If you’re a fan of British drag racing, you probably recognise Stockers in the UK Nostalgia Superstock class, known for their roaring V8 muscle cars, doing wheel stands and edge-of-your-seat handicap racing. But before UKNSS came American Super Stock, whose inspiration came from the hey-day of drag racing’s Stock classes such as Junior Stock and Super Stock.

In this article, Nïamh takes a little look into Super Stock’s history as a class with everything from the ‘family sedan’ to full blown race cars and everything in between.

You can read Lock, Superstock and Barrel at this link or by clicking on News and then Features in the main menu.

Flamholc goes radial.
12th March: Expat Swedish drag racer Adam Flamholc has posted that he has sold both his doorslammer cars, and bought a radial tyre Mustang from X275 racer John Keesey.

Adam says "It was a tough decision for me to sell my blown alcohol cars, especially the Corvette, which I've raced for 8-9 years in almost every drag racing organization here in US.

"But with my work, tuning cars, building engines, spending time in Europe and Russia, it's just not possible to spend the time and money to do it right anymore. In a "normal” year, I head over to Europe end of April and come back Stateside by the end of September, and it's just not worth it to have a turnkey car sitting here for a couple of events in Bradenton Motorsports Park and maybe one or two more. And the cost of driving to NMCA, PDRA, Midwest etc events is crazy now, and I have to be gone for a week at a time.

"I'm not gonna quit racing! I have a plan, and I think its a good one! I'm gonna go radial racing! Theres a bunch of races wintertime at the Ducks races in South Georgia as well as in Orlando and Bradenton, all within 5 hours from my shop!

"I will still tune and build engines for Alcohol teams, but I'm gonna run a turbo setup, starting at Sweet 16 in 2 weeks. The car is being put together as we speak, and hopefully it’ll be done in time! This wouldn't have happened this fast without the help from John Keesey that I bought the car from (pictured right). I'm excited and ready to learn something new."

As for racing in Russia, where he helps FIA Pro Modified competitor Dmitry Samorukov, Adam hopes that peace can be achieved as soon as possible. "I know some people from Ukraine, that we are racing with in the Russian dragracing series...Any issues, whatever it is should be solved way before it comes down to killing each other. I really hope they can end this and come to some kind of an agreement."

You can read an article about Adam and his racing plans at Race Pages Digital. We can only echo Adam's thoughts and wish him best of luck in what looks to be another exciting season for him.

Swift snippets.
12th March: Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway fire crew member Angie Daly, to Super Pro ET racer Mark Turner, and to VW Pro racer Bruce Kopasz. We hope you all have a fantastic day.

For those hoping to see notes on Europeans at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Florida we were disappointed to hear that, due to torrential rain, the first two days of the event were cancelled without a wheel turning on the track. However the weather looks better today, if a little on the chilly side and we hope to have some notes to give you tomorrow. Good luck and stay safe to Stefan Ernryd (Pro Stock), Julie Nataas (Top Alcohol Dragster) and Ulf Leanders (Top Alcohol Funny Car). You can see the Gatornationals live streamed at nhra.tv (subscription required). Results will be posted at www.dragracecentral.com with live timing and results at www.nhra.com.

Drag racing scrutineers' training to align with return of FIA.
11th March: On the occasion of this year’s return of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, the FIA and Sweden’s National Sporting Authority, Svenska Bilsport, are set to host the inaugural training for drag racing scrutineers, writes FIA Technical Consultant Frans Steilberg.

FIA EDRC returning this season for the first time since 2019, in order to bolster positive developments around drag racing, the FIA Drag Racing Commission and Svenska Bilsport are planning a technical seminar for drag racing scrutineers with the aim of hosting the event on the first weekend of May.

Partly funded through the FIA Sports Grant Programme, the event will welcome technical scrutineers from Sweden, Germany, Finland and the UK, and is set to take place at Tierp Arena, known as the long-time host of the country’s FIA EDRC rounds.

“The last couple of years have been particularly challenging for the discipline of drag racing, however, there have been many positive developments behind the scenes, with this training being one of them,” said Lars Pettersson, FIA Drag Racing Commission President.

“Given the nature of the FIA EDRC, accommodating five different classes, each for cars technically vastly different in terms of performance and safety, the scrutineers face a very complex challenge. It is therefore important that they follow the same protocols and use the same technical language regardless of the country. The training will allow us to go through all the procedures and exchange best practices.”

“This is an important step in the process of professionalisation of drag racing. The aim is to have similar initiatives held on a regular basis,” Pettersson concluded.

“For us in Sweden, it is with pride that we can host the FIA grant project to raise the quality and knowledge of the technicians working within FIA EDRC”, said Helena Rapp the Chairman of the Svenska Bilsport Drag Racing Committee.

The exact date and further details of the training will be revealed in due course. For more information contact Luca Midali from the FIA Sport and Touring Cars Department: [email protected].

Stu inducted into IDRHoF.
11th March: With thanks to Tony Thacker for the photo and streaming produced by Masters Entertainment and presented by Competition Plus TV, we were able to see the induction of Stu Bradbury into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

The ceremony which took place at the at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center, Gainesville Florida, was introduced by NHRA announcer and WFO podcaster Joe Castello, with Don 'Big Daddy' Garlits giving a filmed profile of each inductee. The citation for Stu was read out by British Drag Racing Hall of fame director Robin Jackson and the trophy presented by Ron Hope to Stu's widow Bev Bradbury.

Robin said "To date just four individuals have been honoured with membership of both British and International Drag Racing Halls of Fame. Sydney Allard, known as the father of British Drag Racing, who worked with Wally Parks to bring some of America's leading stars to race in England in 1964 and 1965; Carl Olson, founding president of the FIA Drag Racing Commission; Don Garlits, the biggest star on that tour to England in 1964 who I believe has enjoyed further success in drag racing since then; Dennis Priddle, British Top Fuel and Funny Car pioneer of the 1970s and 1980s. Now there is a fifth: Stuart Bradbury.

"Stu to everyone who knew and loved him, served as chief starter at Santa Pod Raceway from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, was involved in another track for a short while after that and in 2005 became the founding chairman of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, a role he maintained until his death in 2020 following an intense, brave ten year battle with cancer.

"In that time, and never letting his illness distract him, he played genial host to many legendary American figures, who joined us at our annual Hall of Fame banquets to help us celebrate our British version of the sport. Big Daddy was the first, Waterbed Fred, Dale Emery, Bruce Larson, Bob Muravez and Floyd Lippencotte Jnr (now there's a conincidence). Don Schumacher, Connie Kalitta, Ed 'The Ace', Steve Gibbs, Isky, Eileen Daniels, Harry Hibler, Roland Leong, Marvin Graham, Dan Richins, Clay Millican, Doug Herbert, Tom Hoover, Rich Guasco, Gentleman Joe Schubeck are just some of those who followed.

"Stu became a drag racing nut by accident. One day in the mid 60s he went along to play drums in beat combo booked to liven up a garden fete in the grounds of an English stately home. There he came across a small band of car enthusiasts showing off their American style hot rods, a quite un-British sight at such a time and in such surroundings. Intrigued, he chatted with the group, an innocent first step into a realm which would come to dominate the rest of his life.

From that contact Stu was introduced to the business group working to transform an airfield, located by pure chance just ten miles from his home town, to Europe's first permanent drag strip. Santa Pod Raceway opened in 1966 and young Stu was handed the job of crowd controller, then in 1967 deputy starter, then in 1968 chief starter.

