California comes to Cornwall. 30th November: Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts
writes that the UK's latest quarter-mile drag strip opens its gates on Saturday 12th December:
Spitfire Raceway, located on Perranporth Airfield in the north of Cornwall, is so called as the airfield was a World War 2 RAF Spitfire base. The land owner and Straightliner events have teamed
up to create a perfect setting for drag racing. Just a couple of miles away is a beach with great waves for surfing, with that and the relaxed atmosphere of the South West and grass roots drag racing,
it's a perfect location for that Californian feel.
The no-prep drag strip is open to everyone with a street-legal or full out competition car or bike. The track will run an Open Test and Tune format, and all drivers can also take passengers. We have
trophies and cash to give out for Quickest ETs, Best Engineered and the Best Burnout competition.
Along with the drag racing action there is drifting, a Show and Shine competition, and Club stands, all on hard standing. If you want to turn your parts into cash then the event will have a Swap Meet
area for no extra charge. You can take a rest from the action at the Control Tower Café and enjoy great refreshments seated inside or outside with stunning views at Spitfire Raceway.
The day is shaping up very well with six-second 200 mph vehicles planning to test. In addition Cornwall is a hotbed of some very nice machines, and those machines are attending. We would like to
thank our new sponsors West Country Vehicle Movements and Cotsweld Race Cars. We welcome all new sponsors and advertisers to Spitfire Raceway; if you would like to advertise then please
give me a call on 07771 590176.
For more information about the event visit our Facebook pageSpitfire
Raceway, Cornwall.
The Drag and Drift day takes place on Saturday 12th December at Spitfire Raceway, Perranporth Airfield, Perranporth, Cornwall TR5 0XS
(map).
Bohannon lays down the mic. 30th November: After fifteen years calling events at Shakespeare County Raceway, Track Announcer and our good buddy Barry Bohannon
has announced that he has put down his microphone:
I would firstly like to say huge congratulations to all the Series winners and award recipients at Saturday's Twentieth Anniversary Wild Bunch Awards Dinner on Saturday. It was an evening charged with
emotion but even more so for me as I announced my retirement from commentating.
I have been blessed and privileged to be involved in the sport and to commentate on something I love so much. Everyone who has ever driven or ridden down the track at Shakey gets my heartfelt thanks,
as without you none of it would have happened. I can't thank Jerry Cookson and the Shakespeare County Raceway management and staff enough for the opportunity and the memories which I will cherish
forever. The biggest Thank You goes to my wife Alison for her undying support over the years; she has been to all but a few of the events at I've worked since it all started.
So thanks everyone for the ride, it was a blast. I'm now going back to where it began for me, in the bleachers with the fans and the beer.
We're sure that everyone will join us in thanking Barry for his hard work and excellent commentaries over the years and in wishing him a long and happy retirement in the stands.
Swift snippets. 30th November: Having known about Barry's retirement for some time we can attest that it had and has nothing to do with
last week's decision by the local authority to approve the construction of housing on Long Marston Airfield. We have yet to receive any reaction
from Shakespeare County Raceway to last week's events but when the subject last came up we were assured that whatever happened the 2016 season would likely go
on as normal and, as things stood, probably 2017 as well. We therefore don't plan to go into histrionics here on Eurodragster.com News at least until we hear from SCR.
We would like to say a big Thank You to everyone who has sent or posted congratulations on the Speedgroup Special Award. Very much appreciated
folks.
A number of special awards were presented. The 2015 Eagle Award, for contribution to the sport, was presented
to Rita and Lars-Erik Lindberg for their support of Jonnie and Johan Lindberg's racing efforts in Europe and the
USA. Special Awards were made to Lucas Karlsson, the Wallberg fanily, Micke Gullqvist, the organising Clubs of EDRS
rounds, Safety Group Sweden, Jonnie Lindberg and to Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog who would like to say a
big Thank You to Speedgroup for the Award and the invitation, to the racers for giving us something to write about,
to the race officials, Clubs and promoters for facilities, to our readers for coming back daily, to our sponsors
without whom we couldn't do this, and most importantly to colleagues Simon, Kirstie and Julian whose award this also
is.
One of the day's other surprises was discovering former Top Fuel Dragster racer and now Speedgroup CEO
Pelle Lindelöw on bass in the band which played for dancing after the ceremony. A long day precluded
your News Editor's presence at at the end of the evening so we don't know whether Pelle trashed his guitar
to close the performance. From our prior dealings with Pelle we guess not.
After the sudden death of Robert Joosten, the founder, driving force and driver of Pro Dutch Racing, there was of course the question of the team's future.
The team have decided unanimously to continue next season and starting in Easter 2016 the Pro Dutch Racing Plymouth Barracuda will be driven by Michel Tooren,
a team member since 2008.
A spokesman for the team said "We had to think of a way forward for the Pro Dutch team. As well as the enormous grief there was a feeling that Pro Dutch Racing should
not die with Robert. We wanted to continue with the team which Robert brought together and held together. It is a strange feeling to pick up the thread again without Robert.
We still miss Robert every day and that absence will always be felt, but it is also a good idea to do this in his memory."
Obviously one of the most important questions was who would follow in Robert's footsteps as the new driver. Who had the same desire and passion? The answer was
team member and sponsor Michel Tooren. Michel and his brother have run RBC Complete Safety since 2008 and he is an active member of the Pro Dutch Racing team.
For example, he was responsible for the clutch. "I've always had the passion and a secret dream to drive myself", said Michel. "A few years ago there were concrete plans,
but because so many hours of work needed to be put in to the new Pro Dutch Racing '71 Plymouth Barracuda the plans were put on the back burner."
Because you can't just step out from crewing and drive, especially when it comes to a 3500 hp Pro Modified, Pro Dutch Racing's preparations for the new season have already
started. The season will begin at the Pro Peak Performance Day before the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway in March where Michel will make his licence passes for
admission to the Pro Modified game.
Web site updates. 27th November: When you want to improve your performance you can either make changes to your Championship-winning bike or you can buy
a state-of-the-art new ride, and that's just what Sweden's twice EDRS Pro Nordic Super Street Bike Champion Björn Friström did. Björn went to the USA to
make his first runs on his new bike, an experience he will never forget and one which scared him a bit. Again courtesy of our good buddy Remco Scheelings you can read more
on the EDRS Pro web site at www.edrspro.com.
One of the undoubted highlights of the recent Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway was the appearance of Robin Read's nitro-burning
Daimler-powered dragster. If you weren't there, or if you were there and would like to see it again, then we have posted a YouTube video
of Robin's second run of the day as seen by our Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam. The video clip is available in standard
and High Def and can be viewed by clicking here or by clicking on
the image at right. You can also check out a video of Bob Hawkins' fire burnout at the Flame and Thunder Show by
clicking here. A video of Liam Jones' second Top Fuel Dragster
pass will follow shortly.
The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with shots from the Public Track Weekend and Super Gamblers at Shakespeare County Raceway on
11th October. You can take a look at Mad's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Further to Wednesday's Swift Snippet, Santa Pod Raceway's Black Friday offer includes 50%
off tickets to and mid-track VIP at the 2016 Festival of Power. Offers open at 09:00 today (Friday) and you can do your Christmas
shopping at www.santapodshop.com and
www.eticketing.co.uk.
Phelps' thanks. 25th November:British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
member Roy Phelps was interviewed on Saturday morning by Tracy Hrudka of the Quarter Mile Foundation, but he got in touch to explain that he
was unable to attend the BDRHoF Gala Dinner in the evening:
"I'd like to thank all those who came and said hello following the filming session first thing Saturday morning", says Roy. "Having started
out at five thirty in the morning I just ran out of steam by four o'clock in the afternoon, and with a heart operation pending first thing on
Monday morning I could not see myself lasting the night out. But I appreciate how high standard an event the Gala was. Many thanks to all
concerned and I look forward to next year.
"I'm pleased to say that all seems to be well following the heart procedure, thank you to all of the well wishers."
We're sure that everyone will join Kirstie, Simon, Julian and Tog in wishing Roy a rapid continued recovery.
UK Top Sportsman solos in 2016. 25th November: UK Top Sportsman organiser Paul Marston writes that next year's already-announced UK Top Sportsman date
will be the only such event in 2016 and that UK Top Dragster will not be run:
July's UK Top Sportsman date, at the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway, will go ahead as planned and we are all very much looking forward to it. The BWM Scooter and Ska
Festival does not appear on Santa Pod's calendar next year and we have been working hard with James Forster to find an alternative date for UK Top Dragster
but to no avail. The organisers of UK
Top Sportsman would like to express our sincere gratitude to James for all of his hard work trying to secure us another date in Santa Pod's schedule which is already packed to
bursting point.
I am very grateful to Santa Pod Raceway for allowing us to run the events at their track. Thankfully we still have the Mopar EuroNats at which we can run UK Top Sportsman, a
big Thank You for the Mopar EuroNats Committee for hosting us in 2016. I am desperately sorry to all the UK Top Dragster teams. Both James and I tried our hardest to find a
date, but in the end we could not manage it. Hopefully 2017 might be different.
A huge Thank You also to all of the competitors and business partners who have supported us and continue to do so. Let's make the Mopar EuroNats the best it can be.
Swift snippets. 25th November: If you are starting to think of Christmas presents for the drag racing fan in your life, or indeed for
yourself, then Santa Pod Raceway are holding a Black Friday sale this Friday (27th). Santa Pod say that it's their biggest ever on-line
sale with up to 40% discounts. You will be able to place your orders at www.santapodshop.com
and don't forget that Early Bird discounts are already available on tickets for next season's events at
www.eticketing.co.uk.
Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA - Global, accepted the award during a ceremony at the Savill Court Hotel.
In his remarks, Pietro paid tribute to Tom Hoover, recognised as the "Father of the 426 Hemi", for the role he played in the development
of the legendary Mopar engine. Tom passed away earlier this year at the age of eighty five.
"It was an honour and a privilege to receive this important award in recognition of an engine that still means so much not just to our company
and to Mopar, but to the entire drag racing community" said Pietro. "The spirit of performance and passion that inspired people like Tom Hoover
to bring the Hemi engine to life still powers and inspires the Mopar brand to this day."
"The 2015 BDRHoF ceremony was made even more special with the honour of presenting the Global Achievement Award to Mopar and Pietro
Gorlier" said Stu Bradbury, Chairman of the BDRHoF. "More than an engine, the Hemi is an icon, one brought originally to the drag strip by Mopar
and then adopted for the streets. We are proud to recognise the legendary motor that still fuels drag racers and performance lovers around the world."
Donna Garlits, daughter of living legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, who helped cement the Mopar Hemi V8 engine's successful reputation at the drag
strip, represented the Garlits family in presenting the Global Achievement Award to Pietro.
Mopar's commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer
Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in Hemi-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In
1964, Don's Swamp Rat 8 featured the then-new 426 cubic inch Hemi engine.
In 2014, Mopar celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of the GEN III 426 race Hemi engine. Mopar continues to honour its roots by
being a proud supporter of amateur racing within the NHRA with its sponsorship of the Mopar Hemi Challenge and Mopar Tom Hoover Sportsman
Award, which recognises the top Mopar Sportsman racer in honour of the "Father of the 426 Hemi."
A little bench racing. 23rd November: Regular readers will know that one of the side attractions of the weekend's British Drag Racing Hall of
Fame Gala Dinner was a Bench Racing session featuring a number of the event's special guests. The session was introduced by Tracy Hrudka of
the Quarter Mile Foundation and moderated by announcer and web site editor Jack Korpela.
On the panel were Fred Larsen of the Sundance Kid team - Norway's first drag
racing team - 'Waterbed' Fred Miller of the Blue Max Funny Car team, longtime Funny Car racer and 1989 NHRA Winston Funny Car Champion Bruce Larson who
now runs a Nostalgia FC, NHRA Nostalgia Series administrator Eileen Daniels, Rat Trap Fuel Altered pilot Ron Hope, Bob Muravez who drove the
twin-motor Freight Train slingshot, and a strangely mute Floyd Lippencotte Jr. Don Garlits and Larry McBride were scheduled to attend
but were unable to make it.
The session was recorded for later release (Skipchat says YouTube - Ed) but in the meantime, for those who were not there, here is a
report of the session.
Questions were open to the floor and the panel members were asked what it meant to them to be in England and attending the Hall of Fame
Gala.
Fred Larsen: "It is special to be here with the guys we looked up to, I feel very humble. We started in 1972 and these guys had already been
racing a long time."
Waterbed Fred: "I was kind of taken aback. I am representing Ray Beadle and I wish he was here. It's wonderful to be here and to be here with
Bruce Larson who was there at the start."
Bruce Larson: "It is an honour and a privilege. Your culture is enchanting. I hope to get back here and drive a race car down the track."
Eileen Daniels: "It is such a great honour. All the people are awesome. I hope to come back here and see Bruce drive down the track. I am thrilled
to be here, tonight's event is going to be awesome. I'm having a ball."
Ron Hope: "It is humbling to be here with people I've looked up to. It is great to be a part of the sport. I have a lot of great friends here, I
have had the pleasure or racing here and hopefully again next year. Motorsport has taken me to places I can only dream of."
Bob Muravez: "I have been coming here for thirty years, as I have extended family here. I was really taken aback to be invited. We never raced
here, we planned to but it never happened. I told Fred Miller I had firesuits older than him. I am truly honoured to be here."
Waterbed Fred, who quickly established himself as a star turn, was asked where 'Waterbed' came from. "I had one of the first water beds",
he said. "It sprung a leak so I pulled it apart and used it as a cover for the Funny Car. Dale Emery started to call me Waterbed Fred".
Waterbed Fred was also asked about the "Headache" story and he explained: "That came from a race when the announcers said that Courtney Force
had a headache. Then Alexis Dejoria had a headache at another race. Every time I listened to it I thought "Did you ever go racing without a headache?".
Garlits' Crew Chief Ron Barrow was firing up the car when he got his hand caught in the blower belt and a finger came off. Ron didn't flinch, put a rag
around his hand, picked up his lost finger and put it in his pocket and ran Garlits. And you say you have a headache? Things have changed I think."
Eileen revealed that NHRA's founder Wally Parks was not averse to the occasional bit of street racing. "Wally is my idol", she said. "One night
Wally said he would take us to the beach after the race. This is the man who came up with the Safety Safari and on the way to the beach he was racing
away from every stop light."
The next question was for Ron Hope who was asked how Rat Trap ended up in a ditch in New Zealand. "Thanks for asking, I was afraid it
wouldn't come up!", he said. "It was an event similar to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. We went to make some noise and to give people the nitro
experience. I was so absorbed in what I was doing that I got to a ninety-degree turn, got off the throttle, the car picked up and got into the grass,
went over. Twice. Then it went into the stream."
The panel members were then asked if they always wanted to be racers.
Fred Larsen: "It started with buying Hot Rod magazine from an airport thirty miles away. I didn't drive at the time so I rode my bike there.
And once you buy one magazine you need to buy the next. We needed to do this even though no-one else in Norway understood what we were doing.
I blame Hot Rod magazine!"
Waterbed Fred: "I could have gone to Vietnam or I could have gone drag racing. I was riding motorcross and I got my start with Bob Riggle who ran a
motocross shop. I met Dale Emery there and he invited me to a race to work with his car. We won the race beating Pat Foster in the Setzer Funny Car
and we thought "This is easy!". I worked with Billy Meyer and I walked into Ed Pink's shop. Ray Beadle and Harry Schmidt had paired up to run the Blue
Max. I asked Dale whether I should join them and he said "You have to do it". I flew to Dallas the next day and the rest is history."
Bruce Larson: "My parents wanted me to get into engineering. I met a guy with a '41 Ford, his dad was an old Hot Rodder. We went street racing, I didn't
drive but rode along. I then bought a '30s Ford and fixed it up and went to the first Safety Safari race in New Jersey in 1954. I never had any aspiration
to do anything else!"
Eileen Daniels: "My husband had a '32 Coupe and did some street racing in Boston. We went to a race in Columbus Ohio and got the bug. We took turns to
drive. Once at Indianapolis I went quicker than my husband and at every stop light on the way home he had people saying "Your wife went quicker than you,
how do you like it?". How many people could take a hobby and turn it into a lifetime career?"
Ron Hope: "The guys I worked with gave me a great start. They were lakes racers and we set some records. My three passions are my family, racing, and my
auction business. I have had an incredible life."
Bob Muravez: "I was born and raised in Burbank. In 1954 my dad asked me what car I would like. I said a 1953 Concept Corvette. I had Betty Grable's 1953
Corvette for my Junior Year in Hugh School. I got a lot of tickets! I joined the famous Road Kings Club and was initiated alongside a guy named Prudhomme.
The Club fielded twenty eight race cars. I worked with Tommy Ivo then teamed up with Don Gay in a BB/Gas dragster. I met John Peters and drove the Freight
Train for more than eighteen hundred passes although if you look at the record books Floyd Lippencotte Jr won more races than Bob Muravez!"
Waterbed Fred was then asked about his experiences racing the Blue Max at Santa Pod Raceway. "Roy Phelps asked us here", he said. "In my
first year with Ray Beadle we had one hundred dates and they were all over the place. We prepared the car and sent it over to England. Harry Schmidt had
just left the team as he was burned out so Ray, his wife and I ran the car. The fans were fantastic and the track was good. Our first pass was 221 miles
per hour. For the next visit we had hired Dale Emery who had raced in England driving the Chadderton and Okazaki Funny Car. I told Dale "All the
car needs is a new clutch and we will be ready to race". We got to Santa Pod and went into one of those big huts and there was an engine block on the
floor, Ray was leaning on an engine block with one foot. We asked "Where is the car?". There was a bare chassis propped up in one corner. We asked "Where
is the engine?" and they said "You're standing on the engine block!". This was a day or two before the race. We didn't go to the hotel, we just worked
on the car with help from Anders Hasselström's crew who helped us overnight. After our last run I changed a few things on the motor, Roy put it in
another car and blew the blower off it in its first burnout, ha!"
The panel members were asked for their career-defining moment.
Fred Larsen: "Mantorp Park and our first final round. The trans broke and all the Norwegian racers and some of the Swedes got together and took it out.
We raced against Kent Persson without a trans and won!"
Waterbed Fred: "The US Nationals against Prudhomme in 1975. Don had won everything in sight and hadn't lost a race that year. We ran against Don in the
final. Backing up from the burnout I saw a thin trail of oil so I lifted the body and tightened up the fitting. Don's Crew Chief Bob Brandt waited for us
and then we beat Don and set the National record. Then Don won every other race that year."
Bruce Larson: "Clinching the World Championship and being invited to have the car inducted into the Smithsonian the next week."
