John Dickson with Roger Marshall built one of the first Ford Anglia E93A-based Competition Altereds which they ran between 1968 and 1976. They also worked alongside John's brother Tony who imported and ran the UK's first Pro Stock car. John had a parallel role as a writer of race reports for many of the motorsport press titles current in the early 1970s. John's wife Carol-Ann also got involved in maintaining Santa Pod Raceway. Later, their names became synonymous with Marshall Dickson Performance, the speed parts business run not by them, but by John's late brother Tony between 1979 and his death in 2002. Roger and John remain great friends after over 60 years, despite living 150 miles apart.

John and Roger were interviewed during Dragstalgia 2014; we thank Dave Riswick of Eurodragster.com sponsor John Woolfe Racing for helping to arrange the interview and John Dickson for supplying archive photos and material. We have added 25 additional photos, kindly provided by Nick Pettitt, to the gallery including shots of Tony Dickson's Money Hungry.

The story of Marshall Dickson Racing is at this link. You can see our list of Pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Junior dragster rules changes proposed.
18th February: Many thanks to photojournalist Stefan Boman from Sweden for allowing us to run his story, published in the Bilsport web site, about a proposal for changes to Junior Dragster rules in Scandinavia. Often such proposals are kept in the racing community but in this case the proposer Lennart "Lelle" Olsson, who is behind Nitroz Motorsports (a key part of drag racing organisation in Scandinavia) has chosen to go public:

It may have been a good idea to hold back engine costs from Briggs & Stratton when the class was introduced 30 years ago. But over time, it has evolved to require expensive special parts where a new engine for Jr Modified costs over 50,000 kronor (£4,000) in the US.

There are lots of good, working technology from motorcycles, snowmobiles and not least go-karts that are not only cheaper but also easier to find both as new and used at home. The proposal is that you are allowed to use these as well, just as you are allowed to continue driving with a traditional driveline if you choose, says Lelle.

As every racer knows, the competition rules in Jr Dragster are that everyone competes using the handicap system where you set a dial-in time on which competition is based. Driving under your dial-in is a breakout and means that you lose even if you were first over the finish line. This way, everyone can compete on equal terms, no matter how fast your dragster is.

There will still be a technical framework that allows up to two cylinders and requires centrifugal coupling. There will also be an upper volume limit, a no to power adders, that the fuel must be petrol or methanol and there must be a maximum weight so that safety is not compromised by a heavier engine than what a chassis is designed for.

The competition element is also changing. Junior Dragster is the only class in the sport to have qualified for the driver's reaction time. This is now proposed to change to qualifying by driving as close to the time you set to base the handicap on (dial in time).

The changes are welcomed by Jr Dragster's drivers' association. Its chairman Kennet Christensen says that he is positive about all the changes that can result in more teams and racers, and simplifies the competition.

He also talks about the new class Junior Pro, which was run as a test at Mantorp Drag Revival in 2021 but is now entered in the rulebook. Simplified, you can say that Jr Pro will be like Super Comp light for you between 18 and 25 years. The cars are Jr Modified but with a fixed index of 7.90 at 201 meters and 7.50 as a safety breakout, Kennet continues.

Lelle points out that the changes are a result of courting from activists and that they have then been worked out together with chassis builders and other cutting-edge knowledge. The goal and hope is that all unions, organizers and countries in Europe will introduce them as common class rules.

Pictured left: Mira Radne is CEO of Radne Motor, which has been selling everything for karting since 1972. In the middle is the company's founder Leif Radne and on the right Lelle Olsson from Nitroz, who is now opening up the regulations for Junior Dragster to be able to use, for example, technology from karting. Pictured right is a Rotax 125 cc for go-kart of about 35 hp which also has an integrated rear axle, two-speed gearbox with paddles behind the steering wheel, slip clutch and built-in electric start for half the cost against the US components, an example of existing technology. Pictures courtesy Stefan Boman.

Editor's note: to our knowledge there has been no announcement official adoption of the proposed rule changes by any organising body for the sport in Europe. The proposals will undoubtedly be a topic for discussion during the coming season.


Rivanazzano races announced.
18th February: Thanks to Enrico "Chicco" Bailo, Vice President of American Motors Pavia who has confirmed there will be two races in 2022 at the Italian track of Rivanazzano Raceway, based 50 miles south of Milan:

The first race will be the Spring Nationals on 13th-15th May and the second will be the Hills Race to be held on 9th-11th September. Both races have been held for a number of years, the Hills Race since 2004, however they were cancelled during both 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions.

Over the years an increasing number of racers from France and Germany have attended the races, which are held with the technical collaboration of Sadurano Motorsport, has been organizing acceleration races on the quarter-mile for cars since 2008, under the general direction of the ACI-CSAI federation (the Italian bodies for governing motorsports).

