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30th April: Geoff Martin of the UK's Tech Team has passed on the following urgent Notice of Recall issued by the
SFI Foundation for Driver restraint assemblies manufactured and certified
to SFI Specification 16.1 by Ruian Dragon:
Driver restraint assemblies manufactured and certified to SFI Specification 16.1 by Ruian Dragon have been found to be non-compliant with SFI Specification 16.1. All camlock type driver restraint assemblies manufactured and certified to SFI Specification 16.1 by Ruian Dragon must be immediately be removed from service and returned to Ruian Dragon. This recall includes driver restraint assemblies manufactured and certified to SFI Specification 16.1 by Ruian Dragon, and sold under the Tanaka brand. Ruian Dragon Auto Parts Co, Ltd Buliding 1, No 2 South Development Zone, Economic Development Zone Feiyun Town, Ruian City, Zhejiang, China 011-86-577-66853034 [email protected] www.djlseatbelts.com/en You can read the full SFI notice including Ruian Dragon's own recall (PDF format) by clicking here or by clicking on the picture at right. Event entry update. 28th April: Tomas Pettersson writes that entry is open for the Tierp Internationals, which takes place at Sweden's Tierp Arena on 16th-19th June. Entry at standard fee closes on 17th May and entry (at increased fee) closes absolutely on 7th June. You can enter the Tierp Internationals at www.dragracing.eu. Simple: We can't stay away. 
28th April: Having moved to Sweden from the UK last year, one of the first racing moves of Pro ET racers Carla Pittau and Rick McCann
is to return to Santa Pod Raceway to compete in the FIA / FIM Main Event. Carla writes:
The Heaven & Hell team have much to do here at the new headquarters in Sweden (right), the most important task being renovating and altering the vast barn to make it into a workshop where we can work away on our race cars during the cold Scandinavian winter evenings. Builders are busy here and the project has been somewhat delayed, so the team ended up doing engine work on an improvised bench in the basement of the house in the company of the washing machine, tumbler dryer and heating system, but at least in a heated environment. The building work has taken a lot of our time, and if we were really sensible we would not be racing until probably mid to high summer but, despite the rain-off, reading Eurodragster.com when all our friends were racing at Easter made us want to be where we are meant to be: at the race track. Wish we had been able to swap weather with you guys: Easter here was sunny and settled (although winter came back briefly last week) if a bit cold, and we thought it would have made great racing weather. But no meets here yet, such is life. Don't get me wrong: we love Sweden and we are very happy with our decision to move here. Sweden is an excellent country, very civilised, friendly, efficient and absolutely gorgeous, and we thoroughly enjoy our life here, especially as there are so many gearheads everywhere. But family is always family, and we miss our racing family very much. So Rick and I have entered the Main Event. We are not 100% sure that we will make it with both entries as we have transport issues which not even Simon Gough could solve this time! But we will try our best, as there is nothing we enjoy more than run on the track side-by-side. But at least one of us will be there, and the other will be Crew Chief if we have only one car. That's it. One way or another we will see you all next month, and we look forward to it very much. Happy racing! Sagelv's new ride. 29th April: Stefan Boman writes that Swedish Pro Stock racer Christian Sagelv is replacing his Ford Escort with a Jerry Haas-built 2012 Ford Mustang. "The car has been in NHRA Pro Stock competition with drivers Frank Gugliotta, JR Carr and Robert Patrick but has not done any full seasons, so it's a low mileage car", says Christian. "We bought it as a rolling chassis as we still have the motors and transmissions from the old car. We will start with this equipment and watch the development of EFI engines before we decide in which direction any updates will be. The car is delivered with two fronts, one for EFI and one for carburetted engines." 
The car will arrive in Sweden after the FIA Championship season has started and will make its competitive début at Hockenheim or Tierp 2. "We will not be able to hunt for Championship points this year", says Christian, "so our main team goal for 2016 is to get the car sorted out and to be in good shape for 2017." Burgess Ties up a sponsor. 
29th April: UK 9.50 Bike racer Lewis Burgess and the BM DragRacing team are proud to announce a
a new sponsor for 2016.
Scott Patrick, owner of Tie Specialist Logistics Ltd, has decided to sponsor Lewis with support for fuel costs and contributions to funding. Scott owns a succesful transportation business delivering anything throughout the UK, from motorcycles to household items. He even helps with the transportation of Lewis' bike. "Scott is a great guy and it is an honour to have him on board with us", says Lewis. "Support is everything for a succesful race team." You can check out Tie Specialist Logistics' web site at www.tielogistics.co.uk or find them on Facebook at Tie Specialist Logistics Ltd. View from a Bridge. 29th April: UK VW Pro racer Dave Bridge has been in touch with a report of his weekend at Big Bang with the Plan B buggy: 
Over winter there we had done more development work on the 2110 cc air-cooled motor, with a slightly bigger SU carb added to the
drawthrough turbo set-up. All looked good on the rolling road, with 197BHP and 217 ft/lbs of torque, all from a single barrel carb! I
was looking forward to seeing what it could do.
The first thing the motor did when we fired it up in the pits was leak. Neil Baskerville had knocked me up a great little aluminium drip tray for the car in the week before the event, just in case, but while it caught the oil this was not a drip! Luckily Paul and Kyle Miller of Harry Harpics were on hand to help me change the pulley seal, after which all was well. On the first run I felt very rusty, but things improved through qualifying and I ended qualified fourth. The car also provided me with new PBs of 1.51 at sixty feet, 11.89 ET and 109 mph terminal speed. The fact that I had dialled in at 11.90 on that run didn't annoy me too much given the PBs! In the first round of eliminations I drew Alex Knott in his turbo beetle and we were on similar dial ins. Alex couldn't get full throttle and I took the win, having backed off slightly. In the second round I got a bye run, so I used it to see how the changing weather had affected my times and then dialled in slightly slower for the semi-final. Unfortunately in the semi the car got out of shape in the wheelie and then veered towards the wall, so I had to back off losing the run which was a shame after my best light of the weekend. It was great to be back though and I'm looking forward to the Summernationals. Huge thanks to Harry Harpics Engineering for the turbo motor development, and to Rob Judge and Simon McGee for crewing. Swift snippets. 29th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 6 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-30th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries about FIA / FIM Main Event entry then please contact Ian Marshall by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Although not yet on the entry list we understand that Kuwaiti Arabian League racer Hussain al Shammari will be contesting the FIA / FIM Main Event in Norbert Kuno's second blown-alcohol Avenger. More news about that when we receive it. Rat Trap, Thacker and Friends. 
29th April: With the idea of building a better world tour – to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the most famous AA/Fuel Altereds of all time – Rat
Trap Racing has retained the services of Thacker & Friends to help with the logistics, media relations and sponsorship. The Rat Trap World Tour kicked-off last month at the historic March Meet in
Bakersfield, CA, and will soon head to Europe for a series of events, including two at Santa Pod, England and another at Hockenheim, Germany. Additional dates are being added.
"With four race cars and five members of the family driving, we're as busy as the Pied Piper", said Rat Trap Racing team owner Ron Hope. "It gets pretty hectic, and that's why we're thrilled to have the experience, enthusiasm and resources of Thacker & Friends to help us with our anniversary world tour. Tony and his team will be laying the groundwork for the European Tour, helping with scheduling and transportation, handling hospitality, and lining up some additional sponsors. Thacker & Friends are the best there are at this kind of work." "This is a dream project", said Tony Thacker, principal of Thacker & Friends. "I was at the very first race at Santa Pod, at Easter in 1966, so to be involved in the car's return for not only its 50th Anniversary, but also for the 50th Anniversary of Santa Pod, is fantastic. And, Rat Trap Racing is a wonderful addition to our roster. Ron, his whole family, and the team are great people and dedicated racers. The world tour is a project where we can promote hard because the car is so legendary with fans all over the world. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and we're looking forward to a fun tour." There have been a series of record-setting Rat Trap AA/Fuel Altereds. The first was constructed circa 1965; however, today's Rat Trap is a continuation of the car developed by chassis builder Dennis Watson in 1968. Unlike the early cars that were conventional in design, Watson's car was revolutionary, with independent front suspension, a nitro-burning Chrysler Hemi, and distinctly wild paint scheme. The Rat Trap was one of the four cars that participated in the celebrated Fuel Altered Tours of 1970, '71 and '72. Rat Trap Racing runs two Fuel Altereds and two land speed roadsters. The cars and team race regularly for nine months of the year, in both the US and Canada. They have also made previous appearances overseas, having been invited to participate at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, and at Rod Millen's Leadfoot Festival in New Zealand. Rat Trap Racing is based in Franklin, TN. "In racing, it's the team work that makes the difference. Rat Trap Racing has a terrific crew and fabulous sponsors, and adding Thacker & Friends makes us even stronger", concluded Hope. "We can't wait to see all our fans around the world." For the full Rat Trap World Tour schedule, please visit www.RatTrapRacing.com/schedule. Springspeed Nats running order I. 28th April: Many thanks to Tony Smith for passing us Saturday's provisional running order for this weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out the running order by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that the running order is subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Tony asks that Pro ET and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racers be in the pairing lanes promptly at 10:00 on Saturday. 50 Shades of Big Bang. 28th April: UK Sportsman ET racer Andy Dibley has been in touch with a report of the two-car 50 Shades of Racing team's weekend at Big Bang: 
Kirstie Tramm was again in the green Camaro and I was in the red Camaro. After a rained-off Festival of Power, both of us were very eager to flex our respective cars' muscles
in eliminations, just hopefully not against each other in the first round!
Qualifying was a very mixed bag with my car having some interesting gearbox shifting issues on Saturday. Kirstie managed a brilliant 0.006 light in the first round of qualifying and ended up tenth the order, whilst I fell much further down. We both ran several PBs, just not when we wanted to! The alternator failed in my car on Sunday which also threw a large spanner into the works, but the got the car going again thanks to Jamie at CM Frosts in Wellingborough (01933 225564) who opened up on a Sunday just to help us. In round one of eliminations, Kirstie paired up against number one qualifier Stephen Cherrett in the S-Car-Go Vauxhall Astra, and although it a close race to the stripe Kirstie sadly broke out handing the win to Stephen. I met Sportsman ET newcomer Harley Smithies in his Peugeot 206. Harley pulled a 0.199 light versus my 0.019, I met him half way down the track and we had a very interesting side-by-side race to the line which was a little too close for comfort: I only won by 0.010 seconds. In round two I paired up against Felicity Gibbs in the Li'l Miss Rampage Mustang. Having seen my light in the previous race Felicity knew she had to pull something out of the bag, sadly her light was -0.029, handing me the win on the start line. I ran a new PB of 13.38 which gave me an idea of what to dial in for the next round. 
In round three I was up against rival Jemma Hale in her Supra. After losing in a final to Jemma at the end of last year, I really wanted to get one back over the Redneck racer, but it wasn't to be.
Jemma pulled a cracking light against my 0.22, and although I managed to get to the stripe first by 0.001 (2.29 inches), sadly I was the wrong side of my dial-in handing her the win on a breakout.
The weekend was a great learning experience for both Kirstie and I. We are both competing at the APIRA Springspeed Nationals this weekend and we are really ready to roll in to Shakespeare County Raceway. This wouldn't have been at all possible without a lot of help from other teams in the Sportsman ET pits, notably Alan and Gillian Medley for the loan of a power pack on Sunday 'Just in case', and Nick and Nigel Hale of Redneck Racing for loaning a battery charger and also doing the dash to CM Frosts to pick up the new alternator. I'd also like to thank Georgie and Mike Smith who helped with the alternator swap and also Street Eliminator Chairman Ben Barnwell for pushing of the car and start line help. I'd also like to thank my dad Dave for the support and for a mercy dash back to 50 Shades HQ to pick up a spare alternator, and Tom Atkinson for not crashing my caravan into a fence... if only the same could be said for Kirstie's caravan (see below - Ed). I'd also like to thank our sponsors for this season: Hutchinson and Dibley Ltd - CNC Precision Engineering (01628 530448) and V8UK - V8s in the UK. First round Fudder. 28th April: Staying with Sportsman ET at Big Bang, Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com Brother-in-Law Tom Atkinson made an outing in the class in his Potato Wagon '64 Ranchero, but it seems that just getting into the pits was an achievement in itself: The hard work started the day before I headed to the track. I thought it would be a good idea to give the pick-up a proper blast up the road to blow out the cobwebs on the way home from work before the weekend's beating... yes, it's my daily driver. I'm rather glad I did, as it chose to blow the intake gasket between the water gallery and #4 cylinder. I'd sooner it happened there than at the track. After a good ten thousand miles and numerous trips down the strip I'm not complaining, these things happen. 
I limped it half a mile up to Jacks Hill Truck Stop in Towcester where it would be easy to load up on the trailer. However after a bit of thought I decided to sort it out at the truck stop as luckily Mike (stepdad)
has a Sunbeam Tiger with a Small Block Ford. He had some gaskets in the garage a few miles up the road and was finishing work in a couple of hours. I stripped it down, and then we built it back up outside the
café. I got home at about 10:00 pm, thanks Mike!
That must be the bad luck over and done with, right? Nope! While bringing Kirstie's caravan round from the main gate we had another bit of excitement, in the space of about 0.1 of a second while driving through the pits I went from "Hmm, feels light towing" to "Why's everybody shouting?" to looking in the mirror and seeing the caravan exiting stage right (This is known as Doing an Abrahamson - Ed)! Apologies to the stall owner whose bike we knocked over, but luckily it was all taken in good humour. 
Finally on to the racing. After a few little changes over winter I was on the hunt for a twelve. I'd have been over the moon with a 12.999999 by the end of the weekend but I really wasn't expecting it on the BFGs.
Much to my surprise the first pass in the Run What You Brung was a 12.82, get in! Luck was starting to change, for now. A couple of runs later there was smoke at the top end, here we go again! It had blown
out the rear of the rocker cover gasket blowing oil onto the header, after some hunting about and help from fellow racers and crew we got it fixed.
After a few more twelves, getting quicker and quicker and breaking out on every qualifying run I thought I'd play it really safe to get a number on the board. I dialled in a 12.50 and ran a 12.527 which was good
enough for third in the tough Sportsman ET field, awesome! This was then followed up by a 12.46, to say that I was over the moon was an understatement, going to that from a 13.02 previous best in two days!
The Calvert drag shocks and the TrueTrac diff from Hauser Race Cars made a huge difference, and all still on the mud and snow knobbly BFG's! That little 347ci ATK crate motor from Topspeed Automotive
was really doing the job.
In the first round of eliminations I met Felicity Gibbs in the Mustang. I was a little overambitious with the dial-in following the last run, put a 12.45 on the back but just couldn't quite chase Felicity down. She was on the number and it was a great close race with a win margin of 0.02 at the stripe, well done Flick! 
I'm now looking forward to having a play in the Cortina in Super Pro ET this weekend whilst watching Kirstie have some more fun in Sportsman ET. All being well the truck will be back out at Bug Jam for
another go, I had a great time!