"Over the next 20 years he started anyone and everyone who came to race at the track, from occasional weekend warriors to stars of the sport from both sides of the Atlantic, and sometimes beyond. When Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy brought the first full tilt American funny cars to Santa Pod in 1973 it was Stu's startline from which they launched. Whem Big Daddy packed the place out in 1976 and 1977 it was Stu who flicked the switch. Beadle, Snake, Hoover, Segrini, Harlan Thompson, Darryl Gwynn all took the green light from him. He once shut off Tony Nancy and stood his ground when the furious Nancy burst out of the cockpit to debate the matter. On an NHRA visit one year, he manned the startline alongside Buster Couch, an experience he was pround to remember. The drag racing connection also came into play in Stu's day job; he spent most of his working life as a sales specialist for two leading importers of American car parts into Britain; first John Woolfe Racing then US Automotive.

"To walk the pits with Stu in later years was an excercise in slow-motion standing around, because everyone who saw him wanted to stop and talk about old times, new times. So many people, so many conversations. 'Who was that' you'd ask. 'I've no idea', he would often say. 'Face rang a bell, but I really can't remember.' But they all remembered him. Stu was inducted into his own British Hall of Fame in 2017 by an act of subterfuge contravening the iron clad rule he had imposed banning anyone involved in management being eligible for membership. The directors, members and international ambassadors secretly decided to change the rule in this single, so-deserving case. And we sprang it on him one afternoon in the middle of a race. I announced the presentation myself: 'Stuart Bradbury, whether you like it or not, you are now a member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.' First, shock and surprise. Then Stu accepted it with good grace. But I don't think he was ever truly convinced that he merited it. But if he'd ever imagined that one day he'd be inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, he would have been thrilled, tickled pink, well chuffed, properly made up as we sometimes say.

It's so sad that Stu can't be here to partake of the moment himself, but if he's looking down now, he'll be pleased to see his wife Bev, daughter Jenna, and Jenna's fiance James, make their way up to the stage to accept his membership.

Making the presentation was a great friend of Stu's, of the BDRHoF and of the British drag racing scene, Mr Rat Trap, Ron Hope. Ron said "I first met Stu in 2002 while he was at US Automotive, he had left Santa Pod by that time, and was working there supplying parts for vintage American cars. We struck up a friendship which lasted for many years. He was a great historian on the British drag racing scene and did a fantastic job of bringing together the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. I was honoured a few years ago with being named an international ambassador for the BDRHoF and was pleased with that.

I was invited to the first BDRHoF gala at the Saville Court Hotel many years ago and have attended every one of their Hall of Fame dinners ever since. There are many experiences and thoughts I could offer regarding Stuart Bradbury but in the interests of time I must defer to the presentation for which we are gathered tonight. As with all great men, they are supported by equally great women. To accept his nomination and award for the IDRHoF is his lovely wife Bev.

Bev said "To say that we are overwhelmed to be here to accept this award for Stu is an understatement. We were completely bowled over when informed by, yours truly, Big Daddy that Stu was going to be inducted into your hall of fame which is a great accolade and thank you so much. We are just so sad that he is not here to accept it. He would have been so very proud and honoured. Stu forged a great relationship between our Hall of Fame and yours, when inducting Big Daddy into ours in 2014. and we have very fond memories of you coming to the UK to attend our induction gala in 2014 and also when you came over for Goodwood in 2015.

Stu, Jenna and I also had the pleasure of coming over to Florida in March 2015 to attend your gala presentations and go to the Gatornationals. It was an amazing trip and great memories. I really don't know what else to say in fear of my emotions running away but thankyou, thankyou, thankyou from the bottom of our hearts and also from all of his friends and associates in the UK.

You can see the whole International Drag Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremony at this link.

Pioneer stories: Geoff Jago - Part 2.
11th March: The latest episode in our Pioneer stories today features British Hot Rodding pioneer Geoff Jago. (picture: Geoff's first Model T in the pits at Santa Pod Raceway where it raced in the Street Altered category - Ken Robbins photo).

Geoff designed and built a mould for a Ford Model T body, building a hot rod that he displayed at the 1965 Blackbushe Drag Fest, but it did not run. Advertising in Drag Racing & Hot Rod Magazine, national newspaper coverage and display at the International Racing Car Show helped spread the word. Geoff also got his first hot rod registered for road use. Within years he had sold hundreds of T buckets, many of which became used for drag racing, and Geoff became a full time hot rod builder.

Part 2 of Geoff Jago's story is at this link, including photos of many British altereds using Geoff's fibreglass bodies. You can see our list of Pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Eurodragster.com thanks Geoff for providing his story and John Hunt and Nick Pettitt for help with editing and proof reading the feature and making archive images available, and Clive Rooms for providing further information.

Swift snippets.
11th March: Super Pro ET racer Ash Bell wishes his son AC Bell a Happy 17th Birthday, and reveals that AC has entered Pro ET in his new Dodge, named “Teenage Dream” (pictured left) in the Festival of Power in April; "We would like to wish him all the best from the crew", Ash says, which we echo and look forward to seeing you both at the track. Also a big Happy Birthday to Wild Bunch co-ordinator Claire Meaddows, and Pure Hell fuel altered owner and tuner Rich Guasco, have a great day Claire and Rich!

Tomorrow is the Malta Drag Racing Association Run What Ya Brung at Hal Far Raceway, an event being visited by European FWD admin Luke Stevenson. The MDRA announced a FWD competition will be held during the RWYB, and thanks to Andre Bugeja a cup will be presented to the Open FWD Winner, sponsored By Haltech. The cup will be open to all FWD cars taking part in tomorrow's RWYB. Drivers who are there and who are interested in participating will be invited to take part in the event, and a knockout race will be held with an elimination system. Racing will take place at Hal Far from 10am to 7pm or as far as conditions will allow. Watch out for Youtube videos from MDRA secretary Konrad D'Anastasi which will be posted soon afterwards.

For those in the UK in need of race reporting from the Bakersfield March Meet, Tony Thacker has posted his thoughts on this year's event at his Torq Talk blog. It's well worth a read with some great photos.

Tonight: Stu's induction streamed live.
10th March: Thanks to Geoff Stilwell for sending us the link to the ceremony for the streaming video of the 32nd International Drag Racing Hall of Fame tonight at which British Drag Racing Hall of Fame founder and chair the late Stuart Bradbury will be inducted. The event will be held at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center, Gainesville Florida.

The Youtube link to go to is here, the streaming produced by Masters Entertainment and presented by Competition Plus TV, to whom we are grateful.

Drag racing legends Scotty Cannon, Tim Richards, Rick Stewart, Jack Ewell, Jack Moss, and Stu Bradbury all receive their induction tonight. The stream will commence at 00:40am GMT and will be able to be viewed after the event.

Artist and automotive cartoonist Thomas Estrada has completed artwork including images of the 2022 inductees which you can see above that will be donated and auctioned at the IDRHoF Ceremony.

SFI UK inspections: prices and payment.
10th March: Many thanks to Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson for confirming the prices and payment method for SFI inspections to be carried out at Santa Pod Raceway on Monday 21st March which we reported on February 24th. Prices, which are unchanged from 2021, are:

SFI 1.1-1.5 Clutch Assemblies - £40
SFI 4.1 Automatic Transmission Shields (rigid type) - £20
SFI 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 Bellhousings - £40
SFI 14.4 Valve Cover Shields - £10
SFI 15.3, 15.4 Wheels - £10 each
SFI 29.1, 29.2, 29.3 Flexplates - £10
SFI 30.1 Flexplate Shields - £20
SFI 61.1 Turbocharger - £40

The sole payment method is cash.

Swift snippets.
10th March: Happy Birthday to two Americans who have an association with British drag racing: former Freight Train AA/GD driver and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame International Ambassador Bob Muravez aka Floyd Lippencote Jnr, and owner of Premium Motorsports Products and Top Fuel guru Mike Domagala both celebrate today. Have a great day fellas.

British tin at Bakersfield.
9th March: Those who attended the Bakersfield March Meet at Famoso Dragstrip would have noticed a number of British vehicles making runs, adding diversity to the array of cars that made the journey to the historic race track.

