This article was written by Tony Madgwick of the VMCC Sprint Section who became custodian of two of Jenks' motorcycles, including his 1965 Dragfest bike which he restored himself. Editing, further research and compilation was carried out by Chris Dossett of Trakbytes.

All Pioneer stories can be seen by clicking here.


Barrie Potter.
19th February: We were sad to hear of the death last Wednesday of Barrie Potter who was well known for racing a Lotus Elan from the 1970s and 1980s. Barrie's son Martyn wrote about Barrie's drag racing story:

Barrie first bought the Elan from Keith in the guise of ‘Hey Jude’, named after the Beatles, hit of the same name. It was not road legal and was green without a roof.

In 1976, it was sprayed black and then in 1978, gold. The new body with a roof was rolled out in 1979 and the name was changed to Palladin. In 1980, Berrie won the RAC, BDRA and PDRC modified championships, beating legends such as Jim Read and Syvia Hauser in the process. Many posts have been published about Sylvia winning the best burn out at the 1980 world finals – it was Berrie that won that meeting and sealed the overall win with an 11.49 @111mph. The only British winner at that meeting (credit ‘Drive it! By D. Hardcastle and P. Jones Page 158 / 159). Throughout our careers, we were giant killers.

The car was further modified and sprayed yellow. Additional Modified titles were added in 1985 and 1986. In 1988 the whole car was altered, widened, lowered and nitrous added, the colour scheme remained yellow, but bold stripes were added.

Martyn took over driving in 1990, the final black and white colour scheme was added, and under Barrie’s guidance, Martyn managed to compete in the Euro Challenge Pro Class and took the car to a best of 10.61 @ 132mph and the title in 1993.

Unfortunately, the car was sold the following season and was never on the drag strip again.

Credits to Dick Parnham, Roger Gorringe and Graham Beckwith for supplying some of the pictures.

We at Eurodragster.com send our deepest condolences to Martyn, their family and friends.


Bishopscourt drag racing - VP Racing Fuels dealer.
19th February: Thanks to Lee Child for contacting eurodragster.com that Bishopscourt Drag Racing Northern Ireland are proud to announce that they are an authorised VP Racing Fuels dealer for Northern Ireland. Supplying all VP Racing Fuels, leaded fuels, unleaded fuels, methanol fuel, ethanol’s, additives, and VP utility jugs. For technical information, quotes and pre ordering fuel, contact Bishopscourt Drag Racing Northern Ireland Facebook page by clicking here

Bishopscourt drag racing Northern Ireland would like to thank Tom Bacon of Oldhall performance the UK distributor for VP Racing Fuels. Tom presented this proposal to VP Racing Fuels James McVey, International Sales & International Business Development Manager, James gave Bishopscourt the green light.

Lee Child commented ‘‘It's awesome to have VP Racing Fuels here at ground zero for Ireland's first permanent drag racing venue, we thank and appreciate Tom’s work and VP Racing Fuels effort from James’’.


Swift snippets.
19th February: Happy Birthday for today to Junior Dragster racer Mackenzie Love, Audi exponent Audrius Bagdonavicius and former Super Pro ET racer Rick Cooke and Swedish photographer Cenneth Schiller. We hope you all have a great day.

Phil Baimbridge has announced that that Jiri Lukes, who has competed in Funny Bike over the last decade, will pilot the Rocket Top Fuel Bike this year. Pete Chamberlain also joins the PBR team.

Eurodragster.com sponsor Pete Walters has announced that, following house moves in the Walters Family, he will be competing in Sportsman ET rather than bringing his supercharged BBC dragster out at the start of the season. To do so, Pete has acquired Jack Petley's Gen 4 Camaro. Pete said "I needed something to scratch my Sportsman ET UK itch. And this is it!", adding he will be running the whole season in the class this year. No doubt, bracket racing in Sportsman ET will be as competitive as ever in 2024.



Perfect and Photo Finish Awards renewed.
18th February: Eurodragster.com is pleased to announce the renewal of its popular Perfect Light, Perfect ET and Bob's Photo Finish Awards scheme for 2024.

The Perfect Light Award has been running since 2000 and Perfect ET since 2004. Bob's Photo Finish Award started in 2018. The Perfect Light and Perfect ET award operate at UK Championship events for a reaction time of 0.000 and 0.000 to dial-in ET. Bob's Photo Finish Award operates in eliminations only at UK Championship events.

The big news for 2024 is that the Perfect ET Award will be renamed the Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award in memory of Supercharged Outlaws racer and Chairman Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield's much missed wife who passed away with pancreatic cancer in 2022. Team Twister also plan to run two cars in Supercharged Outlaws, Andy's wild Twister 23T street-legal hot rod which has provided some of the most exciting passenger rides ever, with daughter Purdie making her class debut in a new altered which we featured last October. We are grateful to Andy Hadfield who has sponsored the Perfect ET award since 2019.

We would like to give a big Thank You to Bad Habit Racing, the team of Cath and Tig Napier, who have been mainstays of UK Sportsman racing for over 20 years, running their distinctive purple Dodge Challenger in Pro ET, with a Plymouth Barracuda as back-up in Sportsman ET and occasionally UK Nostalgia Super Stock. Cath and Tig have supported the Perfect Light award since 2013.


The cash awards will be £50 for each award winner, with a rollover of the Perfect Light and Perfect ET Awards respectively if there is no winner at an event. Full details will be announced before and after each event, with the winner of Bob's Photo Finish Award confirmed after the official timing data from the event is available.

Bob's Photo Finish Award is generously supported by long time Eurodragster.com and drag racing fan Bob Roberts who has kindly supplied material for several features during the last year. The Award will pay £50 each to the racers involved in the closest race of eliminations at this weekend's event. The closest race will be decided upon distance rather than time since, for example, 0.001 seconds at 230 mph is further than 0.002 seconds at 110 mph. For this reason the official timing data will need to be consulted so the winners will be announced here on Eurodragster.com as soon as possible after the event and the winners will then be contacted for their preferred method of payment. Bob's Photo Finish Award is open to all classes during eliminations only.

Although Eurodragster.com decals are not mandatory we would appreciate if it they are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On. The Perfect Awards and Bob's Photo Finish Award will operate from the first championship event of the year, the Festival of Power on 29th-31st March.


Swift snippets.
18th February: Happy Birthday for today to Daimler dragster exponent and BDRHoF member Russ Carpenter, photographer Dick Parnham, Funny Car champion and constructor Johan Lindberg FWD racer Lisette de Koning and Modified 100e racer Robert White, we hope you all have a great day.


Russo's Rat stars in Custom Car.
17th February: The newly published March issue of Custom Car includes much drag racing coverage. The feature car is Russo's Rat owned and campaigned by Eurodragster sponsor Chris Goodale in Nostalgia Super Stock. In the eight-page article, Mike Pye describes the restoration of this historic '69 Chevelle, first seen in the UK in 1973 and its history.

There are several build-up pictures from editor Alan Kidd and action shots from our Julian.

Also in the issue are articles on the STP National Finals, a review of the Las Vegas SEMA Show by Jimmy Hibberd and pictures and words from Pomona's Grand National Roadster Show by Tony Thacker.

You can buy Custom Car from your local newsagent, have the latest copy delivered for £5.99, plus delivery, by clicking here or get a subscription by clicking here.


Super Comp Team - Crew Wanted.
17th February: Jordan Wilson of Paul Hudson's Super Comp team has contacted eurodragster.com to announce the team are looking for 1 or 2 people to join the team crewing on his super comp dragster from this season and beyond. Firstly, it’s not a paid position, but free entry to every event is included. We like to have a laugh and don't take things too seriously, so if you can bring a good sense of humour that won’t go amiss!

Don't worry if you have no previous experience as we can teach you everything you'd need to know, but of course if you have some previous experience then that's perfectly okay too! We ask that you are available for all the events, which are list below, and in an ideal situation the day before also to help set up for the race weekends.

Springspeed Nationals - 27th-28th April

The Main Event - 24th - 27th May

Summer Nationals - 29th-30th June

European Finals - 5th-8th September

National Finals - 20th-22nd September

The car is located with Paul in Chesterfield, so if you're local to that area then that's handy, but again not essential.

If you're interested, or know someone that would be, please contact Jordon via his Facebook page by clicking here.

Spy picture VIII.
17th February: The offices of Eurodragster.com received this spy picture which has a comment: "A taster of the car's new paint job"

If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected].

Swift snippets.
17th February: Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET racer Amy Watkins, former Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström and former Top Methanol Funny Car racer Trace Froome. We hope you all have a fantastic day.

Chief Santa Pod Raceway Timekeeper David Anniwell has written in with his reaction on being awarded the John Ledster Memorial Trophy at the recent Santa Pod Racers Club Trophy Evening: "This was most unexpected. I had a great deal of respect for John growing up and to get an award in his name is an honour. I'd like to dedicate this to my incredible team for their tireless work (and for putting up with me), previous recipient Steve Horn for his many years of mentorship, all of my colleagues at Santa Pod, and to the wider drag racing family, not least of all my dad Nigel whose 40-odd years of service has been a template for my own."