Eileen Daniels: "The whole thing has been a big part of my life. Back in those days we didn't have Top Fuel. When we won our first race we got thirty
dollars and we bought a new trailer with it."
Ron Hope: "Driving a Fuel Altered there are a lot of defining moments! There are no Fuel Altered drivers, only passengers. The California Hot Rod Reunion
when I had the car in the air and on its side and got it back on all four, sorta. That was one of the more exciting times. Most recently being an Honoree
at the Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green."
Bob Muravez: "I got back in the Train in 1967. We knew Marvin Rifchin and he gave us some new M&H tyres. We went to the UDRA race in Long Beach and went
7.31 at 200 miles per hour then we went 205, 206 and 207. That put Freight Train on the map as a dominant car. Last March I was inducted into the
International Drag Racing Hall of Fame."
The panel members were asked their thoughts on the current state of drag racing.
Fred Larsen: "It's fun to watch but too much, it's not what it used to be. I can't enjoy it the way we did before."
Waterbed Fred: "Bruce and I raced with people like Jungle Jim, Snake and Mongoose. It's all money now. Today Daddy can take you to Hawley's and get you
a licence. It's not like when you came up through the ranks. It's so money-oriented it's ridiculous."
Bruce Larson: "Racers will be racers and want to win no matter what. They stretch the rules and cheat to win. The sanctioning bodies change the rules
and it's out of control money-wise. You don't see youth getting involved. It's up to the sanctioning bodies to keep it under control and they haven't."
Eileen Daniels: "We have to have something to bring the youth through."
Ron Hope: "My concern is that when I was growing up if you saved your money you could race and it was more affordable. Corporate money has come through
but it has ruined the sport. The cars are rolling sign boards, Nostalgia cars can have personalities. The cost of entry into the sport is so large we
see declining entry. Nostalgia racing gets big crowds, National events have empty stands. The sport is in danger of disintegrating."
Bob Muravez: "Nostalgia racing is going up, National racing is going down. We need changes made to get more competition for the Forces and the Schumachers.
In my day you could get a few guys together and go racing. Get back to 1320, slow the cars down, there is stuff they haven't tried."
Bruce Larson: "Nostalgia racing may get out of control, the racers are stretching the rules. At the end of the day they're not making any money."
Bob Muravez: "We were just a bunch of test pilots. Nowadays you can buy good parts and that's a good thing."
Ron Hope: "We're in our twentieth year with the Fuel Altered. Nostalgia racing is more close-knit. We all want to win but we'll help each other with
anything. We had ten Fuel Altereds at the California Hot Rod Reunion last month. We ate together every evening. That's something we need to preserve."
Fred Larsen: "How can this go on when the stands aren't full. I watch Nostalgia Top Fuel and I think it's gone too far."
Waterbed Fred: "Somewhere down the line we've lost something. We were in the entertainment industry. Look at Jungle Jim - he won one event but he was the
most popular racer out there."
Bruce Larson: "Think about what's been said here and try to preserve it."
The Bench Racing session was sponsored by Beech Underwriting Agencies, US Automotive and Julie Braskett to whom many thanks.
Stay tuned and when the video of the session is made available we will bring you details.
Web site updates. 23rd November: Following on from Garry Willy's great reports from the Californian Hot Rod Reunion, Chris Eyre of the Eurodragpics web site was
very pleased to hear from the man himself, Tony Betts. Tony explained what running at the CHRR was like from his perspective, described his past endeavours in drag
racing for those who don't know, and also hinted at the future for Team Venom! "Congratulations to Tony (and Steve and Colin) for running at Bakersfield and living their dream",
says Chris. You can check out Tony Betts' thoughts at
euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com.
Feature: Street Car Super Nats gallery. 22nd November: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products is Mathias Schneider's gallery from
the Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas.
You can check out Mathias' shots by
clicking
here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.
John Hackney, known as a former bike racer and crew member of Santa Pod Raceway's Two Seat Dragster, is competing in two classes in his
borrowed 2015 Camaro: Non Electronics and Open Comp. Qualifying in both classes goes by RT and John is up to his game sitting sixteenth in the sixty three-car
Open Comp field and eleventh in Non Electronics. John raced here before in a Ford Mustang GT and he says that the Camaro is much more consistent which
of course will be important on race day.
John is here not only with his wife but also with UK 8.50 bike racer Joe Elliott. Joe is racing in a VW New Beetle and he is "Little But Quick" in
Las Vegas as well. In fact his stock Beetle has run better ETs than John's Camaro so far. "We are just having fun", said Joe. "It is my first time racing on
four wheels. Racing here basically is only fifty dollars more than a weekend spectator ticket. Joe is competing in Non Electronics and so far he is thirty fourth
with one more shot today.
Mathias has also kindly sent us a large gallery from Las Vegas which we shall post as soon as we can - right now we are attending the British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame Gala Dinner.
2016 ACU Affiliation Codes. 21st November: Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club has been in touch to advise UK bike racers that 2016 ACU Affiliation
Codes, which are required for 2016 ACU licence applications, are now available from their respective Clubs. 2016 ACU licence applications are open but please note that you
must be a current member of your Club for the code to be issued.
If you have any queries then please contact Ian at [email protected] or call 01933 313625.
Web site updates. 21st November: Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Kalle Lyrén's dream of racing in the USA came true when he participated in the final two rounds of
the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series in Las Vegas and Pomona. Although the 2014 EDRS Pro Nordic MC Champion did not qualify in the largest and most competitive Pro Stock Motorcycle field
in more than a decade he came close at Pomona, made his first ever six-second pass, and reset his Personal Best speed. "Of course, as a racer you always want to do better and qualify, but the
experience and everything we learned is worth so much more" said Kalle. You can find out more in Remco's latest article on the EDRS Pro web site at
www.edrspro.com.
Another Lindberg #1 plate. 21st November: Sweden's Jonnie Lindberg, the 2013 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion, became the first European driver in history to
win an NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series title when he clinched the Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona. The twenty six-year-old driver and
tuner of the Landmeco Chevrolet Monte Carlo captured the season-long prize with a victory over Mickey Ferro in the semi-final round.
"To win the European Championship was big, but this was huge", said Jonnie. "The Swedish media never covered drag racing when I won the European Championship, but now I've been
in Swedish newspapers and television and stuff. It's hard for me to understand how huge it is because I'm in it. It's a great feeling. Now I want to do it again. I want to go faster and win more
races. I'm looking forward to next year."
Jonnie scored his first career NHRA win at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona at the start of the season and broke the class' 5.3-second and 270 mph barriers when he won the NHRA Four-Wide
Nationals in Charlotte in March. Jonnie still holds the national ET record at 5.361 seconds and raced the driver who took away his speed record, John Lombardo Jr, in the Pomona final
last weekend. Jonnie ran quicker and was in the lead at the thousand-foot increment, but John went past him to win on a 5.445 to 5.439 holeshot by a margin of only .002-second. It was the
quickest side-by-side race in Top Alcohol Funny Car history.
"It didn't matter so much at the time that I lost, but now it would have been nice to end the season with a win", said Jonnie. "I'm happy with the car. The old Monte Carlo body is going good with
ET – now we just need to get some more speed in it. It always feels bad when you lose on a holeshot, and it's frustrating when you have a good light like a .036 and still lose that way. We'll put
a new Camaro body on it next year, and I still have a few aces up my sleeve to try to get the speed record back."
Last season Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Steve Harker, who was born in Australia, became the first non-native North American to win a title in any Mello Yello or Lucas Oil category. One year
later, Lindberg is the first driver from Europe to do the same and the first to score titles in both NHRA and FIA. The weight of the achievement is still sinking into Jonnie. "It feels pretty good", he
said. "You are still smiling when you wake up in the morning. Now it's a real World Championship. It's not only Americans and Canadians. It's fun. Hopefully, we get even more drivers from
outside the US to come race with the best of the best. It makes it more exciting."
Jonnie's season had its ups and downs. Though the ten events on his scorecard did not include as many event wins as he had hoped, his performance carried him to enough late-round finishes
to amass the highest points total in the category in a season where there were twelve different winners at sixteen national events. "The car was good, but we had some parts failures, and I made
some bad tuning decisions that made us spin the tyres or shake", said Jonnie. "We're learning more and more. We're getting better at every race. I think that showed in Pomona when I tried to
stay focused and do my very best. All of the runs were in the mid-.40s except for when I shook against Sean Bellemeur. I went for consistency, and it paid off.
"Big thanks to Karsten Andersen that owns Landmeco. He's a big part of the team right now. He told me he wanted ten Championships before he retired, and he won nine Championships as one
of the most successful Top Fuel team owners in Europe. Now he won ten times. He sent a text to me that says now he's looking forward to eleven times. Thomas Nataas from Norway drove
those cars, and he helps sponsor me, too. It's really cool that racers from Europe believed in me to win the Championship, and I hope they are happy with how our season turned out."
Jonnie is excited to carry the number one and to once again fly the blue-and-yellow Swedish flag across the United States for his title defence in the 2016 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
beginning in February.
Lindberg Bros Motorsports extends its gratitude to supporters Landmeco, Oslo Tapet & Gulvbelegg AS, Manton Pushrods and Rockerarms, Manley Performance valves, Noonan Race Engineering
Cylinder Heads, Leanders Clutches, Composite Specialties Injector Hats, Bullet Cams, Jan-Cen, Red Line Oil, XRP, Kjelland Transport, CPI, Total Projekt, Geoveta, Scania, BST, Fastec, VSM,
Scandrock, and Birka Motorrenoveringar.