Police officer Tom Gibby competes in the C/Gas (9.60 index) and Super Gas with his 300e Ford Thames "Paddy Wagon" (photo: Herb Andrews). Tom has also run in a "Top Cop Challenge" at the Irwindale Speedway, to have some fun, but also raise awareness about the dangers of illegal street racing., which he has been doing for over 20 years.

A car that has competed at Famoso Dragstrip for over a decade is the wild Nash Metropolitan of Bryan Thatcher. Notable for its blown 502ci BBC 'hunting' on idle and the car "jumping like a playful puppy" when the throttle is rapped. The 1950s classic was designed by Nash motors in Wisconsin, built in the UK by Austin, then imported into the US. Bryan has not only squeezed the bodywork over a full tube chassis with its big engine but applied a paint job which is true to the design of the original car, but with wild flames adorning it as well. Bryan runs the car in the 7.60 index A/Gas class.

Sam Beatty has an even rarer Triumph Mayflower of Sam Beatty (photo: Herb Andrews). This car was built between 1949 and 1953 of which only a handful of the 35,000 built were imported into the US. Designed as an upmarket small car, one description of it was "Honey, I shrunk the Rolls". A few years ago, Sam took his example and keeping it as stock looking as possible, fitted a Ford Windsor 351 stroked to 427ci. He mainly uses it on the street but takes it to nostalgia meetings such as the March Meet (where he ran it in the Hot Rod category), and the Barona Dragstrip 1/8 ,mile Antique Drags, held in an Indian reservation.

These classic vehicles, apart from the Nostalgia Funny Cars, AA/Fuel Dragsters and Fuel Altereds are a reason why Famoso Dragstrip should be on everyone's bucket list.

Straightliners headed towards SPR.
9th March: This Sunday, 13th March will be a dedicated Straightliners Test & Tune day at Santa Pod Raceway, following a run what ya brung on Saturday alongside other vehicles.

Entries are available at the Strightliners website or on the day for £50. Riders are requested to go to the caravan near the grandstand from Saturday afternoon for signing on; your numbers and wristband will be handed out before scrutineering.

Riders are also asked to complete a Test Day Entry Form online, which will greatly help the signing on process.

As well as a good number of Straightliners machines there will be some Naional Championship riders making test passes. Craig Wright will be running his 8.50 Bike in its new Callum Pudge-designed livery for the first time (picture above), and Super Street Bike racers-in-waiting Dan De'ath and Jonathan Hines will be getting to grips with their new machines as well as ET Bike racer Leo Lester.

Unusual car sales' drag cars aplenty.
9th March: Many thanks to Nigel Taylor for giving us an update on his Unusual Car Sales UK Facebook group which is growing rapidly and currently has several drag cars for sale:

Unusual car sales U.K. Facebook group has now been going for just over 2 1/2 years and now has over 30,000 members. We would like to say a massive thankyou to everyone who has got involved, we have managed to help out many drag racers, hot Rodders, enthusiasts through the custom/American/ Hot Rod scene and it’s going from strength to strength.



We now have an extensive events list, contact numbers list, parts and projects page as well as the normal sales etc. Williams Bros Racing and Gliptone Europe Ltd are big supporters of the group. Tim Moore vehicle Transportation , Hydrahose, Old Bones Fabrications, Altered Tees Apparel and many more also back what we do.

We will promote any groups, pages etc that support the scene like Eurodragster, Custom Car Magazine, Santa Pod Raceway, NSRA and are always open to new ideas to keep the page interesting and knowledgeable.

Head over to the Unusual car sales U.K. facebook page and treat yourself to a new toy , drag car, race car or just for a browse as there maybe someone you know we can help out. Thankyou.

Pictured: Dave Gadney's Brogie Roadster, ref 17439 in our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet, Andy Frost's Red Victor 3 (ref 17437), Thomas Cook Abbot's Junior Dragster (ref 17444), Michael Pusey's Camaro (ref 17443), Ian Dawes' newly built A40 Austin 283ci gasser all steel for £19500, Funny Car (ex Mark Hawkins, ex Doug Ripley) complete car minus engine/trans, 125in Chromoly chassis with Strange rear axle £10k ono, Frankie Fordham Junior Dragster with engine, reduced to £3500 incl trailer.

Swift snippets.
9th March: Happy Birthday for today to Outlaw Anglia racer and constructor Ben Rushforth, VW Pro racer Russ Fellows, and Gasser Circus racer Ken Brookes. Also belated birthday greetings to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and former Top Fuel racer Roz Prior. We hope you all had or are having a great day!

Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted more historical video footage of UK events, this time the 1991 Santa Pod Main Event, 1992 Santa Pod Main Event, and 1992 Santa Pod Cannonball, all produced for the Anglia TV Wheels programme. Tremendous nostalgia, all commentated upon by British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member John Price.

Festival of Power entry list.
8th March: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us the link for version 2 of the entry list for the Festival of Power being held at Santa Pod Raceway 15th-17th April.

The entry list which can be seen at this link is filling up nicely with 61 entrants, still five weeks before the event. Entry at normal fees will close on 25th March and a surcharge will apply after this date so don't delay getting your entries in.

Feature: Grace Roaf joins Shockwave Racing, by Andy Willsheer.
8th March: Clutch girl for Shockwave Racing Grace Roaf is the subject of our latest feature sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, written and photographed by Andy Willsheer.

Grace has had many roles in the sport since becoming interested at the age of 10, when her dad Colin Roaf started taking her to the races. After some photography experience for Eurodragster.com, she quickly became closely involved as a crew member for Heaven & Hell Racing in Pro ET and Stock/Super Stock. She then studied mechanical manufacturing engineering as the only female on the course and subsequently joined G&A Fabrications in Walton-On-Thames, making custom parts for exotic road and racing cars.

An offer to help on the clutch of the Undertaker Funny Car driven by Steve Ashdown developed to Grace joining the Shockwave Racing team for the 2020 season, and she is now looking forward to the 2022 Championship.

You can read about Grace's drag racing career at this link or by clicking on News and then Features in the main menu.




Spy picture.
8th March: We received this spy picture from France with the message "For those who wonder what happened to this car (well,the rolling chassis), here it is! New owner,new disguise!"

If you know more, or have a spy picture of your own to send, please contact us at [email protected].




Betts to go on salt.
8th March: Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts has struck a deal which will enable him to race at Bonneville Speedway for the first time in the August Speedweek. Yesterday, Tony visited Land Speed Racer Fred Blanchard for a fitting in his Adrenaline Rush Lakester, which is capable of 300mph.

Fred Blanchard has owned and run the Adrenaline Rush Lakester with Brian Bacik and Ben York since 2008, and it has raced in the B/BGL class meaning it is supercharged and runs on gasoline. Tony will soon be getting familiar with the on board water tanks, driver cool suit, dry sump system, safety equipment and controls. Tony commented "Big thanks to Fred Blanchard, Andy and Ben for showing us around the lakester today. Now what does the future hold?" You can see and hear more from Fred Blanchard on his Youtube channel.

Tony would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in sponsoring his Land Speed bid and you can get in touch with him using Facebook messenger or via e-mail.

Swift snippets.
8th March: Happy Birthday to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame chair Lesley Wright who will be celebrating by attending Stuart Bradbury's induction to the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame on Thursday which you will be able to see via live streaming (links to be published). Also celebrating today are Projoint Fabrications boss and former Pro Stock Bike racer Jerry Collier, Street Eliminator racer Joe Stevens and Comp Bike racer Jordan Kenway, a very Happy Birthday to all of you.

Pioneer stories: John Wright - Part 1.
7th March: The latest episode in our Pioneer stories today features British drag racing pioneer John Wright who was part of the sport in the 1960s (picture: John and his wife with a 5 ton Caterpillar-engined car he built).