Long-time photographer Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Flickr page with a large number of photos from Santa Pod's 2023 events which you can see here. Colin's Photos include pairing lane and spectator banking shots. Colin's collection, organised mainly by event, goes back over 40 years and is well worth a look.


Pioneer Stories - Alf Hagon part 2.
16th February: Today's Pioneer Story continues the history of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Alf Hagon, told in his own words, which you can see at this link.

Part two of Alf’s story covers his time as an established star of international Speedway and Grass track, riding at meetings in the UK and abroad as far as Australia, including a memorable trip behind the Iron Curtain.

He continued to put his engineering skills to use, providing products and bikes for many of the sports leading competitors. He began working at Ford in Dagenham but his skill in engineering and frame building was becoming more widely known, and this led to him opening his first shop to cater for the growing demand for his products.

Thanks to Karl Fiala for supplying images from speedway media of Alf during the 50s and early 60s.

You can read all the pioneer stories by looking at their index page by CLICKING HERE.


Outlaw Anglia Party and Awards Ceremony.
16th February: Many thanks to site sponsor Outlaw Anglia co-ordinator Colin Millar for contacting eurodragster.com to announce The Annual Outlaw Anglia Party and Awards Ceremony this coming Saturday at Kettering Park Hotel and Spa, its always a great night especially now everyone's hopefully been paid in January and finally have some pennies in their pockets to let their hair down. I’m pretty sure they will manage a few tipples before, during and after the event.

Colin say's "A good turnout this year with a quite a few arriving on the Friday evening, where we will all meet up and get ourselves in the mood for Saturday night, the Spa is being well used on the Saturday during the day (one of the main reasons Lynn always looks forward to the trip) even if it’s an 8 hour drive, hopefully during our “couples massage” I can actually stay awake this time and refrain from snoring!"

The championship may well have already been decided but there are another four trophy categories still to be won, good luck on these participants.

This year we continue to raise funds for our nominated cause which is Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, hopefully this will help in a small way to ensure they continually give a great service and God forbid if us racers ever need them, they are there for all of us.

Time is moving on and for the group our first event which is Springspeed Nationals sounds scary if you put it in this context, let’s hope there is lots of background activity and everyone can be ready to race. We need this rain and wind to disappear and some of that lovely sun to appear ready to make the track nice and sticky.

Take care everyone and see you at the track.


Time Warp Racing - Crew Needed.
16th February: Thanks to Chris Eyre to announce the Time Warp Racing Team are looking for additional crew people to join the team.

Experience is great, but the willingness to learn and be a team player is just as important. Being local to Santa Pod Raceway is key, to be able to help service the car between rounds. You should also be available for all the rounds of the NFC championship (other dates may be added).

In return you will get entry to the attended events, team t shirts, food, and drinks.

Please email [email protected] to express your interest. Thank you!

Swift snippets.
16th February: Happy Birthday for today to crew member for Micke Gullvist Motorsports Fredrik Westerlind, 9.50 Bike racer Dion Hartley, Lithuanian Topolino racer Giedrius Jurevicius and former Wild Bunch racer Pete "Eddie" Yates. We hope you all have a great day.



Rob Turner.
15th February: We were shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of European and eight time British Top Methanol Champion Rob Turner on 13th February. Jerry Cookson writes:

Rob, with brother Steve and girlfriend at the time Carmel, raced quite often at Long Marston with the Jaguar powered 'Straight Shooter' altered, starting in 1980s and running a fuel altered of the same name in the late 80s.

Shortly afterwards in 1990 Rob and Steve imported the ex Cory McClenathan 'Mac Attack' chassis to contest the British and European Top Methanol Championships racing at Avon Park, Santa Pod and many European and Scandinavian race tracks on the European tour to become the quickest and fastest team to beat in the Top methanol Dragster class. In the late nineties the team acquired a new Bob Meyer chassis which led them to competing in some of the NHRA tour races.

Rob went the Funny Car route in 2010 and raced in the UK FIA rounds until 2013 with a car previously owned and campaigned by US racer Jeff Carroll. The team, with brother Steve again as Crew Chief and Carmel and Vicky Reid as crew, then made their US TAFC debut in 2015 at the Las Vegas autumn Divisional race. In 2016 and 2017 they ran a five-race programme involving all four Las Vegas races and the Pomona final. In 2018 they ran the last three TAFC races of the year, the two Las Vegas events and Pomona, and continued competing occasionally until Rob's final race at Las Vegas in November 2022. A clip of Rob's superb car control at Las Vegas in 2018 can be seen by clicking here.

Whereever the brothers raced Turner Racing was a force to be reckoned with as their impressive list of championship achievements echo that testimony: the 2001 FIA Top Methanol Dragster championship and ten British Drag Racing Top Methanol Championships (1993, 1997-2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008), plus numerous event wins and records along the way. Rob was in the top 10 of the FIA Championship from 1991 through to 2013.

We send our heartfelt condolences to Carmel, Steve, family and friends.

Photos courtesy Alan Currans and Greg van den Bosch


Greece: 2024 dates and 2023 motorcycle champions.
15th February: AMOTOE, the Greek motorcycle drag racing regulator, has announced its provisional competition calendar which you can see by CLICKING HERE.

Panhellenic Dragster Championship:

5th-7th April - Agrinio Raceway

17th-19th May - Serres Racing Circuit

28th-30th June - Agrinio Raceway

13th-15th September - Serres Racing Circuit

11th-13th October - Agrinio Raceway

15th-17th November - Serres Racing Circuit

Congratulations to the confirmed 2023 Greek Motorcycle Drag Racing Champions, information kindly supplied by Diakakis Nikos.

Super Pro: Pavlos Sidiropoulos (pictured, courtesy Remco Scheelings):

Super Street: Gianni Lampropoulos

Pro Street 2: Eleni Reveltzi

Pro Street 1: Simeon Light

Real Street: Giannis Paschalis

True Street 9: Ioannis Tzimas

Street 2: Christos Pappas

Pro Z: Ioannis Jeivaridis

You can see the full final order of the 2023 Greek Motorcycle Drag Racing Championships by clicking here (results in reverse class order).

Diakakis, better known as Diak Nick, is keen to hear from any racers from other countries who want to compete at Agrinio or Serres - you can contact him at [email protected]


Exciting News from Funny Car Cup.
15th February: Thanks to Chris Hobson from the Funny Car Cup Facebook page for letting us share their news.

Get ready for an adrenaline-packed season at Santa Pod Raceway. We are thrilled to announce that five phenomenal Funny Car racers are set to light up the track at the 1st round of the series during the Festival of Power event over the Easter weekend in 2024.

Meet the lineup:

Steve Ashdown in the Undertaker car

Kevin Kent, 2023 Winner

Jason Phelps in the Gladiator car

Patrik Pers from Sweden who’s committed to all 4 rounds

Kevin Chapman, making a comeback after a serious crash in 2022s Main Event

Mark your calendars for the round dates:

Festival of Power: March 29th - 31st

Main Event: May 24th - 27th

Bug Jam: July 26th - 28th

European Finals: September 5th - 8th

These incredible racers are gearing up for the 2024 title, having made significant upgrades during the closed season. Don't miss out on the nitro fuelled, tire-smoking action, and the pursuit of glory! Get your tickets now and join us for a weekend filled with speed, power, and unforgettable moments!

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.


Licence Fees for ACU and FIM E Riders.
14th February: Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall has announced the licence fees for FIM E competitors in the UK have been released after many months of negotiations with the FIM E and ACU are as follows:

Top Fuel Bike, Super Twin Bike, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike licences for the season will be £246.00, and for one event £136.00.

Junior Drag Bike licences for the season will be £164.00 and for one event £113.00

This includes insurance and start permission as per normal.

Call out for Junior Dragsters to N.I.
14th February: Edel McDonald, administrator of the British Junior Dragster Club Facebook page has issued a call out to Junior Dragster racers, and other sportsman racers willing to make the trip to Northern Ireland to make demo runs in 2024:

"How many of the juniors would be interested in racing at Bishopscourt Airfield on 8th June 2024? We are trying to organise an event similar to what was run at the Melbourne Straightliners event in 2022, where we had prize money and trophies on offer.

"Even if junior drag racers are not definite on being able to attend, if you would just give us an idea of how many are interested in the idea. We would try to obtain cut price ferries from Holyhead to Dublin and from there, it's about two to three hours drive to Bishopscourt drag strip and there will be camping allowed on the weekend of the event.

"Additionally, the promoter is trying to arrange ferry deals from Liverpool to Belfast which would be 27 miles to the track from Belfast port. Racers would have no need to submit carnet papers as they remain within the UK.

"The idea is to bring junior dragsters to the kids in Ireland, both North and South, by having a good few juniors running and showing the public what we do, and encouraging the locals to get involved. This would hopefully increase the overall junior dragster numbers that would eventually come to race at Santa Pod and Melbourne raceway. Our ultimate aim is to have a round of the British Junior Dragster championship in the North of Ireland and to bring some European juniors over to make a big event in the junior calendar.

