No better first recipient. 30th November: A new award presented at last week's British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Awards Celebration Gala Dinner held in Windsor Great Park. In a very emotional ceremony, the Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award was presented to American drag racing legend Don Garlits by Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia along with Les Downey, Managing Director and Director of European Operations of Lucas Oil Products. Messages from American drag racer Bob Keith, Ambassador Barzun at the Embassy of the United States of America in Grosvenor Square, London and legendary British drag racer Clive Skilton (now resident in California) all showed just how much Don is loved and respected. The crystal trophy will not be presented every year. A unique aspect is the inscription In memory of Pat Garlits on the base which will be engraved each time the award is presented in future years. It is a tribute to Don's wife Pat who passed away earlier this year, and marks the role played by all family members associated with drag racing. Without their support it could not happen. As far as Global Achievement is concerned there can be no person in drag racing who can be a more apt first recipient of this award than Don Garlits. Born in Florida, he started racing in 1950, building the first of thirty seven Swamp Rat dragsters in 1955. He became the first racer over 170 mph in 1957 and over 180mph in 1958. By 1964, he had put down the first backed-up 200 mph speed. In victories his success can be measured in 144 National Event wins and seventeen Championships. However, it is the constant innovation he has brought to drag racing all over the world that is the prime reason for his legendary status. His expertise is world renowned. His cars are always immaculate and his communication skills have helped spread the word about drag racing far and wide. His museum has corralled and protected our history. This award is the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame's way of congratulating and thanking him for his dedication to drag racing for over sixty years. Don's influence on British drag racing has been substantial. In September and October of 1964 the First British International Drag Festival took place organised by Sydney Allard and the NHRA's Wally Parks. Don match-raced Tommy Ivo and won The People Challenge Trophy for the best aggregate performance by any car, running a string of low eights at over 190 mph in front of huge crowds at Blackbushe and RAF airfields across the UK. In 1976 he visited Santa Pod for its tenth anniversary, driving Swamp Rat 21, and inspired Peter Crane to run the first five second pass outside North America. He returned the following year and won at the July Internationals before returning his car to the USA for eventual display at his Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida which opened in 1984, inspired by a visit which Don made to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in 1976. After his visits to Santa Pod, Don's fellow American racers could more readily be enticed to race in the UK, furthering the boom in the sport in Britain during the late 1970s. 2014 has been a year of very mixed emotions for Don. He lost Pat, his wife of over sixty years and a constant companion at the track during his racing career. But he has succeeded in running over 180 mph in his electric powered dragster Swamp Rat 37. Developed with his grandson Rodney this is another Garlits benchmark project. Swift snippets. 30th November: We were very sorry indeed to hear of the death of legendary Pro Comp racer and then even more legendary Fuel tuner Dale Armstrong. It is fair to say that without Dale's innovations, which included the slider clutch, dual fuel pumps and the Racepak, Fuel and other classes all around the planet would be nowhere near as quick, fast and reliable as they are now. You can read a tribute on Drag Race Central by clicking here. Our sympathies to Dale's family and friends. This season's SPRC Perpetual Awards vote commences tomorrow (Monday) with Most Promising Newcomer. Voting will be open to all Eurodragster.com readers in any country. As ever a dim view will be taken of attempts to rig any of the SPRC Perpetual Award votes so nominees and voters alike should be sure to pay careful attention what is and is not acceptable: for example, "I have been nominated" is allowed but "Go and vote for me" is not. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing once nominations are posted then please drop us a line at [email protected]. No news update yesterday so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend and Official Hug Provider to Eurodragster.com Alison Bohannon. Hope you had a lovely day Ali. Doing Paula proud. 28th November: Ian and Holley Marshall have been in touch to thank those who contributed at the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, which was held in aid of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research in Paula Marshall's name: This charity is very close to the hearts of many competitors and staff of both Santa Pod Raceway and Santa Pod Racers Club. I understand that this was not for me or about me but I would like to thank all of the people who gave their time, their money and massive effort in such a short space of time for this great charity. Darren Prentice, Sam Innes and Craig Wright for organising all of the football activities, from sorting out the pitch to player strips, seating, all of the teams and much more in the background, Raunds Town FC for the goals and equipment, Ringstead Rangers FC for the football kits, Colin Theobald for his commentary of the games, all of the players who got involved on a very wet evening, all of the Cheerleaders who came along and did an amazing job, and to all of the support people who organised half time drinks and orange pieces. Whilst the football was going on ladies and gents were having large portions of body hair removed, again in order to raise money for the charity which is going above and beyond. Thanks also have to go to Donna Finnegan, Caroline Holden and all of the SPR staff for organising collection buckets, staff to help with the collections, banners and posters and a huge amount of behind the scenes work. To all of the commentators who were mentioning the charity all weekend, to Tog and all of the Eurodragster.com team for their efforts in helping to collect money and helping out with the charity, to Santa Pod Raceway and SPRC for adding to the total raised, and not forgetting all of the racers, spectators, staff and everyone who gave generously. So, finally, what did all of the hard work from so many people amount to? Well, after the money was all collected you had raised an amazing £3400 to go towards helping Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. From Holley and I a huge thank you to everyone who gave their time, their support and their hard-earned money. Thank You. Gala Dinner/Afternoon Tea galleries. 27th November: Many thanks to Andy Willsheer and Keith Furness for letting us know that the official photographs from last Saturday's British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Dinner and Sunday's Afternoon Tea with Don Garlits are now available for viewing and ordering. The pictures from both events can be viewed on Flickr by visiting www.flickr.com and searching BDRHOF. The Flickr site shows the pictures in random order but at large sizes, up to full screen if required. If you wish to order prints then make a note of the picture number, which is displayed if you mouse-over any picture in the above Flickr album, and then visit www.photoboxgallery.com/keithfurness/BDRHoF. Pictures are displayed in chronological (and thus numeric) order in this gallery but are displayed at a fixed size. Swift snippets. 27th November: We would like to wish all of our many readers in the United States of America a very Happy Thanksgiving. Eat plenty of turkey and have a great day. FIA announce Nataas sanction. 26th November: The FIA this afternoon announced the result of their hearing after 2014 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Thomas Nataas failed an anti-doping test at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September. Thomas' points for the Finals have been docked and his licence suspended for two years, although he has twenty one days to appeal the decision. "I took a dietary supplement designed for over-40s", Thomas told Eurodragster.com last week. "You can get it anywhere. It turned out to contain a banned substance. I co-operated fully at the time of the test, I told them everything, and at again at my hearing. The FIA guys at the hearing acknowledged that the banned list is like a phone book. But they said that in the end it was my responsibility and I accept that. I have it in writing that they have taken away my points for the event. But I still have enough points to be Champion." Thomas told us that he may return to racing when his suspension expires, but he asked us to stress that this situation was not the reason for the recent retirement accouncements either from Andersen Racing or from himself. We have also spoken to race officials and will post any statement we receive. Hockenheim invites Outlaws. 25th November: NitrOlympX Race Director Jerry Lackey says that Supercharged Outlaws from all European countries are welcome to this year's event at Hockenheim on 7th-9th August and to that end he is inviting expressions of interest: I am hoping to get a Supercharged Outlaws class on the NitrOlympX schedule. I would hope to get Supercharged Outlaw cars from England, Germany, Holland and Switzerland, and Scandinavian cars will also be welcome. I need feedback from as many interested Supercharged racers as possible in order to build a definite plan. If you are interested then please drop me an E-Mail at [email protected]. Thanks for a successful Gala. 25th November: British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury says that there are many people who need a big pat on the back for the success of the weekend's inaugural Gala Dinner: Geoff Stilwell of Beech Underwriting for his generous backing and enthusiasm without which we would never been able to put this together. My ol' mate Brian Taylor for his attention to detail, his organisational abilities, and so much more I could mention. The same goes for Robin Jackson, again attention to detail and all the things I missed but Robin didn't. He had total commitment to every task he was asked to do, or find information about, and then followed the job through to the end (as he is at the moment being chauffer and tour guide to the Garlits family as I type). To Power Race Graphics for all their hard work with design and production of all our printed matter, back drop displays etc. Amp Audio Solutions (Nitro FM) for lighting and sound sponsored by a generous contribution from the NSRA. Mr MC, Chief Barker Paul Wright who did an outstanding job keeping us all in order, Phil Cottingham for his invaluable help looking after the press interviews and Phil and Angela Cottingham for help with the book signing. Thanks to Simon Groves, Keith Lee, Ian Messenger and Brian Taylor for the inductee profiles, to Kaz Aston who did a lot of work on the Gala throughout the last year, and to my daughter Genna and "second" daughter Laura for escorting our inductees to and from the stage. All our other sponsors of the night, Lucas Oil, Flint Insurance, Real Steel, Custom Car, Alamo, Santa Pod Raceway, Allard Motor Company, Eurodragster.com, APIRA, Shakespeare County Raceway, York Raceway, Pennine Drag Racing Club, and Nitro Goddess Julie Braskett, but mainly our long-term sponsors without whom we would never have reached this point. Santa Pod Racers Club and my old company US Automotive. Not to forget the lady behind me, my wife Bev. Without her putting me right, when I'm so obviously wrong, but too stubborn to admit it, things would certainly not have gone off as well as they did. Also, thanks to everyone who gave us encouragement to carry on when things didn't go quite the way we wanted. So you see, it's a combined effort from drag racing in general. Let's hope that positive things come out of this which will benefit all involved in this sometimes crazy sport of ours. That was the aim, only time will tell if we have achieved what we set out to do. Lastly, congratulations to all our inductees. I hope you all had a memorable evening being inducted along with the most famous icon of sport, Big Daddy Don Garlits. We are already planning the 2015 gala with, we hope, an equally well-known guest of honour. Ticket announcement as soon as we have confirmations in our inbox. Stay tuned! I hope I haven't forgotten anyone. If I have, then please forgive me. I'm away for the rest of the week escorting the first family of drag racing around the various places and dinners we have arranged for them, so I'm unable answer all E-Mails until the weekend. But I will get back to everyone in time. Wild Bunch honour Champions. 