Finally I'd like to thank everyone: Dad, Mike, Kirstie, Dibs, Nigel Hale and Redneck Racing, Ben 'Hovis' Barnwell, Georgie and Mike Smith, Jake Mechaell and everyone in Sportsman ET, just for being a great bunch! Swift snippets. 28th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 5 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-30th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. FIA / FIM Main Event entry closes tomorrow (Friday) after which entry will be subject to a penalty fee. You can download official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about FIA / FIM Main Event entry then please contact Ian Marshall by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Good luck and stay safe to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences who is contesting this weekend's NHRA Springnationals in Houston. Qualifying commences tomorrow (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress on Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy future to SPRC Assistant Race Director Karl Birkinshaw and SPRC Timing Crew member Nikki Chesters who have become engaged. A nicer couple you couldn't hope to meet. Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc has revealed the reason for putting his racing on hold: he has taken a job with Dragtimes, organiser of the Russian Drag Racing Championship which commences in June. You can read more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog at www.dragracingeurope.eu. Also now showing on the Blog are a preview of this year's first EDRS event, registration for the EDRS Riders and Drivers Club, and a visit with Junior Dragster racer Patrik Lind. Springspeed Nats Perfect Awards. 28th April: This weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the latest event in the 2016 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £150 is on offer for perfect performance. 
This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Lucas Oil Junior
Dragster racer Billy Ringer at the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000
seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect
Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won
then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA / FIM Main Event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath
and Tig Napier, Pro ET).
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available from the Signing On office first thing on Saturday morning. 
This weekend's Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has been increased to
£100 after it went unclaimed at Big Bang. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the
thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET,
Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch, 8.50 Bike, 9.50
Bike, ET Bike / NAST and Junior Drag Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event.
If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £125 for the FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won
then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA / FIM Main Event. The Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com
sponsor Gold RV in support of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children;
you can donate to the NSPCC at www.nspcc.org.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / NSPCC decals (right), one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals when the run is made then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to record a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Eurodragster.com / NSPCC decals will be available from the Signing On office first thing on Saturday morning. FIA/FIM Main Event entry. 27th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 4 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-30th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. FIA / FIM Main Event entry closes this Friday (29th) after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a penalty fee. You can download the entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about FIA / FIM Main Event entry then please contact Ian Marshall by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Racers entered for the Main Event who wish to test at Race, Rock & Ride at Santa Pod Raceway on the preceding weekend (21st-22nd May) are most welcome to attend and to take advantage of what will be a fully-prepped track, but SPR request that any racers planning on attending this event and looking to set up their pits for the Main Event notify either James Forster at [email protected] or Darren Prentice at [email protected] or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). Preparing Havoc to reign. 27th April: Nick Davies writes that work is progressing on the conversion of the 1932 Bantam Havoc to full nitro Fuel Altered specification by the team at ICE Automotive at Silverstone: The task has become a little more extensive than originally planned, as decisions have been made to undertake several upgrades which should aid the longer term durability of the car, including safety and drivetrain modifications. The team will run the same 417 Donovan which took Europe's quickest fuel altered, Chaos, down into the 6.0 zone, albeit with some more 'period' detailing. 
Whilst the work on the car is pretty much on target for the Dragstalgia showdown with the travelling American altereds, race fans will have the opportunity to support the home team by investing in one of the limited-edition full colour T-Shirts produced to celebrate the re-vamping of the popular altered. Featuring artwork and design by the talented Chris Froggett, the high-quality black T-Shirts will be available at the 2016 Dragstalgia meet for the princely sum of £15. Once they're gone, they're gone, so don't miss out! Hope for Nimbus Motorsport. 
27th April: UK Drag Bike team Hope Racing are proud to welcome Steve Clark of
Nimbus Motorsport as a sponsor. Steve
will be supplying Alex and Mark Hope with Torco Racing Oils and a range of racing fuels for the 2016 season. Mark Hope
writes:
Steve has been a big part of the team from the onset, supporting our father Chris throughout his career in ACU and FIM Pro Stock Bike. When Chris hung the leathers up and Alex and I stepped out of his shadow to start racing careers of our own, there was ever only one choice in engine oils - it had to be Torco. Alex and I are proud to continue the legacy Dad started and honoured to be able to continue the relationship which he built with Steve and Nimbus Motorsport, putting to use the extensive range of quality race oils and fuels that are available. Steve offered support from the outset with the 9.50 Bikes in the form of Torco Oils but has stepped up in a big way this year and we are excited to have secured a deal on racing oils and fuels for the turbo bikes and the Pro Stock Bike on which Alex will contend the FIM Pro Stock Bike Championship. Steve imports and stocks the following products at Nimbus Motorsport: Torco Racing Oils and Fuels, Fuse Fuels, VP Racing Fuels, Ringers Gloves, and Thermo-Tec and DEI Thermal Control Products. Visit Nimbus Motorsports' web site at www.nimbusmotorsport.com or call Steve on 01759 322100 for your needs! The Mob turns Psycho. 27th April: Adam Gleadow writes that although it is a long way off the 2017 season will be a very special one for the Motor Psycho team as it will mark 50 years since Brian, Mick and Bob Gleadow's first appearance on the track after spectating since 1963: Brian, Mick and Bob originally fielded a Pop Gasser initially called The Mangler before becoming the first Motor Psycho in 1968. Little did they know what they'd let themselves in for! 
To celebrate this landmark Motor Psycho is going over to the dark side, nitro! We have purchased The Mob Fuel Altered operation
complete from Ollie Burn, and will be transplanting the nitro-breathing 417 Donovan Hemi into our '34 Ford.
It's going to be a steep learning curve but one into which the team are eager to get stuck; none of us have been this fired up for racing for a while. The car will be going down to Comanche Race Cars for the motor mounting, re-locating the rear axle to suit a smaller tyre size and a few other updates whilst I undertake the engine strip down and freshen-up. All being well the car should be ready to make some noise towards the end of the year and to do battle in 2017. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ollie for allowing us the chance to purchase The Mob along with his guidance and help through our transition to nitro, his many years of experience and knowledge will be priceless. In a way it's very bittersweet as it means the end of The Mob, a car I gre up watching and which fuelled my passion for Fuel Altereds when I watched it match racing Jim Seward's Harry The Spider, but rest assured that we will do Ollie and the team proud. Motor Psycho will always carry a tribute to their part in drag racing history. Further Thanks Yous to Mick for transporting the car to our workshop, Dom Romney for a lot of help over the past few weeks, and the crew for their work at the weekend getting everything sorted. To follow our rebuild to full blown AA/Fuel Altered status, Like our Facebook page and follow our newly launched Instagram account @motorpsycho_aafa. Swift snippets. 27th April: Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us the official timing data from the weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the Fast Show timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 27th April: DJ of Santa Pod Raceway writes that there are several new shows on Santa Pod's own YouTube Channel SantaPodTV including Street Eliminator 2016 Festival of Power - new for 2016 is the first of a series of WebTV Shows following drag racers in Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator as they compete in the Santa Pod Raceway rounds of their 2016 Championship; FWD Drag Series 2016 Fast Show - Round 1 of the 2016 Front Wheel Drive Drag Series from The Fast Show; Big Bang highlights; Fast Show highlights; and Festival of Power highlights. The NitrOlympX is always one of the highlights of the European drag racing season. The Hockenheimring facility, the special atmosphere of the Motodrome and of course the traditional Saturday Night Show all make this race of the FIA and FIM European Drag Racing Championships a special one. After the very successful thirtieth edition last year, number thirty one promises to be even bigger and better. Now, with the start of the 2016 European Championship season quickly approaching, our good buddy Remco Scheelings has interviewed Jerry Lackey, who since 2009 has been the race director of the NitrOlympX and who with forty seven years in drag racing is one of the most experienced people in the sport. The former racer and still promoter, organizer and race director talks about the event that marks his life on the Drag Racing Europe Blog at www.dragracingeurope.eu. Springspeed Nats racer update. 26th April: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us details of the arrangements for this weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway: Version 3 of the official entry list is now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The final version of the entry list will be posted on either Wednesday or Thursday. Racer tickets, final instructions, vehicle passes and scrutineering slips have now been sent out to every racer who submitted their entries before close of play last Friday. Anyone who posted their entry since last Friday will be able to collect their tickets on arrival at the main gate. If any crew member arrives before their racer then they must notify the track beforehand, or wait until their driver / rider arrives at the track to gain entry. Entry to the pits will commence at 12:00 on Friday. If racers wish to arrive on Friday morning, before the pit gate opens, then they are more than welcome to park up and wait. Please note that pit marshals will escort all racers to their designated pit, so please be patient if a queue develops on the entrance road into the pits. Anyone who pits incorrectly will be politely asked to move to their allocated pit space. Scrutineering will commence for both cars and bikes at approximately 17:00 on Friday. Scrutineering will resume at 08:00 on Saturday. Signing On will also open at these times. Saturday's running order will be posted here on Eurodragster.com later this week. Copies will be available in the Signing On office which will be open between 18:00 and 20:00-21:00 on Friday. Anyone who did not collect their 2015 APIRA Championship trophies at last month's Presentation Evening can do so this weekend. They can be collected from Sue in the Signing On Office. Shakespeare County Raceway would also like to remind everyone of safety requirements in the Staging and Fire Up lanes. No crew members under the age of seventeen may enter these areas. Under-age Junior crew members can still watch their respective teams race from the grandstands. The grandstands can be accessed from the top of the lanes by the Signing On office. We understand that this may upset some of the Junior crews, however your safety is paramount and must be considered at all times. These rules obviously do not apply to under-17s who are riding or driving a race vehicle which is in the pairing lanes (for which you must be a holder of an MSA/ACU licence or you are participating in observed runs). All children remain the responsibility of their parent or guardian at all times. Thank you for your co-operation. If you have any queries about the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, then please contact the Raceway office at [email protected] or between 09:00 and 17:00 call 01789 720180 or 01789 414119 (outside the UK +44 1789 720180 / 414119). Ashdown: It's the nuts! 
26th April: The UK's Steve Ashdown is looking forward to making his final Top Fuel Dragster licencing pass before contesting
May's FIA / FIM Main Event, having thoroughly enjoyed his outing at the weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway. Steve made three runs on Saturday
in one of Rune Fjeld's cars running a best eighth of 3.5564/210.65 and best thousand foot of 4.6821/193.78 leaving him with one full-bore pass to
get the coveted signature on his licence.
"I never thought I'd see "Steve Ashdown" and "Top Fuel" in the same sentence!", Steve told Eurodragster.com. "It's one of the best things I ever did and I consider myself very fortunate. There's not a word which can explain driving a Top Fueller. You sit there strapped in asking yourself "What am I doing?" and you think "I can't do this" but then you have a go and it's brutal and it's awesome and you think "This is the nuts!" and you want to do it again!" Steve has his medical next week then plans to make his final licencing pass at the pre-Main Event Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day on Thursday 26th May. "The idea behind running on the Test Day is that there's less pressure during qualifying", he said. "At the race there will be enough to think about with needing to qualify and having someone in the other lane for the first time, without the extra pressure of actually getting the licence to qualify in the first place. "I really must thank Rune Fjeld. He has been a big help and is an absolute gentleman. He is a very clever man, nothing but professional and he believes in working with you rather than shouting at you. All of Rune's crew were brilliant and Liam Jones gave me a lot of advice and a lot of... let's say banter! I must also thank my missus and kids for their support and for going without holidays and other treats, and I must say a huge Thank You to Kathy Taylor as without her help I would never have got into a Top Fueller. "Everyone at the track was so kind and so welcoming. I really appreciated the Big Bang people letting me run at their event and all the help I got from Ian Marshall, Darren Prentice and the Santa Pod staff." Steve plans to contest the FIA / FIM Main Event and the FIM / FIM European Finals and has already lined up some sponsors in support; he asked us to say a big Thank You to Aerial Scaffolding, Robey Scaffolding, the Telephone Shop, Demon Ink Tattoo Shop, Epic Integration, and Richard Deevey. #goingLOCO. 26th April: After two years of false starts and missed deadlines UK VW Sportsman racer Ryan McGrath is set for his début at this weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Ryan says that what started off as a drunken bid on eBay back in September 2013 has developed and changed into a very loved car with a lot of crazy character, which is not named Polo-Loco for nothing: 
The car is a 1998 Polo Saloon, never the most popular of Volkswagen models, from the late 1990s and a parts bin mixture of a Mk3 Golf and Mk2 Seat Ibiza. The underpowered 1.6 8v engine has been
cast aside for the 2.8 12v VR6 from a Mk3 Golf coupled with the same gearbox. The car has been lightened as much as possible whilst still remaining in a safe and road-legal state as I am having to drive
up from Portsmouth in it, which is all part of the fun!
Externally the most noticeable part of the car is the Harlequin paint scheme. It was twenty years ago that Volkswagen first showed this scheme at the London Motor Show and it's still as divisive today. Love it or hate it, you can't deny it's hard to ignore (Column A here - Ed). Our current Personal Best is 14.55/90.69 on a RWYB prepared track. We are gunning to break into the thirteens which, with an improvement in technique and a reduced sixty foot time, should be achievable on the current set-up. Débuting at Shakespeare Country Raceway holds a great significance for me, as it was there twenty two years ago that my late father took me to see my first bit of drag racing over the URO / VW Dream Machine weekend. The strip has held a very special place in my heart since then, and even today still has that unique atmosphere. The guys and girls of the VWDRC have been fantastic over the last two years, getting me to events, crewing for them and keeping me motivated and on track despite setbacks. There is a real family feel about the VWDRC which helps make the track feel like a home away from home. You can follow our progress, the highs and the lows, on our Facebook page. See you all in the fire up road! Brown's Vegas tale. 
6th April: Regular Eurodragster.com readers will recall that after a chance meeting with Jeff Strunk, owner of Land Shark Racing
and DragTarp, last October, UK Super Comp racer Paul Brown was invited to drive Jeff's car at the K&N Las Vegas Spring Fling Millions Challenge.
Lesley Brown says that most of Team Paul Brown Motorsport ("Sorry Lee and Andy") attended the event, and Paul adds that the team came home
with a new sponsor. Lesley writes:
The plane was diverted to California due to three inches of rain falling in about thirty minutes in Las Vegas. We were wondering whether Paul's drag racing career was always going to be hampered by rain, but from then on our trip was mostly bathed in sunshine. At the track we met up with Crew Chief Jeff, his wife Linda and team-mate Phil Baladez, and once pitted Jeff took Paul and Phil off in his golf buggy - the best-ever drag racing invention in Jeff's opinion - to show them the ropes. The next thing I heard on the PA was "Will the person driving the golf buggy up the track please remove it!". The next day was a Test Day. For me it was a surreal feeling being surrounded by over five hundred dragsters and door cars, especially when I realised that Jeg Coughlin and Shawn Langdon were only a few spaces away from our pit. We were all waiting at the start line for Paul and I was pinching myself as he drove under the Las Vegas Speedway gantry for his first test run. To think it was only six months ago that I felt privileged to do the track walk at an NHRA event! Although Jeff's car is also a shorty, it is very different to Paul's car and there were several things to get used to, including the delay box on the start line. Paul's first test run netted him a reaction time of 0.034 and an ET of 5.404 on a 5.38 dial-in, and after a second and final test run with a Reaction Time of 0.011 and a 5.384, again on a 5.38 dial-in, Paul felt good to race. 