Renegade Racing Fuels' deal with Straightliners and Melbourne Raceway.
17th February: Trevor Duckworth of Straightliners has announced that Renegade Racing Fuels have been chosen to be the Official Fuel Supplier for Straightliners and Melbourne Raceway in 2022. Trevor writes:

Jeff Ludgate is the owner of Track Stuff Ltd the European Distributor for Renegade Racing Fuels and Lubricants, Jeff has been supplying racers with fuel and tyres for more than fifteen years. In 2011 he formed Track Stuff Ltd which is 11 years old this coming week.

From a small hobby business Jeff has created a national race fuel supply company. At first Jeff started out as an agent for VP. After a few years VP appointed him as their National Distributor. After looking at numerous race fuel companies and testing various ranges of fuels Jeff decided to introduce Renegade Racing Fuels to the UK and Europe.

Renegade Racing Fuels are part of the multi-billion dollar Valor Oil Company in America. Renegade blends a first class range of race fuels, to suit everyone’s needs. Renegade racing fuels genuinely create real power and not just use those words as a catchphrase. Their fuels run cooler than the major players in the market giving real advantages to racers.

In a very short time from being unknown in this country Renegade Racing Fuels are now used by hundreds of racers and has become a nationally available product in the UK and a number of European countries.

Feedback from racers has been extremely positive with many running PBs since moving over to Renegade plus. During winter refreshes, engine builders have commented many times on how good their engines look when stripping them down, many saying that their engines still look as new as the day they were first built.

Straightliners and Melbourne Raceway are very pleased to have this fantastic deal from Jeff Ludgate and Renegade Fuels, we feel that this is a fantastic step forward for our Drag Racers at Melbourne Raceway and our Top Speed and Record contenders at Elvington Runway Two Six. With over 40 events in 2022 Jeff is going to be a busy boy.

First 2022 race in Greece postponed.
17th February: The planned race for this weekend 18th-20th February at Agrinio Raceway, ASI under the auspices of OMAE - AMOTOE will now be postponed to 18th-20th March, it was announced yesterday by promoters Proaction Racing and Agrinio Raceway on their respective Facebook pages. The race was planned to be the first round of the ASI Cup championship.

The Racing Club of Heraklion's 2022 Panhellenic Cups and ASI Cup for cars and motorcycles will now include the following races at Agrinio Raceway:

18th-20th March Agrinio (ASI Cup)
13th-15th May Agrinio (Panhellenic and ASI Cups)
20th-22nd May Agrinio (Panhellenic and ASI Cups)
14th-16th October Agrinio (Panhellenic and ASI Cups)
11th-13th November Agrinio (Panhellenic and ASI Cups)
02nd-04th December Agrinio (ASI Cup)

The other announced races towards the Panhellenic Cup are at Serres on 16th-17th April, 10th-12th June and 16th-18th December.

Swift snippets.
17th February: UK Nostalgia Superstock organiser would like to wish a Happy Birthday to NSS and Pro ET racer Amy Watkins and NSS wife and crew Glenda Thompson, have a great day both from us at Eurodragster.com too!

Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted to his Youtube channel almost five hours of footage of drag bikes from the 2000 NitrOlympX at Hockenheim filmed by Piet Mon. Although no reports of the sportsman classes are available you can see the results of the FIM classes at our Champions Champions with thanks to Andy Marrs, or by clicking here.

SPRC Riders and Drivers meeting reminder.
16th February: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us a reminder about the Riders and Drivers meeting this coming Sunday, 20th February at 1pm at the Hilton Hotel Northampton:

Could anyone who is attending the Riders & Drivers meeting this weekend and who did not collect their Championship Trophy and or Championship jacket at the Trophy presentation evening earlier this year, please get in touch with the SPRC via [email protected] so that the trophies and jackets can be taken along to the meeting on Sunday, where they can be presented to the remaining Winners or Runners up.

Return of the Hulk.
16th February: Sportsman ET racer and member of Dual Fuel Racing Steve Mellors thanks those in the pits, and a sponsor company for saving his Hulk MX5 and enabling him to attend the Festival of Power on 15th-17th April:

Hulk MX5 Is back! After posting on Eurodragster.com earlier this month we received messages from all over the Santa Pod Raceway pits, the help and support has been absolutely outstanding. We were contacted by someone with a engine just after the announcement. We had a team talk about the job that was in front of us and said yes.

Hulk MX5 has dramatically changed. We have replaced the entire car's wiring loom, engine and gearbox, we fired up live on Tik tok on Saturday, fitting the main loom after solving some gremlins, and gaining 30 horsepower as a result of upgrades. We would like to thank every single race team racer, pit crew or racers who have messaged us and supported us. We cannot wait to return to the Pod.