John Wright, brought up in a farming family, was encouraged by his father to become mechanically minded from an early age and became a collector of vehicles as space on the farm allowed for storage of many diverse and sometimes extremely rare cars, which John was able to practise his modifying skills on. Later, he sold a Rolls Royce which became the basis of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He also got a flavour for American cars and hot rodding which would prove invaluable when he discovered drag racing.

John Hunt commented: "Chris and I interviewed John and what an interesting guy. Special thanks to Chris for all his work with John to sort out his story and Nick Pettitt for most of the editing and Simon for finishing off the story by placing the photographs which was the hardest part for Chris and Nick once we had got all the text sorted, great job guys." (You're welcome - editor).

Part 1 of John Wright's story is at this link. You can see our list of Pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Eurodragster.com thanks John for providing his story and John Hunt and Nick Pettitt for help with editing and proof reading the feature and making archive images available, and Clive Rooms for providing further information.

John Wright has some parts for sale which you can see at this Facebook listing.

RAD Mr Six colouring comp winner.
7th March: Thanks to Darren West of Power Race Graphics for writing with news of his latest colouring competition:

Excited to announce we have a winner for our RAD Design lines win the 'Mr Six' book colouring competition! The competition ran thoughout the month of February and was open to entries from all ages, with no restriction on use of media. All entries were judged by author of the 'Mr Six' book Keith Lee and ace drag car painter Jeff Glasser, who squabbled over the entries and picked their winner, who we are delighted to announce is Phil Brown.

A copy of Keith Lee's fabulous book - 'Mr Six' The Story of Drag Racing Legend Dennis Priddle will be heading Phil's way!

Keith commented: “It was a pleasure to see all the entries submitted. The Avenger funny car was special to Dennis Priddle - and also to Jeff, who produced the standout paint schemes. I actually deferred to Jeff in the selection, as this body was so personal to him - but must say that I was in full agreement with his favourite design entry. Darren West was so helpful with the design of the Mr Six book cover, that it was nice to be involved in a small way in his aim to stimulate creativity and interest in race car graphics though his colouring books.”

We had some fantastic entries, a huge thanks to all the super star artists - we loved them all!

The competition has been a lot of fun, I would like to thank Keith and Jeff for being great sports judging the entries and a big thanks to Keith for the idea and donating the great prize!

The mission continues to inspire creativity amongst the drags mad kids - lookout for more news and a new colouring product coming very soon from RAD Design Lines!

Swift snippets.
7th March: A very Happy Birthday to honorary Eurodragster.com member and Competition Eliminator/Nostalgia Superstock racer Spencer Tramm, have a great day Spencer! We also send Happy Birthday wishes to crew chief and tuner extraordinaire Karl Harrison, Danish Super Street Bike racer Mogens Lund, Supercharged Outlaws racer Nigel Rigden and Outlaw Anglia racer Pete Ashworth. Have a great day all.

Dakota Raceway March date coming up.
6th March: In two weekends' time on Saturday 19th March, Dakota Raceway will be opening its doors for the first time in 2022 for a drag and drift day, writes Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child. To register for the event you will need to go to straightliners.events and click on Events, then Drag and Drift Events, where you will find a Drag & Drift Entry Form. All competitors, cars and bikes, should complete this form; you can also buy entry tickets by clicking on Drag and Drift Events.

The event will include 1/4 mile run what you brung, an 1/8 heads up drag race cash day, drifting and clubstands. Spectators will be welcome for £10 on the gate, and track action will take place from 9am to 4pm.

For racers, pre entry will save you money. For instance, if you pre-enter the 1/4 mile run what ya brung, which includes an admission ticket for £60 compared to £70 on the day.

If you want to take part in the 1/8 mile heads up drag race cash day for cars, which includes unlimited run what you brung, pre-entry including driver entry and one admission pre entry will cost £105 compared to £115 on the day.

It will be a a great day out for any petrolhead, and all vehicles are welcome. In the 1/4 mile drag strip run what ya brung, you can grudge race your friends and carry a passenger down the track. The exciting 1/8 mile drag race for cash competition will be run Street Outlaw-style.

Drag racers will have the chance to win £400 per category, first across the line wins in a no time 1/8 mile drag race. Each sixteen car category has a £400 winner takes all prize fund; in the event if numbers in each category are not for filled there will be a reduced prize fund for example 8 car category £200 prize fund and 4 car category £150 prize fund. In event of the category exceeding 16 cars the prize will go up from £400.

Lee says Dakota Raceway are looking for sponsors to increase the prize funds so be aware things are subject to change. All categories will have the 16 car pairings decided from a out the hat selection until the final two race for the money. Details of entry fee and classes are:

Entry fee: Driver entry is £105 . If you get eliminated from the 1/8 mile no time drag race , you then can do timed 1/4 mile test runs at no extra charge. Passengers have an additional charge of £10.

The categories are:

Pro AWD: Modified, competition tyres , interior removed.
Street AWD: Factory appearance, full interior.
Pro Small Tyre Rear Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres maximum height 30 inches maximum tread width 11 inches, interior removed.
Pro Rear Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres , interior removed.
Street Rear Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior.
Pro Front Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres , interior removed.
Street Front Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior.

Street Rear Wheek Drive entrant Pete Lane, 2021 Dakota Raceway champion and owner of the Grass Deed Store, a DEFRA registered supplier of bulk grass seed mixtures, has kindly sponsored trophies for all winners and runner ups, in all 1/8 mile heads up drag race cash day categories. Jerry Cookson has been confirmed as announcer for the event, his voice being heard at many other drag and sprint tracks around the country. Confirmed entries in the popular Street AWD category include the Tesla of Mark Swanborough who has previously competed in FWD, and the Lichfield GTR of Simon Cooksey.

Entry is now open, click on straightliners.events.

Dial-in Day suffers rain.
6th March: Despite a fantastic entry, the 2022 Santa Pod Raceway Dial-in Day competition was rained off after only two qualifiers got sent down the track. Thanks to Kirstie who sent in these photos of the driver briefing and demonstration of the timing beams by chief starter Ian Marshall. Other seasonsed racers who were there to impart their knowledge included Sportsman ET sponsor and Super Gas racer Andy Dibley and 8.50 Bike sponsor and Super Street Bike racer Jake Mechaell.


Kirstie commented: "Although only two qualifying runs were managed, SPR are hoping to continue the competition during a RWYB in the near future; today looked like a sell-out with the whole classroom full with car or bike competitors. Jake Mechaell was overseeing the three bikes who showed. There was a whole range of new talent from drag racer family members to people who have never been to Santa Pod at all. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves regardless of the weather!"

Swift snippets.
6th March: Although the weather affected the Famoso DragstripMarch Meet with conditions likened by some attending to winter at Santa Pod Raceway, there were still some great cars there, and great runs. You can catch up with all the detail at Competition Plus and see a playlist of videos by Jake Simmons for Competition Plus at its Youtube channel. Watch out soon for a look at some of the English tin racing there, thanks to Herb Andrews for making contact with them.

At the Baby Gators, well done to Julie Nataas who was runner up in Top Alcohol Dragster scoring a runner-up to Will Smith, running three consecutive 5.2s passes in eliminations at speeds of up to 276mph. The result makes Julie NHRA National points leader in the Top Alcohol Dragster class after three events. Full results are available at www.dragracecentral.com.

Dutchies are returning...
5th March: Thanks to Super Street Bike racer Margot Schmidt who has written to confirm she will be racing at Santa Pod Raceway in 2022:

"The Dutchies are returning to Santa Pod! Margot and Stefan Schmidt from Schmidt Performance Dragracing will returning to Santa Pod this season for 6 events if all goes well. After almost 2 years and 8 months without Santa Pod it feels awesome to go back to our second home.

In the last two years we only have been to Clastres in France for one event, and last year we went to Kunmadaras Hungary for one event. We were very happy to be able to ride the bike at these events to keep the feeling a little bit. In the meantime we were watching the livestream for two years and saw our fellow Super Street Bike friends go faster and faster.