"So if you could help kickstart Dragracing in the north of Ireland it would also help the sport in the South of Ireland as well!"

Edel can be contacted by Facebook messenger or via the British Junior Dragster Club Facebook page by CLICKING HERE.

Picture: Liam McDonald at Bishopscourt courtesy Lee Child.

American dragsters and personalities for Dragstalgia.
14th February: Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell has revealed that two of the most iconic dragsters will shortly be on their way to the UK to be displayed at Dragstalgia on 5th-7th July 2024. Also attending will be well known personalities and legends of US drag racing.

As well as the already announced Dos Palmas, owned by Tony Thacker, will be joined by the reproduction of the Mooneyes Dragster which in its original form took part in one of the first UK drag racing events at Silverstone on 10th September 1963.

Beforehand, Dos Palmas will be on display at the Lucsas Oil NHRA Winternationals at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip on 21st-24th March. We are yet to find out whether other historic cars will be with Dos Palmas, but expect the event to be stunning, following the racing in Florida preceding the event.

Dragstalgia will also be graced by personalities closely involved in the history of the sport in the US, also keeping the nostalgia drag racing movement alive. Nitro Revival co-organiser Cindy Gibbs will be attending along with former Freight Train AA/GS racer Bob and Sharon Muravez. Bob, also known as Floyd Lippencotte Jr., won over 600 sanctioned drag racing events before his retirement in 1971 and is now a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Santa Pod have announced that US Fuel Altered legend Randy Bradford will be making a return to Santa Pod Raceway in his Fuel Altered to take on Nick Davies in 'Havoc'. And we understand there may be other legends and Fuel Altered racers on hand, to be announced in due course.

To get up to date information keep your eyes on Eurodragster or visit the Santa Pod website by CLICKING HERE.

Photo courtesy USAutomotive

Swift snippets.
14th February: Happy Birthday for today to the Marras, Wild Bunch racers Pete and Rob Brown, FWD racer Scott Nobby Lewry, Santa Pod Raceway marshal John O'Shae and German Pro ET racer and photographer Clarissa Czekalla. We hope you all have a lovely day.


Roger Gorringe funeral arrangements.
13th February: Thanks to Robin Jackson for announcing the funeral arrangements for Roger Gorringe, distinguished drag racing photo journalist and honoured Member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Roger’s funeral will be held at 2.30pm on Thursday 29th February at Huntingdon Crematorium, Sapley Road, Kings Ripton, Huntingdon PE28 2NX, telephone 01480 410388.

The service will be followed by a wake at 3.30pm at the Black Bull Pub (next to the memorial), 32 Post Street, Godmanchester, Huntingdon PE29 2AQ, telephone 01480 433074. Parking at the pub is limited. Anyone wishing to attend the wake is asked to inform Hall of Fame chair Lesley Wright at [email protected] by Thursday 22nd February so that buffet numbers can be arranged.

Roger’s family has requested that no flowers be sent. Instead, donations in Roger’s memory will be welcomed to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and/or to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Benevolent Fund. Donations may be made via This Link.

Roger Gorringe RIP.

Spy picture VI - solved.
13th February: Jack Petley has contacted eurodragster.com regarding the Spy picture VI posted on 7th February. Jack mentions they have just picked up the 68 Chevelle from Jedd Guys (Shortys fab shop) with thanks to Dave Gane of Billy Gane Racing for providing the transport. The car was bought by Jack and his dad Gary Petley just before COVID lockdown, with the aim to get back into street eliminator after dad’s nearly 30 year absence! The car was owned by David James and Peter Thompson ownership and it is an ex super modified car.

The plan is to install an all-steel twin turbo LS with power plant coming from Stefan Rossi of Ace Racing engines in California and gearbox is a Th400 by Hughes. The car has undergone work from Jedd since October last year and now the car is back at our garage for stripping down. It is planned for the Chevelle to be sent to Darren Scannell’s for paint. Then back for final prep by John Atkinson. Hopefully it might make a late season appearance in street eliminator.



Swift snippets.
13th February: Happy Birthday for today to Old School Stocker racer Dan Blight and former slingshot racer Mike Oates. We hope you have a great day.


Pioneer Stories - Movin' Mike Hutcherson, part 2.
12th February: Today's Pioneer Story is the second part of the history of Top Fuel Dragster racer Mike Hutcherson which you can read by CLICKING HERE.

1969 saw the debut of Houndog 4 and the Cadillac motor was getting quicker and faster. Mike had a thrilling race with Wild Bill Weichelt in Dos Palmos through the Piccadilly underpass then sadly in 1971 he had a top end crash, writing the dragster off.

A new dragster was built for 1972 and Roy Phelps gave the Houndog team a 354 Dodgehemi which they managed to break. The following year Roy gave them the 392 Chryslerhemi from Firefly. A longer chassis was built and with bigger boots fitted and Mike got theslingshot into the sevens.

The beautiful new rear engined dragster Houndog 8 debuted in July 1974 and Mike wassoon into the sixes. He also surprised everyone after its first burnout when he reversed backto the line. This was the first fueller in the UK to be fitted with a reverse gear.

Mike's story was produced by John Hunt and Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves.
You can read all the pioneer stories by looking at their index page by CLICKING HERE.

Over 1000 attending Spitfire race day.
12th February: Spitfire Raceway promoter Lee Child says that over 1000 people attended the first race day of the year at Spitfire Raceway, Perranporth, Cornwall despite wet conditions. Lee said "We can’t believe how supportive everyone is to Spitfire Raceway. We appreciate everyone who couldn’t care less about the weather conditions. Thank you so much to everyone who attended today."

You can see video of the pits pairing lanes by CLICKING HERE. A wide variety of quick street cars were present.

Remaining dates for 2024 at Spitfire, with featured races, are:

Saturday 20th April - 28/275 RWD Small Tyre Car Eliminator

Saturday 29th June - Big Tyre RWD 16 Car Eliminator

Saturday 7th September - FWD 16 Car Eliminator

Saturday 16th November - Stick Shift 16 Car Eliminator

Spy picture - solved.
12th February: The engine photo in Spy picture VII on 8th February came courtesy of Pro Modified and Super Pro ET racer and sponsor John Tebenham.

JT says "So we now have the great I.C.E. doing both my motors. We are ready for Easter with the Super Pro ET Pop - another new pair of slicks, one pair a meeting. I am absolutely trying to win the door slammers with the blue car. I ran a 5.99 with a.01 light against the Voodoo Hemi".

"If you ever think racing is tough, come and play at the Doorslammers. A massive thanks to Keith who has the passion to race. We are going to put a video up of Keith starting my baby".


Swift snippets.
12th February: Happy Birthday for today to Junior Drag Bike mum Kerryanne Frazier, Comp Eliminator crew Dave Hancock, supporter and former Alky FC racer Tom van der Wijden, former Top Doorslammer racer from Sweden Thomas Dahlblom. We hope you all have a great day.


Swift snippets.
11th February: Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway Events Coordinator Max Frost, Super Comp crew and wife Angela Hudson, Nostalgia Super Stock wife Bev Tyrell, Nostalgia FC crew Stuart Bradley and '55 Chevy racer Iain Shurey. We hope you all have a great time.


SPR's Dial In Day in four weeks' time.
10th February: Santa Pod Raceway have announced that the hugely successful Dial In Day returns for 2024 on Saturday 9th March. Graduates from the previous events have gone on to achieve great things in the National Drag Racing championships in classes such as Sportsman ET, the VWDRC and beyond. There have been multiple event wins, number one qualifiers, perfect ET’s & reaction times and even a couple of championships won by those who started it all by attending the dial in day.

If you’re thinking about getting involved with drag racing, or just want a little insight into the world of participating, the dial in day will not disappoint. Starting at 8am when the SPR gates open, it’s a no obligation day that consists of classroom-based sessions before track-based mini events allowing you to experience full qualifying and eliminations. You do not need a race-based vehicle; in fact, we restrict the day to vehicles completing the ¼ mile in 12 seconds and slower (9.00 for bikes) to reinforce the accessibility of drag racing as a sport. Only the RWYB rules apply so in most standard road cars, that means you need to bring nothing more than yourself, your car and your driving licence. The reason that the extremely popular ET Bike classes are busy means that the SPR also welcomes bikes to the dial in day! The classroom-based sessions will be applicable for both riders & drivers and there will be a separate bike class on track.

You can book your Dial In Day participation found by CLICKING HERE.

Adult participant entry is £83 (inc £3 booking fee), adult spectators £20 (inc £3 booking fee), kids 5-15 £6 (inc £1 booking fee) and kids under 5 are free. All tickets and sign-on procedures are Pre-Booking Only – No tickets will be available on the gate.

Full T&Cs can be found by CLICKING HERE.

The Dial In Day follows SPR's first RWYB on Sunday 3rd March which will be covered by Eurodragster.com with a gallery and video from Kieran.

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.


FIM Europe 2024 bike rules announced.
10th February: The page of the FIM Europe website relating to drag bike racing information has been updated. Included are a list of dates from all classes which we published on 2nd February (link), FIM Europe Drag Bike General Rules, FIM Europe Drag Bike European Championship And Cup Rules, FIM Europe Standards For Drag Racing Tracks, FIM Europe Technical Rules For Drag Bikes. Changes to last year's rules are marked in red.

