Those coming from the M1 northwards at Junction 14, note that there is a road closure on the A508 towards Newport Pagnell, follow the diversion signs turning left after the motorway exit and they will direct you to the correct route.

Straightliners' 25th anniversary at Melbourne.
30th July: This weekend there will be the Straightliners 25th Anniversary Celebration at Melbourne Raceway. You can buy tickets for this special event by going to the Melbourne Raceway web site and clicking on the links for car entry, bike entry or spectator entry.

The big attraction of the weekend will be Tudor Rose now in its original format, named Lyon, Sluggett & Riswick after its owners, which returns for its first public appearance on Sunday.

Qualifying and eliminations will take place on the drag strip on 30th-31st July, you can spend a day or camp over the weekend and get maximum track time, all vehicles being welcome. As you can see from the entry pages, the track is offering huge price reductions for entry. To take part or spectate you can just turn up and pay on the gate, track action will take place from 10am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Eurodragster.com will be represented by former editor Tog who has restored his first (2006) digital SLR to tip-top condition and will be using it for some nostalgia themed shots in addition to his modern Nikon.

TOPDON Top Fuel magic.
30th July: Thanks to former Super Twin Fuel racer and cackle car owner/driver Ian Turburville for a tip about starting blown fuel engines.

If you have watched us start our nostalgic Top Fuel dragster you may have noticed the familiar routine, as practiced by all the big dragsters and funny cars. Dragsters are kept to a minimum weight to achieve greater speeds and acceleration; this means no big, heavy batteries on board. Instead remote aircraft type starters are clamped onto the front of the superchargers connected to huge battery packs to supply the required amps to spin the engines over and get the magnetos to spark into life.

Our battery trolley contains two huge 1000cca truck batteries which weigh a lot and have to be transported everywhere, even to the start line, with great inconvenience.

Our modern top-dragster, Bad Blood, raced by Laura, has a 9.5lt Chevrolet engine with high compression but the hi-torque, gear reduction starter, attached conventionally to it, spins it over easily with a little boost from a jump battery.

Some Pro Modified cars do the same with their blown motors.

I decided that the same principal would work on the huge Hemi engine powering the nostalgia car, True Blood. I talked to my buddy Wayne ‘The Peregrine’ King in the USA and he shared his set up. Now I can forgo the $2000 aircraft starter but what about the huge cumbersome battery pack?

One of the world’s leading manufacturers of automotive diagnostic and battery management equipment, TOPDON, got in touch and said they had the solution. They supplied one of their top of the range, lithium powered jump starters that can start the biggest of cars with a dead battery even! The small jump starter fits in my hand and can start any of our cars with its 3000 cranking amps and 45 starts to a charge. It recharges simply by plugging into any usb phone charger and has numerous other abilities including use as a power pack for computers and phones etc. They also supplied one of their bluetooth battery monitoring units to keep a close check on everything.

So, thanks to TOPDON Automotive Diagnostic Tools, Battery Tools and Key Programmers we have now brought our racing operation into the 21st century.

VP Racing Fuels seminar at Tierp meeting.
28th July: Thanks to Tom Davis, UK & European Business Development Manager of sponsor VP Racing Fuels, for letting us know that there will be a Racing Insider Tech Seminar held by VP in the conference room at Tierp Arena's startline tower on Friday 12th August starting at 20:30-21:00. Tom said "the idea of the evening is for racers to take a look behind the scenes with VP Racing Fuels. "The main speaker will be VP Technical Manager, Fred Turza who will be flying over from his US base to Sweden specially for the Summit Racing Internationals being held at Tierp Arena on 11th-14th August.

"For nearly 50 years, VP Racing has fuelled more racing champions worldwide than any other brand. Racers are invited to join us for this exclusive tech seminar, where you'll learn how one man turned a small company into a global racing giant. There will be discussion on current NHRA topics and a Q&A opportunity with Fred Turza.

"Fred Turza became the Technical Manager of Research & Development Sales at VP Racing Fuels as a premier engine builder with over 35 years of experience in motorsports. His knowledge and experience have been instrumental in launching multiple race fuel programs within racing sanctioning bodies."

You can read more about Fred Turza in our interview with him which is at this link.

Drag Revival at Mantorp.
28th July: This weekend Mantorp Drag Revival will be taking place at Mantorp Park Sweden from today, 28th-31st July. The fourth edition of this race, which supplants the old FIA/FIM-E event held there until 2010, includes an entry of almost 150 and many quick vehicles.

The quickest of all will be the two match racing Top Fuel cars of Dane Stig Neergaard and Swede Dennis Nilsson, who will not be competing at Tierp in the FIA round.

There is some overlap of competitors with the Summit Racing Internationals to be held two weeks later at Tierp Arena, although only around 25% of competitors at Mantorp will be making the drive to Tierp. The three Pro Stock cars of Simon Ekengren, Magnus Petersson and Jimmy Ålund, and Top Fuel Bike of Rikard Gustafsson will all be at Tierp.

The other class where there is overlap with the Tierp race is Nitro Bike where of seven competitors, four will be competing at Tierp in Super Twin Top Fuel. Looking at the rest of the field there are some interesting classes which have been created by the organisers Nitroz. Pro Comp is making a revival with five altereds and dragsters, there are two bracket classes, one of which has 38 entries, Vintage Outlaw, A Gasser, 440 Outlaw and Junior Dragster Pro (which in this event qualify on dial in). The different class structure could explain why only around 25% of Drag Revival competitors will be travelling to Tierp for the Summit Racing Internationals two weeks later.

Top Doorslammer has 15 entries including Patrick Wikström from Pro Modified. We will bring results and media from the event, however if you wish to follow, whilst there is no stream, you can see results at this link from Thursday 28th July onwards.

Swift snippets.
28th July: Happy Birthday for today to Veedubracing Youtube videographer Simon Letkey who shares a name and a birthday with your editor. Have a great day Simon!

Hawk Racing Bug Jam report.
27th July: Hawk Racing reported that they are in good shape looking towards the finale of the Funny Car Cup to be held at the FIA/FIM-E Euro Finals at Santa Pod 8th-11th September:

Firstly...Huge congratulations to Kevin Kent and the West Ten Motorsport team on two storming runs over the weekend, resulting in a brilliant win... Also, Steve Ashdown and the Shockwave Racing team on a proper gritty funny car drive to make a race out of the final.

For us, we collected a lot of useful data. Ran a 0.89 60ft, a couple of 0.9s and a decent 4.6 to 1000ft, all without any real damage. All in the midst of a string of curve balls but the team, as a tight group, got through them all.

We are not going to talk about our DQ'd in the first round because no good can come of it.

We'll be back for The European Finals, we are in the best shape performance and parts wise than we've been in a long time, collectively annoyed at the way we lost, but just watch us channel it.

Hawk Racing thanks sponsors Lucas Oil Products UK, Cool Flo, ProFormance Metals, Power Race Graphics, Altered Tee's Apparel, Rushden Graphics, Reptile World UK, GB Refinish Supplies, VIP Cars Repair Ltd, Goodridge Ltd, Pro Detailing Uk, East Side Custom Tattoo Studio, FGR Motorsport, Jay Manton - Mobile Vehicle Valeting, King Racing and American Autoparts.

The Huxleys at Bug Jam.
27th July: Many thanks to the Huxley family for sending a report on an event in which four of the racing dynasty were involved:

The Huxleys had a great Bug Jam with the two Pod Mustangs. Lee in the black V8 and Brian in the maroon 2.3 Ecoboost auto convertible (only one second slower) and Darren with his Nissan 200SX drag and drift car. Marc was team manager. Lee had three good reaction times and won the racers' pot.

All the cars were running great. Darren qualified best and then Lee and then Brian, Darren's Nissan running low 12s, Lee 13s and Brian 14s. Brian struggled with all the switches and buttons on his convertible but after we all had five qualifing runs he got the hang of it. Lee getting through the manual gears ok, broke out in the first round, Brian going out in third round. But Darren going through four rounds was well happy with his first Bug Jam. Marc was kept busy with all the family.

Brian had close races against Tom Atkinson and Andy Dibley, Andy ran 12.24 on a 12.23 dial in and Brian ran 14.53 on a 14.52 dial-in, but Andy got the better light.

We were over the moon getting the Mustangs running close. All in all we had a great weekend with all the entertainment too. Brian said the Bootleg Beatles were spot on and he should know having seen the real Beatles.

We cant wait for the Greenlight Nationals. Well done Andy Dibley for winning the meeting. Another well organised Santa Pod meeting.

Mopar Euro Nationals perfect awards.
27th July: £100 is up for grabs at this weekend's Mopar Euro Nationals courtesy of Eurodragster.com and our sponsors.

This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset £50 after it was won by VW Pro racer Jonathan Newell at Bug Jam 35. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available in all classes during both qualifying and eliminations (not RWYB), but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supported by Andy Hadfield and the Twister Race Team has been reset to £50 after it was won by VW Pro racer Jonathan Newell at Bug Jam 35. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to run +0.000 on index or dial-in. The Perfect ET Award is available in Gasser Circus and NEM Plant Nostalgia Superstock but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the weekend. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield of the Twister Race Team.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect ET Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.


Swift snippets.
27th July: Happy Birthday for today to Drag Race Union club secretary and photographer Markus Münch. Have a great day Markus.

The timetable for the Mopar Euro Nationals has been posted and you can see it on Santa Pod's website at this link, also via our event coverage page. Note also there will be no Nitro FM or video stream for this event.

STP Green Light Nationals entry deadline.
26th July: Thanks to Santa Pod Raceway events co-ordinator Dan Melrose for a reminder to all competitors that entries for the Big Bracket and Greenlight Pro for the STP Green Light Nationals close this Friday. As well as a full roster of ACU and National Bike classes with SPRC Championship car classes, there will be special classes for cars usually racing in the National Championship as follows:

"Big Bracket is open to all cars running between 6.00 and 11.99 that meet existing MSUK and SPRC rules and will be run to the normal Dial-Your-Own sportsman format. Greenlight Pro is open to all cars 7.50 and quicker that meet existing MSUK and SPRC rules, and is run in the normal Heads-Up Pro format." Also running is the 7.60 Heads Up doorslammer class supported by Jeff Bull Race Engines.

Entries to the STP Green Light Nationals are available through the SPRC website at www.santapodracersclub.com and contact Ian Marshall with any queries. You can see the latest entry list at this link.

Bug Jam 35 racer comments.
26th July: We present below racer comments following Bug Jam 35:

Motorsport UK Pro Modified saw the second consecutive win for Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson, giving him an increased lead in the championship over Kev Slyfield. Running a 5.994/246, 6.026/236 and 5.931/246 in qualifying to go #1 at the end of the final session, Andy aborted his bye run in round 1 after the team had discovered a split in the supercharger burst panel. The team posted "With not enough time to change it we had to re-evaluate what to do in E1, instead of doing a full pass, we decided to play it safe and just stage to take the green light to progress to round 2." The team switched the burst panel out and then ran a 5.94/242 to defeat Annie Wallace, the first time the team had raced her, declaring "she is a true sportsman." In the final Andy was up against customer and frequent protagonist Kev Slyfield. A "5.93 on a hot track got the job done, well done to the Blown Bird team for getting to the final, we ran against them 3 times this weekend! A consistent 5.9 second car despite tricky conditions. To say we're thrilled is an understatement!"

Andy thanks NGK Spark Plugs (UK), Torco, WELD Racing, Mike Janis Racing, PAC Racing Springs, BMRS Brown & Miller Racing Solutions LLC, Manton Pushrods, Noonan Race Engineering, Power Race Graphics, Vivid Vinyl, Voss Wheelie Bars, and Precision Racing Suspension for their support.


In the Funny Car Cup, Kevin Kent demonstrated his performance advantage over the event, although the two other teams competing made great progress towards challenging him in the future. In qualifying Kevin was the sole car to put in a full run with Steve Ashdown and Jason Phelps both shutting off early with tyre shake. Kevin's qualifying run of 4.2606/247.26 was 0.03s away from the European Funny Car ET record, the speed showing an early shut off. In eliminations, we had two tremendous side by side 4s races. The first saw Jason Phelps cross the line ahead of Steve Ashdown, 4.6409/201.61 to Steve's 4.7031/210.92, however a member of Jason's team had committed a 'blue line' violation by touching the vehicle after it had crossed the line and he was subsequently disqualified. Steve's team with crew chief Dave Bryant readied the car for the final against Kevin with US racer John 'Bodie' Smith as tuner. Kevin won with a great 4.3063/278.48 to 4.6089/250.43, a fine show and credit to all three teams for sheer guts in getting the cars to run strongly.

VW Pro had the usual mix of cars, however the winner was unusual, if not unexpected - the electric powered Black Current 4 of Sam Young. The team cured early tyre spinning issues and became a consistent low ten/high nine second performer. It was five years after Black Current 3 had crashed at Bug Jam in 2017, and the rebuild by Webster Race Engineering is documented in a great video on Jonny Smith's Youtube Channel The Late Brake Show. Sam qualified eighth of 19 and had a free run in round 1 after the Seat Leon of Marc Taylor had withdrawn after Saturday with engine damage. In round 2, he ran a BC4's best with a 9.9117/128.29 to defeat Charlie Roberts, then another 9.9 to catch Ian Dale, and, after a semi final bye, in the final took out points leader Graham Fairhead with a 10.0603. In every full run, Sam was feathering the throttle in the second half of the track as the terminal speeds were only 4-5mph faster than at the eighth mile.

Apart from Sam the performance star in VW Pro was Simon Crowley whose FWD Mk1 Golf not only broke into the nines for the first time, but also ran a quickest and new PB of 9.5697/150.93.


VW Sportsman was won for the first time by Nigel Coulson in his Seat Leon in only his second event, running with fellow VWSP racer Steve Stone as Coulstone Racing. As usual Bug Jam was the class's largest field and a 32 car meant that four racers were on the outside looking in. The top 17 qualified within 0.1s of their dial and Nigel was tenth. Round one saw Nigel take out the Beetle of Connor Jones, then Jon Gallant red lit against him in round 2. Nigel defeated Laurence Clark in round 3 and a double breakout against new points leader Paul Robinson in round 4 saw Nigel break out by the least. The final was a close race against Rob Creswell in which Nigel was 0.08s off his dial. Nigel will return at the National Finals where he will undoubtedly have a target on his back...

On Friday, a VW Pro vs VW Sportsman competition was held, out of 16 races Sportsmen took bragging rights by winning 11-5.

Outlaw Flat Four is a great class populated by highly tuned (and sometimes mechanically fragile) Beetles, often with show quality paint jobs and with surprises most, if not all, of the time. Even those who failed to qualify had a great time, as Paul Bate wrote on Facebook: "What an incredible weekend, can’t really properly put into words how great it was to be with the OFF family. The whole weekend had so many highlights, firstly we now have two more 10 second cars with Vito Versluys (10.933/125) and Lucas Dalglish (10.972/120). Frederik Coene also ran a PB (11.892/108) as did Adam Lowe with a 11.05, so the league table is already on the move after round one of 2022.

As for the club and seeing how many entries we had it was brilliant, new prospects & the club pizza night by lucas & Danny Pike was just perfect. Personally I had the pleasure of meeting Mexxspeed Racing what a incredible guy, his knowledge just blew me away & I just couldn’t stop asking questions. I even had the shirt off his back literally.

I really haven’t done the event justice with my words but thank you to my crew Bob Feeney & Junior Pressendo and of course Spencer Tramm for all your help very much appreciated. Can’t wait to get the car sorted and do the next event STP Greenlight Nationals.

On the track, Adam Lowe was the victor after qualifying #6 with a PB of 11.055. Several quicker cars fell by the wayside, leaving Adam to solo in round 1, to defeat Jonny Marriage in round 2 and Lee Crofts in round 3, then staged in the final as Lucas Dalglish had failed to show for his semi final solo.

You can see some great photos of Outlaw Flat Four taken by Calli Faraway on Saturday at her web site.


Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET had class sponsor Andy Dibley enter with the green 50 Shades of Green Racing Camaro sporting a new engine. He posted: "Bringing a barely tested car to an event really for track time was the plan. I would’ve been bowled over with a 12.8/9 which is what the three runs last weekend were suggesting, but finishing the weekend with a PB of 12.16 is mind blowing! After a few carb adjustments, the car appears to be running great, and for a junkyard LS with a cam it’s a budget friendly bracket car.

Qualified number one but left the door wide open for someone to come and take it off me but fortunately they didn’t. Bye in the first round, Hulk in the 2nd, then the double act of Huxley’s in the form of Brian and Darren - both incredibly close races. Finals saw me take on Rob in the Audi who was hot lapping from also getting to the finals of VWSP. Another great race and got the win.

Really proud of this car, been a complete pain at times but finish the weekend with a damn consistent and predictable car. I would like to take the chance to thank Nici, Kirstie, Tom and Adam for another great weekend away at the track. Also thanks to my Dad with all the help putting this car together over the last year and half. Lastly a big shout out to Matt Walter at Walter Racecraft (https://walter-racecraft.myshopify.com/) in Maryland, USA - Without his help and expertise on all things LS this would still be a pipedream. Also thanks to all the other racers and teams in Sportsman ET - still an absolutely great class to race in! See you all at Greenlight Nationals!

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator was won by Al McSweeney who was using the event to test a new aerodynamic lip on the bootlid of his Volvo 162 to discourage the wild rides he experienced in the shut down area at the Summer Nationals. This, coupled with late chute deployment solved the problem and enabled him to get back into the sevens. The team reported they had "struggled with traction at the start of the weekend, then next thing we know we won Bug Jam our first win with the Volvo, so the team is happy", reported Al's son and crewman Kai.

The key moment of the race for Al was in the semi final against Andy Bond, who qualified #1 with a 7.388/204, when both spun the tyres but Al recovered more quickly and kept ahead of a fast closing Andy to take the upset win. In the final, Paul Morton who is knocking on the door of eights and 150mph made a great effort at 9.192/147 but Al came out the winner at 8.033/167. Earlier Mark Sheridan had made a big leap in performance in his Robinson Race Cars built 'Cuda to 8.0004/200.63 in qualifying so well done to him too.


There was plenty of exhibition action as well, with cars from various classes putting in test runs and match races. In the highly anticipated Nitro Bug Funny Car (Andy Raw) vs Mental Breakdown VW Type 1 Single Cab (Wayne Allman) matchup, the cars didn't make it down the track side by side, however Andy ran a great 6.976/146.23 and Wayne had a new PB of 7.101/199.88, so close to his target of 6s/200mph and the run of the event for many. You can see some great footage of Wayne's runs from Simon Letkey's Veedub Racing Youtube channel at this link.

Dual Fuel Racing Bug Jam 35 report.
26th July: Many thanks to Sportsman ET racer Steve Mellors for writing in with his report on Bug Jam at which Hulk MX5 proved to be a massive crowd attraction:

"What a absolutely fantastic weekend for the Dual Fuel racing team with Hulk MX5. We came with the promise to entertain the crowd. For this one, the Hulk himself was walking around most of the weekend getting pictures with fans and handing out freebies. We had 1000+ people sit in the car and get their picture with and in the car. We were very busy talking to fans in the pits and we loved every second of it.


On Friday and Saturday as previously requested hulkmx5 ran a exhibition run lighting up the rear tyres In style, then it was down to the serious matter of qualifying rounds. We struggled to dial the car in but we qualified 8th, in elimination rounds we won round one due to a red light in the other lane. We really wanted that race too and was hoping to take the win by race rather than by default. Then E2 against class sponsor Andy Dibley, something went wrong during the run and the car ran its worst ET of the weekend.

A huge thankyou to Sean Odyer and Jason Lloyd for crewing this weekend. Hulk MX5 will be back for the Green Lights and we are already working out a plan to get more runs at Flame and Thunder this year.

A huge thank you to Santa Pod and the marshals for making the event so special, and of course the commentator Colin Theobald for all the great commentary and of course our sponsors Able Assist, Printz4u, MX5 Parts Warehouse, Justsendit Designs, Dynamic Roofing Solutions and Restoration 1275, you're all amazing!.

Unusual Car Sales UK latest.
26th July: Thanks to Nigel Taylor of Facebook Group Unusual Car Sales UK for highlighting some of the drag racing cars for sale at the moment:

"As we approach August and three years of the Facebook group Unusual Car Sales UK, the membership has now gone over 32,000 members as well as 5,000 on our Unusual Car Sales UK (Parts and Projects) group with another 1,500+ in our Hot Rod Community site.

"It has been an absolute pleasure to help out drag racers, hot rodders, custom and Yank car enthusiasts, along with many other weird and unusual vehicles being sold or swapped throughout the site.



"At present we have Andy Carter and Jon Webster’s Pops for sale, Andy Frost's World Record Red Victor 3 car, Acadamy Motorsports' 3000bhp road legal Bentley, Lee Gallimore's T-bucket, Adam Clayton's Topolino, Chris Hannam's Top Fuel bike, the Fulton family’s championship winning Junior Dragster and tons of yanks, hot rods, customs, bikes, vans, and unusual vehicles.

"Massive thanks to our supporters Mike and Stevie Gates, Nick Davies and all the crew at Hayling garage (0239 2462346) and Hayling American Automotives who have supported us from the beginning and sponsor my little bro Paul Dale and his supercharged methanol injected Acute Angle Anglia in Supercharged Outlaws, and have now gone and purchased their own drag car, a Plymouth Duster from Santa Pod's James Forster and already in the 9.5s with that.

Thanks also to Nick and Dan Williams and Holley Marshall of Williams Bros Racing (01327 220777), Matt Hand and the team at Gliptone Europe (01244888658) and my Northern Father Jack Lad for all your support with the group.

Thankyou to all the nice comments at shows and drag racing, the staff and commentators Colin Theobald, Luke Stevenson, Darryl Bradford, Ian and Nikki Marshall and the rest of the crew have been ace.

Lastly thank you to my admin team which is member Chris Hepworth and my lovely wife Sophie Taylor!

Swift snippets.
26th July: A Big Happy Birthday to Nitro Junkie and drag bike racer Kev Charman, we hope you have a great day Kev!

Bug Jam 35 results.
25th July: Congratulations to the winners at Bug Jam 35 held at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend:

Motorsport UK Pro Modified: Andy Robinson 5.9369/244.22 def. Kev Slyfield 6.6518/164.28 DQ red
Funny Car Cup: Kevin Kent 4.3063/278.48 def. Steve Ashdown 4.6089/250.43
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET: Andy Dibley 12.1906/107.40 (12.18) def. Rob Creswell 16.3687/81.52 (16.40)
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Al McSweeney 8.0333/167.31 def. Paul Morton 9.1926/147.60
VW Sportsman: Nigel Coulson 14.0975/94.81 (14.00) def. Rob Creswell 16.5563/71.13 (16.40)
VW Pro: Sam Young 10.0603/116.99 (9.90) def. Graham Fairhead 11.8274/118.04 (11.35)
Outlaw Flat Four: Adam Lowe, staged, unopposed.

The event was held under partly sunny skies in warm temperatures and was largely incident-free barring VW Pro racer Dave Crowhurst having a wheel shear off at the start and Jim Collins' RWYB Beetle getting out of shape under braking and contacting the left wall in the shut down area; we hope you both get back on track soon.