Last winter we decided to give the Busa some serious upgrades, so we can try to keep up with them. We've also had to deal with the Brexit rules and documents, but that’s now all been taken care of. Our first event will be the Festival of Power. So let’s hope for some great Easter weather and a great race weekend! Oh and… the bike will have a complete new look.

Thanks to our sponsors, and supporters: Vanson Leathers, Orient Express Racing, APE Raceparts, Ad van Gils Motors, Plasma Service b.v, Radical Racegear, Motorhuis Seppe, Dolfo Racing, Quist Racing.

Updates from Baby Gators.
5th March: Good luck and stay safe to the Europeans and expat Europeans who will be competing at the Baby Gators, the NHRA Division 2 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series regional race being held this weekend at Gainesville Raceway.

In Stock Eliminator, class eliminations took place yesterday and well done to Dan Williams for going two rounds in the A/S class, eventually losing out in the final to Joe Martens with a 0.002 red light. Dan's final qualifying position is #21 with his -1.015 against index 9.935 from Thursday. Footage of Dan's first run on Thursday has been posted to Youtube by the Class Racer channel.

In Top Alcohol Dragster, Julie Nataas qualified fourth in the eight car field (total entry was 16 cars) with a 5.263/277.49. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Ulf Leanders (photo credit: Charlie Carroll) qualified second out of six with a 5.555/256.31. Eliminations will take place today.

You can see the Baby Gators live streamed at nhra.tv (free, registration required). Results will be posted at www.dragracecentral.com with live timing and results at www.nhra.com.

Swift snippets.
5th March: Happy Birthday to Super Street Bike racer-in-waiting Jonathan Hines, have a great day Jonathan!

Pioneer stories: Geoff Jago - Part 1.
4th March: The latest episode in our Pioneer stories today features British Hot Rodding pioneer Geoff Jago. (picture: Geoff's first hot rod, Jago One - Bob Rothwell photo).

Geoff Jago left school at 15 and, after a year in the Portsmouth docks, gained an apprenticeship at a local garage in Portchester. During his nine years there he got interested in American cars and hot rods, starting by customising his dad's Ford Consul Mk1. After leaving the garage he set up his own business doing car repairs and bodywork. Getting into hot rodding, he was the first importer of metalflake and created his first custom, Jago One, from a Ford Thames van which won a prize at the UK's first custom car show organised by the British Hot Rod Association. Although his early customs were on British cars, his introduction to fibreglass got him thinking about Ford Model Ts...

Part 1 of Geoff Jago's story is at this link. You can see our list of Pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Eurodragster.com thanks Geoff for providing his story and John Hunt and Nick Pettitt for help with editing and proof reading the feature and making archive images available, and Clive Rooms for providing further information.

Editor's note: Geoff is keen to acquire two copies of Hot Rod Magazine, January 1957 and July 1957, which were an inspiration to him when he originally had them. If you have them and would like to do a deal with him, please contact us at [email protected].

What's on at Santa Pod.
4th March: Santa Pod Raceway will be off to a flying start in 2022 with three car shows that are sure to get every petrolhead’s heart racing. The trio is headlined by The Fast Show on April 3rd, one of the crown jewels of the car show calendar and a must-attend for any car enthusiast. Joining The Fast Show will be two brand new events to Santa Pod Raceway, starting with Le French Fest on March 27th and followed by Best of British on April 23rd.

Giving the ‘Va Va Voom’ touch to the Pod’s packed events calendar, Le French Fest celebrates everything great about French automobiles. There’ll be plenty to see and do on the day both on and off the famed quarter-mile dragstrip. All French car owners are invited to take their car down the track in the public Run What Ya Brung (RWYB) session, with the 10,000hp FireForce 3 Jet Funny Car also on hand to shake off the winter cobwebs with mind-blowing 270mph passes! A highlight of the show will be the flame-throwing Jet Peugeot 205. Coming all the way from France, pilot Herve Franquin will be warming up the spring air in the Live Action Arena, joined by multiple world-record holding stunt driver Terry Grant. Other attractions such as the Autoglym Show & Shine Competition, Car Club displays and Handling Track will be there to entertain one and all. Tickets start at just £19, with Kids 5-15 just £5 per ticket (under 5’s go FREE).

If fast and furious is more your style, then The Fast Show will absolutely feed your need for speed. The track will be open for anyone who wants to take on the clock, joined by the FireForce 3 Jet Funny car and the first Sports Compact Drag Racing Shootout of the year. The Live Action Arena will be alive with drama and excitement, with the stunt driving duo of Terry Grant and Lee Bowers plying their craft for your entertainment. The fun doesn’t stop there with the prestigious Autoglym Show & Shine Competition, Propper Droppers Sound-Off Competition, Drift Rides, Influencer’s Paddock, Ford Mustang Passenger Rides, and much more. Tickets start at just £25, with Kids 5-15 just £5 per ticket (under 5’s go FREE).

Celebrate the St George’s Day weekend at Santa Pod with the brand-new Best of British car show. A fun-filled, action-packed schedule awaits the whole family, featuring the very best of British engineering both on and off-track. Some of the quickest British drag cars in the country will be doing demonstration runs throughout the day, alongside Martin Hill’s FireForce 5 Jet Dragster in resplendent St. George and the Dragon livery. The Jet action isn’t restricted to the track, with a jet-powered Mini lighting up the Live Action Arena along with world-class motorcycle stunt rider Lee Bowers and his all-new stable of Royal Enfield bikes. There’ll be plenty more at the event to enjoy, including Autoglym Show & Shine Competition, RC Drag Racing, Historic Aero Engines, plus a varied and eclectic display of show cars, and much more! Tickets start at just £19, with Kids 5-15 just £5 per ticket (under 5’s go FREE).

Tickets for all events are pre-bookable and can be purchased online or by phoning the Box Office on 01234 782828. For more information, check out the Santa Pod Raceway website at santapod.com.

Photo: Fords at The Fast Show Picture: Scott Gay / Santa Pod.

Williams Bros Racing at Baby Gators.
4th March: UK racer and speed shop owner Dan Williams is competing this weekend at the 6th 'Baby Gators', the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held at Gainesville Raceway in Florida the week before the NHRA Gatornationals. Dan is driving his 396cu in Chevy Nova in A/Stock and at the end of Thursday qualifying was placed 7th in the order with a 9.935 which is 1.015 below the A/S index.

The Chevy Nova has been raced by Dan since 2012, racing at Tierp Arena in the June Sweden Internationals in Stock/Super Stock. At that stage the newly imported car had an automatic transmission. Back in the UK, Dan was in Pro ET at the Euro Finals that year. In 2013 he raced the Nova at both Tierp events, his Santa Pod racing limited to the Euro Finals. In 2015 the Nova returned to Tierp in August and Santa Pod in September. By the 2016 Festival of Power, the automatic transmission had been replaced by a Jerico four speed manual box, Dan taking aim at the A/S index and competing at Tierp at both events there in 2016 and 2017.

In 2018, Williams Bros Racing travelled to race in the US for the first time, brother Nic had racing his Camaro in 2018 at a divisional event and the U.S. Nationals, returning in 2019 to the Baby Gators.

After one Santa Pod appearance at the Main Event in 2019 the Nova was transported to the US a month later and the team were over to race it at a divisional event at Bowling Green and then in the A/Stock challenge at the U.S. Nationals. Dan was interviewed by Competition Plus which you can see at this link. After that, though, the pandemic delayed the team being able to get back to the U.S. to race it, until this weekend.

Whilst Williams Bros Racing won't be competing at the Gatornationals, we're sure they are enjoying their time in Gainesville at the Baby Gators and wish them good luck and stay safe. You can see the Baby Gators live streamed at nhra.tv (free, registration required).