The page also displays a list of FIM-Europe records as compiled by Andy Marrs and a link to ACU Drag Bike championship rounds. An entry form link will be arriving soon.

You can see all the detail by clicking here. As ever, comments should be directed to FIM-E Drag Racing Commission member Job Heezen.


Swift snippets.
10th February: Happy Birthday for today to Pro Stock Bike crew chief and wife Cindy Newbury, Junior dad Andrew Willcox, FWD racer Matt Davison, and later owner of Twin Jynx Dave "Twolanes" Armstrong. We hope you all have a great day.

Looking back to Sick Week, the Youtube Channel DragDriveRepeat interviewed Supercharged Outlaws racer Joel Kerr about his adventures in the event, and you can see the entertaining result by clicking here. Joel Kerr, known for his Stiff Shifter Pontiac Starchief teamed up with US racer Lonnie Tibbs to make a deal that he would co-pilot if Joel got in to Sick Week. Well, Joel got the call to participate days before the event started! You can hear the interview involving the guys purchasing a car sight unseen before the event and running it without tools or trailer.

"Congratulations to US Funny Car racer Bob Tasca and his team for an amazing barrier breaking run of 341.68 in 3.840s at Bradenton Motorsports Park. The run was made during the final qualifying session in the PRO Superstar Shootout. Eliminations being held today can be seen on Floracing live by clicking here. The link includes a video of the record breaking run."



Pioneer Stories - Alf Hagon part 1.
9th February: We start a five part story of the history of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Alf Hagon today which you can see at this link. Alfred Joseph Hagon will be best known to readers of these pages as the dominant force in motorcycle Sprint and Drag Racing in the 1960s. Many will also be aware that his prowess in designing, building, riding and racing bikes in many different areas of motorcycle sport was equally prolific. Add to this his success as a frame, engine and bike builder and his accomplishments as a business man catering for the two-wheeled market, and it’s no surprise that his name is still known and revered throughout the motorcycling world today. Our five part interview and review of Alf's long career includes archive media. Thanks to Alf for taking part, and to Chris Dossett for his research and transcribing Alf's story.

Part one of Alf’s story covers his early life and his first experiences with motorcycles and their modification. His first jobs began with carpentry and glass work before finding his place in engineering, which led to him constructing his own bike frames in his lunch breaks.

He recalls his first competition outings in trials, scrambling, motocross and grass track racing before becoming involved in Speedway, a sport where he would gain a highly regarded reputation as a top competitor and bike builder during a relentless and punishing schedule where he was very much in demand.

Alf’s first impressions of the idea of Drag Racing were less than favourable but he soon became involved in sprinting, appearing at meetings alongside the master of the sport George Brown, before accepting a ride on Gordon Calquhoun & Charlie Rous’ Vincent that caught the attention of the established sprint fraternity.


VP Racing Announce contingency scheme.
9th February: William Bros Racing Nic Williams has announced that VP Racing Lubricants are delighted to offer all UK. drag racers a fantastic opportunity to join their new contingency scheme. This scheme is available to car and bike racers and applies to National Championship classes and also to SPRC club classes or lifestyle championships that do not have a National Championship class.

Buying a case of 12 quarts of oil automatically qualifies you for the scheme with proof of purchase and if you are the highest placed contingency participant at any event in your class throughout the year will win the same case of oil as purchased along with a £25 VP Racing voucher redeemable through Williams Bros Racing who are the official importer and distributor of VP Racing Lubricants. In the event of a tie at the race meeting the prize will be awarded to the higher placed racer in qualifying. For the scheme to be activated at each event a minimum of 3 participants are required to compete in that class. At the end of the season the highest placed rider/driver in each class will win an additional £50 VP Racing voucher and any racer in the scheme that goes on to win their respective championship will receive a £100 voucher and a case of oil. With regards to racers double classing at any event you will only be eligible to win the contingency prize in one class unless 2 cases of oil are purchased to cover double classing.

The sooner you join the scheme the sooner you can start winning, you will be required to carry VP Racing decals on your car or bike without any overlapping of any other decals and share your success on your social media platforms and would require images of you and your team with the logos for our Facebook, Twitter and other marketing outlets.

VP Racing Lubricants are available from Webster Race Engineering, Topspeed Automotive, Opie Oils, Demon Tweakes and more or contact Williams Bros Racing for your nearest retailer.

For further information and to register for the scheme contact Nic Williams at [email protected] or call on UK mobile number 07572096920.

Spitfire Raceway drag racing this Saturday.
9th February: Spitfire Raceway have annouced the first 2024 drag and drift event in the UK this coming Saturday 10th February.

Spectate or take part at Spitfire Raceway. Spectators £10 per person under 16s go free. Drag race from £15 after admission. Crash helmet and full driving licence required. Show & shine no charge after admission. All vehicles are welcome at Spitfire raceway Perranporth, Cornwall. Gates open at 8am. Track action 11am to 3pm.

All 2024 drag and drift events online bookings are now open. No more waiting book away. Don’t forget to you can camp on site. Enjoy the events and the local area.

Drag & Drift book here.
Camping book here.

All vehicles have a safety check for drag racing and drifting. Drag strip riders and drivers meeting at race control 10.45am

Please respect the surrounding areas and speed limits when travelling to and from this event.

Swift snippets.
9th February: Happy Birthday for today to Outlaw Anglia racer Phil Drewitt, Pro ET and UK Nostalgia Superstock racer Guy King and Swiss Super Street Bike racer Sandro Haldimann. We hope you all have a great day!

Although not featuring European racers, one amazing event is taking place this weekend, the PRO Superstar Shootout organised by the Professional Racers Organisation, from 8th-10th February, exactly a month before the NHRA season commences at Gainesville. Test runs at Bradenton yielded Top Fuel ETs in the 3.6s and speeds in the high 330s. One example can be seen by clicking here. If you want to watch the race live you can do so by signing up to Flo Racing. Alternatively we can recommend the Youtube channels of Flo Drag Racing, PFI Speed, Straight Line Media or The Limo Guy at Large.

PRO Superstar Shootout Results are being published on the Facebook account of Drag Illustrated Click Here.


Race Bike push pegs.
8th February: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has contacted eurodragster.com Following a couple of incidents where push pegs on Race bikes have been left in place during a run. It is now mandatory that all push pegs have some form of identification attached to the push peg, as seen in the image. bright coloured tape etc is also acceptable.

It's your responsibility as a Rider to make sure they are removed prior to entering the water boxes etc. however, if they are tagged or brightly coloured it also alerts the startline team to their presence.


Spy picture VII.
8th February: The offices of Eurodragster.com received this spy picture devoid of comment.

If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected].

Swift snippets.
8th February: Happy Birthday for today to Unusual Car Sales UK admin Nigel Taylor, hope you have a great day!


Nitro Revival honours Driver.
7th February: Merek Chertkow to be honoured at Nitro Revival - Nitro Revival organiser Steve Gibbs has announced the honorees for Nitro Revival 2024 to be held on 8th-9th November at Irwindale Dragstrip, California. Included is Merek Chertkow, who has a special link to drag racing in the UK. Steve writes: “Merek Chertkow’s name may not be as widely recognized as others, but the Michigan native was a teenage sensation in 1965 when, after moving to California to work at Dean Moon’s shop, he was tabbed to drive the Mooneyes-yellow `Moonshot` Top Fuel dragster as a member of the U.S. Drag Team during the second International Dragfest in England.”

He so impressed with his performance, which included a quarter mile run of 10.44 seconds at 128 miles per hour in the rain at Blackbushe Airport with water flying off the rear slicks, that he subsequently was tabbed to drive the fabled “Ramchargers” dragster during the 1966 season. Afterward, he began building racing engines in California, contributed to the making of the movie “Bikini Beach” and briefly drove an SOHC Ford-powered Pinto Funny Car.

Pictured at Woodvale in 1965 by Ronald Barker, Technical Editor of Autocar magazine at the time, Merek Chertkow qualified with a 9.80/174. Merek Cherkow had sustained injuries in a road accident but at the last minute he decided to get back in the hot seat over substitute Ben Griffin.

Other honorees for Nitro Revival are the late Steve Evans, Brad Anderson, Gary Densham (cousin of Commuter driver Tony Densham), the “Groundshakers” team who campaigned both Top Fuel dragsters and Fuel altereds at San Gabriel Drag Strip, and the old Irwindale Raceway, and the Top Fuel Dragster team of Warren, Coburn and Miller, known as the “Ridge Route Terrors”.

You can read more by CLICKING HERE.