To mark the event Avril and Phil attended Wellingborough Register Office to renew their wedding vows and to exchange wedding bands -
carbon fibre of course! The weather was perfect and it was a great day and evening for everyone.
It was a pleasure and an honour to be invited to share that special moment with Avril and Phil, who also run the pit lanes for UK Top Sportsman.
On behalf of everyone at Paul Marston Racing we wish our friends Avril and Phil and their family all the very best, and we look forward to seeing
them back in their day jobs in 2016!
We're sure that all of our readers will join Kirstie, Simon, Julian and Tog in sending congratulations to Avril and Phil on their Ruby Wedding
and our hopes for many more anniversaries.
Lindberg's historic NHRA title. 16th November: Huge congratulations to Sweden's Jonnie Lindberg, team and family on a historic NHRA Lucas Oil
Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship. A hard-fought season with event wins and new bests came down to a single-point lead going into the
Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona. Jonnie didn't have it all his own way to begin with; qualifying ended up very close, title rival Annie
Whiteley was never going to give in easily, and John Lombardo was close enough to step in if either faltered. With a second-round exit for
Annie it came down to Jonnie winning his semi or, if not, then waiting to see if John went all the way.
With not a foot wrong in the semi-final against Micky Ferro Jonnie took the 2015 NHRA Lucas Oil title with a round to spare. Although
not the first European to show the Americans how it's done - that list is quite long - Jonnie is the first European to win an NHRA
National Championship. The celebrations will likely last until the defence of his title starts next February and rightly so.
You can read more on the Lindberg Brothers' web site at www.lindbergbros.com
or on their Facebook page (and a big Well Done to Patrik Larsson for the lightning-quick updates - Ed). Full results are available
on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Kalle Lyrén and his crew were very focused during the warm-up for Q1. Kalle and Robert Karlsson are sharing pit space, and the goal for both riders is to qualify
from the twenty eight-bike field. "Once you are in the the show, anything can happen" said Robert. Kalle did well in Q1 with 6.98 when he ran alongside Robert who put a 7.10 on the scoreboard.
In Q2 both Swedes were lined-up next to each other again. Kalle's bike broke about 300 feet out and came down pretty hard, losing some parts. Robert ran a 7.02 but had huge problems getting
the bike stopped on the short Pomona run off. He hit the sand traps pretty hard at a rather high speed.
Top Alcohol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja is in a very good mood. "We want to win the whole thing", he joked. The Maltese team seems pretty happy being in Pomona. "It is the first time here for
us, so we will see what we can do" said Manty. A solid 5.33 put him in tenth place. Fred Hanssen had problems yesterday when the ignition went back on after he shut off which resulted in a lifted
blower and a lot of work for the team. "I just want to put down some runs", said Fred. "After almost two years I just need some practice again". After day two Fred is twenty fourth with a 6.13; in Q2 he had
to shut off the car seconds after starting .
Ulf Leanders had his hands full with his Top Alcohol Funny Car in Q2. Shake and a pedal left him with a 5.87 for eighteenth place. The Leaders Brothers are also helping out other US teams with their
clutch set-up this weekend. Jonnie Lindberg is leading in Top Alcohol points with one point coming into Pomona. Three cars can still win the Championship. "Of course we are trying to go for number
one in qualifying", said Jonnie, "we always do. We hope to run a low 5.40 in Q2. But consistency is most important this weekend". Jonnie went for it and after a brilliant 5.46, low ET of that round, Jonnie ended
up in the kitty litter after having braking problems. Rob Turner managed to improve his time to a 6.50. The run wasn't trouble-free but a good baseline for the final qualifying run today. Rob currently
sits in twentieth.
After suffering severe damage in Vegas last weekend, Colin Millar's Flyin' Fyfer sits in the exhibition area alongside legends such as Shirley Muldowney, Tommy Ivo and many other well-known
cars. Meanwhile Colin is easily visible flying the Scottish flag in the stands and having a good time.
Mathias also sent us a large gallery from Pomona which we are pleased to present in association with
Lucas Oil Products which you can check out by
clicking here or by clicking on the Features,
Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Jonnie Lindberg, Ulf Leanders and Rob Turner are representing Europe in Top Alcohol Funny Car, Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Cosmo Residences Manty Bugeja and Fred Hanssen in Top Alcohol Dragster,
Kalle Lyrén and Robert Karlsson in Pro Stock Motorcycle and Markus Svensson in Stock Eliminator. Good luck and stay safe all. Qualifying
concludes and Top Alcohol eliminations commence today (Saturday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of Drag Race Central at
www.dragracecentral.com. Good luck and stay safe also to the UK's Chris
Hannam who is racing his new Supertwin at the Manufacturers Cup Finals at Valdosta - you will be able to stay in touch with Cannon's progress and watch a live
stream at Dragbike.com - and to Sweden's Adam Flamholc who is contesting the World Street Nationals XXII
at Orlando Speed World; you can find out more at www.raceosw.com/dragway or on the Flamholc / MMR
Motorsports Facebook page.
Webb's world best. 12th November: One of the annual traditions at the end of the season is a European invasion of USA race tracks, most usually
in Bakersfield, Las Vegas and Pomona. UK Super Comp (Nominally - Ed) racer Richie Webb was one of those packing his firesuit as he headed
to Los Angeles after the UK National Finals to race Version 1 of his wild VW Beetle Cabriolet:
Last winter I freshened up the engine and made some changes to the car, and I was eager to see how they worked. The first stop was Las Vegas where I ran in a class called Unlimited
Street - similar to our Street Eliminator but no fuel restriction. I and all of the other racers completed the approximately twenty four-mile drive on the streets and freeways around Las Vegas
without problems.
Race day was not so good with a small fire as the cylinder head was torched on the first pass. Undeterred I proceeded to do what anyone else would: strip it all down in the hotel car park
and send it out to be repaired! This was duly completed and next we attended the final day of Hot Rod Drag Weekend at Fontana were there was a Test and Tune lane open. This time the
car made it to fourth gear before it was obvious that something was wrong and I shut the motor off coasting to the end. The timing ticket did give some inspiration though with the eighth mile
time of 5.83/120 being well over a tenth quicker than it had ever run.
Once again the engine was removed and all checked over and the conclusion was that the new Super Duty head studs were junk, allowing the heads to come loose. So I installed some new,
reliable yet cheaper versions from Scat which I have used successfully in the past, and back together went the engine in time for the last Test and Tune of the year again at Fontana again.
In the first pass the car did what it always loves to do, a big wheelstand, and I missed second gear so just cruised it up track. Minor changes were made and we went to try again, this time
it worked perfectly and I ran a new record 8.95/158 which is the first sub nine-second pass in the world by an Aircooled VW with no wheelie bars. It still has stock VW suspension and is fully
street-legal as well! You can see a video of the pass at www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVtjQQcIoFg.
Unfortunately the car has no parachute so I was not allowed to run again until a chute is fitted, so that was the end of this winter's exploits.
Lindberg's title shot. 12th November: Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jonnie Lindberg has all he can ask for. With the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season
coming to an end at this weekend's Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, the twenty six-year-old driver and tuner from Upplands Vasby, Sweden, controls his own destiny with a one-point lead
over Annie Whiteley in the Lucas Oil standings.
Four drivers have a chance at the title including Jonnie; Annie, John Lombardo Jr., and Doug Gordon. The points system takes a driver's best seven-of-ten National event finishes and best
three-of-five Regional finishes. For that reason, Annie would assume the points lead by winning the first round since she is replacing a first-round loss. Rather than play out the scenarios,
Jonnie is focused on winning the event which would award him the season-long prize regardless of what his competitors do.
"I need to go one round more than Annie Whiteley", said Jonnie. "Lombardo and Gordon are hunting behind me, too. I need to go to the semis to gain eleven more points, but I think I really need
to win the race to make sure I win. I'll do my best as always."
Furthering Jonnie's cause is a return to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona where he looked dominant during his first career NHRA win during the Circle K NHRA Winternationals in February.
"The car ran perfect in February", Jonnie recalled. "The car ran perfect for this track. Hopefully I can go even faster since I have more experience now than I did in February. It's going to be a fast
field, of course, because everyone has stepped up this year. I'm pretty confident that our car is going to work perfect this weekend. We checked everything with all the electronics before this
weekend. I hope for some more luck this weekend, too."
Electrical issues had plagued the Landmeco-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo during Jonnie's recent efforts in Las Vegas. He was able to reach the semi-finals at the NHRA Toyota Nationals
and take the points lead despite battling ignition issues and subsequent misfires. He had no such luck at the West Region event held at the same track the following week, though. After running
a brilliant 5.47 during testing prior to the event, he was unable to qualify for the eight-car field. "It was a little frustrating to not qualify for the first time since I brought the car over to Pomona in 2013",
said Jonnie. "If I won the race, I would have won the Central Region, so that was a little upsetting. It's still better it happened there than first round this weekend."
Jonnie is delighted to be in a position to close in on a title following an up-and-down campaign that featured major highlights and lessons learned along the way. His first win in Pomona and another
victory in Charlotte while breaking the class' 5.3-second and 270 mph barriers are the high marks. A win at the Central Region event in Noble, Oklahoma, in October also boosted his title hopes. A
record that includes several runner-up and semifinal finishes have put Jonnie in a strong position, and the experience gained after a season of racing all over the United States has taught him lessons
that will help him convert more of those late-round finishes into victories.
