Pioneers set for HoF honours. 31st October: In its heyday the MGM studio motto was Do it big, do it right; give it class. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has adopted that creed for the prestigious Gala Awards Dinner on 22nd November at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park, which will host one of the largest social gatherings of UK drag racing pioneers ever held. The induction of the 2014 nominees - Gerry Belton, Russ Carpenter, Don Garlits, Dennis Norman and John Whitmore - will be the main event. Full details about all of them can be found on the BDRHoF web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk and in the sixteen-page souvenir programme designed by Power Race Graphics. This will be a very special keepsake which everyone will want. The inductees will be celebrated by an audience of nearly three hundred including many Hall of Fame members such as Gary Page, the Readspeed team, Barry Sheavills, Geof Hauser, Harold Bull, Tina Gibbs, Peter Crane, Roz Prior, Steve Murty and family, Roy Phelps and family, Phil Evans and John Hobbs. There will be many other drag racing personalities joining them. Those of you who didn't get an opportunity to thank Ron Hope for bringing Rat Trap and Pure Hell to Dragstalgia will have the chance at the Savill Court because he is flying in from the USA for the event. We have another long-distance flyer joining us, but the name must remain a secret until the night. Multiple FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter will be in the building along with Liz Rowland (aka Liz Burn), the Pegasus Team of Ian Messenger and Derek Chinn, Bill Sherratt, Chris Andrews, Jason Phelps and from Junior Dragster Paige and Belle Wheeler. The big recent news is that it will all be videoed so that future drag racing fans can look back on this night to remember. Watch this space for how it will be released. If you want to say "I was there" you still might be in with a chance if there are any late cancellations. Final figures must be with the hotel shortly so E-Mail Stu Bradbury at [email protected] or call 01933 279102. Swift snippets. 31st October: Good luck and stay safe to Noah Stutz (Top Fuel Dragster), Elvira Karlsson (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences (Top Alcohol Dragster), and Ulf Leanders and Jonnie Lindberg (Top Alcohol FC) who are contesting this weekend's NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas. Qualifying commences today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central friends at www.dragracecentral.com. Read ready to play spoiler. 31st October: For the third weekend in a row, Brisbane-based ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer 'The Pom' Steve Read will be on the road with the Team RSR car. This time, however, it's all business. "The past two weekends, the RSR Dragster has been at McDonalds Ipswich for McHappy Day and last Friday we were part of the very successful Friday Night Drags concept at the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercar round", said Steve. "This weekend, it's race mode. As much fun as we've had the last two weeks, it's time to go out and play the role of spoiler in this Top Fuel Championship dog-fight." Phil Lamattina and Alan Dobson are locked in a Top Fuel Championship points battle which will be decided at this weekend's Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway, starting today (Friday) and ending on Sunday. "We know how to run with these bigger teams", Steve smiled. "Between the Lamattinas and Rapisarda Autosport there are four cars – two of those are in Championship mode, while they also have team-mates who can shake things up. We'll be going out there running our own race and throwing a spanner in the works." The Australian Nationals winners' circle is a place which Steve last visited in 2009 in a spectacular début of his current dragster, in partnership with Dwayne Riley. "We won the Nationals in '09 straight out of the trailer with a bunch of 4.70s and a 4.68 to qualify top", Steve said. "We have our own agenda this weekend, and that is to be in the Winners Circle' at the 2014 Australian Nationals on Sunday afternoon." You will be able to stay in touch with Steve's progress at www.sydneydragway.com.au and on the Readspeed Racing Team Facebook page. APIRA Championship presentation. 30th October: Avon Park International Racing Association and Shakespeare County Raceway are pleased to announce details of their Championship Presentation Evening to be held on Saturday 7th March 2015 in the Valley Suite of the Severn Valley Railway, Comberton Place, Kidderminster DY10 1QR. The evening will honour the 2014 APIRA Champions and runners up along with APIRA and SCR Perpetual Award winners. The evening will commence at 6:00 pm and the buffet will open at 7:30 pm. The Championship presentation begins at 8:30 pm. There will be a disco till late provided by Shakey's resident DJ Jamie. There will also be a raffle. Tickets are £15 per person including Hog Roast with all the trimmings and a choice of desserts; please see the booking form for the options. You can download your booking form (PDF format) from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. Please note that all booking forms should be returned to the address on the form by 17th February 2015. Credit card payments can be made by calling 01789 414119 during business hours. There are many hotels and guest houses nearby including a Holiday Inn Express, Premier Inn and Travelodge. Please see the Severn Valley Severn Valley Railway web site for details. There is plenty to see and do at the Seven Valley Railway as well as the historic towns of Bewdley, Bridgnorth and Kidderminster. The Severn Valley Railway itself offers a fantastic day / weekend of heritage steam which includes a very informative visitor centre named The Engine House at Highley Station. Perfect for all petrol heads! If you have any queries then please call 01789 720180 or E-Mail [email protected]. 2013 Perpetual Award winners please note that all trophies should be returned to APIRA/SCR as soon as possible please. Top Fuel Manual review. 29th October: Dan Welberry's eagerly-awaited reference work on Top Fuel Dragster does not disappoint. Presented in the traditional Haynes style, the Top Fuel Dragster Owners' Workshop Manual gives a wide-ranging and detailed insight into the flagship class of drag racing. Even though you are not necessarily going to be able to tune a three-second thousand-foot pass by the time you read the last page, you will certainly have a much deeper understanding of what it takes. Although not formally split, the Manual is neatly divided into theory and practice with the first half explaining what Top Fuel Dragsters are made of and how they work, and the second half containing several detailed first-hand accounts by those who have actually done it - this gives the Manual a big advantage over preceding Top Fuel books which have at most given practical experience cursory coverage. The introduction sets the scene, explaining not just Top Fuel Dragster but drag racing as a whole, then the first chapter proper gives a brief overview of the history of Top Fuel particularly spotlighting the trigger moment for a permanent move to rear-engined cars - Don Garlits' transmission explosion at Lions Drag Strip, which put him in hospital for long enough not just to think about changing the paradigm but to achieve it. The chapter also gives an overview of the class' history in Europe including a detailed discussion, with no definitive outcome for reasons which are explained, of which was the first UK car to run on nitro. The chapter finally returns to the USA to explain the move to 1000 feet and subsequent developments. Into the meat in the next chapter with a detailed anatomy of the Top Fuel Dragster front-to-end and side-to-side covering chassis, suspension, steering, brakes, wheels and tyres, aerodynamics, electronics, cockpit, safety equipment, engine and transmission. Over no less than forty nine pages each subject is not just described in fine detail but extensively illustrated with three or four pictures per page - and some subjects take several pages of explanation. There are also inset pages about nitromethane and what causes header flames (and why they can be such a pig to photograph, as Your Reviewer can confirm). As well as Dan for his detailed research and clear explanations, photographer Mark Skinner and the currently-lamented Andersen Racing team deserve a lot of credit since a lot of thought and effort plainly went into the photo session. Having described what Top Fuel Dragsters are made of to such a degree that one almost expected a test at the end of the Anatomy section, Dan then talks to drivers, tuners and crew members to take the reader into the car and into the pits. Read the list of contributors and you are bound to find the name of at least one of your heroes and several who should be. Alphabetically they are Ben Allum, Rico Anthes, Darryl Bradford, Andy Carter, Don Garlits, Gary Page, Shelley Pearson, Kim Reymond, Gareth Robinson, and Sarah Senderski. Included within these pages, in the contributors' own words, are long, detailed and fascinating explanations of the tasks undertaken in each role - you get real kitchen detail here - as well as itemised lists of what a Top Fuel team has to do between each run and the tasks undertaken by a driver. All 114 of them! The book ends with a drivers' Q&A and it is interesting to see the varied responses to the same questions. Again the second half of the Manual is extensively illustrated with superb photographs both on- and off-track. Eurodragster.com is represented by Julian Hunt and Tog, Mark Skinner we have already mentioned, and Carter Motorsport team member Gary Cottingham and MSA Young Photographer of the Year Dom Romney provide a large number of pictures. There are also some detailed line drawings, the best being of the ignition system. On the subject of pictures, short-sighted viewers might like to remove their spectacles and look at the back cover of the Manual from a few feet away. There are two pairs of pages depicted, if you look at the top pair with your spectacles off do you see the pair of £ signs made up by the pictures? Subliminal messages in the media are of course illegal and I'm sure that this was not deliberate, but it is not inappropriate for Top Fuel. The book costs £21.99 and is available direct from Haynes Publishing, from Amazon, and from other good booksellers. With supermarkets and TV already subtly reminding us that Christmas is not too far away the Manual will make an ideal Christmas present for the drag racing fan in your life, or you could (should) just go right ahead and buy yourself a copy now to save the agonising wait. Or you could try your luck in our give-away... Top Fuel Manual give-away. 29th October: Courtesy of Dan Welberry and those fine people at Haynes Publishing, we have five copies of the Top Fuel Dragster Manual to give away. This give-away is open to all Eurodragster.com readers in any country. To be in with a chance of winning a copy of the Manual, simply E-Mail the following details to [email protected] by 22:59 UK / 23:59 European this Sunday (2nd November): Your name Your E-Mail address The address to which we should send the book A phone number None of these details will be shared with anyone save your name and address which will be given to the company who send your book. The five winners will be chosen at random from all valid entries received and will be announced here on Eurodragster.com early next week. Please note: One entry per E-Mail address. Multiple entries will all be deleted. Entries sent to any address other than [email protected] will be deleted. Entries timestamped after 22:59 UK / 23:59 European on 2nd November will be deleted. Good luck! Swift snippets. 29th October: Thanks to Ian King for letting us know that the final standings in the 2014 ACU UK Drag Bike Championship are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday for today (Wednesday) to our good friend, MSA British Drag Racing Championship PR Robin Jackson. Have a great day Robin. Erbacher: The Next Generation. 29th October: Last Saturday Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher got together with team and sponsors and celebrated his third place in the 2014 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship and confirmed a plan already proposed here on Eurodragster.com: My daughter Jndia sat in the car for a warm-up and we announced to those present that she will try for her Top Fuel licence early in 2015. The plan is that Jndia's first race will be at Hockenheim where she might race against me. Today we are travelling to Las vegas where we have booked Jndia and team member Marc Linder a couple of days at the Doug Foley Drag Race School to gain their Super Comp licences. RTL 2 TV programme Grip TV will Jndia, Noah Stutz and I this weekend. I plan to race the whole 2015 FIA European Championship in my old car and of course I will try to win another title. Jndia will use that car for licencing but at Hockenheim she will drive my Murf McKinney dragster. Web site updates. 29th October: Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with pictures of Saturday's action at the Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up at Shakespeare County Raceway. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest updates via the What's New? link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Nitro fuels Read's return. 27th October: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com on 10th October you will have read that the UK Tech Committee approved the return of nitromethane to Super Pro ET. One of the parties behind the decision was the UK's Robin Read, who ran a legendarily-rapid supercharged nitro-burning Daimler-powered dragster before nitro was outlawed for Sportsman classes. Robin got in touch to tell us that the move was motivated by a desire to return to competition in a new Fuel dragster: My old car was rendered illegal with the blanket adoption of the American rule book without any prior consultation. However there has now been some good forward thinking by some enlightened individuals. I had asked for the reintriduction of nitro to be included on the agenda for the Technical Committee meeting and I'm happy to say that the discussions around the room were extremely positive. Of course folk remember the days when engineering and innovation meant that small-capacity European engines could take on the ubiquitous American hardware and compete and, indeed, often prevail - a fact which commentators and journalists used to good effect. My request for the reintroduction of nitro had been coloured by the fact that I am constructing a new car, powered by - of course! - a nitro Daimler. After the successful recommissioning of my old car and subsequent running at all three tracks around the UK , I realised that the madness had not left me and that there was unfinished business. Prior to my father's death in 1989, unbeknown to me, he had commissioned some billet aluminium cylinder heads. After a while the manufacturer of the heads contacted me and told me about the heads. He said that the materials had been procured and that the heads had been started but not finished, and asked whether I wanted to carry on with the project. It was an emotional and difficult decision to make, but I said that I would underwrite the manufacture of the parts. The cylinder were never completely finished although I did fabricate an intake manifold which matched the heads' greater flow and larger ports. Bertie Hopkinson had modified the head design from a curved inlet tract known, as a snail port, to a straight port design. There were many other modifications including extending the valve stem length to accommodate extra valve lift, which then meant that we had to move the rocker shafts upwards and apart to keep the rocker geometry correct. What happened? In the early 1990s the stock crankshaft broke. After fifteen consecutive six-second sec passes it broke just behind number eight connecting rod. Of course the motor was rebuilt but that event effectively stopped the development of the new, more powerful engine. There were no aftermarket performance crankshafts available and so the parts which had already been manufactured were placed into storage unused. Fast forward twenty years or so to the recommissioning of the old car and a reawakened dream of running quicker and faster. I thought that I'd finish the new engine and to that end I commissioned a billet crankshaft from Arrow Engineering and set to designing and obtaining the rest of the engine parts needed to complete the motor, with the intention of running it in the old car. But of course it was not that simple: as you are aware the rear axle broke because the recommissioned engine was making more power, so it was pointless putting the billet motor in the old car with the old axle. "I'll put a new axle in the old car", I thought, but when I purchased the axle I found that it would not fit without major chassis modifications. I stood there cutter in hand, but I couldn't do it (Good thing too - Ed). There was only one solution, a new car. This would entail a lot of work and investment as I had already made my mind up to construct it to current specification without removing or reusing any part from the old car. I've got a titanium clutch housing, billet alloy engine bottom end girdle, re-engineered oil supply around the motor, bigger fuel pump, Pro Mag 44 with billet offset drive, 20% overdriven blower, new two-inch headers, Lenco CS4 three-speed with reverser, Strange Alloy modular nine-inch pattern rear axle, Weld Superlight wheels all round… I'm getting even more excited telling you about it! The car will be longer and lighter. My brother Tim has been helping and encouraging me - I am not sure if more encouragement is a good thing! In conjunction with Mark Norton, Tim has steered us through the many and varied technical and safety rules and regulations to ensure the car's legality and eligibility. It has been quite challenging trying to satisfy all the criteria in a structure not designed for small-capacity, supercharged nitro cars. We are hoping for mid- to low six-second passes when I've done some testing and got a good idea on the new tune up. But more than this I just want a car I can race, which brings me back to where we began - the Tech Committee meeting. I already feel that I have had a major victory. Now we'll get the car finished and it should run in Super Pro ET . I must also thank Bertie Hopkinson at BHP, Geof Hauser at Hauser Race Cars, Andy Robinson at Robinson Race Cars, Phil Evans, Bob Stange at Strange Engineering, Tom Prock at Venolia Pistons, Chase Knight at Crane Cams, Wayne Allman at Intergalactic Customs and Arrow Engineering. Of course there are many others who have played a part including my girlfriend Ella and all my crew, Mark Evans and Bill Mears. They all believe in me and in my new car. I am seeking sponsors and associate sponsors; I am sure that there are many companies or people out there who would love to be associated with what we plan will be the quickest British-motored car. We really need a sponsor for a Racepak. There are many sponsorship options for both the new and old car, so if you are interested then please get in touch. Stutz opens US account. 