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

Spanish Drag Racing Dates for 2024.
7th February: Spanish drag racing organisers Fuerza Libre Competición have announced their 2024 dates at four tracks:

Round One: Circuito Ricardo Tormo, Cheste 11th-12th May

Round Two: Matilla, Valladolid 1st-2nd June

Round Three: Matilla, Valladolid 23rd-25th August

Round Four: Circuito Navarra 27th-29th September

Round Five Circuito de Jarama, Madrid 30th November - 1st December

More details and rules for the well-organised competition are at the FLC website and can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Reviewing 2023, the champions and records established for each class were, by class:

Pro 4x2: Champion Domingo Boya (Fiat Uno Turbo)

Pro 4x4: Champion Vitalii Boiko (Porsche 992 Turbo S)

Street 4x2: Champion Jaime Ibarra (Fiat Punto Gt)

Street 4x4: Champion Rafa Amutio (BMW M240i)

Full details of results of each round and championship points are posted on the FLC website.

Records established for each category are:

Pro 4x2: 8.861 Ángel Romero (Chevrolet Camaro)

Pro 4x4: 9.191 Vitalii Boiko (Porsche 992 Turbo S)

Street: 10.059 Marcelino Murillo (Audi RS3)

Fuerza Libre Competición commented "We are making sure that both spectators and participants enjoy every second. Our events take place at both professional motorsport circuits and national airports. Since, 2010 FLC has proclaimed itself as the best organization of Drag Racing in the country, taking a type of motorsport that was almost non-existent in our country to having a National Championship today with hundreds of participants from all over Europe, a unique modality that both the public and the participants enjoy for several days at each championship event.

In Fuerza Libre Competición the driver is the protagonist, as shown by the best media equipment, professional videos, direct monitoring, interviews with pilots before, during and after each test, live broadcasts and prizes. There are two categories dedicated to direct competition, one category dedicated to beginners and a category dedicated to the show, where the pilot will have his unique moment to give his best. For the first time a driver will be able to officially participate in two categories in the same championship!"

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

Spy picture VI.
7th February: We have a new spy picture with the comment "The project has been in development for a couple of years, good to see it coming on! Hopefully it might make a late season appearance in street eliminator.

If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected].

Swift snippets.
7th February: Happy Birthday for today to Nitro Funny Car racer Rob Elsom, Willys Wars racer Mark Puddick, Swedish Top Fuel Bike racer Thomas Pettersson, Pro Modified wife and crew member Belinda Nicholson expat Pro ET racer Colin Felstead, now based in Ohio. We hope you all have a great day.


KB's speech at SPRC Trophy Presentation evening.
6th February: We are grateful to Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett (pictured) for sending a copy of his speech given at Saturday's SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation:

A very good evening, ladies and gentlemen and might say fellow racers.

I am always happy to be able to have the opportunity at this dinner dance say a few words to you and hopefully be able to outline some key points and issues regarding Santa Pod and the forthcoming year and our calendar of events.

I will try my best to keep it shorter than normal – if not, I know I am in trouble with a few people – not least my family.

At last year’s dinner dance, I spoke about how Santa Pod had survived the covid crisis and the then current downturn in the economy because of the pandemic and of course the various international conflicts affecting the supply train and other various economic impacts such as bank interest rates, and the cost of living etc. In 2023 things did not get any easier which I am sure many if not most of you are fully aware. The economy is still difficult and business across all sectors has been hit as hard in 2023 if not harder than in 2022. I am of the view It is not likely to be any easier in 2024.

Just the governments increase in the minimum national wage in April by around 10% will have a huge impact across all business sectors. Santa Pod will also be affected when you take into consideration how many seasonal staff we employ throughout the year - it’s in the hundreds.

But a rise in the minimum national wage is only part of the story. Once that raise is implemented then other staff, will quite naturally look for similar reward. So, if you have a wage bill of nearly 2 million pounds a year (which Santa Pod certainly does) you are looking at £200k+ increase for no extra output or profit on turnover. That is without mentioning the skilled labour shortages that seem to affect everyone currently.

Staffing is the biggest issue we face today and not just in our business that is across all business sectors. Today getting the right staff is one of the biggest challenges to face. My own view is that today you should prioritise character over resume. Qualifications are not everything in today’s world, despite the general approach to recruiting. I often think that you should not hire anyone who you would not give a lift to at 2am in the morning… judgement of character!

For Santa Pod, the real issue is that we are not like a retail store selling goods that can have price increases added at any time or as the cost of their raw goods increases– such as a food store or household goods store and car dealerships, plus many more. We set our ticket prices in or around November of the preceding year.

So, if the costs of running your business and things like inflation, salaries, interest rates, materials, fuel oil & diesel all increase at the beginning of the beginning of the year (as they have done for 2024) we have already published our ticket prices and are selling tickets for the year ahead and cannot like so many other businesses change our pricing structure so simply as in other business sectors. With that said the whole leisure industry and sector is going to have to re-think this structure and method of pricing its offering – and that includes Santa Pod Raceway.

In summarising on this particular topic, I will add that it is a fine balance between a competitive pricing structure that helps fill your venue up and create a brilliant atmosphere, or an increased income based on a lower attendance whereby you risk not having that atmosphere which in my opinion is vital to people having a great day out – and that is the reputation that Santa Pods has today - it’s a great day out at a reasonable price for the whole family….and the drag racing not bad either! Most of you in this room have witnessed that. We pride ourselves that Santa Pod is seen as the best venue across the whole of Europe to go drag racing - be it as a spectator or a racer and we have worked very hard to achieve that over many years.

Turning to the 2024 drag racing season I must start with making a few comments about our chief starter Ian Marshall. As you will all know by now, Ian is intending to step down at the end of the season as our chief starter. Ian is not leaving the SPRC and or Santa Pod but will take a wider role over track prep and maintenance and the overall SPRC marshal at events.

I would like to take this opportunity of saying a few words about Ian as a Chief starter. I have been fortunate enough to regularly travel the world and attend or be involved in International and national drag racing event across the globe.

I can safely say that Ian Marshall is probably in the top 5 chief starters in the world and that includes the USA, Australia, and the ME to name a few countries. In Europe Ian is the No1 chief starter by a long way - and that is no mean feat!

We have been very lucky at Santa Pod to have had Ian on the start line for so many years gaining so much experience and helping Santa Pod to have such high level drag racing events. I would like to say that Ian can be an awkward sod at times, always wanting reasons as to why on anything he is not sure off or needs proving - that’s why Ian is always looking to improve things - that goes for most things where Ian is involved.

But on behalf of TBR and Santa Pod thank you so much Ian for what you have done for Santa Pod in that role of chief starter over so many years – you will be an almost impossible act to follow! Which talking of we look forward to David Warren trying to do just that fill Ian Marshall’s huge boots. I am sure that David will shine in that role too as he has had a good teacher….

The 2024 season is as action packed with so many great events at Santa Pod Raceway.

My little baby the ‘Door Slammers’ continues to grow, and I am still talking to US teams (in fact seeing some next week in the USA) to try and persuade them to come and race at the Door Slammers where I might add they are not likely to have it all their own way.

We are delighted with the Street Weekend going into its second year where we have seen the entries go from 80 last year to 200 this year. We sold out on entries in less than 2 hours. I know my team have some great things in store for this year’s Street Weekend plus we have the interest of FORD UK in this event. In 2024 we will be looking to begin developing the new 7.60 heads up class which Jeff Bull got of the ground in 2023. I will add that in conversations that I have had with 3-4 of the Swedish Pro Street teams (who also run on a 7.60 index) they are keen to run in our 7.60 class this season at least some of the rounds.

Following on from 2023 it seems that in 2024 the cost of going racing is for ever getting more and more expensive and when you then look at the FIA and FIM European Championships and all the travel involved it sure isn’t a cheap hobby! Together we all need to keep abreast of our own inflation within the sport of drag racing.

Just taking the TF class in the FIA Championship the current teams and car owners are struggling to continue racing – mainly because of the increased costs today to go TF racing. When I ran the ETFA and the ‘European Top Fuel Series’ between 1991 and 1995, we had around 10-12 TF cars competing with regular 8-car fields at each round – those days are gone. Today it is not only the increased costs that have reduced us to under half that number of TF cars competing, but what worries and concerns me far more is where are the skilled crew chiefs and crew persons coming from, where are they today and how are we going to attract young people to take up such roles on our sport.

The current people involved in TF racing today are mostly from my generation the ‘older ones’ – I’ve been racing with most of them for over 30 years and in some cases far more. That cannot continue we need young blood into our sport of drag racing and by that I do mean just drivers.

Motor sports will always find drivers (I have a few of my own indoors), especially those with money to buy their drives – but skilled crew chiefs and mechanics and other crew persons - do not grow on trees, especially when you consider that most of the crews are not paid any salary for working on the cars, have to take their holidays to work the events and basically are amateur crew people with a hobby called drag racing.

We are still a long way off from the USA and the NHRA National Championship (which they like to call the World Championship, which it is not), where the crew chief’s and crews in the Pro classes are full time and paid a salary to go racing. In 2024 Ida Zetterstrom will be working full time on a paid salary with a US Top Fuel team, driving at selected events, and her partner Kim Hilander will be working full time as a crew person. Full time for 20 races and a lot of testing to boot and, with just two weeks holiday – welcome to the real world of professional drag racing in the USA folks….