"We learned a lot this year", said Jonnie. "Now we know more about how the tracks change and how to change the car. We try to make it more consistent. We've had ups and down with a couple
of motor failures and parts failures. We haven't had a great year because we only had two National wins and one regional win – it feels like you should have more wins if you're the points leader – but
we have a chance to win the title."
Regarding the title, the 2013 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car champion knows what it would mean but is trying to remain focused on the task at hand rather than getting caught up in it.
"It would mean the world", said Jonnie. "We won the European Championship in 2013, and that was big. I think this would be ten times bigger, but I don't want to think about it too much and make
myself nervous. We're going to take it one run at a time, and hopefully by the end of the weekend we will be winners. This weekend is going to be crazy with so many Swedes coming to Pomona.
It's pretty cool that all of them are in the grandstands supporting us. This weekend is going to be a full-house team. We're probably going to have nine people. Everyone who has helped us this year
will be flying over. I have a good feeling. I have a good team behind me, and I think it will be good if I play my cards right."
Lindberg Bros. Motorsports extends its gratitude to supporters Landmeco, Oslo Tapet & Gulvbelegg AS, Manton Pushrods and Rockerarms, Manley Performance valves, Noonan Race Engineering
Cylinder Heads, Leanders Clutches, Composite Specialties injector hats, Bullet Cams, Jan-Cen, Red Line Oil, XRP, Kjelland Transport, CPI, Total Projekt, Geoveta, Scania, BST, Fastec, VSM,
Scandrock, and Birka Motorrenoveringar.
As well as Jonnie, Ulf Leanders and Rob Turner will be representing Europe in Top Alcohol Funny Car, Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Cosmo Residences and Manty Bugeja in Top Alcohol Dragster, Kalle Lyrén and Robert Karlsson in Pro Stock
Motorcycle and Markus Svensson in Stock Eliminator. Good luck and stay safe all. Qualifying commences today (Thursday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress
courtesy of Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. Good luck and stay safe also to the UK's Chris
Hannam who is racing his new Supertwin at the Manufacturers Cup Finals at Valdosta - you will be able to stay in touch with Cannon's progress and watch a live
stream at Dragbike.com - and to Sweden's Adam Flamholc who is contesting the World Street Nationals XXII
at Orlando Speed World; you can find out more at www.raceosw.com/dragway or on the Flamholc / MMR
Motorsports Facebook page.
Top Sportsman rumour central. 12th November: With the UK season officially over, the midnight oil is already burning bright, deals are being done, cars bought and engines built and imported
for UK Top Sportsman in 2016. Paul Marston collates the rumours:
Of course a lot of the information we have learned is classified under the Competitor Confidentiality clause. But without naming names or giving the game away in any way, what I can tell
you is this. You might have looked at the Mopar Euronationals entry in 2015 and thought that there were a lot of fast doorslammers entered. It had all the signs of being a real slugfest, with
more seven-second players than you could count on both hands, yes you really would have to take off your socks to count them all! Details are very sketchy but the source is not known to
exaggerate, so I can tell you that in addition to those entries, I predict that there will be two more brand new very fast turbo cars coming. Both will be very capable, coming from good teams
who know what they are doing.
In addition, so I have been told, in 2016 there will another two new cars débuted with monster cube motors. I can also tell you without naming names that at least five previous
competitors will be or are already upgrading from what they had last year to another level for 2016.
This is what we have been told, and in a lot of cases know as fact, and we are only in November! There are eight months still to go until UK Top Sportsman goes live at the Mopar Euronationals.
Please don't forget the second UK Top Sportsman Drag Racing show on Motors TV next week, the first showing is at 20:00 on Monday. If you missed the first show it is still being repeated this
week, check programme guides for times.
Once again a massive thank you to everyone involved. The competitors and their hard-working crews in UK Top Sportsman and UK Top Dragster, our business partners and sponsors for believing
in hard-core Sportsman racing, the fantastic UK Top Sportsman pit crew, the Mopar Euronationals committee, Santa Pod Raceway management and the hardest-working startline and track crew
we know, Zeon TV for making you everyone look so good and Eurodragster.com for doing so much for us and the whole sport of drag racing (Thanks! You're welcome - Ed).
More UK Top Sportsman news to follow shortly, stay tuned to Eurodragster.com.
Web site updates. 12th November: The latest update to The Mad Welshman's Flickr site features two albums from the end-September
Public Track Day / FWD Shootout at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check it out at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Feature: LVMS LODRS gallery. 11th November: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products is Simon's gallery from
the weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at The Strip at Las Vegas.
You can check out Simon's shots by
clicking
here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.
Cannon's angry new ride. 11th November: Not only is a large contingent of fans headed for Pomona this weekend but
also to South Georgia Motorsports Park at Valdosta where the final round of the Manufacturers Cup will be taking
place. Amongst the participants they will be cheering on will be the UK's Chris Hannam with his new Supertwin.
Cannon writes:
2015 has been a busy year for the team and as we travel to the USA we are ready to go for our next assault on the six-second zone, which has proven
somewhat elusive since my four-cylinder fuel bike in 2004. We have been great with the short numbers with our UK blown nitro Supertwin and we
are still working on upgrades to sort our back half numbers to net a six-second pass. This has not proven an easy task with work commitments holding
up new development parts so in February 2015, and after long discussions, the decision was made to purchase a state-of-the-art brand new injected fuel
Harley from Johnny Vickers at Hawaya Racing.
The bike was ready to test at the August Manufacturers Cup race in Rockingham NC, where we started to work out how to set up a new fuel Harley
for a rider my size. Needless to say there were some issues, some with me and some with the bike, having had a great test the week before Rockingham
on the blown bike at Santa Pod I was full of beans and ready to hit the ground running but this was not the case. We got the bike ready to test and went
to fire up and I looked round to see the mass of riders and crew all coming out to watch. No problem, I've raced at the Pod in front of thousands. Ha!
Not this time as having Larry and Steve McBride, Mike Dryden, Sam Wills and crew plus the full USA media it felt like the whole pits were there to
watch this so I just had to suck it up and get on with it.
After a great burnout I was in stage thinking "What am I doing, this thing sounds very angry". I hit it hard and it felt the tyre turn so I shut off and coasted
down the track, not the best start but it was a brand new bike and I was still coming to terms and feeling comfortable on it. The weekend went well and
we identified lots of areas for change for our next attempt to help get us down the track at the Finals.
After the test at Rockingham the team flew home and the bike went back to Hawaya Racing for upgrades in readiness for this weekend's race.
We are now flying out and should arrive in Valdosta tonight so that so we can hit the ground running in testing on Thursday. With drag racing we never
know if it's going to be a good or a bad race so here's hoping for a bit of luck and that the new upgrades work so that we can continue our new race
programme.
If you're at the races call by our pit, and we will update our Facebook page with race updates when we can.
Finally I would like to thank our sponsors for their very valuable support with both our UK and USA efforts: Lucas Oil USA and Europe,
APR, Portable Shade, MRE, Hawaya Racing and Cannon Engineering.
The grass-roots raceway in Devon had a good and successful October event with some great entertainment. The spectators couldn't have seen before such a range of vehicles
running on the all-concrete asphalt-topped quarter mile. Entries included a Fuel Altered, eight-second nitrous dooorslammer, ten-second street cars, Pro Street cars, circuit racers,
Nostalgia Drag Bikes, nine-second street bikes and a good number of street legal cars and bikes.
Saturday 14th November will be the end of season Drag and Drift Day at Dakota Raceway. The Dakota Raceway points series Championships are still all undecided, so it's all going
down to the wire. The drag strip is open to all for unlimited runs whether street legal or full competition vehicles, and there will be trophies up for grabs for different categories. We
have other activities going on too, such as the burnout competition which has trended towards the as the season has progressed with the area getting fogged out.
Also at this event will be our regular Show and Shine with Club stand area, all on hard standing.
New to this event will be our Dakota Deals Swap Meet area which is also on hard standing. There is no extra charge after admission which is £10 per person, under-16s
go free. For regular updates you can find us on Facebook, search for Dakota Raceway Southwest. See you at Dakota Raceway, Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield,
Smeatharpe, Devon EX14 9RF (map).
UK Season Review DVDs released. 9th November: Our good friends Helen Todd and David Coleman at Zeon TV have started to release their 2015 Season Review videos
of various UK classes and events. Anyone who knows anything about drag racing DVDs knows that the Zeon TV name guarantees high quality and with
something for everyone there will be at least one, but probably several, DVDs worth putting under the Tree for the drag racing fan in your life.
The range of DVDs covers the MSA Pro Modified Championship, Hillingdon Speed and Spares APIRA Springspeed Nationals, Dragstalgia,
NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and Hot Rod Drags, Hardcore Street (Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator), Mopar EuroNats and JS Secure Security Solutions
Ltd UK Top Sportsman.
We will as ever publish a review in due course but if you want to get a head start then each DVD is £14.95 plus postage, and several
package deals are available. Take a look or place your orders at
www.quartermilehigh.com. Eagle-eyed readers will
spot that Zeon TV are good judges of a photograph, too.