2022 Drag Race Union Challenges.
3rd March: Many thanks to Drag Race Union secretary Markus Münch, who with chairman Hans Niesner and treasurer Oliver Krautberger have announced the 2022 DRU Challenges for Pro ET and Super Pro ET, the first time the competition has run since 2019:

Hello everybody, good news for us all. After two years of cancellation, the 7th running of the DRU Challenge in Pro ET and 13th running in Supro ET will be back in 2022. So far the race calendar is full again. Two races at Rivanazzano, three in Clastres, two "Clubsport" races in Zerbst (Pro ET only), and up to six races at Santa Pod Raceway offer plenty of races and the NitrOlympX as well. Also in the Czech Republic there should be a new race near Pilsen. Four races count to the overall points.

The entry for the 2022 Challenges is open. €100 brings you in again (including a personalized driver shirt). The rules are the same as in 2020 and are set out below. At the end of the season there will be a trophy party. The date and place for the party will be announced soon. Drivers who have already registered for the 2020 season and do not wish to participate 2022 can get a refund of their money.

Races in England: Don´t forget to name your three races, you want to attempt to collect Challenge points. Name them with your entry or latest by the deadline of March 31st 2022. This is for all drivers of course, not only English racers.

. Sponsoring: It is still time to get involved in the Challenges as a sponsor. Little money (€100, €200, ...) brings you in. So if you know somebody, Pro and Supro ET will have seperate prize money funds.

You can register for the Challenges at: www.dragraceunion.eu/proet-challenge (Pro ET), Supro ET – mail to Markus on [email protected].

Here are the terms of participation for the 2022 Pro ET and Super Pro ET Challenges: Entrymoney is €100 for each driver. That includes a driver Challenge Shirt. You need to send your start number and T-Shirt size with your entry. More shirts can also be ordered for Team members, costs are €25 each.

• Every Racecar has to carry two Challenge Stickers (Challenge Logo and Sponsors Logos) Size: Din A5
• Every official Race counts for points.
• Each driver can bring 4 results into the overall points.
• No more than two results from a single racetrack count for the overall points.
• For the races at Santa Pod: Each team that wants to collect challenge points at Santapod has to name a maximum of three races for 2022 with the entry where it wants to collect challenge points. A maximum of two Santa Pod races count to the overall points.
• The driver with the most points wins the Challenge.
• Trophies and prize money is for the drivers finnishing upfront.
• Prize money will be from entry money and sponsor money minus running costs of homepage, trophies, etc; most money is given out as prize money.
• Trophy party will be at the DRU Trophyparty at the end of October 2022, the venue will be announced soon.

The four best results of the races count to the overall points for each driver. Only official races count (NEAFP...). For the races at Santa Pod (GB) three races can be named before the season starts to collect points for the Challenge. A maximum of two results from each racetrack count for the overall points.

Qualifying Points: Qualifying order is terminated by qualifying against your dial in. Closest to dial in eaquals top qualifyer. A maximum of 16 points is awarded to the top qualifyer. For each position (2, 3, 4,…) one point less is awarded. The last qualifyed gets one point. If there are more the 16 participants, from position 17 onwards, one point is awarded. Examples:

• 16 Participants, Top Qualifyer gets 16 points, 16th gets 1 point.
• 20 Participants, Top Qualifyer gets 16 points, position 16-20 receive 1 point.
• 7 Participants, Top Qualifyer gets 7 points, 7th gets 1 point.

Elimination Points:

• You get 20 Points for each round you are qualified.
• The winner of the Race gets 20 points on top.
• So… hope to see you all out there again this year.

Any Questions? Interested? Contact us.

Ernryd heads to Gainesville.
3rd March: Swedish Pro Stock racer Stefan Ernryd has entered to race at the Gatornationals. We spoke to Stefan about his plans for his first NHRA National Event.

He said "When Allen Johnson quit Pro Stock at the end of 2017, Alan Prusiensky took over the mantle of the sole Dodge team in NHRA racing. Alan builds his own engines the same as Allen Johnson but a smaller operation, which is titled ARC Race Engines. As well as Pro Stock Dodge engines Alan works on Mopar racing and street engines including some for Stock Eliminator. He has workshop capacity indoors for two cars with more outside. Sponsor-wise he has some small ones but keeps the Mopar flag going for the Hemi.

"Although 2021 was financially problematic for Alan, he kept the faith in Pro Stock by maintaining two cars, his own 2016 Jerry Haas built Dart and a newer 2018 Dart also built by Haas. The newer car which had to be rebuilt following a 2019 crash at ZMax Dragway which resulted in Alan suffering a fractured vertabra.

"Alan, knowing my predilection for Mopar products reached out to me several times particularly after he visited the Vegas race in October 2019. Stefan hit it off with Alan but covid put things on hold after March 2020."

Now the pandemic is in retreat, Stefan has renewed enthusiasm for racing in the US, hopefully as a prelude to a European campaign. However his European campaign has some question marks over it.

"We have questions over the travel costs, the ferry charges are up by 50% and the cost of diesel is up to £1.76 per litre, plus there is more paperwork with the ATA Carnet which we will need to avoid a deposit of 30% of the value of the race operation. Talking to all the European Pro Stock teams, there could be eight or nine at the Main Event, but it depends how well they can absorb these additional costs. We could be spending £2000 one way."

Both Alan Prusiensky and Stefan are relatively new to Pro Stock. Alan started racing in the class in 2015 and became a regular qualifier, but round wins were hard to come by, Stefan started racing in 2016 after working with Thomas Lindstrom and was runner up in the European championship in 2017 and 2018, running a best of 6.547/211.03mph in his carburetted Dart.

Stefan's only US racing experience is testing his Dart before importing it to Sweden, and he has never driven one of the new-style injected cars with rev limited to 10,500 and shorter wheelie bars. So he is looking forward to getting some testing in at either Bradenton Motorsports Park (where he ran before) or at Gainesville, but conscious that many other teams will also be testing there in the days before the Gatornationals commences.

"Testing will be crucial to learn the throttle response and shifting, the shift light is set as part of the tuning process rather than revving it to 10,500 in every gear. I am fortunate to have two of my regular team helping me, Ulf Wagnhester, resident on the west coast of Florida, who is a fuel injection expert and has been my crew chief in Europe, and Simon Renevall who will be helping on the rear end and transmission and is my chassis man in Europe. My objective is to qualify, it will be tough as there are 21 entries and a lot of talent in the class. Also the weather in Gainesville can change dramatically between Friday and Saturday, giving us a curved ball on the tuning. On Sunday I will need to get some good lights in addition.

Alan would like Stefan to compete in a couple more races and, if things go well, that could be an option as his two race engines and his car are all ready for European competition starting in May.

We wish Stefan good luck and a safe racing weekend at the Gatornationals. Knowing that there are many Europeans paying a visit to the race, if you’re there why not stop by the pits and say hi?

Swift snippets.
3rd March: Happy Birthday for today to Competition Eliminator racer Kev Jenkins, Gasser Circus racer Lee Pike, Super Pro ET doorslammer racer Jens Könnecke and Super Twin racer Christian Jäger, both from Germany; have a great day guys.

Echoing words from regular contributor and BDRHoF director Jerry Cookson, a very happy 66th Wedding Anniversary to British drag racing pioneers and BDRHoF members Gerald and Joan Cookson, we hope you have a wonderful day.

Good luck and stay safe to Dan Williams, who with Williams Bros Racing have been testing for Stock Eliminator in their 427 ci A/S Chevy Nova at the NHRA 'Baby Gators' (Division 2 Race 2) which will be taking place from today through to Sunday. You can catch up with results from later this afternoon GMT at www.dragracecentral.com with live timing and results at www.nhra.com.

Danny Ongais.
2nd March: We were sorry to hear of the passing of US racecar driver Danny Ongais at the age of 79.

Danny had a wide ranging racing career including land speed racing, sports car racing, Indycars and even F1, and he started his racing career on motorcycles in his native Hawaii following discharge from the US Army in the late 1950s.