We must start to find a structure whereby we can bring young people - or at least not as old as me and my lot - into our sport to keep out sport growing at least with the pro classes. The national and sportsman classes are as healthy as ever, in fact you are all contributing to that growth and its fantastic. But I am sure you all agree it’s the pro classes that bring in the big spectator attendances and those people are the ones who pay the bills and help the sport and Santa Pod I might add survive – that is of course along with the bank of KB!

Last year at this dinner I briefly (that is if I can do anything briefly) outlined the role of DRE (Drag racing Europe AB), and the role it plays in the FIA and FIM Championship. We now have a new contract with the FIA and FIM after much negotiation over the past 24 months. As the Chairman of DRE, we are determined to develop DRE and the FIA and FIM Championship over the coming 3 years to be a high brand championships that will attract the right investment and sponsorship to help the sport of drag racing in the UK and Europe go to the next level.

Today that product the FIA and FIM Championships are not good enough to attract such investment but with the plans that we have maybe, just maybe, that will change in the next few years. If we are successful, all of you in this room will benefit….

And it’s not just DRE that is looking forwards either, at Santa Pod we are expanding and looking to develop the business over the coming 3-years. What we see as our main priority is to future proof the business going forwards. That means recruiting more staff training them into our specialist world of drag racing promotions and management.

We are also improving our product as we always try to do. But one must always be prepared for the unexpected to happen and curve balls to be thrown at you all the time – which they are. Santa Pod must improve as we go forwards and that means the actual site and facilities along with the management of our business day to day. If we stand still and do not adopt change, we too will slowly wither away, which would affect us all.

By the FOP at Easter, you will see some subtle improvements to the site. New fencing all along the staging and pairing lanes, some new units, a café that has had improvements to how we serve you. What will not be seen is the drainage improvement we have done to some of the parking fields – costly but vital for our customer experience. We are resurfacing the Live Action arena – not cheap but essential to maintain the show…and there will be hopefully more works as we progress on through the year – that is if we manage to make any money in these difficult times….

Also, we will be having large screens at the two FIA & FIM Championship events (ME and EF) for a better TV and live stream production but mainly again to improve the customer experience. On the racing side we may even have 4/5 AAFC racing at 4 rounds this year – could even be that we have more FC than TF – theirs a first!

I have many people over the last year ask me are you going to stop doing this and what will happen to Santa Pod and the FIA/FIM Championships when you and if you stop. Let me say this as I have explained tonight, we are putting things in place to future proof the business for both Santa Pod and the FIA & FIM Championships.

We are looking to plan for life without KB. When Bernie Ecclestone ran F1, and I have always had a good relationship with Bernie he riled as the individual ring master and controlled or was involved in all aspects of the F1. He had built F1 since the early 1970’s into what it became. When he stepped down it took over 6 people to carry out all his duties. I see my situation as quite similar other than he had zillions more noughts in his bank account – I will be replaced with more than one person….

As to me personally I have been involved in this sport for over 50 years and full time for the last 33 years – I am too long in the tooth and too committed to stop now or in the future. As long as I have my health I will be doing what I do now an have been doing for so many years – when I am far to old (some say that is already now), and dribbling, unable to walk properly, can’t see the finish line, I will still be saying get me to the start line I want to see the racing – that is me and I am not about to change anytime soon….I will be in drag racing till I drop, because I love our sport and the adrenalin rush that it gives me and the people within the sport – well at least most of them!

Thank you for all for the support that I get from you all.

Brad Head to race SSB in ACU and FIM-E.
6th February: UK 8.50 Bike Championship runner up in 2023 Brad Head has announced he will be moving to Super Street Bike in 2024, and competing in both the FIM-E and UK ACU Drag Bike Championships. Brad wrote:

"I’m so excited to get going in my first season in SSB! It will be a challenge, but one I’m really excited to get going with!"

"I would like to thank Jake Mechaell at. JKE Race Works for continuing to sponsor me for another year his help, knowledge and work is second to none and I’m so lucky to have him on board! Thank you also to Kathy Taylor, Robin Read, Colin Millar and Lyn Purvis from Flyin Fyfer Racing for coming on board to help this year. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it, I’ll do my best to make you proud!

If anyone else would like to help with sponsorship please PM me on Facebook or Instagram, so we can have a chat about how you can help. Anything small or large is appreciated fully and I’ll do my best to give you the best exposure possible.

Brad's full schedule is:

Festival of Power Santa Pod - 28th-31st March

Springspeed Nationals Santa Pod - 26th-28th April

Main Event Santa Pod - 23rd-27th May

Tierp Internationals Tierp - 13th-16th June

Summer Nationals Santa Pod - 29th-30th June

Summit internationals Tierp - 8th-11th August

37th Nitrolympx Hockenhiem - 23rd-25th August

European Finals Santa Pod - 5th-8th September

National Finals Santa Pod - 20th-22nd September

Photo credit: Jan Sunek at Hockenheim

Swift snippets.
6th February: Happy Birthday wishes for today to NSS racer Claire Johnson, Wild Bunch racer Wayne Colliver, former Junior Dragster race Skye Collier, and long time drag bike racers Turbo Tim Boutle and Pete Le Gros, we hope all of you have a great day.


Pioneer Stories - Movin' Mike Hutcherson, part 1.
5th February: Our latest pioneer story is from driver of the Houndog dragsters in the 1960s and 1970s, Movin' Mike Hutcherson which you can read by clicking here.

Mike Hutcherson started out working for Lotus Cars in the early 60s testing brand new Lotus Elans, lapping the Mira test track at 135mph. He then got a job at Jack Oldings in 1965 where he met Nobby Hills and saw the unfinished Cadillac powered dragster Houndog 3 with front mounted blower. Nobby was looking for a new driver and after hearing about Mike’s experiences at Lotus asked him if he’d like to drive it? Mike wasted no time saying yes.

They ran the dragster at Santa Pod when it opened in 1966, constantly developing it getting quicker times and faster speeds. Mike enjoyed the engine development side of it and helped with making parts for the car, machining blower pulleys, splining driveshafts etc.

Mike also recalls memories of other racers at the time including Alan Blount, Ken Cooper and Walt Ithell...Mike's story was produced by John Hunt, Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves.

Grand National Roadster Show gallery.
5th February: Many thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell for sending a gallery of photos from the weekend's Grand National Roadster Show held at Pomona County Fairgrounds, California. You can see Geoff's gallery by clicking here.

Following torrential rain on Thursday, Geoff's 7707 Land Speed roadster and the Dos Palmas dragster were set up in Hall 4, one of seven halls of 100,000 square feet, accommodating approximately 600 hot rods on display. Geoff thanks Mick's Paint, Tony Thacker and other friends.

Pictured at the foot of the gallery are some visitors from the worlds of Hot Rodding, Drag Racing and Land Speed Racing who were eager to visit and have a seat in either 7707, Dos Palmas or both. Drag racers Bob and Sharon Muravez visited for photos with Wes Tomakashi, one of the late Bill Schultz's "Over the Hill Gang" (pic 102), bearded pinstriper Johnny Martinez and his similarly attired son were also on the stand (pic 109 and 110). Harry Hibler can also be seen in pic 85/88 and Gregg Plahy, part of the "Flashpoint" Landspeed car team in pics 104-105.

On Sunday Geoff attended the 85th SCTA Awards Banquet, for which 7707 was the poster car, at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel, Pomona.

Geoff commented "We meet so friends from far and wide, New Zealand to the U.K. and even Sweden. Thank you for travelling so far".

Huge thanks go to everyone at Mick’s Paint for making my race car look so good to Tony Thacker for all the hard work behind the scenes to make this work. Massive thanks also to our video guru Nestor for putting together our videos we are running on the booth.

"The 7707 Team are very proud to support and promote the SCTA as well. Thank you to Ron Main, JoAnn Carlson, Jill Iverson and everyone else there for their support".

"Finally, I hope everyone we managed to get a sit in the race cars enjoyed their time."

Drag racing returns to Bishopscourt, N.I.
5th February: Thanks to Lee Child who has announced a new drag racing event in Northern Ireland at Bishopscourt airfield: Drag racing returns to Bishopscourt airfield Northern Ireland, one of the longest established venues for ¼ mile racing for Northern Ireland and Ireland under different promoters. The new land owners reached out to Lee Child after a recommendation from the previous promoter, as they want to run their own events now.After a successful two day meeting at the venue, Lee Child is now working for the enthusiastic but feet firmly on the ground, Land owner consortium team.

The role for Lee is drag racing operations, race director, promotions, track development and advertising. With 14 days of planning for motorsport, this is the beginning of the only permanent drag racing venue for Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The first drag race event will be Saturday 8th June and will be a no prep timed run what you brung. Camping will be available before, during and after the event so everyone can have an enjoyable time. For racers that want to join the extreme hardcore Irish racers on this day, we are reaching out to Stenaline Ferries for discounted crossing prices. Bishopscourt is located just ½ mile from the beach and 27 miles from the Belfast ferry port.

A small amount of work needs to be done to the surface (repairs and leveling) to make it race ready. The ex bomber runway has really stood the test of time allowing it to run ¼ mile with a 700 metre shutdown area, that can be extended in the future. The first event as mentioned is a no prep event but traction compound will be allowed. There is a plan when funds are available to invest in track preparation equipment.