27th October: After his second-place finish at the FIA European Championships at Hockenheim Switzerland's Noah Stutz, the world's youngest licensed Top Fuel Dragster racer, now starts to focus on his US career. Negotiations with various Top Fuel teams the last couple of months have gone well. Noah will make his US début at this weekend's NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas driving for the US' Lagana Racing / Nitro Ninja team. The Laganas have been around the dragster scene at the highest level for years and bring with them a lot of experience. Whilst Bobby works on the third-place Capco Steve Torrence-driven dragster, Dom has been helping Top Fuel teams in Europe and New Zealand as well as driving for an Australian-run American Top Fuel team team once in a while. "It is incredible how fast this has happened", says Noah. "My manager Stefan Meier and I have worked hard in the last couple of weeks to make it work. Now I am really looking forward to making my USA professional début. I would like to thank everyone who has made it possible for me to get me into the NHRA for Las Vegas. To compete with the big names in the drag racing scene is a huge honour for me and I'll do everything possible to clinch a good result. More than twenty drivers will be in Las Vegas and only sixteen will make it through qualifying. It will be super exciting! For my future in the US I hope to make a good first impression in Las Vegas." Swift snippets. 27th October: With the ratification of the final standings in the UK National Championships Simon has noticed a couple of Championship firsts, namely that Alex Hope (Pro Stock Bike and 9.50 Bike) is the first bike racer in UK drag racing history to win two different class Championships in the same year, and that Allan Davies (Comp Bike) and Louis Davies (Junior Drag Bike) are the first father and son in UK drag bike racing history to win Championships in the same year. Both of these feats have been achieved across previous years, but never before in the same year. You can check out this year's final UK and Club points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The next Eurodragster.com News update will include a review of Dan Welberry's Haynes Top Fuel Dragster manual plus a give-away with five copies of the book up for grabs. McIntosh enjoys the good times. 27th October: UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Alex McIntosh says that he has had a great season in 2014: I came into this season with one thing in mind and that was to enjoy it. After doing so well in the 2011 Street Eliminator Championship I put too much pressure on myself and the 2012 and 2013 season didn't go to plan. Our first meeting of 2014 was the Main Event but on the way we stopped off at 1320Dyno to meet up with Dave Rowe of EPS so that he could map the new MoTeC ECU on the rolling road dyno. Next stop was Webster Race Engineering for chassis baselining and then onto Santa Pod to set up. One of my goals for the year was to get the car back to its low eight-second potential, well we achieved this and a bit more as by the third pass all the upgrades over the winter were rewarded with our first-ever seven. To run a seven was a performance milestone which I had hoped of breaking but was never confident that I'd achieve it. After a couple of weather-affected meetings we went to the European Finals and the car continued its seven-second performance running three Personal Bests in a row ending in a 7.88/174. I came away very happy with our season's achievements and had a great time doing it. To finish the year off, I was lucky enough to be asked to crew on one of Rune Fjeld's Top Fuel cars, bringing back great memories of helping with the clutch on the Pete Knight / Canto / Webster Top Fuel car some ten years ago. None of this would have been possible without the great help of Webster Race Engineering, Dave Rowe of EPS, Paul, Tom and Scott at 1320Dyno, Laurie Bamford for the motor and finally to crew Jonny Mac and Dave Maclauglin. More Top Sportsman TV. 27th October: The first of this year's UK Top Sportsman outings, held at the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway and sponsored by We Move Your Car and Antigravity Batteries, was televised last week. Class organiser Paul Marston says that the first programme met with great acclaim: The stars of the show were all the teams and drivers who competed in UK Top Sportsman and make it what it is. From a filming perspective it has been a massive learning curve for all of us. I am very fortunate to have great friends like my co-host Dave Gibbons who has really bought a level of professionalism through his acting experience. I owe Dave a lot: last year he broke his ankle in a racing incident but that could not keep him away and he still came to do his bit at Top Sportsman. Zeon TV also bring a vast wealth of expertise and experience filming drag racing and were instrumental in putting the TV package together. It takes a while to get a settled team in drag racing but in filming, producing and editing there is a whole different set of challenges. Every year you make improvements to the TV show and see ways to make it better. But I feel that Dave and Helen at Zeon TV and Dave and I really came together on this years show's after we worked real hard. I would like to think that the shows reflect that work. We were all hoping that they would be received well and from the acclaim that we have had I think that they may well have been. The second show, Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman at VW Action, airs on Motors TV at 20:00 this evening (Monday) and repeats on Tuesday and Wednesday. Enjoy the shows, which feature Sportsman Doorslammer racing at its very best. DVDs will be available soon from Quartermilehigh. Flame and Thunder gallery. 25th October: We have been at Santa Pod Raceway today for today's Flame and Thunder Show and in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car we have posted a 150-picture gallery which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 25th October: We have no less than five birthdays today (Saturday). First up, a very Happy Birthday and lots of hugs to our good friend Gittli Koller. Hugs also to Kirsty Giles who is also celebrating her birthday today, a manly handshake to multiple Junior Dragster Champion Joe Kellett, and back to the hugs for our good friend Deborah Marrs. Finally, Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher. Have a great day all. Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting us the final 2014 standings in the UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the National and SPRC points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Andersen Racing, Nataas quit. 24th October: Karsten Andersen says that with multiple European Top Fuel Dragster Championships, ET and speed records, the best car, the best drivers and the best crew, there is nothing more to win and so Andersen Racing are calling it a day: Andersen Racing have decided to leave the Top Fuel spotlight and to make room for some of the other talented racing teams in Europe. In other words 2014 was Andersen Racing's last season in Top Fuel drag racing and the team's race car, trailer and parts are now for sale. Andersen Racing have been racing as a team since 2006, and what a journey it has been. Our efforts have resulted in four European Championships with three fantastic drivers: Håkan Nilsson, Andy Carter and Thomas Nataas. We have set records more or less every season and then come back the year after and beaten our own records. We have tried our luck several times in the USA and we have even tried the combination of US driver Tommy Johnson Jr on European tracks. We have experienced countless hours of waiting due to oildowns, rain or even snow and despite everything, we have loved every minute of it. We have all been a part of the big European drag racing family for many years, and have truly appreciated the great atmosphere, the team spirit and the many fantastic friendships this has led to. Besides thanking our fantastic drivers and crew members, we would also like to thank all our amazing sponsors through the years. Without all of you, none of this would have been possible. Thank you all. 19:30 This evening reigning FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Thomas Nataas, who was Andersen Racing's last driver, has announced his retirement from driving. An 8.1 swansong. 24th October: UK Super Pro ET racer Simon Gough plans to turn the wick up in demonstration at tomorrow's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway: After spending the year trying new set-ups we stumbled across a good setting but couldn't use as it was not consistent enough. We will put that setting back in and wind it up a bit for the Flame and Thunder Show. We ran an 8.30 at the start of the year and we know that we can beat that - with the settings we have we think that we should achieve an 8.1. What we're hoping for is four to five runs to make it happen. It will be the last time we run this engine as a new motor is being prepared at Jeff Bull's HQ and we plan to run sevens next year with that. With what we have learned over the last two years with the current combination we feel that the time is right to move up another step. Setting up a quicker engine takes time, no point outrunning yourself and not learning anything in the process. So it'll be slowly-slowly catchee-monkey. A big Thank You to Jeff Bull for teaching me the Do's and Dont's over the last two years. We wish everyone a good and safe winter. Swift snippets. 24th October: Thanks to Lars Pettersson for letting us know that the Swedish Automobile Sport Federation and Tierp Arena have applied for FIA European Championship rounds at Tierp on 4th-7th June 2015 and 20th-23rd August 2015. Congratulations to Nicole Parker who won her NHRA Super Comp licence at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School with a pair of 8.2-second passes. "It was a fascinating experience" says dad Jon. "Amongst the nine other students we had a guy who had already bought a blown-alky nostalgia slingshot and was totally unable to handle an eight-second rail, never got beyond two hundred feet and didn't return the second day. At the other extreme we had Alexis Dejoria's sister starting her race career, licencing for Super Comp alongside Nicole. Nicole's a big Alexis fan so this really made her week." The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) is, we're told, a heads-up for a news item shortly to arrive. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Alex Stringer at Santa Pod Raceway tells us that they now have in stock the brand new 1:24 scale models of John Force's Castrol GTX Mustang Funny Car, Courtney Force's Traxxas Mustang Funny Car, Robert Hight's Mustang Funny Car and Brittany Force's Top Fuel Dragster (above right). "All are finished with Colour Chrome paint finish giving a very deep shine to the paintwork", says Alex. "All models are £59.99 and are available at www.santapodshop.com. Stocks are limited so order early to avoid disappointment!". Given recent events we would imagine that the car with Jimmy Prock's name on it will become a particular collector's item. Thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us the official Extreme Performance Bike Weekend timing data which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Today is Wear It Pink 2014, a UK charity day in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. Like the Eurodragster.com logo today (hit Refresh if you don't see the updated logo - Ed), please wear something pink and pay your money for such a good cause. You can find out more at www.wearitpink.org. SCR's spooky season closer. 24th October: Jerry Cookson writes that with petrol prices falling by the day there's no reason why you shouldn't bring your car or bike along to race at this weekend's Halloween Bonfire Burn Up Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway: There's lots going on including the final round of the National Sprint Association Southern Section series, Honda Drag Series finals and on Sunday the last race of the season in the track's popular Bracket Race series. Saturday at midday is the starting point for the Warwickshire Charity Truck Convoy to Coventry Motor Museum in aid of Troop Aid.  There'll be the usual bonfire, fireworks, fancy dress competitions for the kids and adults, Penny for the Guy and pumpkin carving competitions, and disco as well as the usual great party atmosphere of Kenny's bar on Saturday evening. Gates open this evening (Friday); RWYB starts at 10:00 each day. If you're taking part in the weekend's RWYB you'll need a crash helmet and Drivers Licence. Admission is £12 per person per day or £22 for a weekend pass. Track fee is £25 for unlimited runs or £40 for a weekend of quarter mile fun at this final blast of the season. See you at the strip! PMR overwinters. 22nd October: Paul Marston says that Paul Marston Racing will have a busy off-season, with the construction of new winter quarters being their first project: This was necessitated by the building and redevelopment of our existing storage facilities, but from adversity comes opportunity. We have recently signed a deal which will allow us centralise our operation and will make logistics easier. In any case we had outgrown our previous base some time ago. This does not in any way affect Paul Marston's Drag Race Driving School which is permantly based at Santa Pod Raceway, not does it affect the Race Car Rental programme. The new winter quarters form a long-term commitment which we feel is necessary. Sometimes you have to spend money on other things rather than just race cars. These opportunities don't come up too often, it's not the ideal time being this close to winter, but no time is really ideal. Now it's a race against time to get everything done before the weather closes in and stops the building work. This mild weather which we are currently enjoying is definitely helping progress. Four projects will pass through the PMR workshops over the winter so it is going to be even busier than the racing season, which is usually the case. The off-season presents an opportunity to really get stuck into a race car without the constraint having it back in one piece for its next race. So if you find something which needs a lot more work, to order parts or to carry out development, then it is less of a problem. There is also time just to sit and look at a race car from an entirely different perspective with no pressure. This means that you quite often see things which you would never have noticed before. It's a great way to improve and refine, I always say that the most progress and improvement often happen by accident in the workshop. All of a sudden that light bulb goes on over your head and an idea forms. It isn't always performance-related, it can be ergonomics of the layout of certain systems, a simpler way to do or achieve something, a safer way to apply something or simply a way to lose weight as unwanted items or systems can often just sit there and blend in. What about anti-freeze in the motor or your motorhome? If you don't have it then you need to sort it now before it gets real cold as once the block cracks you're into a whole different world of pain. Whatever it is, your race car won't fix itself if you leave it in the trailer over the whole of the winter only to get it out the week before Easter. And of course anything your race car might need can go on the Christmas list!" Swift snippets. 22nd October: ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt tells us that the involuntary passenger ride which he gave Filippos Papafilippou at the European Championship Finals is to be the subject of Close Calls On Camera on the UK's BBC1 TV channel at 11:45 next Tuesday, 29th October. BDRHoF gala attracts royalty. 