Congratulations to VW Pro racer Jonathan Newell (pictured) who won both the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award of £50 supported by Cath and Tig Napier and the Eurodragster.com/Twister Racing Perfect ET award of £50 supported by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield. This is the first time we can remember both awards being won by the same racer at the same event so well done Jonathan!

Thanks to David Anniwell of the Santa Pod Timing Crew for sending us detailed timing data, including test day results, which we have posted 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 also see a Facebook album of the event on Santa Pod Raceway's page by going to this link.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Bug Jam 35 reports, results and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. Please join Simon in thanking Julian and Diana for their hard work over the race weekend.

We look forward to publishing racer comments from social media on the event tomorrow, racers can also send comments to [email protected].

Lydden Hill Custom Cup gallery.
25th July: Many thanks to former editor Tog who dodged the queues in Kent to get to Lydden Hill for a No Prep competition organised by Paul Marston. Tog writes:

Lydden Hill Circuit in Kent hosted a No Prep race and sprint as part of its Custom Cup event over the weekend. A small but high-quality field contested the race and the single-lane timed sprint including Grumpy’s Dodge making a welcome return in the hands of Paul Marston having finished final engine building at the track on Saturday. The Dodge gave Paul some lively launches and runs but his years of experience kept the car on the straight (after a few yards) and narrow; a couple of the circuit racers also managed to blackstripe the uphill track of just under an eighth-mile. Although there was a lively breeze at the top of the hill it was a different story down on the start line and in the pits resulting in very hot conditions. For my own part I constantly had to remind myself not to enter restricted areas!

You can see our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored No Prep gallery by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page.

Tog would like to say a big Thank You to Sam and Paul Marston and the whole PMR team for the cool drinks and the ice cream.

Swift snippets.
25th July: Happy Birthday for today to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and creator of the iconic Gonzo the Great Ian Lloyd, Intergalactic Speed Shop proprietor and Mental Breakdown racer Wayne Allman and VW Sportsman racer Steve Stone. Have a great day guys.

Bug Jam 35 coverage.
23rd July: We are in place at Santa Pod Raceway to cover this weekend's Bug Jam 35 in association with John Woolfe Racing.

Coverage will consist of a live report on run what ya brung, qualifying and eliminations, with end of day galleries from Julian and Diana. You can see our coverage by clicking here or via the Event Coverage list in the main menu.

German rule book changes 2022.
23rd July: Thanks to Andrea Kloss from Deutscher Motorsport Verband (DMV) who has sent an announcement that applies to anyone from Europe participating in the 2022 NitrOlympX.

With the NitrOlympX coming up the DMV was asked by German Chief Scrutineer Conny Metzner, to inform drivers that are coming from abroad to participate, that they should be aware of the changes to the German Rulebook. As of 2022 the DMSB Technical Regulations for Drag Racing are based on the FIA Technical Regulations for Drag Racing (Sportsman) 2022 (see this link) Some of the FIA standards that may differ from other European rule books include:

• Oil Retention Devices mandatory in the following classes: Pro ET and Super Pro ET for all cars running 9.99 seconds or quicker (Section 2A, Chapter 1.8), Super Gas (Section 4 Chapter 1.8), Super Comp (Section 5 Chapter 1.8) and Competition (Section 6A/B Chapter 1.8).
• Driver Head and Neck Restraint Device/System mandatory for Junior Dragster (Section 1 chapter 10.8), Pro ET, Super Pro ET, Super Gas, Super Comp all cars running 10.00 sec. and quicker (FIA General Regulations Chapter 10.8)

Please also be aware that for the following classes some DMSB rules deviate or are in addition to the FIA Regulations:

Junior Dragster
JD consists of three age classes J/S, J/M and JM/A:

• Junior Stock J/S is reserved for children aged 8 to 18 years. The driven time over the 1/8-mile may not be quicker than 11.90 sec., this applies to both heads-up or your own dial-in.
• Junior Modified J/M is reserved for children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years. The driven time over the 1/8-mile may not be quicker than 8.90 sec., this applies to both heads-up or your own dial-in.
• Junior Modified Advanced J/MA - reserved for children and adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. The driven time over the 1/8-mile may not be quicker than 7.90 sec. this applies to both heads-up or your own dial-in.
For further specific class rules please refer to the FIA Technical Regulations for FIA Drag Racing.

Pro ET, Super Pro ET:
Throttle stops are allowed but must beset up before each run. Delay-Boxes/Devices are not permitted. Systems that technically contain a delay devic may not be installed. If the vehicle is additionally entered in a class in which delay-boxes are permitted they must be removed before participating in an ET-Bracket-Class. For further specific class rules please refer to the FIA Technical Regulations for FIA Drag Racing.

Should you have any further questions concerning technical regulations please contact Germany’s Chief Scrutineer Conny Metzner via email: constance.metzner[@]gmail.com.

With the decision to base the German Technical Regulations on the FIA Technical Regulations the DMSB (German ASN) has ensured that German drivers meet the highest safety standards in Europe, therefore making it possible for them to enter anywhere in Europe, without having to fear non-compliance with local safety standards.

Gasser Circus at Dragstalgia.
21st July: Many thanks to Gasser Circus co-ordinator Nick Brooke Langham for his report on the class at Dragstalgia:

Take 21 Gassers, add in Santa Pod Raceway, 3 days of glorious weather, a pinch of live music, a large measure of Nostalgic race vehicles, an air display and a whole heap of outstanding racing, mix them all together and you get a really well baked Dragstalgia.

Highlight of the Outlaw Anglia weekend was Colin Millar and his epic ‘Flyin Fyfer’ Pop, joining Jedd Guy as the second member of the 6 second club. This outstanding run taking place late in the Friday evening, the clocks stopping at 6.98 @ 194mph.

In the Gasser Circus pit, various drivers were taking advantage of getting some early runs in taking up the RWYB option. But most were busy preparing their cars for the evening’s entertainment with Round 1 of Gasser Circus qualifying signalling the start of the event at 17:00.

First pair up were Simon Prest in ‘The Rocket’ and Graham Barton in ‘High Anxiety’ Austin Devon, Simon broke out which would eventually see Simon end up on the cusp in 16th. Tom Margesson in John Gumbles ‘The Tinseltown Hustler’ Pop was next up against Gasser Circus debutant Nick Hewison in his Fordson Van ‘Short Fuse’. Nick had earlier in day become a favourite with trackside photographers leaving the line with his wheels in the air. On one occasion having a double wheelie! Tom and Nick are friends and Nicks first run was a break out but he was in good company as Tom led the way with one of his own, by 4 hundredths of a second.

Two Tri Chevy’s lined up with Tony Pearson in his ‘Guzzler’ 56 Chevy and Jason Pickett in his ‘Cherry Bomb’ 55. Jason matched the name of the car as he pulled a Cherry and Tony ran 10.81 on a 10.71 dial in. This would see Tony occupying the 6th spot. Jason ending up at 18th. Martyn Hallam in his Hallam Hallam & Couch 33 Willys dialled a 9.77 with Lee Pike on a 9.12, Lee’s Honky Tonkin 2 Nova got loose nearing the top end and subsequently ran 9.60 with Martyn on a 10.00.

Ray Turner in his ‘Green Onions’ 55 lined up against Jason Darling in his 38 Chevy Coupe ‘Sinister’, which just happened to be the poster car for the event. Ray ran a 10.98 on a 10.85 and Jason an 11.82 on a 11.40.

Keith Bartlett was next up in his legendary ‘Roarin Rat’ 57 Chevy, and in the opposite lane Ray Irish in his ‘Gas Junkie’ Willys pickup. Keith dialled 10.82 and Ray 10.00, which turned out to be a 10.16 and Keith with a break out 10.50.

Gasser’s were coming thick and fast next up was Drew Mason piloting ‘Nogbad the Bad’ Austin Devon and Adam Kruzynski in his ‘Not so Mellow Yellow’ 55 Chevy. Drew dialling 11.70 and Adam 11.80, at the end of the run Drew had posted 11.85 and Adam an off song 12.63.

The next pair had Steve Matthews in his ‘Honky Tonkin’ 57 Chevy against the Gasser Circus second debutant with Paul Hobbs in last year’s Championship winning Gasser the ex B&G Racing Ford Falcon. Steve ran 9.73 on a 9.71 putting him into number 1, Patrick Hobbs ran an 11.42 on an 11.49, which would see him at number 19.

Two huge rolling burnouts from the next gassers with Brian Gibson in his ‘Identity Crisis’ Dodge and Billy Jones in his ‘Grumpy Grizz’ Willys Coupe. This run would see Billy go number 2 with a 10.63 on a 10.60 and Brian 11.47 on an 11.35 leaving him at number 7.

Sean Milsom behind the wheel of his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ Morris van dialled 10.11 and in the opposite lane Katie booth in ‘The Mighty Mouse’ Pop was hunting down a 10.41. Sean left with his front wheels in the air and a reaction on the clocks of 0.008, Sean taking over number 1 qualifier when his predicted 10.11 became a 10.12. Katie was not that far off as her time of 10.43 saw her take over the number 2 spot.

The final Gasser was Simon Glen on a solo pass in his Austin Devon pickup ‘Straight Shooter’ running 11.55 on an 11.58. The next opportunity would now be Saturday where we were scheduled to have another 3 rounds of qualifying.

The first 2 rounds on Saturday saw many changes in the qualification positions, and just after 5 in the evening the fire up road was once again packed full of Gasser’s. With only a 16 car field on Sunday every driver knew, this run would now decide if they were in the eliminations or whether their weekend was done.

This session became known for its burnouts as during it Jason Darling performed a very impressive rolling burnout that at times appeared to be in slow motion. The final pairings of Tony Pearson and Brian Gibson are getting somewhat a reputation for their side by side rolling burnouts, and so it was that they lit up their slicks and also lit up the crowd who showed their appreciation especially after Brian began to head for the wall, then in correcting it power slid across the track, surely the save of the day. Both drivers making it through to eliminations, but with Jason sat at 19th his weekend was over, although he did get the consolation of receiving the burnout of the weekend award, well deserved.

Looking at the final positions, there were some key outcomes, firstly a superb number 1 qualifier by the new kid in the block Patrick Hobbs in his ‘Southern Flyed’ Falcon with an 11.40 on an 11.40. Katie Booth was second with a 10.38 on a 10.38, Billy Jones was 3rd with a 10.52 on a 10.52, 4th was Sean Milsom with a 10.12 on a 10.11, do you get where this is going. Qualifying was exceptionally close, but with regards to the Championship, it had been a difficult qualifying as first Lee Pike did not make it through and Martyn Hallam sat as first alternate at number 17. Dealing a severe blow to his tilt at the title. Martyn was philosophical and spent Saturday night Yee haaing his voice away!

Sunday arrived and it was going to be another hot one, both on and off the track. It was a day that found you had new friends if your pit generated a bit of shade!

Just after 10 the eliminations got underway, and by the conclusion, the stands and the bank had been treated to some great racing, but number 16 qualifier Simon Prest was soon on a roll that saw him beat Steve Matthews, Debutant Nick Hewison in his lovely Fordson red lit bringing to an end his weekend of wheelies off the line, with his rival Adam Kruczynski advancing to round 2.

Drew Mason driving ‘Nogbad the Bad’ was delighted to be up against his good friend and occasional mentor Tony Pearson. Tony leading the way to win with a holeshot 0.21 to 0.34. Billy Jones then produced another holeshot win with a 0.006 reaction time to beat the hard charging Green Onions of Ray Turner. Sean Milsom reflected the colour of so many people around the pits when he left a red on the tree against Tom Margesson. Sean the point’s leader was out! Red put in another appearance when Katie left fractionally early against number 1 qualifier Patrick Hobbs, and just for good measure Graham Barton lit the same bulb when he took on Brian (I love a rolling Burnout) Gibson.

Straight after lunch Round 2 kicked off with Tony Pearson and Tom Margesson coming to the line. Tony unfortunately continued the theme from Round 1 and left a cherry on the tree. Patrick Hobbs took on Simon Prest the number 16 qualifier, who took the win with a holeshot. Simon had a huge smile on his face, a change from the previous days gloom at just making it in to eliminations. The holeshots continued with Ray Irish delivering one against Adam Kruczynski, with the final pairing being won on the line by Billy Jones as Brian left early.

As the final four Gasser’s entered the fire up road, they brought with them a new sense of excitement as none of them had ever won a round of the Gasser Circus Showdown, a new winner was less than an hour away.

Billy Jones minus his crew and back up girl Stacey, did a stonking burnout, as in the other lane Simon did the same. Billy had dialled 10.54 and Simon 10.94. Simon rolled off the line before getting on it and when Billy left, he had a red bulb glowing on the tree, Simon was through to his first final, but both drivers stayed on it running through at 123 and 121 mph.

The other semi-finalists were Tom Margesson in the ‘Tinsel Town Hustler’, Tom dialling 10.83 and Ray Irish in his ‘Gas Junkie’ Willys pickup dialling 10.04. Tom left swiftly followed shortly by Ray and we had a green light race, Tom was out in front and by mid track still held a 3 car length advantage with Ray still in full chase mode. As Tom hit the finish line, Ray was within a car length, with eyes straining to see the win lights from the startline, they were clearly on in Ray’s lane. The timings showing that Tom had broken out with a 10.829 on his 10.83 dial, ouch! Ray was through to the final against Simon. The two finalists had differing stories of how their association with Drag Racing had brought them both to the final. Simon Prest had begun as Hot Rodder with a Pro Street 3 Window Coupe, before becoming crew on the Top Fuel car of Daryl Bradford where he did the clutch. He crewed on Sean Milsom’s Morris when it joined the Circus in 2010, and had helped various other drivers as and when they needed crew. Throughout this he had a 68 Camaro known as Big Red before this made way for the Gasser that had taken him in his debut season to the final. The car purchased and imported from Dale Snoke in California. The car having previously made the epic trip to the UK to race in the Gasser Circus at Dragstalgia 2014. Back in California Dale was watching the live stream and urging Simon on.

Ray Irish had begun his racing many years ago and before his Willy Pickup, was widely known for his Riverside Austin pickup which he campaigned for several years at RWYB events. The Austin made way for the pickup which had been built by renowned Willys Gasser racer Kiwi Kev in California. Ray buying the Gasser with the sole intention of joining the Circus. Ray had spent the past 7 years chasing a win amongst his fellow Gasser Circus racers but despite coming close the victory had so far eluded him.

Both cars pulled forward and commenced their burnouts, Simon had dialled in 10.94 and Ray a 10.06, this looked set for a superb final, exceptional by Simon after all he had come all the way from the bump spot number 16 in qualifying.

With burnouts completed, both drivers pulled their respective Gassers to the line and with both cars in stage the tree activated, Simon’s Gasser roared into life and a few moments later so did Rays. With the rest of the Circus drivers and crew gathered near the startline we all stood motionless as the action unfolded on the strip. Simon was still ahead at mid track by two car lengths by ¾ track Ray was within a single car and powering on, at the line it looked even, but the gantry told everyone the outcome of this superb final, the win lights were illuminated in Ray Irish’s lane, as he had run 10.17 128mph with Simon a slight drop in form for the weekend 11.07 120mph. When we looked at the finish line camera Ray took his first win, by only a matter of 3 - 4 inches. Drag racing is a family affair, the family you race with and the family at home who support the racers commitment. It was therefore befitting as we turned to leave the startline area to see Lynn Rays wife with a look of shock on her face which was soon joined by a few tears as she realised what her husband had just achieved, what a great Birthday present that was for Lynn, with hugs all round.

Back in the pits a stunned Ray could not quite believe it, Simon had taken it to the edge but Ray had finally done it after 7 years of glorious Gasser racing. Ray still looked as if he was in a state of disbelief as the brilliant winner’s trophy from Neil Melliard was presented to him, but with it sat on the scoop of his engine, he knew he had finally done it. Now all he needs is a display cabinet at home!

On reflection, Dragstalgia 2022 was a fantastic weekend of racing, a stunning weekend of sunshine and an awesome weekend for all classes, the crowds and Gasser Circus racing.


The Gasser Circus would like to thank their sponsors for their continued support, Melliard’s Modern Lettering, the NSRA, Rocket Racing Team, Renegade Fuels and Serck Services. We of course could not do this without the brilliant support of our crews and the superb organisation by the team at Santa Pod. Thank you one and all. Round 5 Mopars coming soon.

Grumpy's R&R (return and retirement).
21st July: Long time racer in both car and bike classes Paul Watson has been reflecting on his career so far in Outlaw Anglia. Is yet another retirement already on the cards?

Dragstalgia 2022 was the 30th Anniversary of Outlaw Anglia, a credit to everyone in the class. Although my Pop has run quicker, I have made it into a better road car with all new custom interior, change of rear gears, quieter exhausts etc. So it made the trip from Norfolk to Santa Pod with no issues except trying to find some super unleaded as I got nearer.

It ran a perfect 12.900 on its first pass, reminiscent of my first Grumpy's Toy which raced in the 12.90 class - spooky. Then it ran consistent 12.4 and 12.3s, a bit different to my last car running low 7s.

Great to see many old friends and always greeted to "we knew you would be back" but unfortunately this was a one off. I've now retired and must do so from racing too been a long road with many memories and friends.

Thank you to everyone who supported me over the years. Wishing everyone safe racing.

Swift snippets.
21st July: Rachael Warburton has contacted us to wish her husband Richard Warburton, ProZac Willys War racer and ex Shakey race director a very happy 68th birthday for tomorrow 21st July. We all wish you a Happy Birthday Richard, and have a great day.

We would also like to wish a very Happy Birthday to hot rodding and drag racing pioneer, British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member, and Flathead guru Ken Cooper. Have a great day Ken.

Nik Wadsworth.
20th July: We were shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Nik Wadsworth, huge fan of drag racing and member of Andy Frost's Red Victor 3 crew, to cancer. Andy Frost writes:

"Today we lost a great friend of ours. Nik was absolutely top shelf. He believed in us even when the chips were down. He still stood there when others didn't. We loved him like a brother and it's tragic he has gone so soon.

The comfort to us is him and big Rob will be together drinking the nectar of the gods today and every day forever more... RIP Nik, you'll never be forgotten around these parts. Love Andy and Deb."

Friend of the team Chris Hobson said: "Words cannot express how saddened I am to hear this news. There will be a missing space at Santa Pod Raceway but his presence will always be felt, Nik was a rare breed, he had all the time in the world for everyone.

"I have many fond memories with Nik over the last decade. The one that springs to mind is traveling to Hockenheim and then straight to Tierp with Andy and Joe the week after via stops in Belgium and Mantorp, it was the best of times with belly acheing laughter every step of the way.

"He achieved many great things including his involvement with Andy Frost and the Red Victor 3 campaign in Bahrain, something I know he was extremely proud of and it was amazing to watch him living his dreams.

"My love and thoughts go to Joy, Holly, the family and friends. I will be raising a glass to you this evening."

Lydden Hill Custom Cup adds RWYB.
20th July: Thanks to No Prep organiser Paul Marston who has let us know a development about the event taking place as part of Lydden Hill's Custom Cup on Saturday and Sunday 23rd-24th July:

After discussions with the Lydden Hill management, we can now offer RWYB for this coming weekend. There is room in the schedule, you will get a minimum of 4 sessions with two runs per session. This is on the Sunday and as a bonus, subject to the track schedule staying on time, we will also get a Saturday Night session from 5.30 - 6.00pm.

If you want to race in competition then for a few quid more you can enter the Custom Cup. We have amalgamated the No Prep with the Custom Cup to simplify things and allow the track time for RWYB/Grudge Racing. The track is 1/8th mile No Prep.

The entry is a weekend ticket which allows you access from Friday afternoon. There is track activity all day Saturday to watch and evening entertainment Saturday night. If you want to just show up Sunday, no problem but the price remains the same. You will need some kind of silencer on your car and you will need a crash Helmet.

The entry fee is £65.00 for the weekend and covers gate entry for the driver and two crew. Seperate crew tickets are available and spectators are very welcome, please go to the Lydden Hill website for event details and tickets. Lydden Hill is a lovely track and well worth a visit, yes you can camp. Any questions message us from the No Prep FB page or call Paul on 07831 650230.

Our thanks to Lydden Hill for hosting us and Eurodragster for the event coverage (you're welcome - Editor).

Photo: Declan Burke's Volvo Amazon.

Happy Birthday Arthur!
20th July: Nigel Taylor has asked if we can all wish drag racing Legend Arthur Bonner a very Happy 81st Birthday:

"Arthur purchased a Ford Prefect back in 1974 for £20 with no engine, he then built a homemade chassis and roll cage and installed a Pontiac 400 motor, naming the car the Detroit Spinner and went racing at Santa Pod in 1976, entering into competition in 1979. Arthur met lots of great friends along the way including the Draper Brothers, Stu Bradbury, John Price, John Hobbs, Bruno Sanderson, Bob West, George Greatholder and many more. ECA 46 was his competition number.

"Arthur rolled the Detroit Spinner but back he came again with a new chassis, still running a Pontiac 400 through a Fairbanks gearbox, but decided to take some time out and the car was laid up for 20 years.


"2014 saw Arthur and the Detroit Spinner return again and it generated lots of interest, the Pontiac motor let go and a Dart 555ci motor was then installed and the car was campaigned in Nostalgic racing till 2018 when the decision was made to sell the car which now resides in Barcelona with Pep Xampro.

"We had some great times with the Detroit Spinner and the fact that Arthur Bonner was able to get behind the wheel and do it all again was just superb and a massive thankyou to the 55 sponsors that came on board at the time along with all the supporters and fans that made so many memories!

"Happy Birthday Arthur Bonner! Thankyou for all your enthusiasm and dedication to the world of drag racing!"

Malta Hal Far Night Event results.
20th July: Congratulations to the winners at the second round of the Enemed Malta National Drag Racing Championship, which was organized at the Hal Far track by the Malta Drag Racing Association on the weekend of 16th-17th July:

Dragster DTA 4 class: Patrick Cassar (pictured right) (unopposed)
Open Class 6: Mario Borg (unopposed)
Front Wheel Drive Open Class: Yurgen Cassar (unopposed)
CA6 clss: Anthony Vella (unopposed)
Escort Class 3: Rosello Cassar (pictured below right) (unopposed)
Escort Class 2: Martin Scerri (pictured below right) (unopposed)
Open Class 1: Matthias Caruana (unopposed)
Diesel class: Nigel Muscat (unopposed)
Index Class 1: Steve Jennerway (pictured right) def. Mario Mifsud
Bracket 9.00-9.49: Lewis Vella (unopposed)
Bracket 9.50-9.99: Matthias Carunana (unopposed)
Bracket 10.50-10.99: Johann Camilleri (unopposed)
Bracket 11.00-11.49: Joe Ashton def. Chris Mercieca
Bracket 11.50-11.99: Steve Jennerway (unopposed)
Bracket 13.00-13.49: Mario Mifsud (unopposed)

Super Street Bike 1 and Open class: Valter Mallo (unopposed)

Best reaction time: Rosello Cassar

The sole British competitor Steve Jennerway who shipped his Escort Mk2 over to Malta for the race, won two trophies. He said "1st in bracket 11.5. 1st in index, a great few days of racing thanks to MDRA and my team Chris Doy, Rodney Farrugia, Joe Ashton, Colin Ashton, Sara Falzon and Julie Horton." Steve added "We did well for the love of racing, I rent a garage in Malta to keep my car. Since Brexit I have had to apply for a carnet, one year at a time witch is basically a up front tax deal if I was exporting. If I can't extend it I will have to bring the car home and apply again for the remaining two events."