A special mention to Ryan Williams of Dual Fuel Racing's pit crew for travelling by coach from Liverpool to help ensure the swap could happen in a reasonable time span. And of course a shout out to our fantastic sponsors over at Able Assist and printz4u.co.uk.

Hulk MX5 will be racing at Festival of Power 2022, see everybody there!

7707 Land Speed Racer gets gold.
16th February: Geoff Stilwell, owner/driver of the record-holding 7707 Land Speed Racecar announced two awards garnered at the recent Grand National Roadster Show, writes Tony Thacker:

“It has been a tough couple of years for land speed racing,” said Geoff, CEO and MD of Beech Underwriting Agencies, “we were only able to attend one event last year at El Mirage where we successfully made licensing passes. It was therefore great fun to get the car out and be a part of the Mick’s Paint display at this year’s Grand National Roadster Show held in Pomona, California.

“Showing is not like racing, the winner is subjective, nevertheless, we managed to get first place in the Unlimited class and received the award for Outstanding Engineering. The latter accolade is a huge testament to the crew at Mick’s who built and maintain the car including engine builder John Beck, Donny Cummins, Steve Davies, Mickey Larson, Pauly Rivera, Robin ‘Silky’ Silk, Tony Thacker and team leader Mick Jenkins.

7707 is also supported by our UK crew Nick Davies, Rob Loaring and Scott Barnes of ICE Automotive, Ron Hope’s Rat Trap Racing and CARS Recon Inc., and Mick’s Paint the builder/painter of the car.

“Our current plans are to attend the May 14-15 event at El Mirage in preparation for the August 6-12 Bonneville Speed Week.” Concluded Geoff.

Based on a highly modified 1927 Ford Roadster, 7707 is a purpose-built land speed racer that currently holds the A/Blown Fuel Rear-engine Modified Roadster record at 258.569 mph. 7707 was built entirely at Mick’s Paint, Pomona, CA, and features a 496 ci Brad Anderson-based engine built by John Beck of Vintage Hot Rod Design & Fabrication, Chico, CA. The 5,000 hp engine features Bill Miller pistons and rods, a Blower Shop 14-71 supercharger and Enderle injector with MSD ignition and Racepak data acquisition. The transmission is a B&J 2-speed and the rear end a Winters quick-change.

Swift snippets.
16th February: A very Happy Birthday to former Wild Bunch racer and supporter Pete (aka Eddie) Yates, and to longtime crewman for Gullqvist Motorsport Fredrik Westerlind. Have a great day both from us at Eurodragster.com.

Adolph “Butch" Severloh.
15th February: We were sad to learn of the death of U.S. Top Fuel crew and engineer Adolph “Butch" Severloh. Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell writes: "Not many people will know the name “Butch" Severloh but he was part of the “Over The Hill Gang” with Bill Schultz who won the Top Fuel Race at Indy in 1979. I am deeply shocked and saddened to say he suddenly passed away yesterday.

"The Over The Hill Gang Top Fuel car was based out of the S & S Engineering shop in Azuza, Los Angeles. Butch was the “THE” go to man to get things fixed or made. He helped the 7707 Landspeed Team on many occasions and I am very proud to say he was so kind to me. He had the most wicked Hot Rod powered by a Blown 428 Ford Cammer Motor. He had incredible talent and skill as a fabricator. When I first got 7707 we found a problem with the oil pan which we couldn’t just fix with buying a new one as it had been especially modified by Mike Kuhl. So Bob Muravez said we needed to see Butch. We took the pan with us and within 3 days he had completely repaired all the damage. It looked like new.


"He was a true gentleman, a friend to so many racers who I will miss greatly. God speed Butch and RIP my friend."

Butch is pictured in the 1979 U.S. Nationals winners circle with the rest of the Over The Hill Gang (rear row, with cowboy hat). The championship winning car appeared in the UK at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2008 (pictured right with driver Kelly Brown, former owner Sonny Diaz and owner Tom Curnow).

Street Week Sweden 2022 announced.
15th February: For those in Europe who wished they had attended last week's Sick Week drag and drive event, there is an opportunity to join the party in Sweden this July. Street Week Sweden organiser Mats Appelgren has announced that Street Week Sweden 2022 starts and finishes at Bråvalla Raceway, near Linköping.

"The race group that houses at Bråvalla Raceway in Norrköping are the ones who make sure that we Street Weekare feel super during the inspection day and also on Street Weeks' first competition day which is Monday, July 11th.

"The area of Bråvalla is like cut and cut for Street Week, the area is planted and without disturbing bushes and trees, wherever you stand and talk, the course is just a head turn away.