Lucas Oil TAFC points leader Jonnie Lindberg started the day in fourth with a 5.633 but with seventeen cars going for eight positions, it seemed that
an improvement was necessary to stay in the field. However the tyres shook in session two and Jonnie lifted after about 400 feet. The team were philosophical
at that stage and Johan said "We have good data from testing, it is a question of finding the balance. We can get in the field". In the final session, though,
the ignition problems suffered last weekend reappeared. Jonnie said "We ran 3.65 to half track at 208 mph and it was looking a very good run, we reckon it
would have been a 5.49. But the ignition shut off the engine after four seconds, so I'm not very happy. All we can do before next time is to check every wire
and box. It makes the Championship exciting, but I was hoping to gain up to twenty three points here and now we won't get any so we will carry a one point lead
to Pomona. The car likes Pomona and we did well at the Winternationals."
Rob Turner, whose new pearl wrap looks resplendent under the lights, was able to keep the TAFC in the lane, however tyre shake struck on both runs. Rob
said "Thanks to our team and Bernie and Geoff, we finished the engine by 9:30 pm last night and fired it up this morning. In Q2 I was concentrating on going
straight and let the launch RPM drop. The track is so good, you have to keep the revs well up to avoid shaking the tyres. It is more difficult getting a TAFC
to avoid tyre shake than a blown alcohol dragster where you can salvage the run in many cases. There is less window for tuning it traction-wise". The final
session was the first time Rob had driven the TAFC in darkness. "We are in the left lane and the lighting is good along the track and in the shut down area",
he said. The third and final attempt was also shake-plagued. "I crept into deep stage and had to grab hold of the brake to avoid rolling through the beams",
said Rob. "Although it shook again, it is feeling better every time and we will be putting new slicks on before Pomona."
Top Alcohol Dragster racer Fred Hanssen again suffered tyre spin in Q2 and said that an tyre inner tube was leaking, compounding the problem. "After
the run the new inner tube was measured at 5.5lbs/inch and the other one was 10lbs/in", said Fred. "The car was going to the right like crazy and I had to
shut off. We also have a new Crower clutch and will have to take some weight off it for the final session". A final pass of 5.439/258.32 was enough to put
Fred on the bump spot for most of the session before being edged out by Shawn Cowie's 5.394. Fred said after the final session "The engine lost a spark plug
at one second which cost us 200-300hp. We should have changed everything after storing the car for a year. Comparing the run to the 5.30 from last year this
should have been a quicker run still. So I think we can show them something at Pomona."
The day started very early for 2012 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Manty Bugeja, whose Mr Whippy car arrived with car owner Joe Carrabott at
1:00 am. The team spent most of the rest of the night preparing the car without any sleep and the team were ready to run at 12:30 pm. The bugs started in the burnout
when a fuel line broke leaving a line of fuel along the track and a puddle where the car had come to a halt. A crew member's drastic gesticulation resulted in
the car being quickly sidelined and the clean up was over in a matter of a minute or two. Manty said "We've never had a fuel line break like that before so we
are down to our last chance. It would have been good to get a couple of good runs in before Pomona, where we again only have three qualifying attempts". The
second session produced a better pass of 5.667/255.43 but not quick enough for the eight car field which eventually had a 5.394 bump spot. Manty said "The car
shook so much in the run that a body panel next to the roll cage broke, which will need repairing, and a brand new slick became badly cut."
Eurodragster.com sponsor Mike Manners ran a great 5.312/262.85 which put him second in TAD after Q2. He said "We actually had two cylinders go out, one
after four seconds and a second after five, so I think a 5.2 run is possible. We will step it up but be aware of the conditions as the track will be cooling
off rapidly at around 5pm'. In the final session, like TAFC, only three cars improved and Mike suffered bad tyre shake, enough to shake the top element of the
rear wing off the car. Crew Chief Shane Conway said "We've had worse shake before but the wing didn't like it this time and we will have to use our spare wing.
A/Fuel cars are more susceptible to track conditions, they produce a lot of torque and we need to maintain wheel speed without spinning them, or cylinders will
go out. The cars don't like track temperatures less than eighty degrees and it was sixty eight degrees tonight. For this morning it was eighty five to ninety
degrees. We still had good sixty foot times although this evening's 0.919 was with the back wheels at the start."
Good luck to Ulf Leanders and Mike Manners in today's eliminations on Sunday, and to all the other European racers at the NHRA Finals at Pomona next weekend.
You will be able to watch Mike and Ulf in action courtesy of the LVMS TowerCam at
www.ustream.tv/channel/from-the-tower-at-lvms and stay in touch
with their results courtesy of Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com.
Editor's note: Simon's tour of duty in the USA is now finished and I'm sure that everyone will join me in thanking him for his solo hard work
in Bakersfield, SEMA and Las Vegas. Thanks also to Simon for sneaking in the birthday greeting during our small hours and to everyone who sent and posted
birthday greetings yesterday - Tog
Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Ulf Leanders, who was the winner of this event last year, ran a 5.784/259.36 which
placed him eighth which is the bump spot for the meeting. He said "I pedalled it at the start as I felt it going
sideways with tyre shake, but thinking about it now I should have driven through the shake. The mind says one thing
and the reaction is something different". There are sixteen cars going for eight spots so Ulf will be looking to improve
tomorrow.
Fellow Swede Jonnie Lindberg, helped by 2015 FIA Champion and brother Johan, went 5.633/259.86 to go fourth. He
said "The car shook down the track but it is good mechanically and we just need some fine tuning. With the altitude
changes there are a lot of adjustments possible, but it is mainly about getting the fuel system right for the conditions."
In Top Alcohol Dragster, Norwegian Fred Hanssen made his first pass in a year, running a 6.623/232.39. He said
"It feels good to be back in the driving seat as we have only done two races in the last couple of years. The run was
really a long burnout, it spun the tyres all the way down the track in first, second and third gears. The tyres are
really old so we definitely have to change them for tomorrow. There is fortunately no damage. This event is really
about us testing for me rather than the car though. It is important that we come back a little over the event, and my
objective is to regain familiarity with the car."
British ex-pat TAD racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Mike Manners, based in Willis, Texas, ran a 5.505/260.16 in his
A/Fuel car to go number six of fifteen. He said "We will have gone to fifteen races by the end of the season, and it's
getting like a full time job. On that run, the engine was popping like mad backing it up. we had a problem in warming
it and replaced all the plugs, did a leakdown test but couldn't find a problem. On the run a cylinder went out but
actually came back down track, which is unusual. It meant also our speed was almost as good as it was last weekend
when we ran four 5.2s before ending up smoking the tyres in the semi-final. The chutes wouldn't open but it didn't
bother me as the shut down area is long and uphill. The car also has dual caliper brakes and I didn't need to apply
them too hard. Even my parents Christina and Gordon and partner Vanessa Neades weren't worried when they saw the lack
of chutes. We meed to increase the tuning for the first sixty foot which is not quick enough (0.969s - Ed)."
We managed to trace Maltese TAD racer Manty Bugeja with the help of tuner Norm Grimes, who is working with Joey
Severance this weekend. When we spoke, Manty told us he had got the car released from the Long Beach Port Authority
who had impounded it. "There was a missing piece of paper", Manty noted. The car hadn't arrived by the evening but is
expected to arrive in time to run in the first qualifying session tomorrow, subject to approval from NHRA officials
and scrutineers.
Finally Colin Millar, on day twenty four of his epic tour of the US, encountered mechanical problems in his attempt
to qualify for the sixty four-car Top Sportsman field. The first run produced an 8.34 with a single stage of nitrous. He said
"The car ran on seven cylinders and we found a dead plug where the strap on the cover had moved. So we checked all
the plugs and went for a second bottle of nitrous in the second session". Smoke out the back of the car on an 8.16
told the story of mechanical damage and Colin later said "We turned up the wick for the second run but it looks like
a wee bit too much, we have damaged the motor and it looks like it's terminal, will pull it apart in the morning,
but I've been here before and I'm pretty sure of the outcome! We're not down, we're having the time of our life's
with great people and it may be the end of our racing but we're still going to kick the arse out of it until a week
on Tuesday when we go home, and we're still going to Pomona."
Swift snippets. 7th November: UK Pro Modified racer Paula Atkin's Mustang has been put up for sale on our
Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored
Swap Meet. Paula and Stan told Eurodragster.com that they plan
to take some time out, build up the overtime, and return with a new car.
Today is Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog's birthday, and Kirstie, Julian and Simon are sure that all Eurodragster.com readers and Eurodragsterholics will join us in wishing Tog a huge Happy Birthday.
The Chevy-driving Ford specialist. 7th November: Although he drives the Metamorphosis Chevrolet
Camaro in Pro ET, the UK's Mike Lacey is a specialist in Ford Mustangs offering services to Mustang owners through his company
ModUrStang. Mike got in touch to being us up to date with his latest offers for owners of Mustangs and other
American cars including a discount on servicing:
I've been asked so many times "Why run a Camaro when you are a Mustang specialist?". I've just had the car so long, and I can't let it go. One day I will have a Mustang race car,
I promise.
With the release of the 2015 S550 Right Hand Drive Mustang at some of your Ford dealerships this month - the first true RHD Mustang ever produced - I felt it was the right time
to let you all know that Modurstang will be continuing with our unparalleled service and experience with this new model. As the UK's number one Mustang specialist, we offer
everything from a service to a full restoration. We can install superchargers with numbers like 750 hp still retaining total driveability and good fuel economy.
We will soon be taking delivery of the 2016 model which we will be using as an R&D car.
Although we are Mustang specialists we will work on almost any American car. Feel free to give us a call on 01608 678818 to discuss anything with which we can help you.
Modurstang is offering 20% discount on servicing from now until Christmas - call it an early Christmas present. Find us on Facebook or on our web site at
www.modurstang.co.uk.