With the venue just 9 metres above sea level, with track prep, it can be a super fast venue. To get to that moment Bishopscourt needs to be supported by racers attending the events that would be really appreciated. The response from companies to support the venue has been really good. Keep updated with facebook. Bishopscourt Drag Racing Northern Ireland for the time being while websites, instagram, twitter, tik tok and youtube channels are being worked on.

Swift snippets.
5th February: Happy Birthday to Super Gas racer, Sportsman ET class sponsor and SPRC Committee Member Andy Dibley, to UK Funny Car legend Gordon Smith, to Eurodragster.com sponsor and Top Methanol Funny Car owner Danny Bellio, and to Funny Bike racer Nick 'Shaggy' Daniels, have a great day all!


SPRC Perpetual Awards winners and gallery.
4th February: Congratulations to the the winners and runners-up in the 2023 Motorsport UK at a packed Dinner Dance Trophy Presentation Evening last night.

British Drag Racing Championship, SPRC National Drag Racing Championships, ACU UK Dragbike Championships and SPRC Club Championships were presented with their trophies at the Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation in Milton Keynes last night (Saturday). Each National Champion was presented with a Victory Trophy incorporating a picture of their respective vehicle. The winners of SPRC's Perpetual Awards, for whom Eurodragster.com readers had the chance to vote, were also presented with their trophies.

Congratulations to the SPRC Perpetual Award winners:

Obsession Sportsman of the Year: The Kellett Family

Most Promising Newcomer: Terry Newton

Best Appearing Bike: Gary Malone

Best Appearing Car: Mark Coulsell

James Edgar Trophy – Outstanding Crew Chief: Gordon Darby

Most Professional Appearing Team: Colin Millar

John Ledster Memorial Trophy: David Anniwell, for his work on SPR timekeeping

Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy: VW Drag Racing Club, for support to the late Laurence Clark

John C Bennett Foundation Award (supported by Supercharged Outlaws UK): Richard Willcox

Spirit of Santa Pod Award: Suze Morris, for recognition of members of 92nd Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force stationed in WWII at what would become Santa Pod Raceway.

Thank you to everyone who submitted votes for the SPRC Perpetual Awards.

In his traditional speech in support of racers and workers at Santa Pod Raceway, Keith Bartlett kept his speech to a limited size and struck an upbeat note on the financial times over the last few years and his optimism for the coming year. Keith also spoke about the opportunities available at Santa Pod Raceway for sport and entertainment in the coming year. We will be reporting Keith's speech in the next update.

The Trophy Presentation gallery has now been posted. Photos are watermarked, meaning it is ok to copy and post them on social media; if you want to obtain free-of-charge originals please contact [email protected] or via Facebook messenger.


Memories of Norm Wheeldon.
4th February: Norm Wheeldon, who sadly passed away on Thursday, was known for running the first UK 6 second/200mph pass in Pro Comp in May 1980, and a consummate constructor of dragsters in a career that spanned 50 years.

Norm's first car in 1974 was a competition altered, named "The Wheel Thing" using Stripteaser as inspiration, using a Minivan and Chevy powerplant. This was replaced by a 3.8 Jaguar powered Model T with the same name, an Allan Herridge-made billet flywheel and American cluctch used to get the car into the 11s by the end of 1976, Norm winning the RAC Junior Comp altered class championship that year.

Norm then had the first of a long line of Chevy small blocks, using one in a lengthened Model T chassis for a few meetings in Super Comp. But the heads up Pro Comp class was where Norm's ambitions lay, and teaming up with Tim Claxton in 1979, Norm constructed his first dragster, rear engined, which made its debut at Blackbushe in August. The car, with an engine built by US SBC expert Dale Hall, went quick immediately and Norm came out the winner against a 16 car international field at the 1979 World Finals at Santa Pod.

In 1980, the car, with new transmission and sponsorship from Rifle Jeans, became the first UK Pro Comp car to run a six at over 200mph at the Main Event with a 6.98/201mph, however engine breakage resulted in the partnership with Tim Claxton coming to an end and Norm sitting on the sidelines for a couple of years. His brief return in 1983 was with a new slingshot named Plan-X. This ran 6.94/201mph at the SPR Summer Nationals and set a NDRC record in October. However after that Norm had a break from participation in the sport when he worked for F1 teams March Engineering and Benetton, however he kept an eye on the sport and even ran a second, rear engine Plan-X in the early 1990s.

Norm's twin engined slingshot "Two Much" made its debut in 2009 and ran at both Shakey and Santa Pod. The car, powered by blown small block Chevys on Methanol has made an enormous impact for its sheer noise and spectacle. His other builds include the Bond, Hannis and Osborne Nuthin' 2 Fancy slingshot, the Pro ET Just 4 Fun dragster run by Liz and Iain Malcolm and team mate Nigel and James Charman's Gotavit blown small block Chevy slingshot.

Norm's larger than life personality and machines will be missed at the strip - but his engineering creations will hopefully live on to entertain UK drag racing fans in the future.

With acknowledgments to Keith Lee from Custom Car's Auto Focus article - available in print at this link or online via issuu.com.


European class winners at Sick Week.
4th February: Congratulations to Swede Stefan Gustafsson and the UK's Richie Webb for winning their classes at Sick Week taking place Monday to Friday at Orlando, Bradenton, Gainesville, South Georgia Motorsports Park and back to Orlando for the final day on Friday.

Stefan's Brillko Engineering Corvette won the Unlimited class in a field of nine cars of which only five were able to complete the course. After a best of 6.498/220.69 at Bradenton, Stefan ran consistently and scored an average of 6.74540/ 210.1060 over the five days of competition.

Stefan's average was third quickest in the entire competition, because American Brett LaSala's radial-shod 2012 Ford Mustang running in Modified was average quickest of all at 6.3402/227.230. The quickest time on a single pass was Jeff Lutz's 6.155/247.38 in his '69 Camaro at Orlando, but Jeff suffered mechanical issues, making a rebuild on day 3 but withdrawing after further problems at SGMP.

Also withdrawing from the Unlimited Class, but after an awesome 6.288/238.81 pass on day 1 at Orlando was Swede Magnus Frost who again ran his '73 Opel Ascona.

Richie Webb was the winner in the interestingly named Gassers vs Hot Rods class which included nine aircooled VWs. Richies strategy was to run the turbo'd 2600cc turned down and this paid dividends with an average of 10.20940 134.4740 and best of 9.758 138.70 at Bradenton. You can see Richie's pass and an interview courtesy 1320video on Youtube.

Not so luck was Supercharged Outlaw racer Joel Kerr who ran a Corvette in DYO. Joel did manage to run all five days for an average of 13.19140 111.2940, but his average was hurt by first day problems, with his best time of 11.591/127.17 coming on day 4 at SGMP.


2023 Pro ET Bash.
3rd February: Thank you to Debbie Clarke and Brett Featherstone for their write up from the Pro ET Awards Night on Saturday 27th January 2024

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2023 Season PRO ET awards bash, so many kind words of thanks and support for our first attempt at organising this event, 136 guests made the effort worthwhile. Thank you to the following sponsors whose generous contributions made it possible to put on this event for PRO ET: Maverick Diagnostics, Nemesis UK, B & H Construction, SG Commercial Vehicle Repairs Ltd, Bean & Ballantyne Properties, SIB Plumbing, Buddy’s Paint Shack, Supercharged Outlaws, CSK Building Ltd, Team Nova Scotia, RMC with RDR Carburettors, Three Brothers Brewery Limited, Hauser Racing, Tig & Cath Napier, Independent Scaffolding, UK Scaffolding (SE) Ltd, Jon Turner Upholstery.


The evening kicked off with my usual pit ramblings only this time a very nervous speech in front of way more than the usual bunch of racers who exchange words of friendly abuse! If I forgot to mention anyone, sorry my pages of speech became a blur. So, the nominated awards voted for by anybody who read our Facebook post and racers WhatsApp group were up first:

Rookie of the Year - Jess Bishop

Best Appearing Car - Harley Jay Darby

Best Appearing Team - John Bean – Team Shotgun

Crew Chief of the Year - Freddie Thompson

Wheelie of Year - Tom Watkins

Hard Luck Award - Pete Dodd

Spirit of PRO ET - Debbie Clarke and Brett Featherstone

Comical Moment - Laura Baynton

Neil Hunter “Just Do It” Award - Pete Dodd & Warren Watts

So best rehearsed plans by John & Kim Bean and Debs and I went straight out the window as we planned to kick off the raffle by asking each winner to pull a ticket out of the box as they were presented a trophy, Whoops!! I forgot that almost immediately, sorry team. Anyway, we got sort of back on track after a small oil down and random members of the audience started receiving their prizes as kindly donated by Pete Dodd, Warren Watts, Belinda Bull, Team Nova Scotia and the PRO ET Sponsorship Scheme. We then went into the buffet before the second round of awards.