"The event will start at 7pm on Monday 11th July, up with the rooster on Tuesday, first start is 09.00 to finish later in the afternoon at 16.00.


"The car show Crazy Muscle Meet will take place at Bråvalla Raceway on 16th July at the same time as Street Week goes to the finish line, if you have a car worth exhibiting then a trip to Bråvalla is recommended. For the Crazy Muscle Meet and Street Weeks final Saturday 16/7 is in the same area. If you want to see and pay tribute to the Street Week warriors and at the same time enjoy wild vehicles, Bråvalla Raceway is a great place to be."

You can see full details of Street Week Sweden 2022 at the website (in Swedish but will translate to English in a Chrome browser). The route and class rules for 2022 are yet to be announced.

Pictured: winners of the special 2021 competitions Daniel Carlsson (Sealed Hoods) and Rasmus Eriksson (Stick Shift Challenge).

Swift snippets.
15th February: Happy Birthday for today to Supercharged Outlaw crew, wife and mother Hayley Hadfield, have a lovely day Hayley.

Pioneer stories: Gleadow family, part 7.
14th February: Today's Pioneer story is part seven, the final instalment of the Gleadow family's story and history by brothers Brian, Mick and Bob, with Adam and Martin completing the saga. This part concentrates on Adam running in Fuel Altereds with the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association from 2007 onwards.

Adam Gleadow, Bob's son, takes up the story, buying a chassis and building a blown alky altered to run in the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association. The car won awards, ran in the sevens and in 2011 was a fire burnout star which led to it being featured in media outside the sport. A number of setbacks ensued - losing a body and suffering engine damage in 2012, with more mechanical woes in 2015. A full rebuild utilising the drivetrain from the late Ollie Burns' The Mob altered took a few years until Motor Psycho IV emerged in 2020 and made its first test passes in 2021.

Part seven of the Gleadows' story is at this link. You can see our list of pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Eurodragster.com would like to thank John Hunt and Nick Pettitt for recording, transcribing, editing and providing illustrations for each of our stories, and Clive Rooms for providing further information. Thanks also to Brian, Mick, Bob, Adam and Martin for giving their time to tell their story.

The next two postings of Pioneer stories on Friday and Monday next will revisit some Ford Anglias of the 1960s.

Swift snippets.
14th February: Happy Birthday for today to Rob and Pete Brown, aka The Marras of Wild Bunch fame, and to FWD racer and sometime organiser of private test days Scott Nobby Lewry. Have a great day guys.

Sick Week results.
13th February: On Friday the first ever Sick Week drag and drive event returned to its starting point at Bradenton Motorsports Park after five days and 900 miles road driving.

Congratulations to Europeans all of whom completed the event, Stefan Gustafsson winning overall in his Corvette C4 with a final day run and new PB of 6.538/217.63 his best of the event (event average 6.677/217.52). Mikael Borggren in his Volvo 240 Estate finished three hundredths of a second off the lead in his Modified class, running a 6.949/209.36 (event average 6.918/206.11). Expat Brit Stefan Rossi ran his '66 Chevy Nova to a 10.282/135.85 (event average 9.489/139.94) and won the Sickest of the Sick award (pictured with crew Laura Pugh and Jerome Turner). Brit Paul Mander ran an official 10.576/124.00 (event average 10.847/121.49) in his Volvo 740.


Paul commented "Sick week complete, qualified at every track, ran a PB at the end of the day with a 9.90/147 after driving a total over 3000 miles towing a trailer, special thanks to Matt Arruda for selling me a great car and thanks to Al Mac for joining me and making this a memorable few weeks, we have had a blast."

There was plenty of media coverage, including Youtube channels 1320 Video, Finnegan's Garage, ShopeShow and others. US web site Dragzine ran a piece on Stefan Rossi's crash and subsequent recovery to finish the event.

Will we see more Brits at next year's event? You bet we will! Members of Andy Bond's U6ly team attended to spectate as did Serck Motorsport head and Street Eliminator racer Graham Smith, no doubt they will encourage others.

You can see all the action, presented by Motion Raceworks, on Youtube by going to organiser Tom Bailey's channel. The final results of Sick Week are at this link.

Julie tests at Wild Horse, up for championship.
13th February: Expat Norwegian Julie Nataas will be contesting the 2022 NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster championship, racing with Randy Meyer Racing for the fourth successive year, and continuing with sponsor partner Oslo Tapet & Gulvbelegg (OTG). Julie tested yesterday at NHRA Nitro Spring Training from Wild Horse Motorsports Park, Arizona which can be seen at the Competition Plus Youtube Channel.