On a slightly different note I would just like to remind everyone that the Pro ET End of Year Party takes place at the Lansdowne Strand Hotel in Calne, Wiltshire on Saturday
21st November. Tickets are still available at £10 per person and we would love to see you there - all are welcome. You can get it touch through the web site as
mentioned above.
After a short but agressive illness, legendary finnish race official Matti 'Putte' Hämäläinen has passed away.
Matti will be remembered as a respected and very professional race official. He loved cars and especially drag racing. Over thirty years of experience in Finnish motorsport and
volunteer work as a team member in FHRA made him a respected and loved man all over Europe. He also wrote a countless amount of very interesting articles in Finland`s car
magazines.
As a person Matti was fun-loving and helpful. He knew how to keep serious responsibilites and free time separate. He always had time to show or teach you something new and
he was never bothered if he had to explain the same thing all over again.
Matti will be sadly missed by his family, huge amount of close friends, FHRA crew, EDRA crew and everybody who had the privilege to know him.
May you have sunny weather and lots of tyre smoke on your heavenly drag strip now. We are gonna miss you, Putte!
LVMS LODRS pit notes I. 6th November: Simon has been in touch from The Strip at Las Vegas where five European teams are contesting this weekend's
NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series meeting:
This is one of the biggest sportsman events in the calendar, being the regional finals for NHRA's Pacific Division.
UK Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Rob Turner and team made their first racing appearance since the 2013 Euro Finals at last weekend's NHRA
Toyota Nationals at LVMS. He said "We have been planning racing in the US since the end of the 2013 season. We bought our new trailer a year ago,
it is smaller than our UK rig so we have had to throw out a lot of old stuff, a bit like moving house really. We have been helped a lot by TAFC
racer Bernie Harrington who has been doing some of the maintenance and supplying parts. Steve helped Bernie install a Leanders clutch in January
2015 and Bernie's car ran down in the 5.6s after that. But in April Bernie had a serious, old-school type fire and he offered to help us before
he rebuilds. We hope that we can run as a two car team when Bernie rebuilds, but in the meantime he is working with us."
The team shipped the car and parts in a container in August 2015. The container took thirty three days to arrive, and then they got to work setting up.
Rob's first US meeting since 1999 turned out to be more difficult than expected. "I guess I was a bit rusty so we got bit by small errors. We had three
qualifying attempts, in the first I stalled the car in reverse, in the second the car rolled through the beams and in the third it drifted to the centre
and took out some cones. But we didn't hurt anything and I am confident we can run well this weekend and at Pomona."
The team's 2016 plans are yet to be finalised but Rob hopes they will be able to do the first few meetings on the Western side of the US, including the
Pomona and Las Vegas Divisional meetings. In the meantime a return home for the winter break is planned after the NHRA Finals.
TAFC racer Jonnie Lindberg has had a great year and the team are leading the NHRA Top Aocohol Funny Car Championship by a single point. Jonnie
will be collecting additional points this weekend which his main competition, Annie Whiteley, is unable to do as she has already attended her quota of
five regional events. A semi final finish at last weekend's race followed problems with an ignition coil throughout the weekend. Jonnie said "The coil
was losing power and we had help from Per Andersen in replacing it after the second round of eliminations which gave us 200 hp more. Unfortunately we
ended up spinning the tyres in the semi final, but we gained the lead anyhow. In qualifying we had a half second on the rest of the field which was
pleasing. Our test run today was 5.478/264.70, second quickest and a good baseline for this meeting."
Fellow Swede, and supplier of clutches to an increasing proportion of blown alcohol cars is Ulf Leanders. The crew, headed up by brother Jörgen,
has guest member Krister Johansson ("It feels strange working on a car with a supercharger not running on nitro"). The team has raced in nine National events
in 2015 so far but had its second DNQ last weekend after tyre shake problems. Ulf said "We made a lot of changes and we had a issue with the combination
affecting traction between 100 and 250 feet down the track. So we tested on Monday to a 5.64/258 after a couple of launches. We are glad to have Krister's
input for the last three races of the year". A tyre shaking initial pass today was followed by a later attempt in much cooler conditions which produced a
5.635/260.11 as the team heads towards the first qualifying session tomorrow.
Top Alcohol Dragster racer Fred Hanssen is making a return to the track for the first time since the 2014 NHRA Finals, where he qualified fourth
with a 5.30. The 2011 FIA European Champion said "I have sold my fishing boat and am planning to compete in the whole NHRA tour, scoring points at both
National and Divisional races in a bid for the 2016 Championship. The competition is tough but that is the thing which is motivating us. I have help from
noted alcohol tuner Bob Devore and Kurt Kuhns, and plan to make all three qualifiers, one on Friday and two on Saturday. We have a base near Brad Anderson's
store in Pomona as well, although we are hoping we won't be needing many spare parts."
The Flyin' Fyfer team of Colin Millar won a Wally for Best Appearing Crew at last weekend's Toyota Nationals. Colin said "I don't know if a British
team has won a Wally before (Yes, Al O'Connor and Dave Wilson - Ed), but we are really proud of it". Colin is running in Top Sportsman in the LODRS meeting this
weekend, giving him scope to use nitrous. However the first qualifying session planned for late afternoon today was postponed as track officials called the
day at 6:00 pm in rapidly cooling temperatures.
Although Joe Carabott and Manty Bugeja's Mr Whippy TAD entry from Malta was on the entry list for the NHRA Toyota Nationals, the team unfortunately weren't
able to compete at LVMS last weekend due to customs problems bringing the car into the US. Let's hope they make it to Pomona for the Finals.
APIRA, Outlaws Trophy Night. 6th November: Avon Park International Racing Association, Shakespeare County Raceway and Supercharged Outlaws are pleased to announce details of their combined
Championship Trophy Presentation Evening to be held on Saturday 5th March 2016 in the Avon Room of the Hilton Warwick, Stratford Road, Warwick CV34 6RE located on Junction 15 of the M40. The
evening will honour the 2015 APIRA Champions and runners up and APIRA and SCR Perpetual Award winners, together with winners and runners up from the UK Supercharged Outlaws.
The evening will commence at 6:00 pm with pre dinner drinks at the bar followed by a full sit down dinner which will be served at 7:00 pm. The Championship presentation begins at 8:30 pm. There will
be a disco till late provided by Kenny's Bar resident DJ Jamie, along with a raffle during the course of the evening.
Tickets will be £20 per adult and £10 for under-twelves which includes a three-course sit-down meal finished with tea and coffee. A vegetarian option will be available on request but
please tick the box on the booking form. Children's meals will be cheese on toast followed by beefburger served with french fries followed by chocolate pudding. If you wish to book a complete table
for your team or group then please indicate this on the form. Tables seat a maximum of ten.
APIRA have negotiated a preferential rate for rooms in the hotel. These are priced at £91 for a double or £81 for a single. All rates are inclusive of breakfast, car parking and VAT. To book
your room, please call the reservations team on 08008 568000 or visit the website at www.hilton.com/warwick quoting reference
number AWED15. Cut off point for bedrooms on the special rate is twenty eight days prior to arrival.
You can download your booking form (PDF format) from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. Credit card payments can be made by calling 01789 414119 during business hours.
Payments can also be made by BACS; account details can also be found on the booking form. Please note that all booking forms should be returned to the address on the form by 17th February 2016.
If you have any queries then please call 01789 720180, or E-Mail E-Mail
[email protected].
2014 Perpetual Award winners please note that all trophies should be returned to APIRA / SCR as soon as possible please. To make arrangements for return of trophy's please E-Mail Jerry Cookson at
[email protected] or call 01789 720180 during office hours.
2016 UK Top Sportsman I set. 6th November: Paul Marston writes that the first UK Top Sportsman event has been arranged for 2016:
There will be a round of UK Top Sportsman at next year's mighty Mopar Euronationals at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday 29th-Sunday 31st July. This will be our sixth year with UK Top Sportsman
and we once again expect the track action to be fast, merciless and furious as the cream of Europe's Doorslammers fight it out for the richest prize fund in Sportsman racing and the chance
to becoming a member of that very exclusive group, a winner in UK Top Sportsman. We have never had a repeat winner in five years.
There is still a chance that we will be adding a second date to UK Top Sportsman and a date for UK Top Dragster, which débuted at Back With Mods 2015. We are working with Santa
Pod to secure a date for 2016, so stay tuned to Eurodragster.com
Meanwhile we will go with what we know, UK Top Sportsman will be contested at the Mopar Euronationals in 2016, so any marketing partners and sponsors who would like to get involved
with the fastest-growing, no rules other than safety, televised, richest Sportsman Heads-Up and Fast Bracket Doorslammer races in Europe. We are currently looking for companies and
individuals who would like to share in and support UK Top Sportsman at the 2016 Mopar Euronationals. Please contact me on 07831 650230 or E-Mail
[email protected] for options and details of packages available. All enquiries are dealt with in the strictest confidence.
Showing the Modified crowd. 6th November: Ian Turburville writes that his daughter, Super Pro ET racer Laura Turburville, has been flying the flag for drag racing
at a Modified car show:
Laura and Chris of Team Turboville are both big fans of Modified cars and have made some good connections in that scene. One of those is the detailing company Kleen Freaks and the owner
of the company, Michael Crawford, decided that Laura was pretty cool and worthy of support so came along to the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod in May. He was blown away by the whole scene,
loved every minute and after giving the True Blood dragster a complete going over with his fantastic products the car ran its first seven second run! Coincidence, maybe, but it certainly was shiny
enough to slip through the air with more ease and looked dazzling!