22nd October: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia will be an Honoured Guest at the BDRHoF Celebration Gala Awards Dinner being held at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on 22nd November. Princess Katarina, who will present one of the major awards of the evening, is the first relative of the British Royal family to attend a drag racing event in an official capacity. As a great-niece of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, she is in line of succession to the British throne and as well as her extensive humanitarian work is also President of the Guild of Travel and Tourism. BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury said "It is a great honour to have Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina attending our event and present the major award of the evening. Her presence reflects the stature that the Gala Dinner has attained and is a fitting tribute to the pioneers who built the sport of drag racing in the United Kingdom. To have drag racing royalty in the shape of Don Garlits and a relative of the British Royal Family at the same event is something I would not have thought possible just a few years ago – even just a few months ago. I still can't quite believe it." As you would expect, while Don Garlits is in the UK he has been invited to quite a few special functions. These include dinner with Lord Montagu's son Ralph at Beaulieu Palace on 24th November - Don will be at the museum in the afternoon so as the museum is open as normal you might glimpse the party viewing the exhibits; a visit to the museum in 1976 gave him the idea for his own drag racing museum in Florida. Don will also attend the International Historic Motoring Awards dinner at the Renaissance Hotel, St Pancras, lunch at the RAC Club in Pall Mall, and an exclusive trip around the Lloyd's of London Building including a special presentation by Rupert Atkin, Deputy Chairman of Lloyd's, and a visit to Nick Mason's private collection of cars if it can all be fitted in to the busy calendar. UK Top Sportsman TV. 21st October: Paul Marston writes that UK Top Sportsman, the roughest, toughest, no-holds-barred, no-rules heads-up Doorslammer series is featuring in two one-hour specials on Motors TV this week and next week: The first show, from the Mopar EuroNats, has already had its début and is repeated every day until Friday this week. Check your Electronic Programme Guide to confirm times and set to record! The second programme, from VW Action, is screened for the first time next Monday, 27th, on Motors TV at 20:00 and is repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday. 2014 featured some of the closest racing that we have ever seen in UK Top Sportsman and some of the fastest Sportsman race cars in the country including Steve Neimantas' awesome 3000+ HP Bentley Continental GT. There were records and upsets aplenty, and all events were completed so there is plenty of action-packed drag racing to entertain you. It's not until you consider that a 2014 Formula 1 car is not quick enough to even make the minimum ET of 9.99 that you start to understand just how quick these cars really are. Our sincerest thanks to everyone involved in making this all possible: the competitors, the crews, the PMR crew who organised and ran the events so smoothly, the sponsors, our stars wemoveyourcar.com, Antigravity Batteries and Direct Plastics and all the others - without their faith in us, none of this would be possible. Thanks to the Santa Pod management and track crew, the Mopar EuroNats Committee and VW Action management for hosting us and making us so welcome, Zeon TV for making everyone look so good, and Eurodragster.com for including our event in their Event Coverage and for everything they do for us throughout the year (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Anyone I have missed, thank you too! UK Top Sportsman will be back in 2015, as soon as the dates are confirmed we will publish the full schedule. Swift snippets. 21st October: We were very sorry indeed to hear of the death yesterday of legendary Blue Max Funny Car pilot Raymond Beadle, a hero to many fans after his frequent and very welcome visits to Europe in the late 1970s and driver of some of the best-looking Funny Cars ever to grace a race track. You can read tributes on the Agent 1320 page of Drag Racing Online and on Competition Plus. Our deepest sympathies to Raymond's family and friends. Nigel Taylor writes that Andy Frost will be filling the driving seat of the Detroit Spinner Prefect at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway in July 2015. "This is an absolute honour for us as a team and we are all looking forward to it", says Nigel. "Sponsor details and information can be found on the Detroit Spinner Racing Facebook page. We thank all of our supporters, fans, sponsors and drivers for being involved in everything we do. The whole project is kept running by friends and sponsors and proves what a great sport UK drag racing is." Apologies for the several hours of down time yesterday. This was caused by a system programming error by our ISP Selfnet. Regular readers will recall that Eurodragster.com moved servers last week; the move is now complete so we will be resuming postings to our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet very shortly. Garlits Museum shortlisted. 21st October: Following nominations from classic car enthusiasts across the world, the finalists have now been confirmed for the 2014 International Historic Motoring Awards. After initially being nominated by the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing has reached the Museum or Collection of the Year short list: Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, USA Blackhawk Automotive Museum, USA LeMay - America's Car Museum, USA Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, USA Haynes International Motor Museum, UK These museums now go forward to the panel of expert judges which includes racing drivers Derek Bell and Jochen Mass, Horst Br¨ning (President of the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens) and Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen (former Chairman of Bentley). They will vote to decide the winners; no easy task given the high standard of candidates. The winners of this year's International Historic Motoring Awards will be announced at a gala dinner at London's St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel on 20th November. Fortunately this lines up with Don Garlits being in the UK for the BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner being held at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on 22nd November so he will be able to attend. Racing driver, journalist and television presenter Tiff Needell will be Master of Ceremonies and the guest list usually consists of a Who's Who of motorsport. BDRHoF Chairman Stu Bradbury says "Following on from the Allard Chrysler dragster being shortlisted in two categories last year, this is a great tribute to drag racing. All of us at the BDRHoF congratulate Don on reaching the short list and wish him the best of luck in the final judging. Maybe we will have something else to celebrate in Windsor." 2014 UK National Champions II. 19th October: Congratulations to the winners of this year's ACU and UK National Drag Bike Championships which were decided at this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: ACU Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt ACU Pro Stock Bike: Alex Hope ACU Funny Bike: Gary Jones ACU Super Street Bike: Steve Venables ACU Comp Bike: Allan Davies UK National 8.50 Bike: Ed Smiley UK National 9.50 Bike: Alex Hope UK National Junior Drag Bike: Louis Davies ACU Supertwin Top Gas: Scott Collier ACU Supertwin ET: Brett Cordelle The final ACU, UK National and SPRC Championship points will be posted as soon as they have been ratified. Bike Weekend results. 19th October: Congratulations to the winners of this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: Funny Bike: Stu Crane 7.4062/168.55 def. Bob Brooks 10.9039/122.40 Super Street Bike: Pete Field 7.2690/196.27 def. Garry Bowe 8.6992/113.19 Comp Bike: Allan Davies 7.7451/167.31 def. Dave Smart 8.6919/153.17 8.50 Bike: Ed Smiley 8.5707/143.03 def. Jake Mechaell 8.9468/163.63 9.50 Bike: Phil Pratt 9.5703/138.67 def. Richard Sawatzki 9.5780/141.19 Junior Drag Bike: Blade Dummer (13.90) 14.1182/43.64 def. Louis Davies (9.70) 9.8708/64.31 ACU Supertwin Top Gas: Chris Mott 9.5877/130.65 def. Les Harris 10.0380/127.26 You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored reports and photographs by by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 19th October: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with hugs to Sam Marston. Have a lovely day Sam. Feature: The Blacklist. 18th October: For the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products Simon interviewed Janne Uskali , Chief Editor of Finland's Bomber and Worldwide Bomber magazines, about Finland's Blacklist Outlaw Street series of which he is one of the organisers. The Blacklist series is designed for street legal cars and comprises a Top Ten list of racers whose positions can be challenged once a racer wins a heads-up elimination. You can check out our interview with Janne Uskali by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 18th October: The Huxleys have been in touch with a reminder that the Dark Horse drag racing party takes place this evening at the Royal Oak in Broadwas on Teme, near Worcester (postcode WR6 5NE). Entry is £10 and all are welcome to enjoy a live band and great food, and camping is available. The guys advise that you don't turn up late as the burnouts start at 9:00 pm sharp. Swift snippets. 17th October: Thanks to Paul Marston for letting us know that the first of the two UK Top Sportsman TV shows, covering the Mopar EuroNats, is to be broadcast on Motors TV on Sky, Freeview and cable at 20:00 on Monday (20th). If we tell you that the programme was produced by Zeon TV then that's all you need to know about how good it's going to be. Paul tells us that the VW Action round is likely to follow on 27th but keep an eye on EPGs for confirmation. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to outgoing (regrettably) SPRC International Race Director Robin Shone. Have a great day Robin and a big Thank You for everything you have so far done for the sport. Bike Weekend Perfect Awards. 16th October: This weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway is the final event in the 2014 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £125 is on offer for perfect performance. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the UK National Finals. The money will be paid to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes including Straightliners during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET). 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 the Signing On office and from the Eurodragster.com staff. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Junior Dragster racer Matthew Dowdy at the UK National Finals. The money will be paid to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, ACU Supertwin ET, Junior Drag Bike and Straightliners index classes, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV. For more details about the services which Gold RV can provide see Derek Flynn or visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers including Straightliners are required to carry Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award decals. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals are available in the Signing On office and from the Eurodragster.com staff. Swift snippets. 16th October: Per his recent press releases Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer Noah Stutz has confirmed his participation in the Toyota NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas on 30th October-2nd November. Noah joins the existing European contingent of Elvira Karlsson, Ulf Leanders, Jonnie Lindberg and Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences. UK Championship outcomes II. 15th October: This weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway hosts the final rounds of the 2014 ACU UK Drag Bike, UK National 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike and Junior Drag Bike, and ACU Supertwin Top Gas Championships. Simon has put together a summary of the possible Championship outcomes and who to look out for during the race: The 2015 ACU Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt has already been confirmed and congratulations to him on his first title since 2009. Steve's number of Championships is well into double figures. In ACU Funny Bike there has been another upswing in the number of racers competing in the year. Nine bikes are entered for the final round and the Championship is between Gary Jones and Dave Peters, with Gary 225 points ahead. 540 points (plus a potential 200 if ET and speed records are set) are available. Dave will need to outqualify Gary and win the race with Gary going out in the first round to have any chance of the Championship. With no racers entered for the coming weekend, the 2015 ACU Pro Stock Bike Championship was decided at the UK National Finals. Congratulations to Alex Hope on his first Championship in what was planned to be a familiarisation year in the class. ACU Super Street Bike has had a fantastic year with new records and Personal Bests which exceeded many riders' wildest dreams. Eleven bikes are entered and once again the Championship has come down to a final round between team-mates Steve Venables and Graham Balchin. On his new bike, with the bugs now ironed out, Ven has a 175 point advantage however 560 points (other than 200 points for records) are available. Graham will need to outqualify Steve and win the event and have Steve go out in the first round to take the title. ACU Comp Bike has also come down to a two-bike contest. Allan Davies leads Phil Crossley by 110 points and with six bikes entered there will be an eight bike ladder if all qualify. This means 510 non-record points. With a margin this small, the 25 points for Quick ET and High Speed of the event may be crucial. 8.50 Bike has eight bikes on the entry list. There are 620 points available plus 50 points for the first Perfect ET of the weekend. Eddie Smiley is leading the Championship from Jake Mechaell by 190 points, however Jake has the 200 point all-rounds bonus in his pocket on signing on. This Championship looks set to go into eliminations and qualifying positions will also be important to the final outcome. Alex Hope will be concentrating on 9.50 Bike at this event to see if he can score a double in only his second year in competition, which would be remarkable. He already has a significant lead of 690 points over Paul Morris and as there are 800 points available, Alex may be able to wrap the title up in qualifying if he qualifies eleven places or more ahead of Paul. Paul Morris will also need to keep an eye on the progress of thrice-champion Richard Sawatzki who is only 110 points behind Paul. Junior Drag Bike has 2012 Champion Louis Davies ahead of Jordan Kenway by 390 points and 2014 APIRA Champion Blade Drummer a further 100 points back. 730 points are available and so this is another Championship which will be decided in eliminations. In ACU Supertwin Top Gas Scott Collier will be provisional Champion if he signs on and shows for the first round, by virtue of his win at the UK National Finals and attending all rounds. Finally, Brett Cordelle is ACU Supertwin ET Champion-elect with Fiona Moor as runner-up: congratulations to them. You can check out the current ACU UK Drag Bike Championship points on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com and the UK National Drag Racing Championship points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. In association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Eurodragster.com will be posting live reports and end-day galleries from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. You can check out our Event Index, which includes links to the official entry list and provisional running orders, by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. 2015 race dates. 15th October: Many thanks to Jerry Lackey for forwarding us the dates of the 2015 MSTO / Predators events, Public Race Days and NitrOlympX: 24th-26th April: Test and Tune, Bechyne, Czech Republic (MSTO and Predators) 29th-31st May: 6th Grand National International Drag Race, Bechyne, Czech Republic (MSTO and Predators) 1st-2nd August: Public Race Days Test and Tune, Hockenheimring, Germany 7th-9th August: 30th Anniversary NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring, Germany Santa Pod Raceway and Shakespeare County Raceway have also released their provisional 2015 calendars which are available at www.santapod.com and www.shakespearecountyraceway.com respectively. The 2015 UK National Drag Racing Championships will be ratified at the 2015 UK Riders' and Drivers' Meeting but based on previous years the traditional Championship event dates are as follow: 3rd-5th April: Festival of Power, Santa Pod Raceway 24th-26th April: Big Bang, Santa Pod Raceway 2nd-4th May: 9th Annual MSA/ACU APIRA Springspeed Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway 22nd-25th May: Main Event FIA / FIM European Championships, Santa Pod Raceway 27th-28th June: SPRC Summernationals, Santa Pod Raceway 17th-19th July: Bug Jam, Santa Pod Raceway 24th-26th July: Mopar EuroNats, Santa Pod Raceway 29th-31st August 10th Annual MSA/ACU APIRA Open Sport Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway 3rd-6th September: FIA / FIM European Championship Finals, Santa Pod Raceway 19th-20th September: UK National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway 17th-18th October: Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, Santa Pod Raceway See the tracks' web sites for the dates of other events including NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and Hot Rod Drags, Dragstalgia, VW Action and the Bulldog Bash. Swift snippets. 