His first dragster drive in 1963 was a Dragmaster Dart gas dragster owned by Jim Nelson & Dode Martin, winning Top Gas at the AHRA Winternationals at Beeline Raceway, Phoenix, then in 1964 he drove several gas dragsters including Roland Leong's first Hawaiian car. 1965 was Danny's first Top Fuel Dragster drive, in the Mangler, co-owned with the Broussard, Garrison, Davis team, with John Garrison as crew chief. Racing mainly in Southern California at tracks such as Fontana, Carlsbad and Riverside, Danny started the year triumphing at the UDRA race at Fontana.

With wins under his belt and a national record 7.59 set in April, Danny was invited to come to the UK to race at the 1965 Drag Festival with an eight car Top Fuel team also including Bob Keith, Tony Nancy, Nick Colbert, Buddy Cortines, Chuck Griffith, Gary Casady and Merek Chertkow. But the weather didn't play ball as it had in 1964 with Garlits, Ivo et al.


Woodvale photo credit: Nick Pettitt, timetraveldvds.blogspot.com.

On paper, Danny's was the quickest car with two of the others running nitro for the first time, however at Blackbushe on 25th-26th September there was torrential rain and as Drag Racing Magazine put it, "The spectators were continually given the impression that the American drivers had scarcely ever seen rain, let alone driven in it". The reluctant drivers finally decided to run in the rain and Danny was described as "like a packet of itching powder, fretting to make a run whatever the others wanted to do". Danny's times were 9.62/120 and 9.76/150.

The following weekend at Woodvale the conditions were better and Danny ran 7.99/196, 7.91/200, and 7.90/200. Buddy Cortines did win the event, after Danny had a split blower manifold in the final, and set an ET record of 7.74, but Danny was first to 200mph on UK soil and his performances wowed the crowds for their bravery on a track that was not as smooth as those he was used to.

After the Drag Festival in the UK Danny returned to the US to continue his drag racing career which lasted another four years before circuit racing beckoned. He was runner up at the 1966 NHRA Nationals in Top Fuel and in 1969 he won the NHRA Spring Nationals and NHRA U.S. Nationals in the Funny Car class driving a Ford Mustang for Mickey Thompson.

To read a full tribute to Danny go to motorsport.com.. We send Danny's family and friends our deepest condolences.

Tim Hines' funeral arrangements.
2nd March: Many thanks to Lee Huxley for forwarding the arrangements for the funeral of Tim Hines whom we paid tribute to on 26th February:

The funeral for Tim Hines will take place on Monday 14th March at 11:30. The service will be at Broadwas Church and the wake will follow at The Royal Oak in Broadwas.

Due to limited parking near the church please park at the Royal Oak WR65NE and walk down. Family flowers only, donations in lieu of flowers to St Richard’s Hospice Care at home team (details will be provided on the day).

If you have any stories you wish to share in the eulogy please email them to [email protected] by 08/03/22. Please pass the above information to anyone you feel would want to attend.

The family would like any custom/performance cars and motorbikes to follow but not into the church yard. Also any Drag Racers that could display any cars/bikes at the pub please contact Lee Huxley on 07967 157899 or email him at [email protected].

I.C.E. Automotive & Precision Turbo.
2nd March: Thanks to I.C.E. Automotive's Nick Davies for an announcement about continued working with their longtime supplier of turbos:

I.C.E. Automotive are pleased to announce their enhanced partnership with Precision Turbo for the 2022 racing season.

Having used, distributed and supported Precision Turbo products for more than ten years, we are proud to be associated with such a prestigious manufacturer.

Precision Turbo has been a worldwide supplier of high performance turbochargers that have set the standard for uncompromised quality and unsurpassed performance since the late 1990s. Over the years, they have designed, tested, and manufactured record setting and championship winning turbochargers for many racing organizations.

We are very grateful for the support of Precision and look forward to sharing data and information during the upcoming season.

Rat Trap Racing Announces New Team Member.
2nd March: Ron Hope, owner/driver of the infamous Rat Trap AA/Fuel Altered has announced that his grandson Michael Hope is to take the wheel of a new Rat Trap Altered, writes Tony Thacker:

“We purchased the PRO 7.0 car ‘Mechanical Bull’ from Ronny Robbins,” said Michael’s father Brian who can most often be seen driving Rich Guasco’s Pure Hell AA/Fuel Altered when he is not wrenching on father Ron’s Rat Trap.

“The Keith Black Hemi-powered T-bodied car will be run under the Rat Trap Racing banner,” continued Brian, “and it will, of course, be painted in Rat Trap style by Jeff Embrey at Embrey’s Customotive and lettered master striper by Dennis Jones.”

“Ronny’s quickest and fastest times on alcohol were 6.94/199. Not quite the magic 200 but hopefully with a little time behind the wheel Michael will be hitting the magic numbers.”

22-year-old Michael is no stranger to the dragstrip having been around the family’s numerous racecars, including Rat Trap, since Ron resurrected the car in 1995. He is currently the clutch man on the Hilton Family Great Expectations II Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster and an all-rounder on Tony Lombardi’s PRO 7.0 front engine dragster. Prior to these duties he was the clutch assistant on Mike Morrell’s ‘Little City Charger’ nitro Funny Car.

“I’ve been around drag racing and Bonneville cars my whole life,” said Michael who works at the family business Trailer Cabinets/Technocraft in Mount Pleasant, TN. “Now, it’s my turn to carry on the family tradition of driving an altered and we thought a PRO 7.0 car was a good place to start. We’ll have the car on display at the Goodguys 16th BASF Nashville Nationals and at the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion but I won’t drive it until later in the year.”

Rat Trap Racing, Mount Pleasant, TN, is an internationally renowned racing team competing in both land speed and drag racing. Headed by Ron Hope and his son Brian, the team is a family affair that sees Ron’s wife Dianne, granddaughter Victoria and grandson Michael all taking turns piloting the racecars along with other family members and friends. In addition, crew chief Brian can often be found behind the wheel of Rich Guasco’s Pure Hell AA/Fuel Altered.

The Rat Trap Racing web site is at rattrapracing.com.

Swift snippets.
2nd March: A big Happy Birthday to SPRC director and UK points co-ordinator Yvonne Tramm, have a great day Yvonne!

Alan Currans, webmaster of the excellent Acceleration Archive site, has posted two more Youtube HD slideshows of his shots from Shakespeare County Raceway, comprising from 2008 the Hot Rod Drags and the Wild Cat Day, and from 2009 the first RWYB of the year, followed by the SpringSpeed Nationals and finally the Yanks' Weekend.

Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted more historical video footage of UK events, this time the 1990 Santa Pod World Finals, produced for the Anglia TV Wheels programme, and the 1995 Shootout #7 from Avon Park produced by Keith Taylor of First Image Drag Racing Video.

Safe journey to all those from the UK who are making the journey to Famoso Dragstrip, Bakersfield for the Good Vibrations March Meet. With a lack of streaming video we look forward to seeing social media posts.

Supercharged Outlaws and Outlaw Anglia's joint presentation glitters.
1st March: Many thanks to Outlaw Anglia co-ordinator Colin Millar for his review of the OA/SCO awards presentation held on Saturday:

What a fantastic weekend was had by all at the annual AGM and awards party for both Supercharged Outlaws and Outlaw Anglia held on Saturday at Kettering Park Hotel and Spa, a lovely venue which we certainly took full advantage of.

Once the serious discussions were over we quickly moved on to our joint awards presentations with a huge thanks to Colin Theobald for guiding us all through with his “well kent” voice of Santa Pod.

First up was Outlaw Anglia with Dave Gibbons giving out two trophies on behalf of TMC / RDR (Tony Morris Carburettors / Rough Diamond Racing) with the Tight End Trophy and £150 with tree-shirts and stickers going to Rob Nixon, well done Rob, next trophy was the Grand Job Trophy and £50 with tee-shirts and stickers going to Ben Kennedy, well done Ben and a huge thanks to Dave Gibbons.