Paul's race day was the Wednesday $10,000 competition with 514 entries, including approximately 250 door cars including a Pro Mod, no buy-backs and racing
over the eighth mile. Pairing was random with dragsters and door cars racing separately until the last sixteen. The dial-ins ranged from 3.90 to 9.90 and
the standard of cars was mostly exceptional. A new red light system, called Trulight, was in place. If the first driver left on a red light, it would show
green until the second driver left the line. If the second driver was OK the first driver's light would change to red and the race was lost. However, if
the second driver red lit by a bigger margin, he or she would lose instead.
Lining up in the pairing lanes in the glorious Vegas sunshine surrounded by hundreds of dragsters is an experience we will never forget. Paul was really up for the race and cut a decent 0.04 light but unfortunately the gears didn't shift into second gear, running a 5.62 on a 5.38 dial-in; by the time Paul realised and changed it manually it was too late to recover on the eighth mile. The winner was seasoned NHRA racer Chris Lindsey who took out Jeg Coughlin in the third round. Round one started at 8:00 am took almost four and a half hours to complete, and it took until midnight to complete all ten rounds. On Thursday roles were reversed and Paul was part of the crew for Phil in the $20,000 dollar race, but unfortunately he too suffered a first round exit. Unlike Wednesday, Phil was allowed a buy back which he won but then bowed out in round two. The big prize day, for which we were not entered, was the Friday race. This year 270 cars raced to win the top prize of $270,000 and this was a case of dreams really can come true. Faced with tremendous opposition (with numerous cars making Perfect Lights and Perfect ETs) and big money cars, the winner's story was very different. Jeff Verdi had towed his Pontiac Firebird on an open trailer 2,400 miles from Virginia, breaking down several times along the way. He paid $50 for a raffle ticket and won the $2,000 entry fee for the race and then went all the way to win. You couldn't make it up! The organisers of the Spring Fling Millions made us Brits feel very welcome, as did our fellow racers. Thirty two states and four countries were represented. The Long Distance Award went to a racer in Alaska, as you had to tow your vehicle, but in recognition of the distance Paul had travelled to be there he was awarded a racers appreciation prize of weather station software from sponsor Raceworks. 
Paul said of the experience "It was an amazing experience racing against a huge field of vehicles. The quality of the vehicles and the equipment which people
brought with them was unbelievable. Some racers were even bringing two vehicles with them. Racing over the eighth mile was completely different as it felt
like the race was over before it had even started, but I saw some very interesting start line tactics involved. Unlike the usual burndown on the tree, racers
were burning out straight into full stage and even reversing straight back into full stage. Previously being the fast car in Pro ET and receiving red light
wins, I believe Trulight is great idea and think it's something we should work towards using in Sportsmans classes to even up the playing field for slower
vehicles. As a team we have learned a lot from this event and we hope to fly out again in the future.
"Thanks to Jeff and the organisers for letting me drive his car, to our sponsors, and to Ian Marshall for helping me towards getting an NHRA licence." 
Team Paul Brown Motorsport are also delighted to announce that DragTarp, whose web site can be found at
www.landsharkdragsters.com, are sponsoring us for the rest of
the season.
Drag Tarp make heavy custom race car covers with 100% waterproof denier material for all types of vehicles including dragsters, doorslammers, altereds, and Junior Dragsters and Funny Cars. Three different colours are available on which you can have your team's custom logo printed. If you are looking to buy a new cover, come to visit Paul in the pits at this weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals or at the FIA /FIM Main Event to have a look at his cover. Paul can arrange to measure up your car and get pricing from the company. The UK's coolest quarter mile? 26th April: Spitfire Raceway, dubbed the coolest quarter mile in the UK, opens its gates on 7th May. Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child International Track Preparation Services explains why Spitfire Raceway deserves the "Cool" epithet: Not many venues are located on the north Cornish Atlantic surf coast, with miles of sandy beaches just minutes away. It's worth the journey! Drag race on the Saturday and spend the remainder of weekend enjoying the area. 
February's event was chilly but held under sunny skies, with 150 people taking part on the drag strip in front of an audience of 1500. Quickest of the Day in the car categories was Ross Stokoe, who travelled over 300 miles from East Sussex in his Nissan R35 and ran 11.0s all day long. Local man Mike Gray, from St Ives, went 10.0 on the no-prep surface with his 1000cc Honda. The event is open to any vehicle and you can just turn up for Test and Tune. But this is also Round 4 of the South West Championship in the following categories:
For more information, check out Spitfire Raceway Cornwall on Facebook. Spitfire Raceway is located on Perranporth Airfield, Perranporth, Cornwall TR5 0XS (map). Swift snippets. 6th April: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for forwarding us the post-Big Bang points standings for the UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club Sportsman ET and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster Championships (8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike were non-points rounds at this one - Ed). You can check out the 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. Speedgroup CEO Åsa Kinnemar writes that a new Board was elected at the recent Annual Shareholders' Meeting. You can find out the new make-up of the Speedgroup Board at www.dragracingeurope.eu. Web site updates. 6th April: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with a large gallery of shots from the recent Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Draper Tools on their trolley. 26th April: The Allard Chrysler Action Group is pleased to announce that Draper Tools has joined the list of those businesses supporting the restoration of Europe's first dragster, Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler owned by the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. Draper Tools has donated a toolbox for use on the dragster's starter trolley (below right). Draper Tools was established in 1919 and is now based in Chandlers Ford, not far from the National Motor Museum. It is a hugely-respected and much-used automotive industry trade supplier being a one-stop shop for professional mechanics, motor factors, MoT garages and automotive repair workshops. The focus is always on quality and their range includes hand service tools, diagnostics and workshop equipment. As well as the Draper branded products the company also supplies Knipex, Elora and Kapro Tools. Their web site address is www.drapertools.com and UK Pro Stock Bike racer Mark Smith of Draper Tools can usually be found in the pits at race events. 
ACAG Chair Brian Taylor says "I would like to thank Draper Tools for their support. With the 354 Chrysler engine switching from nitro to methanol we no longer needed the pressurised fuel system on our starter trolley. We wanted to replace this with a neat toolbox to carry equipment likely to be required during the start-up procedure and Draper had just the job with their blue two-drawer unit. "We had conversations with Mark Smith and John Draper and they came up trumps. The unit was prepped at Chandlers Ford for us to fit to the trolley at the next Work-In Day at Beaulieu. I look forward to inviting them to the museum once the box has been installed." Draper Tools' Marketing Director Clive Richardson, pictured above with the toolbox, says "Draper Tools is pleased to provide one of its toolboxes to the Allard Chrysler Action Group. It's great to be able to have our brand associated with a project like this and we wish them the best of luck with the restoration of such a legendary machine." BDRHoF honour the Juniors. 26th April: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is delighted to announce that Junior Drag Racers will again be honoured when the Gala Awards Dinner takes place on Saturday 19th November at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel, Heathrow Airport. The Hall of Fame Gala is the most prestigious night of the year for Britain's drag racing community. Last year, for the first time, the top three Junior Dragster and Junior Drag Bike racers in the UK National Championship were invited, with their parents, to attend the occasion for their accomplishments to be recognised before the gathering of distinguished guests from Europe and America. 2016's young drivers and bikers will share the evening with the new Hall of Fame inductees along with leading figures from the States such as Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy, who brought the first American Funny Cars to Santa Pod Raceway in 1973, and Carl Olson, Founding President of the FIA Drag Racing Commission. 
BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury commented "While the Hall of Fame's prime purpose is to recognise drag racing achievements of the past, we're particularly pleased to welcome and celebrate the rising new generation of racers too, and we salute the sponsors whose generosity and foresight have allowed us to create this opportunity. It's a wonderful thought that some of today's young achievers might one day, perhaps, return to the Gala stage for induction into the Hall of Fame in their own right." Once again, the Juniors' tables at the Gala will be sponsored by Atlantic Fluid Tech Ltd, Santa Pod Racers' Club, US Automotive and Lucas Oil Products, and the young racers can expect to take home some valuable mementoes of the occasion. The Hall of Fame is grateful to Lizz McCarthy and Wayne Jackson for their help with arrangements. Ticket prices for the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of ten are available at £580. For advance booking of tickets contact [email protected] or telephone Stu Bradbury on 01933 279102. Springspeed Nats Junior update. 25th April: APIRA officials would like to remind all Junior Dragster and Junior Drag Bike drivers and riders participating at Shakespeare County Raceway that all vehicles must be pushed back to pit bays after passing the Medical Centre on the left-hand corner of the return road. To ensure the health and safety of Junior racers, the Junior Dragster pits have been relocated to the left hand side of the pits just past the Medical Centre. This has been done so that the Juniors do not have to push all the way through the pits. Junior Drag Bike pits will remain on the left hand side of the pits as normal, but moved further up. If you have any queries then please do not contact the Raceway but either Glenn Stockton (MSA) 07774 142892, Jane Read 07970 293967,or Tony Smith (ACU) 07787 398614. Big Bang results. 25th April: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway: VW Pro: Richard Brook (12.50) 12.6352/106.25 def. Christopher Bayliss (12.50) 13.1662/103.71 DQ red light VW Sportsman: Paul Day (15.30) 15.3619/83.62 def. Dave Lea (13.50) 13.6878/97.97 Sportsman ET: Chris Creswell (16.10) 16.219/78.73 def. Jemma Hale (15.43) 15.5241/89.44 Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Ruaridh Hart (9.10) 9.1468/64.56 def. Billy Ringer (9.43) 9.5979/67.30 Outlaw Anglia: Cliff Griffin 8.0786/154.19 def. Phil Middleton 8.7426/157.43 JDS Street: David Greenhalgh 8.4473/161.34 def. Jeff Ludgate 9.2108/156.29 Front Wheel Drive: Allan Duthie 9.6544/155.22 def. Ben Dalgleish 10.1178/139.97 Nostalgia Super Stock: Dan Williams (10.00) 10.0656/133.61 def. Rob Tyrrell (10.20) 10.2145/130.22 DQ red light 8.50 Bike: Ian Chrichlow 9.3234/120.15 def. Jake Mechaell 14.8454/56.18 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki 9.5340/128.40 def. Steve Ashby 9.5897/140.70 Congratulations also to Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racer Billy Ringer who won the £50 Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award with a 0.0008 Reaction Time during qualifying on Saturday. The Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 for this weekend's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award in support of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was not won and so has been increased to £100 for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals. Click here to check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Big Bang reports and pictures, or click on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Event entry update. 23rd April: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us Version 2 of the official entry list for next week's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out the APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and for more information about the APIRA Springspeed Nationals check out SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. Chris Murty writes that the UK's York Raceway hosts the Bank Holiday Super Street Shootout on Sunday 1st May and Monday 2nd May. "This is the first big weekend of the year with fourteen race classes hitting the track, as well as Run What You Brung meaning non-stop drag racing action over the two days", says Chris. "We will have two rounds of American Super Stock, JDM-DRC, Pro FWD and NSCC. There will also be one round of Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Volks Stock, HRSC and Super Cup not to mention Straightliners shoehorned in, and amongst all that there will be plenty of chance for RWYB". For more information check out York Raceway's web site at www.yorkraceway.org.uk. Post en Dros racer offer. 
22nd April: Dick Koster of Eurodragser.com sponsor Post en Dros
writes with a pre-season offer for racers, which is valid until Saturday of next week (30th):
Now is the time to get the A/F sensor kit on your race vehicle, or to renew your sensors. Get the most out of your injection or carburettor tuning. Racepak A/F sensors are compatible with either gasoline- or methanol-fuelled engines. The gasoline application will display A/F ratios between 9.55:1 and 20:1, while methanol is shown from 4.22:1 to 8.7:1. Please specify the type of fuel you will be using when ordering: 1 channel air/fuel ratio kit (module / heater / sensor) April only €299 Air / fuel ratio sensor (Lambda sensor) April only €65 4 channel wide band controller (without sensors) April only €899 For more information, or to place your order, E-Mail [email protected]. Going west with the Turners. 22nd April: UK Top Methanol Funny Car team Turner Racing contested recent NHRA National and Regional events at The Strip At Las Vegas. Driver Rob Turner got in touch to let us know how he, brother and tuner Steve and the team got on: Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals: This was the first time we raced the car without Steve's girlfriend Vicky Reid, who is a vital help to the team and especially to my wife Carmel who has MS. Steve went out a week early to prepare the car at Bernie Harrington's shop and we all met up on the Wednesday. We made two minor changes to try to get the car leaving straight, a tyre pressure change and more height on the wheelie bar. These changes worked as on the first pass the car left arrow straight with the wheels up just right. About two hundred feet out it shook pretty hard and needed a quick pedal to settle down to a 6.5-second run. The next qualifier was good to about a thousand feet when I got near to the wall and had to lift, but a bit quicker at 6.15. We almost didn't make the final qualifier due to crank trigger failure. It had been giving us some problems, firing up on warm-ups but not firing on the run. Steve connected the mag direct, under a lot of pressure when everybody is watching you those plugs just don't seem to fit together! We made the run which was a 6.05, we think that from incremental times it was about a 5.90 (I rolled the staging beams). Unfortunately we didn't qualify for this event. Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 7: When we serviced the car after the National event we found three burnt plugs, and all the bearings were flattened. This was due to the mag fluctuating the timing. We know it was at least two degrees advanced so we were so lucky to not have done more damage. We spent the next few days servicing the car and we fitted a crank trigger changeover switch. The weather forecast wasn't good for this event. The first qualifying session was delayed and we finally ran about 6:00 pm. The car left perfectly then about two hundred feet out the second gear hub let go and broke through the casing losing drive. Annoyingly this was our best sixty foot time in the USA, and still rolled through at nine seconds flat. We got back to the pits and it poured! A flash flood ensued and we had to abandon servicing the car until morning, instead drying out at the hotel. Next morning we got to the track early and checked the spare transmission, took a head off to change a valve and springs, and serviced the bottom end. The car was back together and about to fire up when at about midday the pit marshal came by and said "They are going with Top Alcohol first when the track is dry, in about thirty minutes". We were second pair with Annie Whiteley so we readied the car as quickly as we could whilst the marshal was watching to see if we could make it. I was getting myself as ready as I could whilst still in the pit. We towed out to the front of the class just as Annie was going under the arch. I got into the car as quickly as I could and we just made it. When we were servicing the car I had noticed the clutch release bearing was binding, so w adjusted it and now the pedal felt much better. However the car wouldn't move into stage when I let the brake off. I had to de-clutch to get the car into stage, which upset the staging. The car launched well and got to the finish line under power, running 5.88 at 246 mph. Our best speed ever by 2 mph! We qualified fourteenth or fifteenth but there is only an eight-car field at a Regional event. Unfortunately the event was called off due to the storms after only two sessions of qualifying. It will be re-run in November between the National and Divisional events. Qualifying is set after the two sessions. The team feel confident. We now know what the car needs to pick up the first incrementals, so we are looking forward to October / November. Thanks to Bernie Harrington, Jeff Carroll, Reggie and Tina, Mike Simpson, and our sponsors Lucas Oil, GRP Connecting Rods, Center Point CnC, CP-Carrillo Pistons and Roy Wilding Race Cars. The PT Bruiser fuelled for its return. 