Low ET was set by Antoine Schembri in his Toyoya 3SGTE powered dragster lightat 6.729/196.64.

Thanks to Alex Buttigieg for the photos. You can see Alex's photos from the event at this Facebook album.

Anniversary of first SPR side by side British AA/FD match race.
20th July: Photojournalist and former Santa Pod announcer Mike Collins has been in touch to let us know that today is the 54th anniversary of the first Santa Pod side by side AA/FD match race by British built dragsters. Mike said "It took place on Saturday 20th July 1968 at the combined night event that year, not Sunday 21st as has been published in On This Day In Motoring.

"Tony Densham in Commuter ran a 9.036/163.93 to defeat Rex Sluggett's 9.312/176.68, Rex had left on the second amber leaving a red light on the Christmas tree. After only 40 minutes both came back, Tony with Peter Billinton had tipped the can and Rex again red lit but then nailed the throttle lighting up the slicks and reaching 180.83mph as Tony eased through the traps in 9.82s after the engine let go."


Mike's presence at the event is supported by a contemporaneous photograph of him (centre) with Ros Phelps (who Mike says was a constant presence on the start line as a colleague of chief starter Stu Bradbury) with Mrs Taylor from the tea bar (white dress) and others all about to devour Mike's birthday cake.

Swift snippets.
20th July: Happy Birthday for today to Dirty Deeds crewman Carl Kirk, FWD racer Dean Hyndman, Pro ET racer Kim Bishop and longtime Swedish racer Stanley Mellström. We hope you all have a great day.

Mopar Euro Nationals close this Friday.
19th July: Thanks to Santa Pod Raceway Events Coordinator Dan Melrose who has reminded us of another event registration deadline:

"A quick reminder to all racers that race entries for the 28th Mopar Euro Nationals to be held on 29th-31st July close at 5pm Friday 22nd July. Nostalgia Superstock, Gasser Circus and Supercharged Outlaws competitors need to enter via the race entry portal at racers.santapodtickets.com.

"Anyone looking to do the American-only RWYB can still enter using the normal ticket portal at this link at any time before the event.

STP Greenlight Nationals entry update.
19th July: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for reminding us that entry to the STP Green Light Nationals to be held on 21st-22nd August closes on 29th July.

You can see the current entry list for the Green Light Nationals at this link.

Bug Jam pitting and preview.
19th July: The 35th edition of Bug Jam will be one of the largest events of 2022 crowd wise and there will also be a wide variety of racing action going on too. Max Frost, event co-ordinator at Santa Pod Raceway said "We kindly ask that all racers make an effort to arrive on site Thursday, to avoid the queues on Friday, and hopefully make pitting easier.

"Due to pit space being limited this weekend, Santa Pod Raceway shall be enforcing the ‘One Caravan/Motorhome Per Entry’ into the pit area, providing this is within your allocation of pit passes. All vehicles must fit within your pit bay. We shall not be issuing extra pit passes for this event.

"We ask all racers and teams to be considerate when pitting this weekend. SPR look forward to seeing you there – Hope you all have an awesome weekend’s racing!”

This will be the first outing of the year for Outlaw Flat Four, the heads-up class which is what it says on the tin (literally). Danny Pike has had the quickest timeslip in his Robinson Race Cars-built Type 3 notchback, 8.771/156.84 from last September, last year's winner Dave Wheatley and James Wotton have both run in the nines. Jack Marriage will be making his debut in a turbo Beetle he has been building up, and we welcome Frederik Coene from Belgium. Also, expat Aussie and vintage hot rod enthusiast Harvard Dallibar will be in his pretty NED Bug recreation. Jon Rathbone is making his return to racing after a few years, also Mark Eltringham (in a tube chassis Karmann Ghia) and Mark Pascoe are returning after a while away.


Pictured above: Harvard Dallibar, Mark Eltringham

In VW Pro, eyes will be on Hubert Strengberger who wowed us with a 7.36/185 at Big Bang, and has a new billet crankshaft fitted for even quicker times in the tube chassised car. John Brewster returns after suffering a fire in 2021, Rob Carter is entered with his new build Passat sporting a LS 427ci engine. VW Sportsman has competition debuts from Kaylee Jackson (Beetle), Danny Bean (Lupo) and Becky Bambrick (Golf VR6) and Andy Cooper (Skoda). Andy Voce is returning to Sportsman competition for the first time since 2017 (he had a drive in Luke Stevenson's dragster earlier in the year), also returning is Nick Edwards, on the entry list with his Type 2 Split Screen Samba bus. An entry of 37 in VW Sportsman should make for exciting qualifying sessions with five planned after lunchtime on Saturday.


Pictured above: Hubert Strengberger, Jack Marriage

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator has a good entry of 11, with Al McSweeney returning after parachute deployment problems at the Summer Nationals which resulted in two sets of front tyres being destroyed. The class also welcomes expat German Thorsten Appel who has the Chinky Nova he brought out at the Doorslammers.

Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET is a 29 car field and Michael Franklin will be making his competition debut in his Range Rover Sport.

There is nitro action from Susanne Callin in Top Fuel making exhibition runs and three runners in Nitro Funny Car, Main Event winner Jason Phelps, Kevin Kent and Steve Ashdown. Although Kev Chapman won't be racing after his devastating crash at the Main Event, there are some positive signs in the Thermoreg team as the team posted that work's underway on the car with Wayne Dupuy visiting the shop to assess the work required.

The Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship has its fourth of six rounds, with sponsor Andy Robinson leading the points by a margin of two over Nick Davies, with Michel Tooren and Kev Slyfield less than one round behind, the most open championship in years. Add to that a field of nine cars meaning one non-qualifier for eliminations, and the ingredients are there for a highly competitive race. Returning to the class after work on her fuel system and subsequent testing is the turbo Mustang of Paula Atkin, absent from Pro Mod competition since 2015, and it will be great to see the Mustang in race mode. A mention also for sponsor Jon Webster who has refined his setup of the car's staging and launching process and described it in great detail on his Facebook page.

Bug Jam has many other elements of course, but you can read about them on the event site. Racing starts with nitro testing at noon on Friday, followed by a match race between Wayne Allman's Mental Breakdown alky twin cab and Andy Raw's Nitro Bug nostalgia funny car, with run what ya brung afterwards and jet cars FireForce 3 and Oklahoma Willy until 7pm. Saturday has more RWYB and qualifying for competition starts at 2pm.

Eurodragster.com will be there to cover all the action with galleries from Julian and Diana and live reporting from editor Simon, the link to go to is this one.

Bug Jam perfect awards.
19th July: £100 is up for grabs at this weekend's Bug Jam 35 courtesy of Eurodragster.com and our sponsors.

This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been carried over £50 after it went unclaimed at Dragstalgia. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available in all classes during both qualifying and eliminations after lunchtime on Saturday, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supported by Andy Hadfield and the Twister Race Team has been reset to £50 after it was won by Blood Cancer UK ET Bike racer Scott Collier at the STP Summer Nationals. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to run +0.000 on index or dial-in. The Perfect ET Award is available in VW Sportsman, VW Pro and Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the weekend. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield of the Twister Race Team.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect ET Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.

Sportsman ET Bug Jam reaction time award.
19th July: Sponsor of, and occasional entrant in, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET Andy Dibley has announced a special award for reaction times during the class's qualifying at Bug Jam 35:

With Bug Jam 35 having another larger entry in Hutchinson and Dibley Sportsman ET we're bringing back the Reaction Time Award throughout qualifying. I'll be putting £50 of my own money in the hat, and anyone wanting to participate is invited to put in £5 themselves, meaning there is a potential prize pot of £200. The winner of the prize is the racer with the lowest average reaction time through qualifying at the event, and yes, I will be trying to win my own money back!

Rules are the same as the previous years:

Must have paid before the first round of qualifying
Red Lights count for 0.5 RT
Missing a session of qualifying counts for 0.5 RT
Lowest average overall the sessions wins.

This award is run alongside all the other prizes up for grabs on the weekend including the Number One Qualifier trophy and the Bad Habit Racing Random award courtesy Cath and Tig.

Swift snippets.
19th July: Happy Birthday for today to UK Drag Bike legend and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member John Hobbs and to Wild Bunch racer Steve Heaven from dad Russ. We all hope you have a great day John and Steve.

Kieran has posted 25 minutes of footage from the Ford Show on his Youtube channel which you can see by clicking here. In it are runs from the Modified 100e Challenge, drag demos and a large number of classic Fords going down the Santa Pod quarter mile rapidly. Don't forget to subscribe to Mk1Kieran!

Martin Jarman.
18th July: We were saddened to learn from John Hunt that 1970s-80s dragster racer Martin Jarman passed away on 6th July. John writes:

I met Martin and Richard Jarman in 1975, Martin lived only a five minute walk from me and, while helping the local milkman with deliveries, I came across their dragster Strip Star on the trailer parked outside Martin's house in Guildford. I would crew with them for the next six years. You can read the drag racing story of the Jarman Brothers as part of our Pioneer stories at this link.

Our deepest condolences go to Martin's family and friends.

Pragmatis leads Melbourne Junior Dragster prize money.
18th July: Thanks to Victoria Smith, managing director of business consultancy Pragmatis Limited for sending details of a prize fund for Junior Dragsters at Melbourne Raceway:

"The event taking place at Melbourne Raceway 17th & 18th September, the Northern Street Legal Shootout, will have prize money which has been donated by Pragmatis, The Irish Junior Dragster Team and Boost Monkey racing, to encourage Junior Dragster drivers and their families to attend and support Melbourne Raceway. The prize is £1,000 to the winner, £200 to the runner up and £100 to third place.

"This is hopefully the first of more prize fund events to come in 2023."

The prize is for all three Junior Dragster classes combined with qualifying on Saturday and dial-in eliminations on Sunday, on a one-time dial-in. Competitors will be able to buy back into round 2 for only £20, and early bird weekend fees are £35 for driver and £20 for each member of crew. More info and race booking may be able to made by e-mailing [email protected] without delay.

Other racers will be able to enter the event by going to this link, completing the entry form and then selecting the type of tickets via this link. Tickets will be available from the start of August.

Ford Show gallery.
18th July: Thanks to Kieran for enduring the heat at Santa Pod Raceway and sending in a gallery of pictures from the Ford Show 2022 at this link and also via the Event Coverage List presented in association with John Woolfe Racing.

Kieran commented "The show was really busy, strip quieter but I expect the heat played a part in that!"

One of the quicker cars present was the Fordson Beast of Simon Barlow, driven on this occasion by Simon's nephew Nathan Barlow at the wheel. Nathan who is more familiar in his native Fenton, Michigan in a Pro Street Camaro, was unable to run in the Orange Pop at Dragstalgia, so to make up for that disappointment, he was given the go ahead to drive the Fordson and acquitted himself excellently, running a 8.40/150 in his first ever run, great effort!

Cannon Racing bike for sale.
18th July: Team principal of Cannon Racing Chris Hannam has been in touch to let us know that his unique DOHC bike is available for sale:

The time has come after several discussions to put our unique DOHC blown supertwin Topfuel bike up for sale as we simply do not have time with the new puma TFB to give this the time it deserves.

The bike will be sold fresh ready to run with everything we have to include starter, a full spare motor, 3 spare cranks, numerous engine spares to make a 3rd motor, full spare MSD ignition, spare B&J Gearbox plus spares as well, fuel and oil pumps, drive belts, bearings, spare blower up pipes, spare exhaust pipes.

Basically there are enough spares to race for years as the bike has two or more of everything and full list of parts will be sent to interested parties as it’s simply too big to list here. The bike has honestly not met its full potential and is one of the few bikes capable of running in the 5s with the right team and further development of the heads.

The bike's best times to date are 60ft: 1.028; 330ft: 2.678; 1/8 mile 4.02/183mph, 1000ft 5.21/203, quarter mile 6.28/202 clicked after 1000ft.

It goes without saying all RacePak data, run sheets and everything we have learned over the last 14 years will come with the bike.

If you are interested for a price of £60k, you can contact Chris at [email protected] or message him on Facebook.

DMSB delegates drag racing in Germany to DMV.
18th July: Many thanks to Andrea Kloss for sending us news of a restructuring of the organisation of the sport in Germany:

In a news article from July 14th, 2022, the German Motorsports Association DMSB – Deutscher Motor Sport Bund announced that in future there will be a new contact for Drag Racing in Germany, for all questions relating to the everyday practice of the sport. As part of its renewal and restructuring measures, the DMSB has transferred the administration of the sport to a competent promoter.

The organisation and administration of Drag Racing is now moving closer to the active sportsmen and -women in Germany. The DMSB, which was responsible for the organisation of the sport up to now, has handed this task over to the DMV (Deutscher Motorsport Verband). This means that Drag Racing will continue to be developed directly by the dedicated experts who are already familiar with the sport and thus ensure a seamless transition. Sportsmen and -women who have questions or concerns about the everyday practice of Drag Racing can now contact the following central point of contact:

Deutscher Motorsport Verband e.V.
Otto-Fleck-Schneise 12
60528 Frankfurt am Main
Telefon +49 69 695002-23
E-Mail [email protected]

The reorganization of Drag Racing is part of a far-reaching renewal and restructuring measure by the DMSB, within the scope of which the responsibilities for all German motorsports are to be reorganized. In future, competent promoters will take over daily business, which they can tailor to the needs of the sportsmen and -women. As the sole sporting authority the DMSB continues to accompany every discipline and German motorsport as a whole. The tasks of the DMSB include in particular the creation of the annual racing calendar, regulation of the licensing system, creation of the sporting regulations and technical provisions as well as being the sporting jurisdiction. This measure also gives the umbrella organization the necessary capacities to continue to have a defining impact on important future issues – including safety, technology and sustainability.

The DMV has played an active role in German Drag Racing for years, for instance by recruiting competent consultants for drag racing, who can draw on many years of experience in and around drag racing. The DMV is also responsible for the administration of the German Clubsport regulations for drag racing. The DMV holds the DMV Drag Racing Championship for its own members, which honors its champions in all drag racing classes at the annual DMV Gala of Champions in November of each year. In addition, the clubs that stand for drag racing in Germany are all members of the DMV: Badischer Motorsport Club e.V., Hanau Auto Racing Association e.V., Drag Race Union e.V. and 1st AMC Dessau e.V.

With the DMSB delegation, we are pleased to be put into a position to do even more for the sport and we look forward to reaching out to competitors, clubs, tracks and sponsors to develop drag racing into the future.

For this purpose, the DMV has launched a new website for drag racing in Germany www.dm-dragracing.de which includes information on the sport in and around Germany. The main focus of the site is to promote DMSB Drag Racing in Germany. The site includes updates about how to get a competitors license if you are a German driver wanting to compete in drag racing. Further pages offer the current points standings of the DMSB Drag Racing Cup, the dmsj Junior Dragster and Drag Bike Cup and the DMV Drag Racing Championship. Other pages introduce the members of the Sports Commission for Drag Racing in Germany, there is a tech talk update for drivers on the latest requirements which is hosted by the FIA Technical Consultant and German Chief Scrutineer Conny Metzner. Drivers can also apply for permanent championship numbers which apply across DMSB events. The website also offers current news from events, clubs and teams.

Swift snippets.
18th July: Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET and Super Gas racer Dave Fulton and Top Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja, we hope you both have a great day.

The Champion of Street Week Sweden 2022 has been confirmed as Timo Helisten, driving a '57 Chevrolet. Organiser Mats Appelgren posted "Congratulations to Timo and all the racers who did this. Street Week also wants to thank all racers, co-drivers, sponsors, fluctis, Pro Spectators and not least all the crew that made this possible, everyone has contributed in their own way."

As a preview to the results of the Malta Drag Racing Association night event held on 14th-16th July, you can see Youtube playlists of videos from the event posted by MDRA secretary Konrad D'Anastasi at this link. We will publish official results and racer comments later in the week.

Thanks to Sharron Collier for letting us know that Nigel Talbot, Junior Drag Bike racer Megan Talbot's dad, is doing a ride around Britain for charity. Sharron says "He is riding around Britain without a particular route on a Royal Enfield motorcycle to raise funds for the RNLI and NABD. His Facebook page is Unguided Tour Of Britain. He is obviously paying for the trip himself but aims to collect money for his chosen charity the Royal National Lifeboat Institution as he goes via a JustGiving link. If anyone would like to follow his progress, donate, or just offer him a field to sleep in one night, he will be delighted to hear from you."

Nitrobear Racing lives on.
17th July: Following the sad passing of Bjorn Mårtensson, driver and owner of the Nitrobear Top Fuel car, in 2019 aged 50, fans were wondering what would become of his Nitrobear Top Fuel car and team.

Yesterday it was revealed at Nitrobear Racing in Norrtälje, Sweden by team member Freddie Hilborn that Jens Jonsson (previously cylinder head man in Nitrobear Racing) has bought the Top Fuel Dragster from its previous owner Veronica.

"The team will live on in the Nitrobear spirit and be called NBR Racing. Goals & plans are small & careful... Step 1 is a license cleared, that will be an exciting journey. Then we will see what happens in the future.

"The car has been standing since Mantorp 2019 & will be out at the earliest next year. But you have to have a little fun, so today we started the car twice in the park at the American Car Show Norrtälje, Sweden. I am fully convinced that Björn smiled up there in the sky when the public sea jumped backwards."

Jens' reaction to the enormity of his new situation was "Oh, a thing happened! I’m not sure if I’m not going to be able to do it again.”

Freddy told us "Jens' intention is to have it stored in great condition and allways ready to run, like yesterdays car show where we cackled it and made some trottle whacks in Björns name. We then plan to contact a US racer or possibly RFM to to license him.

"It’s not 100% that NBR Racing will show up at an FIA Event yet. Jens does not have the funding yet to take it to a FIA Event and race. Maybe he will solve that after licensing sometime next year, or we might find someone that can bring money to the table and wants to drive it. Above all, we want to celebrate the memory of Björn by taking care of the car in a proper way and trying our best to get it back on track."

Clastres results and media.
17th July: Congratulations to the winners at the 18th European Dragster took place at Clastres Dragway from 2nd-3rd July, organised by Association-Trophee-Dragster:

Super Pro ET: Angel Romero (Chevy Camaro) def. Christian Zulauf (Ford Model A)
Pro ET: Jean Luc Arnaud (Ford Maverick) 10.276 def. Peter Soursas (Plymouth Barracuda) 10.448
Street Run: Jean Luc Jacot (Pontiac Trans Am) 13.855 (bye)
Super Gas: Marianne Wisotzke (Chevy Camaro) 10.185 (bye)
Junior Dragster: Max Timmers 0.003 RT

77 cars plus run what ya brung entries made qualifying runs for the race which counted towards the Association-Trophee-Dragster Championship and was also part of the Drag Race Union Challenged for Pro ET and Super Pro ET. You can see full results at this link on the ATD web site.

In Super Pro ET, 27 cars qualified with Alex Halter qualifying #1 on 7.876/267.91kph (7.87 dial), closely followed by Patrick Dubois who ran 7.706/267.91 (7.70 dial). There were some familiar names from racing across Europe, four members of Custom Gang Racing (Dubois family), Christian Zulauf's Model A five window coupe which dialled in at 7.99, Robin Sattler's Cosworth dragster and regular Santa Pod visitors Jens Konnecke, Oliver Krautberger and Kirsten van Croonenborgh. Angel Romero defeated Kirsten in round 1, then F Romer in round 2, Mario Bellio in round 3 and Christian Dubois in the semi final before coming up against Christian in the final.


Photos of Angel Romero and Marianne Wisotzke's new Super Gas Camaro. Photo credit: Markus Münch

In Pro ET, Cedric Limasset qualified first of 27 with a perfect 11.250/188.00, followed by Jean Luc Arnaud who ran 10.301/207.79 on 10.30 dial, and Gerd Habermann who ran 9.093/230.19 on a 9.09 dial. In eliminations, Arnaud defeated Edgar Breedveld in round 1, Janine Petzold in round 2, had a bye in the quarter final and defeated Armin Widmann in the semi final.

Street Run, cars slower than 12.00, was dominated by Jean Luc Jacot who qualified #1 with 13.924/154.40 (13.92 dial) and after a round 1 bye, defeated S Sébastian Jacot (no relation) in round 2 and Maximilien Loubert in the semi final, before getting a bye in the final after Loic Manquest was a no-show.

The first running of Super Gas proved to be a walkover for Marianne Wisotzke in her new Camaro as two of the four qualifiers, Udo Becker and Sylvie Lavaud in their Turbo Beetles were unable to make the round 1 call.

Unfortunately a lack of eighth mile timing resulted in eliminations being unable to be run for the Juniors, their points being determined solely by qualifying positions. Also a planned Super Comp class had no entries, such is the popularity of Super Pro ET and the difficulty of double classing with the quick turnaround for qualifying rounds.

Media from Clastres can be seen at the following links::

• Markus Münch Dragmag.de website
• RM Magazine Facebook album
• Clarissa Czekalla Facebook post
• Alexandre Havez Photo Facebook album
• Pamp Deville Facebook post
• Philippe Maquin Google photos
• European Drag Racing Videos Facebook video page
• Luc Vanmeerbeck Youtube channel

Regarding championships, the Association-Trophee-Dragster Championship is led by Peter Soursas (Pro ET), Angel Romero (Super Pro ET) Jean Luc Jacot (Street Run), Marianne Wisotzke (Super Gas) and Marie Camillieri (Junior Dragster). You can see all the details at this link on the ATD website.

The final race in the ATD Championship will be the 19th European Dragster Speed Finals to be held at Clastres Raceway on 30th-31st July. Registrations will remain open until 12:00 CET on Saturday, July 30. Racers can enter online at this link.

Swift snippets.
17th July: Happy Birthday for today to blown alky slingshot racer Joe Bond, Pro Modified racer Bert Englefield and erstwhile Custom Car editor Dave Biggadyke both of whom celebrate 65 years and Supercharged Outlaws racer Steve Wright who we hope to see back at the track soon. Have a great and chilled day all!

In his latest blog post, Russ Heaven of Wild Bunch Team Tight Fit reveal that their Dragstalgia was a difficult one, and as a result of chassis issues, the car will be retired. You can read Russ's blog at this link. Thanks team for the memories and great 8.2s times, and we look forward to seeing the team back with a new car in the future.

Motor Psycho's Dragstalgia.
16th July: Many thanks to fuel altered racer Adam Gleadow who has sent his account of his Dragstalgia at which he competed in the Cannonball competition:

Dragstalgia 2022 - what a weekend. After making some good test passes in June we came away with some things to improve on, but excited to finally be bringing a fuel altered to Dragstalgia.