24th November: The UK's Wild Bunch held their nineteenth annual Prize Presentation on Saturday at Drayton Manor Park, and a great evening was had by all. Race co-ordinator Claire Meaddows writes: The various Series winners were presented with their awards, with the 2014 Wild Bunch Series win going to Adam Price of Team Gridlock with the Go Hard or Go Home!!! altered, for the fourth year in a row! A great achievement! Many congratulations to the whole team on their success. The Real Steel Performance Parts Series trophies were also presented, and the winner this year was Bob Hawkins in the Time Traveller II slingshot, his first ever Series win. Adam Price also won this year's Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series, presented by the man himself. Keith Crampton in his Soul Town Shaker slingshot won both the Springbridge MSA Challenge Series, held over the five MSA events in which the Wild Bunch compete, and the APIRA Series with the latter trophy to be awarded in March at their Prizegiving. There were various presentations during the evening thanking Wild Bunch Chairman Chris Hartnell, Race Co-ordinator and Treasurer Claire Meaddows, web site author Ed Yates, newsletter editor Josh Coulsell and Secretary Lynne Coulsell for all their hard work. Presents were given to all the lovely ladies of the Wild Bunch who do so much to support their teams, and flowers were given to Claire, kindly donated by Mark Coulsell of Team Limited Funz. In addition, the winners of all the Wild Bunch Special Merit awards were announced: Big Bang Trophy: Dave 'Sag' Southworth, WB 72 Daddy Cool Quickest ET: Bob Hawkins, WB91 Time Traveller, 7.235 seconds Highest speed: Bob Hawkins, WB91 Time Traveller, 192.08 mph Quickest ET by a British-engined dragster (Martin Holgate trophy): Sag Southworth, WB 72 Daddy Cool, 9.143 seconds Best Newcomer: Steven East, WB 101 Ellie's in Trouble Now Best Radical / Dragster: Phil James, WB 45 Rampage Best Altered: Alan Loten, WB 69 Paranoia Best Slingshot: Keith Crampton, WB 3 Soul Town Shaker Best Turned Out: Team Tiki Munki, WB 4 Tiki Munki Best Achiever: Bob Hawkins, WB 91 Time Traveller II Perseverance Award: Steve and Lesley Field, WB 76 Black Pig Too Personal Achievement (Daddy Cool Sag trophy): Dan Sharp and Scott Chilcott, WB 111 Little Big Horn Derek and Brenda Annable trophy: Cath and Tig Napier C & C Sportsperson: Bob Hawkins, WB 91 Time Traveller II The greatest accolade of the evening was, as always, the Don Garlits Spirit of Drag Racing shield, the most prestigious award in the Wild Bunch, which represents sportsmanship, achievement, commitment, presentation and a host of other attributes. This was awarded to Keith Crampton and the Soul Town Shaker slingshot team who achieved increased success this year whilst putting on a great nostalgic show, helping others and demonstrating great commitment to the Wild Bunch and drag racing in general. Big congratulations to Keith and the whole team, a very well-deserved and popular win. There was also a special announcement on the night, that Keith and team will be officially re-presented with the award by none other than Big Daddy himself at a small presentation arranged by the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, to whom we owe huge thanks for this very special honour! Wow!  Many congratulations to all our winners! We can't wait until 2015 to be back out at the drags for the twentieth year of the Wild Bunch. Full information can be found on the Wild Bunch web site at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy, dry, safe and quick New Year to all racers and teams, marshals and officials, track and safety crews, photographers, media, promoters, managers and of course the Eurodragster.com staff (Thanks - Ed), who work so hard at Santa Pod, Shakespeare County and York Raceways for this sport of drag racing we all love so much. Thanks everyone for everything you do! See you all at the drags next season. Thirty minutes with Big Daddy. 23rd November: Your News Editor was privileged to spend half an hour yesterday chatting with Big Daddy Don Garlits before his induction into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and presentation of the Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award. Big Daddy was as ever on good form and was very pleased to answer our questions including some submitted by Eurodragster.com readers. Eurodragster.com: What was the origin of "Swamp Rat"? Don Garlits: That came from Setto Postoian in an advertisement in Drag News. It was a half-page insult. He said "No wonder they call you the Swamp Rat. You're in it for the money" and "You put a green kid in your car" implying that I was putting his life in danger, and other stuff. I was infuriated. One of the guys who worked with me drew a picture of a mouse with a flag and later we had stuffed toys made. I sent Setto a box of them! Then the car became Swamp Rat. Eurodragster.com: What about "Big Daddy"? Don Garlits: I had been working for Chrysler since 1961. They came out with a wedge engine which we used, we did away with the Hemi. At the time the NHRA nitro ban was in force and everyone was using gas, although there were AHRA, ITA and other organisations who allowed nitro. My boss at Chrysler wanted me to run at the US Nationals using the 413 max wedge motor. So I went there with the wife and kids and I wasn't doing too well with it on gas. People were saying "Daddy Garlits is here with his kids", and even my kids were making fun of me. So then the Track Announcer started to call me "Daddy Garlits". Connie Kalitta was having a problem with his motor and asked me to drive his car so that he could listen to it and I ran 180.36 for a new speed record. The Track Announcer said "I guess we'll have to call him Big Daddy now". Chrysler suggested that I register it. Eurodragster.com: When you signed for Shirley Muldowney's licence did you think that women would be so successful in drag racing? Don Garlits: No, I didn't. But Shirley deserved it. Connie Kalitta and Tommy Ivo signed her licence too. We weren't too keen on women driving those slingshots because they were dangerous, I wouldn't have wanted my daughters getting in one. But Shirley had the killer instinct and in my opinion she is the best woman racer on the planet, including circuit racing. If you look at her record, four Championships, that big crash, she won a Championship after being told she wouldn't walk again. It's a tough sport, if you look at the number of people who make it big as a percentage of all the people who race it's not a big number. Drag racing doesn't care about gender or race, I had black guys working on my crew before segregation. The sport is gender blind and colour blind and I always loved that. Oh yeah, the NHRA rule change that the car should be weighed with the driver in it, that was down to Shirley because it took the guys a while to catch on that she had a seventy- or eighty-pound weight advantage over them but then they realised and they got the rule changed. Eurodragster.com: What did you think about the introduction of 1000-foot Fuel racing? Don Garlits: I was all for it, as it was not meant to be permanent. They changed it, then they were going to change the rules to slow the cars down and change it back to a quarter mile. They made lots of rules but they are under pressure from some of the tuners. But the fans didn't like it and I was disappointed when they didn't change it back. You know why it was - if they reduced horsepower and went back to the quarter mile it would help the budget guys. Eurodragster.com: You are currently developing an electric dragster but do you think that there are any big innovations yet to come with the conventional Top Fuel set-up? Don Garlits: Not now. The rules are too strict. They're trying to slow them down. And the faster you go, the more difficult for the driver to survive even in that pod. The electric dragster is good for noise abatement and it's easy to limit them. You can get them 5.9 or 6.0 seconds at 250. Three seconds is not long enough for entertainment. Fans want to see side-by-side racing and we forget it's the fans who pay the bills. I don't think they should allow work on motors after the start of an event. In Nascar if a driver's engine blows then they don't stop the race for seventy five minutes so that they can put in another motor. I think the oildown rule should apply in any run whether in qualifying or racing or in the Countdown. I asked Graham Light why fourteen quarts of oil on the track is less dangerous than touching the outer line or the barrier. But the big guys call the shots. I'd never spray another track. Sure, I'd clean up oil but that would be all. But I would definitely disqualify anyone who oils down. Some of them will do whatever it takes even if they put a rod out because they have another engine. I'd take the diapers off to keep them honest, I'd want to see the pan because otherwise the big guys would just get a twenty five thousand dollar super diaper and never put oil on the track. When I came back I had four motors and four spare sets of heads and I still have all of them. But I only qualified once, and that speaks volumes. Eurodragster.com: You have done and won just about everything but do you have any regrets? Don Garlits: Indy 1971, Carbone v Garlits. He was in a slingshot and I was in the rear-engine dragster. He told me "If I never stage, I won't stage first". So Garlits goes to the line with a cold engine, we had the longest burndown ever. He won with a 6.6 and I had a 6.2 car. If I did it again I would go straight in. You should never play into a competitor's hands. It's traumatic when you know you should have won. Eurodragster.com: Do you covet any particular car which is not in your museum? Don Garlits: I would love to have had Tommy Ivo's four-engined dragster. I liked it as the dragster, not the station wagon. He had the parts to repair it. But a rich guy offered him a quarter of a million dollars and Ivo sold it to him. I have the twin-engined car which held the record I broke, I found that rusting in a field. I restored it and Ivo finished it. But I have most of the cars I want. Eurodragster.com: We hear that another Garlits is licencing? Don Garlits: That's right, my grandson Rodney is going to licence in a Top Alcohol Dragster. A local guy has cars and is looking for a driver. As soon as we get back we'll take him to Brandenton for licencing. Eurodragster.com: We understand you have been talking to Lord March about a Festival of Speed appearance. Don Garlits: It's a big deal. I don't know about the logistics. But we're thinking about it! Swift snippets. 23rd November: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Still the gatekeeper?". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Web site updates. 23rd November: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from the 12th October Public Track Day at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Swift snippets. 22nd November: Good luck and stay safe to our good buddies Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts and John Hackney who are contesting Bracket 1 and Street Muscle at this weekend's Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas. Lee and John are kindly carrying Ed O'Connell memorial decals as is Pro Mod Challenge racer John Stanley. You will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress under Drag News at www.dragracecentral.com. Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club has asked that last season's SPRC Perpetual Award winners return their trophies as soon as convenient. To arrange return please get in touch with Ian at [email protected] or call 01933 313625. The vote for this season's SPRC Perpetual Awards will commence on Monday week (1st December) with Most Promising Newcomer. Carla Pittau, Rick McCann and the UK's Heaven & Hell Pro ET team asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Saturday) to 2014 UK National Super Street Champion Karen Stevens. "Happy Birthday to a real star", says Carla. "After watching Karen's performance in her rookie year, and hearing that she may move to Pro ET, we had no choice but emigrate!". Have a lovely day Karen. Big Daddy dines at his Club. 21st November: The Royal Automobile Club's Pall Mall clubhouse today hosted 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits and his tour party for a special lunch. The picture depicts (from left to right) tour organiser and British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame Press and Public Relations officer Robin Jackson, Rodney Garlits, Don Garlits, Sarah Garlits, Marjorie Johnson and Donna Garlits. The party were thrilled to be dining in such an auspicious setting. They were joined by FIA Drag Racing Comission member and Hall of Fame member Phil Evans, Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett, Santa Pod's Commercial Manager Caroline Holden and members of the RAC Club including Alan Tiley who, as a teenager, worked with Sydney Allard. The Garlits family are on a week-long visit to the UK for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Dinner, taking place tomorrow evening at Savill Court Hotel, Windsor, and also visits to Santa Pod, Beaulieu and other sites of interest. Located in Ocala, Florida, the family are all involved in managing the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing. Don remarked on his current electric dragster project and how he hopes it will influence both racing and motoring generally in the future. A further series of tests is planned on his return to the USA and he hopes he will break the 200 mph barrier for an electric powered dragster. SCR announce events sponsor. 21st November: Shakespeare County Raceway are pleased to announce that Hillingdon Speed & Spares will be event sponsors for next year's APIRA Springspeed Nationals on 2nd-4th May and Open Sport Nationals on 29th-31st August. Owned by UK National Pro ET Championship racer Steve Hudson, Hillingdon Speed & Spares have been specialising in performance, American and mainstream vehicle parts since the company was founded in 2002. They offer fully-equipped workshop facilities, MOT bays and a fully stocked parts ordering counter dispensing everything from car polishes, accessories, tools, racing oils and chemicals from professional and well respected suppliers in the business, liaising with the biggest wholesalers in the South East gaining easy access to a huge range of products to keep a car looking smart and attractive. You only have to look at Steve's '23 Model T altered to see how professionalism works alongside the business. In addition to the services provided, Hillingdon Speed & Spares are also able to offer a comprehensive mail order service on street and strip American parts offered by all the-top line US suppliers.    "I'm proud to be associated with SCR and I hope this will be the start of a long relationship", says Steve. "I have been racing at Shakey for the last seven seasons and won the APIRA Championship in 2012. It seemed the right time to support the tracks which support the sport we love." "It's great to have Hillingdon Speed & Spares on board with our two main national events next season", says SCR's Jerry Cookson. "Steve has been a longtime supporter of the Raceway with his Pro ET Model T. From racing to the commercial aspects of the motor industry in the UK, Hillingdon Speed & Spares has it all and I'm sure that we're both going to get great support throughout 2015." For further information contact Steve on 01895 237222 or drop him an E-Mail at [email protected]. At the same time check out the Hillingdon Speed & Spares Facebook page and their well-produced YouTube video. Polidano to attend FIA Gala. 20th November: Many thanks to Drag Racing Commission Vice President Lars Pettersson for letting us know that 2014 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Chris Polidano will receive his trophy at this year's FIA Prizegiving Gala: The FIA World Motorsport Council hold their next meeting in Doha, Qatar in the first week of December, during FIA Annual General Assembly Week in Doha. The FIA Prizegiving Gala takes place on Friday December 5th and the FIA European Drag Racing Championship has been assigned one slot for a Championship class to represent drag racing alongside FIA World Champions in Formula 1, Rally etc. We are pleased to announce that Chris Polidano will represent FIA European Drag Racing and Malta at this year's Prizegiving. You can take a look at the FIA's video about the Prizegiving Gala by clicking here. Pro ET and the tumbling dice. 20th November: UK Pro ET racer Carla Pittau writes that a brilliant time was had by all at last weekend's Pro ET End of Season Bash and Award Presentation, held at the Landsdown Hotel in Calne and beautifully organised by Mike Lacey and Karen Stevens: There was much imbibing and much merriment, and fun was had by all in the mock drag races which involved throwing bouncy foam dice after a mock burnout and a mock stage. Needless to say, 2014 Pro ET Champ Rick McCann got to the final where he faced fierce competitor Bob Molden. They postured and tried to psyche each other out and then in the general suspense they finally threw their dice. It was a draw. In previous rounds, to avoid lengthy re-runs the rules stated that a draw would mean a double disqualification, giving a bye to the racer on the opposite side of the ladder, but in the final of course this meant there wouldn't be a winner, and in the spirit of such a competitive class, it couldn't be allowed. It was therefore decided to make an exception for the final, but the two finalists had decided in the meantime they would just share the prize money (£50 or the cost of the room at the hotel). The crowd rightly booed as we just needed to know who the winner would have been, and to more booing and general dissatisfaction of course it was another draw, or so Mike tells me, as everyone's eyes were somewhat blurred by then. Back to more serious matters we then went on to the award presentation, again carefully orchestrated by Mike and Karen, with even a matching piece of music to go with each award and absolutely awesome trophies, all beautifully hand made by the very talented Elaine Southwold of Cool Engineering Art. Elaine makes a wide variety of true works of art for the home, office, or even outdoors, many of them designed to please the petrolhead in your life, so visit her web site for fantastic gift ideas. The trophies are all made with actual engine parts, carefully welded together and painted to form incredibly detailed figures. The biggest and best of the trophies was one with very special meaning to each of us, the Spirit of Pro ET award which was conceived to honour the memory of John Byrne, who was well known for his readiness to help anybody with a beaming smile and a bear hug. The 2014 trophy was made from parts from the Altered engine of Phil Toppin, a close friend for whom John used to crew. The 2014 winners of the awards were as follows: The John Byrne Memorial Spirit of Pro ET: Simon Gough (music: Ed Sheeran – Sing) Best Wheelie 2014: Mark Bailey (Chic – Le Freak) Rookie of the Year: James Forster (Grease – Greased Lightning) Hard Luck Award: Simon Innes (Calvin Harris – Blame) Crash of the Year: Nic Williams (Limp Bizkit – Break stuff) Best Appearing Car: Keith Williams (LMFAO – I'm sexy and I know it) Crew Chief of the Year: Dan Devlin (Happy) We would like to thank our sponsors for 2014: , Engine Data Analysis, Power Engineering, Webster Race Engineering (Power Pour), Topspeed Automotive, OCS Paint, NGK, Modurstang, Hillingdon Speed and Spares, Hauser Racing, G23 Engineering, BSI Transport, Race Insure, LA Racing (VP Racing Fuels), MPM Oil. Without their support none of this would be possible, and to Pro ET fans we ask you to support the companies who support your favourite sport! Swift snippets. 20th November: Shakespeare County Raceway are currently offering sponsorship packages for the 2015 season. From trackside signage, event sponsorship and wall advertising you can create your own business branding for any kind of business or company involvement. For further information call 07415 546955 or [email protected]. British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury asked us to say a big Happy 83rd Birthday for today (Thursday) to Hall of Fame member, Mr Santa Pod himself, John Bennett. It's our privilege, have a great day John. The ultimate Ask the Expert? 19th November: Your News Editor is booked in for a one-to-one chat with Big Daddy Don Garlits this Saturday and we are inviting Eurodragster.com readers to send questions. If there is something which you would like us to ask Big Daddy then please send an E-Mail with your question to [email protected]. Annus horribilis. 19th November: Steve Williams of the UK's Paranoia Wild Bunch team is reluctant to call his account of 2014 a season review, as Alan Loten's legendary Jag-powered altered managed less than half of the planned racing schedule before it was bought to an abrupt halt: Prior to this early end the season had been alright but had been what would be described as "character building" in polite circles. This followed on from last year when the car suddenly developed a gremlin which took a second off its performance and defied all attempts to evict it although we did eventually find that giving the engine more advance would claw back most, but not all, of the lost performance. This extra advance put the engine too close to detonation for comfort so we were keen to get to the bottom of the problem over the winter and get the engine back onto safer settings. We never had a eureka moment during the winter but found several small things that we put right and hoped that added together these were enough to have caused the problem. The car also had a couple of upgrades, one of which was a new deeper sump which contained baffling which we hoped would stop the oil pressure from going missing when Alan braked at the end of a run. Mind you, the sump was going to have to get used to travelling somewhat quicker than it was used to as its last fitment was on a tank! A couple of weeks before the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway we were down to the last job which was to take the head off to grind in a couple of exhaust valves which a leakdown test had shown to be leaking slightly, what we weren't expecting when the head was removed was to find two damaged pistons. One was burnt around its edge, possibly because of the extra ignition advance, and the other was missing a large piece of the top ring land such that you could see the full width of the top ring while looking down the bore. This was bad, but not a disaster as we had a spare set of pistons which came with the car but the valve cutouts were different to the set in the car meaning that not only had the engine to be stripped to change the pistons but then all the clearances would have to be checked. There wasn't enough time left to complete the job so, unfortunately, we were forced to miss the Easter meeting which was not a good start to the season. Everything was back together ready for our next meeting, the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, but on the first run, a planned checkout half pass, as Alan braked after the burnout the oil pressure started to disappear so he clicked it off. Back in the pits, we could find nothing wrong with the engine, and the oil pressure was fine on a test fire up, so we put a little more oil in and went down to try again. This time Alan decided to do a shorter burnout and coast to a stop instead of braking to see what happened to the oil pressure. This time all was well after the burnout which meant that, far from being better, our new sump was actually worse than the old one! As it was getting late, and we weren't qualified, we had decided that Alan wouldn't do the planned half pass but as long as everything felt OK he would power the whole way through. It obviously felt OK as Alan powered the whole way through and we were over the moon when the time came up as 9.39 seconds. This is only 0.03 off our best ever and, as all the settings were back to normal, proved that the gremlin had been evicted at last. There was just time for another qualifier but on this run there was a problem with the gearbox so Alan shut it down and coasted through. This turned out to be a happy accident as when we got back to the pits we found oil dripping out of the bottom of the clutch can and a quick check inside showed everything dripping in oil so that was the end of our weekend. Back in the garage the gearbox and clutch were removed for cleaning and the back of the engine inspected to locate the oil leak. The rear crank seal was OK and the oil was actually coming out of the seal on the sump, when the sump was removed it became clear that the seal had moved during assembly so was not doing its job. A new seal was fitted, held in place with a spot of glue during assembly so it couldn't move again, then the cleaned clutch and gearbox were refitted and we were ready to go again at the Yanks Weekend at Shakey. Our first qualifier was a 9.43 which we were quite pleased with especially when the clutch can was as dry as bone when checked for oil back in the pits. There wasn't time for another qualifier so it was straight into racing the following day and on the first run Alan was distracted by a marshal on the start line and didn't launch the car properly so it only ran a 9.60 but worse was to come on the second run when the NOS electric fuel pump refused to start. I tried the time-honoured cure, a hefty thump with my fist, but all this achieved was a skinned knuckle but Alan decided to run through anyway. The car doesn't launch properly without the NOS or run as quick but we are safe to run as there is a pressure switch in the NOS fuel line, through which the power to the gas solenoids is fed, so no pressure no gas. Unfortunately, the pump decided to do its thing at half track and the resultant kick up the backside when the NOS fired caused the car to pull a wheelie at this point which most people missed. The rain then arrived so that was that for another meeting. A new electric pump was sourced for the NOS fuel which was of a different type so we hoped this would prevent any more failures at the next meeting which was the Shakey Super Pull. We only had one qualifier due to rain delays but ran a 9.57 on a virgin track so the car was at least being more consistent than last year. There were only two runs on Sunday due to the rain coming back but we managed to run an average of 0.058 off our dial in and finished the Wild Bunch Competition in third place, our first ever top three finish so we were well pleased and felt we had at last turned the corner. We weren't aware at the time but this was to be the high point of the year with everything going downhill from then on. The following week, while Alan was at work and his wife was out, he had unwelcome visitors in the shape of thieves who broke in to the outbuildings, stole the quad bike, our petrol generator plus several other items while doing quite a bit of damage in the process. To add insult to injury, they then stole a small trailer to take their booty away in! None of the items were ever recovered but some months later the insurance did pay out to cover some of it, less the excesses of course. Luckily they didn't get into the car or touch its trailer so if we replaced the quad we could go racing at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakey. We did hear later from the police that, due to the wonders of modern forensic science, the thieves had been identified, arrested and are currently spending time at one of Her Majesty's establishments where we sincerely hope the fleas from a thousand camels will infest a very sensitive part of their anatomy and cause endless discomfort! E-Bay supplied another quad which was actually an upgrade on our old one but by the time this had been collected we didn't get to Shakey until the Sunday of the Nostalgia Nats so had to dial in blind. The first run was a 9.75, a bit off but Alan thought he had accidentally double shifted the box into fifth so that explained the poor run. On the next run Alan had more problems with double-shifting, this time earlier in the run, so the time was even worse. The gearbox in Paranoia is a five-speed Liberty shifted by air rams under the control of a small button next to the steering wheel, this button is quite sensitive and if the car is moving around it is very easy to shift when you don't mean to. Some foam rubber under the button stiffened its action a bit so we went back down for the last run, this was again disappointing at 10.65. When I collected Alan I expected him to say that he had problems with the shift again but he was surprised the run was so slow as he had not had any problems and felt it was a lot quicker than that. Back in the garage the last run was a worry as it was almost exactly the same as a gremlin run from the year before and we really did not want that back again especially as the next meeting was the following weekend. Engine checks eventually revealed that we had no compression at all on number five cylinder and a leakdown showed that the pressure was leaking into number four indicating that the head gasket had