Last week Bilsport Norway announced that Julie will join Norway's Elite Motorsport Team, covering all motorsport disciplines for 2022.

“I’m so glad I get to continue this journey with Randy Meyer Racing,” said Julie, who finished fourth in national points in 2021. “I started racing in this class with Randy Meyer Racing. I have learned, failed, and succeeded with this team so there’s no one else I’d rather win a TAD world championship with than Randy Meyer Racing.”

In 2021, Randy Meyer Racing scored its third consecutive world championship when Rachel Meyer drove the NTK Sensors A/Fuel dragster to her first world championship. The team won the 2019 and 2020 titles with Rachel’s older sister, Megan, driving the NGK Spark Plugs dragster.

This season, Julie is determined to help RMR win its fourth consecutive title. She will be RMR’s primary driver for the season, as Rachel is stepping aside to focus on her family’s bracket racing program. The team also plans to bring in a couple of new drivers to license and run a race or two to help bring new blood into the sport, though the primary focus is chasing another championship.

“I don’t think I’m more or less motivated than last year, but last year I got really confident as a driver and that changed the game for me,” Nataas said. “Going into 2022, there’s only one thing on my mind: ‘world champion.’ I have no doubt we can get it. We just gotta keep doing what we’re doing.”

Julie kicked off her 2021 season with a win at the Gainesville regional race. She added regional wins at Norwalk, Indy, and Bowling Green before finishing the year with a runner-up finish at the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona. The regional wins helped her secure her second NHRA North Central Region championship.

“We had a great 2021 season with a lot of regional event wins,” Julie said. “The one I remember the most is probably when Randy had me and Rachel race at two different racetracks the same weekend and we both won. Randy was at the track in Kansas with Rachel and I was in Indy with Randy tuning over the phone.”

Julie will race with continued support from Oslo Tapet & Gulvbelegg, a Norwegian manufacturer of floor coverings, carpet, linoleum, and wallpaper. Lucas Oil and Right Trailers have stepped up as associate sponsors on the nitro-injected dragster, which will sport a new look this season.

Julie is joined by other Europeans competing at the season-opening Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals from 17th-20th February, Ulf Leanders in Top Alcohol Funny Car and Markus Svensson in Stock Eliminator. You can see their progress through the usual channels including nhra.tv and Drag Race Central, as well as the official NHRA web site.

Swift snippets.
13th February: Happy Birthday wishes for today to Old School Stocker racer Dan Blight, and belated wishes for yesterday to Junior Bike crew mum Kerryanne Frazier, racer and team member Rob Chilton and from the Netherlands, former Top Alcohol Funny Car team owner Tom van der Wijden. Best wishes to all of you.

Thanks to Santa Pod PR Robin Jackson for letting us know that the February edition of Revolution, the Motorsport UK magazine, includes on page 30 a picture of junior dragster racer Jessica Bishop's car, and a few words from her in the accompanying article on Motorsport: The Next Generation.

Video from yesterday's Malta Drag Racing Association's test n' tune can be seen by going to the Youtube page of MDRA Secretary Konrad D'Anastasi.

Alan Currans, webmaster of the excellent Acceleration Archive site has made a HD video slideshow of his shots from Shakespeare County Raceway taken in 2007. More shots from Alan's decade of photographing Shakey events until it closed in 2017 are promised.

Santa Pod Raceway and STP announce partnership renewal.
11th February: Santa Pod Raceway, the home of European drag racing, is pleased to announce the renewal of its partnership with STP for the 2022 season. The partnership with the leading automotive care brand began in 2019.

Caroline Holden, Commercial Manager for Santa Pod Raceway, said: “We’re delighted for STP to join us for another year. While we began our present partnership in 2019, the STP brand name already had a place in Santa Pod history. Paula Murphy represented the company as Miss STP when she and Don Schumacher brought the first American Funny Cars to race here in 1973.”

Four events during Santa Pod’s 2022 national championship drag racing season will carry the STP banner:

STP Springspeed Nationals: 30 April-2 May
STP Summer Nationals: 2-3 July
STP Greenlight Nationals: 20-21 August
STP National Finals: 24-25 September

Founded in 1954, STP is a trusted international brand in the automotive care industry and has a proud and extensive heritage in motorsport. The company’s products include additives for fuel, oil and multipurpose applications and a range of fluids and treatments.
Tickets to the four STP races and all other events on Santa Pod Raceway’s calendar may be booked online at www.SantaPodTickets.com or by telephone at 01234 782828.

Pioneer stories: Tony Whitehouse - Part 2.
11th February: Our series of stories about UK drag racing and hot rod pioneers today again features hot rodder and drag racer Tony Whitehouse.