The race season is over but the show season had one last big event, the Ultimate Stance Show at Telford International Exhibition Centre, and it was sold out! Michael just had to have the team
there with the new Bad Blood dragster and Wheel Whores - it's their show - agreed, so Bloodlines Racing let Ian and the gang take it to the land of slammed cars. The organisers gave it pride of
place and the show goers loved it. The satin black paint (yes you can use their products over it) and hand signage by Nefarious contrasting against the bling of the polished alloy and chrome set
it apart from the rest of the show cars and it was mobbed all day.
Laura and Chris did a great job of promoting the sport of drag racing and many new friendships were forged that day with promises to attend the races next year to see if the fantastic claims of
speed and power were justified! A shame they couldn't start it but it wouldn't have been able to compete with some of the mega sound which that were being demonstrated! There were a good
few drag racers there and the whole scene was pretty cool, the standard of the five hundred modified cars was awesome to say the least. It seems this is hot-rodding for the youth of twenty first
century Britain and bodes well for the future of customising.
Thanks to the aforementioned companies for the hospitality and to Bloodlines for the use of the car. Thanks also to Central College Nottingham and USAutomotive for the help with building the
car and support for the 2016 season. Now for six months of hibernation until we smell the track prep going down again!
Never to be forgotten. 6th November:British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair
Stu Bradbury writes that although we celebrate fifty years of drag racing at Santa Pod Raceway in 2016, there is one person who made a huge contribution
to the development of drag racing in the UK and Europe who will not be with us to see the milestone:
On this date in 1983, 6th November, Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge made his last ever run at Santa Pod Raceway He was débuting a new Jet Funny Car named 'Midnight
Cowboy' which he built himself. The car made a left hand turn at the top end of the strip running head on into the crash barrier and Allan was killed instantly.
Bootsie was an original, an innovator, a hero to many and great loss to the world of drag racing. To honour his memory, those inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
receive a 'Bootsie', a quality crystal tablet encapsulating an image of Allan, a man who put so much into British drag racing, together with an exclusive gold enamelled
commemorative pin badge. We all miss him.
After that season, we carried on crewing with the McDonald brothers
on their own car, with Steve machining up all manner of parts in his
workshop. A season with Jon Webster driving eventually led to Steve
working for Jon for a while, bringing him into contact with an ever
increasing percentage of the UK drag racing scene. Although we had many
good times over the years, Steve had a passion for railways and one of
my fondest memories was abandoning a snowed out Santa Pod one Easter and
heading back to Steve's house near Northampton where we drove his steam
trains around the track he'd built in his back garden. He'll be missed
by me and by many others in and around our sport. Requiescat in pace,
Steve.
Our deepest sympathies to Steve's family and friends.
Feature: SEMA Show gallery. 4th November: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products is Simon's gallery from
the SEMA Show currently taking place in Las Vegas.
Not only did Simon find a host of very pretty vehicles to photograph but he also encountered a few of our heroes
including one of those rapscallions from Bangshift.com.
You can check out Simon's shots from SEMA by
clicking
here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.
Swift snippets. 4th November: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm for passing us the final bike-class points standings
in the 2015 SPRC Championships. You can check out the SPRC points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by
clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side
of any Eurodragster.com page.
Further to our news item of 22nd October, Brian Taylor tells us that
audience places are still available for the Bench Racing session on the afternoon of the
British Drag
Racing Hall of Fame Gala at the Saville Court Hotel in Windsor on Saturday 21st November. As well as the US and
Swedish stars Brian says that a number of UK drag racing legends will be in the audience ready to add their own war
stories, and that the motor of the Apache Nostalgia Funny Car will also be appearing (Although not
speaking - Ed). Places are free and are available whether or not you are attending the Gala Dinner. The Bench Racing session commences
at 13:00 and you can book your place by contacting Geoff Stilwell at
[email protected] or by calling
Stu Bradbury on 01933 279102.
Thomas Olsen and his Brothers In Arms Racing team did a great job last weekend not only representing their own operation, but also
the sport of drag racing in general, at the Oslo Motor Show, Norway's biggest meeting for motor enthusiasts. The team answered many questions about
their beautiful Pro Stock Motorcycle and the sport of drag racing, and with their enthusiasm they were real ambassadors for the sport and gave many
visitors a first taste of what drag racing really is. You can find out more in Remco Scheelings' latest article on the EDRS Pro web site at
www.edrspro.com.
When 6.91 isn't enough... 4th November: The UK's Robin Read writes that his outing in his nitro-fuelled
Daimler-powered rail at the Flame and Thunder Show was one of those "Best-laid plans of mice and men"
kind of days:
We were happy with what happened, although it wasn't quite what we'd hoped for. My 6.91 was our third quickest ever pass on the car but there were
a couple of things which weren't in the plan.
The first was that for the first run we made the decision to put some extra fuel in the motor by richening the main fuel return. We had also made sure that
the engine was up to the optimum temperature and so would burn the extra fuel and give more power. Due to an on-track incident and subsequent loss
of medical staff the motor cooled down and didn't burn the extra fuel. For the second run we leaned the mixture, but the blower had lost efficiency (should
have rebuilt it) and this also resulted in a rich mixture.
The good thing is that all other aspects of the car were good. The new oil pump and modifications to the lubrication system were just what we expected,
which means that next time out we will run our quickest. It's a tough thing trying to run world records, I guess that's why the queue isn't very
long.
Web site updates. 4th November: Our good buddy Steve Moxley's latest report on the Eat My Ink web site is
of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship classes at the FIA / FIM European Finals. You can check out Steve's
work at www.eatmyink.com.
The dragster is a 245" chassis similar to our own race car but it will be powered by six electric motors. It was commissioned by Drive eO of Latvia who
are determined to have the first electric dragster to run 200 mph. It will be driven by Maris Ozolins who is a three-time drag racing champion in Latvia. The
car will run in the UK and Sweden.
Drive eO have been successfully involved in building electric-powered race cars for a few years now and the proof of their work was at this year's Pike
Peak race where with Rhys Millen driving they had the quickest car of all. That car had 1368 bhp and the dragster will have more.
The motors and custom-designed transmission will be installed over the winter and it is expected that the car will be back in England for testing in the Spring
of next year.
The race is on!
Swift snippets. 1st November: Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway was the final event on
Eurodragster.com's 2015 Event Coverage schedule. We would like to thank our readers who tuned in in their
thousands; John Woolfe Racing,
Webster Race Engineering and
Nimbus Motorsport for their sponsorships of live
coverage and webcasts; the racers for giving us so much to describe and photograph; Santa Pod Raceway,
Shakespeare County Raceway, Tierp Arena, Hockenheimring and Alastaro Circuit management and race officials for facilities and approval
to report upon and broadcast their events; AMP Audio
Solutions and Doyousee.me for technical facilities and endless
assistance; and Eurodragster.com Team Nutritionist Syd McDonald for keeping us fed and watered. Please also join Tog in a big Thank You to colleagues Kirstie,
Simon, Julian and contributing photographers Grace Roaf, Patrik Jacobsson and Lena Perés for their hard work again this year.
Multiple FIM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King and the Gulf Oil Dragracing team are the subject of an impressive six-page colour article in the
November issue of Germany's Custombike magazine, available in all good magazine outlets throughout Germany now, or for purchase as a digital edition
at www.custombike.de.
UK Top Sportsman TV. 1st November: Paul Marston writes that the TV broadcasts of this year's JS Secure Security
Solutions UK Top Sportsman and Top Dragster rounds are coming up fast:
The shows will be on Motors TV on Monday 9th November and Monday 16th November. The first broadcast will be from Back
With Mods at Santa Pod Raceway in June and will feature both UK Top Sportsman and UK Top Dragster. The second broadcast is of UK
Top Sportsman at July's mighty Mopar Euronationals again at Santa Pod Raceway.
The shows will be repeated on Motors TV many times during that week, so if by chance you miss the first show date just look up the
programme guide on Motors TV for the rest of the week - you will find it. Motors TV is now available on Freeview so nearly everyone can
enjoy the shows.
Once again we would like to thank all our sponsors, all the UK Top Sportsman and Top Dragster race teams, the fantastic UK Top Sportsman and
PMR pit crew for running the event, Santa Pod Raceway staff and management, Mopar Euronational event organisers and last but not least
Eurodragster.com for their excellent event coverage (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Thanks also to everyone else who makes it happen and supports
us, we truly are in your debt. Enjoy the TV shows.
30th November: After fifteen years calling events at Shakespeare County Raceway, Track Announcer and our good buddy Barry Bohannon
has announced that he has put down his microphone:
One of the day's other surprises was discovering former Top Fuel Dragster racer and now Speedgroup CEO
Pelle Lindelöw on bass in the band which played for dancing after the ceremony. A long day precluded
your News Editor's presence at at the end of the evening so we don't know whether Pelle trashed his guitar
to close the performance. From our prior dealings with Pelle we guess not.
After the sudden death of Robert Joosten, the founder, driving force and driver of Pro Dutch Racing, there was of course the question of the team's future.
The team have decided unanimously to continue next season and starting in Easter 2016 the Pro Dutch Racing Plymouth Barracuda will be driven by Michel Tooren,
a team member since 2008.
6th November: Kristjan Veedler of the 
We were happy with what happened, although it wasn't quite what we'd hoped for. My 6.91 was our third quickest ever pass on the car but there were
a couple of things which weren't in the plan.