22nd April: Paul Marston writes that his very popular PT Bruiser it all set for its return to competition:
The last time we saw the PT Bruiser in competition was in Super Pro ET at the 2014 FIA European Finals. The car was then sporting an all-aluminium 540ci Donovan on injected methanol. That has not changed, but with the data from that last event there were questions to be answered and some work needed. It was nothing sinister, although the motor being all aluminium means that you have to set the valve lash as near zero as you dare when it's cold - aluminium motors grow due to the expansive properties of the material, and the growth causes the valve lash to open up as the motor heats. This was a problem at that race as the Ron's Primer Plus system, which we use to start the motor and idle to build heat, was not working properly. Primer Plus is a very simple petrol injection system custom-built to work with alcohol / methanol fuel injection and if it doesn't work properly it can be very difficult to build heat in a motor due to the cooling properties ofalcohol as a fuel plus the heat dissipation characteristics of aluminium. When we ran in 2014 the motor never got to the temperature for which I was looking, plus it was down a little on what I expected speed-wise. Bear in mind that we are only able to compare this to the data on the previous motor, which was a Chrysler 500 ci Pro Stock wedge. With lots of questions that needed answering I figured that prior to our next race event, which was scheduled to be the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, we needed to book some rolling road time with John Sleath Race Cars. Matt Wright of Eurodragster.com sponsor wemoveyourcar.com had recommended John Sleath Race Cars' rolling road dyno as it has helped him get the fuelling right on the UK Top Sportsman twin turbo BBC Rolls Royce which Matt owns and drives. It made sense as you are dynoing the whole car, which is important as it is real world condition: fuel tank, fuel lines, fuel pump, ignition system, plug leads, along with the motor you test everything as a whole. With the Primer Plus system working properly (the top of the sheet metal tunnel ram needed some extra machining) we could also get heat into the motor and run it at the correct temperature. Gary and Arron Springford, PMR crew Sefton Whitlock and I travelled to John's workshop facilities last Tuesday for the day on the rolling road. The first pull was the baseline, the last run from 2014, followed by another to back up the data of the first pull. This returned 665 HP at the rear wheels, and the fuel reading from the Lambda sensors showed that it could possibly use some more fuel. This system runs a main pill (jet) on the return to the tank side, which regulates the fuel pressure; the fuel pump is belt-driven from the crankshaft so delivery increases with rpm. To control this increase in fuel pressure we also run what is referfed to as a high speed lean which is a separate pressure-sensitive valve to reduce fuel pressure and prevent overfuelling the motor which is a common problem with these systems. For the next couple of pulls more fuel was added by upping the opening pressure point of the high speed lean. Doing this we saw an increase in horsepower to 681 then 692, 695, then with a small adjustment to fuel and a little less timing (from 38 to 36 deg) over 700. This gave us exactly what we were looking for, the answers were as I had suspected. There was more power to be had, with an increase of nearly ten per cent, and just as importantly it showed us where the motor made power and how long for in its RPM range - we were taking the motor to 7400 rpm on the rollers. Probably most importantly, we now knew that the motor was being fed the correct amount of fuel all the way through its rev range and the fuel curve now matched the engines needs. If you get this wrong and run too lean with alcohol it can hurt the motor, real bad, real quick. One thing which a rolling road cannot give you is the torque figures, which we will find out once we run the PT Bruiser on a race track: torque is what accelerates a race car. So did we achieve what we set out to, does the motor produce what we wanted? The rolling road is a very useful tool and did exactly what we wanted it to do, it pinpointed a problem I suspected was there, but without data it was just a hunch. I could have spent three or four races working on the fuel system and as any racer knows there are so many variables from day to day, let alone event to event, so it would be very difficult to interpret any data accurately meeting to meeting. So long as your car is reliable and you have a good idea of where you want to be with it, you can use a rolling road to get done in a day what could otherwise take months otherwise. It will be interesting to see what difference this makes to the performance of the PT Bruiser. Personally I think it will make a little difference, she has run 8.29/160 and I now know that the motor is where it's happiest and we should pick up a little. The rest of any more potential is in making the chassis work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Many thanks to John Sleath and his team who were very helpful and knowledgeable, Gary Springford for his sagely advise, Arron for the videos, and Sefton for being Sefton. John Sleath kindly sent me all the data I need, and John's advice to put the PT Bruiser on the rolling road just prior to competing was very good advice indeed. If you are thinking of having this done yourself call John Sleath Race Cars 07976 751742. If you want it right dyno it; John Sleath offers a variety of services so check out his web site at www.john-sleath.com for full details. Web site updates. 22nd April: Our good buddy Alan Currans writes with news of the latest update to his excellent Acceleration Archive: "The sun shone on Shakespeare County Raceway on Sunday 17th April and a great field of two-, three-, four- and even six-wheeled vehicles assembled for what promised to be a great day's action. Undoubtedly the headline class was the Supercharged Outlaws who were holding their first of seven rounds for the 2016 season. However, what really made my day was the appearance of one man and two rather small bikes which did not even put in a single pass. That man was Brian Chapman who back in the day was the scourge of Top Bike with his world beating Vincent-powered bikes". You can take a look at Alan's pictures at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Event entry update. 21st April: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us Version 1 of the official entry list for next week's APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. "If you have sent in your entry but are not yet on the list then please wait for the publication of Version 2 before panicking", says Jerry, "we can only process the entry list as quickly as the Post Office deliver. Please also note that final instructions will be sent out shortly; we are just awaiting updates from the relevant officials." You can check out the APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 3 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-30th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. FIA / FIM Main Event entry closes next Friday (29th) after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a penalty fee. You can download the entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about FIA / FIM Main Event entry then please contact Ian Marshall by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Our Kirstie needs your help. 21st April: Regular readers know that Eurodragster.com staff member Kirstie Tramm has embarked upon a racing career after winning the Dial In Day at Santa Pod Raceway earlier this year. Kirstie put up a good showing in Sportsman ET at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway, qualifying eighth and pulling the class' best Reaction Time, and she is planning to contest this weekend's Big Bang, but has put out an urgent call for help if she is to compete. Kirstie's new crash helmet has not yet arrived so she is looking to borrow a helmet to use at Santa Pod this weekend. The helmet needs to be legal for Sportsman ET and of size Small. If you can help then please get in touch with Kirstie pdq at [email protected]. Web site updates. 21st April: We don't suppose it will change a thing but we can highly recommend an excellent article on bangshift.com named Baghdad Bob and the New Power of Words. LAS Aerospace back Allard Chrysler. 
21st April: The Allard Chrysler Action Group is pleased to announce
support from LAS Aerospace for restoring Europe's first dragster, Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard
Chrysler.
The group was looking for a timing buzz box for the 354 Chrysler Hemi engine. Chris Eames identified a unit offered by LAS Aerospace Limited in Okehampton with a part number LED51. ACAG checked with Ray Howe at LAS that it was suitable and Managing Director Scott Powell agreed to donate the unit to the project. The LED 51 unit being used by the Allard Chrysler Action Group is really designed specifically for aircraft magneto synchronisation and engine timing, but it is ideal for timing a Chrysler Hemi with a single magneto (they have another unit for twin mag application). It eliminates all guesswork and provides a greater safety factor by creating perfect timing quickly and reliably. You simply attach three clips to the magneto and adjust until the illuminated LED turns off and the tone sounds. 
LAS Aerospace was originally founded by owner Stephen Saywell in 1982 and has been at the forefront of supporting the Sport and General Aviation market
since then. Day to day running of the company is overseen by MD Scott Powell. They have one of the largest stocks of British and American specification
hardware in Europe - in total over 100,000 parts - all available for next day delivery. They have shipments leaving the USA daily, meaning that most products
are delivered in under a week. Full details can be found on their web site at www.lasaero.com or
call 01837 658081.
LAS Aerospace MD Scott Powell says "This application is quite different to our normal requests but we are pleased to support such a unique project. Heritage is important to protect and being an American engine it is very much in line with our normal generic aviation products sourced in the USA. We were very pleased to be able to help." ACAG Chair Brian Taylor says "Support for this restoration project has come from many different companies and private individuals, some based in the UK and others in the USA. It is very rewarding that so many see the value in what is being achieved." Swift snippets. 20th April: Multiple FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson's operation is up for sale turn-key on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet. If you are quick then you can get a great deal in time to enter May's FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. "Please someone, buy this car or I will be forced to enter the Main Event myself!" says Grumpy. Good Luck and stay safe to Smax Smith (Top Fuel Dragster), Jonnie Lindberg and Ulf Leanders (Top Alcohol FC), Roy Olsen (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and Jimmy Ålund (Stock Eliminator) who are contesting this weekend's NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. Qualifying commences on Friday and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com and not forgetting the excellent Lindberg Bros Racing web site at www.lindbergbros.com. Santa Pod Raceway are celebrating the inaugural Race, Rock'n'Ride on 21st-22nd May by giving away a Two Seat Dragster ride. To enter the give-away go to www.racerockride.co.uk/win. You can find out more about the event at www.racerockride.co.uk. Our good buddy, photo-journalist Steve Moxley has been in touch to let us know that his Festival of Power report of the bike classes is now showing on the ACU web site at www.acu.org.uk. VW Sportsman and Sportsman ET racer Jon Crawford asked us to say a big Happy 15th Birthday to his son, Crawford Motorsports and Engine Carbon Clean ace crewman Dominic Crawford. Our pleasure Jon, have a great day Dominic. Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe asks if Dave Alexander could please get in touch with him. If you plan to tune in to our Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast of this weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway, which is scheduled to commence at 12:00 midday on Friday, then please remember that there is now a status message box on the webcam landing page at www.eurodragster.com/webcam which will be updated with anything you need to know (track closed etc). We take no responsibility for, nor can we promise to be gentle with, those who can't or won't read. Big Bang racer update. 19th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for this weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway. Pit marshals will be available when gates open on Friday. Racers are welcome to run in the Run What You Brung sessions on both Friday and Saturday but please note that DVLC licences must be presented; Competition licences are not accepted for RWYB (Junior racers have their own arrangements for RWYB sign-on - Ed). Thursday 21st April 10:00 Santa Pod Raceway's gates open for racers 21:00 Santa Pod Raceway's gates close Friday 22nd April 08:00 Santa Pod Raceway's gates open for the duration of the event 11:00 Signing on office opens for Run What You Brung NB DVLC licences only for RWYB 12:00 Track opens for Run What You Brung 19:00 Track closes Saturday 23rd April 08:30 Signing on office opens NB Competition licences required for race sign-on, DVLC licences for RYWB 08:30 Car scrutineering commences, no set order (scrutineering notes) 08:30 Bike scrutineering commences, no set order (scrutineering notes) 09:30 Track opens for Run What You Brung 15:00 Run What You Brung ends 16:00 Track opens for qualifying 20:00 Track closes Sunday 24th April 08:00 Signing on office opens 08:00 Car scrutineering commences, no set order (scrutineering notes) 08:00 Bike scrutineering commences, no set order (scrutineering notes) 09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations The provisional running orders are now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event. Before 09:00 vehicles should be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven. Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event. Junior Dragster racers please remember the new rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside Scrutineering. Swift snippets. 
19th April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (right) came with no words at all. 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. 19th April: Santa Pod Raceway's YouTube channel has been updated with a Web TV programme covering the first round of the 2016 FWD Drag Series which took place at the recent Fast Show. The programme was produced by our good buddies at Zeon TV which tells you all you need to know about its quality. You can take a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7jOf-N0FQs. All welcome at Drag and Drift II. 
18th April: Dakota Raceway in the
south west of the UK is set for its latest Drag and Drift day this Saturday (23rd). Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Lee Child International Track Preparation Services writes:
Last month's season opener was a success with plenty going on at the grass-roots, no-frills Devon quarter mile. The event had more variety than Heinz 57! Newcomers were amazed at Lee Johnstone's blown Volvo Nostalgia Gasser and Philip Masek's BMW i8 hybrid, which ran in the 12.7s, also earned appreciation from fellow racers and spectators. The diversity of vehicles at Dakota Raceway is demonstrated by the category winners:
The drag strip will be open between 09:00 and 16:00 and you can buy one run, three runs, or unlimited runs. Perfect for Test and Tune! Passenger rides are allowed but only for cars of course. Dakota Raceway has three Signing On booths so you can get on track as quickly as possible. 
You can pre-order race fuel for collection at the venue on the day. For details about that and more information about the event check out our Facebook page at Dakota Raceway Southwest. Dakota Raceway is located in Smeatharpe, Devon, postcode EX14 9RF (map). York Raceway offers fuel outlet. 
18th April: The UK's York Raceway is now offering pre-ordering of race fuel. Orders are delivered to the track saving delivery
charges. Steve and Chris Murty of York Raceway have added this service in co-operation with Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor
LA Racing Parts who writes:
All unleaded, leaded, oxygenated and non-oxygenated fuels will be available to order. All fuels need to be ordered by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01803 391740 seven working days before an event at York Raceway; the deadline for orders for the next event is this Thursday (21st). Technical support will also be available via LA Racing Parts so the best advice will be available to competitors at York Raceway. Other products will be added at a later date. Big Bang Perfect Awards. 18th April: This weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest event in the 2016 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £125 is on offer for perfect performance.
This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET racer Mike
Lacey at the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect
Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event.
If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won
then it will be reset to £50 for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath
and Tig Napier, Pro ET).
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only).
This weekend's Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has been increased to
£75 after it went unclaimed at the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the
thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in VW Pro, VW Sportsman,
Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event.
If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won
then it will be reset to £50 for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals. The Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com
sponsor Gold RV in support of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children;
you can donate to the NSPCC at www.nspcc.org.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / NSPCC decals (right), one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals when the run is made then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to record a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Eurodragster.com / NSPCC decals are available in Signing On or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only). NHRA's BDRHoF Award. 18th April: It is a well-known fact that the National Hot Rod Association, founded in 1951 by Wally Parks, is the largest promoter of drag racing on the planet, with 70,000 members and 40,000 competitors. What is not well-known - until now - is that NHRA is receiving its first-ever Global Achievement Award, sponsored by Lucas Oil, at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala to be held at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel, near London's Heathrow Airport, on Saturday 19th November 2016. 
The Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award was inaugurated in 2014 in memory of Pat Garlits, the late wife of legendary drag racer Don Garlits. This year it marks the role played by all people
at the NHRA as without their support in developing drag racing it could not happen at the level it does today.
NHRA will be represented by Senior Vice President-Racing Operations Graham Light who is also president of the FIA Drag Racing Commission. Graham, who joined the NHRA Board in 2004,
oversees competition and operations at all NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series races. In addition, he oversees NHRA Field Operations / Divisions and the NHRA Technical Department,
supervises the NHRA Safety Safari presented by AAA, and serves as Chairman of the NHRA Competition Committee.
NHRA has always been dedicated to safety and in 1950s the Safety Safari travelled around the US for early national events and to the NHRA network of member tracks. Track facilities developed rapidly and a programme of upgrading of facilities to stadium quality, with fan amenities, VIP towers, and tall grandstands took place in the 1980s and 1990s under the direction of Dallas Gardner, who is the current Chairman of the NHRA Board. As well as overseeing incredible growth and success in the sport of drag racing in the United States, NHRA has over the years been closely involved in the development of the sport overseas. In the UK Wally Parks was personally involved in organising the 1964 and 1965 Drag Fests which established the sport in Europe. In the 1990s the NHRA organised a number of races in Japan. The NHRA also chairs the FIA Drag Racing Commission which organises championships in Europe and Australia. 
In 2011 NHRA announced the creation of NHRA Worldwide Network, a program which will enable drag racing facilities around the world to conduct events under the NHRA banner and
have access to NHRA technical resources. The first track to be included in the Network was Bahrain International Circuit and Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi joined in 2013. And in 2016,
world-wide online streaming and in-house TV production has begun under current President Peter Clifford.
British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chairman Stu Bradbury said "It is an exceptional honour to be able to present the Lucas Oil Global Achievement award to the organisation that we owe so much to for the establishment and growth of the sport across the world." 
Graham Light said "The NHRA is thrilled to receive the Lucas Oil Global Achievement award and I am looking forward to meeting UK drag racing racers and fans at the BDRHoF Gala.
NHRA and its two hundred dedicated employees have a passion for drag racing. They love the sport, they love the people in the sport, they just love being involved. The Safety
Safari guys, the guys that haul the equipment down the racetrack and the guys that work cleaning up oil spills to drying race tracks, they work all hours to get it done and they keep
the show on the road."
Ticket prices for the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of ten are available at £580. For advance booking of tickets contact [email protected] or telephone Stu Bradbury on 01933 279102. Like father, like daughter. 17th April: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher has been in touch with news of the team's plan to race as a duet in 2016: At the NitrOlympX my daughter Jndia will be driving Anthony Dicerio's Nitro University A/Fuel Dragster which she recently drove in Las Vegas. Anthony will attend the race with us. Transport of the car and equipment will be provided by Jndia's sponsor JH Ferry GmbH. JH Ferry's Managing Director Tobias Jaursch was with us in Las Vegas and he has agreed to cover all of the costs of transportation. Tobias is willing to offer special terms on ferry agreements to racers; if you are interested then you can contact Tobias through JH Ferry's web site at www.jh-ferry.de. 
Jndia has her own page on our team web site at club111.org/jndia-erbacher. I will be racing the full FIA European Championship Tour and after five years I will take the Championship back to old Switzerland. This season I will be racing the car last driven here by Noah Stutz, a Hadman chassis with many changes so it is virtually a brand new car. We have two new billet superchargers from Aaron Brooks and a complete new fuel system from Alan Johnson and the Lagana Brothers. Robin Grice and John Stewart will tune the car. The set-up is close to that used when Noah raced in Las Vegas last October, so we will be able to share data with our friends the Laganas. 
We have another new sponsor this year, DMax Television who will follow us for the whole season. Their decals are already on Jndia's car and mine. They will be with us at the FIA Main Event to make a pilot programme. You can find their web site at www.dmax.de. All of our other Main Sponsors remain the same. When my car is painted I will send pictures. Urs' team web site at www.club111.org includes videos of Jndia's stellar Top Alcohol Dragster début in Las Vegas as well as pictures, news, fan shop, sponsor page and more. SPR seeking tyres for sleds. 16th April: Ian Marshall writes that Santa Pod Raceway are still seeking used tyres for their sleds to help to prepare the strip. Both slicks and ET Street Radials can be used. If you can help then please get in touch with Ian [email protected] or on 01933 313625 and he will arrange collection. Read's record aims. 16th April: The UK's Robin Read has spent the off-season making changes to his blown nitro-burning Daimler dragster to achieve his aim of the world's first 200 mph terminal speed from a British-engined car. The dragster made its third best run at the 2015 Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway, clocking 6.91/190, and Robin and the team have since been addressing issues identified after that outing: I have a 200 mph timing slip from the late 1980s but I didn't believe it then and I don't believe it now! Part of the work I have been doing is to change the gear ratio; when the car was conceived and built in the mid 1980s I couldn't have imagined the times and speeds it was to achieve and so the choice of axle was a bit light. This was not a problem initially, but as the power of the engine increased the short gearing became a problem. Making more power just uses up the gearing quicker, so it needs taller gears. This is a bit tricky as the ratio I want is not available in 9310 spec material, so I have obtained 8620 spec and had it all re-tempered to soften it a bit. I tried taller ratios in the 1980s and 1990s and most recently at Dragstalgia in 2012, and they all broke! It was this problem which prompted the decision to build a new car and that is proceeding, albeit slowly. What is to stop the new gears from breaking? Hopefully the re-tempering, and I will also drive the car a little differently by short-shifting off the line to try to make the first-second gear change before the clutch has locked, which should lessen the shock loading. I was going to save the first 200 mph pass for the new car, but it's worth a try to run it in the old car. 
I have also freshened the blower, although the difficulty was not knowing how tired it was and how fresh it is now. So that we don't run lean I've increased the fuel jet sizes above the
blower and gone up a size on the fuel pump. There are also more changes to the lubrication system: we have increased the pressure again and revised the oil pickup and sump lay-out,
which is to improve the durability of parts during and after the run with the loss of oil pressure experienced when the chute hits. The problem with a nitro engine is not making power,
it's engineering it to survive the power it makes!
New headers have been fabricated which will cure the problem of their coming loose on the run, which was caused by a combination of damaged threads in the cylinder heads and warped flanges on the headers, all as a result of many repairs over the years. Both cylinder heads have had all the threads replaced. The old headers are now hanging on the wall; the new headers look different but very nice (see spy picture of 22nd March - Ed). So now we have to try all these modifications out, let's go testing! Many thanks to James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway for allowing us to test at the Race, Rock'n'Ride on 21st-22nd May. If all goes well, we should see the world's first 200 mph terminal speed from a British-engined car and hopefully an elapsed time better than a 6.81. Both would be world records. Many thanks to Bertie Hopkinson, Mark Evans, Tim Read, Ella Chapman and Bill Mears. Main Event Pit Tour guides sought. 
16th April: Brian Taylor writes seeking volunteers to give Pit Tours to young members of the Institute of the Motor Industry on the
Friday of May's FIA / FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. The Pit Tours, organised jointly by Santa Pod Raceway and the
British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, have become a regular feature of this event and
have proven immensely popular.
Brian says "If you would like to offer your services as a Tour Guide to introduce the young guests to top racers in their pits and to explain the finer points of drag racing, then in the first instance please contact me at [email protected] or call me on 01395 579733." Swift snippets. 16th April: Thanks to our good friends Lena Perés and Remco Scheelings for passing on details of the latest features on Speedgroup's Drag Racing Europe blog: Jan Phersson is the manager of the European part of Simpson Safety Equipment. Jan and his staff are located in Röbäck just outside Umeå in the north of Sweden but he travels all over Europe to help out with safety in all motorsport categories. Click here for more. A small airfield in the beautiful Setesdal in south of Norway hosts a spectacular drag race event. It is set between high mountains and the roar of the race cars sends shivers along the spine. That's where the name of the race comes from, Thunder Valle. Click here for more. In his fourth year in Top Methanol Funny Car, Finland's Johnny Oksa will chase an important goal: a race win in the FIA European Championship. After several round wins, semi-final finishes, and even a runner-up position in last year's home race at Alastaro, it's time for the Finnish driver and his OK Racing team to win a trophy. Click here for more. FIA Main Event entry update. 14th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 2 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-30th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. FIA / FIM Main Event entry closes on Friday 29th April after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a penalty fee. You can download the entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about FIA / FIM Main Event entry then please contact Ian Marshall by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). The return of the Duo of Destruction. 13th April: Nigel Taylor writes that the Detroit Spinner Racing Team and Acute Angle Racing Team are up and running and ready to test and tune at this weekend's (16th-17th) Spring Madness Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway: Last year the Pontiac engine let go in the Prefect, which was originally built by Arthur Bonner. The new powerplant is a 555 ci Dart motor on which Arthur is still getting his hands dirty, maching, drilling, grinding, and making parts all the time. He is now set to get back behind the driving seat at the age of 74 to try out the new motor! The Detroit Spinner Racing Team would like to say a big Thank You to all those that have made this possible: Nigel, Sophie, Elisha, Kenzie and Fletcher Taylor; Arthur Bonner; Graham Smith; Serck Motorsport; Andy Frost; Peter Borrett (saunashop.com); Justin Horne (Joust Performance and Recovery); Michael Hawkins; Jeff Goddard; Bob Hancox; Chris and Cindy Cotton; Ben and Lez Waldron; Graham True; Col Law; Steve and Paul Dale; Stephen and Anita Lowth; Kelvin Helsdown; Dave Dip Fulton; Stuart Ashton; Rob Gregory; Edward Ede; Nick Dunford; Richard Hicks; Neil Gibbs; James Gilmour; Andover Trailers; Mark Gardner-Nitrous; William Underhill; Mark Timson; S-C Raceway; the Flyin' Fyfer Team; Richy Barnett; Jeff Bull Race Engines; Rob-Co Tooling; V-G Speedshop; Oscar Jack Meaton; JP Santos; Denise Moore; Danny Mitty; Mandy Darlison; Mick Patey; Cliff Hepton (American Motor Factors); Pete Harrison; Kirsty Cleall and Ray Andrews 
Acute Angle Team Owner Paul Dale would like to say a special Thank You to his dad Steve Dale and to Nigel Jenkins of UK Blowers, and a special mention to his daughter Somer for all her support. Paul's 105E also suffered a destroyed engine but it now has a 355ci motor with Brodix heads and a lush supercharger sat on top, ready to run in the Supercharged Outlaws. Both teams are excited as we enter a new era! See you there. The Outlaws' early outing. 13th April: The first outing of 2016 for the UK's Supercharged Outlaws is early this year as the popular series also hits Shakespeare County Raceway's Spring Madness Public Track Weekend. Dave McKenzie writes: The Supercharged Outlaws are looking very good this year and we would like to thank Jim Maher of Good Vibrations Motorsport, California for his continued sponsorship of the Supercharged Outlaws in 2016. Round one has traditionally had a low turnout of Outlaws, but this year we have bucked the trend with ten teams entered and two more trying hard to make it, so we could have twelve cars on site at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend. So we start five weeks earlier than usual and we get a bigger entry list... it's puzzling but I'm not complaining. The entry list includes four Funny Cars: Dave McKenzie in Team Thing, Andy Gallimore in the LA Commercials FC, Mark Flavell driving the Flavell Welding Specialist FC, and Trace Froome whose team are desperately trying to make it this weekend. Three altereds are entered: John Reeve, Andy Fadster with the wild street-legal altered, and Ian Kerr who has bought the ex-Ghost Train Funny Car chassis and fitted the old Team Thing five-window Plymouth body along with a Big Block Chevy motor. Ian also has a new paint scheme on the car. Five doorslammers are entered including reigning Supercharged Outlaws Champion Paul Watts who starts his title defence this weekend. Also entered are Simon Boot with the Bootlegger Camero, and two new cars to the Outlaws. These are Paul Dale with the Acute Anglia and Joel Kerr, no relation to Ian, who will debut Ian Kerr's old Pontiac with a new paint scheme. Andy Osbourne is the fifth entry with his Chevy truck. With the series increased to seven rounds this year the Supercharged Outlaws are going to be busy. There are a few more new teams and a few regular teams who hope to be out for Round Two, more news on these at later date but I can tell you that there are some great new cars coming into the class in 2016. We look forward to seeing you all at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend. Swift snippets. 12th April: Fans at Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway on 22nd-24th April will get extra lungfuls of nitro on top of those from the two attending Nostalgia Funny Cars as the UK's Steve Ashdown will be continuing his licencing in one of the Rune Fjeld Motorsport Top Fuel Dragsters. Licencing at Big Bang will be a family affair for the Ashdowns as Steve's son, Top Fuel crew and former Junior Dragster racer Tyler Ashdown will also be making observed runs, in a Super Comp dragster. Racers entered for May's FIA / FIM Main Event who wish to test at Race, Rock & Ride at Santa Pod Raceway on the preceding weekend (21st-22nd May) are most welcome to attend and to take advantage of what will be a fully-prepped track, but SPR request that any racers planning on attending this event and looking to set up their pits for the Main Event notify either James Forster at [email protected] or Darren Prentice at [email protected] or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us the official timing data from the weekend's Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the Fast Show timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 12th April: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures of the Saturday's action at Shakespeare County Raceway's first Public Track Weekend of 2016. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Feature: SPR 50th Anniversary gallery. 
11th April: To mark today's Fiftieth Anniversary of the first event held at Santa Pod Raceway, which took place on Easter Monday 11th April 1966,
Simon has scanned and posted 214 historical pictures which were kindly donated by former Pro Fuel Dragster and Funny Car racer and British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Clive Skilton.
The gallery is presented in association with Lucas Oil Products and features pictures dating from 1966 to 1968 which were originally shot for Drag Racing & Hot Rod magazine, although many have never been published. The pictures have been ordered by vehicle over time and include shots of Santa Pod Raceway's original timing system built by Peter Billinton, the Golden Hind AA/FD, Harold Bull's Stripduster, Alan Allard's Dragon Anglia, EJ Potter, Nobby Hills' Houndog III, Derek Metcalfe's V4-powered dragster, Mark Stratton and Dave Riswick's Hustler, Spa Engineering's promotional vehicle, Commuter campaigned by Tony Densham, Roy Phelps' Wheelie Stingray, Freddie Whittle's Shutdown, Bo Sandeberg's The Deejays GTA, Pat Church's Gold Rush and others. You can check out the 50th Anniversary gallery by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. From the Eurodragster.com staff a big Happy Birthday and Thank You to all involved with Santa Pod Raceway then and now, and a big Thank You to Clive Skilton for passing on the pictures. Swift snippets. 11th April: We have two spy pictures for you today. The first (below left) came with the words "Got boost"... 
