Meguiar's Drag Festival at Mantorp Park takes place this weekend 25th-28th July. 

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.

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.

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.

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/

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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 13^th 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.

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 22^nd 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks to Christian Charger from The Engine Ghost Team for cotacting Eurodragster.com to announce this update, Christian writes:

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.

Thanks for Remco Scheelings from Drag Racing Europe for sending in this news report on Kim Kristiansen.

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.

Claire Meaddows updates The Wild Bunch website, Claire writes: Here are the results from the amazing 13^th Annual ‘Dragstalgia’ event at Santa Pod last weekend, 5^th - 7^th 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!!

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!!

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

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!

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! 

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

‘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!

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! 

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..

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!

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.

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.

Thanks for Martyn Hannis for sending in this racer report from Dragstalgia at Santa Pod, Martyn writes:

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.

Congratulations to the winners at Dragstalgia held at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend:

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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 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.

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!

The 2024 Street Week first day of competition is at Mantorp Park. SHRA Mantorp, this Sunday 7th July.

Thanks to Jon Crawford for sending Eurodragster.com his report from last weekend at Santa Pod Raceway for the Summer Nationals: Jon writes:

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 21^st 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.

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 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:

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.

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.