15th October: Congratulations to Sweden's Jimmy Ålund and Elvira Karlsson who are both candidates for the 2014 NHRA Road to the Future award. Somewhat ironically, especially in Jimmy's case, this award is for NHRA's Rookie of the Year in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and awards a trophy and $20,000. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with hugs to SPRC Race Director and Eurodragster.com sponsor Carole Ismail. Have a lovely day Carole. Eurodragster.com will be moving servers during the day today (Wednesday). The new IP address should take twenty four hours or less to be promulgated and the site will also remain at its current IP until we are sure that everything is OK so you will hopefully not experience any break in service. Postings to our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet will have to be paused until the server move is complete. Web site updates. 15th October: Dick Parnham has updated his Flickr gallery with shots from one of the Peak Performance Days held at Santa Pod Raceway in 2010. You can take a look at www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing. In the latest instalment in his Nostalgia Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car Brian Taylor brings together recent updates from the workshops of the Allard Chrysler Dragster. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Top Fuel Manual published. 14th October: Dan Welberry's eagerly-awaited main d'oeuvre, the Haynes Top Fuel Dragster Manual, has been published and can now be ordered. Longtime fans will recognise Dan's name as a longtime supporter of Eurodragster.com and team member for four-time FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and multiple record holder Andy Carter with whom he teamed up in 2001. Dan undertook marketing, PR and sponsorship duties for Carter Motorsport. The Manual charts the design, development and evolution of the Top Fuel Dragster in detail, with insightful first-hand accounts of how a modern Top Fuel Dragster is operated and driven, from drivers, Crew Chiefs and crew members, including three-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion Big Daddy Don Garlits and FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champions including Andy Carter and Kim Reymond. The book also provides background information about other car classes within the sport, and an overview of drag racing and its basics and is illustrated with stunning photographs and explanatory illustrations, showing on-track action and a providing a unique insight into what lies under the skin of the Championship-winning Andersen Racing Top Fuel Dragster. The book costs £21.99 and is available direct from Haynes Publishing, from Amazon, and from other good booksellers. A review copy is on its way to Eurodragster.com and we shall shortly be running a contest with five copies of the book to be won. Bike Weekend racer update. 13th October: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us the arrangements for this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: Friday 17th October 15:00 Gates open 17:00-20:00 Signing On office open 17:30-20:00 Scrutineering open* (no scrutineering order) Saturday 18th October 07:00 Signing On office open 07:00 Scrutineering commences* (no scrutineering order) 09:30 Track open for qualifying and Straightliners Sunday 19th October 07:30 Signing On office open 09:30 Track open for eliminations and Straightliners *Straightliners have their own scrutineering arrangements The provisional running orders are now available for both Saturday and Sunday and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that these running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Please remember the strict curfew: race vehicle motors should not be started before 09:00 or after 20:00. Firing up motors out of hours will result in exclusion from the event. Iceland on sand. 12th October: Sebastian Lindau has been in touch to let us know how he got on with his Sand Drag Bike in Iceland in September: One thing I noticed immediately during qualifying - I have to be much quicker. I think that when I have the bike completely under control the times will get better. There is much room for improvement but it was OK to qualify. Then came the first race and the bike didn't start. After short deliberation, I took the starter cable and used the battery from my van for a jump start. Body cover down, clamped the jumper cables to two screwdrivers and tried the starter. The engine turned and turned but just would not start, damn! Again looked at everything and found that one clamp had slipped from the terminal of the battery. Clamped on properly and tried again. Turn, turn, and the engine started! Body cover mounted and quickly to the start line, where my opponent had been good enough to wait for me. Still totally confused from all the stress I rolled into pre-stage and then into stage. Suddenly the pre-stage beam went off and my opponent got green and I picked the cherry - that was my first race. Clumsiness and bad luck went side by side here. But this was a double race since July's race had been cancelled as the track was not suitable, so I had a chance for some more runs. As I checked the bike before the second race started, I realised that the lady didn't want to start again. After some searching for the reason I realised that there was no spark, and it was the same with my spare spark plugs. The ignition unit was at fault and I had no spare with me so this race was gone for good. Not the best way to start a racing career but for us as a team, which comprises my girlfriend and I, the most important thing was to be a part of the race. Because of this we are not that disappointed and next time we will do better. Thanks to Bílakl&uacte;bbur Akureyrar for giving us the oppotunity to do what we love. For photos of the race and everything else you need to know about sand drag racing please visit my web site at www.sanddragracing.de. Swift snippets. 12th October: Dutch European Top Gas racer and regular Eurodragster.com contributor Herman Jolink exhibited his Ducati 1198 RS at the Intermot Show at Köln. 200,000 visitors attended the Show over 1st-5th October and Herman says that he and the team were very pleased with the attention which the bike received including a daily burnout display preceded and followed by an interview. In his capacity as drag racing representative for the ACU, Ian King has updated the Gossip page of the King Racing web site with the changes in regulations for the 2015 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships. You can check out the rule changes at www.kingracing.com. A year in Pro Comp. 12th October: Marcus Runesson writes that Sweden's Team Northrace Pro Comp team are proud of their efforts during 2014: We had a totally green driver, Kim Feldthusen, behind the wheel. The entire team congratulated him with a standing ovation when the final event was finished. We finished our season with a really tight race against a veteran, Stig Olsson; unfortunately we finished a few hundredths behind him but the points we amassed during the season were more than enough to take the first place in the series. There are a few weeks left until the prize ceremony takes place and we're really looking forward to it. It's a fantastic way to finish the racing year and to meet up with all the other teams whom we have met and raced against. This year we built ourselves a new car with all that implies. We found a long chassis which we started to modify so that we could defend our title: for every year which passes the competition gets tougher. We had to make more upgrades on the engine and keep everything in tip-top condition. But with a new car we had to solve a big problem: transport. It took many hours of drawing and thinking before we figured out how we would solve every problem. We finally came up with this - the car is like a Swiss Army knife. We can take it apart and put it together in a more compact package. We contested four races in the Pro Comp series. Two at Gardermoen Raceway, one at Sundsvall Raceway, and the finals at Kjula Dragway. We have made some great steps forward, not least our first sub one-second sixty foot time, and at Gardermoen we got a really great ET of 6.29 which, in a new car with an inexperienced driver, is really great and has given us something more to aim for. As well as races we have been at two customer events this year. The first is one to which we have been for many years, Borgeby Fältdagar. At Borgeby we always get a warm welcome together with Nilfisk and it's a great opportunity to meet Nilfisk customers and all of the other visitors. It's a popular event at which we fire up the motor several times and that always attracts a lot of people to the Nilfisk display. The second event, which we just recently went to, was at Bromma, just outside Stockholm City, together with Nilfisk and Ahlsell. We had our hands full with a bunch of visitors who had a lot of questions about the car and the races which we have attended this year. We started the motor several times there as well. During the year we have been forced to solve a lot of problems but like all other teams we faced our problems together in good spirit and representing our partner Nilfisk makes us fight hard every time and never give up. We would like to thank the entire Nilfisk team for the support and commitment during the year and not least to the team who, no matter what, maintain a good mood and always continue to fight for us so that we can have a chance to win! We hope and believe that we will have an equally rewarding 2015. Web site updates. 12th October: Thanks to photo-journalist Steve Moxley for letting us know that his reports of the FIA/FIM European Championship Finals and UK National Finals have been posted on the ACU web site at www.acu.org.uk. The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from the Friday and Saturday of the FIA/FIM European Championship Finals. You can check out Mad's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Wheels-up into the circle. 10th October: Ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences ended a two-year win drought last weekend when he qualified number one and won the NHRA Lucas Oil Regional race at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Oklahoma. Mike got in touch to tell us about it and to invite European fans to stop by in Las Vegas and Pomona: After our successes in 2010 and 2011, we had a worn out car.  But the economy was not good and I did not want to buy a new chassis.  We were not happy with any resale chassis we came across. Then after the Houston Nationals in 2013, I knew beyond doubt that I needed another car and ordered a new chassis which was delivered in July 2013. We did a little testing with the new car and within the strictures of testing we were thrilled with the results. Unfortunately it did not perform on the race track.  More testing was undertaken, again we were thrilled but again no performance on the race track. We had built the car with lighter pipe and by mid-2014 the front half was already drooping so we front-halved the car and used heavier pipe. The car was working better but we still had some traction issues. At the Dallas Nationals our first two qualifying hits were very good then we smoked the tyres in Q3 and again in E1. We needed to test before our next race and took part in the Noble test session where we had two hits. In T1 we blew the tyres off; in T2 we hooked up hard, hiked the wheels up and I had to lift as the car was drifting towards the wall. We only got two qualifiers for the Noble Regional event. In Q1 the car launched great with a 0.928 sixty foot time, then as we were a little under-powered at about 1.5 seconds the tyres shook and I pedallled it.  It then hooked up big time and hiked up the front end - in fact people said they could see the front wheels over the concrete wall and, from behind, over the rear wheels.  I went past half track at about 214 mph and at about 1000' my Canadian opponent took a hard right towards my lane and I lifted. The front end came down softly. After the run we saw that the wheelie wheel had disintegrated, and we were not qualified. In Q2 we were the second car up and blasted to Number 1 qualifier with a 5.334/266.5. In E1 we ran a 5.332 against my Canadian friend Gord Gingles, in E2 we ran a 5.31 and in the final we ran a 5.329/265.09. It was good to be in the winners' circle again. The track was getting better than we thought with every pass and our sixty foot was being pulled down. The car had a lot more in it on that track. We will be heading to Vegas for the National and Regional events and then to Pomona to round the year out. If anyone is visiting from Europe, please stop by our pit and we should have a Shredder T-Shirt for you. Peter Crane has said he hopes to be in Pomona this year and I look forward to meeting him again. Shakespeare County update. 10th October: If you're looking for some Run What You Brung action this weekend then look no further than Shakespeare County Raceway's penultimate Public Track Weekend. Jerry Cookson writes: With VWs celebrating the 5th DKR Birthday Party and riders from the Cheshire Streetfighters Club it's going to be another mixed weekend of fun. Sunday will host another in the series of the Raceway's popular Bracket Gamblers races with either a sixteen-car ladder or better still a twenty four-car field for doorslammer entries. Details can be found at the SCR Bracket Gamblers web page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk/bracketgambler.asp. Track is open between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm both days. Admission is £12 per person per day or £22 for a weekend pass and the track fee is £25 per day for unlimited runs or £40 for the weekend. A crash helmet and full drivers licence are required. Shakespeare County Raceway are also pleased to announce that following collections made at Ladies That Launch, Open Sport Nationals and the NSRA Hot Rod Drags a grand total of £258.19 was amassed towards the operational costs of the Warwickshire Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. Together with proceeds from the Ladies That Launch raffle, which topped out at £249, a grand total of £507.19 was raised. Well done to everyone who contributed to this very worthy cause. Furthermore Shakespeare County are delighted to announce that we will be making further collections for Warwickshire Northamptonshire Air Ambulance during our final two events, this weekend's Public Track Weekend and the Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up on 25th-26th October, and that we will extend our support as the Raceway's preferred charity into 2015. Kunmadaras offers testing. 10th October: The team at Kunmadaras kept it quiet at the time because they were not sure how it would go and they didn't want any spies, but on 27th-28th September Switzerland's Olaf Menzi tested his Pro Stock Buell at the Hungarian track with the help of an international team including Danish former FIM European Champion Rasmus Olesen and a Hungarian Mechanic. Joseph Hadnagy writes: Olef chose our track on purpose as we have a really good reputation! Because he has never ridden a drag bike before he really needed Rasmus' help but a sensation was born! He ran 9.4 first time out on Saturday with the first sixty feet of track prepped, then he improved to an 8.4. Testing continued on Sunday, and despite bad gearshifts he ran a 7.9 which is fantastic! The sixty foot time was 1.1 seconds, which is also outstanding, and he ran 4.8 at 230 kmh at 200 metres. We only sprayed the first eighteen metres so these times are fantastic! Of course the team are already thinking about running in the European Drag Challenge at Kunmadaras next year as well as competing in the Hungarian Championship. Kunmadaras is available for testing, we await applications from racers and teams. We offer: Track prepared to high standard Safety crew Staff available to help Timing Hungarian hospitality Accommodation at the track, or booking of accommodation with thermal spa facilities only five kilometres from the track You need your drag bike, and a generator for service activities (we ensure electricity if it is required). If you are interested in testing at Kunmadaras then please get in touch with Joseph at [email protected] or call +36 309 654 435. Swift snippets. 10th October: Santa Pod Raceway have confirmed that Gabby McDonald and Chris Andrews will be providing the Top Fuel Dragster action at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 25th October. There is a sizeable entry of Drag Demo vehicles and a stack of off-track attractions including the usual Action Arena, bonfire and fireworks, and the return of Titan the Robot. You can find out more and book tickets on Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/e_flame.php. News from Wednesday's UK Tech Committee meeting is that nitromethane is to be permitted in Super Pro ET next season. We will have more on this soon. "Hire car returned with clutch" shock. 