pits, return road and show field.
You can see Tog's galleries by clicking here or by going via our Events sponsored by John Woolfe Racing.
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Happy Birthday for today to Eurodragster's pit photographer and crew member for Mark Sheridan, Diana MacRae, Hot rodding and drag racing pioneer Maurice Takoor, colleague of John Bennett at Spa Engineering, to Supercharged Outlaws racer-in-waiting Bob Glassup, to former Super Street racer Bob Lees, Comp Bike racer Daniel Bergelin and to Nostalgia Super Stock racer Nick Martin. We hope you all have a fantastic day.
Sportsman ET racer Michelle Walker would like to say a big thank you to Mark Fairhurst, Mark Munday, Williams Brothers, but mostly my husband Roy Walker, for all their hard work they have done to get me back on the track after 2 years of revamping my car, it's been a lot of money, hours but it was worth it. They brought her into the 21st century.
Michelle came out at the Summer Nationals test day on Friday and gained a new PB in both time and speed, She hopes to made them all proud and worth it.
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Today's Pioneer Story: This year sees the 60th anniversary of the 1st British International Drag Festival and to mark this occasion the British Drag Racing Historians are producing more stories to be published on Eurodragster throughout this year starting with the first British Dragster.
Phil Waters has put this story together about the Allard Chrysler Dragster, the brainchild of Sydney Allard who had been reading Hot Rod Magazine in 1960. It was designed and built at Allard’s between January and June 1961 as an attempt to generate interest in Drag Racing in the UK. Sydney ran the dragster at sprints and speed trials from 1961 – 1963 breaking records and creating much interest from the motoring press.
The Allard Chrysler Dragster will be one of the many historic dragsters at Dragstalgia along with a replica of the Mooneyes Dragster which was the first American Dragster to arrive on British soil after Dante Duce challenged Sydney Allard to a race in 1963.
You can read the full story by clicking here
Following the article posted Thursday 13th June describing the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia taking place at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee over Dragstalgia weekend, 5th-7th July, we present the next five lots for auction:
Lot 26 – Bob McClurg’s Digger, Funnies, Gassers & Altered book
Dedicated and autographed to friend and trackside colleague Roger Gorringe author Bob McClurg looks at the 60's from its grass roots era to its full-blown professional motorsport. Along the way, it created some of the most exciting racing and race cars ever built. An accomplished magazine writer and photographer, Bob McClurg is best known for his drag racing images of the 60s and 70s. With more than 350 colour and black and white photos, this book is an exciting visual history of the Golden Age of drag racing packed into 204 pages including 248 colour & 128 black and white photos.
Lot 27 – Drag Racing Funny Cars of the 1960s photo archive
In the 1960s funny cars captured the fans with tremendous smoky burnouts and gigantic wheelstands, they were so unpredictable. Photographer Lou Hart has created a photo archive of the finest that has ever graced a drag strip. Many raced for Saturday night bragging rights, but many raced for a living - today they are legends of the sport, several of which have contributed information to this 128 page soft bound book.
Lot 28 – Drag Racing Funny Cars of the 1970s photo archive
See the cars raced by many of the legendary names in drag racing, including Don Prudhomme, Tom McEuen and Jim Dunn. The authors, Lou Hart and Wallace A. Wyss have included action shots, as well as detailed "in the pits" shots. Photographs show various makes and models of cars that have been reconstructed as Funny Cars, plus everything from Stock to Modified Camaros, Mustangs, Javelins, Dodge Chargers, and Firebirds, to oddball exhibition cars. Loads of nostalgia packed into 128 pages of soft bound pleasure.
Lot 29 – Vintage & Historic Drag Racers book
Researched by Robert Genat this soft bound publication features the history making Dragsters, Funny Cars and more of the best vintage drag racers of the late 1950s and 1960s! Genat describes each car's race history and their well-known drivers and tuners of the era. See Don Garlits' Swamp Rat 1, and many others. Super Stock drag racing of the 1960s is covered extensively, most notably the radically altered stock bodied vehicles that would forever change the face of drag racing. 96 pages of colour and black & white will keep you quiet for ages.
Lot 30 – Petersen’s Best of Hot Rod book
HOT ROD – the iconic American magazine. The Best of chronicles some of the publications best photographs and articles from the world of hot rodding, drag racing and speed records since the late 1940s. This 190 page soft back also covers the development of the hot rod with a variety of customized and high-performance cars ever conceived on four wheels. A fantastic and rare collector’s edition that could grace any enthusiast bookshelf!
How does the auction work? See an item at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee that takes your fancy, then write your bid on the bid sheet for the item at any time and raise it as often as you want if you find someone else outbidding you. The Auction runs on Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am, closing at 5pm when successful bidders will be notified by text. Winners can pay for and collect their items up to 6pm that day or on Sunday till 4pm.
There will be no Auction on Sunday but the Sale of memorabilia will continue on all three days. Credit card payments are accepted for Auction and Sale purchases.
As well as the Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia, there will be a unique display of Competitor Protection Gear harking back to the earliest days of British drag racing.
Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Sportsman Nationals held at Santa Pod Raceway:
- Pro Modified : Andy Robinson 5.8200/245.13 def. Bobby Wallace 6.0924/237.77
- Pro ET : Ronnie Mercer (10.35) 10.3265/121.81 def. Amy Watkins (9.63) 9.5561/141.12
- Super Pro ET : Daniel Giles 7.4359/172.34 def. Scott Hauser 7.3037/179.93
- Super Comp : Paul Hudson 15.8083/68.28 def. Warren Watts 9.0025/149.11
- Comp Eliminator : Gary Carr (11.79) 11.0613/112.33 def. Nic Williams (8.45) 8.0107/170.46
- Street Eliminator : Andy Bond 7.339/206.00 def. Alan McSweeney 8.0745/134.42
- Sportsman ET : Peter Walters (12.32) 12.3382/109.63 def. Gary Lake (13.92) 13.9613/96.01
- VW Sportsman : Jon Crawford (16.10) 6.2571/77.47 def. Phil Jones(16.10) 16.6144/79.65
- VW Pro : James Hodson (10.85) 11.1073/114.16 def. Jake Fronda(11.88) 11.7314/111.80
- Super Gas : Stuart Morrice 9.9127/150.56 def. Dave Fulton 9.9064/143.01
- Outlaw Anglia : Ben Kennedy 8.8174/154.76 def. Colin Miller 7.9848/160.16
- Wild Bunch : No Contest (All competitors broke)
- Junior Dragster : Luke Mugridge (8.01) 8.1005/76.81 def. Ted Sullivan(8.33) 8.4904/75.26
- ET Bike : Scott Collier (9.60) 9.7365/120.19 def. Phil Pratt (8.92) 8.9723/147.59
- 8.50 Bike : Craig Wright 8.5945/161.35 def. Carl Thomas 8.4963/164.26
- 9.50 Bike : Dave Hall 9.5518/129.41 def. Joshua McClean 9.9081/138.21
- Super Street Bike : Jake Mechaell 6.8398/212.87 def. Alan Morrison Jnr 7.0875/160.81
- Comp Bike : Jasmine Cordelle 7.4829/171.75 def. Michael Piggott 7.8355/181.42
- Funny Bike : David Peters 7.2031/177.80 def. Thomas Josvog
- Top Fuel Bike : Steve Woollatt 6.2520/203.31 def. Phil Crossley 8.5410/98.84
- Junior Drag Bike : Declan Butt (13.95) 14.1271/48.25 def. Maggie Smallman (9.73) 9.9115/23
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The meeting was held in Sunny and Hot conditions Saturday and Sunday overcast with sunny spells, the track superbly prepared by the SPRC marshals.
Congratulations to Ronnie Mercer who won the Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award of £50 supported by Cath and Tig Napier with 0.0003 RT and to Hayden Mechaell who won the Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award of £50 supported by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield with 9.5006 on 9.50 dial in.
Bob's Photo Finish Award by sponsor and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts for the closest finish of a green light and non-break out race, winners will be announced once the data has been received and verified.
Thanks to the Santa Pod Timing Crew for sending us detailed timing data, including test day results, which when received we will post to our timing data area which you can see by clicking on Data, then Timing Data at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. Official results can be seen at Santa Pod's Official Results Site.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Summer Nationals reports, results and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the Events link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. We should repeat our new policy that the watermarked photos from our galleries can be downloaded and may be used in social media posts but please do not crop or modify them, in particular, we need the watermark retained. Social media sharing may be done on mobile devices from the new site.
Please join us in thanking Graham Watkinson, Julian Hunt and Diana MacRae for their hard work over the race weekend providing their amazing reporting and pictures.
We look forward to receiving racers reports from the weekend, please email us at [email protected].
Many thanks to Julian and Diana for covering the final day at the Summer Nationals, Santa Pod Raceway, you can see all the pictures at this link, supported by John Woolfe Racing.
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Markus Münch from DRU (Drag Racing Union) and Dragmag.de has released this update on DRU Pro and Supro ET Challenge Standings. Markus writes:
Pro ET: At Clastres #24, Rene Schindler is in the final against Gerd Habermann. Habermann wins. This puts Rene Schindler in second place in the DRU Pro ET Challenge with 166 points. Ronnie Mercer from England continues to lead with 177 points. Niek De Kruif from the Netherlands, Rene Siefert, Thomas Bublitz and Janine Petzold follow closely behind in terms of points.
Supro ET: At Clastres #24 Alain Dürr is in the final against young gun Lucas Potthoff. The Swiss/Basel located Dürr loses to the young man from Iserlohn Germany. But Alain Dürr collects enough points to move to third place in the DRU Supro ET Challenge. Oliver Petzold from Gera Germany (Team Schumann Motorsport) is busy collecting points and leads the gang with 221 points, ahead of Michael Mikuscheit (219 points) and Alain Dürr with 204 points. Franz Aschenbrenner, Lee Huxley and Christian Schneebeli follow.
There are plenty of opportunitys to collect further points. The NitrolympX, the Hillsrace in Rivanazzano and a few races in Santapod are still on the agenda for various participants. If you are interessted in participating next season, just get in touch with us.
A special Tour will happen during the next two month. The Teams of Thomas Bublitz, Jens Könnecke, Ronnie and Annie Mercer, Billy Gane (in the 7.6 Sec heads up class) „Mr Fraudster“ Jenkins will go on a summer Tour to Mantorp, Gardemoen, Tierp and Hockenheimn to have a blast. And they can collect points for the DRU Challenges as well. That‘s a great thing to happen. Travel, race, make new friends, meet old friends, Dragracing is so much more then just racing.
We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all our sponsors who are supporting us this year. Their support is the winners and runner ups prize money.
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Happy Birthday for today to Super Pro ET/Sportsman racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters, Competition Eliminator racer Rob Smallworth, German photojournalist David Beitle, racer husband and muffler supplier Mike Smith, crew member Ricky Emms and ET Bike racer Dave Grundy. We hope you have a great day.