...whilst the second (above right) came with the word "Snap!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. No news update yesterday (Sunday) so we were unable to say Happy Birthday for yesterday to Comp Bike racer Lizz McCarthy and to Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Colin Theobald. Hope you had a great day guys. Europeans and more in Las Vegas. 11th April: Our good buddy and occasional Eurodragster.com contributor, the currently un-fired Markus Münch of Dragmag.de, attended his first NHRA National Event in Las Vegas last week. Markus got in touch with a report of his weekend: What can I say? Everything is a bit bigger there. The grandstands, the facility, the parking lots... and the entry list. Over three hundred participants in various classes fought for Mello Yello and Lucas Oil points. Sixteen fuel dragsters, nineteen Funny Cars and nearly twenty Pro Stocks. The weather was hot, up to 30° Celsius. 
Two Europeans were at the track, Rob Turner with the Turner family Top Alcohol Funny Car and Jndia Erbacher in her first race ever in an A/Fuel Dragster. Rob Turner did not manage to do better then 6.05 seconds in qualifying and did not make it into the field. Jndia Erbacher won her A/Fuel licence during the winter and went faster and faster on every run in her driving school's dragster. There were only eleven Top Alcohol Dragsters on site, so Jndia contested her first round of racing. She met Chris Demke in round one but the number two qualifier made no mistake at all with his 5.29 second Run. India reset her Personal Best on this run to 5.51/265, good job! We had the chance to chat with Noah Stutz and he told us that it is possible that we will see this combination of Jndia and the car in Europe this season if everything turns out right. Noah himself is busy sealing his deals for more NHRA races later this year and perhaps a full-time engagement in the future. He is talking to many sponsors and teams and is confident that the puzzle is coming together quite well. We wish him the best of luck. 
I had many impressions of this race. The most impressive was how quickly the Pro cars were sent down the strip. The Funny Cars are celebrating their fiftieth year and put on a killer show. In qualifying ten of the nineteen FCs were in the threes. Jack Beckman set a new track ET record and Del Worsham a new track speed record. Side by side sub four-second runs are pretty impressive. In eliminations there were a bunch of exciting races. Brilliant. Alexis Dejoria finally won against Del Worsham, margin of victory 0.021 seconds and both in the threes. Previous to that Alexis beat John Force, who was on fire and kicked his FC after the race. But the old man is still loving what he does best, he eliminated his daughter Courtney in round two in a close one. In the first round he got "The Hagan Kid" and won. Del got Chad Head in the semis, Chad had a superb weekend with good times and two round wins. 
There were some upsets in round one of Top Fuel. Tony Schumacher, Shaun Langdon, Steve Torrence, Clay Millican and Richie Crampton all went out. Antron Brown was in the final against underdog Troy Buff. Brown took the win, but Buff had a fabulous weekend eliminating JR Todd, Brittany Force and Richie Crampton on his way to the final. Pro Stock was Summit country with Jason Line and Greg Anderson dominating the field. In the K+N Horsepower Challenge on Saturday they were in the final; Jason Line had to be shut off after the burnout cause of a leak. Greg Anderson took his fifth K+N title, the first with an EFI engine. Jason Line took the event win on Sunday against strong Bo Butner. What a race weekend... I will be back to NHRA sooner or later. But it will soon be time to go to the FIA Main Event. You can check out Markus' extensive gallery of shots from The Strip at Las Vegas by clicking here. Some you win, some you lose. 11th April: Paul Marston Racing fielded three entries at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway, and Paul got in touch to let us know how the team's weekend went: Our team included new boy, countless and reigning Sportsman ET Champion Craig Wright in the PMR four-Link Miller dragster resplendent in its new livery. Craig was competing in Super Pro ET as he wanted a new challenge. Easter being early this year meant that no real meaningful testing could be carried out. Team PMR arrived at Santa Pod on Wednesday to be ready for Thursday's Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune but the weather soon put paid to that. So we spent the day checking the dragster over again and installing an MSD three-step control box so that Craig had a burnout limiter. Qualifying went well; Craig naturally had a very steep mountain to climb as this was the first time he had sat in our dragster, having licenced in the Kellett family's dragster at the end of 2015. Those two dragsters are fundamentally different so there was plenty to keep Craig busy. As usual we had the most problems with the newest part on the dragster, namely the brand new fuel pump which leaked and caused us to miss Q2, but we made up for it in Q3. Craig also had the luck of the Irish in E1 as his opponent was declared broken so with no alternates he got the bye run. Then, as we all know, the weather played its part and the event was rained out. All in all not a bad first outing for Craig, his crewman Chris and their respective better halves. Craig's next outing will be at the FIA Main Event, once again in the PMR dragster. Meanwhile I was on driving duties for our other two entries in the Whoopass Chevy Monza: Pro ET after too long an absence and Super Pro ET. The Monza finished off the 2015 season with two runners-up, with Mick Howling behind the wheel in Super Pro ET at the FIA/FIM European Finals and myself at the UK National Finals. Other than winter housekeeping the Monza was left untouched. I made Q1 no problem and got a full pull in Pro ET but Super Pro ET was another story as I had to lift at half track to save the car. In Q2 the Monza decided that it did not particularly want to go down the track again that day. I was in the staging lanes ready to go, hit the starter button and... nothing! Much thrashing ensued from the PMR crew but alas to no avail so we towed back. Once back in the pits I removed the 4 lb lump hammer from the toolbox, gave the starter a little tickle, and it worked fine again. But the starter was replaced and has since been repaired. This gave us kind of a one shot qualifier on Saturday as I was towards the bottom in Pro ET and dead last in Super Pro ET. In Q3 we improved in both classes with conservative dial-ins to get us further up the qualifying lists. In Pro ET E1 I was up against Tony Harter in the ex-Vic Amato Ford Mustang. It's a real pleasure to race this car and great to see it back competing again. I had experienced a lack of gears in the Monza earlier that morning on my warm-up drive but they had reappeared, but that was really not a good sign with a racing transmission so we knew something was up. However all appeared to be working fine again. After a couple more disappearing acts I finally got to run first round. Burnout went fine, pulled up to the start line fine, both cars in full stage, put the motor on the launch chip, fine, let go of the transbrake button and bang! The first gear disappeared. Shifted into second and off I went in pursuit but never caught Tony who chalked one up for the next round. I came up with the lucky dog in Super Pro ET as my opponent Tom van der Wijden had already broken and packed up and gone for the ferry back to The Netherlands. I had no first gear at all, but I still had second gear and reverse. So I staged for the round win and then hot-footed it back to the pits where the PMR crew began removing the transmission so that it could be repaired. As it was the event was rained out, so we got lucky in Super Pro ET and unlucky in Pro ET. In the great scheme of things no great advantage or damage was gained by anyone so both Championships are still left with all to play for. Not the best start to the season but it will do; the weather is the weather, you cannot beat it (You want to try making rain sound interesting - Ed). Besides, it was great to see everyone at the track again. Our next outing is the APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway where we will hopefully be fielding the PT Bruiser in Super Pro ET. It's all ready to go and once we have visited John Sleath's shop to set up the alcohol fuel injection system we should be able to see the potential of the current combination. Meanwhile the Monza's transmission has been stripped and rebuilt by Gary Springford at Drag Race Engineering after a rare component failure. This is actually good news, as if it had lost the first gear assembly it would have been a much bigger problem! The Monza is scheduled to run in the Quick 8 Eliminator at North Weald on Sunday 8th May. Many thanks to Eurodragster.com for the pinpoint coverage at Easter (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed) and to Gary Springford at Drag Race Engineering for turning the transmission around so quickly. Thanks also to our tireless crew at PMR and to our fans and sponsors. Lindberg to drive The Old 51. 9th April: A change to the driver's seat has been announced from Sweden's The Old 51 Drag Racing Team. Magnus Petersson, owner and Crew Chief of The Old 51 Chevy Coupe Pro Mod, and driver Niclas Andersson had to make a tough decision this past week as Niclas' back problems are preventing him from competing on the FIA European Drag Racing Championship series. In his place, Magnus has named Johan Lindberg as the driver of The Old 51 for the 2016 season. Johan was is the 2014 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car champion. "It's with a heavy heart that Niclas isn't driving the car", said Magnus. "Niclas injured his back, so he wasn't comfortable about driving the car this year. I bought the car in 1998 and have only had two drivers. Niclas has been driving it for nine years, so it was quite emotional when Niclas couldn't drive the car any longer. We have been running the Pro Mod series for the past four years. Last year, we decided to run for the FIA European Championship. It's a bit sad, because Niclas was excited about doing it. "I knew that Johan was out of a drive in Sweden and Europe, so we talked together about him driving my car this year. We have had our car for years, and we helped them out when they started and became friends. We get along well. There are only so many guys you can think of that you'd want to drive a car like this. We feel very confident as a team that Johan is the right guy to do this." Niclas Andersson exits the driver's seat with a heavy heart. The supercharged, carbon-bodied Chevy Coupe won seven Scandinavian Top Doorslammer Championships before switching to Pro Mod, and the best seems to be yet to come with the team embarking on the FIA Tour. "I have some back problems with a herniated disc which has got worse and worse", Niclas explained. "It was a tough decision to make, but safety has to come first. I've been driving the car for nine years. I love this car. We scored a lot of wins, and it gets faster and faster every year. Magnus and I talked about it, and we thought it would be best to have Johan drive the car. He is a very good friend and a very good race car driver. It is going to be a good year for him and the team. It's a really good race car." Johan is excited about joining the team. With Lindberg Bros Motorsports becoming increasingly more concentrated in the United States in order to focus on brother Jonnie's defence of his 2015 Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship in the National Hot Rod Association, the opportunity to get back into Pro Mod with an established team of trusted friends is a perfect fit for the 33-year-old from Upplands Väsby, Sweden. "It felt very good to have Magnus call me up to ask if I wanted to drive the car", said Johan. "I am very happy to do so. Magnus and all his guys are great people who are good friends of ours, so driving for him is going to feel like home. I'm looking forward to driving a Pro Mod car for the first time since 2012. Hopefully, it's going to be a good year." "It's a good car and a championship contender", added Jonnie Lindberg. "It works out perfect for me and my brother. He was looking at getting back into Pro Mod, and this allows him to do that with a great team without taking focus away from racing for a Championship in the United States with my car." The 2016 FIA European Drag Racing Championship series begins at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-30th May. A test is planned to take place at Malmö Raceway on 13th-15th May. "It's a strong team", added Magnus. "There are very mixed feelings which are difficult to express. I'm very sad that Niclas won't be driving. At the same time, I'm extremely thrilled to have Johan join the team. I think this year is going to be a lot of fun." The Baltic States join the fold. 9th April: The first ever Drag Racing Conference for the Baltic States was recently held in Lithuania, where the sport has grown since the country regained independence in 1990. The conference was attended by Paul Marston and Bill Felstead and Paul has been in touch with a report of their trip: The tracks are currently ex-military airfields and are no prep affairs, which make the times and speeds all the more impressive. As you can imagine a lot of the race cars are home grown, for example some very impressive Audis and BMWs with home made ECU and injectors which run either E85 or Alcohol and producing between 800-1200 hp using huge turbos. The events now draw fields of up to 130 cars and the National Record is 7.90/180 from a fuel injected LS1 twin turbo-powered altered built for a customer in England by Bill Felstead of 2015 UK Top Sportsman event sponsor Comanche Racecars then exported to Lithuania a couple of years back. The organiser of the Conference was Andrius Tiknius who recently became the SFI representative for the region and is the FIA representative for drag racing in Lituania. Andrius was a very successful promoter of Lithuanian drag racing events in the 2000s, but became disillusioned. He then moved to England for four years and built race at Johnny Hall's Stamford Speed Shop. When in England Andrius was a regular at Santa Pod, guiding and advising the many visiting Lithuanian drag racers who were either bringing their cars from Lithuania or who had bought or had cars built turn-key in the UK and were testing prior to returning home. Andrius eventually returned to Lithuania himself with batteries recharged and he lost no time in sharing his knowledge and once again helping to move the sport forward. To this end Andrius knew that the time was right to introduce the drag racing rule book to which people build their cars all over the world. Up to this point home-grown race cars were built to rally spec as those were virtually the only rules around. He invited experts from different countries to come to the conference to talk about specialist subjects pertaining to drag racing as it would help the sport to develop in the right way and in the right direction. It would also give racers and teams the opportunity to ask questions and to discuss their race cars. The invitees were from Sweden, Jan Phersson, Managing Director of Simpson Racing Products; from The Netherlands, Dick Koster and Egbert Dros of Racepak datalogging products and Post en Dros; From Lithuania, Andruis Tiknius representing competition rules and classifications for drag racing in Eastern Europe and the Baltic Drag Racing Cup; From Lithuania, Saulius Stanaitis the LASF technical chassis scrutineer for Lithuania; from England, Bill Felstead the race car chassis constructor and drag racing historian; from England, Paul Marston covering Sportsman class racing and promotion, marketing and sponsorship. Guest speakers were Romas Austinskas, the President of the Lithuanian Automobile Sport Federation and Tigran Seferjan, the head of the Drag Racing Committee of the Russian Federation of Automobile Sport and member of the FIA Drag Racing Commission. Having known Andrius for quite a while when he lived in the UK Bill and I were not going into this blind, but having never been to Lithuania before we did not know what to expect. My first task was to get Bill to the airport on the right day, let alone the right time... anyone who knows Bill Felstead will know what I mean! But we arrived at Luton Airport at 05:30 in the freezing frost for an 07:30 flight. We were met at Vilnius Airport by Giedruis Jurevicius, owner of the ex-Taz Racing Boudicca Altered which currently holds the Lithuanian ET and Speed records. A short trip to Giedruis' motor mechanics servicing workshop business and a viewing of the altered confirmed that he is a very brave man! There was a lot of home grown technology in the altered, mixed in with American parts. As I mentioned above it's a Bill Felstead build, in fact we found three of Bill's cars over there. Bill and Andrius have quite a few Eastern European connections including the World Record-setting Nissan Skyline from Russia, which incidentally set that record at Santa Pod Raceway a couple of years back. That evening we take toe 300 km road trip to the other side of the country as the conference was being held in Klaipeda on the Baltic coast. 
The conference lasted two days and started on the Saturday morning with Andrius. Strange as it may seem, nearly all of the conference was conducted in English as nine out of ten Lithuanians can speak English. Andrius gave a brief background on himself and his involvement with drag racing and explained that the purpose of the conference was to help the drivers and teams to build safe race cars which complied with the rules to which cars in the UK are built, so that they could compete in other European countries. The first conference of its kind went very well and was very well-received by all the attendees, also offering networking opportunities of which full advantage was taken. At the end of each day there was an opportunity for the teams to ask the speakers any questions they wished. What was also surprising was how many racers had actually run cars at RWYB events in England. 