With close friend the late Mel Price, cousin Charlie Sutton and his friend 'Bruce' Turner, known as 'The Syndicate', Tony built a Pop called 'The Nail' with welding carried out by Ken Cooper. Learning as they went, the car came out first in July 1971 at Santa Pod Raceway, and ran until the end of 1972. The team then bought the rear section of Alan Blount and Dave West's Weekend Warrior, adding to this a Ford Flathead engine and parts from other racers. Continuing to use the same name, Tony bought the others out, completed the car as a rolling chassis and then sold it on. The Weekend Warrior III never saw the track in Tony's hands, but parts of it still live on in the Wild Bunch as Rob and Pete Brown's Wrathchild.

Part two of Tony's story is at this link, and part one is at this link. You can see our list of pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Eurodragster.com would like to thank John Hunt and Nick Pettitt for recording, transcribing, editing and providing illustrations for each of our stories and Clive Rooms for providing further information.

Elvington open day this weekend.
11th February: The Straightliners open day weekend takes place this weekend on 12th-13th February.

There should be sizeable interest following coverage in the local press such as the York Press, Yorkshire Evening Post and BBC Radio York. The world's fastest Postman Pat Van, Graham Sykes' steam powered rocket motorcycle ‘Force of Nature’ and the fastest woman in the world on two wheels Becci Ellis’s new bike Odyssey will be featured.

The event will also give an insight to Straightliners 40+ land speed, Guinness World Speed Records, wheelie, drag racing, sprint and drag & drift events it organises around the UK.

There will be top speed, wheelie and drag racing vehicles on display under cover along with engineering displays and top speed seminars. Visitors will have a chance to meet the vehicle riders / drivers and their support teams can get to meet world record holders for many different types of vehicles.

The event will have guided tours of the world famous ‘Runway 26’ at Elvington where most of the speed records are broken. There will also be catering, merchandise and motorsport product related stands. Admission is £5 for adults, kids and parking are free.

Straightliners open day weekend takes place this weekend at Elvington Airfield, Elvington, York YO41 4XS. Admission fee is £5 per person, kids go free and parking is free also.

Nostalgia Superstock update.
11th February: Many thanks to UK Nostalgia Superstock organiser Don Scott who has sent in an update:

"It's NSS racer Bev Tyrrell's birthday today, not only is she a racer, but also she is our very hard working membership and finance secretary, I would like to send a very warm Happy Birthday message for her as she really does do so much.


"In other news, Bob Main's orange Superbird is back up and running after extensive work by Dave Billadeau, it went on the dyno at John Sleath's yesterday with some pretty impressive results. Bob has had some pretty bad luck over the past couple of seasons but at last I see him having a good season this year beginning with Springspeed."

We wish Bev a big Happy Birthday and can't wait to see Bob's reworked Superbird back on track.

Sick Week day 4 update.
11th February: Yesterday the Sick Week drag and drive event moved to South Georgia Motorsports Park. All the Europeans we are following made runs, Stefan Gustafsson maintaining his overall lead in his Corvette C4 with a 6.687/219.26 (event average 6.723/217.48). Mikael Borggren in his Volvo 240 Estate is only six thousanths of a second off the lead in his Modified class, running a 6.853/207.98 (event average 6.907/205.03). Expat Brit Stefan Rossi ran his wounded '66 Chevy Nova to a 11.787/98.84 (event average 10.063/129.67) and Paul Mander ran 10.881/131.56 (event average 10.937/120.65) in his Volvo 740.

Stefan Rossi, who had suffered bodywork damage on day 1 at Bradenton, reported "Another easy A to B pass today at SGMP. We also welded up our broken parachute mount and had to remove the center section for some maintenance prior to the run. It was a long day followed by 150 mile cruise to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing and dinner with Al Mac and Paul Mander. 150 miles to go back to Bradenton in the morning. If all goes well, we plan to put the Radial Pro’s and parachutes back on and see what it will go without hitting the wall. Also thanks Doug Cook for the chute bag after one of ours got torn up on the wall."

From Ocala, the competitors drove back to Bradenton Motorsports Park for today's final day of activities. Good luck and stay safe to all competitors for today's race. You can see the action, presented by Motion Raceworks, live by going to the live stream link or on Youtube by going to Tom Bailey's channel. The stream will commence around 7pm GMT.

The results of yesterday's action at South Georgia Motorsport Park are at this link.

Swift snippets.
11th February: Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway Events Co-ordinator Max Frost, Super Comp crew and wife Angela Hudson, Maltese 'Terminator' Escort racer Justin Ladmu and Mustang racer Kris Thorburn. Have a great day all.

The NHRA Nitro Spring Training from Wild Horse Motorsports Park, Arizona will be live streamed today and tomorrow and can be seen at the Competition Plus Youtube Channel.