failed. It was a relief to find out that the gremlin hadn't returned but, although we had spare head gaskets, there wasn't much time to change it before the following weekend. We set to and with the head off found that the head gasket had indeed failed but that the O-ring in the top of the block was badly burned and we didn't have any spares so we had to miss the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod. This left us two weeks before our Meet of the Year, Dragstalgia at the Pod. The engine was back together ready with a new head gasket and O-rings on the Thursday before Dragstalgia and sounded awesome on a test fire. Back in the garage some compression readings were taken so we could monitor the engine but we were horrified to discover that we still only had 40 psi on number five cylinder. Either we had done something stupid on the reassembly or there was more damage than just a head gasket. The head was again removed and more careful checking revealed the bad news that the liner on number five cylinder had started to drop down the bore so there was no way the head gasket would seal and no way were we going to Dragstalgia, as the block would have to be re-lined. After the huge disappointment of missing Dragstalgia we had six weeks to our next meeting, the Open Sports Nationals at Shakey, and then another four weeks to our season end at the UK National Finals at Santa Pod so we were hopeful of at least getting back out for the last meeting if not the one before. There was more bad news during the stripdown when it was discovered that the spigot on the gearbox input shaft, which goes in the back of the crank to provide support, had snapped off. With the block away we started trying to get a replacement input shaft for the box and very quickly discovered that, as with all American drag race parts attached to a Jaguar engine, it was not a standard part but modified so was not available off the shelf. During our enquiries it was suggested that it might be possible to repair the shaft we had so we stripped the gearbox to remove the input shaft to see about a repair only to find a two-inch chunk of metal floating about in the bottom of the box. This turned out to be one of the legs on the fouth gear selector fork so we were going to need to source one of those as well. Time was running out to be able to get everything repaired before the Open Sport Nationals so we reset our sights on the UK National Finals. We managed to get the shaft repaired by having a longer spigot made that was pressed into an interference hole bored in the end of the shaft but then there was a problem with the block and also getting the correct spare from Liberty so time started to go against us. In the end the block wasn't ready for collection until the week before the UK National Finals and, although the input shaft was repaired, we still hadn't got the spare selector for the box so reluctantly we had to acknowledge that our season was over after only attending four of the nine planned events. This being the case we did what any self respecting drag race team would do, we went down the pub. No we didn't really, well not that night anyway, you have to take what positives you can from the season like this, and then draw a line under it, and start planning next year. There were some positives to be drawn from the year, of the eleven runs we managed, seven were within a couple of tenths of each other so the car did have a degree of consistency, the other fpur were slower because of problems of one sort or another. We managed our first ever Top Three placing in a Wild Bunch meeting and, even given the limited running, were only one place lower in the Wild Bunch Championship compared to last year. So if you wondered where the car disappeared to mid-season you now know the full gory story. We will be back out next year with, hopefully, a couple of upgrades which might help the old Jag to roar a little louder, and clinging to the belief that next year can't possibly be as bad as this year... can it? Swift snippets. 19th November: The answer to Wayne Colliver's question to brother Phil "What's in the box" turned out to be his birthday and Christmas present, a radio-controlled slingshot completely hand made from steel tubing with a motor on 30% nitro. "Phil made the heads and bugcatcher, and the engine breathes through all eight pipes" says Wayne. "It has a two-speed box and a working chute too! Phil also brought the FC on which he is working, his take on a modern Stardust Mustang. "I would like to say a big thank you to Phil and I'm sure he could be persuaded to build cars for other people. If anyone is interested then please contact me at [email protected]." PMR take the hits. 19th November: Paul Marston says that Paul Marston Racing have been surprised at the number hits recorded by their YouTube video of the axle failure which struck the Whoopass Super Pro ET Monza during Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman at VW Action: The axle breakage, which also featured on our friends Bangshift's web site, is unusual footage to be captured courtesy of Dave Gibbons Go-Pro but we never expected over a million hits in seven days. The most important thing is that the driver at the time, Martin Curbishley, was completely unhurt albeit a little shaken. With all the jobs and servicing work on the Insanity Vega now finished it has left the PMR workshops and been put into winter storage. Whoopass has now been collected from Santa Pod and is to be started on at the PMR workshops next week. Firstly we need to establish exactly what collateral damage was incurred and what needs replacing. All the parts which we know that need replacing are in stock, it'll only be an issue if anything else unusual crops up. There is of course some interior tinwork which is now decidedly secondhand, but thankfully not the brand new wheeltubs which Barry Mansbridge and I installed last winter. The plan is to have the Monza back in service before Christmas so that it can be put into winter storage ready for next year. Up to the axle failure Martin was leading the UK National Super Comp Championship points chase. I was third in Super Pro ET and won two out of three completed events in Quick 8 Heads Up at North Weald. So by most standards not a bad year indeed. Everyone at PMR is looking forward to 2015 and a brand new season. Interview: John Whitmore. 17th November: For the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products Simon interviewed the UK's John Whitmore, another of this year's inductees to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and another racer who got peak performance from British motors and parts. An electrical engineer by trade, John was inspired after a visit to Santa Pod to build a front-engined slingshot dragster powered by the four-cylinder BMC A series engine with a host of home made or modified parts, all British. After records and many event wins with the slingshot, in 1974 he built a rear-engined dragster powered by the same engine type and running times deep into the eights and ultimately carrying British Leyland sponsorship. In 1980 he débuted a new Daimler dragster in which he ran his first seven the following year. You can check out our interview with John by clicking here or by clicking on the Interviews, Features, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We would like to acknowledge the assistance of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury in arranging the interview. Joosten's Swedish export. 16th November: Robert Joosten's popular Pro Dutch Racing 1970 Camaro is on its way to the North. After five years in the Netherlands, the car which powered Robert into the fives has to make way for a new and even quicker car. "In drag racing where even one thousandth of a second is the difference between winning or losing, you have to improve to stay ahead of the competition", says Robert. "When the team put the still perfect and up-to-date 1970 Camaro up for sale, it didn't take long before the first interested buyers wanted to know more and on 14th November Robert handed the car to its new owner, Lars Järpler of Sweden. Lars is a Top Doorslammer racer and will use the Camaro in the same series next season. The Swedish team will use a 800+ cubic inch nitrous engine which will make the Camaro a front runner in Top Doorslammer." A few weeks ago Robert and crew member Michel took the plane to the States to look at a new car. "We know what we are looking for, but I can't say at the moment", says Robert. "I can only tell you the new car has never been used in competition and has made only six test runs so far. But in those runs the car was already faster than I have ever been with the Camaro. An American partner informed me about the car and we hope to conclude the deal as soon as possible now. We'll use the same engine as we did last year, so forget all the rumours about Top Methanol Funny Car or turbo motors." To get a good tuning baseline for the new car, Pro Dutch Racing would like to make the first test runs in the States but are not yet sure whether they will also contest some races. What is certain is that the car will be back in Europe before the start of the FIA European Championship season. "This is good for our sponsors, partners and European drag racing", says Robert. "We are working on plans to attract more media attention for the sport, and that is also very important for drag racing in the Netherlands. We have to make people understand what drag racing is and that we have high-profile Championships." Swift snippets. 16th November: Already having found a new car is Sweden's Adam Flamholc who has purchased a Joey Martin-built 1963 Corvette from Brandon Snider. "I think that this was the best car available, and it's a fast, proven car!" says Adam. "We will pick it up on Thanksgiving weekend and then try to get it race-ready in Pro Extreme trim for the Snowbird Nationals in Bradenton. This will be the second Corvette race car for me. A long time ago I had a Corvette C4 with a Small Block motor which we ran in the Outlaw Super Small Block class. We won the Championship with that car in 1999 or thereabouts, I hope that we can get some wins with our new 'Vette as well!" Good luck and stay safe to Sweden's Jonnie Lindberg (Top Alcohol Funny Car) and Elvira Karlsson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) who will contest today's eliminations at the NHRA Auto Club Finals at Pomona. Jonnie qualified #1 in Top Alcohol FC and Ulf Leanders #2 but Ulf made a first round exit yesterday as did #4 qualifier Fred Hanssen in Top Alcohol Dragster. Elvira qualified #11 in the sixes whilst Gert-Jan Laseur did not qualify on the Star Racing bike. You will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central buddies at www.dragracecentral.com. Steve Dudley writes that the next slot drags of the 2014-15 season at MrD Raceway will take place at 8:00 pm this Friday, 21st November, at The Cathedral Primary School, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1PA. "There is a small car park in the school grounds but please park carefully as it is narrow", says Steve. "Entry and racing are free, all we ask is that you make a donation of a couple of pounds to help toward the hire of the hall, although it's not obligatory. I have loan cars for anybody wishing to try out this exciting form of slot car racing. We usually run a couple of eliminations, for added tension. Come and have a go, it's great fun!" FIA Championships update. 14th November: Last Friday, 7th November, parties involved in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships gathered for a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting was initiated by the FIA Drag Racing Commission and included representatives from the FIA Drag Racing Commission, tracks / promoters who hosted events in the 2014 FIA Championship - Santa Pod Raceway (UK), the HockenheimRing (Germany), Alastaro Circuit (Finland) and Tierp Arena (Sweden) - as well a representative of the teams and Championship administration company Speedgroup. "The meeting was very constructive and informative", said FIA Drag Racing Commission Vice President Lars Pettersson. We highlighted different aspects connected to the FIA Championship, such as teams facing high costs for travel and such. We also discussed the FIA Championships from the organisers' and administrators' perspectives. We all agree that external funding is necessary to secure and develop the FIA Championships, and that that need is urgent. One key question is the commercial rights, currently owned by the FIA and granted for individual events to the ASNs in the countries where the events take place. No sole entity has the right to cover the promotion and sales for the full FIA Championships. I think that all parties are being as open-minded as they can and wish to find ways to move the FIA Championships forward. "But more funding is needed, that is a fact. A key over the coming years will be to commercialise the FIA Championships to attract major sponsorship. At the meeting we agreed on an action plan and assigned people to further investigate possible solutions. We also set a deadline for first steps by the end of November. We will see what comes out from that and what the next move will be." Whilst there are still some outstanding issues to be resolved, the plan is to present the preliminary 2015 FIA European Drag Racing Championship calendar very soon. Following normal procedure, the calendar will be ratified by the FIA World Motorsport Council during the conference in Doha, Qatar, in the first week of December. Mattias of Arabia. 