8th October: With the racing season winding down in the UK and winter just around the corner, Billy and Nicole Parker of the Parker Racing Pro ET team are headed for warmer climes. "Next week we jet off to LA en route for the California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield", says Billy. "We're leaving early so that we have time to visit Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School at Fontana where Nicole will undertake the Super Comp course. The class runs Wednesday and Thursday, then on Friday Hawley's run a Dragster Experience eliminator for up to sixteen competitors in the School cars so we've both entered that as well! "This almost fulfils our ambition to race in the States, and it's certainly a step up from running the rental car at Orlando Speed World... 'fess up, we all do that! So: drag racing in California, a visit to the Wally Parks Museum, maybe walk the track at Pomona, and drive the rental down Dead Man's Curve. That should keep us topped up over the winter!" Webb doubles the fun. 8th October: With the 2014 season now over Richie Webb and team have had some time to reflect on what has been a hugely successful season running Richie's wild record-holding Beetle in Super Comp. Richie tells us that there will be a brace of Beetles in 2015: Starting with the first pass at Easter, knocking three and a half tenths off our previous best 8.35 to 8.71, we knew it was going to be a good year. We continued that theme throughout the season to steadily chip away with small improvements to both ET and keeping the car straight, not so exciting to watch I know, sorry Tog (Let you off - Ed). It culminated in the new European best of 8.08/167 in our first qualifying pass at the UK National Finals in qualifying, then bettered to 8.02/169 in the first round of eliminations, both the straightest passes the car has made for a long time. After some studying of the data collected that weekend we are happy knowing that there are probably at least two or three tenths still left in it - maybe more! Winter plans include some gearing changes as a taller fourth gear is needed - yes, it is a four-speed, manually-shifted clutch car - and some dyno time as there is a Version 3 of the engine nearing completion. A sister car is in the final stages at Jim Smith's Cotsweld chassis shop and while it is a chopped-top Beetle Sedan it should still have a similar attitude and performance to the Cabrio as it will be the same mechanically. We hope that running two cars with twice the data will help with their development. The intention is to continue in Super Comp with the Cabrio and to start in Super Gas with the second car until it is sorted. There are no other classes into which they really fit at this time and we really had fun in Super Comp this year thanks mainly to the other racers in the class. Finally I have to thank everyone from Santa Pod who worked so hard this year to give us somewhere to race in what I can only describe as trying conditions for most of the year. At times a boat would have been more suited, we all appreciate the effort you put in (Hear, hear - Ed). Now, do whom do I speak about changing the Super Comp index to 7.90... LA Racing Parts back RV3. 8th October: Street-legal former Pro Modified racer Andy Frost and the Red Victor team are very pleased to announce that LA Racing Parts will be supporting the team in their new Outlaw guise for 2015 and beyond. Team Principal and driver Andy Frost says "This is excellent news for our team, but Lee and LA Racing Parts are not new to our operation, of course. We have been using VP fuel which has been supplied exclusively by LA Racing Parts for the last three years with great success! We feel it's the perfect time to step up the successful partnership with LA Racing Parts as we move on to the next level of performance with the car, and with their help we feel we can challenge anyone or anybody in our field." LA Racing Parts CEO Lee Child says "We have been supplying Andy with tyres, fuel and parts for over ten years. The Outlaw guise for the team is going to work well and I am glad to be part of it." Andy adds "We thank Lee Child for his commitment and support for our team. We're both looking forward to what we can achieve in the coming months." In the latest instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, and his last as a Pro Mod racer at least for now, Andy explains his reasons for changing class. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. NAST wrap up 2014. 8th October: UK NAST Supertwin Gas racer Chris Mott writes that final round of the 2014 NAST Championships was run in great weather at Shakespeare County Raceway on 25th September: Although the Gas class Champion was already known,the ET class went to the wire and wasn't decided until this final meeting. Congratulations to this year's Champions and runners-up: Joe Elliott and Robbie Dobbie in Gas, and Kieran Govender and Pete Harrison in ET. It was good to see Joe Elliott there, running his street Harley in ET having broken his Buell. Good luck to Joe for next year as he's adding a couple of extra cylinders and running a BMW in 8.50 Bike. Thanks also to Tim Boutle, who brought two bikes with him and ran in both Gas and ET. It was tight but just possible, with a bit of help, to get back in time to compete in both classes. My own weekend wasn't quite so good! After running the V-Rod for ten years we decided to build a new bike with an air-cooled Harley motor. Our plan is to see how quick we can get a Harley to go using the Screamin' Eagle - Harley Davidson's performance parts side - 120 ci engine. Having taken longer than hoped to build, I was determined to be running at the Open Sport Nationals. The bike was finished on the Friday afternoon and we managed to get a few shakedown runs in before the rain came on Monday. The next meeting entered was the UK National Finals and everything was looking good until we warmed up the bike for the first qualifier and it wouldn't keep running. We then spent rest of Saturday and Sunday morning trying to find the problem. Thanks to Gavin Cupit (Crew Chief) who went home on Saturday night and returned on Sunday morning with some replacement parts. Eventually we narrowed the fault down to the ECM. I had an old unit from the V-Rod which we hoped we could modify to work. Fast forward a week and I was trying to get the ECM sorted on the way to Shakespeare County but it wasn't to be, so we carried on to the track and helped the rest of the guys. Two meetings on consecutive weekends and no passes! Very frustrating. New ECM now purchased and we're entered for Extreme Bike (Final round of ACU Supertwin classes - Ed), so let's hope we can get some runs in before the end of the year. Thanks for all their help to my wife Yvonne and to Gavin and Tracy Cupit, I couldn't do it without you. Street Eliminator Dinner Dance. 8th October: Many thanks to Matt Atkinson for forwarding details of the Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator AGM, Dinner Dance and presentation. The event will take place on Saturday 24th January 2015 at the Brandon Hall Hotel, Brandon, Coventry, CV8 3FW. The event will follow the normal format as follows: Annual General meeting will be held at 2:00 pm; only active paying members of the class will be permitted to attend. Pre-dinner drinks will be served from 7:00 pm in the reception area outside the Woodlands Suite. Seated for three course meal at 7:30 pm with trophy presentations at 9:00 pm The disco will follow until the early hours of the morning! Tickets to the Dinner and Dance are priced at £35 per adult and £8.95 for under-12s. A preferential rate of £65 for a double room has been negotiated with the hotel; this includes breakfast the following morning. To book the hotel please call 02476 546000 and quote Street Eliminator. For further details and menu choices please contact me at [email protected]. Please note that the closing date for payment is Friday 31st October. Swift snippets. 7th October: More congratulations to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences who qualified in number one spot and then took the win at the weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Divisional event in Oklahoma. It sounds as if Mike had a fair amount to deal with including a 200 mph wheelie and dynamic lane choice by a competitor. Mike will be contesting the NHRA National events in Las Vegas and Pomona and he loves to meet European fans, so if you are attending Vegas and/or Pomona then please go to say Hello. Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Steve Dudley writes that the latest slot drags meeting of the new season takes place on Mr D Raceway at 2:00 on Sunday week (19th) at Higham Memorial Hall, School Lane, Higham, Kent ME3 7JL. "The hall is chargeable", says Steve. "If you would be kind enough to carry on the tradition of a couple of quid in the pot it would be appreciated. I have loan cars available if you do not have your own and would like to take part in eliminations." Apologies for the gaps between news updates in the last few days which is down to personal stuff with which we won't bore you; please don't worry, though, since none of us is ill and we're all still manacled to our partners, it's nothing like that. Normal service is being resumed. Swift snippets. 5th October: Kim Bishop's classic Gasser-styled '41 Willys is for sale as a roller at £10,000 including transporter. The car is for sale until the end of October at which point the team have plans either way. If you are interested then you can find out more under Cars for Sale on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet. Congratulations and stay safe to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences who qualified #1 and got through round one of eliminations at this weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Divisional event in Oklahoma. Eliminations continue today and you will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central buddies at www.dragracecentral.com. Further to Thursday's news item, Nigel Taylor writes that Graham Smith of Serck Motorsport, his crewman Col Law and hot rodder Michael Hawkins have all joined the driver roster of the Detroit Spinner in 2015 to attempt to beat Arthur Bonner's best speed and time. "Now added is a surprise driver for Nostalgia Nationals", says Nigel. "A well-loved figure around the sport years ago is coming back for a return which will suprise a lot of people. No clues! We can't wait for the competition to begin, Arthur needs other drivers to keep him in top form!" Web site updates. 5th October: In the latest instalment in his exclusive Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer Colin Theobald looks forward to winter work on his Camaro Bruce. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Sweden's Leanders Brothers, who are racing in Top Alcohol Funny Car in the USA this season, have posted a YouTube video of their participation at the US Nationals at Indy. You can take a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytpTGib_WQY. UK Championships/SPRC Dinner Dance. 2nd October: Bookings are now being taken for the Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance and Trophy Evening, which takes place at 6:00 pm on Saturday 7th February 2015 at the St John's Hotel, Warwick Road, Solihull, Birmingham B91 1AT (map). This event will present Champions and runners-up in the 2014 UK National Drag Racing Championships, MSA British Drag Racing Championship, Santa Pod Racers Club Championships and SPRC Perpetual Award winners. Avon Park International Racing Association are not participating and will announce their own presentation arrangements shortly. The arrangements for the SPRC Dinner Dance are as follow: Pre-dinner drinks will be available in the bar from 5:30 pm. Proceedings will start prompt at 6:00 pm with trophy presentations to the 2014 Santa Pod Racers Club Champions and runners-up. For this reason it is important that everyone is in their seats in the function room at 6:00 pm as the presentation will not be held up for latecomers. If you miss your presentation then we will not be going back! Dinner will be served at 7:00 pm. After dinner, the 2014 UK National Champions and runners-up will be presented with their trophies, then the top three in the 2014 MSA British Drag Racing Championship, and finally the 2014 SPRC Perpetual Award winners. Tickets to the Dinner Dance are £32 per adult and £15 for under-twelves which includes three-course meal plus tea / coffee and mints. Please make it clear on the form if booking tickets for under-twelves and specify a child's meal. An additional £1 per ticket should be added if paying by credit card. Verbal bookings will not be accepted: bookings will not be confirmed until a completed form is received by SPRC. Please remember to bring your ticket on the evening as the raffle will be drawn on ticket numbers. SPRC have negotiated a preferential rate for hotel rooms in the St John's Hotel. These are priced at £75 for a single room and £85 for double or twin tooms, including breakfast on Sunday morning. To book your room, please call the hotel on 0844 854 2910 quoting Santa Pod. You can download the booking form (PDF format) by clicking here. A Word format form is available on the Entry Forms section of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Please note that booking forms should be sent to Yvonne Tramm at the address specified and not to the SPRC address. If you have any queries then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 or E-Mail [email protected] 2013 Perpetual Award winners please note that trophies should be be returned to SPRC as soon as possible. To make arrangements for trophy return please contact Ian Marshall as above. A whole bunch of Marras. 2nd October: Lynne Coulsell of UK Junior Dragster and Wild Bunch team Limited Funz Racing has been in touch with a review of the year in which the team became a three-car operation: There were a lot of changes for the team this year; the Marras, Rob and Pete Brown with Mrs Marras, Hayley Fyfe and Kimberley Berry were building their own car which they were hoping to début at Dragstalgia, and Master Harley Coulsell had reached the magic age of eight so that meant Junior Dragster! Bandit 1 - Harley Coulsell: Harley was given the most unbelievable opportunity to drive a junior dragster in 2014, which was something we didn't think we would be able to offer him. Through some very good friends, Daniel and Kirsty Giles, someone Mark has known through racing for many years made us an offer that we just couldn't refuse - for Harley to use a Junior Dragster for the 2014 season. We have not been allowed to say a proper Thank You during the year but now that the season is over we think that we can't get into trouble so we would like to say a massive thank you to Sandie and Thaliah Gibb for their kindness and generosity. Obviously Harley was very excited by this and instantly wanted to call the car Bandit 1 as Smokey and the Bandit is one of his favourite films. He made his first run in the car the weekend following his eighth birthday in October 2013. From the fear in his eyes when he pulled round onto the start line I thought that that would be the first and last time he would be putting on that helmet! Wrong, he loved it so 2014 season here we come! For his rookie year, Harley has had an amazing season. He was number one qualifier at the Main Event and number two at the European Championship Finals. Turns out he's not too bad on the lights either and has finished fifteenth in the National points standings. Another Thank You has to go to Daniel Giles for his excellent mentoring skills and butt kicking for some of those red lights, but as I heard Tog and Colin say at the National Finals "If you don't red light occasionally, you're not trying!". We were very lucky to have a sponsor for the last two meetings of the year so thanks go to Matt's Groundworks in Tamworth. We are hoping to build Harley his own Junior Dragster for 2015, of course in LFR black and orange colours. BallBreaker – Mark and Lynne Coulsell and Steve and Anna Cassisi: We started the year with a rebuilt engine and a driver and Crew Chief with a huge thirst for a 150 mph, eight-second pass! Thanks to our only sponsors North Warwickshire and Hinckley College for giving Steve the space to build the engine and put her back together. The June Shootout at Shakespeare County Raceway was a proud event for us with both BallBreaker and Bandit 1 sharing a pit for the very first time! And a weird experience for Steve crewing for dad and son who both have the same race face when strapped in their cars! Sadly we only managed two runs: one half pass (the team couldn't believe that Mark did as he was told!) and a full pass with problems as the fuel pump was not flowing as it should. The NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakey was BallBreakers' fourth birthday and Crew Chief Steve Cassisi's thirtieth birthday! A big weekend all round so we were hoping to celebrate with our eight. Unfortunately we were still having problems on the few runs which we made. We we thought was the gearbox was at fault but it turned out to be fuel issues so still no eight at 150 mph! Could Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway be the one? The first run, after the terrified wife Bug (me!) complete with orange hot pants and boots did her job, was a 9.03 but at only 110 mph as oil was coming out after half track and Mark had to lift. The sixty foot was good though wasn't it girls Sandie, Kirsty, Anna, Claire and Sarah? The other runs were much the same with more oil so back to the drawing board. Thanks