Dave Turner of the UK & European drag racing photos Facebook group says "This weekend the group is giving a chance for racers and teams to promote their sponsors and supporters to our 14.5k members, it's a great opportunity for them to give a shout out and say thanks." Could the keywords be Sponsor Saturday and Sponsor Sunday, we wonder?

NSA's new chapter.
10th February: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson, editor of the NSA periodical The Sprinter for writing to us about the National Sprint Association's new beginning:

In a not so surprising move at keeping British motorcycle sprinting alive the National Sprint Association has abolished the club’s Southern and Northern sections to make it into a countrywide association. The move was voted in at the recent AGM held at Meridan, Solihull last month.

Since the association’s formation in 1958 the club has been allowed to operate in sections organising quarter mile sprint events in the South West, Midlands as well as its traditional northern and southern areas since the very early sixties. Back then the NSA had unlimited use of some of the best British airfields to run its events. But with an all too steady decline in their usage this left the association with just a handful of venues to operate from, and sadly, many of which have been lost to housing developments or noise issues.

NSA and Straightliners will be working together to ensure that ‘grass roots’ sprinting and drag racing keeps a frim hold on its venues which are still available to them.

In the last three years Straightliners have developed what was once the old York Raceway into Britain’s second permanent drag strip since the closure in 2018 of Warwickshire’s Shakespeare County Raceway. Battling against the pandemic Melbourne Raceway has seen a tremendous progression since the laying of the eighth mile drag strip in 2020. And with a healthy fan base up in the north the track has some big events planned for 2022. Recently, foundations in the building of a new clubhouse have started, and are expected to be ready before the start of the season.

The NSA will be continuing to use Somerset’s eighth mile sprint strip at Westonzoyland Airfield as well as events at Devon’s Smeatharpe Airfield starting March 19th. Even the super smooth airstrip at Landbedr, mid Wales will echo to the sounds of real horsepower and performance rather than RAF training jets with a two day meet in May while three events have also been planned by Straightliners at the former RAF/British Army station at Dishforth Airfield, North Yorkshire in April, June and September.

The George Brown Memorial Sprint makes a welcome return to the calendar, but for the first time at Smeatharpe’s Dakota Raceway as part of a big motorsport weekend on Sunday 14th August. Saturday has been reserved for a static grass roots car and bike motorsports show. The first GBMS took place at Santa Pod Raceway in 1982 with further events held at Bradford’s Esholt Park, Bovingdon and Blyton airfields, London’s North Weald Drag Strip and Lincolnshire’s Lancaster Raceway, East Kirkby from 2016.

The NSA and Straightliners have now issued a complete championship calendar which is one of the most ambitious to date taking in events at Melbourne Raceway, Dishforth Airfield nr Thirsk, Santa Pod Raceway as well as the aforementioned 1/8th mile Sprint Strip of Westonzoyland and Smeatharpe’s Dakota Raceway. It is expected that dates will be allocated shortly to the ACU Sprint Championship as well as the NSA’s oldest and prestigious award – the Elgar Shield instigated by drag bike racer Ray Elgar. Competing with two classic Triumph’s last season 2021 overall champion was Somerset’s Japser Joy who not only rode a self-built Triumph Trident in the Classics class for the Gordon Colquhoun Trophy but has also ridden Mike Taylor’s Micky Taker Triumph drag bike which, in its time in the 80s, was quite a formidable opponent at NDRCs Long Marston Raceway.

Event details and entry forms will be available shortly from the NSA and Straightliners web sites as well as through links to NSA’s Facebook pages.

2022 NSA Sprint Championship Events:
19th March – Dakota Drag Strip, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon
2/3 April – Melbourne Raceway, Melbourne Airfield, York
9/10 April – Dishforth Raceway, Dishforth Airfield, Thirsk
23 April – Dakota Drag Strip, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon
30 April/1 May – Westonzoyland Sprint Strip, Westonzoyland, Somerset
7/8 May – Melbourne Raceway, Melbourne Airfield, York
14/15 May – Llanbedr Airstrip, Mid Wales
28/29 May – Melbourne Raceway, Melbourne Airfield York
11/12 June – Westonzoyland Sprint Strip, Somerset
18/19 June – Dishforth Raceway, Dishforth Airfield, Thirsk
25/26 June – Melbourne Raceway, Melbourne Airfield, York
9 July – Dakota Drag Strip, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon
30/31 July – Melbourne Raceway, Melbourne Airfield, York
14 August – George Brown Memorial Sprint, Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon
27/28 August – Westonzoyland Sprint Strip, Westonzoyland, Somerset
10/11 September – Dishforth Raceway, Dishforth Airfield, Thirsk
17/18 September – Westonzoyland Sprint Strip, Westonzoyland, Somerset
17/18 September – Melbourne Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon
1 October – Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon
8/9 October – Melbourne Raceway, Melbourne Airfield, York
16 October – Santa Pod Raceway, Podington, Bedfordshire

Photo of NSA champion Jasper Joy courtesy Carol Jenkinson.