14th November: 2014 FIA European Pro Modified Champion, Sweden's Mattias Wulcan, has entered the 2015 Arabian Drag Racing League. Stefan Boman writes: The Series comprises five races in six weeks, all in Doha, Qatar, starting 8th January and ending 21st February. The ADRL is replacing Pro Xtreme and Pro Nitrous with NHRA-legal Pro Mod in 2015 and, as well as Mattias, top US drivers are expected to participate in the ADRL Series as well as domestic racers. Mattias' team will build two new engines with NHRA-legal 14.5% blower overdrive and they do not plan to go back to the European standard of 20% after the race. "We wish to drive Pro Mod, compare ourselves with the US, and leave the door open for more international racing", says Mattias. "None of this would be possible without my team who are as big a part of this as I am. This is a group effort. Wulcano Racing are Pelle Eriksson, Oliver Johnsson, Michael Dunå and Torbjörn Pettersson. "A big thank you also to our sponsors Renoveringsgruppen, TUNGTEK, Beijer Bygg, Däckvulkis, Auto-Verdi, Leanders Clutch, 76 Oljor, SP Fönster, Vargöns Mekaniska, Färgservice i Linköping, Dekaltrim, and Östa Husbesiktning." On The Bottle in the fast lane. 14th November: Following Tuesday's right lane sponsorship announcement, Shakespeare County Raceway is pleased to confirm that on-site nitrous oxide provider On The Bottle has secured the naming rights to the left lane for 2015, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. "I never thought that we would be at the stage where we are now, a lane sponsor at Shakey, especially as it's a track I used to race at with my Mercury Cougar back in the day!", says owner Mark Gardner. In addition to nitrous refills and the marketing of world leading products from NOS, Wizards of NOS and Ny Trex, Mark has also been appointed a distributor of VP Racing Fuels and products offering a free trackside delivery service on a pre-order basis to racers at Shakey. "In just four short months On The Bottle is now supporting the Supercharged Outlaws and the Bracket Gamblers series as well as support refill deals to many of the country's leading racers such as Colin Millar, Amanda Cox, Lee Gallimore and Paul Hensher. We can't wait to kick it all off again in 2015. It's going to be an exciting year!", says Mark. On The Bottle has already pledged support in 2015 for the DubShack Racing team to become the quickest and fastest Mk 4 Golf in the UK, Outlaw Flat Four racer Bernie Newbury, and Lee Darby in his personal goal to run a seven-second pass with the DKM Construction 1953 Chevrolet custom pick up truck. Mark would personally like to thank Jerry and Martin for their warm welcome to Shakey, the Orange Pop Team, Cooper Brothers Mat and Adam and to all the other people who have really made this possible and finally, but no means least his wife Tracy for the endless support. On The Bottle can be found on their Facebook page, web site at www.onthebottle.co.uk, or just off Junction 8 of the M25. A cast of thousands... 14th November: Nigel Taylor writes that the Detroit Spinner Racing Ford Prefect, originally built by Arthur Bonner in the 1970s, will be back out in 2015 mainly funded by supporters, sponsors, drivers, friends and crew. Several drivers will be competing for the best time and speed: The Nostalgic Prefect will still keep its Pontiac Powerplant backed by its Fairbanks gearbox - the only one still in use in the UK? - but will have nitrous added as well as upgrades to the front suspension, brakes, ignition, cooling system and more, depending on funds received. The drivers for 2015 are Arthur Bonner (turns 74 years old in July), Jeff Goddard (Detroit Crew Chief), Mark Onthebottle (Nitrous man), one ex-Outlaw Anglia racer who will mark his return to the sport (secret), Graham Smith (Serck Motorsport ), Col Law (Ten-second Pop), Andy Frost (Penn Autos, fastest street car record holder for two and a half years), Michael Hawkins (black Chevy Sedan) and Dave Fulton (Green Willys Pick up). Crew and sponsors consist of spare drivers Stuart Ashton and Kelvin Helsdown, the above-mentioned, plus Peter Borrett, Saunashop.com, Cliff Hepton, American Motor Factors, Justin Horne, Joust Performance, Graham Smith, Serck Motorsport, Chris Cotten, Leslie Waldron, Ben Waldron, Graham True, Rob Gregory, Steve Dale, Paul Dale, Stephen Lowth, Tom Mitty, Edward Ede, Kirsty Cleall, Nick Dunford, Steve Marshall, Mandy Darlison, Danny Mitty, Clacys Garage, Neil Gibbs, Sophie Taylor (was Smart), Elisha Taylor, Richard Hicks, Mackenzie Taylor, Fletcher Taylor and On The Bottle nitrous. A league of extraordinary gentlemen. 14th November: On the weekend of the fastest, quickest, motorcycle drag race of 2014, MTC Engineering will host a gathering of the elite eight members of the official MTC 5 Second Club during the running of the MANCUP World Finals between today (Friday) and Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park, in Adel, Georgia. MTC Engineering has put the call out for a gathering of the greats, to attend the race. An effort is underway to bring all eight members of the official MTC 5 Second Club to the Mickey Thompson - Motec, World Finals at SGMP to meet and greet the fans. This will be the first gathering of its kind to bring the only motorcycle drag racers ever to run in the five second elapsed time zone to one race at the same time. The event will officially welcome Ian King of Gulf Oil Dragracing to the Club. During elimination rounds at the Manufacturer's Cup Exoticycle-Roaring Toyz Spring race in Valdosta, Ian ran a 5.878 at a speed of 225.07 mph. Ian becomes the eighth and final member of the club. Keep in mind here, from when Larry McBride ran the first official five-second elapsed time in AMA/PROSTAR sanctioned competition in 2001, to Ian King's 5.87 pass in April of 2014, it has taken over a decade to fill the eight slots afforded by the MTC 5 Second Club. This is a very elite exclusive gathering of professional Top Fuel Bike racers! The eight members of the MTC 5 Second Club are: Larry McBride (2001), Jimmy Brantley (2005), Tom Perry (2008), Korry Hogan (2008), Geoff Pollard (2009), Chris Hand (2013), Peter Svensson (2013), and Ian King (2014). Two of the eight will actually be in competition at this event, Larry McBride and Chris Hand. It's interesting to note that both of these truly extraordinary racers have been racing in Top Fuel Motorcycle longer than any of their counterparts! Both of these racers began their nitromethane careers during the 1970s era of motorcycle drag racing. There will be a meet and greet combined with an autograph signing session with the MTC 5 Second Club members on Saturday and Sunday at a time to be announced. A special commemorative poster with all eight racers will be available for this one time only event. On Sunday before the start of the race, the formal induction of Ian King into the MTC 5 Second Club will take place prior to the start of eliminations. While Korry Hogan will be in attendance with the John Alwine racing team, their new bike is not quite ready to enter competition. However, the bike will be on display at the MTC Engineering both located on the Manufacturers' Midway. For more information visit www.mancup.info. Record won with WON. 14th November: It's been a long time coming but Eurodragster.com sponsor Wizard of NOS have an American car customer who has produced an outstanding official world record in the X275 class using a Wizard of NOS Killer Scorpion plate. Trevor Langfield writes about the feat in Huntsville: We've been selling our advanced nitrous technology to a growing number of American customers for a good number of years now. They have all chosen Wizard of NOS over dozens of alternative US brands, despite the much higher price they have to pay. This is the ultimate Coals to Newcastle and David and Goliath stories merged in to one as Wizard of NOS is a micro company in a foreign land, pitted against the might of numerous huge US companies, in the very home of nitrous oxide. Yet we have killed all the competition. The American team of Jack Vanover, assisted by Kevin Neal and driver Greg Smith, with the aid of a Wizard of NOS Killer Scorpion plate, are now record holders of the quickest nitrous car in the class. This also means that: Not only is it the quickest plate car in the class (and probably ever in the history of drag racing) but it's also quicker than all the multi-solenoid, multi-stage direct port kitted cars in the class as well; On the day it was quicker than everything save one turbo car and one blown car; All this using just one solenoid and a plate. The quickest turbo car in the class was only approximately 0.05 seconds quicker and that car had been running the same times on each run, whereas Jack's car improved each run, dropping from 4.56 to 4.53 to 4.51, so a couple more runs and the outcome could have been reversed. Of further interest was the car's impressive sixty foot time of 1.04 seconds, which was clocked with the front wheels hung in the air. You can find a report of interest at www.racingconverters.com/crazy-fall-air-drops-radial-records as well as posts on Kevin Neal's Facebook page. You can find a video of the record-breaking run at www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-lfFn8JxdU. Jack has only run the new combination at a couple of races since buying it earlier this year, so he's very happy to have such great results so early in the game. He's also totally confident, that even with the limitation of the single trashcan solenoid there is a 4.4 run in it, as he and Kevin Neal have only just got started, on getting the car down the track and haven't even thought about how to get the best from it yet. Thankfully, Jack is not prepared to let the trashcan solenoid limit the 1,500 HP capability of the Killer Scorpion plate for much longer, as he's just purchased and will be fitting our latest Mega-Noid and will be dumping the trashcan as soon as possible. This should mean quicker than 4.4 should be on the cards (as long as he can use all that power), which should be possible as the new Mega-Noid will pulse down to as low as 10%. For anyone who is interested you can find information on the plate which Jack Vanover's car is using, which is an uprated and improved version of the Spider plate concept and from which a number of our American customers are getting great results, at www.noswizard.com/the-killer-scorpion-dry-nitrous-plate.html. Winter reading from WASP. 14th November: With the dark nights upon us what better time than now to stock up on your winter reading material? Wisbech American Street and Performance Limited have just released a range of colour catalogues which will keep you occupied for hours planning that next upgrade, restoration or 'present' for the car/truck in your life. Three catalogues are available: Drag Racing Parts and Accessories: Boasting 560 colour pages crammed solid with over 350 of the top manufacturers across the USA, available for £5 including P+P Hot Rod and Early Muscle: 430 pages of every part you'd ever want for your hot rod, muscle car or pick up truck, available for £5 including P+P Late Model Muscle: 160 pages dedicated to performance parts for 1995 to 2014 Camaros, Mustangs, Trans Ams, Challengers, Chargers and 300Cs, available for £3 including P+P WASP is able to provide everything within the catalogues (and much more) , and with weekly air freight from the USA parts can be at your doorstep within seven days. They will also refund the price of your catalogue with your first order over £50. You can order your copy by calling WASP on 01354 610333, E-Mail [email protected] or via the E-Bay shop at www.waspspeedshop.com. Web site updates. 14th November: Our good buddy, bike photo-journalist Steve Moxley's report on the FIM European Championship Finals is now showing on the Eat My Ink web site at www.eatmyink.com. You can check out Steve's report by scrolling down a short way on the Home Page. Notice to FIA racers. 12th November: Thanks to Micke Gullqvist for passing us details of a rule change for all FIA classes: The 2014 FIA rule book stated that an Event Data Recorder would be mandatory in 2015. After discussions within the Rules Advisory Group and the FIA Drag Racing Commission, this requirement has been reconsidered and removed from the 2015 rules. Gabby seeks thesis help. 12th November: Eire's own Top Fuel Dragster racer Gabrielle McDonald is seeking volunteers to take part in a study for her thesis as she continues her final year at university studying Psychology. Both racers and non-racers are invited to participate. "I'm looking for around a hundred people", says Gabby. "Fifty racers, it doesn't matter what you drive or ride. I also need fifty people who have never raced - crew members are eligible so long as they have not raced. "Your input will consist of two Reaction Time tasks and two questionnaires. I'm examining years of experience, confidence and, of course, gender. I preferably need an equal number of men and women to take part. You can take part if you are under eighteen so long as you get parental consent. I will also need to be able to Skype you, so having Skype or setting up an account would be required." If you would like to help Gabby then please E-Mail her at [email protected] or contact her via her Facebook page. Swift snippets. 12th November: The Netherlands' Gert Jan Laseur has joined the European contingent at this weekend's NHRA Auto Club Finals at Pomona, riding a Pro Stock Motorcycle for Star Racing. Elvira Karlsson (PSM), Fred Hanssen (Top Alcohol Dragster), and Ulf Leanders and Jonnie Lindberg (Top Alcohol FC) are also representing Europe but unfortunately Mike Manners' name has dropped off the TAD entry list. Qualifying commences tomorrow (Thursday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central buddies at www.dragracecentral.com. Nicole the Mendip Hillbilly. 11th November: Following UK Pro ET racer Nicole Parker's successful outing at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School, dad John says that a deal has been struck with Zane and Anne Llewellyn for Nicole to run Zane's dragster in Super Comp in 2015: It's been a while since Zane's Big Block Ford rail last ran. It has been sitting in the Zannetec workshop and this deal is just the incentive Zane needed to get stuck into it. As they are fellow Mendip Hillbillies, living in the next valley along from us, it's an arrangement which makes a lot of sense. We know it's a good car which can and has run the numbers, and Nicole settled in really quickly at Hawley's. Time constraints dictate that Nicole will have to focus on the UK FIA rounds and the NitrOlympX, but after some testing around Easter time we plan to be a threat in the Super Comp Championship next season. A passage for Jndia. 