to Darryl and Sarah Howells for the donation of new rocker box covers which we hoped would fix the problem. BallBreaker was making exhibition passes at the Alamo Junior Drag Racing Fun Day at Santa Pod but after the first run we still had the oil problem. Back in the pits Steve and Daniel investigated and found the source of the oil and fixed it. Unbelievably the lovely farmer had decided to harvest at the bottom of the track and dust and wheat debris were blowing all over the shut-off area so we were not allowed to make another pass. Poor Steve was champing at the bit for another run but we were all going to have to wait for the Hot Rod Drags at Shakey! We thought that the Hot Rod Drags at Shakey would be an emotional event and for many reasons it certainly was! Unfortunately we had the very sad news that Anna's dad had passed away a few weeks before the event and we attended the funeral on the Friday. We were shocked but pleased when Anna and Steve decided to come to the track on the Friday night and for us to take part in this event. Mark, Anna's dad, had often attended this event in previous years and it was one of his favourites so we dedicated this weekend to him. RIP Mark Woodfield. Wrathchild, with Mark's old LFR chassis, was making her début out of the LFR stable which also brought a tear to our eye... and we finally got our 150 mph! 151 mph, in fact, with a 9.02-second pass! Go Marra Chief, Steve Cassisi, you built us a mean engine and we all got what we've been waiting for in the long years since BallBreaker's début in 2010. It didn't end there: the next run was a whopping 8.76/152.2 and then an 8.67 on the third run! The team were on top of the world, champagne was on ice and there was still a Cacklefest to enjoy! The Sunday delivered us two more 8.7s so car and team all went home very happy. Wrathchild – Rob Brown and Hayley Fyfe, Pete Brown and Kimberley Berry: The Marras acquired the old Limited Funz chassis in 2012 and were hoping to rebuild it and début it at Blackbushe in 2013. Mark was delighted when they asked if they could have the old Limited Funz Wild Bunch race number twenty and to be part of the LFR stable. As with most builds things didn't happen quite as expected and they finally had her ready for this year's Hot Rod Drags! It was decided that Rob would drive the car for the first event. A very nervous and excited team headed for the busy pairing lanes, including Marra Mom and Dad! Rob was assisted on the start line by Mark, Steve and Daniel Giles as well as Pete, Hayley and Kimberley so he was in very good hands. The first run was just a half pass and the whole team went crazy when Wrathchild went through the finish line with a 17.37/58. Go Marras, all of the hard work has paid off, a big pat on the back to you all. The second half pass was with a burnout which Rob said was the ultimate thrill, he was like a kid in a sweet shop and seeing the Pie Crusts spin was amazing! He just got into the water box and floored it! That run was 16.49/55. The third run was to be a full pass and with a little red light Wrathchild recorded a 16.00/65. Unfortunately a problem was found with the gearbox when the car was back in the pits so Rob and Pete decided not to run on the Sunday until the issue was sorted but did the Cacklefest and were a great crowd pleaser with lots of applause and cheers. Another great reason for LFR to celebrate with some champagne on Saturday night! The Marras would like to say a massive Thank You to the following for making their dreams come true: Marra Mom and Dad, Roy Wilding, Lesley Prior, LFR, Ian Coulsell, John Fullerton, Brad and Bazooka Ken Cooper, Paul 'Oz' Wright (for playing Wrathchild when we they in the pairing lanes), Mark Hartnell, and anyone else they may have missed. Thank you to everyone for the kind words and messages during the build, they are very much appreciated. Bring on 2015 for some more Marratastic action! LFR would also like to say thank you to our families, friends, many supporters, sponsors, Eurodragster.com, marshals and officials, track and safety crews, commentators and organisers, photographers, Barry Bohannon and Paul 'Oz' Wright for their ever enthusiastic commentary, and a huge thank you to Chris and Claire of the C&C Racing Backdraft slingshot as without them we wouldn't have the great Wild Bunch class to run with. It's been an amazing year for LFR, can't wait for 2015 and maybe Mark and the team will be able to run at the Main Event and European Championship Finals, even if Harley beat him to it! The Spinner's return. 2nd October: Nigel Taylor writes on behalf of Detroit Spinner Racing to thank all those who made this season possible: Just over a year ago we dragged the 1949  Ford Prefect from out of the garage in which it had been sat for twenty years. We checked everything on the car and replaced only what was necessary to get it back up and running and safe. The car's first outing was the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, where the original builder Arthur Bonner (now seventy three years old) got back behind the wheel of his home-built car and after a few mistakes managed to get some decent runs in, putting a massive grin on his face and an emotional feel back in his system. The NSRA awarded us a trophy, reminding us that the whole rebuild was worth its while. The next outing was the amazing Dragstalgia. Being put in the same class as Pure Hell and Rat Trap was an honour on its own. The front wheels were now lifting, and 12.1 at 112 was recorded by Arthur and 12.4 by Paul Dale, one of our sponsors / drivers. Then the Prefect attended the Can Am Car Show Canamania in Poole, where it got more interest. Then to round the season up, the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway. The car was ready to go but Arthur wasn't feeling too good, handing the first drive to Colin Millar of Outlaw Anglia fame, 12.4 at 112, and then to Flathead guru Kelvin Helsdown, 12.2 at 113. Sunday came, Arthur felt better, his first run was a 12.1 at 114 proving that at his age he's still got his mojo. Detroit Spinner Racing would like to thank everyone who made it possible. My great family for supporting me and being there when needed: Sophie, Elisha, Mackenzie, Fletcher Taylor. Those who purchased items throughout the year, those who helped out behind the scenes (Steve Jones, Dale Burgess), all our crew and sponsors. Arthur Bonner the main man,  Jeff Goddard Crew Chief, Graham True tow truck, Tom Mitty photo man, Paul Dale driver 2, dad Steve Dale, Nick Dunford tech man, Neil Gibbs chief push man, Mick Leadfoot Patey (yes we beat you), Kelvin Ecclescake Helsdown driver 3 - no fear, Richard Hicks beer advisor, Adam Gough (VWDRC), Justin Horne painter at Joust Performance, Desmond Ware Too Fast - Too Filling, Andover Trailers, Faraday Building Contractors, Clacys Garage of Whitchurch. In 2015 we will hopefully go faster, stop quicker and run for longer. Work is well underway on the car , when spare time is found in between family life. New sponsors for next year include Serck Motorsport, American Motor Factors, Chris Cotten (55 Nomad fame), Kelvin Helsdown, Graham True and more. Driver Paul Dale will be out in the ex-Tim Adam Anglia which he now owns (he's got the bug again) so next season we may be looking for someone to share driving duties with Arthur. If you're looking for an opportunity to drive a piece of drag racing history, then join us on the Detroit Spinner Racing Facebook page to find out what you have to do to become part of a great team keeping a piece of Nostalgia still on the track. We would also like to thank all the other racers, organizers and participants who made us all welcome, Santa Pod Raceway for Dragstalgia which was unbelievable, and our great friends and all the staff at Shakespeare County Raceway for keeping such a great place going. See you all in 2015! National Finals JDB review. 2nd October: Many thanks to Lizz McCarthy for forwarding us the Junior Drag Bike racers' accounts of their weekends at the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway: JBP 2 Jasmine Cordelle: We arrived Friday late afternoon, and were hoping for a full weekends racing without any rain! We got it whoopie! We got the bike scrutineered, and all passed. Saturday morning, first qualifier I dialled in 9.38 and broke out by miles (ooops) and ran 9.10. Second qualifier I dialled in a 9.0 but it died on the line so ran a 11.0. After Saturday's qualifying, we had some problems with the bike as when I got back to the pits, I was stood in a puddle of fuel as the carbs flooded due to a cracked float, so we changed the float and started it up and hoped that on Sunday it would be okay as I had Blade first round! Sunday morning, race day! I had Blade first round. I had a four second wait on the line before I could chase Blade down. I must say I do like the chasing part of it! I dialled in a 9.0 and ran a 9.27 Blade broke out so I took the win! Well done to Blade it was a great race! Second round I had Patch (Jordan) and we were both running similar times. We both dialled in 9.0. I had him off the lights, but unfortunately my bike died just before the sixty foot mark, so well done to Jordan who then had a bye to the final the lucky devil! Well done to Louis too for winning the event. See you all at Extreme Bike for the last meeting. JBM 3 Louis Davies: Q1 Woke up to a cold morning and expected a quick run so I dialled in a 9.35 and with a 0.15 reaction I ran a 9.46 at 70.02 mph which got me 1st qualifier. After the first pass we dialled in a 9.40 for Q2 but then redlit and broke out with a 9.39 at 70.08 mph but managed to stay first. First elimination run on Sunday and it was getting hotter so we dialled in a 9.30 to be safe on my bye run I then ran a 9.303 which was just 0.003 off a perfect ET and I was through to the next round. Second round and it was still getting hotter so we dialled in a 9.27 and then ran a 9.31 against Liam and won so I was through to the semis. Getting closer to the final and it was getting even hotter the track was also getting stickier and I had Stacey so I dialled in a 9.27 just to be safe but then went much faster and ran a 9.23 at 71 mph, Luckily Stacey broke out by a larger amount so I was in the final. Going into the final against Jordan Kenway, knowing he was running good, we decided to dial in a 9.20 to be safe and try and get closer to my dial in. The race was won by the my quicker reaction running a 9.29 on a 9.20 against Jordan's near perfect ET. I'd like to thank Rene Van Den Berg for the sponsorship this year and also Lightning Automotive and Beckwith Motorsports for sponsoring the Junior Drag Bike Club. Also a huge thank you to my friends and family for such an amazing weekend! JBP 4 Jordan Kenway: We arrived at Santa Pod on the Friday, got signed on and went straight through scrutineering first time with no problems. Thanks to Scott Collier for taking me up while dad was setting up. Saturday brought rain and an oildown slowing play, but when we were called we dialled in a 9.00 and ran a 9.61. This was because before this run we put another spring in the clutch and all it did was bog and wheelie. When we got back we took it back out. In Q2 we dialled in a 9.15 and we ran a 9.14 super close but that left me seventh in qualifying. Sunday meant race day and first round I had Natalie Jones, we dialled in a 9.00, bike launched well caught up with Natalie and shut off running a 9.20 something. Up next we had Jasmine Cordelle, we dialled in a 9.00 again but so did Jasmine meaning a heads up race, bike launched well again but unfortunately Jasmine had problems at the sixty foot mark. I didn't know this at the time so when I was looking for her I didn't have a clue where she was so I rolled off again and went through the finish line with a 9.1 something and the win light. I had a bye run to the final in which I ran a 9.03. So then the final, me vs Louis we kept the 9.00 dial in, completed the burnout everything was fine, the bike launched well, but unfortunately I just couldn't catch Louis in time but, and this is a big but, I ran a 9.003/74 meaning a new PB in speed and time and near enough perfect ET. Had such a great weekend well done Louis on the win see you all at Extreme Bike! Liam Holgate JBM5: Saturday I signed on early and went straight down to scrutineering all was OK but dad had to go back to the pits because he forgot the rear light. First qualifier I had to finish my observed runs because I was on my new bike so dad told me to take it slow on the first run. I staged but stalled on the line I managed to pull it back from the line so dad could restart it. I set my ET to 9.6, staged and did a smooth pull away for my observed run and ran a 10.68. Second qualifier was my last observed run I set my ET at 9.6 and ran a new PB 9.42/66.4 and qualified fifth. First round of eliminations was against Charlotte. I set my ET at 9.3 and Charlotte set 11.4 which meant I would have to wait two seconds. This was new to me so I would have to concentrate and not red light. I ran a 9.27 and broke out but so did Charlotte with a new PB but I broke out less so I was through to the next round. Second round I was against Louis this was going to be hard as Louis was spot on this weekend. I set my ET to 9.25 and Louis set 9.27 we ran really close all the way to the line and I ran a 9.35, close but not close enough Louis ran a 9.27 and won. I was still happy though my new bike was all sorted and running great and a new PB as well. I can't wait till the next round. See you all soon. Jake Charman JBM6: After testing at the Bulldog Bash it was time for my first meeting on the new bike. To start with we decided to keep the bike as it was and went for a dial in of 10.2 just to get a number on the board. After running a 10.8 we decided to see what could be done with the clutch. We lightened the base springs to allow for more clutch slip off the line and added weight to the arms to compensate further up the track. This worked off the line with a falling sixty foot time but definitely felt sluggish. We also noticed the shift point was set far too low as I shifted gear just as the bike was about to take off. All together it equated to a time of 11.2. The night before eliminations we added even more weight to the arms and rose the shift point to try and get some speed back and guessed a 10.6 dial in. I ran another eleven-second run and was out. But all in all we learned a lot about the bike and what needed to be done. We are planning to go to some Run What Ya Brungs in the next few weeks to set up the clutch and find a shift and launch RPM that works. I would like to thank Dad and Lizz for helping me over the weekend and Mandy Chant for taking me to and from the track. JBP7 Alfie Udall: This weekend was another tough one for me. I was having problems all weekend with my bike. On the first qualifier I launched hard and wheel spun quite a bit but then my chain came off. I had to stop the bike immediately and wait for help. On the second qualifier I was told to just take it easy by my dad and get a number on the board. So we dialed in an eighteen and I went a little bit too fast and ran a fifteen. In the first round of eliminations against Siobhan I launched well and won the race with no problems with the bike. Siobhan unfortunately had problems on the start line which was disappointing. In the second round of eliminations I had Stacey. I knew it would have been a close race to the finish but once again unfortunately my chain came off, and that was the race over for me. Once again I had to wait for help and then lift my bike over the wall and through a gate back into the pits. Overall not the best weekend but I am glad I got to see all my friends and I still had a fun time. Looking forward to the last round where my bike will be once again ready to race. Stacey Reed JBM9: I don't know whether to be happy or sad! In both qualifiers I was quite a way off my dial ins but my runs were still pretty consistent which was good. To my surprise, I ended up third in qualifying behind Louis and Natalie. After finding out I was currently second in the Santa Pod Championships I had a little spring in my step in the morning. After expecting to be eliminated after round one I was pleasantly surprised when I beat Jake Charman. I have to admit I was nowhere near my dial in but still, I was through. Next round I met Alfie. Unfortunately, something happened to Alfie's bike which meant he didn't finish which is a shame because I was looking forward to this race. On this run I dialled a 9.6 and went 9.73 as I lifted because Alfie was nowhere to be seen. Last but not least I raced Louis and everything got a bit too exciting and I was a bit too eager to win and I broke out. I dialled a 9.6 again but went 9.49. It's all well and good getting to the semis but there's only one meeting left now. I guess I'll see you all then! P.S. Well done to Louis for winning and to Patch for coming second, you boys did good! And... bye bye Siobhan! We're all going to miss you, good luck and kick some butt x JBM10 Siobhan Moor: My last ever JDB race report, well where do I start? First of all I would just like to say a huge thank you to every single person that is some way a part of Junior Drag Bike Club. Each one of you has helped me along my journey as a Junior whether it's making sure I'm okay at the top end or making me laugh in the long waits in the fire up roads! Even though I've had Jerry Collier and my Dad pestering me to start racing since I was nine I just wish I wasn't so stubborn and now I incredibly regret not starting earlier. I would also like to thank my family for bringing