Pictured: Dave Gibbons with Rob Nixon, Dave Gibbons with Ben Kennedy, Jon Webster's 1st Round Reaction Trophy

Next up was 1st Round Reaction Trophy which is averaged over the three Non-MSA events within OA, presented by the last winner Scotty Crookston to winner Jon Webster, unfortunately Jon was otherwise engaged and our good friend Ginner Man accepted the trophy on Jon’s behalf and will be popping into Jon’s workshop to present in person.

Ginner Man stayed up to present the next award which is OA Participants Trophy and voted by all within the OA family, as he was the last person who had won it, this is a very special trophy and close to the heart of Ginner Man and the winner was well deserved going to Ben Kennedy for all his efforts and struggles throughout last season.

The OA Championship was in the end a close fought battle, Rob Stone being the longest serving member of OA was up on stage to present these awards, first up in 3rd place was Colin Millar, onto 2nd place which was Mick Taylor and winner of the 2021 OA Championship was Jedd Guy, thanks Rob.


Pictured: Ginner Man with Ben Kennedy, Rob Stone with Colin Millar, Rob Stone with Mick Taylor

Moving on to the Supercharged Outlaws, with Chairman Andy Fadster coming up on stage to present the awards, first up was the 200 MPH – Kev Mortimer Trophy with Joe Bond taking the honours after a storming season on track, well done Joe.

Next up was Best Appearing Team Trophy, this trophy is voted for by all members of SCO with a well-deserved winner going to Roy Wilding, well done Roy.

Moving onto Most Improved Team Trophy with a very happy Gary Parkes up on stage to take the trophy, again its always a great feeling to get a trophy voted for by your fellow class mates.


Pictured: Rob Stone with Jedd Guy, Jedd Guy's special Six Second Trophy created by Steve and Anna Cassisi of Piston Rings and Things, Gary Parkes with Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield

Another special trophy is the Vic Hammond Trophy and won by a very surprised Mark Windridge, well done you sir.

Moving onto the SCO Championship which saw a fierce battle to the end, in 3rd place was Andy Park and in 2nd place Mike Couch who was beaming with pride to go up and collect and the winner of the 2021 SCO Championship was David McCallan, thanks Andy.

As we do every year we raise funds for the Air Ambulance which covers Santa Pod if they are ever needed and this year we did very well with fund raising prior during and after the party, we even had a personal special message on screen from one of the AA fund raisers George thanking both groups, thanks George, one special item the V8 Coffee table which managed to make £650, thanks going out to Niz Hasham for buying it, Ian Tweddle for the transport and Rod Turner for the kind gift, we did have a an odd donation of £200 from Martin Christopher Davidson for a pair of yellow Crocs signed for by Colin Millar but we always aim to please and they are in the post lol.

All in all with still more to come in we have raised in excess of £2,400.00 so well done to everyone involved.


Pictured: Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield with Mark Windridge, Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield with Mike Couch, Colin Millar with Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield

A call went out for everyone to come up on stage as we had two special awards to present with the first going out to Andy Fadster for the True Grit Award for all his endeavours to keep coming back no matter how many time he brakes it, the second award went out to Jedd Guy for making history in 2021 and becoming Mister 6, I even woke up with confetti stuck to me in the morning lol.

Special thanks got out to many people but here is a few that I can remember apologies if I have missed you or forgotten you, I am getting old, Jeff Ludgate Renegade Racing Fuel, Jim and James Maher with Good Vibrations, Dave Gibbons, Tony Morris Carburettors, Rough Diamond Racing, LE Personal Prints, Kenzie Taylor, Callum Pudge, Steve Cassisi, Anna Cassisi, Hayley Fyfe and Ben Rushforth at EDA.

And last but not least to my long suffering Lynn who puts up with all the “stuff” I get involved in, thanks for letting me do what I do xx

See you at the racetrack real soon!

Dodds and Surrey Muscle celebrate.
1st March: Many thanks to Paul Dodd who has been in touch with news of two special celebrations, one for his Dad John Dodd's Beast's 50th anniversary, with the 27th anniversary of Surrey Muscle car club also being celebrated:


February has been quite the month of celebrations for the Dodd family . First up it was 50 years ago in Feb 72 when John Dodd's Beast made its debut at the Custom Car Show, Crystal Palace. The following month saw a feature in the magazine with a photo of the Beast over Epsom Downs with his more sedate Rolls Royce Silver Cloud in the background. The Beast went on to cause a sensation when it hit the road and featured in many TV programmes, newspapers and magazines. The main cause of interest was the 27 litre Merlin engine under the huge bonnet, which in fact was a non supercharged version of it, the Meteor. Still it was powerful enough to set a flying half mile record at RAF Elvington runway and ran tyre smoking 12’s at Santa Pod. Then of course there was the RR grille that Rolls were not too happy about, especially when potential customers started to call them to put an order in, and a court action was started; but then tragedy struck when the car caught fire on its way to a show in Sweden.

Whilst the car was destroyed, the chassis was salvaged and with the skills of Bob Phelps the rebodied Beast Mk 2 was back on the road by 1980 featuring a true but non supercharged Merlin, and with another RR grille. It did not take Rolls long to notice it was back again and finally successfully sued for breach of trademarks by the mid 80’s whereupon both car and owner fled to Spain. Of course the Beast has been back many times since and was last seen roaring up the strip at Dragstagia in 2014. Always evolving, the car is currently having a Ford 9” rear fitted, and John is trying to work out a way to power steer it as it is a bit of a handful in tight confines for a man that is going to be 90 this year!

Next up is my Oldsmobile, born 50 years ago in 1972; last weekend on the Saturday I gave it a run over Epsom downs to celebrate the same day I bought it 33 years ago. How we are both still here to tell the tale is probably down to luck more than judgement, we certainly have been on some wild rides. I still drive it to and from the Pod for RWYB’s and am now just a 10th away from the 9’s , hopefully we will see the magic number this year.


Finally we had an extra special Club meet at the end of the month to celebrate 27 years of the Surrey Muscle car club. Notorious for our partying as much as the racing during our golden days from around 2000 to 2015, we still put on quite a show. In our heyday we had about 25 cars but when you add on family, friends crew etc, up to 50 of us would descend on Santa Pod for events like the Mopar EuroNationals, Gary’s Picnic and to Shakey for the likes of the Hot Rod Drags.

In truth we are more a bunch of long time friends nowadays than a club with many of the cars gone, but the new blood is up and coming . Club member John is letting his son Connor take over the reins of his ‘68 440 Cuda that has just been to Andy Robinson’s for an 8.50 cage, then my son's mate Phil will be taking to the track this year in his blue 78 Camaro with a hot Luty built 383 under the hood. Then of course there is my son himself, Jason, who has exceeded all expectations in his black Trans Am. When we got the car we had a mission to turn it from a 14 to a 9 sec street terror, and a lot of work and parts later including engine, gearbox and rear end Jason finally cracked it last year with a 9.61 @ 137mph with a soft Nitrous tune. He is quick on the tree too having reached the semis at the first Doorslammers meet and the quarterfinals at last years event and I could not be more proud of him and, of course, my father for inspiring me from about the age of 8 when he first took me to Santa Pod for the first time in the late 60’s. No wonder we keep going back there!

Swift snippets.
1st March: Happy Birthdays for today to Santa Pod Raceway marshal and Street Eliminator racer-in-waiting Antony 'Butch' Wilkins, also to long time Eurodragster.com fan and Podington Peas founder member Kerry McCartney Jeyes, hope you are both having a great day.

Many thanks to Tony Thacker for bringing our attention to a piece on the MSN News Channel by NHRA Top Fuel Racer Mike Salinas who wants to give the main US sanctioning body a bit of a shake-up. To read Mike's thoughts, click here.


Earlier news