Tracks in Lithuania currently like North Weald, ex-military bases where the surface is OK but could be better. The ingenuity employed by the teams reminded me very much of our drag race scene in the late 1980s, when I first competed with the NDRC at North Weald. The only difference is just how much faster their cars are, which is why Andrius Tiknius will prove to be such an instrumental part of the sport's development. By acting now, the cars being built will have safety built into them. Bill and I went into Lithuania with open minds, how can you ever know until you have been there, and we found a great country with very friendly people, outstanding hospitality, great food and beer, and very clean and tidy. If you are thinking of travelling to Lithuania I would recommend it with no hesitation, but bear in mind that during the winter its -35° and in the summer it hits 90° so go in the summer! Would we go back again? Most certainly! Personally I would like to attend a race meeting there. Hopefully some of the Lithuanian organisers will be able to come over to the Mopar Euronats at Santa Pod at the end of July to see how we run UK Top Sportsman. Once again special thanks to Andrius Tiknius for inviting us and for the great cooking, he kept Bill well fed. I look forward to the next time I encounter any of the guys and girls I met in Lithuania as they are now my friends. Special recognition also to Eurodragster.com, it is amazing how many people over in Lituania rely on sites like Eurodragster.com to keep up with the latest news (Thanks, good to know - Ed). See LA for Holley and more. 9th April: Lee Child writes that Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts has added another product range: After the last few years concentrating selling race fuel, an opportunity came up for a perfect partner to our race fuel sales - a company which supplies fuel induction components. I am proud to announce that LA Racing Parts is now a dealer for Holley. I have been selling Holley products for as long as I have been trading, but with the strength of our fuel sales and knowledge this is going to be a great performance advantage and easier on your racing budget.  
The Holley brand group is massive: Accel, Demon, Diablosport, Earls, Edge, Flowtech Exhausts, Frostbite, Hays Clutches, Holley, Holley EFI, Hooker, Hooker Blackheart, Lakewood, Mr Gasket, MSD Performance, NOS, NOS Sniper, Quick Time, Superchips and Weiand are all part and LA Racing Parts will be selling every brand. With NHRA Pro Stock now running Holley EFI I can see it being very infectious with other applications going through the Sportsman ranks. Whatever your vehicle, we will have something from the Holley group which will lower your times and increase your power. For more details call Lee on 01803 391740 or e-Mail [email protected]. H's Scary tribute. 
8th April: On the day of the funeral of Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head, her friend Heather Read (aka H) writes from
Australia with a tribute:
I hadn't spent much time on the computer so I wasn't aware of the news until Dave called me on Saturday evening to let me know of Sarah's passing (thanks Dave). During my time in the sport in the UK Sarah and I became good buddies while she was racing, but our bond grew stronger when she had her top end spill at Santa Pod. I remember she held my hand when she was in A&E and just looked into my eyes. She was worried, but showed true grit that a lot of men would crumble at. The girl had backbone. Over time Dave and I sat in corridors and were just there for each other waiting for the next instalment of news. Slowly but surely Sarah healed and I knew that she was on the mend when her colourful language began to appear again... but I thought it would be after she came out of ICU (smile). On one of my trips back to the UK I took a trip up to see Sarah and Dave and found her in a very positive frame of mind, working out when she would be ready to throw her leg over a frame again. She wanted that world record with her name on it. Sarah, you will always be in my memory as a fighter and if what they say is true then you are doing what you love best. See you some day. H. Smax Smith writes from Canada: Sarah was a joy to know and had bigger balls than me. Rest well my friend. A Split weekend. 8th April: Thanks to Rick Johnson for passing on Split Second Jet Dragster pilot Julian Webb's account of the Tate Oil-sponsored team's weekend at the Festival of Power: 
After numerous changes to the Tate Oil Split Second Jet Dragster, including the burner fuel delivery system and ride height, we all headed off to the Festival of Power
at Santa Pod Raceway full of enthusiasm for some good runs.
The intention was to run on the Thursday to check out the changes but the weather stopped us. Our first run was a side-by-side with our good friends in the Fireforce team. We needed to check the burner pressure and the upgrades certainly worked, however the increased stress on components culminated in a broken burner pump drive. We were able to run but without the burner and we were thoroughly beaten by Martin Hill, but we got some good information from the run. Unfortunately I had tidied the race trailer and left the spare fuel pump and drive back in Leeds so had to take an eventful round trip of three hundred miles for spares! With an old pump and drive fitted we were not sure what to expect. The first hit of the afterburner shot the car forward more than ever before and blew the door off the workshop behind the start line, which was a good sign! After a massive flame show and a few small burner pops we were shut off with a leak. This turned out to be a failed solenoid causing the catch can to fill. Sorry to the start line crew who had to clean up the leaked fuel. We repaired the problem and massively reduced the burner pressure, deciding that it was best to build back up to our regular levels. The last run was really good and has proved that the high flow system which we now run is the way forward. We then made our way over to our local track, York Raceway, for some fun on the Monday. Although it was raining Steve Murty's uncanny understanding of the local weather kept us waiting for the rain to stop. Just as Steve predicted the rain stopped and the crew started to prepare the track. As time went on we decided that it was not fair to take the limited track time from the regular racers so we called it a day. Five days and two runs was not what we hoped for but that's the weather for you. We have new burner drives being made so we can start to get the full potential from the new system and now can't wait for the next meeting on May Bank Holiday at York Raceway. Thanks to my crew for all their efforts and everyone who dropped by to say hello over the weekend. Swift snippets. 8th April: Good luck and stay safe to the UK's Rob Turner who is contesting Top Alcohol FC this weekend's NHRA Divisional race in Las Vegas, to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences who is contesting this weekend's NHRA Regional race at No Problem Raceway, Louisiana, and to Sweden's Adam Flamholc who is contesting the NMCA / NMRA All-Star Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia. Qualifying commences at each event today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress on Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. Additionally you will be able to tune in to a free webcast of the All-Star Nationals courtesy of our buddies at Bangshift.com. Click here to watch the webcast. Oil pump and rod manufacturer the Auto Verdi Company have been a faithful sponsor of Pro Stock and Pro Mod for many years, have worked with different racers to develop their products, and are backing the EDRS with contingency sponsorship this season. Lena Perés writes that you can read more about Auto Verdi's involvement on the Drag Racing Europe Blog. Sweden's Ida Johansson loves motorcycles and she can't help it as it must have been genetically determined. The Swedish student from Hofors got her first bike when she was three years old, joined the Junior Drag Bike racers when she was fourteen, and took over her dad's ride in Super Gas Bike at the age of sixteen. Now, at nineteen years old, it's time for the next step as Ida follows in the footsteps of her father Niclas by taking over his Super Street Bike and making her entrance into the no slick, no wheelie bar class for the brave. You can read more courtesy of Remco Scheelings on the Drag Racing Europe Blog. Gearhead Garage UK Top Sportsman. 8th April: The organisers of UK Top Sportsman are very pleased to announce that Eurodragster.com sponsor Gearhead Garage have taken the title rights for the 2016 outing of UK Top Sportsman at the mighty Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway on 29th-31st July. Gearhead Garage Head Honcho Michael Pusey explains a little background to this new venture and the services which Gearhead Garage can provide: Gearhead Garage has been a long-nurtured idea and, as time goes on, it's time to think about slowing down the physical side of the building business so here we are. We have already got a few stock vehicles and parts for sale. Sourcing of vehicles and parts, with containerised shipping from California, is available through our San Diego based agent, vehicle appraisals are also possible in CA for those far-away purchases! A forty-foot container arrives in the UK every fortnight. Our market is American cars and trucks from old to new, maybe the odd race car and hot rod; stock and commission sales are also catered for. At our rural Peak District location we have substantial yard storage for up to forty vehicles and secure garage storage for four cars, with local unit secure storage for many more within half a mile. We welcome any enquiries for vehicles and parts at any time, contact us via our web site at www.gearhead-garage.co.uk. Paul Marston adds: Gearhead Garage were a contingency sponsor in 2015 and very kindly provided apparel for all the UK Top Sportsman crew. They were impressed with the level of excitement and entertainment which UK Top Sportsman provided and have elected to take the top spot for 2016. As most people know UK Top Sportsman attracted interest from TV companies from the outset, and all events from the second year have been televised. This provides a very attractive platform for businesses who are looking for quality, high-profile exposure in our niche market. Gearhead Garage is a relatively new company, run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts of American cars and associated high performance parts. By taking the UK Top Sportsmans title sponsorship Gearhead Garage will be able to substantially raise the profile of their company to the public, to competing teams, to the on-line audience and to the TV audience which covers most of Europe. Gearhead Garage see this as excellent value for money investment which will accelerate their growth and which will simply keep on giving way into the future. There will also be a cross-over into mainstream National Championship Drag Racing as Gearhead Garage has become a business partner with Paul Marston Racing in 2016 season. UK Top Sportsman is the fastest-growing, richest Sportsman doorslammer heads-up and fast bracket event of the year. It's the race where you come to be measured against the very best in England and Europe. It's the race with the richest payouts, all in cash. There are two races over three days, and other than safety there are no rules: so long as it's a Doorslammer and you run quicker than 9.99 seconds you are in. No, you do not need an MSA license; no, you do not have to have all your safety equipment in date, just so long as its there. This is without doubt the toughest, hardest-fought event of the year. In our six-year history no-one has won the Heads-Up or Fast Bracket races twice. Many have come but no-one has ever dominated, so anyone who is good enough can win. For more details and information please email [email protected] or call me on 07831 650230 (outside the UK +44 7831 650230). We are always looking for business partners to join us to share the exposure which being associated with UK Top Sportsman attracts. If you are interested then please contact us for more information. Event entry update. 6th April: Entry is still open for the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, a round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU Drag Bike and other Championships, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 30th April-2nd May. You can download the official entry forms from the track's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Racers are encouraged to pay their entry fee via Bacs rather than credit card or cheques, as this cuts down on administrative charges and time. SCR's account details can be found on the entry form. If you have any queries about APIRA Springspeed Nationals entry then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at [email protected] or call 01789 414119 (outside the UK +44 1789 414119). Entry is open for the FIA / FIM Main Event, a round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships, the FIM European Drag Bike Championships and some classes in the UK National Drag Racing Championships, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-30th May. You can check out Version 1 of the official FIA / FIM Main Event entry list by clicking here, and you can download the official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Big Bang entry then please contact Ian Marshall by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Swift snippets. 
6th April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com
came with the words "There was a knock at the door...". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own
spy picture, then drop us a line at
[email protected].
Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for forwarding us the post-Festival of Power points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the 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. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn. Have a great day Derek. The plan came together I. 6th April: Karl Harrison writes that the NUA/RKS Motorsport Top Methanol Dragster team headed to the Festival of Power with two goals. The first was to get Rod Harrison down the track in 6.40 seconds or quicker, and over 200 mph, twice get his licence signed off so that he could compete in FIA Top Methanol Dragster, and the second was to get back to the team's performance at the end of 2015. Karl says that both objectives were achieved and that in fact, from his standpoint as Crew Chief, they achieved more than that: We arrived at Santa Pod and met up with Abby and our good friend Andy Boyce (who travels from Ireland each meeting to support us, thank you Andy). Dad, Tash, Abby, Andy and I then set about getting the pit set up. That all went surprisingly smoothly given that we hadn't done it for months. Mum and the rest of the crew arrived late afternoon. The dragster was pretty much ready to go; we went through a couple of small bits which needed sorting and then chilled out for the rest of the evening, then got an early night ready for what would hopefully be a good day's testing the next day. 
Friday dawned and it looked good, sun out and a dry track. We got the ninety minute call and were all ready to
warm up. Got the thirty minute call and fired the car up, again all went to plan with everyone happy and we were
excited to get down on that start line.
The plan was a half pass check-out as there were a lot of new parts in the engine and the whole car had been apart over the winter. The half pass went smoothly, 1.06 to sixty feet, a bit of tyre shake about 150 feet out, Dad stayed with it and then clicked it off just past 330 feet. We got back to the pits and serviced the engine and all was good. We got out for the last session of the day and plan was a full pass. And a full pass it was, 5.96/230, we were a happy bunch! We serviced the car again all was good to go for Saturday. As we all know Saturday wasn't great when it came to the weather. We got out late afternoon and got the first goal of the weekend done, after a great driving job from Dad he got it down the track in 6.33 seconds at 215 mph, licence signed off. 
After a very windy Saturday night a still breezy but sunny Sunday arrived... and this was the part which not many people
knew about. We and the Apache Nostalgia Funny Car team had discussed the possibly of a match race if Dad's
licencing was sorted. Rob Loaring walked into our pit on Sunday morning and asked "Well are we having a race then?".
This was quickly followed by "You bet!". The rest is pretty much as normal other than the race, which was nothing other
than fantastic and great finish to our weekend. We ended with a 5.92/229 win over Tim Garlick's 6.13/230. Now that's
racing!
We are now officially a Top Methanol Dragster team and we can't wait for our first entry into FIA Top Methanol Dragster at the Main Event. As always a massive thank you to Tash, Andy, Lisa, Abby, Jacko and Lee for being simply the best crew. A massive Thank You to Ian Marshall not only for signing off Dad's licence but also for allowing the match race between Tim and Dad. Thank you also to all of the Santa Pod Raceway and SPRC staff, track and safety crews. Last, but definitely not least, a huge thanks to NUA Motors for their sponsorship this season. We would also like to welcome Willow Transport Solutions as a new sponsor for this year, thank you for your support and I hope that we do you proud on the track. We now have the long break between Easter and the FIA Main Event. We will service the race car and we have some work which we would like to get done on the trailer so we still have plenty to do to keep us all busy. See you at the Main Event! The plan came together II. 6th April: Colin Millar has been in touch with a wee update from the Flyin Fyfer Drag Racing Team, whose new driver took the wheel for the first time at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday: 
Scott Crookston now has his name on the Flyin Fyfer together with a new Outlaw Anglia number OA106. Scott managed to bag his licence
with the help of Ian Marshall who was as always keeping an eye on the day's activities.