me up in this special sport and giving me this amazing opportunity to take part at a young age. I've had some great memories in my time racing as Junior and now I am extremely excited to hop on to my sister's old bike and see where that takes me... hopefully into Super Street but father won't let me ha-ha! I hope to follow in my sisters footsteps of riding it like a nutter! Thank you for my gorgeous pictures, we have now had to create a new wall for them all to go on. Anyway my race report yes, well I mostly wanted this to be my thank yous so to cut it short I had an average qualifying number and lost the first round due to only just crossing the start line as I didn't put enough revs on. But oh well I'm happy to say I had a fab last race meeting as a Junior! Congratulations to the Championship winner and the winner and runner up from the weekend! Also thank you to Lizz McCarthy for all the hard work she has put into our Club and good luck to the new Chair and Vice Chair. Good luck for all you racers next year will look forward to seeing you step up and no doubt will see you a lot anyway! Thank you all again! Lots of love x P.S. Keep up the girl power Jasmine Cordelle, Stacey Reed, Natalie Jones and Charlotte Hales! JBM11 Charlotte Hales: Woke up Saturday morning to mist and damp, but sign on and scrutineering went without a hitch. Dad dialled in a 12.25 based on the Junior Fun Day consistency and against Jake I managed to put in an 11.30! Oops I was happy despite a breakout though. Dad reckoned I was getting a little tailwind help so for the second qualifier of the day he dialled in a 11.15 Luckily for this last qualifier, I ran am 11.45 against Natalie. This proved the previous run was no fluke. It also put me in fourth qualifier. Sunday morning was bright and clear with still a tail/crosswind. I was drawn against Liam for the first elimination. Dad being a bit over confident with the times and speeds decided not to change the board from the previous day and I went out with a a 11.15 dial in again. Breakout again! This time a 10.77 and despite Liam breaking out, he beat me into the next round. Although that was my day over, I was pleased to have run a PB on ET. Thanks to Dad, Mum, Emily and Dangerface Drag Racing including Martin Dust for this season at all tracks. Thanks also to Junior Drag Bike Club and all our sponsors for making it possible for me to race. See you all at Extreme in October. JB12 Blade Dummer: Arrived at the pod Friday so plenty of time to set up and get signed on. We had tested the week previous so had the bike running well so I was happy. In qualifying the weather was funny and the bike ran slower than expected but still qualified in fifth, which was good. Sunday came and the air was better so I told Dad to leave the dial in and not to change it, so we put 13.12 for the first round and the track wasn't as sticky and I broke out only just with a 13.10, so that was our day done but gave me chance to watch all the other Juniors race. You all looked great by the way and have some videos. Well done to Louis and Jordan that was a close final. Thanks to FBM Turbos, Tim at Beckwith Motorsports and Magic Bullet Fuel Additivies. I can't wait for the next round and the season is almost done, it's gone so quickly. JBM14 Natalie Jones: Well the National Finals was a bit of an up down experience for me it had highlights and it had the 'Eh' moments. Saturday: Due to the weather, break downs and oil downs we only managed to get two qualifying runs out of three. Q1 - I dialled in an 11.50 but because I dumped the clutch, pulled a wheelie and half way up the track missed a gear I ran a 13.02 doh! But I didn't worry to much as I qualified sixth of eleven. Q2 - This run made my day! After a poor start, we dialled in an 11.60 and I ran an 11.73 which then moved me right up to number two qualifier! But on the way back down the return road my exhaust blew, but that wasn't too much of a worry because my dad and uncle sorted it out. It's amazing what a Coke can can do! Sunday: The weather was being a lot kinder, the track was in good condition and there was a tail wind, fab! Nothing could go wrong with the elimination rounds! This was my first championship round of eliminations since starting Juniors. E1 - I was against Jordan so I was really excited to have our "re-race" from the Junior Fun Day! I dialled in an 11.60 and that gave me a two second head start. I did one of my best reactions yet .269 and then it started to go downhill... my bike wouldn't go into third gear, the gear box had jammed in second so that ensured Jordan would get the win. Just after 330 feet I decided to pull over not risking it any further just in case any fluid was dripping. But I had a good dance on the strip whilst waiting for assistance to come help me, thanks NitroFM but sadly that put an end to my racing weekend. Just want to say thank you to Lightning Automotive for sponsoring the qualifying trophies and thank you to everyone else who was there looking out for me and supporting me. Well done to Louis Davies for winning the National Finals! And a big goodbye to Siobhan Moor, it's been lovely having you in Juniors, sad that you're leaving, wish you all the best for Supertwin ET! As always we would like to thank our sponsors and supporters the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Tim Beckwith at Beckwith Motorsports USA, Gary at Lightning Automotive UK, Brandi and the team at Dragbike.com, Eurodragster.com, track crew, marshalls, photographers, and huge thanks must go to all the JDB Families, who put a lot into this Junior Bike Class. Lizz' Funny story. 2nd October: Lizz McCarthy herself has had a frustrating season but ended up enjoying herself: I've had no bike to race, due to the Comp Bike going off to have some modifications which should have been ready for August but then unfortunately, through no one's fault, the deal fell through which left me with nothing ready to ride! For the first time, I had been invited to the Bulldog Bash, which is always a hoot and a holler, and we were looking into other options on what to ride. Thanks to Richard Gipp, we were able to rent his Pro Mod Bike. Kev and Gipp spent a weekend sorting it out, as it had not been ridden for two years, got the bike home, but we were unable to test as work commitments had left everything to the last minute! After the amazing fun I had at the Bulldog Bash, running a 7.6 first time on nitrous with this bike, and getting a feature in MCN, and my fifteen minutes of fame, I fell in love with racing all over again, and asked Gipp if I could rent it again, and enter it for the UK National Finals in Funny Bike. FB24 was born! The weekend came. Kev had finished work early to get to the track. I followed on a couple of hours later. Straight out of the car, and onto the bike, and managed to sign on and get it scrutineered before it shut... just made it in the nick of time, thanks Steve. The following day we did a bit of maintenance, got the bike prepped and ready to go. I was as always excited and nervous at the same time. This début in Funny Bike was quite a thing for me, I was comfortable in Comp Bike. This was a challenge! It was a pretty big field, I really wanted me and the bike to do well! The whole team were able to come this weekend, including one of my very dear friends Jeni Long of yawningcatphotography.com, who asked if she could film us in the pits and beyond. This should be interesting! You can check it out for yourself at www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DA62eiZwPU. First Qualifier. Burnout, so far so good. Up to the line, lights went down, launched, and wheel spun, short shifted all the way up, but still managed a 1.14 sixty foot and 7.62/172. “Did you wait for the shift light Lizzy?". Erm... I didn't see the light at all. Doh! One run out of the way! I would be more together next time. But number two qualifier. How very cool! Second Qualifier. Too much water in the burnout box, and still water on my tyre, wheelspin all the way, and a tail wag. But got to the end in one piece with a slower 1.20 sixty foot and 7.81/171, grinning like a loon! Time wasn't on our side, and the curfew stopped a third qualifier. I had Bob Brooks in the first round of eliminations. That could go either way. The last time I raced him, it was in Comp Bike, and he ran a 7.1 to my 7.7! Bike was ready, I was ready, and crew were ready. Time for a bit of food, and a relax with the team, and see what happens the following day. Bike on two-step in pits, and refuelled, all good. We were called into the pairing lanes, shook Bob's hand, and away we went. Burnout, back into first, nitrous on, straightened up, pat on the back, and over to me. As I paddled up to pre-stage and then stage, as I put my thumb on the two-step, my right foot slipped off the foot peg, and got wedged under the peg – I have small feet, and the pegs are just that little bit too high for me. Got it back onto the peg, but lost concentration, let go of the button, and launched about a fortnight before the lights went down. Dammit! It was an awesome run, isn't that always the way, but unfortunately no time or speed. Got to the top end, and was surprised to see Bob coming around the corner too. He too had redlit, but not as badly as me, so he took the win! I had such fun, and all thanks to some pretty amazing people who make it so enjoyable. Richard Gipp – the owner of the bike, and all round good egg, Kevin Charman my amazing bloke, puts up with a lot, and has been one amazing mentor, he has taught me so much over the years, and such a great support. I can't wait for him to be back out there on the Fuel Bike! Chris Pyke, the best Crew Chief ever, his dedication to us all as a team and we are very blessed to have him as a great friend. Huge thanks, too, to the rest of the incredible Super Crew: Julie Moxley, Sarah Chapman, Mandy Chant and Jake Charman. So now what? Well, I am not going to be doing the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, but I have spoken to Gippy about next season. I thought I was, but I'm not ready to retire just yet! You can check out what we are all up to on Facebook or on our web site at www.nitrousjunkie.com. Bracket Gamblers update. 2nd October: Sixteen Bracketeers faced the tree at Shakespeare County Raceway's Late Summer Madness Public Track Weekend for a round of the Warwickshire drag strip's in-house ET Bracket Gamblers Challenge series. Jerry Cookson writes: With two qualifying sessions and four rounds of racing ahead the challenge began when Super Stock racer Vic Parson's 440ci '65 Plymouth Belvedere instantly grabbed the number one spot with a bang on 11.451 on an 11.45 dial. Fresh with a rebuilt motor Del Sanderson drove the Serck Motorsport sponsored '71 Chevy Nova into the number two spot with an 11.205 (11.20 dial). It was pleasing to see some new racers joining the series. After a few outings at the Hot Rod Drags Jordan Cowley drove his dad's Sportsman ET Z28 Camaro into the twelfth spot. Geoff has vacated the seat having acquired the ex Brian Whitfield flamed Chevy Nova. And if you think the series is predominately for American doorslammers then think again. Lee Parkinson entered his modified two-litre turbo Vauxhall Corsa into the bracket and qualified eleventh with consistent 12.8s. Also making the effort was Wayne Mason driving a 3.8 litre Nissan GTR turbo. He qualified eighth at 11.048 on a 10.99 dial. With the top half of the ladder covered by the Warhorse V6 Mustang of Vic Fisher, Mark Pearson's GMC '69 Hauler and the ‘68 Chevy truck of Neil L'Alouette, we were in for an afternoon's worth of upsets especially with the likes of former bracket winners Simon Parker, John Mulligan and Brian Huxley qualifying their race cars near to the bottom of the ladder! In the opening round top qualifier Vic Parsons put his Super Stocker out of contention after misjudging his 11.45 dial with a losing 11.418 gifting Nathan Hulkes '98 Camaro a place in the second round. The upsets continued when Del Sanderson knocked himself out or competition by turning on the red bulb with a -0.020 red against Brian Huxley's Pro ET Mustang. Gamblers campaigner Don Brittain took an easy lap into round two after Adrian Jones failed to show at the line in the ex-Phil Herrick Super B MGB GT. His non-appearance was down to a broken gearbox. John Mulligan's Buick Skylark put away Wayne Mason's 3.8 litre Nissan; a 16.167 on a 16.12 dial against the GTR's closing 11.82 after running out of real estate! On the other side of the ladder Neil L'Alouette put away the late model Chevy Camaro of UK Power Tour organiser Andy Dibley while Simon Parker's '68 Camaro played catch up and eventually overhauled the new style Type R Honda Civic of Curtis Fisher. The remaining wins fell to newcomers Jordan Cowley against Mark Pearson's GMC truck and Lee Parkinson's Corsa outlasted the advancing V6 top end charge from Vic Fisher's Mustang. Upsets came and went in round two after John Mulligan forgot where he was running, a big breakout 16.069 on a 16.12 dial to hand the win to Jordan Cowley. The little Corsa's day came to an end against Simon Parker whose 9.971 stayed on the right side of his 9.86 dial. Long time bracket racer Brian Huxley was using his 9.85 dial to maximum effect against the Indy 500 Pace Car replica of Don Brittain. Closing out the round was Neil's Chevy truck running an 11.991 (11.95) against Nathan Hulkes' breakout 13.670 on a predicted 13.72 dial. With sixteen cars now whittled down to just four all eyes were looking at young Jordan's Z28 Camaro especially as in the opposing lane sat the Dark Horse Mustang of cagey veteran Mr Huxley. With dial-ins displayed Jordan ran a near perfect race with a cautious 15.430 on a 15.30 dial. In the end it was the hard charging Ford which stole the win with a 9.979 on a 9.85 dial. On the other side of the ladder Simon Parker was just a hair too quick on the tree as a -0.008 put the 440ci Camaro back on the trailer handing Neil's truck the round win. In the final Neil knew what he had to do as he stomped all over the lane in a vain attempt to cover the advancing Ford. But at the finish stripe it was Brian who got to the line first by just half a car. With the trophies, money and supporters' goodie bags duly handed over we're now looking forward now to the next Gambler to be held on Sunday 11th October. Bracket organisers would like to take this opportunity to welcome Mark from On The Bottle as a Gamblers race supporter. Mark dispenses nitrous whenever anyone is in need of a refill, and he's also agents for NOS equipment and a VP Racing Fuels supplier. So please supporte the people who support bracket racing. Finally the organisers wish to also thank regular Gamblers Brian Huxley and Don Brittain, and Raceway official Nigel Statham, for all their help and encouragement at promoting the series to RWYB event attendees. The final race of this year's campaign will be Halloween Sunday 26th October. If you want to get involved then check out the Gamblers page on the Raceway web site or the SCR Bracket Gamblers Facebook page. See you at the strip! NSRA back Hall of Fame Gala. 2nd October: With a substantial four-figure sum, the National Street Rod Association UK has joined the list of those sponsoring the prestigious 2014 British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Celebration Gala Awards Dinner at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on 22nd November. Before the formation of the NSRA, hot rod enthusiasts tended to be organized as a division of one of the two main drag racing clubs. The NSRA grew out of the National Drag Racing Club Roadster Register with the inaugural meeting being held at the Wheatsheaf Public House on the Reigate Road in Surrey in 1972. It is now a National organization for hot rodders, each year organising two of the UK's largest hot rod show weekends plus two major auto parts swap meets, and in conjunction with Shakespeare County Raceway and Santa Pod Raceway is involved with three nostalgia drag racing events. For the NSRA's fortieth anniversary in 2012, NSRA Street Gasser magazine editor Nick Brooke-Langham set about the massive task of recording the history of the NSRA in book form. The resulting 360-page publication Keeping the Dream Alive was issued to all NSRA members free of charge to recognise the anniversary year. Jason Hollamby of the NSRA said "We have recently been working with the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame linked to our involvement in the Dragstalgia meet at Santa Pod. We really admire what they are doing and the way they go about it. The NSRA Hall of Fame was established in 2012 as part of the NSRA's fortieth anniversary with the aim to recognize significant contributions or achievements from people or vehicles within the hobby, so there is much synergy between our two organisations both of which are truly national bodies. We are keen to develop this obvious common ground and our sponsorship of this special event is hopefully just the start of a long-term relationship." BDRHoF Chairman Stu Bradbury said "One of the most costly and important requirements for a successful awards event is installing the right audio-visual support. Julian Parsons, whom most of you will know from Nitro FM at Santa Pod, and AMP Audio Solutions will be providing this support for the Gala Dinner. The not-insubstantial costs are being sponsored by the NSRA this year and we offer our sincere thanks. "Working with the NSRA to develop Dragstalgia has been a pleasure. Drag racing is the traditional hot rodder's sport and hot rodding is the very foundation of drag racing. Most drag racing pioneers are hot rodders at heart – including me." Web site updates. 