Friday morning we arrived and got set up, thanks to Karl Harrison for lending us his scales we corner weighted the car and adjusted accordingly to try and dial out the wayward handling. Upon draining the oil from the Lenco to replace, we found loose needle roller bearings, not good! The Lenco was out and stripped in record time, a Timken thrust bearing had disintegrated. Replacement fitted, everything back together and we were ready to go.

To check out the adjustments a 330ft pass was planned, the changes worked with a nice dead straight launch. A quick check over of the engine showed everything was good and we were good to go for Saturday and the Nostalgia Cannonball Shootout.

Saturday morning getting ready to warm up and a spark plug thread pulled out of the head, another quick strip down and repair and we were back in business, unfortunately just too late to make the call.

Saturday afternoon we lined up with Bob Hawkins. I left on Bob, going well hit 2nd gear and as he came around me the car made a big move to the left around 400ft and I lifted.


Sunday morning was the one we had all been waiting for, finally getting to run next to Joe, for the first time in 10 years! A couple of dropped cylinders made for a very lazy run, straight and under control though clicked off before 1000ft.

All in all a very successful weekend, we learnt a lot about what the car likes and wants, off to make more updates to come back and start going quick. Thanks to; John Wright for his tuning assistance (and Tony Betts for letting us borrow him!), Martyn Hannis for the Lenco thrust bearing and help rebuilding, Paul Stubbings for the spark plug insert, Martin Maxwell for the loan of a coil and oil pressure gauge and Dave/Robbie Grabham for the blower pulley.

We are looking get some t-shirts and hats made, on a pre-order basis so if you're interested please email me at [email protected].

Trakbytes update.
16th July: Thanks to Trakbytes webmaster Chris Dossett for telling us about the latest update to his excellent website, the first stop for those wishing to read about the history of UK drag racing pre-2003:

This time the new or updated material spans the years 1964 to 1989. There are some new entries and many updates to some existing ones. There are 45 new programme covers from the collection of Clive Rooms and I have uploaded the second volume of The Retford Scrapbooks. This one covers the years 1972 to 1974 and includes features on The Hillbillies Topolino, Russo's Rat, The UK Pro Stockers, Paula Murphy's Funny Car and Gary Goggin's Camaro plus many other articles, race reports and snippets.

As a companion to the Santa Pod strip record page I have prepared and uploaded a similar page with the Bike strip records. This is of course entirely unofficial, and probably has some errors and omissions so feel free to correct me as appropriate. In fact there are a couple of question marks in there where I have as yet been unable to confirm some details regarding Stefan Reisten's performances.

The Hall Of Fame pages for Dennis Priddle, Clive Skilton, Allan Herridge, The Pages, The Stones and John Hobbs have all been updated too.

You can see Trakbytes by going to www.trakbytes.co.uk and contact Chris by writing to [email protected].

Street Race Sweden leaderboard.
16th July: The leaders of Street Race Sweden 2022 at the end of Friday were:

Max Outlaw: Timo Helisten ('57 Chevrolet) average time 5.29154
Street Outlaw: Henrik Ludvigsson (Ford '32 5-window coupe) 5.43222
Ultimate Street: Kalle Aurell (Dodge Aspen '76) 5.98694
True Street: Sami Toivonen (Chevrolet) 6.00208
Pro Touring: Petter Lundgren (Chevrolet El Camino) 6.94122
Import War (RWD): Anders Svanberg (Toyota Supra) 5.99166
4WD: Peter Björck (Audi Quattro) 6.34722
Diesel Power: Linus Thollander (Chevrolet Nova) 6.98348
Classic: Martin Nylund ('55 Chevrolet) 6.7337
Hot Rod: Per Browall ('40 Willys Coupe) 6.63042
Stick Shift Challenge: Jimmy Liliensöe 6.2357
Sealed Hood Challenge: Henrik Gustavsson 5.1217

There is still a drive from Lindesberg to Bråvalla Raceway with checkpoints the finish line, so these results are provisional. In both the quickest classes, the lead changed on Thursday as Timo Helisten went quick with a 5,0875, and previous leader Thomas Forslund ran 5,2117. On Friday, both ran 5.31, meaning that Timo was the victor by a margin of only 0.03982.

In Street Outlaw, Henrik Ludvigsson took the lead on Thursday with a 5.2398 to previous leader Henrik Gustavsson's 5.3299, Henrik slowing to a 6.2444 on Friday that just kept him in second.

You can see the Friday results, top 3s, and contenders in the special Stick Shift and Sealed Hood Challenges by going to this link on the event website.

Swift snippets.
16th July: We've several birthdays to celebrate today. Best wishes for a Happy Birthday to writer and Nostalgia Superstock racer Nïamh Frances Smith, Super Comp racer Steve Hudson, ET Bike racer Gary Hester, FWD racer Allan Duthie, Top Methanol Dragster racer Dennis Habermann and former Top Fuel racer Viveca Averstedt. We hope you all have a great day!

More Dragstalgia media has been posted in the last couple of days. First off is a great 17 minute video by Terry Robbins of Pod Wheels Youtube Channel of featuring nostalgia funny cars, slingshots and altereds, which you can see by clicking here. There are also separate Facebook photo albums from John Harding for Dragstalgia Cannonball, Supercharged Outlaws, Outlaw Anglia, Wild Bunch, Nostalgia Superstock, Gasser Circus, Willys Wars, Custom Car Invitational/RWYB, Bike Classes, and “Pod Life” – a collection of photos that hopefully capture some of the spirit of Dragstalgia from the bank, campsite and pits.

Wild Bunch co-ordinator Claire Meaddows has updated the Wild Bunch website with a "brief" report from Dragstalgia with awards and Spot Prizes which you can see details of by clicking here.

Dragstalgia NSA shootout report.
15th July: Many thanks to Keith Lee for sending a report on the Dragstalgia NSA shootout last weekend:

The Dragstalgia weekend lived up to expectations, with wall to wall sunshine all the way. This year marked the end of an era for the NSA Shootout, and drag racing itself, as John Hobbs was riding for one last time. To mark the occasion, we arranged a guard of honour in the start area for both John and his old friend Dave Clee, who was also retiring, as they came out for a match race. It was a special moment of the weekend - even if Dave’s bike did suffer stage fright. Very fittingly, this was recognised as THE Dragstalgia moment of the event.

Many of the bikes were making what was likely to be their first, and only, event of the year. Even Olympus was running a little rough on Saturday, but that was all sorted by Sunday morning, as John raced to a fine 10.32s/147mph to make the final shootout against the twin-engined Triumph of Ray Law. It looked set for a last win for John, as he had a few tenths on Ray - until a red light glowed in his lane! Unfortunately, he had just edged fractionally back as the lights rolled. Ray Law took an unexpected first class win, as he slowed with problems on his run. No final win for John, but he was philosophical back in the pits. “It was a great weekend to finish on, so I am happy.”

A very different three-wheeler made its Dragstalgia debut, with Paul Standing on board the Hillman Imp powered Impulse, which dates back to the late sixties. Struggling with rebuild gremlins, he only managed one run. Gary Norman had the family’s two twin-engined bikes ready, after a lot of pre-season work. He let son Matthew have his first ride on the gold Norton, and it sounded very good - turning 11.58/120. Graham Sykes was kept busy, riding the ex-Jay Upton Black Cat Triumph for Colin Fallows. They were busy tweaking the motor during the weekend, and one run nearly caught Graham out. It was judged as the best wheelie of the weekend, as the bike took off. On Sunday, Colin let him have a run out on the Super Cyclops 1000cc double Norton, and he came back with a broad smile after running 11.95/121.

It was a pleasure to meet up with Hans Maarten Vink, who is the eldest son of Dutch racing legend Henk Vink. He came over as his late father Henk was announced as the latest overseas member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Talking of Dutch riders, one of the Dragstalgia highlights has been the the appearance of Jan Honee, making demo passes on his incredible 500cc single cylinder Jawa. Jan clocked the quickest time of 8.85s on a very early shutoff first run. Sadly, he suffered a start area incident on Sunday morning, when the clutch did not disengage fully - and Jan suffered a hard slam against the wall when he tried to get on and stop the machine. He was taken to hospital, from where he phoned me with an update. Unfortunately he suffered a broken pelvis in two places, plus fractures of other bones. He is being well cared for, but as yet he does not know when he will be able to return home, as his pelvis has to be kept stable. I did pass on everybody’s best wishes to the popular rider - and hope he makes a swift recovery.

Thanks as always to Ray Baskerville and his son Neil for providing and manning the start rollers, which are essential for the old bikes. It was a good chance to meet old riders again during the weekend, and also enjoy seeing some memorable old bikes on display during a very enjoyable event. On a personal note, my sincere thanks to all those who took the troubke to let me know how much they are enjoying my new book, which makes it all worthwhile.

Photo credit: Keith Lee Images

Street Race Sweden report.
15th July: Earlier in the year we reported that Sweden's Drag and Drive event Street Week Sweden was making a return for its fifth edition, and we have been following the event for which track action concludes today. You can see a live stream at solidsport.com from 14:30 today UK time. If you are hooked, previous year's streams are available for 49SEK each (around £5). Here are some of the top stories of the event:

On Monday 11th July the competition started at Bråvalla Raceway in Norrköping after an inspection Sunday. A good number of 175 vehicles started on Monday making runs to determine their best of the day, with 1/8 mile times averaged out over the five days of competition. After a 175 drive the action moved to Dala-Järna on Tuesday another airfield track but carefully prepared to allow passes down to low fives. Between Dala-Järna on Tuesday and Färila Raceway on Wednesday (160 miles) the cars had to contend with rain and thunderstorms, then yesterday action took place at Tallhed, Orsa, a further 85 miles road travel. Today the track time ends at Lindesberg, another drive of 146 miles, before the teams return to Bråvalla Raceway for the finish, a car show and a well-earned banquet.

You can see individual day's results at www.dragracing.eu and the organisers have collated the results which you can see on the competition's website streetweeksweden.se. Due to mechanical attrition 175 competitors started on Monday but by Thursday that number had reduced to 154.

Best average times for the eighth mile for the first two days were set in Max Outlaw class by Thomas Forslund in a '75 Ford Escort, he ran 5.4129 on Monday, 5.3301 on Tuesday and 5,2117 on Wednesday. Outright best for Tuesday and Wednesday was the '57 Chevy of Timo Helisten who ran 5.0884 and 5.1015 respectively. Thursday's quickest in Max Outlaw was John Friberg with a 5.0095 from a twin turbo Camaro.




Photos: Thomas Forslund, Timo Helisten and John Friberg (top row), Emil Vikman and Henrik Gustavsson (bottom row)

Street Outlaw is led by Emil Vikman who ran 5.6141 in a Opel Ascona on Monday, 5.3159 on Tuesday and 5.3199 on Wednesday. Quickest time for the class on Tuesday was Henrik Gustavsson in a BMW E36 Coupe who ran 5.1217.

There are other classes which you can see in the overall results and read rules on the Street Week website, here are some snippets from social media, starting with some familiar names to European drag racing fans:

Pro Modified racer and builder Tami Brander with a Chevy Camaro is in 5th place in Max Outlaw with 5,8047 and 5,4951 times, however Top Doorslammer racer Charlie Östedt with a Volvo Amazon Estate had to cancel with an oil leaking/smoking turbo and other problems. #Jan Palmqvist had a new build for StreetWeek in the works, a 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix with the drive train from his Pro Stock car but was unable to make the event.



Photos: Tami Brander, Janne Uskali and Jocke Cedergren

There were some hard luck stories from the road. Janne Uskali put out an appeal for a third member housing for his Blacklist Buick to be transported from Gothenburg to Street Week starting point, then having solved that issue and installed it, another problem with ATI SG4 transmission parts and bushes surfaced on day 2. Jocke Cedergren in his pretty '34 Ford Coupe withdrew with breakage. Linus Thollander had a broken camshaft in his Nova. Peter Bjersbo withdrew from third with technical problems. Thomas Alm ran a new PB with his supercharged Dodge Charger, hardest luck of all was Ragnar Röding whose support race bus to his Ford Fairlane went up in flames.

Media has been posted on the Street Week Sweden Facebook page, Håkon Strøm (video) and Evelina Heed also Dag Nedeby. Some racers have posted Vlogs at Youtube such as Kaeser Kompressor spoken in Swedish.

To prep five rarely used tracks and install spectator and racer facilities, the organisers have taken on a tremendous task and organiser Anna-Karin Carlsson wrote "We have volunteers in a week who work many hours so that we can participate or watch the race, some go to all tracks and others are local to their course. They are the heroes who clean tracks, ensure there is fresh water, ensure spectators can stand safely, sweat in fireproof clothing in the sun, fix electricity for timing etc. Your entry, your camping fee, your t-shirt and your visits to the sponsors make us hopefully have Streetweek 2023. Improvement proposals via info@streetweek email can make 2023 even better." Despite the cost and beaureaucratic challenges our hope is more teams take up the challenge, enjoy the Swedish scenery and have some great times at the tracks.

32 clubs for Ford Show.
15th July: A great total of 32 Ford based car clubs have booked to attend and display at the Ford Show on Sunday at Santa Pod Raceway, making it double the number for 2019. There are plenty of prizes for racers who sign up for the £45 run what ya brung, seven performance trophies for various classes, nine show trophies for the Show Car Paddock, and an autotest trophy up for grabs, which will be presented to the day's quickest runner on the slalom course in the pits.

The Modified 100e Challenge, drag car demos, jet exhibition runs, Paul Swift's Ford Display Team and the usual family entertainment laid on by Santa Pod round off the day action. Then at nighttime there will be a live stage with Slim 47 playing indie/rock anthems. You can buy tickets from the Santa Pod Ticket site. Eurodragster.com will be represented by Kieran who will be taking pictures and video at the event.

NSS Lifestyle points posted.
15th July: Following the class's massive presence at Dragstalgia last weekend, we have with the kind assistance of Andrew Bishop, calculated the UK Nostalgia Superstock lifestyle championship points, and posted them to our points page.

You can see the UK Nostalgia Superstock points at this link (pdf format), or via News, then Points Standings, from the main menu.

Bug Jam racer update.
14th July: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us details of track opening and signing on at the Bug Jam being held on 22nd-24th July, including scrutineering times.

The main gates to the track will open from 10.00am to 9.00pm only on Thursday 21st July, and then from 9.00am on Friday, 22nd July.

Friday, 22nd July:
10.00 Signing on office opens for run what ya brung
12.00 Signing on for race vehicles
14:30-19.00 Scrutineering open for Competitors
12.00-19.00 Run what ya brung only

Saturday, 23rd July:
09.00 Scrutineering and signing on open for competitors (no class order - Comp Licences required)
09:30-13.00 Run what ya brung only
14:00 Competition vehicles only – qualifying

Sunday, 24th July:
08.00 Scrutineering and signing on open (Comp Licences required)
09.30 Track open for qualifying/eliminations

The detailed running orders and printable entry list can be seen in our event coverage page.

Firecracker for sale.
14th July: After appearances at the Dragstalgia Cannonball at which he was the most photographed vehicle at Santa Pod Raceway, Adam Clayton has made the shock decision to place his Firecracker Fuel Altered up for sale.

In all of his runs at Dragstalgia, Adam's altered was bounce prone, the car leaving hard up on the wheelie bars and chassis unloading as the car bunny hopped its way down the track. It was fantastic entertainment for the fans and a godsend for the photographers for whom a car with all four wheels off the ground is something of a holy grail.

But on Monday Adam who is the grandson of Funny Car driver, cackle car owner and nitro crew man Bill Sherratt (to whom Happy Birthday wishes on his 70th birthday today), placed Firecracker up for sale on Facebook. Adam said "It was definitely a wild ride. However, I've decided to put the whole operation up for sale to see if there’s any serious interest, I’ve had a lot of fun building the car up and running it.

"The car burns a lot of my time up and I found myself with little spare time. I’ve also got a ongoing business deal, so I’ll use the money and the time that I would have spent on the car to make sure I’m 100% committed to making it all work.

"All that said, I’m not in a mad rush to get it all gone, if there is a deal to be had then so be it, but if not, I plan on running the car later in the year. After that I might consider splitting the whole operation.

"As far as my future in the sport, I’ll always be involved in the sport, there’s a couple of door cars been built in the background which I look forward to seeing where they belong, at the track. I also haven’t given up on my dream of racing Nostlagia Funny Cars but for now I need to make sure my career has a straight path.

"I would like to say thanks to all my friends and family for their support, because without them I truly couldn’t have done it without them.

You can see the full spec of Firecracker for sale in our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet at this link or via the main menu.

Summit Racing Internationals preview.
14th July: As mentioned in yesterday's update, today is the final day for entry at normal rates to the Summit Racing Internationals 2022 to be held at Tierp Arena on 11th-14th August. You will be able to enter by going to www.dragracing.eu where you can find supplementary regulations for all classes. Being the second round of the FIA and FIM-E European Drag Racing Championships, the classes involved will include Top Fuel, Top Methanol Dragster/Top Methanol, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Modified for FIA and Top Fuel Bike, Super Twin Bike, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike for FIM-E points. The bike classes also count towards the 2022 EDRS Pro Nordic Bike Drag Racing Championship.

Sportsman classes involved towards their respective Summit Racing EDRS Championships are Competition Eliminator, Pro Street, Street, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Stock/Super Stock, Junior Dragster, Super Comp Bike, Super Gas Bike, Super Street Bike and Junior Drag bike.

With 238 vehicles entered already this is looking like one of the biggest races in Europe in 2022. There are currently four Top Fuel Dragsters (three from RFM plus Tommi Haapanen), three Top Methanol Dragsters (the A/Fuel Sweden trio) combined with three Top Methanol Funny Cars (Sandro Bellio, Linn Engan Fløysvik and Magnus Larsson).

Doorslammer fans already have 11 Pro Stock cars and 18 Pro Modified cars to see. The bike classes are well subscribed with seven Top Fuel Bikes, eleven Super Twin Motorcycles, five Pro Stock Motorcycles and ten Super Street Bike. The sole English competitor is Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Newbury whom we wish the best of luck dealing with the border bureaucracy as well as the competition.

Those wishing to see the event may have to travel to Sweden as no streaming video is available. In the meantime, the FIA have provided over 5 minutes of video to promote the series at the latest episode of their FIA Pure Motorsport video production.

Eurodragster.com plans to report live from the event in our usual way, so stay tuned for details of qualifying and eliminations with daily photo galleries and pit notes.

BDRHoF Auction at Dragstalgia.
14th July: The directors of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame wish to thank all who participated in its second annual Dragstalgia Grand Auction at Santa Pod this past weekend, whether as donors of items or as auction bidders and purchasers of memorabilia in the accompanying sale, writes Director Robin Jackson.

The Hall of Fame is staffed by dedicated volunteers eager to support drag racing’s heritage and is sustained by sponsorships, donations and fund-raising activities. The revenue generated by the auction and sale reached over £3,400, a small increase on last year’s total. Separately, nearly £150 was raised for the BDRHOF Benevolent Fund, the charity which offers assistance to entitled individuals and organisations within the racing community.


Pictured: John Hobbs with auctioned helmet won by Santa Pod Raceway, Ian Messenger with framed print of Pegasus (Jerry Cookson photos) and Bev Bradbury with former Funny Car racer Norm Wilding buying a copy of the John Hobbs book (Lesley Wright photo).

Donors to the auction included Paul Whitehouse, Ian Messenger, Geoff Stilwell, Andy Willsheer, Syd McDonald, Keith Lee, Anita Mäkelä, VP Racing Fuels and the family of the late Kevin Cerasale. Tony Thacker collected a selection of items in the USA and had them shipped over courtesy of Hall of Fame sponsor USAutomotive. The helmet, gloves and photograph donated by Top Fuel bike legend and distinguished Hall of Fame Member John Hobbs to mark his final venture down the track provoked an exciting, last-minute bidding battle in the closing moments of Sunday’s auction.

The directors are indebted to all who contributed materials for the occasion, and to all who then placed auction bids – successful or not – and bought items from the sale table. Items have already begun arriving for next year’s Dragstalgia auction, notably an autographed helmet visor donated by visiting American Nostalgia Funny Car driver John Hale, for which thank you.


Pictured: Auction winners Andy Willcox with NHRA Museum Cooler Back Pack, Darren Prentice of SPR with Syd McDonald, Team Venom Rod Clock (Jerry Cookson photos), and NHRA vintage poster (Lesley Wright photo).

The BDRHoF team who staffed the auction and sale included Phil & Angie Cottingham, Bev Bradbury, Graham & Carolyne Beckwith, Ian Messenger, Jeremy Cookson, Robin Jackson and Lesley Wright, with catering provided by Syd & Carole McDonald and technical assistance from Julian Parsons. The event took place with the kind permission of Santa Pod Raceway, with special thanks to Dan Melrose and Max Frost, together with Darren Prentice and James Forster, for all their organisational support.

Daddy Cool's innards exposed.
14th July: During the past few weeks since the Nostalgia Nationals, Alan Grimes, crew chief for the Daddy Cool Wild Bunch rear engined dragster has emphasised that the car is powered by a Rover engine as it has always been. But it now seems that some Chevy parts have been in the mix all the way along:

"The main change for this year is a set of Wildcat cylinder heads. The previous heads I ported myself some 25+ years ago. After one too many head gasket failures we concluded they had been welded too of,ten and needed to be replaced. I felt I was no longer physically able to do this work myslef so we started to look for a suitable porter. On costing the exercise we realised that the Wildcat heads would give us considerably more potential for a similar price for the parts and work needed to max out a set of Rover castings. Hence the change. we are now anticipating large gains from our previous PB's of 8.84 and 150 mph.

However at Dragstalgia, the venerable engine suffered block-windowing damage on the car's sole launch on Saturday at Dragstalgia. Alan continued "Sorry to say the Dragstalgia woes continued for Daddy Cool. Ironically the failure this time being down to Chevy parts. The new heads are making a lot more power. On the very first launch a wrist pin bent, this seized the piston in the bore and broke the rod on number 2 cylinder, the piston and pin being designed for a 305 Chevy sprint car and the rod being a 6" Chevy pattern small journal rod, both being modified for the application and giving faultless service under the old Rover cylinder heads. Back to the drawing board for a stronger piston and pin assembly, watch this space for progress.

"In the meantime the team will concentrate on getting Big Bro to the track, this being Kyle Southworth's Big Block chevy powered T Altered."

Daddy Cool was originally built and driven by the late 'Sag' Southworth who was PDRC champion in 1993 and took the car as the first Wild Bunch Brit engined car into the eights. Sadly Sag died from cancer in 2017 but his daughter Faye Hern, known as the Doctor of Velocity from her Chemistry PhD, took up the driving seat with Sag's widow Elaine continuing to manage the team. Once repairs to Daddy Cool's engine are complete, with a welded block, Faye hopes to head towards the eights and 150+ mph.

28 days to Bonneville Speed Week.
14th July: Many thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor and land speed racer Geoff Stilwell who has reported on preparations for the SCTA Speed Week taking place at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah from 6th-12th August.