Scot was unable to have his breakfast on Saturday morning but after his first run and his nerves settled and he was able to down a square of sausage, brown sauce and a cup of tea! We have been busy getting the car back together and it is now sporting a new Shafiroff 582 ci BBC which has proven a good decision; it's now running on pump gas and you will also note the lack of NOS this year (Oh boo - Ed) as we are still paying off the dreaded credit cards from our wee trip to the States. So we plan a year of cost reduction and ensuring no engine damage and staying trouble-free whilst still delivering a reasonably fast car. We had the dyno sheets from a recent test on Kenny Coleman's Dyno at EDA (thanks Kenny) and we had an expectation of what was achievable. On Scott's final full pass for his licence he ran a very straight and controlled and surprisingly fast 8.79/152 and on his final pass he ran 8.77/151, both trouble free and with the help of an excellently-prepped track as always and some warm sunshine. Everyone was happy with the exception of Scott's mum Lynn who was told that Scott would be eased in and running tens all weekend! On Saturday night we made our way to Shakespeare County Raceway and with the exception of Scott we had a nice night in Kenny's Bar. In the morning we made two runs which proved somewhat challenging, but it's what you make it and we had all in all a fantastic and successful weekend. The set-up is still quite soft so there is a bit more still in it going forward. If you look on the entry list for Big Bang Scott's name is there in black and white; we will début there with the Outlaw Anglia family followed by the Springspeed Nationals a week later. Scott, Nicole, Lynn and I are so looking forward to seeing everyone at the track again. Festival of Power awards roll over. 5th April: Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club has been in touch to let racers know that, following the rain out of the Festival of Power, the unpaid prize fund for those Sportsman classes which contested the event will be carried over to the SPRC Summernationals in June. The prize fund for the Wild Bunch will be carried over to the UK National Finals in September. Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway writes that Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels and Santa Pod have also decided to roll over the unclaimed VP Racing Fuels prizes from the contingency sponsorship programme. The fuel unclaimed from the Festival of Power will be awarded to the number one qualifiers in each class at the FIA/UEM Main Event in May, in addition to the regular prize awarded to the winner of the event. The same terms and conditions apply as for the prizes awarded to event winners. A reminder of the sponsorship scheme: Santa Pod Raceway will be offering one nineteen-litre pail of any of its VP Racing Fuels to the winner in the following classes at our five UK National Championship and ACU UK Drag Bike Championship rounds in 2016 (Festival of Power, FIA/FIM Main Event, SPRC Summernationals, FIA/FIM European Finals and the UK National Finals):
You are only three steps away to a chance of winning with this fantastic offer:
Swift snippets. 5th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us the final version of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-24th April. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Remco Scheelings writes that Ari Pietilä and the Woodstock Racing Top Methanol Funny Car team have recruited top-level motorsport knowledge in the form of former Formula 1 engineer, and Technical Director of Audi Sport Team Rosberg, Ossi Oikarinen. You can read more at www.dragracingeurope.eu. Feature: Long Time Dead. 4th April: If you like your dragsters front-engined then you will enjoy the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, in which Sam Freeman gives us the low-down on his new slingshot named Long Time Dead. 
Sam Freeman is well-known as a Super Pro ET racer and, in the late Vic Hammond's SpeedDemon slingshot, as a Supercharged Outlaw racer but his involvement in the sport dates back as far as 1971 when he was shanghai'd into Clive Skilton's Pro Fuel Dragster team and then worked with Trevor Young. In a fascinating and entertaining Feature, Sam details his career in the sport then tells the story of eventful trips to the USA to acquire the components of his new car and then its construction in his own workshop. You can check out the story of Long Time Dead by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 4th April: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures of Friday's action at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Also updating from the Friday of the Festival of Power is Paul Lister whose pictures you can find at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. More welcome returnees. 4th April: Consultant to the NHRA Eileen Daniels and Chairman of the Quarter Mile Foundation Traci Hrudka are planning a return visit to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala evening which takes place on Saturday 19th November at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel at London's Heathrow Airport. 
Eileen, together with husband Bob who died in 2007, helped to grow NHRA to the prominence it currently enjoys. In their racing career, their Fiat Topolino Altered
enjoyed many wins. In 1959 Wally Parks recruited Bob as a Division Director for NHRA. After twenty years of opening tracks and organising events in his Division,
Bob was appointed as General Manager for Indianapolis Raceway Park where he and Eileen worked until their retirement.
At last year's Hall of Fame Gala, Eileen inducted Yvonne Tramm into the BDRHoF. Eileen said "What a wonderful time we all had in England last year, it was a trip
of a lifetime. Yvonne Tramm followed the same path as me in working at Santa Pod for thirty two years. Her history is very near my life career story. She is a
lovely lady and I was proud to present her award."
Traci operates the Quarter Mile Foundation which has a mission to preserve drag racing's history from interviews with its pioneers and legends. She has to date
interviewed 265 legends with over three hundred hours of footage which will be made into a documentary series for television and live streaming. Traci is the niece
and daughter respectively of Mr. Gasket Co. founders Joe and Tom Hrudka.
Traci said "What a great time we had at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame gala in 2015 and it is really exciting to be visiting the new venue with such great folks". Chairman Stu Bradbury said "We are delighted that Eileen and Traci plan to return for this year's Gala and look forward to their enthusiasm and fun which was infectious last year." Ticket prices for the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of ten are available at £580. For advance booking of tickets contact [email protected] or telephone Stu Bradbury on 01933 279102. Grødem announces retirement. 2nd April: Norwegian Top Methanol Funny Car racer and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Arvid Grødem has announced his retirement from racing. His FC operation is up for sale. 
"Time's up and the decision is finally made", says Arvid. "I am now officially announcing my retirement. I was always of the opinion that I would return
to TMFC racing, but as time has passed the Norwegian krone has nosedived against the US dollar (and most other currencies), as has the oil
business which has been my major source of income and racing funds. So the decision to quit has been forced more by external factors rather than not
enjoying racing any more - I have enjoyed all of the time I have spent on racing and have memories which I will treasure for the rest of my life.
"I would like to take this oppurtunity to say a big Thank You first and foremost to my better half Bente, and to my extended family the entire Westside Racing team: Pål-Henning Sørensen, Tore Karlsen, Bjørn Arild Sjøblom and Jan Vidar Vestvik and to everyone who has been part of the team over the years with special thanks to Per Egil Nordby, Gunnar Olsson and Sten Erik Tverraaen. Thanks also to Lars Ruud at Keddell and Bommen and all other contributors, the entire race family - especially the TMFC competitors, you know who you are - and also to the fans and spectators. I hope that we have given you a good show over the years (You bet - Ed). "Last but not least we wish all racers a safe and fast season. "The race car, truck and trailer and everything that goes with it all is for sale. If you are interested then please contact me at [email protected] [email protected]." Business as usual! 1st April: It will come as no surprise to the 5,950 people who read Eurodragster.com News on 30th November 2015 but Jerry Cookson writes that, following a winter of uncertainty about the future of Shakespeare Country Raceway, the track can confirm that there will be a minimum of two seasons' racing starting with this weekend's Season Opening Public Track Day: The Raceway is already looking forward towards the full 2016 season of nostalgia, lifestyle and Championship drag racing events which will lead into a full 2017 season as well. We will confirm 2018-19 at a later date (Will Facebook users therefore please give us a minimum of one year's respite from moaning about the sky falling in, thank you - Ed). This weekend we host the first of two Public Track Weekends. Shakedown @ S-Town features two full days of RWYB which includes the first of the track's series of Bracket Gamblers events. The track will be open from 10:00 each day and caters for all Competition Cars and Bikes to come and test and iron out those winter blues. All makes of car, motorcycle and race machine, including Clubs, are welcome to participate before the season really gets going in two weeks' time. The track will be prepped. General admission is £12 per person each day or £22 for a weekend pass. Track fee is £25 each day or £40 for a weekend of unlimited runs. Helmets are required along with a driving licence. Overnight camping is available on the purchase of a weekend ticket. Kenny's Bar will also be open Saturday night. So for a great weekend of fun on the drag strip make it Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend! Swift snippets. 
1st April: Further to yesterday's news item, Eurodragster.com reader Simon Paul writes
that scrutineering tickets have changed somewhat in the last thirty nine years. "This is a picture of my first
scrutineering ticket", says Simon, "dated 9th April 1977. It is from my 1965 Ford Zephyr 6 which I ran in the
Production class between 1977 and 1980. It all seems a long time ago!"
Santa Pod Racers Club have asked us to clarify that the rule about Junior racers pushing back to their pit after passing through the arch next to Scrutineering at Santa Pod Raceway applies to Junior Drag Bike racers as well as to Junior Dragster and Junior Funny Car racers. If you have any queries then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC at [email protected] or call 01933 313625. Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-24th April. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page, and you can download the official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Big Bang entry then please contact Ian Marshall by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Good luck and stay safe to Jndia Erbacher (Top Alcohol Dragster) and Rob Turner (Top Alcohol Funny Car) who are contesting this weekend's Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas, and to Adam Flamholc who is contesting Pro Mod at the Good Vibrations Motorsports IHRA Texas Nationals in San Antonio. In both cases qualifying commences today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. Easter Street Eliminator review. 1st April: Many thanks to Street Eliminator Chair Ben Barnwell for sending us a review of the action in Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator at last weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway, with pictures by Matt Woods Photography: 
The first round of Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator came around quicker than most people expected. Before we knew it the Test Day had
arrived and, already down on numbers with ten entered, we lost two more. Jon Webster unfortunately had to pull out last minute as he was
extremely busy with work and did not wan to compromise his work in any way so he decided to give it a miss. The other casualty was Andy Bond
who decided that he was in desperate need to get work done on his twin turbo '56 Chevy so gave round one a miss. Down to eight cars, but still with
spirits high, we attended the Peak Performance Test Day. With most drivers wanting to get in as many runs as possible everyone was set up and ready
to go. The finishing touches were applied to the newly-released Bentley Continental GT of Martin Smith and the Nissan GTR of Matt Smith at class
sponsor Webster Race Engineering. With the sun shining a few test passes were made by other classes but unfortunately before any Street Eliminator
cars could get out, the rain came down, test day over, weather wins this time!
On to qualifying day 1 and again at the start of the day the sun was shining. Luckily for us, this time it stayed! Two runs were scheduled for Friday and although there were some oildowns and stoppages we got both runs in, thanks to the Santa Pod track crew for their hard work as always. In Q1 2014 Champion Stu Williams returned to the track having missed the last three meetings of last year to try to find a problem within the Carma-Supra. His first run off the trailer was a mighty impressive 8.07, however alongside him the twin turbo '33 Willys of David Murdoch just managed to trump Stu for number one, an 8.05 enough to do it in the first round. The second pairing came was Matt Smith in the Nissan GTR which used to be owned by his brother, alongside big brother Martin in his new ride, the 3000hp Bentley Continental GT now sporting its black paint and looking stunning! Unfortunately Matt pushed back due as he was not able to get the car to burn out. He waited at the Barn trying to find the problem, whilst brother Martin took his solo in the Bentley and was off to a flier, 150 mph at the eighth but unfortunately the car started drifting left and crossed the centre line. Unable to get the car to straighten up Martin took out some timing blocks and sustained some damage to the front of the Bentley. Not the first run he was looking for, but he'd be back just as strong! The third pairing in the session featured the Hale Brothers, the big 1400hp Chevy pickup for Nigel, and the Small Block Mercedes for Nick. Side by side tens was a good way to start the year! Gary Gooding had problems in the next line up, but still broke into the eights on his first run. The final pairing for this round featured Matt Smith back for his run alongside the Howlin' Hauler of Al Williamson, both drivers sporting very smart looking Stand21 Suits! Matt ran an 8.30 to start the year off, with loads more to come and Al an 8.40, very close to his PB. So all in all a good off the trailer session to kick off 2016. 
In Q2 all the cars were still in one piece and back around for another crack! First pair in this round was the same as the first with the '33 Willys up
alongside the Carma-Supra, a big wheelie for David and broke a turbo drain so had to back off, luckily no oil down, in the other lane Stu took
number 1 for then with an 8.008, almost that seven! Unfortunately this was Stu's last run, damage to the Supra engine meant Round 1 was over for
him. In the next pairing Matt Smith took on Martin Smith again! This time Martin rolled through stage so did not get a time, but the run looked strong
so encouraging for Team Extreme. Matt however nailed his run with the first seven in Street Eliminator for 2016! A PB for Matt and the number one
spot with a 7.76. Al Williamson and Nick Hale also both got PBs, Al with a massive 8.11 second pass in the Howlin' Hauler, and Nick back into the
nines.
Saturday came and the weather looked against us from the off. As a class we decided to take the first qualifier and go out on the Cruise because the weather wasn't looking great! This session included an unusual run for Dave Murdoch with the Willys blowing its tyres away, a bit sideways and off the gas for Davey and stayed third. Matt Smith backed up his 7.76 with a 7.85, the car looking to be quicker at the eighth however tyre spin and a quick pedal slowed him down. A good driving job to still clock a seven, Matt is one to watch this season. Big news of the session was Martin Smith, another driving job for him but got a time on the board and qualified sixth, not as high as he would have wanted but in for race day. Gary Gooding the only one to improve, getting an 8.4 second pass on a colder track than Friday which was a sign of good things to come from him. With all eight cars qualified only seven would go on the Cruise, but no dramas on the Cruise ensured that seven would race on Sunday. Choosing to go out on the Cruise early turned out to be the right decision, with the rain hammering down just after getting all of the cars in. 
Raceday morning and the weather looked to be on our side, so cars were warmed up and drivers readied for round one of eliminations. In the first
pairing we tested out the new Sportsman ladder for the first time, the change from a Pro ladder to make for closer racing. Nick Hale took on Dave
Murdoch and with the uncertainty of what the Willys would run Davey was careful with the tune. Nick was away first and did all he could, but the
twin turbo Willys had the power advantage in the second half and clocked off another low eight second pass to take the win and move on to E2.
Next up was the truck race, but a lot of rain meant two hours between the first pair and second. Another massive thanks to Santa Pod's track crew
for drying up and finishing the session. Nigel Hale took on Al Williamson, Nigel away first and a slow get away for Big Al in the Howlin Hauler, but
Al took the win with an 8.6 to Nigel's 11.9. The most anticipated pairing for round one of eliminations was the Team Extreme pairing, Matt Smith
against Gary Gooding. Gary knowing he had to get the jump on Matt and did just that, drilled Matt to the TTree and by half-track was still two car
lengths in front. Matt somehow managed to get past Gary after 1000 feet and took the win by 0.04 of a second, one heck of a close race! Martin
Smith took a solo pass - he was supposed to face Stu Williams - a launch and some spin from water finding its way under the tyres was all he needed
to book his place in E2.
Unfortunately the weather set in and the event was called, leaving all points relatively close after the first event but Matt Smith leads Dave Murdoch. The next round is the APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Street Eliminator send our best wishes to Street Eliminator and VW Pro racer Carl Goldsmith who had a top end crash at the race. We understand that Carl is OK and the car is reparable. We hope to see you back soon Carl. On behalf of the class I would like to say a big thank you to our class sponsors to whom we are very grateful: Topspeed Automotive, Custom Car magazine, RPM magazine, Webster Race Engineering, Serck Motorsport, Insane Creations, AW Upholstery, Quartermile High / Zeon TV, Matt Woods Photography, On The Bottle and Eurodragster.com, all of whom can be found on our new web site at www.streeteliminator.com. If you would like to become a class sponsor please contact us via the web site and we can discuss the options. Web site updates. 1st April: Mike Collins writes that the latest issue of American Auto Parts' AAP Insight includes twenty four pages of his pictures and "Ramblin" (His words - Ed) about Nostalgia Funny Car at Bakersfield. You can take a look at AAP Insight (PDF format) by clicking here. Earlier news |
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