11th November: Also doing a bang-up job at racing school, in this case courtesy of Doug Foley's Purespeed School, were Jndia Erbacher, daughter of Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher, and Team Erbacher crew member Marc Linder. "Jndia and Marc made several runs in Las Vegas on Monday and Tuesday and got their Super Comp licences on Tuesday evening", says Urs. "Some of their heroes were watching. "On Tuesday evening we checked how Jndia fits in Doug Foley's A/Fuel school car. Jndia will go for her A/Fuel licence at Doug's school in early 2015. This car is a 2012 Tony Schumacher Top Fuel car with an A/Fuel nitro engine; the car works exactly same way as my Murf McKinney Top Fueller which will help Jndia to drive my Top Fueller. "After this Jndia will go for her Top Fuel licence at Santa Pod early in 2015 and then she will race with me at Hockenheim." You can read a German-language press release (PDF format) by clicking here. Serck in the fast lane. 11th November: Shakespeare County Raceway are pleased to announce that Serck Motorsport will be a new lane sponsor for the 2015 season. SCR's Jerry Cookson writes: Serck Motorsport has been a dedicated and committed brand in the world of motorsports providing leading-edge applications when required. Providing a wide range of cooling systems, oil coolers, fuel and header tanks Serck can also offer a bespoke service to customers from the design stages through to the finished product with complete technical back-up and support. Leading Formula 1 and Indy Car manufactures have received top-class race-winning service which has lead to support in British club motorsport and, for the last few seasons, drag racing. But it's not just in the car racing world that Serck gets involved as the company is also currently enjoying a healthy association with the motorcycle racing industry. From humble beginnings with Ian Hook's '34 Ford Coupe in Street Eliminator, Serck Motorsport is proud to be associated with a number of Sportsman drag racers in the UK. Currently benefiting from this service are Tony North and his amazing Triumph Herald, Pro ET's Team Bonkers Chevy Nova in the hands of Del Sanderson, and the company's own rolling test bed, Graham Smith's '57 Chevy 210 affectionately known as Snow White. "As manufactures and suppliers we pride ourselves on working closely with our customers to ensure that the products and services we provide are tailor-made to their specific requirements", says Racing Manager Graham Smith.  "We have worked on many projects together with our customers and also work with well known companies in drag racing over the years such as Insane Creations, Hauser Race Cars, Andy Robinson Race Cars and Webster Race Engineering. I am delighted that Serck Motorsport will be supporting Shakespeare County Raceway in the new 2015 season and look forward to another exciting year ahead." Serck Motorsport can also offer a comprehensive product service from Sunoco Race Fuels and Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oils through to Wizard of NOS nitrous kits and Kleers Premium Car Care Products. So why not check out the Serck Motorsport web site at www.serckservicesmotorsport.co.uk and their Facebook page. Swift snippets. 11th November: Congratulations to François Gissy who went over 300 km over about 1000 feet on his Rocket Bicycle at France's Paul Ricard race track last Friday. "We went from 0 to 333 kmh (207 mph) in 4.8 seconds", says François. "The quarter mile ET was approximately 6.8 seconds but that is not the purpose of the bicycle". You can check out a YouTube video by clicking here and a professional TV crew's footage by clicking here. Alex Stringer writes that, with Christmas now starting to appear over the horizon, Santa Pod Raceway have started a Pod Presents scheme whereby a different item from the on-line shop will be discounted each day. "Pod Presents is running and will continue until 9th December so make sure you check the web site regularly to keep up to date with all the latest offers", says Alex. "We have also just taken delivery of our new loungewear range to keep you warm on these cold winter nights! Take a look at www.santapodshop.com to see all that we have to offer." We would like to say a big Happy 22nd Birthday with hugs for today (Tuesday) to Tog's niece Jennipher Rogers Knight. Have a lovely day Jenn. Interview: Russ Carpenter. 10th November: For the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products Simon interviewed the UK's Russ Carpenter, one of this year's inductees to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and a man who famously did things with a 2.5-litre Daimler V8 which Daimler said were not possible. Russ and Tony Anderson's rear-engined dragster made its début in March 1972 and featured many engineering innovations over the years. Russ took over the driving in 1975 and won many Championships and events in Senior Dragster. As the Glacier Grenade, Russ' dragster was the first British-engined car, and the first car anywhere in the world with a motor of less than five litres, to make a quarter mile pass in less than eight seconds, eventually running a best of 7.2 at 180 mph. The car is still running now. In a fascinating interview Russ details his racing history, his exploits in the UK and Europe including dealing with bleating opponents, the fine details of making a Daimler V8 run sevens, and his continued involvement with Daimler motors. You can check out our interview with Russ by clicking here or by clicking on the Interviews, Features, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We would like to acknowledge the assistance of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury in arranging the interview. 2015 Estonian calendar. 10th November: Many thanks to our good buddy Kristjan Veedler of the Estonian Drag Racing Association for forwarding us the Estonian racing calendar for 2015: 2nd-3rd May: EDRA Nationals, Kiltsi Airfield, Haapsalu. Estonian Championship round 1, Estonian Drag Racing Cup round 1, Estonian Junior Series round 1, Latvian Drag Racing Championship round 1). Details at www.edra.ee. 20th June: EDRA Summer Race, location TBA. Estonian Championship round 2, Estonian Drag Racing Cup round 2, Estonian Junior Series round 2. Details at www.edra.ee. 25th July: Speedest Nightrace, Pärnu Airfield. Estonian Championship round 3, Estonian Drag Racing Cup round 3, Estonian Junior Series round 3. Details at www.speedest.ee. 22nd August: EDRA Finals, Kiltsi Airfield, Haapsalu. Estonian Championship round 4, Estonian Drag Racing Cup round 4, Estonian Junior Series round 4. Details at www.edra.ee. Swift snippets. 10th November: Congratulations to Sweden's Ulf and Jörgen Leanders who went one better in Las Vegas this weekend by qualifying #1 and taking the win at the NHRA Lucas Oil Divisional event. It was a repeat of last week's final against Steve Harker only with a win for Ulf this time around 5.675/258.12 to Steve's 5.835/254.38. Numbers and a picture can be found at www.dragracecentral.com. Flamholc Racing moves on. 9th November: Sweden's Adam Flamholc says after competing in Pro Mod and other classes that are close to legal Pro Mod since 2008, he feels that it is time to take the next step in door car racing: Last year the team competed in US with a 'legal' Pro Mod car, and in Europe with a Pro Extreme car. The whole crew really liked the Pro Extreme car, and we ended up winning the Championship in Sweden. I feel that it would give us more, and that it makes more sense, to have two cars with similar powerplants, close to same gear ratios and so on. So in 2015 we will have two Pro Extreme cars! Keeping the Viper here in Europe, and getting another one in US. I'm looking at a couple of cars, and I hope and think we will have something decided within the next couple of days. The plan is to attend as many PDRA races as we can in US next season, and of course as many local races in Florida as we can. None of this would have been possible without my sponsors! Please support them: Amalie Oil Hurst Boiler & Welding Cleanpipe 5 Days Plantation Shutters & Blinds Malmo Motor Renovating Performance Plus JA IT Hjalp Stutz gains respect. 7th November: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer Noah Stutz put in an extraordinary performance at the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas. In front of sold-out bleachers Noah instantly became the favorite of the press and spectators. In the first qualifier Noah set an incredible time of 3.970/298.14 in a Top Fuel Dragster campaigned by American team Lagana Racing and became only the eighth ever european to go below four seconds. In the second run Noah got to the finish line first but couldn't improve his time. In the third run he was up against Championship-leading legend Tony Schumacher. Despite Noah's better reaction time Tony got there first. In the fourth run the young Swiss racer was able to clinch not just a Personal Best with an astonishing 3.876 / 315.19, but also the second quickest time ever recorded by a European over one thousand feet. Nineteen-year-old Noah didn't qualify in the top sixteen, one of the quickest fields ever in the history of NHRA, but he gained great respect from the Americans with his performance. Noah's four runs were: 3.970 / 298.14 (opponent: Kebin Kinsley) 4.012 / 252.28 (opponent: Bob Vandergriff) 3.924 / 278.86 (opponent: Tony Schumacher) 3.876 / 315.19 (opponent: Kebin Kinsley) "The race here in Las Vegas was incredible", said Noah. "I never would have imagined anything like this and suddenly it all went so fast. So much happened this weekend. First I broke the four-second mark, then I lapped another incredible 3.876 setting the second quickest lap recorded by a European. I'd like to thank everybody who made this possible and of course I'd like to thank Lagana Racing." Swift snippets. 7th November: Good luck and stay safe to Sweden's Ulf Leanders and Jonnie Lindberg, and Frøya's Fred Hanssen who are contesting Top Alcohol FC and Top Alcohol Dragster respectively at this weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Divisional event in Las Vegas. You will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central buddies at www.dragracecentral.com. Jamie Reeves of Eurodragster.com sponsor Topspeed Automotive says that they have just received a container load of goodies and new items ready for the winter rebuilds as well as new novelty items which are ideal for Christmas presents. You can take a look at the E-Bay shop at stores.ebay.co.uk/Topspeed-Automotive-Ltd or via the web shop at www.topspeedautomotive.co.uk. "If you can't see what you're looking for then give us a call for the most competitive prices", says Jamie. "We have another container leaving in about four weeks' time, so if anyone needs anything bulky bringing in such as tyres panels etc then I'm sure we can squeeze in a few goodies around our two new cars... errr, was I supposed to mention that just yet?" A very Happy Birthday to Eurodragster.com News Editor, Race Reporter and Photographer Tog. Have a great day buddy, and many happy returns from Kirstie, Julian and Simon. Champion seeks crew. 7th November: 2014 UK National Super Comp Champion Paul Hudson is seeking crew for his 2015 campaign. "My excellent crew of the last two seasons have decided to move to pastures new so a big Thank You to them for getting me the Super Comp Championship this year", says Paul, "I wish them all the best for the future. "However, this means that I'm crewless for the 2015 season so I would like to ask if there is anyone out there who would like to crew for me.The pay structure is very simple (i.e. nothing) but there up to three entry tickets and a vehicle pit pass will be available.No mechanical knowledge is necessary but would be an advantage. You must also be willing to assist on any work needed on the car and be prepared for some early starts and late finishes. "If you are interested then please send an E-Mail to [email protected]. I will reply to all E-Mails received but please note that it may take a few days due to work commitments." Web site updates. 7th November: Our good buddy, bike photo-journalist Steve Moxley's report on the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend is now showing on the ACU's web site. You can check out Steve's report at www.acu.org.uk. Holmberg looking to 2015. 5th November: Sweden's Swecomposite Racing Pro Stock Bike team, dubbed "The prudent team" by Track Announcer Pär Willén, are looking forward to a successful 2015 after rider Kenneth Holmberg finished fifth in this year's FIM European PSB Championship. Kenneth previously won the Scandinavian Pro Twin Bike Championship and held a number of Swedish records before moving to Pro Stock Bike in 2013. At the FIA / FIM European Championship Finals at Santa Pod Raceway he set no less than three Personal Bests and made the semi-finals. "We has hard competition from my friends and competitors this season, especially the outstanding Fredrik Fredlund, Gert-Jan Laseur and Karl-Heinz Weikum", says Kenneth. "We have learned a lot in the last two years and tried harder each time. We are looking forward to next season." A few new sponsors have already signed up including, of course, Kenneth's company Swecomposite which fabricates a lot of racing parts. Kenneth will also have the continued support of former PSB racer Gabriella Nikolovska and experienced mechanic Kent Carlsson. Swift snippets. 5th November: Further to Sunday's snippet, ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences has withdrawn from this weekend's NHRA Divisional race in Las Vegas as his back injury is still bothersome. Mike says that he will decide on Friday about his participation in the NHRA Finals at Pomona, and that he has his fingers crossed. So do we, get well soon Mike. Steve French and Dave Branch are building a drag bike to facilitate development and reliability testing of their Land Speed Racer's motor. "We hope to be out testing early next year whenever it's dry enough", says Steve. "We will attend only RWYBs as entries, licences etc add unnecessary cost. At present the motor is a blown methanol 750 cc pushrod Triumph twin with billet barrels, head, block, rods and crank. Boost around 30+ driving through a billet-cased Suzuki GSX1100 gearbox with slider clutch. If the testing goes well on methanol we will test with 50%-60% nitro". You can find out more at www.saltbike775.co.uk or on the project's Facebook page. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend and former Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman. Have a great day buddy. A Hall of Fame birthday. 5th November: November is becoming a month rich in reflections on the history of UK drag racing. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame's Gala evening approaches, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the 1964 British International Drag Festival, with Don Garlits joining our own Gerry Belton, Russ Carpenter, Dennis Norman and John Whitmore as this year's Hall of Fame inductees. Meanwhile, another significant figure in the sport's development celebrates a milestone birthday. Robin Jackson writes: Simple arithmetic says that Roy Phelps would have been eighteen years old when he push-started the Mooneyes dragster at Silverstone in 1963, for the former owner of Santa Pod Raceway turns seventy today (Wednesday) - Guy Fawkes Night, which could hardly be more appropriate for a man so closely associated with the world's most explosive motorsport. Roy was also pictured lending a hand to American stars such as Tony Nancy at the DragFest the following year, but his involvement in the sport was secured in 1966 when he joined his father, Bob Phelps, his cousin, John Bennett, John's business partner Ted Peddle and the land owner, Ernie Braddock, to launch Europe's first permanent drag strip, Santa Pod Raceway. After cousin John and the others and, later, father Bob had retired from the scene, Roy remained in sole charge of Santa Pod until 1990. In that time, Santa Pod produced a famous stable of race and exhibition cars which Roy fielded, tuned and sometimes drove, in particular piloting Britain's first wheelstander, the Wheelie Stingray. The period was also notable for the roll-call of drag racing stars brought over from the USA to compete in front of British audiences. Don Schumacher, Raymond Beadle, Gene Snow, Don Prudhomme, Tom Hoover, Al Segrini, Frank Hawley and Darrell Gwynn were just some of the NHRA giants who graced the Santa Pod strip throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In recognition of their achievements, the Phelps family were numbered among the Hall of Fame's original group of inductees after its foundation in 2006. Easter 1976 gave Santa Pod the most memorable weekend in its history when Don Garlits came to race, a visit he repeated to triumphant effect the following year. Appropriately, when Don is inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Gala on 22nd November, it will be Roy Phelps who presents him the membership trophy. Although Roy sold Santa Pod in 1990, he has slipped back into the scene in recent years, involved with Lawrie Gatehouse's Chaos Fuel Altered and with his son Jason Phelps' Team Rock nitro Funny Car, along with the revived family firm, FGR Motorsport, which Jason now operates. At 2013's Hall of Fame induction dinner, current Santa Pod owner Keith Bartlett awarded Roy the rare accolade of a Santa Pod Golden Key, granting lifetime access to the venue Roy himself once owned. Top Fuel Manual winners. 3rd November: Congratulations to the winners of our give-away of five copies of Dan Welberry's Top Fuel Dragster Owner's Manual, recently released by Haynes Publishing: David O'Callaghan, St Pauls, USA Alice Fairhead, Bungay, UK Jan Hernebro, Tyreso, Sweden Ella Lameir, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands Henrik Lund, Frederikshavn, Denmark The winners' details have been passed on to Haynes Publishing. Thanks to everyone who entered; we could have given away hundreds of copies. Thanks also to Dan Welberry and to those fine people at Haynes Publishing for putting up the prizes. 92nd mission accomplished. 3rd November: Phil Pratt and Sue Morris of the UK's Satan's Lady 9.50 Bike team can sum up 2014 in the phrase "Wow, what a year!". Sue writes: When we unveiled Satan's Lady at the end of January, we could never have imagined what the season would have in store for us. We'd kept the respray under our hats with only a handful of people, who had helped us with research etc, in the know, so when she appeared on Eurodragster.com, our inboxes and Facebook pages went into meltdown with comments, and that hasn't stopped since! There have been so many highlights for us during 2014, it's hard to pick just two or three. The first would have to be Springspeed Nationals and our mystery benefactor who, on hearing that we couldn't afford to compete, sponsored us for that meeting, and we repaid them by going on to win the event! Then there was Dragstalgia - the most emotional and meaningful event for us. Family members of some of the service personnel who had served with the 92nd at Station 109, now Santa Pod, had made the trip over from the USA to see where their fathers were based, and we were thrilled to be invited to have Satan's Lady on display for them. It was unbelievably emotional to meet, chat with, and hear the most amazing stories of their fathers' times at Podington. We wanted to honour those who served at Station 109 but couldn't have imagined that their families would take us to their hearts the way they have. We have been truly humbled by the messages, and friendship, given to us by members of the 92nd USAAF-USAF Memorial Association. Twice during 2014 Satan's Lady has featured in the newsletter which goes out to veterans and their families, and we couldn't be more proud. Our season closed with the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, which we approached in fourth place in the UK National and third in the SPRC Championships. We knew that it would be impossible to win the National title as work commitments prevented us running at two of the three extra rounds which had been added to the Shakespeare County Raceway calendar, which would mean that we wouldn't gain the 200 bonus points. However the SPRC Championship was still there, but the points were so close that it could essentially be won by any of the top six. In nailbiting end of season stuff, we knew that all Phil had to do was qualify top and win the event to take the 2014 SPRC Championship. No pressure there then! We didn't dare think about what might be then, in Q4, a 9.502 lit up on board - there was his top qualifier spot. A win in the semi-final against Steve Ashby guaranteed us runner-up in the Championship, now all we had to do was to get around Rick Sawatski. In a great final round the win light came on in Phil's lane, his 9.570 to Rick's 9.578 wrapped up our 2014 season in a way we could never have dreamed of. Oh and what about the National Championship? Well, despite having to miss those two rounds (and those two hundred bonus points) we still ended up in third spot, just sixty points short of runner-up, and we're pretty chuffed with that! Of course we have to say a few Thank Yous. Firstly, and most importantly, to David John Earl for his phenomenal paint work - if you haven't seen Satan's Lady up close then you might not realise that she is not a vinyl wrap, as some have thought, but airbrushed with hand-painted artwork complete with true-to-the-era brush strokes. We'd also like to say a big thank you to everyone for the fantastic messages of support that we have been sent this year, and also for the beautiful photos of Satan's Lady which we have received. Also to everyone who has paid us a visit in the pits, talked to us, picked up any of the leaflets, badges, posters and wristbands we've been giving away to keep the memory of the 92nd Bombardment Group alive, and also to those who have brought us some wonderful gifts relating to the 92nd. At the start of the season, we were surprised to discover how many people had no idea how important a place Santa Pod was back in WWII. We know that we have inspired people to delve deeper and find out more so we have done what we set out to do, and will continue to do. As for Phil and Satan's Lady taking the SPRC Championship on the very runway from which the 92nd flew their mighty B-17s, that was just the icing on the cake. Swift snippets. 3rd November: Congratulations to Sweden's Ulf and Jörgen Leanders who took runner-up in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the weekend's NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas. Ulf qualified #2 at 5.551/263.67 and only lost the final round on Reaction Time after he and winner Steve Harker pulled identical 5.548 ETs. A great advertisement for the Leanders clutch, well done guys. More Insanity in 2015. 3rd November: Paul Marston says that the Paul Marston Racing team are already hard at it in preparation for the 2015 season, starting with the ex-Dave Warne Mean as Hell Pro Modified, now known as Insanity: Either name suits the Chevy Vega pick-up well. Being comparable to European size cars when they débuted in the 1970s Vegas were very successful in every class they entered be it Pro Stock, Pro Modified and Funny Car, not to mention every Sportsman class. Even today Vegas are still a dominant force in Sportsman and big money bracket racing due to their compact size and the skill of their drivers. Our little Vega has only been used for teaching with the Paul Marston Drag Race Driving School over the past two seasons, for which it has given excellent service. It currently runs a 454 ci Big Block Chevy with a BLP Alcohol Dominator carburettor and is well capable of running high nines which is perfect from a teaching perspective. The BLP carburettor has been faultless, and the use of alcohol enables us to get a lot more seat time with the driver during training due to its cooler running properties. Insanity has now been in the PMR workshops for a month and has come out very nicely. No major problems, just a thorough servicing and replacement of the usual consumables such as valve springs, filters and fluids. The fact that it is an ex-Pro Modified means that it is built for ease of use and servicing. Since in our possession it has received a lot of new parts and pieces to bring it up to date including brand new Weld Racing wheels front and back, brand new Aerospace brakes and calipers, Leda front struts, custom fabricated and coated exhaust manifolds, aluminium Kirkey seats, upgraded Big Block Chevy power, BLP Alcohol fuel system, new tyres, the list goes on and on. In 2015 the Vega should be used more extensively, and not just as a School car, so keep an eye out for this infamous drag racer coming to a drag strip near you. Bike Weekend JDB review. 3rd November: Many thanks to Lizz McCarthy for forwarding us the Junior Drag Bike racers' accounts of their weekends at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: JBP 2 Jasmine Cordelle: Extreme Performance Bike Weekend was another up and down meeting. We arrived on Friday got set up, and went to scrutineering. We had problems with the back brake which dad sorted Friday night. Saturday, woke up to rain oh joy! Finally managed to get out at around 2 o'clock we dialled in 9.50 unfortunately we didn't get to the end of the track due to an electrical problem which we think we fixed by next qualifier. In the second qualifier we dialled in a 9.50 again had a massive wheelspin off the line which led it to the middle of the track, managed to get it under control and ran a 10.24. In the third qualifier I bounced back, did a better burnout, dialled in 9.50. A little wheelspin but ran a 9.53. Last qualifier was in the dark! Dialled 9.50 again ran a 9.63 spun a bit off the line again. At the end of the qualifying I was third qualifier. Sunday, race day! We had one more qualifier in the morning so I dialled in 9.50 and ran 9.7. There was very strong head wind all weekend. First round I had Charlotte Hales. I dialled in 9.50 and ran 9.57. I backed off just in time and took the win well done to Charlotte it was a good race! Second round I had Jordan Kenway. I dialled in 9.50 and ran 9.67! I passed him at half track and then backed off as there was no one in sight. In the semi-finals I had to have Mr Louis Davis! I dialled in 9.50 we were side by side all the way and then sadly I didn't back off enough and ran 9.43 so Louis took the win well done! I would like to say a big well done to Louis for winning the National and SPRC Championship and to Blade Dummer for winning the APIRA Championship. You have done great for your first year Blade! Thank you to Santa Pod Raceway and Shakespeare County Raceway and to my awesome crew / family the Hysteria Racing Team, plus the JDB sponsors and supporters this year: Tim Beckwith of Beckwith Motorsports USA, Brandi and the team at dragbike.com, Gary at Lightning Automotive, and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Lastly I would like to thank Lizz McCarthy for the hard work she puts in, checking and publishing all our race reports, taking photos and keeping the Junior Drag Bike page up to date for us. See you all next year hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year! JBM 3 Louis Davies: Saturday Q1: In qualifying it was hard to get the dial-in right due to the strong headwind. With some debate I dialled in a 9.45 and then with still a serious head wind I ran a 9.926 at 64.31 mph which was far off but still got me second due to the difficulty of getting the dial-in right. Q2: After a very slow first run I raised the dial in to a 9.65 still with a strong headwind, I broke out with a 9.60 and sadly after that run I dropped to number five qualifier. Q3: The headwind seemed to have dropped a bit so I tried lowering the dial-in to a 9.37 but then going way too slow and running 9.69 at 66.67 mph with my quickest reaction time of the weekend of 0.05 but still staying fifth. Q4: This time we were running in the dark and the headwind had died down very slightly so with a 9.45 dial-in