With Speedweek just 28 days away some teams managed to get to Bonneville this past weekend to do some tuning and testing unfortunately that did not include 7707.

The courses have already been marked out by the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) and dragged to smooth the lumps and bumps with the longest course being 8 miles. The advanced crew from the SCTA will be there again checking and rechecking the tracks over the next few weekends. About 60 racers attended the test and tuning session this past weekend, with some there to make sure all their hard endeavours work and others to get in that invaluable seat time.


Whilst we could not attend that meeting many teams including the 7707 Team have been very busy getting everything ready plus checking and rechecking the race vehicles. This week our 496 cu in BAE Fuel Motor is due some attention. Just precautionary and making sure we have no leaks etc. Last night following a 3 way conversation we have decided to actually change the rear end ratio to give me a taller gear when I shift into high. The 7707 car has a “Winters Quick change rear end” so we will change the gears at some point over the next couple of days. It will take something like 30 mins to do that. Since El Mirage in May we have also been studying our Racepak onboard sensor downloads. At El Mirage It showed the car doing 224mph by the ¾ mile marker at just 30% throttle. Wow, 224 at just 30% throttle! So, we have huge potential when we run the car through to either the 3rd or 4th mile at Bonneville not just over the mile like at El Mirage.

With over 400 entries now from around the world and the track conditions being excellent this year’s event is promising to be a good one. Remember you can fly direct from London to Salt Lake City and Bonneville is just 2 hours away going west. A weekly pass for spectators is just $50 or $20 for 1 day entry. Then 7707 Team will be doing regular reports to our esteemed editor at Eurodragster.com (thanks - Editor) plus there will be online coverage which you can access via the SCTA-BNI.org web site. Hang on to your hats everyone!

Reno Kraus.
13th July: We were sorry to hear of the passing of Reno Kraus who was a member of Top Methanol Dragster Werner Habermann Racing Team. Reno's team wrote:

The Werner Habermann Racing Team mourns the loss of his long-time crew member Reno Kraus. Reno was already a team member when team boss Werner won his two European Championship titles in the early 1990s.

And of course he also accompanied the first steps of Timo and Dennis in the Junior Dragster.

Our thoughts and sympathies are with his family and loved ones. We will never forget you.

Hobbs' last ride.
13th July: Congratulations to John Hobbs on concluding a long drag bike riding career last weekend at Santa Pod Raceway:

“What a fantastic weekend we've just had at Dragstalgia 2022. My last ride and a weekend full of wonderful memories to cherish. Both Cheryl and I were overwhelmed by the number of people who stopped by to chat. I had no idea just how many were influenced by my appearances on the Hobbit and Olympus to get them fired up and involved in the sport we all love. The usual opening line was "It's your fault" A big thank you to Keith Lee for helping to put the weekend together with Santa Pod, a truly memorable occasion for us and a fitting way to end 56 years of racing.

"In coming to the end of my racing career, thanks go to all those who have helped and supported me over the years. In particular Brian Taylor, without his promotional skills The Hobbit would never have been built in the first place. Ian Dentith who first crewed for me in the seventies and Chris Tee and Pete Holtam who joined John Hobbs Racing at the end of the 1979 season and have continued to support me to this day. Thanks also to Jonny Munn who temporarily took over riding the Hobbit in the late 70’s early 80’s, and came back to the UK from his home in Australia in 2015 to ride the Hobbit and celebrate it’s 40th birthday. Last but not least my greatest appreciation and thanks go to my number one Fan, Boss and Chief Motivator, my wife Cheryl. She has been with me from the beginning and without her always at my side, none of it would have happened. Thanks for the memories. Now for the next project.”

Picture credit: John's daughter Emma Clark

Dragstalgia car class racer comments and media.
13th July: We present below comments from car class racers and media links following Dragstalgia held at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend (see yesterday's update below for Dragstalgia Cannonball comments:

Gasser Circus was won by Ray Irish over class rookie Simon Prest. As noted in the preview sent by class co-ordinator Nick Brooke Langham (who lent the driving seat of Nogbad The Bad to Drew Mason for this event), Simon was in his first event so well done to him getting from #13 in qualifying to runner up in his Rocket Falcon. The other new drivers did well with Patrick Hobbs driving the ex Barnett & Grant Falcon to #1 and Nick Hewison in his Fordson qualifying #14 in a 22 car field going for a 16 car ladder. Jason Darling in his Sinister '39 Chevy won the burnout of the weekend as captured by Terry Robbins of the Pod Wheels Youtube channel.

Ray qualified #13 and defeated Kate Booth in round 1, Adam Kruczynski in round 2, Tom Margesson in the semi final and in the closest non-breakout race of the class, won against Simon by a margin of 2 1/2 feet.

Ray posted "An epic weekend racing with the Gasser Circus at Dragstalgia. Somehow I managed to battle through to my first final in some time on the hottest weekend of the year to face Simon Prest in his recently acquired and superbly turned out race car The Rocket. Such a great close race, the winning margin you could measure in inches.

I'm now the proud owner of an awesome trophy created by Neil Melliard of Melliards Modern Pinstriping who continues to sponsor every round of the Gasser Circus Race Series. A huge thanks to Neil and all our other sponsors, to Santa Pod Raceway for giving us a fast and safe place to race, a special mention to Paul Dominey who stepped in to crew the whole weekend when he couldn't get his own race car to the track (I told him he's my lucky charm now and has the job full time), and lastly to my lovely wife Lin Irish who continues to support me in this obsessive hobby called drag racing.


In Outlaw Anglia, a returning Jedd Guy made a fantastic burnout and a first timed run of 7.009/191.22 to qualify #2 and then defeating Shane Bird, a bye in round 2, Phil Middleton, a broken Rob Nixon and Ronnie Mercer in the final for the winner's trophy.

The performance headlines were made by class organiser Colin Millar who on his first qualifying pass was the second UK OA racer (third counting Aussie John Willard) to break the six second barrier with a 6.9851/194.56. His later three qualifying runs were all in the 7.0s, however engine damage on his final run made him a no-show for eliminations.

Colin wrote: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the fantastic messages calls e-mails and visits over the weekend as well as everyone from Santa Pod raceway for looking after our VIP guests on Saturday and all the marshals for looking after all the racers over the weekend, hot for sure but wow what a weekend, thanks to all the OA guys and girls for making the class what it is, thanks to my wee Lynn Purvis for looking after me and Aaron Springford for what he does on the car, still buzzing about reaching our goal to run a six, all the time effort and money makes it even more worthwhile, still a bit away from the 200mph barrier but we will re-group and put a plan in place to try and reach this magical barrier.

"We also backed up both the speed and the ET on our run on Saturday so no one can argue with the results, cheers. The icing on the cake was winning "The Spirit of Dragstalgia" trophy, didn't expect that but a very special trophy to win and thanks to all involved in this.

"Home last night around 7 and managed to completely strip the engine / gearbox ready to be taken out tonight and hopefully we can completely strip the engine and find out what damage we have done and fingers crossed we can quickly move forward with parts and come back fighting fit for Green Light then onto Hockenheim.

"Thanks again to everyone involved you know who you are.

Quarter finalist and winner of Best Appearing Car Ben Rushforth posted: I’ve still not come back down to earth yet, after what has to be the best weekend racing I’ve had.

After not been able to get the car out for 12 months we dragged it out of the barn and washed the straw and bird poo off it and went racing. After a few lose passes on Friday afternoon it came together in Q1 running a pb of 8.61.

Then after a 2 tooth pulley change making 1 more pound of boost (done as much to lean out the very rich setting) the car dropped straight in to the 8.40’s ending up with a best of 8.41 @161 mph! Faster than I expected the car to ever go!

Huge thank you to Dave Rushforth, Ellen Rushforth, Scott Collier, Joe Preston, Barnaby Levy and everyone that helped out! I was also blown away by the response and feedback/love the car got, thank you to every one and their kind word!

Readers can see a wide range of videos and posts of Outlaw Anglia on the Outlaw Anglia Facebook page.


In Supercharged Outlaws, there were a number of returnees who bolstered the class to make up for the quicker racers who had been racing in the Dragstalgia Cannonball. Ian Kerr who had last raced in 2015, returned with his rebuilt '33 Plymouth called Live Flames last seen at Shakey in 2017, which ran a 8.0321/171.71 best. The quickest car in the group was Gary Parkes' Purple Daze altered which ran 7.446/178.54. Roy Wilding, who helps many other teams as a matter of course, was second with 7.593/188.14 in his slingshot dragster, Aaron Windridge in his first outing of 2022 in his altered ran 7.7194/172.39 to go third. Aaron wrote: "Massive thanks to the team (Mark, Meghan, Dave, and Stuart) this weekend. Been a lot of hard grafting this past week to get the car and truck ready. Sadly the pushrods didn't arrive in time. But loads of people helped get us some pushrods together and we got out on the track! Sadly on the second run we had the pushrods go on us which also took out the followers! Luckily stopped the engine in time before we could do any more damage. New bits already ordered and on the way. Bring on the next event."

In fourth Leo Knight who now has a great handle on his Pennzoil altered, ran 7.727/155.76 the low speed indicating more to come, and Jim Usher ran several sevens with a best of 7.738/175.07 to go fifth. Des Taylor rounded out the seven second runners with a 7.954/164.26. It was good to see Ian Merryweather all the way from the Isle of Man make his first SPR appearance since July 2019.


The surprise late entry of James Charman and car builder Norm Wheeldon was Gotavit a blown SBC slingshot in which James made familiaristion runs and got down to a highly creditable best of 7.4886/175.75. James said "I couldn't believe I would be in the 7's by my first 3 runs. Nigel (Charman) and Norm built an impressive race car. Team member Stacy Mills added "After the last run on Saturday, there were a couple of issues highlighted so the plan is to begin maintenance work as well as make some upgrades from now onwards over winter and the plan will be to hopefully run Nostalgia NATs, Dragstalgia and Hotrod Drags next year. However, the team will be returning to Santa Pod this year for Hotrod Drags but with Norm Wheeldon's twin engine dragster Two Much."

Commiserations to Andy Park and Simon Boot who suffered damage and Steve Wright who had a nasty explosion, fire and contact with the wall with his Fugly AMX Pacer. Steve posted "The best we can tell from our GoPro was we had a trans fluid leak that came out of the front of the gearbox in a mist, caught fire in a violent explosion, it was hot enough to burn me quite badly on the right hand through my glove, and because I didn’t put my visor down properly I got burnt around my eyes.

"It was so hot and I wasn’t slowing down quick enough I put the car into the wall, pulled the fire extinguisher, then found I couldn’t see a thing, pulled the door handle and it broke, at that point I was very relieved to hear the safety Safari outside the car, they got me out very quickly and straight over to the medical Centre, where I got first class treatment, off then to Northampton Hospital, back to the track Saturday night, home today and a visit to my local hospital, tomorrow up to Bristol specialist burns unit, going to take a little while to fix myself and the car, will be back next year. I would like to thank everyone for the good wishes, and everyone who helped."


In the Wild Bunch the 'average variance to dial-in' format run on Sunday had Dan Wilson in Antique Toy closest after three runs of 32 competing racers, so congratulations to Dan. Quickest over the weekend was Alan Lloyd in Gonzo who had a best ET of 7.8639 and speed of 164.85. There were eleven new PBs in the class, with Steve Garlant and Ruaridh Hart running these numbers on their vehicles' debuts:

• Tim Roy (Boston Straggler 2 slingshot): 8.357
• Allan Schofield (Rough Diamond altered) 8.443/155.75mph
• Jim Tanner (Shindigger slingshot): 9.129
• Keith Crampton (Soul Town Shaker slingshot): 9.426 and 142.93mph
• Gary Atkinson (Time Lock 2 altered): 9.704 and 135.77mph
• Mark Hartnell (Metal Mistress altered): 9.958 and 138.24mph
• Dan Wilson (Antique Toy slingshot): 10.128 and 120.15mph
• Andy Jackson (Hammerman 2 sidewinder dragster): 10.704 and 136.45mph
• Paul Tarry (Trigger's Broom altered) 10.733
• Steve Garlant (Sonic Attack 2) 10.953 and 119.02
• Ruaridh Hart (Bravehart Opel GT Funny Car) 13.035 and 93.76mph

Builder (with help from dad Ian) and driver of the Bravehart Opel GT Funny Car Ruaridh Hart posted: "What a brilliant weekend that was. The first time out, with just over 4 years from buying the car (a new Docol R8 tube chassis being fabricated) to going down the track. We started the weekend with a car that didn't run and a few other bits to finish off. Nothing like being prepared. But the car works nearly perfectly and we have learned a lot. We now have time to iron out the few issues we found and get her ready for the next outing.

"Big thanks to everyone for their kind words about the car and to the commentary team for picking me for the Commentators Choice award. We finished out the weekend with 13.0 at 93mph but we can see what we need to do to go even quicker.

Thank you to all that helped me over the weekend, big or small, it is all appreciated. Big up JH Paintworx for doing an awesome job, the car looks stunning." Finally, thanks to my mum (Carol) for putting up with us getting the car ready, sorry for all the late nights. Keith Crampton posted: What a fantastic Dragstalgia although absolutely roasting. It was great to see everyone and meet some of the newcomers. Big shout out to my mate Andrew Jackson and his crew for his perseverance getting the sidewinder down the track to good numbers on several consecutive runs. I had the engine builder himself with me this weekend Steve Cassisi along with Anna Cassisi and Ada. Wanted to thank them so much for all there help. Despite worries about parts we ran 5 great runs with new pbs of 9.42 and 143.9 mph. Staggered by these numbers. Plus 6th place was a great bonus. Oh and Anna and her trousers were obviously the star of the show.

UK Nostalgia Superstock co-ordinator Don Scott, himself racing his backup Chevy Monte Carlo (named 'Monty') said:

"I would just like to thank every single one of you, racers, crew, and friends, for making this event absolutely spectacular, probably our best ever. So massive thanks go out also to Guy King who supplied the burgers and sausages at his own expense, Lorraine Brazier for all the cakes, and everyone else who contributed to the barbeque, especially Kiwi's crew for the professional chefs!

"A massive thanks also to Colin Theobald who stepped in to present the trophies and prize money etc as my voice had all but gone, and Simon Rickwood for the 'chunes'.

"Well done to Spencer Trammfor the win, Stuart Doignie runner up, and our Olley for taking top qualifier. There was some outstanding racing from all and i received several comments on how great the class looked, and how professional the drivers were on the track.

"And last, but by no means least, a huge thank you to all the Santa Pod staff for giving us just the best track to race at.

"In just over 2 weeks time we're set to do it all again, so if you haven't done so already, please get your entries in for the Mopar Euro Nationals and lets see if we can have another huge display of classic US muscle."


Williams Bros Racing< had six cars racing at the event and posted this round up:

"The six cars running in Nostalgia Super Stock at Dragstalgia were Dan Williams (Blue Chevelle), Nic Williams (Green Camaro), Spencer Tramm (Blue Camaro), Guy King (Black Chevelle), Gary Carr (Gold Chevelle) and Ollie (Brown Firebird). NSS was a super tight field with almost 60 cars entered and 52 qualifying. We did well in qualifying with the heat making things a little more difficult for everyone. "Ollie qualified first with an awesome 9.2300 on a 9.23 dial, the rest as follows- Dan Williams 13th, Spencer Tramm 20th, Nic Williams 24th, Guy King 26th and Gary Carr 29th.

"We then faced 6 rounds of eliminations:

R1 – Guy lost in round 1, Nic W over Niamh Smith, Spencer W over Glenda Thompson, Ollie W over Chris Layram, Dan W over Chris Goodale and Gary loss to Dave Billadeau.
R2- Ollie W over Andy Bosomworth, Spencer with a bye, Nic W over Howard Holmes, Dan W over John Hourihan.
R3 – Nic W over Adam Nowak, Spencer took the win over Dan in the first Williams Bro’s matchup, Ollie W over Paul Smail.
R4 – Ollie took the win over Nic in the second Williams Bro’s matchup, Spencer taking the W over Dave Simcock.
R5 – Spencer taking the win over Pete Dodd in the Metamorphosis Camaro, Stuart Doignie cutting Ollies winning streak short.
Stuart Doignie and Spencer faced eachother in the final as a fantastic matchup with Spencer taking the eventual event win. Congratulations Spencer, well deserved!

We would also like to say a big thank you to anyone who popped by to say hello and also to anyone who purchased parts from us during the weekend, your support does not go unnoticed!

In the Willys Wars, John Dalrymple was quickest after running an 8.806/154.13, all John's runs being 9.60 and quicker and having run his first eight in it at the Retro Show. John was followed by Elliot Day, whose best at the event was 9.3702/151.06. Hard luck to Steve Young who had engine damaged discovered on a compression test, and new boy Gary Daley (see our Melbourne coverage for a brief history of his car), who had a suspected head gasket failure. Richard Warburton who drove his Prozac to the event said "It ran a best of 11.23 @122mph. No damage to report I’m glad to say. The low is when it’s over. The highs were being with just the best group of friends, which is the Willys Family, the banter and beating Damian (Bacon) in his Chevy, I’ll live off that forever." Well, until next year Richard...


Here are links to media for Dragstalgia, anyone who posted pictures or videos please send your link to [email protected]:

• AF Photography (Alice Fairhead) Facebook album
• Santa Pod Raceway Facebook album
• Thorsten Tolksdorf Facebook album
• NRV Photography (Neil Venison - son of pioneer Bob) Facebook album
• UK & European Drag Racing Photos (various) Facebook posts
• Ingrid Chesworth Facebook album
• Nick Pettitt Youtube videos

Swift snippets.
13th July: Happy Birthday for today to Nitro tuner and former Fuel Altered racer John Wright, Outlaw Anglia racer Rob Stone, Pro ET racer Simon Innes, Anger Management crew member Ben Fisher and hot rod show organiser and author Rodger Attaway. Have a great day all.

Thanks to NDRS race organiser Kjell Petterson for reminding us that tomorrow, July 14th is the deadline for entries for the Summit Racing Internationals at Tierp Arena from 11th-14th August of which you can see further details at this link from which racers can register. We will publish a preview of the event tomorrow.

The Malta Drag Racing Association has published the entry list for this weekend's Night Event taking place on 14th-16th July at Hal Far Raceway which you can see at this link. Sadly the event will not be live streamed however MDRA Secretary Konrad D'Anastasi will be posting videos on Youtube shortly after the event.

National and SPRC points update.
12th July: Thanks to SPRC points co-ordinator Yvonne Tramm and sponsor Peter Walters who have published the current SPRC championship points following the STP Summer Nationals to the SPRC website. You can also see the points from our Points Standings page which can be accessed via our main menu by clicking on News, then Points Standings.

Dragstalgia Cannonball racer comments.
12th July: We present below comments from racers following Dragstalgia held at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend:

In the Dragstalgia Cannonball, there was a great field of 14 entered cars, mix of Funny Cars, Altereds, and Slingshots made for a great show, however Dave Nelson (slingshot) withdrew after damage starting the engine at homelast week and Wendy Baker made it to the track, and you can read her story below thanks to Chris Eyre.

Winner Tim Garlick in the Apache Nostalgia Funny Car had a great weekend with the car running consistently with the legs on the rest of the field. Times of 6.1011/229.32, 6.1517/232.46, 6.1777/228.14 and an engine damaging 6.3173/223.55 in the final, with I.C.E. Automotive's Rob Loaring and Nick Davies on the team made Tim almost unstoppable.


Well done to Bob Hawkins for making the final, having run at the STP Summernationals the previous weekend, and his BBC nitro slingshot ran reliably throughout both events. His times were 6.8140/197.25, 6.6607/198.13, 6.7303/193.04 and a losing 6.7178/170.48 against Apache in the final. He posted on Facebook: "It was totally awesome and amazing to make the Cannonball final as number two qualifier in such a prestigious field of cars. We didn’t win unfortunately on this occasion, BUT what a fabulous and much treasured trophy for runner up.

"Congratulations to Tim Garlick on a great win and my sincere commiserations on the engine damage you sustained against us in the final. A massive thank you to my amazing crew, David Williams, Ted Hawkins, John Sheehy, Tom Hawkinsm and Linda Williams for everything, couldn’t have done it with out all your hard efforts and help, top work, top crew!

"Lastly but not least, a big thanks to Santa Pod Raceway and all the track, safety crew and staff for all their incredible hard work over a very hot but very memorable weekend, thank you all! You can see a Youtube video of the round 3 run taken from Bob's helmet cam at this link.

Joe Bond in his Bond, Hannis & Osborne's 'Nuthin II Fancy' alky slingshot was only 3/1000s from getting the the final in one of the tightest Cannonball fields. In round one, Joe ran a 6.53/208 with the chute out early, in Q2 a misfire reduced his ET to 6.97, and in Q3 a 6.70 at 212 left the team wondering why the performance was down. The team thanked associate sponsor Titan Speed Engineering for all their help and support. Rather than risk engine damage, the team withdrew from the 3rd and 4th place run-off.


The run-off was between Tony Betts and #4 qualifier Robbie Grabham. With John Wright as crew chief (John was also helping Adam Gleadow tuning his Motor Psycho nitro altered), Tony had an early shut off in the first run then strong 6.1898/234.06 in round two, then another early shut off in the third round. Tony commented: "A new clutch pack in first round swelled up and caused tyre shake, then in third round I was too far right so ran out of the groove. I have an issue seeing lights with this chassis and body combination. A few changes made to engine combination meant no damage all weekend so very happy." A 6.613/213.94 in the run-off with Robbie Grabham put a smile back on the team's faces, however with more consistency things may have turned out differently.

The other run-off racer, Robbie in Freddy's Revenge, not only won 4th place but also the driving job of the weekend for the second year in a row, after Robbie trod the fine line between performance and control of a typically wayward blown alky altered. Times of 7.09, 7.10, 7.13, and 7.08 all at 190mph+ were amazingly consistent as the car didn't want to go straight on any of them. Congratulations to Robbie, Dave and the whole team for a great weekend's performance.

10
The Dirty Deeds Camaro owned by Rob Elsom was driven by guest driver John Hale from the U.S. whom Rob hosted with their respective partners for sightseeing before the event, having been in touch for several years. Successive improvements in performance culminated in a 6.47/222.55, the car's best time and speed to date. Car owner Rob Elsom said "We came to the track for John to do a familiarisation run to half track which produced early numbers that were a bit on the lazy side so we wanted to change to lower gear ratios, which we did with Tony Betts' help. On Q1, John shifted gears but the car didn't want to, so we took the Lenco out and found an issue. We came up for Q2 but couldn't get drive, there was an issue in the new gear set which we took out and adjusted. The next two passes were both PBs at over 200mph for the first time, a 6.60/215 in Q3 and later a test pass of 6.47/222 which would have been quicker in Saturday's better air. It was great to have Aaron sit down with John and learn fromul him about driving funny cars, John is a great teacher and still really into the sport. Our plan is to do more licensing pass at the Greenlight Nationals so Aaron will be able to compete at the Euro Finals."