Over the years of watching and now participating in PRO ET with such large numbers of regular entries I decided that it was a massive achievement to make it into the top ten final standings. This year was no exception 63 teams listed as getting points and 50 plus gaining points from more than two events. Extra trophies were needed and once again Elaine Southworth at “Cool Art and Engineering” was contacted and her imagination was put to the test 18 bespoke trophies all handmade coated and posted within the time frame and as a side addition to the trophy a framed photo handpicked by ourselves from julianhunt.net, big thank you Julian & Claire for the picture tweaking to make the pictures more personal to PRO ET. So, stand up Colin Theobald and show me how it’s done as each racer 10-1 walks up to a nominated song played by the DJ and Colin tells it how it is and pulls no punches. I think he knows us better than we do, a familiar face greets each racer with a smile and hug as opposed to the usual “get into the pairing lanes now.” Thank you, Caroline, for agreeing to hand out the top ten trophies.

Leigh Morris

Jess Bishop

Brett Featherstone

Amy Watkins

Dave Rudd

Neil Watkins

Marc Huxley

Mason Griffiths

Warren Watts

John Bean

Then more organised chaos as the remaining raffle prizes are handed out with Colin doing his best trying to keep us rabble in line. Thank you, Colin. So, it was time for the party and everyone to talk some shit and before we knew it the event had finished. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed their evening, all tips for improvement would be gratefully appreciated before next year.

Can I please congratulate Sammie & Tom Watkins new addition to the family, Ernest-Eric Walter Watkins born 05.26am on Sunday 28th January weighing 6lbs 15oz I guess he was just a bit shy to arriving in front of 134 people! May we wish you all the best from PRO ET.

See you all at Easter! Brett & Debs Team Nova Scotia

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

Swift snippets.
3rd February: Happy Birthday for today to Super Pro ET racer Daniel Giles, 8.50 Bike racer Stacey Reed, Sportsman ET racer Steve Mellors, former 9.50 Bike racer Dave Bowe and Outlaw Street racer Paul Knifton. We hope you all have a great day.


Norm Wheeldon.
2nd February: Nigel Charman has written to eurodragster.com with much sadness of the sudden loss of Norm. He was taken ill in the early hours yesterday and passed on later in the afternoon.

This has been a great shock to us all and our thoughts are with his partner Mary at this very difficult time.

Norm was involved from the 70s to the present day in drag racing at a high level with a very high standard of fabricating, constructing as well as driving the cars. In the past few years, we built the cars under the Wheeldon and Charman name which we intend to continue in the long term, I know this is his wish. However, at this present time as you can imagine this has come as a great shock to us all, so can I please ask you to respect Mary's privacy. Rest in Peace.

We at Eurodragster.com send our deepest condolences to Norm's partner Mary, teammates and friends Nigel and James Charman, and to Norm's many racing friends and colleagues.

Pioneer Stories - Wally Parks' involvement in British Drag Racing - Part 5.
2nd February: You can read the fifth and final part of our excerpts from NHRA founder Wally Parks' memoir by clicking here.

This part includes the letters Wally wrote to his wife Barbara with some of his humour and affection finding their way into them. "I’m sure you’ll flip over this place – it’s too much! This coming weekend up at Southport is supposed to be the real cold one. I bought some pyjama’s so I can wear the bottoms under my pants if it’s really that cold.

"Last night I had dinner with the Allard’s at their home. Mrs Allard is a really nice person and had cooked us a meal that I expected was typically English. We had roast beef, oven-brown potatoes, carrots, green beans, some sherry, apple pie with cream and coffee in another room. It was delicious and the company was most enjoyable. I seem to be getting a lot of wrinkles over here. Don’t know what it is, but this country must age a person more rapidly. We are really making history over here.."

The story was produced by Richard Parks, photos, images chosen by Nick Pettitt and John Hunt and published by editor of Eurodragster.com Simon Groves. We all thank Jim Miller of the American Hot Rod Foundation for scanning the photos and adding captions.



Unusual Car Sale UK sponsor Street Weekend 2024.
2nd February: Unusual Car Sales UK admin Nigel Taylor has announced that Unusual Car Cales UK are the proud sponsor of this year's Street Weekend 2024, with some members clubbing together and donating £20 each into the prize pot, which is looking like a fair bit already.

Nigel explains we understand people and companies would like to get involved but can’t afford to offer big prize money. So as Unusual Car Sales UK is a big follower of British drag racing, we have come up with this idea where those people and companies will get a mention on our site. The site has a following of 37,000 and over people for contributions of £20 into the prize pot.

Unusual Car Sales UK Kenzie Taylor will be following the Street weekend antics and no doubt he will have his camera with him (Kenzie has had some good teaching from Santa Pods own Callum Pudge) so will represent Unusual Car Sales UK and will witness who wins what and where.

If you would like to get involved in the contributions, please head over to the Unusual Car Sales UK Facebook page click here. New members will need to answer all the application questions to join the site, if you are already a member then look out for the Street Weekend 2024 posts.

If you need any information, please contact Nigel via the Unusual Car Sales UK Facebook page.


Samu Kemmpainen’s new Top Fuel bike.
2nd February: FIM-E racer Samu Kemmpainen has contacted eurodragster to confirm a new Top Fuel bike which is on display at the MP-24 Motorcycle Show, Helsinki being held from 2nd-4th February. elements of the powerplant on the new bike will be displayed on the Honda 6P48 stand.

“This year we will test at local tracks as the bike is new and different to what we have used before. Maybe Tierp if all goes well, we still have the twin bike if needed. We will race FIM soon when the bike is fast enough and we have more spare parts. the bike was made here in Finland by our team, good friends and sponsors”.



“The bikes engine is 4.cyl, 1660cc made in Special Motors Engineering, clutch is Harsh/Jaska Salakari 7 inc, 3 plates. it has a Datalogger, ignition and Fuel injection which is Fueltech FT600. The frame was made at Tami Brander Performance, Fairings and paint has been done by Kele Design. It has a Honda CB1300 cylinder head bolt pattern and crank main bearings”.

Samu has been working 22 years at Honda and it was easy to a pick name for this project.


FIM-E Junior Drag Bike.
2nd February: Job Heezen has announced the confirmed dates for the FIM-E Championship. Junior Drag Bike will run at rounds 1,4 and 5. Top Fuel Bike, Super Twin, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike will run at all 5 rounds.

Round 1 – Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway. UK.

Round 2 - Tierp International, Tierp Arena, Sweden.

Round 3 - Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden.

Round 4 – 37th NitroOlympX, Hochenheim, Germany.

Round 5 - Euro Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, UK.

Swift snippets.
2nd February: Happy Birthday for today to Supercharged Outlaws racer Jake Clayton, Comp Bike racer Dave Thomas and US Funny Car legend Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch. We hope you all have a great day.


SPRC 2024 Entries Open.
1st February: SPRC Webmaster and committee member, Peter Walters has been in touch to announce the entry system for 2024 is now open. Festival of Power is available to enter now, with the other events being added over the next few weeks. www.santapodracersclub.com.

The system has had a revamp and there are a few changes. For 2024 you are required to add a vehicle and fill in your SFI details (car only) before entering events. You only need to do this once, and the system will prefill your information on future event entries, where you can amend any information as appropriate.

We have also added a notification and notice board service to the website. So all members we'll be alerted by email when a new notice is added. Notices will include entry announcements, running orders, final instructions and more.

Please remember as of 2024, Entry fees must be paid 3 days prior to commencement of the race event entered. There will be a small fine applied to late payments (late being asked for your payment in the signing on office) this will be £25 for the first offence and £100 for future failings within the race year, to help we are looking at emailing all those that chose BACS payment 1 week prior to the event as a gentle nudge to pay the entry fee, this will be a blanket email, so please don't be upset if you have already paid.

Entry for the Festival of Power closes on Friday 8th March 2024.

Eurodragster.com event coverage 2024.
1st February: We have posted our event coverage plan for 2024 which you can see at this link or by clicking on 'Event Coverage' in the main menu at the top of the page. As ever, the usual caveats apply: event coverage is dependent on weather and track conditions and team availability.

The event list has increased from previous years and we are thankful to our team for setting aside their time to make in some cases lengthy journeys to attend events. We are again scheduling events at Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe, Devon, also, as a sponsor of Melbourne Raceway, we are pleased to announce coverage of all events at the track this year, with former editor Tog attending all but one. For the first time we will be carrying galleries of events from Clastres, France and Rivanazzano, Italy thanks to Kieran.

At Santa Pod Raceway we are covering all championship events, both SPRC National and FIA/FIM-E as well as several lifestyle events and RWYBs. We will carry coverage of events at Tierp and Hockenheim, although it is likely to be at the end of day rather than live. Thanks to Julian and Kieran for giving their time for overseas trips and to Kieran for allowing us to embed video footage into the galleries.

Swift snippets.
1st February: Happy Birthday for today to Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones, former Sportsman ET racer Ian Jackson, Straightliners administrator Helen Greathead, Estonian administrator Kristjan Veedler and photographer Jon Spoard. We hope you all have a great day

Sick Week results can be seen by following these links: Day Two. / Day Three.


Earlier news