2nd October: Trakbak Racing Ltd in association with Track Group Europe are pleased to announce that the full HD one-hour TV Show from the FIA/FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway is now available to view on-line at youtu.be/cPahp4mHFZY. The show features the climax of the 2014 European Drag Racing Championships in Top Fuel Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, Top Methanol Dragster, Pro Stock, Pro Modified, Top Fuel Bike, Supertwin, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike. We were informed by Santa Pod Raceway yesterday that Eurodragster.com will not be able to webcast either the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend or the Flame and Thunder Show. At time of writing our understanding is that SPR do not plan to webcast these events themselves. Please bear in mind that when covering events at Santa Pod we are guests and it is their track, their rules; we all owe SPR a debt of gratitude for allowing us to broadcast so many events up to now. Interview: Rex Sluggett. 1st October: For the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, Simon interviewed 1960s UK racer Rex Sluggett. Rex Sluggett grew up in Cornwall and at the age of nineteen built one of Britain's first dragsters, the Duke of Cornwall, which had a blown 331 ci Hemi engine. After a demonstration run at a self-organised event at RAF Winkleigh, Rex took the Duke of Cornwall to Santa Pod in 1966 and met Dennis Priddle. With the support of Rex's mother Lilian, Rex and Dennis built Tudor Rose, a Top Dragster modelled on Don Prudhomme's The Hawaiian powered by a Keith Black late-model Hemi engine. Tudor Rose ran in 1968 and in its twenty three trips down the track that year ran best numbers of 8.28/182.82. The team broke up in spring of 1969 before a successor car was completed and Rex decided to move to work in the US, where he lives today. In a fascinating and detailed interview Rex describes his racing and varied work career, his experiences with Keith Black, Bill Simpson and other legendary names, his travails to get his Green Card, and a lot more. You can check out our interview with Rex Sluggett by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Dave Riswick of Eurodragster.com sponsor John Woolfe Racing for helping to arrange the interview and for supplying prints of archive photographs. Sywell does the drags. 1st October: We are indebted to Stephen Billings who kindly sent us a report of the eighth-mile drag racing demonstration at the weekend's Sywell Classic at Sywell Aerodrome: The dragster demos were run on part of the taxiway, over an eighth of a mile using a portable set of lights supplied by Santa Pod Raceway. Various cars were there including most of the Taz team as well as cars from Outlaw Anglia, Super Pro ET, the Gasser Circus and some Hot Rods from UK Street Machines. Although just demos there were people at the end of the eighth with flags to indicate the winner. The first to run were Taz 10 driven by Colin Hutson, and Taz 6 driven by Brian Nixon.  Both making lots of smoke in the burnouts, with nice straight runs, the win going to Brian. Next was Taz 11 driven by Darren Scannell, and Roy Don, in SP 1778.   Both producing lots of smoke, and good runs, with the win going to Darren. After a solo run by Kevin Preston in the Topolino bodied Valkyrie from the Wild Bunch, racing continued. Next up were two of the Taz Fiat 12s, Taz 5 and Taz 3, driven by Adam and Lucy Skinner respectively. Both cars doing almost no burnout, or pulling a wheelie. Although Adam's car popped and banged its way down the track, he still managed the win. Taz 14 driven by Dave Arnold and Taz 1 driven by Chris Skinner were up next.  Fair amounts of smoke in the burnouts, with a snaky launch from Chris, who went on to win. Dennis Reynolds Corvette was up against Mick Ette's SP 56 Chevy. No smoke from either, with the smallest of burnouts yet, the win going to Dennis. Then a five-window Hot Rod whose driver's name I didn't get was up against the Gasser Desert Rat driven by Colin Nutt. This race produced the moment, and save, of the day.  Just after starting the hot rod turned sharp left, giving those watching from behind the start a full left side view.  It then passed behind the Gasser, going onto the grass at the side of the taxiway before being turned round and coming back onto the track. I found out later that it had just missed the Gasser, by a small distance.   Then the two Outlaw Anglias OA 70 driven by Mark Braicking, and OA 99 Phil 'Ginner' Middleton came to the line.  Good burnouts with lots of smoke, from both cars.  Ginner had a snaky run, but took the win. The 'Mopar Brothers' of Donny Scott's Superbird and SP 1778 Kwik Magic, driven by Roy Don were next, both producing huge amounts of smoke in the burnouts, with the win going to the Superbird, by a quite small amount as I found out later. Jeff Thurston in his Mustang, Taz 12, had travelled from Romford in Essex only to be the bad luck story of the event. Not only had his camper developed problems but his race car's water pump broke, so he only made one pass in the afternoon. Super Pro ET Party set. 1st October: Thanks to Pete Walters of Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters Race Design for the eagerly-anticipated date of the second annual Super Pro ET Party: The party takes place on Saturday 14th March 2015 at the Oliver Cromwell Hotel, High Street, March, Cambridgeshire PE15 9LH - the same venue as last year. Tickets are £20 per head and include an amazing hog roast buffet courtesy of Rod and Kim Harrison, a disco, our special awards as per last year, and a cash raffle with winner and runner-up prizes. We have reserved the whole hotel; rooms are available to reserve from at £70 per room, call 01354 602890 and quote Super Pro ET Group. The following hotels are also close by: Ye Old Griffen 01354 652517, Causeway Hotel 01354 650823, King William 01354 653378, Classics 01354 680363, and RV and Caravan parking is also available at the Harrisons' place. Please let Richard Walters knowas soon as possible on [email protected] how many tickets you require, or call 07729 266191 or 01278 663804. Cheques should be made payable to Super Pro ET Group and the address is Richard Walters, The Old Dairy, Hulkshay Lane, North Petherton, Somerset, TA6 6NZ. Bank transfer details are: Super Pro ET Group, Sort Code 20 85 26, Account 73900320. Swift snippets. 1st October: 13:00 After much hard work and intensive negotiation the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame have managed to secure a few extra seats at table for their Gala Dinner at the Savill Court Hotel in Windsor on Saturday 22nd November. These spaces are likely to go quickly so get in touch with BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury as soon as you can at [email protected]. A hotel room is also on offer in the Windsor Central Travelodge for that evening; £45 and an E-Mail to [email protected] and the room is yours. The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "The world's smallest three-plate clutch, fully base and CF adjustable". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Matthew's perfect race. 1st October: UK Junior Dragster racer Matthew Dowdy had a perfect weekend at the UK National Finals, both literally and figuratively. Dad Michael writes: Aged nine and in his second ever National event - the first was the rained-off SPRC Summernationals - Matthew he went to the final round to face 2014 Champion Joe Kellett. Matthew had worked his way through four rounds of competition with what can only be described as a cautious series of reaction times and benefitted from his opponent breaking out each time. Things took a more dream-like quality when in the semi final against Scott Gibbons he managed to run a Perfect ET with a 13.6001 on a 13.60 dial in. Thanks to Eurodragster.com and Gold RV for the addition to the racing fund! In the final Joe was too cute to hand Matthew another breakout win and he sealed the event win in style. We wish Joe the best of luck in Super Pro ET next year. Matthew got to share the podium with Joe at the prizegiving after the racing had finished and picked up a trophy for his efforts. He would like to thank all the other racers and mums and dads for the advice and encouragement on the day. In particular we would like to thank Chris Barnes, Fenny, the Seamarks and Ian Marshall. For example, when the chain broke on Matthew's last qualifying run on Saturday, Ian went off to the pits and when we next saw the car it was all fixed, courtesy of a link from Joe Kellett! Looking to next year the plan is currently to contest all the Santa Pod races in the SPRC car and to continue the rise of the Junior Stocks along with Dylan Thomas Bradley and Scott Gibbons, both of whom made their débuts in June with Matthew. Dylan even got his licence on the same day as Matthew! However Matthew is ten next year so, in the words of the other parents, it could get expensive... PMR's ideal season closer. 1st October: Paul Marston Racing had a real tough week leading up to the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, but winning Super Comp made all the hard work worthwhile. Paul Marston writes: Installing a motor and reinstating all the systems on our new Miller four-link dragster was quite an achievement and the credit has to go to Gary Springford at Drag Race Engineering for all the small parts and pieces which Gary had to fabricate, any one of which could have stopped us in our tracks. I finished off with a full systems check and final assembly after a scare with a faulty oil filter before loading up and shipping out for Santa Pod early on the Friday morning. I managed to get just two hits in a checkout and a full pass on the Friday test session prior to Amanda Cox's unfortunate incident. Come Saturday the three qualifying sessions turned into the two which I expected, justifying our decision to double-class the dragster to get four passes -two in Super Pro ET and two in Super Comp. This meant that the PT Bruiser did not make its scheduled appearance in Super Pro ET; apologies to all who were expecting to see it including Helen at Zeon TV. I qualified fourth in Super Pro ET on the dragster's third full pass, but Martin Curbishley never ran the right size of the Super Comp index. But with .00 lights Martin was ready. Come Sunday I made the second round and went gloriously red whilst Martin won the event. I must congratulate Martin Curbishley and the PMR Crew on a job well done. Martin was on the Tree from the get-go and the rest is history, a great win with a simply outstanding race car. Not only is it wicked quick, it is also deadly accurate. I have a lot of history with this dragster and to win first time out with it is about as good as it gets. It's a real team effort, the Paul Marston Racing crew really made the difference along with a little luck. To win against such quality opposition you have to do your job and be there to be counted and reckoned with, our dragster made its presence felt and once again was a winner. With just the usual winter maintenance to be carried out, the PMR dragster can hit the ground running in 2015 at Easter. At this time the seat of the dragster is available for tuition for the 2015 season, it is ready to win National events and could potentially be a serious National Championship contender in either Super Pro ET or Super Comp. If you are interested in Drag Race School tuition or our dragster race rental programme then please contact us via E-Mail [email protected] or call me on 07831 650230. Many thanks to Rene and Andrea Kloss, who won Hockenheim with the dragster, for selling us this great car; Tony Morris, the American representative of PMR, for all the help and advice; Gary Springford DRE (0208 597 9484) for pulling all the stops out; Mick 'Chopper' Howling – No. 9 for the Racers; Sefton Whitlock; Lisa Farmer; Keith Bick; Mick Pusey; Crewchief and Kingsize for all their expertise and bloody hard work; Eurodragster.com for all your excellent coverage (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed); Santa Pod track crew for such a great job so well done; Santa Pod management and all others involved in the football match which we won; and last but not least all our business partners, sponsors, supporters and fans. Without you we would not be here. King crowned an eighth time. 1st October: The Gulf Oil Dragracing – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team continued their amazing win record in the FIM European Championship when rider Ian King clinched his eighth European Championship, and the team's third in succession, at his home track of Santa Pod Raceway. The team travelled to the last round in the prestigious Championship with the knowledge that although it was mathematically possible for their great rivals and good friends Rikard Gustafsson of Sweden and Filippos Papafilippou of Greece to push them into third position that it would take a truly superhuman effort and an unnatural set of circumstances for them to lose their Championship lead. The European Finals weekend started brightly with great weather, a huge crowd with the stands and banking packed. The team got off to a great start with an off the trailer 6.1038 second run to put Ian a significant distance ahead of the rest of the field and in the number one qualifying position which remained intact into the second day of qualifying where he ran an even quicker 6.0619 to consolidate top spot into race day. Expectations were high amongst fans and supporters that the team would repeat their five-second performances on the well prepared track. However, the team suffered a number of uncharacteristic issues for the remainder of qualifying, and a drop in oil pressure in the first round match-up with eventual finalist Otto Knebl ended in a fiery blaze after the bike broke two conrods which exited through the engine block resulting in an oil and fuel fed blaze and a series of nasty electric shocks through the handlebars as the fire burnt through the high energy ignition system. Notwithstanding the premature end to the race for the team their number one qualifying position had earnt them an unassailable Championship points lead and the disappointment of the first round loss was quickly forgotten as the team celebrated their continued Championship success. At the Gala Presentation team rider Ian King said "I am honoured to have had the privilege of riding the awesome Gulf Oil Dragracing machine once again this year. This has been a year of superlatives, winning the first event of the year in the US Championship, leading both the US and European Championships at the same time, running our quickest ever time of 5.8 seconds, t aking the final position in the prestigious MTC Top Fuel Five Second Club and now to win our eighth European Championship title is testament to our fantastic race team of Michael Beaumont, Marius van der Zijden, Martin Brookman, Nick Pepper and Debbie King, and the direct support of Gulf Oil International and Grand Prix Originals. Despite the set up problems we suffered this weekend the machine has been unbelievably reliable, the quality of the world leading parts supplied by our fantastic team of product support and the help of our service supporters has been immense. A special mention must go to John and Dea Morgan, our primary US race partners along with Mike and Sandy Marsh who made our US trip such a success and Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes who are not only great photojournalists but also good friends and invaluable sponsors. "Finally I must thank my wonderful family of Debbie, Georgina and Alexandra who have sacrificed so much to support my race endeavours through thick and thin, my awesome friends and fans across the world who provide so much help and positive energy and my fellow racers who make this Championship the greatest in the World – I thank you all so much!" You can see the team run low qualifier and quickest time of the event on the video of qualifying coverage at around 3h 52m by clicking here, and you can see the team suffer their first round woes on this video at around 3h 12m by clicking here. For more information about Gulf Oil Drag Racing visit www.gulfoildragracing.com. The Gulf Oil – GPO Dragracing team uses and endorses exclusively Gulf Oil greases and lubricants in their history making machine. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in winning the 2014 European Championship: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Action Cameras - Europe's leading source for action sports cameras Blackcat Motorsports - The leading V Rod Harley race team Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Graphite Additive Manufacturing - A leader in 3D printed technologies and rapid prototyping Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hotrod Hangar– Home of the world renowned custom artist Knud Tiroch Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons John and Dea Morgan Racing - The creators of the world's most advanced New Age Funny Bike Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Supertough - Custom cases and covers for the Film, TV, Music and Motorsports Industries Spies Hecker - The world's leading supplier of paint for car, commercial and industrial finishing Van Es mobility - The leading manufacturer of telematic products for management of moving objects Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Web Camshafts Inc - Simply the company for Top Fuel Bike camshafts Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts Earlier news