Team member Carl Kirk commented on Facebook "I got to realise a childhood dream of working on one of nitro monsters, being taught by my son Krister made it even better. Best appearing team made the late nights worth it. Rob Elsom, Krister Kirk, Aaron Fensome, Phil Ratcliffe, Mark Dear, Jack Jeys, and John, let's do this again." The team were selling t-shirts and won the won the best turned-out team with attire supplied by Craig Dixon of Altered Tees.

The other two racers who ran all three qualifiers were Tony Betts (Venom NFC) and Steve Johnson (Motor Mouse slingshot dragster).

Steve Johnson in Motor Mouse tested on Friday and got the car to go down the track although tyre shake caused by the wheelie bar unloading the chassis needed to be cured with a quick pedal, a skill that only a driver of Steve's 45+ year experience would have been able to master. A 7.26 and 7.14 in the first two rounds were great runs, however he slowed in Q3 when more tyre shake set in.


The Paul Harris Monza ran a great 6.8810/181.42 in Q1 but then withdrew, the team minus one crucial member, Brian 'Star' Savidge having fallen ill with covid, best wishes to him for a speedy recovery. Paul said "We didn't want to take chances scoring pistons and bores, and the fuel setup is still not quite correct, we didn't get a final tuneup in the car because Dave Wilson has had to take time out to care for Linda. I'm grateful to Dave Bryant and Dave Milam for giving me tuning advice in the meantime. On the pass we had a decent ET however it was overfuelling towards the top end, not pulling, however I don't expect it will be a major problem getting to a final tuneup for the Euro Finals. My crew with Phil Pead, Brian Savidge and Jim Seward's sons Charlie and Nick have been brilliant at the track. It's just how with running nitro, the tune reacts differently in varying conditions.

Robin Read ran a 6.966 in round one but suffered big end bearing damage to his 'Little Car' engine in the process. Christian Zulauf, a most welcome visitor from Switzerland had suffered a lack of track time in his home country, and gave us the benefit of magnificent burnouts on his return to the UK. Car builder and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster, who crewed for Christian over the weekend, said "A great weekend at Dragstalgia, working with Christian and his slingshot, unfortunately testing was cut short with a small engine issue. But an incomplete 200mph run off the trailer showed lots of promise."

Overall, the Dragstalgia Cannonball was a fine show, and the merger with the Slingshot Showdown has proved highly successful with increased competition and many matchups we don't usually see. We'll report on the other race classes at Dragstalgia tomorrow and publish links for Dragstalgia media.

Time Warp at Dragstalgia.
12th July: Many thanks to team member Chris Eyre for a report on the Time Warp Nostalgia Mustang Funny Car of Wendy Baker which we saw in the pits at Dragstalgia, was unable to make it to the startline for this event but we are optimistic that it will be at its next scheduled event, the Euro Finals.

Dragstalgia 2022, where do we start. We arrived with a car still needing the finishing touches, the sort of stuff that you just can't do in the workshop. This included towing the car around the pits minus the body to make sure the steering geometry is set up properly. There was some fine adjusts to be made to the body. We also had to solve our tyre issue as the Hoosiers we had got, as suspected, were far too wide and fouled the body work. Thankfully Leo Knight came to the rescue with some 15" wide Mickey Thompsons, all clearance issues sorted. All these things take time and suddenly we were already about 24 hours behind where we wanted to be, needless to say we persevered.

Saturday was spent turning a stash of parts into an engine, and once again these things always take longer than you bargain for as you come up against obstacles when putting together things. By the end of Saturday we had an engine together in one lump, but with a looming track curfew the decision was made to warm up in the morning.

Sunday came and after a few more fine adjustments the nitro went in the tank, clipped the starter on the front and fired her up. A fuel leak resulted in a quick shut down and efforts were made to resolve this leak. Leak solved we fired the car again. Bearing in mind this was a new magneto and pump combo it was pretty close to the mark. Some adjustments were made to the air/fuel and we waited for the engine to cool enough so we could fire up again. We waited and waited, then waited a bit more, the unbelievable air temperature meant it just wasn't cooling down. Eventually just before the final of the cannonball was run it had cooled enough so we could fire up again. The adjustments had made a vast improvement and the engine sounded much more purposeful. Sadly, by the time we were happy with where things were, time had beaten us.

We are now in a good place with a strong sounding engine, tyres that fit and a motivated team. Now to look on to the next event and try to get some runs on this new car.

Thank you for everyone that came by and wished us well. A big well done to Tim Garlick and the Apache team on their well-earned victory.

Dakota Raceway busy on Saturday.
12th July: Promoter Lee Child writes that the Drag and Drift event at Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe, Devon held last Saturday was busy with some quick times being run with a wide range of cars and bikes as ever.


The Dakota No Prep 1/8 mile winners and runners, pictured above, were:

Rear Wheel Drive: winner Pete Lane with his back up Bob barracuda, runner up with his Procharger Mustang Connor Jefferies.
All Wheel Drive: winner Nathan Lang with his Nissan GTR35 and UK sportsman racer John Parker was the runner up with his BMW.

Nathan Lang recorded the quickest et for a full street legal trim car on the 1/4 mile in the Southwest after driving 100 miles to the track, [email protected] on a no prep track.


Also seen was a cool Volvo 240 Wagon with a supercharged Toyota 3UZ-FE V8 engine which made a lot of burnout tyre smoke, a real sleeper.

You can see Kieran's gallery of pictures from the event at this link and also via the Event Coverage List presented in association with John Woolfe Racing. Kieran has also posted video of some of the runs from Dakota to his Youtube channel at this link. Kieran commented "The weather was perfect, with plenty of cars & bikes on site taking part in the action."

Dragstalgia results.
11th July: Congratulations to the winners at Dragstalgia held at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend:

Dragstalgia Cannonball: Tim Garlick 6.3173/223.55 def. Bob Hawkins 6.7178/170.48
Gasser Circus: Ray Irish 10.1757/128.80 (10.06)def. Simon Prest 11.0785/120.42 (10.94)
Renegade Outlaw Anglia: Jedd Guy 7.0688/190.52 def. Ronnie Mercer 8.7029/149.12
Springbridge Direct Wild Bunch: Dan Wilson +0.038 average on dial
Willys Wars: John Dalrymple 8.8064/154.13 quickest pass
NEM Plant Nostalgia Superstock: Spencer Tramm 12.1299/71.79 (11.01) def. Stuart Doignie 17.927/59.55 (12.15)
Old Skool Stockers Claire Rule 8.6775/148.14 def. Rod Spry 9.4297/135.72
NSA Shootout: Ray Law 15.656/55.28 def. John Hobbs 10.872/137.01 DQ red 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.

There were many personal bests also set which we will endeavour to highlight in our usual follow-up to the race as well as gathering racer quotes. If you've a report on the race you'd like us to include, contact us on [email protected]. The bonus Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award supported by Cath and Tig Napier was not awarded as no-one achieved a perfect 0.000 light during the event. The Award will be carried over to Bug Jam over the weekend of 22nd-24th July.

Unfortunately there were three on track incidents. On Saturday Supercharged Outlaws racer Steve Wright suffered an engine explosion mid track and Steve had minor burns after the car slid on its fluids and came to a halt as the fire was building. On Sunday morning Dutch visitor Jan Honee parted from his bike as he was about to stage and he suffered an impact with the wall, the bike idling down the quarter mile and coming to rest in the shutdown area following impact with both walls. We wish Jan all the best as he is having a stay for a few days in Northampton Hospital with a fractured pelvis. Later Sunday, Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett's Mercury Comet suffered a collision with the wall following a hard move to the right; Keith walked to the ambulance for a checkup and was unhurt. In all of these incidents, thanks to the quick aid of medical staff and track crew, racers were given the necessary care and attention to ensure they could come away from the incidents with the appropriate care.

You can see our coverage of Dragstalgia 11, sponsored by John Woolfe Racing, with on-track and pitside galleries thanks to Julian and Diana, at our event page.

Swift snippets.
11th July: We have a Birthday on the team, the Happiest of Birthdays to photographer, Sportsman ET racer and crew member Kirstie Tramm, have a great day Kirstie and thanks for the Dragstalgia photos over the weekend. 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 racer Gino Bernadine, Santa Pod Raceway marshall Angie Woods, crew member and apparel producer Craig Dixon and future returnee Roy Walker, have a great day all.

British Drag Racing Hall of Fame 2022.
9th July: The British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame continues into its fifteenth successful year and is pleased to announce the 2022 intake.

Nominees are eligible by dint of having raced, owned, designed, built, maintained, prepared, promoted, officiated, supported or taken part in British drag racing in any capacity, having been involved for at least twenty years, or having made a significant and recognisable contribution to the sport.

The 2022 inductees are:

NATIONAL STREET ROD ASSOCIATION Profile by Alan Martin

Before the formation of the National Street Rod Association in 1972 there was a band of people who loved to drag race, but also built and drove street rods. The association grew out of the National Drag Racing Club [NDRC] Roadster Register thanks to NDRC chairman and BDRHoF member Alan Wigmore who, way back in 1971, invited brothers Chris & Pat Church to form the Register. Previously, the brothers had drag raced briefly a Ford Popular called ‘Gold Rush’ at Santa Pod.

Seeing the need for a more specific club for hot rodders, rather than being a part of a drag racing club, the Roadster Register gave way in late 1971 by the formation of the National Street Rod Association in February 1972 after its inaugural meeting at the Wheatsheaf Pub, Surrey.

By then Chris Church (who had been given the distinction of being member No.1 status) had already built a Chevrolet powered Jago Model T bucket ‘ROD 5’ and Mickey Bray, creator of the legendary ‘Pinball Wizard’ Ford Pop was member No.2.

Although the first proper rod run organised by the Southern Roadsters and the NSRA (a run from Oxford to Beaulieu Abbey) in 1972, the association’s first national event was their inaugural ‘Fun Run’ in 1973 to Northants Billing Aquadrome. By 1975, and with a rising membership of some 500 members, the NSRA had well and truly established itself in the UK.


With the association’s link to drag racing lying dormant for years four self-conscious Midlands based enthusiasts; Mark Fullard, Martyn Payne, Steve Tristrim and Alan Martin, had the bright idea for a Rod Run to be held at a drag strip. Not just any drag strip though, it had to be their local drag strip. In part, due to an introduction by BDRHoF member John Wright, a meeting was arranged with Anthony Hodges, owner of the then Long Marston drag strip. Thankfully, he liked the idea.

Keen to hit the ground running, in 1988, the four approached the current committee of the NSRA to ask if the club would like to be associated with the proposed event. By a strange twist of fate, one of the committee that attended that first meeting at Santa Pod in 1966 happened to be Malcolm Beakhurst, one of the original partners in the ill-fated Jaguar powered Fordson race van in the early ‘Alleycat’ in the early seventies.


So, it was, that in 1989, the now renamed ‘Avon Park Raceway’ was host to the first annual original Hot Rod Drags, the NSRA returning to its drag racing roots after seventeen years, along with gaining a second national event to add to its calendar.

Five years later, and due to its popularity and support by hot rodders and racers alike, the NSRA added the Nostalgia Nationals to its growing list of associated events.

Although the original track, once again renamed as Shakespeare County Raceway, sadly no longer exists, both events found a new home at Santa Pod Raceway, with the NSRA still taking an active role as well as playing their part in certain elements of Dragstalgia.

After fifty years and coming full circle, it is an honour that the club is being taken into the fold of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Pictures: Nick Pettitt and JC Collection

THE STONES DRAG RACING TEAM Profile by Simon Groves

The Dagenham based Stones drag racing team included BDRHoF member Dennis "Daddy" Stone, Dave Stone, Gerry Andrews and BDRHoF member Dave Lee Travis. The Stones Drag Racing Team induction into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame reflects the driving and engineering skills of all involved as they took some of the most iconic dragsters, funny cars and altereds down UK tracks in the 1970s and 1980s, pushing the boundaries of the sport and also spreading the word to the continent.

The starting point was Dennis purchasing and racing a Ford Lotus Cortina in 1968. Two years later, the opportunity came at Martlesham Heath for Dennis to acquire the Opus One altered from Cliff Jones, and thus started a whirlwind of car development and honing of engineering skills by the team.

Once Dennis started racing and winning with Opus One, Dave was doing the same with the Lotus Cortina. In their first full season’s racing the Stones finished the year at the top of their respective NDRC classes; Dennis in Top Comp and Dave in Junior Street. The following year Opus One had an aluminium ex Can Am Chevy 427 fitted.


It was 1972 that Dave became the principal team driver after buying a Ford Model T altered, named Turtle T and eventually becoming Tee Rat, into which was transplanted the ex-Can Am engine, becoming the first UK altered into the eights and then, with nitro as the fuel, running a pair of 8.0s on their first overseas trip to Mantorp Park in Sweden in 1973. Dave also won the Castrol Top Comp Championship that year, whilst Opus One was exchanged for a Ford Escort that was named Rudolph and later Tender Trap, driven by Dennis and also occasionally by Radio One DJ Dave Lee Travis.

Gerry Andrews, who Dave had worked with at Essex based Ford main dealer Reynolds, joined the team in 1974 racing the slingshot dragster Hemi Hunter built over a number of years by Allan Herridge for Pete Bennett. Later the broken engine from Hemi Hunter was swapped with the supercharged alky one from Keith Harvie’s altered and Gerry’s driving career started, moving to Pro Comp, which had been introduced in 1975.

By 1975 Tee Rat had a new chassis built by the late Roland Pratt. Dave, with a supercharger on the engine and went straight into the sevens. However, despite driving skills that were nothing short of miraculous, the fuel altered aerodynamics caused the car to wander at the top end.

In 1976 the team acquired the Stardust Funny Car brought over to the UK three years earlier by US star Don Schumacher, fitting their blown nitro Chevy from Tee Rat into it and running quick from the start.


The original Hemi Hunter was retired in 1978 and a new dragster was constructed by Allan Herridge, Hemi Hunter II, which initially ran on nitro, after Bob Phelps encouraged the team to compete in Top Fuel and Funny Car but methanol was the fuel of choice for Hemi Hunter after 1978. In that same year the team started running the Blue Max Mustang of Raymond Beadle, running it on loan from Santa Pod. The team, which over the years included Dave Stone, Gerry Andrews, Dave Lee Travis, Colin Thompson, Trevor Horncastle, Dennis’s nephew Andrew Swan, Mickey Pratt, Dick Cruse and Alan Bates took both cars to European events with Dennis ‘Daddy’ Stone as Team Principal keeping the lads in check.

The engineering skills of the cash strapped team enabled them to work their way around mechanical issues that they suffered, particularly in the engine department. However in May 1983 the Mustang FC suffered a big fire, Dave’s driving career coming to an end and Hemi Hunter II was destroyed at the World Finals after a weakened chassis, from a previous accident in the August, caused the car to roll. Once again SPR came to the team’s aid with the ex-Roz Prior Maneater car, the late Dick Cruse joining the team as driver in 1986 after Gerry retired that year.

They are the only team to win three top classes at Silverstone – Top Street (Tender Trap) Top Altered (Tee Rat) and Top Dragster (Hemi-Hunter). It is for running at the top level in these classes, winning championships and setting records that The Stones Drag Racing Team are being inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Hemi Hunter photo copyright Roger Gorringe



JON MORTON Profile by Keith Lee

Jon’s love of drag racing spans back to 1966, when he first persuaded an older cousin to take him to Santa Pod. He is someone who has been through the wringer a few times along the way, but it has not stopped him. In earlier days he helped out a fair number of racers, by crewing for them. First was Robin Wilby, who needed assistance with his junior dragster. Jon was then involved in a horrific life-threatening motorcycling accident, when he was on the pillion. If that was not enough, he would then break his neck in another serious incident! After helping Steve Woollatt in his early days, he crewed for Rod Pallant. Jon has encouraged many bikers to get into drag racing over the years - and he himself rates persuading his friend Brian Johnson to ride at a Blackbushe drag race as the best thing he ever did for the sport. Jon would crew for BJ at home and abroad.


Jon’s own first step into regular drag racing competition was in 1985, in the Pro Stock bike class. Aided by Tyne Blight, he won some national events, and was voted BDRA best newcomer. In 1986 Jon won the first international event at Zandvoort, and in 1988 won the World Finals at Santa Pod. A new Kawasaki was built for the following year. This did not prove to be a match for the Suzuki-powered entries, and Jon dropped it at North Weald - but was quickly back out. After two years racing a Suzuki, Jon moved up into the Funny Bike class with Mike Beaumont. This was raced for four years, and was champion in 1993. The pinnacle for Jon, as a bike person, was to compete in Top Fuel Bike. Over the next 6 years a top class machine was constructed, thanks to input from Pete Davies and Frank Brachtvogel. In a sad twist of fate, Jon suffered two heart attacks before ever getting a chance to ride his now completed bike! Cruelly, ECG tests would prevent him obtaining a pro race licence, and the unraced bike was sold to Chris Hannam.

After swallowing this massive setback, and taking a couple of years out, Jon was desperate to get back racing, which would be restricted to sportsman classes. Having made so many friends on both sides of the sport, he made the switch from two to four wheels, and bought a ’69 Camaro to try his hand in the competitive Super Gas class, which would prove to be a happy move. Jon campaigned the car through to 2017, when he was forced to take a break, due to work issues - and the Camaro was sold. Now he is back with his bright yellow ‘No Hair’ entry, having established himself as a multi-time champion in Super Gas. He is quick to credit his stepson Dan Page for all his help - especially with the electrical systems. Still a bike man at heart, Jon’s love of American cars has done him well as he has managed to keep on racing.

Pictures: Keith Lee, Jerry Cookson, Eurodragster.com & Colin Donisthorpe

MARK FLAVELL Profile by Graham Beckwith/Robin Jackson

Drag racing made an instant impact on Mark Flavell. A chance visit to Santa Pod with a group of college friends in the late 1970s sparked a lifetime’s involvement in the sport which would see him working and racing at tracks across Britain and Europe and, for several years in the 1980s, as an emigrant, with his wife Ann, to Canada. He is particularly associated with York Raceway and its successor, the new Melbourne Raceway.

There is no doubt that drag racing’s success in the North of England has depended on the hard work of dedicated club members who supplied the infrastructure essential for racing to take place.

Mark has been one of the Melbourne site’s outstanding workers from the 1980s through to the 21st Century. Racing with his brother Allen, Mark came to then-York Raceway in the late ‘70s campaigning a Modified Ford Pop, Pop-Draggin’, which they had built together. During the 1980s and early ‘90s it was usual to find Mark and several others at York Raceway during the week before a race meeting, sweeping clean the track and shutdown area of all the accumulated debris produced by a working farm’s heavy machinery.


Mark freely gave his expertise and labour to the project of upgrading the existing safety barriers – thanks to a contact for sourcing Armco fencing being replaced along a stretch of A-road nearby – as well as helping improve crowd safety. During this time Mark fabricated and donated a new Christmas Tree and metal covers to shield the staging lights on the start line. He gathered together a racers’ group to organise fund-raising activities to provide fire extinguishers and other safety equipment for the track.

Mark also helped organise and participate in G-Force, the sponsored Super Gas racers’ class which competed at venues across the UK. He was instrumental too in acquiring sponsorship for racing at York as well as for the G-Force Super Gas tours.

Returning from Canada in 1987, Mark collaborated with Hall of Fame Member Dave Grady to advance Grady’s project for promoting drag racing nationally with the Super Gas Drag Racers Association, formed to conduct championship races as well as to present demonstrations and displays. Next, Mark focused on compiling new rules which led to the adoption of the 8.90sec Super Comp class. He has raced Dragster and Funny Car entries with distinction in both Super Comp and Super Pro ET.


While chiefly associated with York/Melbourne, Mark has engaged with venues as diverse as Dishforth (North Yorkshire), Enniskillen (Northern Ireland) and the Isle of Man. Retirement from his day job allows him to concentrate his attention fully on Melbourne Raceway where he contributes his time and expertise to its ongoing development. His newest additions to the project have included the start line gantry and disabled viewing area.

Mark is quick to credit others for their support, yet it is for his own generosity and dedication to the sport that he has been selected for induction into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Pictures: Doug McDiramid, JC Collection, Eurodragster.com and Paul Bryan

HENK VINK Profile by Keith Lee

Dutch racer Henk Vink first made his name as a multi-time national trials champion, Henk became interested in sprinting in the late 1960s, and raced an early 500cc Kawasaki triple. There was no drag racing in Holland until 1975, but with the sport enjoying growth in the UK, Henk made his first appearance at Santa Pod in 1972. It would mark the start of a whirlwind journey for him, following that first time out on a Kawasaki 750cc triple. He had a full time mechanic, Jan Smit, and his outfit would become well known as Team Big Spender! A move was soon made to a supercharged four-stroke Kawasaki nitro-burner, with help from sprinting legend Phil Manzano. The successful businessman wanted to mix it with the very best of the UK riders, and his team would cross the channel as often as they were allowed to compete over here - and the amiable crew would make many friends during their numerous trips.

There was a seemingly non-stop series of Kawasaki race bikes built for Henk to race, with technical advice sought from some of the best in the world. Henk’s fearless riding style was unlike any other rider, and he was quite happy to put a foot down at high speed, if his bike was not behaving. The man spent a lot of money on racing, but the team enjoyed themselves at the races, and became well liked by so many race fans over here. Their hospitality was legendary among both bike and car racers.

Back home, he worked behind the scenes to try and establish a permanent race facility. Henk even brought over a Dutch Minister of State to one of the races at Santa Pod - and made him part of the team for the weekend! Henk was a determined racer, and he had a burning desire to win - and never more so than when he was up against John Hobbs. There was mutual respect and friendship - and some epic races on track between these two racers.


In 1980, Henk was racing the ex-Carl Ahlfeldt twin-engined Kawasaki, which he rode to the first seven second time by a European rider. The team performed many demos around Europe, which was beneficial in promoting the sport. Henk also set up a three country match race series in 1981, between himself and US ace rider Sam Wills.

A collaboration with rocket legend Sammy Miller was established in the early 80s, and it resulted in the quickest ever ride for Henk. The hydrogen peroxide fuelled bike was the ultimate two-wheeled acceleration machine, which first ran in this country in 1983, at Blackbushe. It would propel Henk to mid 6 second elapsed times.

The Dutch racing ace last rode in 1986. Sadly. the sport lost one of its most notable racers, when Henk suffered a fatal heart attack, following his 50th birthday celebrations, in 1988. He led a fast paced life, and his racing years will not be forgotten.

Pictures: Keith Lee & Dick Parnham

You can read more about the inductees and catch up with the latest on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame by downloading HOFtalk issue 13 at this link.

Five guys Acquire Famous Dos Palmas dragster.
8th July: Mick Jenkins, owner of Mick’s Paint is one of five guys that have joined forces to acquire the famous Dos Palmas dragster that was part of the U.S. Drag Team that raced in England in 1964 at the First British International Drag Festival, writes Tony Thacker.