I ran a 9.57 at 68.03 mph with a 0.07 reaction which was a bit better and put me in fourth. Q5: A new day and sadly the wind was still very strong so I dialled in a 9.70 and then ran a 9.72 at 67.27 mph with a reaction 0.09 which qualified me second. E1: I was against my old race rival Jake Charman and after being close to the dial in in the final qualifier I decided to dial in a 9.70 and then ran a 9.725 at 65.93. I won so I had a bye run to win the 2014 JDB Championship in the next round. E2: Now with a bye run I could keep the bike full throttle all the way to determine the lowest possible dial-in for the semi so I wheeled up to the line and opened the throttle and dropped the clutch, as soon as I took the green I was the Junior Drag Bike Champion of 2014! Into the semi's and I was against Jasmine so dialled in a 9.70. This was going to be a good race as we are always close, I won with Jas breaking out. I ran a 9.73 at 65.85 mph and I was in the final against Blade. In the final I dialled in a 9.70 and rolled up to the line and forgot that I was waiting for five seconds on the line so opened the throttle straight away having to quickly shut off and go back on the power, I pulled a rubbish 0.3 reaction and chased Blade to the end, I got there but Blade beat me by 0.02 of a second, well done to Blade for a great race and the win. I would like to say a huge thank you to all my friends, family and fellow racers for making it an amazing weekend and a great first year on my new bike built by Grandad. A big thank you to Rene van den Berg for sponsorship this year, also a big thank you to Lightning Automotive and Beckwith Motorsports for sponsoring the Junior Bikes this year, and the BDRHoF. Thank you for a great year of racing I hope everybody has a great Christmas. We are going to spend the winter making my bike go faster and we looking forward to some great racing with everyone next year. JBP4 Jordan Kenway: We arrived at Santa Pod on Friday with high hopes for another good event. We signed on and scrutineered. Saturday yet again brought rain but luckily it stopped and the Santa Pod crew did a great job getting it ready to race on. Q1 we dialled in a 9.00 and ran a 9.30 putting me number one for the time being. Q2 we dialled in a 9.00 and ran a 9.28 dropping me to second as Stacey Reed went number one. Q3 we decided to bring up the dial in so we dialed in a 9.20 and we ran a 9.2280 putting me back into the number one spot. Q4, this was racing in the dark, we kept the 9.20 dial in and ran a 9.25. I tell you wha,t racing in the dark was amazing, just wish we could do it more! Sunday morning was a bright one for a change. We had one last qualifier and this is where it started to go wrong. Dialled in a 9.20 and ran a 9.30. E1 I had a bye so we dialled in a 9.20 and ran a 9.41 showing that we had problems. E2 I had Jasmine, I dialed in a 9.40 it launched as well as ever but unfortunately because the base gasket was blowing we were down about 10mph on power therefore Jasmine got the win. However I did have the fastest speed of 72 mph and the fastest ET of 9.22 over the weekend. Had such an amazing year a few highs but quite a lot of lows, new parts are now ordered for the bike so we can rebuild it. Well done Louis for winning the Championship again. Finally a massive thanks to all of Warpspeed Racing for their help over the year. See you all next year after the long winter break. JBM5 Liam Holgate: We didn't get to Santa Pod early enough to get scrutineered because the traffic was really bad so we had to wait until the morning. We passed scrutineering no problem. In Q1 there was a big head wind so we were unsure what ET to set, so we set it at 9.50. When I set off the bike wheel spun all the way in first gear no traction and set a 10.20/63.76 good enough for number three qualifier. Q2 we let some more air out of the back tyre to get some grip set my ET to 9.7 and spun the wheel again but managed to run a 10.04/64.72 still number three qualifier. Q3 I was still struggling for grip we dropped the rear tyre to 8 psi, set my ET to 9.8 still spinning the wheel and set a time of 10.08/64.43. Q4 set my ET to 10.00 still spinning the rear wheel and ran a 9.95/64.39 need to practice burnouts for next year to get more traction and get dad to set up the lock up clutch. Q5 I set my ET to 9.90, I think we were getting somewhere now I staged and launched still spinning the rear wheel, I shifted to second and accelerated but then the bike shifted back down to first, over-revved and spluttered to a halt. We got it back to the pits and dad checked it out he said I had bent the exhaust valves again so that was the end of racing for me for the weekend. I'll be back next year can't wait see you all then. JMB6 Jake Charman: Dad went ahead to the track to set up while Lizz waited to fetch me from the railway station. We got to the track too late to get scrutineered, so got up early the next morning, and all went OK. This was really a test and tune weekend for me, as the new bike was only finished mid-season, so I am still learning to get to grips with it. Q1 launched off the line, and no shift light so guessed all the way! Got back to the pits to find that "someone" hadn't secured the battery so it disconnected. Dialled in a 10.85 and ran a 12.48! Hoping for better luck next time! Q2 I moved up a place, and was now in number four spot. We had some clutch issues, which were making the bike bog at about sixty feet, and run out of legs. We thought we may have got them sorted, the next run would tell. Q3 I'm not too sure what happened, but I had a momentary lapse of reason and forgot to change gear, even though the shift light was working (like Dad and Lizz said, it's been done before by better!). This bumped me down to last place, but at last we have sorted it, and the clutch is working. This is only the second meeting with the new bike, I've done minimal testing, but it's heading in the right direction... I'm having fun, and that is all that matters. Q4 racing in the dark! I love it, Dad does too, and Lizz hates it! The bike was launching off the line well now, but losing it a bit at the sixty feet. Being 6' 2" riding an un-tuned 125 cc isn't going to help! I'll keep plugging away. In the first round of eliminations I had Louis. He is a good racer, but we always have good races. He won the round, well done to him, and well done on winning the Championship. And that was the end of that. I was however very surprised to be awarded the Beckwith Motorsports Award for Outstanding Sportsmanship, so thank you! The bike will be stripped down over winter, new parts, and taken over to Kennedy Motorsport for a tune-up. I may stop growing and be able to do the bike more justice! Thank you as always for the support (and finance!) from Dad and Lizz, Dave Branch for such a cool bike, the tracks and crew, photographers, and our sponsors BDRHoF, Lightning Automotive, Beckwith Motorsports, and Brandi at Dragbike.com. Thanks to Eurodragster.com and King Racing for keeping us all updated (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). See you all in 2015. JBP7 Alfie Udall: This meeting was disappointing one. Once again I had problems with my bike. I ended up getting one run out of the whole weekend. I ran 24 seconds. I would just like to say a big thank you too every person who has helped me in this year of racing. My bike has had quite a few problems over the course of the year but I still raced! Thanks too all the people who helped me. Without you guys I wouldn't have raced most of this year. I'm also sorry that my bike has been such a nuisance this year too. I have had a great year and am already looking forward to next year. Thank you for the opportunity to ride your RD Jerry. Lastly thank you to my Dad with getting me there fixing my bike after it broke every time and being the best Santa ever! See you all next year and once again thank you all. JBM9 Stacey Reed: I hate that this is going to be my last race report of the year! Oh well, here it goes. First pass was alright but I slightly overestimated the wind and dialled 0.05 seconds off what I ran. Next run was only 0.02 seconds off so I was getting closer. Then on the others I think I broke out but I'm not going to lie, I've lost the tickets so I can't be sure ha ha. It was also cool to race in the dark with Jas as our last race together of the season - riding back in the pitch black was fun! I ended up third in qualifying which meant I had Blade first round. If I had won, I would have had two byes to the final due to Liam Holgate's and Alfie's breakages, however Blade took the win and he went on to win in the final (well done dude!). I would like to say a massive thanks to everyone who has helped not only me but all of the Juniors this year. From starting my bike when my crew has disappeared, to fixing my bike in the pairing lanes, pushing me forwards because I'm a weakling as well as reminding me to write these race reports and getting them all ready for you lot to see. Honestly, you lot are an amazing class to be involved in and I can't wait to see what next year brings us! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you at the SPRC Dinner and Dance. JBM11 Charlotte Hales: The last meeting of the season wasn't my best performance. The wind didn't help anyone and the Kawasaki was way down on "get up and go". My times were all over the place and I couldn't get any consistency. Dad traced a problem to water in the fuel which he'd only bought Thursday. Thanks to Martin Ollie and Blade, we got more and some two-stroke oil. A new spark plug and a different jet in the carb still didn't help however. Dad says a tired, restricted engine just wasn't going to cut it. I've had a great time this season getting to grips with the bike both in ACU and sprint / drag meetings, but for next year I need a new plan. This will be subject to rule changes. Thanks to everyone in JDB for all your support this season. Looking forward to next year. Have a great Christmas. JB12 Blade Dummer: Where do I start with this race report? What a season. For those who don't know this was my first season racing. It's been amazing, everyone has made me feel so welcome and helped us so thank you. We got to the Pod on Friday and got set up and signed on all OK, then needed to alter some settings on the bike from the weekend before only to find that I had fried the clutch. So from the start of the weekend I had issues then just to make things a little more difficult there was a headwind that was almost enough to push me backwards when the lights dropped. Anyway with these issues we were stripping the clutch between runs so it was busy and we didn't qualify great, ending up seventh. I was happy still to be able to run though and Dad and Wayne worked really hard, and with my help and I've now also learnt how to adjust the air / fuel mix on my own.. In the first roudn of eliminations we had Stacey who ran well all weekend it was well close on the top end but I just got it. In the second round I was to face the winner between Alfie and Liam Holgate but they both had problems and couldn't race, so I ran solo. In the semi-finals I had a bye, putting the clutch even closer to not working. In the final we had Louis, who runs well and I enjoy racing with him, but with the wind and bike not doing what I want it was going to be a real hard race. Louis had quite a wait at the line and from what Dad said chased me down at a rate of knots. But I got to the line 0.0241 seconds ahead meaning I won the finals. Finishing the season on an amazing high so thank you to all the other Juniors. I have had an amazing time and can't wait till next season. Thank you to my Dad I know how much you do so I can race. And a huge thanks to FBM Turbos who did all my race hoodies and T-shirts, Beckwith Motorsports and Magic Bullet fuel additives. Web site updates. 3rd November: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with a large number of shots from September's NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway including new (for Mad) top end and return road pictures. You can check out Mad's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Swift snippets. 2nd November: Good luck and stay safe to Sweden's Ulf Leanders and Jonnie Lindberg who are qualified #2 and #13 respectively in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas. Noah Stutz and Elvira Karlsson missed qualifying although Noah blasted his Personal Best ET and speed into next week. You will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress in today's eliminations courtesy of our Drag Race Central friends at www.dragracecentral.com. On the subject of Las Vegas, Get Well Soon to ex-pat Brit Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences who has had to miss this weekend's NHRA Toyota Nationals due to a health issue. Mike hopes to make next weekend's Divisional in Vegas and then the NHRA Finals at Pomona. Steve Ashdown says that son and Junior Dragster racer Tyler Ashdown (below left) achieved a lot this year and that the family is proud of him. "We learned a lot about car, and made lots of mistakes!", says Steve. "We would like to say Thank You to Andy Wheeler, Dee and the girls of Team Alamo for their support this year. Also thank you to Chris Andrews, driver of the Lucas Oil Top Fueller, for taking Tyler under his wing and giving him good sound advice as well as for coming to the start line with Tyler, very good of him considering how busy he is, and to Dave Bateman and family for all their help. And Dave, stop spending my bloody money! Finally thanks to Steve Kiddell and family for help in pits at every meeting. We'll see you all next year to do it all again." Lizz McCarthy, Kev and Jake Charman and the Nitrous Junkie crew have asked us to say a big Happy 40th Birthday to Dutch bike racer Erik Jennes (above right). "Have a great day and we hope to see you for another Indian meal soon!", they say. Don't forget that 22:59 UK / 23:59 European tonight is the deadline for entry to our Top Fuel Dragster Owners Manual give-away. For full details of how to enter check out Wednesday's news update. Earlier news