The blown Chevy-powered Dos Palmas was campaigned by Bob Keith, Chris Goodnight and Maurice Williamson and was so-called because the 400-ci engine was assembled by Arnold Chaves’ Dos Palmas Machine, San Jose, CA. The chassis was the second built by ‘TV’ Tommy Ivo while Jack Hageman formed the body. After some minor testing the rail was shipped to the UK where it competed alongside ‘Big Daddy’ Don Garlits, Tony Nancy and Tommy Ivo. Although only running on gas, driver Keith managed low 9s at around 160 mph in inclement weather.

After the Festival the car returned to the U.S. where the team raced for about eight months running a best of 8.32/177. They also set a national record at Riverside before the car was shipped back to the UK in 1965 as it had been sold to the six-member Croft Drag Racing Partnership (CDRP) of Norman Barclay, Gerry Belton, Peter Godlee, Bruce and John Ropner and Keith Schellenberg.

The CDRP never quite got to grips with the American powerplant and in 1969 the car was sold to US Air Force man Bill Weichelt. Weichelt soon had the hang of it and got the car back in the low-8s with the help of some nitro. He also set a British and European standing start kilometer record of 17.7 seconds reportedly hitting a top speed of 275 mph.

In 1971, Weichelt returned to the U.S. and despite Bob Keith’s efforts to find his old car, it was lost for four decades. That is until it was discovered by NASCAR/TV personality Ray Evernham in 2014. Thankfully, Evernham returned the car to Keith for a faithful restoration and it appeared at the 2015 California Hot Rod Reunion and was featured in an episode of Evernham’s Americana TV show.

Mecum auctioned DPM in 2022 when Chris Stroud purchased it. Five brits subsequently acquired it: Stewart Bassett of USAutomotive, Nick Davies of I.C.E. Automotive, Mick Jenkins, Geoff Stilwell of BUA Motorsports, and Tony Thacker.

“Our intention is to preserve this iconic racecar that is so important to the history of both British and American drag racing.” Said Thacker. “We’ll get it running and take it to some events and let people see it rather than hide it away in a private collection. It was my favorite dragster as a kid and to have it sit at Geoff’s BUA Motorsports’ Pomona raceshop and be able to sit in it, at last, is a dream come true.”

Dragstalgia coverage.
8th July: We are in place at Santa Pod to cover Dragstalgia, you can see updates during the day and photo galleries during the evening via the event coverage page byclicking here, thanks to John Woolfe Racing for their kind support of our event coverage.

Dragstalgia Gasser Circus preview.
7th July: Thanks to Nick Brooke Langham for sending a preview of Gasser Circus at Dragstalgia including two new cars and a new driver:

As we head towards the Dragstalgia weekend at Santa Pod, it looks like being another stellar one in the Gasser Circus ranks, with 22 Gassers entered for the event. It will be great to see so many differing body styles coming to the line, and amongst these are 3 newcomers who will be making their debuts in the race series.

Chris Layram, who often can be seen racing his 65 Ford Falcon in National Super Stocks will have his freshly built, Ford Pop ‘Outa Gas’ ready for action. Keeping things Ford, Nick Hewison plans on debuting his 1948 Fordson ‘Short Fuse’, taking a break from crewing on Ray Irish’s Gas Junkie gasser Willys and finally the current Gasser Circus Championship winning car the Ford Falcon once campaigned by Nick Barnett and Hoch, returns under new ownership with Pat Hobbs taking the wheel of his recent purchase the now ‘Southern Flyed’.


The usual nominals will all be in attendance as well, all aiming to get through qualifying to the Sunday eliminations, where the points and prizes are won. The Gasser Circus Showdown reached the midway point at the conclusion of the Retro weekend, and Dragstalgia signifies just 3 more opportunities for drivers to secure points in the Championship. Everything is finely poised and one slip up could prove very costly, especially for any of the top 5 in the point standings. These are:

1. '47 Morris Van Ain’t Misbhavin - Sean Milsom 1010
2. '33 Willys Whiplash - Martyn Hallam 810
3. Ford Pop Tinsel Town Hustler – Tom Margesson 650
4. '41 Willys Grumpy Grizz – Billy Jones – 550
5. '64 Nova Honky Tonkin 2 – Lee Pike – 520

With it all to play for, be sure you make it along to the premier nostalgia drag meeting in the UK. Drop by the Gasser Circus pits we always enjoy seeing fans and supporters, but make sure you are in the stands when the Gasser’s take to the strip.

Gasser Circus – Racing the Dream.

Dragstalgia ever-presents 2022.
7th July: Your Editor has been consulting his notes, entry lists, record books and everything else he can find about Dragstalgia and has compiled a list of racers who have contested every Dragstalgia that has been held since 2011:

• Joe Bond
• Mark Bracking
• Keith Crampton
• Bob Hawkins
• John Hobbs (pictured right)
• Nervous Nick
• Ray Turner
• Rob Tyrrell
• Paul Watts

Others have participated in run what ya brungs or have crewed at every event. There are no less than 33 racers making their Dragstalgia début this year.


Debuts for Dragstalgia: (pictured left to right): Shawn Hindon (Willys Wars), Paul Standing's Hillman Imp-engined Impulse (NSA) and Stuart Doignie's Nova (Nostalgia Superstock) .

Finally we have compiled an easy-to-print entry list for this weekend's Dragstalgia class contestants. You can take a look at the PDF-format Guide by going to our event coverage page.

Dragstalgia Perfect Light bonus.
7th July: We are pleased to confirm that a bonus Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award will be available at this week's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards are usually posted at UK National Championship events but sponsors Cath and Tig Napier of UK Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing have kindly offered to post £50 for the first 0.000 Reaction Time at Dragstalgia.

The Perfect Light Award will become available at the start of qualifying, currently Willys Wars Q1 which is scheduled for 17:00 on Friday, and from that point will be available to all racers in all classes. As ever, the money will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. As this is a bonus event, if the Perfect Light Award is not won at Dragstalgia then it will remain at £50 for Bug Jam on on 22nd-24th July at Santa Pod Raceway.

Eurodragster.com decals are not mandatory to collect the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate if it they are carried, although we do of course understand about decals on period-correct cars and bikes. If you would like to carry Eurodragster.com decals then they are available in Signing On.

The next Eurodragster.com / Twister Racing Team Perfect ET Award sponsored by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield will be posted at Bug Jam.

Dakota Raceway this Saturday.
7th July: This Saturday 9th July, your can run what you brung or drag race for cash and trophies at Dakota Raceway, writes organiser Lee Child.

Dakota Raceway opens to drag and drift competitors and spectators from 09:00 to 16:00. run what you brung or drag race for cash and trophies. You can pay on the day or you can get a cheeky discount and book online. Spectators can pay on the day. There will be 1/4 mile run what you brung, 1/8 heads up drag race cash day and drifting.

Entry for 1/4 mile run what you brung 3 runs plus admission is only £40 online, with unlimited 1/4 mile run what you brung runs pre entry, including one admission ticket, for £60, on the day £70.

The 1/8 mile heads up drag race cash day includes run what you brung driver entry and one admission pre entry £105, on the day £115. 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 £40.

All categories will have the 16 car pairings decided from an out-of-the-hat selection until the final two race for the money.

Categories:

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

You can enter for drifting action via this page on the Straightliners web site.

All participants must also complete a entry form.

Dakota Raceway is situated at Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon EX14 9RF. For daily updates check the Dakota Raceway Southwest Facebook page which will include photos and times from the event.

Swift snippets.
7th July: Happy Birthday for today to Nostalgia Superstock racer Howard Holmes, Wild Bunch crew member Vinnie Killington former VW Sportsman racer Dean Clatworthy and Pro Mod wife Brigitte Hilt-Suter. Have a wonderful day to you all.

You can read a race report from photojournalist Remco Scheelings about Pro Mod racer David Vegter’s EDRS Sweden Nationals, which has been published in English on dragracingeurope.eu and in Dutch on autosport.nl.

We send our love and best wishes to Hayley Hadfield who is about to undergo treatment for cancer. Husband, Supercharged Outlaws racer and organiser Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield said "We will need the support of the whole drag racing community as time moves on, and we will be positive and strong through what promises to be a tough road. We don’t expect to return to the track to race for some time but if at all possible we’d love to get down there at some point and support the teams and events."

Summer Nationals racer comments - bike classes.
6th July: We present below racer comments and notes on the bike classes from the STP Summer Nationals:

In Banks Night Club Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt defeated Neil Midgley in the final, 6.2291/219.18 to 6.4392/173.04. Steve had a new supercharger at the start of the season and that appears now fully dialled in, whereas Neil is still getting comfortable riding the Cannon Engineering Puma machine. Steve's best time of the event was 6.1360/216.15, the speed showing a slightly early shut off as he recorded a higher speed of 226.77 in the semi final to defeat Al Smith. Apart from the first run on which the bike stalled off the line, Steve was back to the consistent form that has earned him the most ACU championships of any rider.

Neil's best time was 6.1621 with an early shut off of 188.22 in defeating Rene van den Berg in a close race in the semi final, Rene having run one of his best-ever passes in qualifying with 6.0557/246.37 (a new ACU speed record). Al Smith's owner and engineer Phil Baimbridge has written his customary detailed report which you can read here. A lot of engineering work on the crank and cylinder head had gone on between races, and a new oil pump acquired and fitted. His first qualifying pass of 6.1542/196.28 had a misfire due to a magneto issue, then the throttle broke on launch in the second session, and the tyre spun in the semi final against Neil. The team thanks sponsors APE, FIE and B&J for their continued assistance.


Taylors Trophy Super Street Bike was a mixture of dazzling competition and otherworldly performance. Bear in mind that at the start of the year, the ACU class records stood at 6.815 and 218.97. Dániel Lencsés already this season in FIM-E competition reduced the ET record to 6.741. He reduced the mark in qualifying to 6.72 and in the semi final uncorked a 6.620 at 224. Could he run the first 6.5s in SSB history in the final? Yes he could! In the final, Daniel Lencses ran 6.5961/226.67, both backed up by earlier passes to defeat Jake Mechaell who himself ran a string of 6.8s including a side by side defeat of reigning champion Steve Venables in the other semi final.

Daniel thanked his family and team for the support and to everyone who cheered and supported him.

Our sympathies go to Margot Schmidt who made the journey from the Netherlands only to discover oil in the engine where it shouldn't be and a suspected turbo failure.

Leeks Landscapes Funny Bike: Louis Davis had the legs on the class, running a best of 7.0297/184.38 in Q1 and then a 7.040 to defeat returnee Dutch visitor and 2012 champion Maarten Zijlstra in round 1 of eliminations. Eric Richard from France also made his return, with a new frame and carbon fibre body.

There was some attrition in the class, Roger Moore suffered a loose bolt behind a pulley belt which caused unwanted grating of aluminium and shut off in E1, whilst opponent Lorcan Parnell on the Storm bike, having run a new PB ET of 6.549 previously, failed to start for the run, a blown fuse being the suspect.


In Suzukiperformancespares.co.uk Comp Bike Len Paget defeated a redlighting Mick Winyard in the final, 7.908/171 to 7.968/178. Earlier, Paul Hambidge had run a new PB ET of 7.3025. Points leader and record holder Shawn Buttigieg had installed a new transmission and cases after finding cracks after the Springspeed Nationals but was unable to take further part after an 8s pass in Q1.

JKE Race Works 8.50 Bike: was the most competitive class with a number of new faces. Dan De'ath, new this season, ran a 8.4525/157.43 against Andrew Christophi who made his mark on his debut with 8.4426/158.48 in a double breakout.

Dan wrote: "What a mega weekend it was! From struggling in qualifying to making the second final in two meetings (and in only my 3rd meeting ever) and not falling short this time, running a perfect 8.500 ET in round 4 in the second biggest entry field in 8.50 bike ever! Chuffed is an understatement.

"Had some awesome races with some of the best out there, some very close finishes, I can’t thank everyone enough who congratulated us! Massive thanks to Danny Cockerill Steve 'Splinter' Nash for all the hard work over the weekend, and Brad O'Connor from BTC Moto. Massive well done to Andrew Christophi for making the final in his first ever event and running a perfect ET also."

Andrew Christophi posted: "Last year in July I decided to turbo my bike and get into drag racing, today I came second in my first ever competition, against 22 bikes in our category. This weekend took a lot of work to get right and I couldn’t have lost in the final to a better man than Dan De'ath. Thanks to Dan I was able to run through eliminations day as he provided me with a clutch spare which I did not have. What great sportsmanship in this class."


In Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike: on his return to the sport after a break of eight years, Rob Stanley got the win against Carl Thomas in the final, Rob's reaction times being lightning-quick, 0.01 in the first two rounds, then a 0.004 RT coupled with 9.573 ET was almost unbeatable.

Although Brad Head was unable to make 8.50 bike as his bike was not quite ready, he ran in 9.50 Bike thanks to a machine borrowed from Alex Hope, and we have been given an insight into running race bikes thanks to Thomas Cook Abbott's video log posted on his Youtube TCA Racing channel.

In Blood Cancer UK ET Bike: Matt Jones got the event win, defeating a red-lighting Scott Collier in the final. Matt who runs Handwritten Cycles in Sandhurst, Surrey is now a member of the Hobo Racing Team along with Michael Gooding and Justin Malton; supporters can buy hoodies via their Facebook group. Scott had qualified #1 and also earned £50 for the Eurodragster.com/Twister Racing Perfect ET award sponsored by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield, whose wife Haley and family our thoughts are with.

Phil Pratt had an early exit, as described by Suze Morris in her report: "We knew a Rd 2 meeting with Scott Collier, who during qualifying had taken the No.1 spot and the Perfect ET award, was going to be a tough one for us, but...well, we're not sure if it was being tired after a late night of watching the excellent band in the Pro ET pits, or whether it was concentrating too hard on not seeing a red light, but Phil was half asleep on the line and got a good look at the green...Yes, there is one and sometimes, like the red, you just have to double check it's still there!"


Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike saw newcomer Leah Morrison win her debut race against Casey Holgate. The Junior Drag Bike Facebook page posted "What a fantastic weekend at Santa Pod, our newest riders Bradley and Leah Morrison's names may sound familiar around the pits as dad Alan Jr and uncle Ross both ride superstreet bike while their grandad Alan races in 8.50 bike, anyway their very first event and Brad took the number qualifier trophy while his older sister took the event win! Well done guys, amazing first event. Also a huge Well Done to all the other juniors, everyone was on the numbers yet again as always and nice to see a 10 bike field - let's keep the class growing."

You can read Steve Moxley's report on the STP Summer Nationals on the ACU website by clicking here. Thanks to Steve for keeping us apprised with snippets from the pits.

Renegade Outlaw Anglia Dragstalgia preview.
6th July: Many thanks to Outlaw Anglia class organiser and racer Colin Millar who has sent in a preview of the strong class entry at Dragstalgia:

Dragstalgia 2022 is Europe’s premier Nostalgia Drag Race Meeting the one everyone has been waiting for, the one everyone wants a piece of the action from, the entry numbers looked a bit slim in the early weeks but as always, a huge push came on the last week bringing the named classes up to 223 entries, what a great effort by everyone involved, well done, you make this event what it is.

Outlaw Anglia, now celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with three events already under its belt, fielding a fabulous class of a 28 cars with a fantastic mix of Ford Anglias Ford Pops and Fordson Vans, all will be running in a heads up class with the first one past the finish line taking the win and going through to the next round with no exceptions and no excuses.

This is a very special meeting for Outlaw Anglia with a number of teams returning and in some cases after many years being absent from the class, one such racer is Barnaby Levy in the Barn Stormer making an appearance after travelling all the way from County Kerry in Southern Ireland with his three boys. We all wish Barn the best of luck. Ben Rushforth in Short Trip makes a welcome appearance as we thought we had lost him forever after getting married just a few weeks back, there is unfinished business between Barn and Ben so watch this space.

Another racer who has been missing in action is Simon Barlow in the Orange Pop Racing Fordson van, Simon will for sure be chasing the 200mph barrier as well as the 6 second mark with new parts and a new tune. Mister six Jedd Guy is back out in Shorty’s Hot Rod for the first time in 2022 and we all know what he can do from last year's performance.


Paul Hensher returns in Gas Attack after running a 7.3 second quarter mile in his first run of the year in 2022, Paul is certainly the dark horse this weekend coming, Colin Millar back out in the Flyin Fyfer as ever chasing the elusive six second quarter mile pass as well as starting to chip away towards the 200mph barrier, more NOS needed, its great to see Ginner Man back out where he so deservedly belongs, good luck Ginner, Nathan Barlow returns after a long time away from the track, we all wish him well.

Commiserations to Mick Taylor in the Banshee unable to fix the damage from the last meeting, he is gutted he can’t be out this weekend, first OA round he has missed for 6 years, now that’s commitment for you.

Congratulations to Barry Woodford coming runner up in the STP Summer Nationals last weekend, and keen as mustard to get back out in Dragstalgia as well as Wayne Power looking to better his new PB of 10.1 after the last weekend, Ronnie Mercer coming out of a hard weekend in Pro-ET; Rob Stone is doing a Colin Millar and having to miss Dragstalgia due to a family wedding and Ben Kennedy who had engine problems last week and fingers crossed he can fit his spare engine in time to come out and play, goof luck Ben.

Gary Bird returns in Lucky Penny after a huge effort to get his engine back together after destroying the cylinder heads in the last meeting, his message was don’t worry, we WILL be there, that’s the spirit, well done Gary, it’s also great to see the famous Al O’Connor in Al’s Gasser back out doing what he does best and Rob Brindle and Stephen Brindle fighting damage on their SBC only getting parts just a few days ago so a few late nights for the boys on the new shiny freshly painted red Anglia, a new member to Outlaw Anglia and first time out but certainly not to the drag racing scene is Paul Watson AKA Grumpy in his street legal Ford Pop OA302, we wish him the very best.


Its also fantastic to see Lee Taylor entered and debuting his new Ford Pop pick up, good luck Lee and can't wait to see the finished product, looking wonderful.

Fingers crossed we will also hopefully see the OA Bracket class running with the 16 car field who have lost in the 1st round of eliminations contesting the trophy for the OA Bracket winner for Dragstalgia, this sounds easy but try running a number on a Pro Tree especially when you are last to go, it is not easy at all!

With all the other Outlaw Anglia teams who have entered putting in the effort to get down the quarter mile at Santa Pod Raceway, its going to be a spectacular weekend for all involved, whether you’re a racer, a spectator or a marshal, once you hear the Outlaw Anglias have been called to the pairing lanes, get yourselves onto the bank or in the grandstand, we promise you all you will not be disappointed, the class will be there to entertain you with some of the most daring fast and exciting racing you will see all weekend, fingers crossed we can reach new barriers which only a few years ago were thought to be impossible to reach, this is only achieved by Outlaw Anglia racers pushing each other to find more power, to find technical solutions, to reach goals that never before have been met.

Who will overcome, come watch and you will see.

Swift snippets.
6th July: Happy Birthday for today to Speedgroup official and Pro Stock Bike team owner Roger Lyrén, to Junior Dragster crew member Michael Dowdy, and to Pro ET racer Marie Mills, we hope you all have a great day!

You can see media from the STP Summer Nationals posted by Patrick O'Connor in his Facebook album. Also posting from the Summer Nationals is Kieran who has a Facebook album and Youtube video with 24 minutes of great action. Callum Pudge has posted an album of 247 photos to Pudgey's Pictures Facebook page.

Summer Nationals racer comments - car classes.
5th July: We present below racer comments and notes on the car classes from the STP Summer Nationals:

Motorsport UK Pro Modified was won by Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson in a close race with Bobby Wallace. The Anger Management Camaro team did not have a problem free weekend though as described in the many detailed posts on their Facebook page. After finding an oil pressure problem in the pits, the team decided to miss the first of only two rounds of qualifying whilst they fixed it. After Q2 they reported "Today has been character building. We managed to make Q2 but the run wasn't great. A valve dropped at 3.5 seconds, however the data shows an increase in crankcase pressure earlier in the run, so it likely stretched first, taking up valuable clearance and making contact with the piston. We ran a 6.08 at 216mph which was due to the engine nosing over. We could tell on the line that something wasn't right but actually it could have been a lot worse."

After running a 5.95/244 in a close race with Wayne Nicholson who ran a new PB ET of 6.08, Andy had a bye run in round 2 after Nick Davies had suffered engine damage. He ran it through the back door to go 5.92/244 for lane choice in the final against Bobby. "What an honour it is to receive one of the new style Santa Pod trophies! This means a lot to us, especially winning against a first class team like the Wallace family. They really stepped it up, Andy clinched the win by virtue of a holeshot! This is our first event win with the new car, we are over the moon! So far in Motorsport UK Pro Mod this year there has been 3 events and 3 entirely different pairs of finalists, each won with a 5 second run. Exciting to say the least!"

Well done to Andy and his team with main sponsors NGK Spark Plugs and Torco Oil, with associates Nimbus Motorsport, Weld Wheels, PA Racing Springs, Brown & Miller, Manton Pushrods, Noonan Race Engineering, Mike Janis Superchargers, Precision Racing Suspension, Voss Wheelie Bars, Power Race Graphics and Vivid Vinyl.

Track Worx Comp Eliminator was won by Dan Williams over welcome returnee Rene Ehrismann from Switzeland. The team posted "Williams Bros Racing team had yet another great weekend at Santa Pod Raceway, we had 6 cars running at this event, 3 in Pro/ET and 3 in Comp Eliminator.

In Comp Eliminator we had Nic, Dan and Spencer running in a great field of competitors, and it was brilliant to see some more European friends coming to run in the class. Dan qualified with a 10.03 in 2nd with Spencer close behind in 3rd and Nic in 4th. In round 1, Nic took the win over Dave Smith in the Jaguar who ran their PB this weekend (congrats!), Dan took the win over Robin Orthodoxou and Spencer won against Kev Jenkins who appeared to have some gremlins and we hope they get them sorted! In the second round Dan faced Nic with Dan taking the win and Spencer pulled a red light against Rene Erishmann in the beautiful '55 Chevy.

In the final Dan faced Rene who pulled a red light, we enjoyed having some different competitors in the class! We will be back next weekend at Dragstalgia running in Nostalgia Super Stock with 6 cars again!

In Fast R Super Comp Leah Kellett went from 4th to #1 qualifier in the second session and congratulations to her for getting the race win, on the way defeating Allan Schofield, Paul Hudson (a race that brought them Bob's Photo Finish Award), and Steve Hudson in the final. The class again was a diverse mix of the usual rear engined dragsters, slingshots, altereds and the returning Falcon of Simon Fulton after transmission woes had been sorted. In the first session, Darryl Howells suffered catastrophic engine failure, although the team were philosophical, saying later the engine had many passes on it and plans were already in place for a rebuild, also Darryl's quick reactions to get off the throttle and the engine diaper resulted in not a drop of oil being spilt.


In Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas, Pete Creswell returned to racing for the first time since 2019 and was in Super Gas for the first time since 2014. He had not lost his considerable tuning and racing skills as he was #2 in the first session, and come race day, defeated Jon Turner, Mark White, Jon Giles and Richard Tunstall, the final being a double breakout with only 0.0220 in it at the finish line. Welcome back Pete!

In Peter Nee Super Pro ET Mark Bailey had not previously had a win (he had two in Pro ET before joining Super Pro) and final round opponent Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters had one previous win, so both were hungry. Pete however had a 0.0142 red light so Mark came away with the win. Earlier, Mark had only just made the event due to engine problems, and had suffered oil leaks after Friday testing and Saturday qualifying. On race day though Mark's Barracuda was on form and his driving saw him defeat Phil Toppin in a squeaker with a 0.0026 margin at the stripe, in the 2nd round defeating Kieran Astley's dragster, and then a 0.02 RT against Callum Swinchatt in the 3rd, which gave Mark a bye into the finals. Mark thanked partner Jane for all the support adding "I will come out the garage I swear". He also thanked "super crew Paul and Cerry Fleckney. And not forgetting Santa Pod and all the track crew for a fantastic track. Roll on the Euros."


Modurstang Pro ETracer Leigh Morris has been racing for decades in his British Racing Green E-type, one of only a handful running the venerable Jaguar 6 cylinder engine that was the backbone of the sport in the 1970s. Leigh has kept his combination one to fear, and no greater proof of that was racing against a qualified field of 37 cars. Having qualified with a +0.065 10.165/131.27, Leigh defeated returnee and former Super Gas and Super Comp multiple champion Stuart Doignie, rookie Warren Watts, Dave Fulton, Neill Watkins and Tom Kaye, all with 0.0 reaction times and 0.0 over dial in round two onwards, what a great performance.

Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET competitor Brian Huxley recently celebrated his 80th birthday but age has not diminished his racing prowess one iota. Showing he can win almost regardless of what car he is driving he brought a Focus Estate to the track and overcame a field of 23 cars. After qualifying 14th with a +0.0879, Brian defeated Chris Redshaw, Clive Dandridge (Brian had a scarcely believeable 0.018 RT for a street car on that run), Ashley Symons (Brian's package was 0.129 on that run), Gary Lake (win margin of 20 inches), and in the final, a breaking-out Tom Atkinson. Well done Brian.
In Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Tony Higgs and his Capri qualified with a great 7.759/179.23 in the second session, close to his PB of 7.710. In round one of eliminations the car (built robustly with a 6.00 chassis tag) gave us a spectacular wheelie (photo credit: Kirstie Eykyn), he kept on it and ran 8.252/165.45 to defeat Ashley Cooper, then in round two defeated Ricky Hale, driving the enormous Redneck Racing Twin Cab of dad Nigel into the 10s. A wounded rear axle for class performance leader Andy Bond meant that Elliot Day deservedly made his first final, however Tony was ruthless in running a 7.775/181.35 to shut down the youngster who had earlier ran a 9.03/152.59 in his '33 Willys.

In Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, Luke Fulton who had won three events met Damion Redshaw who was in his first final. In a close race, Luke's 0.097 package saw him a car length ahead of Damion who had a 0.213. Luke had earlier defeated Harry Redshaw, Luke Mugridge, Liam Macdonald and Daniel Weir. Among the 28 qualifiers there was plenty of close racing.

Mackenzie Love, whose writeups reveal the ups and downs of racing in detail, posted "During test day we found that the breather seal that comes off the carb feeding fuel directly through to the motor has split half way open. This was also why we have been bogging all year so it must have been split for a while. And this then led to carb problems all weekend. We fire up ready to race for round 1 eliminations and we get signals from Ian Marshall to shut off and push back. The carb really decided to crap its pants at a very inconvenient time. Fuel spitting out the carb and onto the startline. To say the least I wasn't impressed. So bye run it was for Chevrolet Checkett. And just within a heartbeat our weekend was over."


Renegade Outlaw Anglia racer and class organser Colin Millar qualified first and He declared he was "Dead chuffed I got a new-style trophy for my collection, so made up for Barry Woodford getting into the final." Barry's wife Mandy posted that his runner-up spot was "A proud moment for Grumpy Arse Racing Team, congrats to Colin and big thanks to Scott and Brandon for all your help this weekend." Colin ran 8.2s even without nitrous as he declared "We all need to consider saving costs these days." We can only hope he has saved some of the laughing gas for Dragstalgia.

Springbridge Direct Wild Bunch had a select field of four cars the week before the class's premier event at Dragstalgia. Keith Crampton was the winner by qualifying with a new PB 9.658/139.40 (9.71 dial) and then being the beneficiary of Bob Hawkins' red light in the semi final before defeating a breaking-out Phil James in the final. On Saturday in qualifying, Bob had run back-to-back 6.9598/192.95 and 6.9011/193.86 demonstrating hard work in preparing for the event paying off, and a nice pair of test runs for the Dragstalgia Cannonball.


In VW Sportsman, Paul Robinson with a 3.2l Audi TT overcame a field of 23 qualified cars, coming 2nd in qualifying and then defeating Nigel Gregson, John Crawford, who broke out against Paul's +0.02 on dial, Martin Ayton, who also broke out against Paul's +0.05 on dial, Morgan Wilson, against whom Paul had a 0.139 package and a breaking-out Jerry Sadler in the final, a tough series of races and well done to Paul.

In VW Pro, Graham Fairhead was the winner over announcer, promoter and dragster racer Luke Stevenson. Graham said "After rain showers we ended up number 1 after the second run with a 11.26 on a 11.25 dial so were happy with that. We took it all the way to the win on Sunday. Defeating Sam Young in round 1, a bye in round 2, James Hodson in round 3 and Luke Stevenson in the final due to better reaction time. It was an amazing weekend, the Santa Pod crew worked hard all weekend to keep the track open and it paid off. Super happy, couldn't have asked for a a better weekend."

Sjödin repeats at Kauhava.
5th July: Thanks to Swedish Top Doorslammer racer from Andreas Sjödin with news of his triumph at the FHRA Nitro Nationals held at Kauhava, Finland last weekend:

We did it again! We are the EDRS Top Doorslammer event winner in the second race in the series, this time at Kauhava Raceway in Finland 2022!

What a weekend! We made 11 passes on 4 days of racing, I can’t remember when I was even close to that! Our slowest pass was the first one with a 4.11 on a track I never been at just to figure it out, next 4.03, 3.95, 3.95, 3.96, 3.93, 3.917 that was the exact number of the Finnish Top Doorslammer record and also track record at Kauhava made by our good friend Lenn Lindell back in September in 2019. The fun thing about it is that I built his car so the record was already held by a Swede and a Sjödin Motorsport Race Cars built race car!

After that, we ran a 3.905 that also meant that we have the Finnish Top Doorslammer record and track record at Kauhava! In eliminations round 1 we started with a 3.884 that reset the record again and are now the current ET record, Lenn Lindell still has the speed record with 312km/h! After that we had a solo round because Mikko Siironen hurt the motor but had also made a personal best in E1 if I did understand it correctly.

So I decided to do some crazy stuff when we got the bye to see how the car would react! And it did NOT like it, it spun the tires and shook really bad pretty much directly, that was the first time in years, but sometimes you just have to test stuff when you are able to do it.

I usually tune safe to make passes instead of just going into shake because that gives nothing at all, I was pretty satisfied with all the great passes during the weekend so I needed on bad pass too, haha!

Then in the finals I went back to a safe tune and went down to the stripe with one more 3.90 pass and took the event win against Jarmo Nyberg in his Dodge Dart who ran a new personal best against us in that round with a 4.14 I think, his earlier pb was around 4.30-4.40 if I got it right and that’s just an awesome job. A big congratulations to the whole team for a great job! It was a good race from the start where I was 0.063 and Jarmo 0.070 on the tree!

I’m also really happy for Jari Sokura and the whole Elukka Racing Team for making a couple of personal records during the weekend ending up with a 4.08 from the 4.40 they came to the track with, awesome job guys!

We stayed on the top of the list as number one qualifier from the first to the last round we made in qualifying, we also got the prize money for the best 60ft during qualifying in the Top Doorslammer class presented by SDMA & Artjärven Lenco!

During the whole event of 11 rounds we changed just 1 valve spring, a burst panel, an air fitting and a transmission thrust bearing, that’s pretty good for that many runs if you ask me!

But I’m not totally happy with the performance because we are low on power for some reason, can’t get the car up to speed like we usually do, we are missing at least 15km/h! Need to figure that out, it might be a leak between the blower and intake or that the blower is starting to get tired because I can see that I’m missing a couple of pounds of boost!

Thanks to everyone involved! My team, starting with my dad Åke, girlfriend Sofi, Max, John and Krille, our partners Åkes Bil & Motor, Birka Motorrenoveringar, Sjödin Motorsport Race Cars, Swecomposite, LSF Custom Lackering, Swelube Amalie Motor Oil, LVV AB, Bengtssons Smide, Loggamera, Clearwrap, SnapOn Pro Tools Peter Hult, ICA Gärdet, W-Linds Bärgning, Kustservice, Supra Trading, T. Grundström Plåtslageri, Jonnie Lindberg Motorsports, Swedol Arninge, CP-Carrillo, Alwerco Svets & Smide, Catch With Care, Edlunds Maskinservice.

Thanks to the awesome supporters in Finland at Kauhava Raceway, you all made it easy for us to come back just to meet you again, I love it when people come and talk, ask questions and cheer us on! And all other helpful and friendly teams that did everything so we could feel as if we were at home! A special thanks to all of you that tried to help us fix the lightning in our trailer that the Finnlines ferry destroyed because of bad electricity (we're happy that we didn’t started a fire in the whole trailer) and thanks to Ossi Oikarinen from Double Zero Drag Racing Team who went just for us and bought us LED drivers and brought them to the track so we could fix the lighting in the trailer, greatly appreciated!

Also thanks to the awesome track prep by Anssi Pinola with team, I was able to use a lot of power from my car and if I could have made more runs, taking baby steps testing the car, I would been down at mid to low 3.80s easily!

Just look at Tommi Haapanen, he made a 3.94 at 1000ft with his Top Fuel and that tells me the track is where it should be! Thanks also to the whole FHRA Crew / Safety Crew at the track for an awesome job and for listening to me and for changing your routines in a way I think is better to make the runs go smoother, safer for the racers and so the fans in the grandstands can see more racing instead of waiting on cars that gets stuck in the shut down area.

This was the first time for us attending on an event in Finland, it was AWESOME and a great drag racing experience for us! We made friends for life, everyone was so nice and friendly and helped out with whatever we needed! We will be back here at Kauhava in Finland next year and I already look forward to it!

The next event for Sjödin Motorsport / ÅBM Racing Will be at Sundsvall Raceway in the end of August, hope to see you all there!

Photo credits: TMu Photography and Sjödin Motorsport HB/ ÅBM Racing

Swift snippets.
5th July: We have two birthday greetings today, Happy Birthday to Super Street Bike racer and Junior Drag Bike dad Alan Morrison Jnr, hope you have a great day Al, also to crew member and friend to the site for many years Richard Bell, enjoy you day Rich.

Thanks to Andy Marrs for an updated European Bests page including the records set at the STP Summer Nationals which you can see by clicking here or via Data, then UK & European Bests, in the main menu.

STP Summer Nationals results.
4th July: Congratulations to the winners at the STP Summer Nationals held at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend:

Motorsport UK Pro Modified: Andy Robinson 5.9320/244.09 def. Bobby Wallace 5.9300/246.39
Track Worx Comp Eliminator: Dan Williams 10.5854/97.04 (10.39) def. Rene Ehrismann 7.6835/158.46 (08.02)
Fast R Super Comp: Leah Kellett 8.9100/161.32 def. Steve Hudson 8.9096/141.66
Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas: Pete Creswell 9.8983/153.67 def. Richard Tunstall 9.8725/133.23
Peter Nee Super Pro ET: Mark Bailey 8.8215/147.15 (8.75) def. Peter Walters 18.9583/51.26 (7.61) DQ red
Modurstang Pro ET: Leigh Morris 10.1710/127.24 (10.10) def. Tom Kaye 10.0678/132.12 (10.09)
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET: Brian Huxley 19.1224/71.01 (18.90) def. Tom Atkinson 11.9375/75.03 (12.00)
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Tony Higgs 7.7754/181.35 def. Elliot Day 12.7660/68.34
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Luke Fulton 8.2444/76.15 (8.23) def. Damion Redshaw 9.1266/72.16 (9.07)
Renegade Outlaw Anglia: Colin Millar 8.1126/167.93 def. Barry Woodford 11.0543/120.11
Springbridge Direct Wild Bunch: Keith Crampton 9.9094/138.55 (9.63) def. Phil James 9.4853/137.84 (9.52)
VW Sportsman: Paul Robinson 14.7638/91.98 (14.72) def. Jerry Sadler 15.6272/85.36 (15.95)
VW Pro: Graham Fairhead 11.3418/111.09 (11.20) def. Luke Stevenson 8.4378/153.61 (8.42)

Banks Night Club Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt 6.2291/219.18 def. Neil Midgley 6.4392/173.04
Taylors Trophy Super Street Bike: Dániel Donát Lencsés 6.5961/226.67 def. Jake Mechaell 6.8238/213.08
Leeks Landscapes Funny Bike: Louis Davis 7.9830/112.34 bye
Suzukiperformancespares.co.uk Comp Bike: Len Paget 7.9080/171.75 def. Mick Winyard 7.9683/178.54
JKE Race Works 8.50 Bike: Dan De'ath 8.4525/157.43 def. Andrew Christophi 8.4426/158.48
Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike: Rob Stanley 9.5731/134.43 def. Carl Thomas 10.1886 126.29
Blood Cancer UK ET Bike: Matt Jones 9.3607/143.36 (8.88) def. Scott Collier 9.5983/135.71 (9.60) DQ red
Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike: Leah Morrison 12.5432/48.49 (12.40) def. Casey Holgate 8.5951/78.02 (8.30)

New ACU Super Street Bike records for Danny Lencses of 6.5961 and 226.67, well done Danny and team! Although there were showers on both Saturday and Sunday, the Santa Pod track crew worked tirelessly to ensure that the track was dried quickly and racing returned as soon as possible. A huge field of 300 vehicles competed, with 16 overseas competitors showing that competing in the UK is once again achievable.

Subject to official ratification, the following ACU records were set:

ACU Top Fuel Bike speed: 239.79, Rene van den Berg
ACU Super Street Bike ET: 6.596, Dániel Donát Lencsés
ACU Super Street Bike speed: 226.67, Dániel Donát Lencsés

The following European quickest and fastest side-by-side records were set:

ACU Super Street Bike ET: Dániel Donát Lencsés 6.7215 v Steve Venables 6.7801 (qualifying session 2)
ACU Super Street Bike speed: Dániel Donát Lencsés 223.31 v Steve Venables 221.44 (qualifying session 2)

The following Santa Pod Raceway track records were set:

Super Street Bike ET: 6.5961, Dániel Donát Lencsés
Super Street Bike speed: 226.67, Dániel Donát Lencsés

Congratulations to Modurstang Pro ET racer Dave Rudd who won the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award of £50 supported by Cath and Tig Napier and to Blood Cancer UK ET Bike racer Scott Collier who won the Eurodragster.com/Twister Racing Perfect ET award of £50 supported by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield.

Congratulations also to B Fast R Super Comp racers Leah Kellett and Paul Hudson who won the Bob's Photo Finish Award of £50 each posted by sponsor and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts. Leah and Paul's finish line margin was 0.0018 seconds or 4.3 inches.

Thanks to David Anniwell of the Santa Pod Timing Crew for sending us detailed timing data, including test day results, which we have posted 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 STP Summer Nationals reports, results and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. Please join Simon in thanking Julian and Diana for their hard work over the race weekend which coincided with Diana's 50th birthday celebrations.

We look forward to publishing racer comments from social media on the event tomorrow, racers can also send comments to [email protected].

Hobbs memorabilia for BDRHoF auction.
4th July: John Hobbs, British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and subject of the recently published book John Hobbs and the Age of the Twins by Keith Lee, has donated a unique and highly collectable lot to the BDRHoF auction to be held at Dragstalgia next weekend which marks the final run for John down the Santa Pod drag strip.

John has kindly donated a signed helmet and framed print, showing him wearing the helmet, for the auction, to be auctioned together as one lot with a minimum price of £150.

John writes: "The helmet is the Phil Read International one I wore 1979 through to 1981. I’ve also thrown in the gloves I wore at the same time, you may remember Phil Read sponsored me 1978/79. The picture is of me riding the Hobbit at the Pod in 1981. It’s an original Keith Simmons black and white photo print and will be signed and framed."

A reminder that you can see pictures of all the auction lots by clicking here.

Grumpy's return.
4th July: Thanks to Paul 'Grumpy' Watson, a man who may have raced in more classes than most other racers and even created one (8.50 Bike), who has announced a return to competition at Dragstalgia this weekend:

"2018 was my last ever race with my Grumpy's T. Unfortunately it destroyed the motor and with no more finances, we called it a day.

"This is the 30th Anniversary of Outlaw Anglia and also the 50th Anniversary of the NSRA so to commemorate it I have entered my street Pop in Outlaw Anglia. A big thank you to Colin Millar for the offer. Hopefully driving it there and back, as I used to do in Grumpy's Toy back in the 80s.

"Looking forward to seeing everyone and having a great weekend."

Swift snippets.
4th July: Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway Race Event Secretary and Super Street Bike class sponsor Kathy Taylor, also to returning 8.50 Bike racer Gary Malone, Swedish Top Doorslammer racer Michael Nord and U.S. and international Fuel Altered racer Randy Bradford, we hope you all have a fantastic day.

You can see a Flickr gallery of photos taken by Ashley Dale at the recent Midsummer Northern Showdown at Melbourne Raceway by clicking here. You can also see Ashley's unofficial Melbourne 5-Second club by clicking here.

Yesterday a run what ya brung was held at Hal Far Raceway before the next round of the Malta Drag Racing Association's championship to be held on 16th-18th July. You can see a playlist of videos posted by MDRA Secretary Konrad D'Anastasi at his Youtube channel.

We will bring summary results from other weekend events once they have been published and we have collated them.

We would like to wish all of our friends and readers in the USA a Happy 4th July. Have a great day guys.

Andy Carter by the numbers.
1st July: Thanks to Chris Hobson for sending a piece about the achievements of Andy Carter in European Top Fuel competition during his career in the class:

It has been 11 years since Andy Carter last put his foot down on the loud pedal of a Top Fuel Dragster but the impact he left on the class can still be seen and felt to this day.

Carter not only achieved the pinnacle of drag racing four times in Europe, winning the championship in 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2009 but also held the European ET record on five separate occasions, still holding the quarter mile record of 4.572 to this day. At the time of writing he is still the only Top Fuel driver in Europe to surpass 320mph as a terminal speed.

It is also the 20 year anniversary of the historic side by side run with Barry Sheavills which saw the first and second 300mph runs in Europe, and also saw the first side by side European four second pass take place. While Andy was the second one to the line in hitting the 300mph barrier he left the 2002 Main Event with a new ET record of 4.922, and broke the record on four more occasions in his career having held onto the record for part of or all of every year between 2002-2011.


On 19 occasions he achieved low ET and was number 1 Qualifier 17 times, all of these were records for the Top Fuel class at the time of his retirement, as was the 14 finals and 9 Event wins with only 2 runner ups and 3 finals uncontested due to the weather. To this day he still holds the record for the most Top Speeds of an FIA Event with 22 to his credit.

It was not only in FIA competition that Carter was successful, in 2002 he won the season opening Pro Fuel Shootout at Santa Pod's Easter Thunderball, contested between Top Fuel Dragsters and Nitro Funny Cars. Later that season he went on to win the Nitrolympx in Germany which at the time was a non-FIA event. He went on to win the Pro Fuel shootout again in 2004 with a holeshot 5.049 win Over Lex Joon’s 5.046.

Outside of championship competition, Carter also took part and was highly successful in several match races too, most notably at Shakespeare Country Raceway where he set both ends of the track records 5.191/288.46mph in a match race against Susanne Callin, records that stayed until the track's unfortunate closure in 2017.

The list of achievements go on with several track speed and ET records, being the first and only driver into the 4.5 second zone over the quarter mile and for many years being the all time number 1 points scorer in FIA Top Fuel. Andy Carter may no longer be in competition, but the numbers speak for themselves and his presence is still clearly felt in the Top Fuel Class.

Thanks to Andy Marrs for supplying the statistical data used in this article, which you can see at this link. Photo credits: Tog, Gary Cottingham (B&Q car from 2005).

BDRHoF's grand Dragstalgia auction.
1st July: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to announce its second annual Dragstalgia Grand Auction. The silent auction takes place on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th July in the Hall of Fame marquee situated in the pits near the grandstand and features a wealth of artefacts and artworks generously donated to help in the raising of essential funds.


An array of items from the USA has been collected by Tony Thacker. Major donations from the home front include a Paul Whitehouse painting – BDRHoF member Dennis Priddle’s Olavi Knuutinen Monza – and a No.1 Limited Edition framed print of Pegasus donated by Ian Messenger. Either might become the star auction lot, or could both be trumped by a signed John Force poster from across the pond?

There are models donated by the late Kevin Cerasale’s family, Lucas Oil 7707 Bonneville merchandise from Geoff Stilwell, a fuel jug and goodies from VP Racing Fuels, a rather special blower belt and jacket given by Andy Willsheer, an autographed edition of Keith Lee’s new book John Hobbs and the Age of the Twins, a Venom Rod Clock made by Syd McDonald, donations from Anita Mäkelä plus a host of books, posters, T-shirts and crew shirts, signed race parts, limited-edition and signed prints – too many items to list individually. And there’ll be plenty more on general sale too.

You can see photos and descriptions of each of the auction lots in our gallery at this link.

The Hall of Fame will be pleased to welcome visitors to view and place bids for auction items, and to buy sale items, from 10am each day. The Dragstalgia Grand Auction takes place with the kind permission of Santa Pod Raceway. The Hall of Fame is indebted to all who have so kindly donated items.

Hewison Thames gasser breaks cover.
1st July: Gasser Circus racer Tom Margesson has got in touch to show you a new Gasser Circus Van that has, up until now, been built under the cover of secrecy:

"Nick Hewison had the Thames gasser shipped over from the States as a rolling project. It’s been hard graft as some things needed addressing by Nick, as we all know and respect the the work that’s involved to get a car to a good standard to race.

"We took a visit to John Sleath Race Cars on Wednesday to have a rolling road session. In the grand scheme of things it went well. There is some work to do that leads to finally get down the race track and start learning the car at the big stage that is Dragstalgia. I know Nick will try his hardest to get it sorted in time!

"I wish Nick the best of luck in Gasser Circus, but now we’re opponents not friends! See you in the other lane mate!"

STP Summer Nationals coverage.
1st July: Our STP Summer Nationals coverage will comprise on-track and off-track pictures from Julian and Diana, and a detailed live race report tomorrow and Sunday. You will be able to see the photo galleries after they are posted during the evening. Streaming video and Nitro FM coverage is also available from the usual links which you can see by clicking here.

Swift snippets.
1st July: Happy Birthday for today to Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters, Competition Eliminator racer Rob Smallworth, German photojournalist David Beitler who celebrates his 40th, racer husband and muffler supplier Mike Smith, crew member Ricky Emms and ET Bike racer Dave Grundy. Here's hoping you have a great day whereever you are.


Earlier news