Sick Week day 3 update.
10th February: After day 2 of Sick Week 2022 presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive was cancelled due to rain, the 350 registered racers drove the 140 miles from Orlando Speedworld to Gainesville Raceway, where the racers were greeted by fog at the start of day 3.

Swede Stefan Gustavsson is leading the standings after organiser Tom Bailey withdrew after day 1. Stefan spun the tyres on his first pass but late in the day ran a superb 6.836/218.55 for an average of 6.741/216.585. Mikael Borggren in his Volvo 240 Estate ran 7.014/203.49, a great time but bettered in class by Rick Prospero's 6.907/203.86. So Mikael is second in Modified by five hundredths with an average of 6.935/203.550. Everything to play for there.

Expat Brit Stefan Rossi in his Chevy Nova managed to get to Gainesville despite a brush with the wall on day one, and recorded a conservative 10.549/138.12 for an average of 9.092 141.990, which placed him ninth in the Unlimited Iron class. Paul Mander ran a 11.366/113.17 for an average of 10.966/115.195 which placed him and team mate Al McSweeney 27th in the DYO category which has a 10.00 cutoff and Paul reported no problems so far.

The results of yesterday's action at Gainesville Raceway are at this link.

The event then drove another 140 miles to South Georgia Motosports Park for today's activities, stopping in a few cases after attracting the interest of traffic cops. Good luck and stay safe to all competitors for today's race. You can see the action, presented by Motion Raceworks, live by going to the live stream link or on Youtube by going to Tom Bailey's channel. The stream will commence around 3pm GMT. Other coverage worth exploring is on Kyle Loftis's 1320 Video Facebook page.

Swift snippets.
10th February: Happy Birthday for today to Pro Stock Bike crew to husband Martin and owner of Psycle Workz Cindy Newbury, to former Shakespeare County Raceway fire crew and current Junior team owner Andrew Willcox, and to rapid FWD racer Matt Davison. Have a great day all.

We have added additional photos to the gallery of Part 6 of the Gleadow family's story, comprising nine shots by Dick Parnham of Top Methanol Dragsters Time Machines 5 and 6 and Nemesis. Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for supplying the additional photos.

Sick Week update.
9th February: Many thanks to Paul Mander for sending us an account of how the Sick Week drag and drive event is going for him and Al McSweeney:

"Our 1990 Volvo 780 Bertone coupe is fitted with a 6 litre gen 4 iron block from a 2005 Chevy Silverado. The engine has a stock bottom end, but has an ARP bolt upgrade with a performance hydraulic roller camshaft, lightened ceramic coated pistons, 317 heads and a BTR intake and fuel injection.

"It has a Turbo 400 3 speed transmission, with a transbrake, Bolt Together 9” Hughes converter, a 8.8 Ford rearend LSD and lightened half shafts.

"As we do not have an NHRA Competition licence and the car only has a chassis tag to 10.00, we cannot run quicker than that and we cannot go faster than 135mph. I ran the car Sunday out of competition in test 'n tune, and went 9.99/148 but on Monday, first day of Sick Week, we qualified with a 10.565/117.22 (shut off early) at Bradenton."


After successfully qualifying, Al and Paul drove overnight to Orlando however the second day of Sick Week had to be cancelled due to rain.

Other European competitors had mixed fortunes on Day 1. The Volvo Estate driven by Mikael Borggren ran an amazing 6.855/203.61 to go fourth overall, incredible when you consider it looks bone-stock, and the Corvette C4 of Stefan Gustavsson was second overall with 6.645/214.62. However expat Brit Stefan Rossi of ACE Racing Engines got into trouble when a radiator hose came off his turbo LS engine in his Chevy Nova, going through the finish line at 7.635/145.86. Stefan did a great job of avoiding a big incident and the damage was so superficial, he was able to continue on the drive to Orlando after repairing his engine which new ignition box.


You can see the stream of Sick Week Day 1 at Bradenton Motorsports Park by going to this Youtube link. You can also get complete Day 1 results in Excel spreadsheet format by going to this link. Event organiser Tom Bailey was quickest with 6.269/236.38 but has now withdrawn from the event with cylinder head damage.

The event moves to Gainesville Raceway today and you can follow the action on sickthemagazine.com.

Credits: Good Luck Al and Paul banner by Paul Hurley of www.hotrodanddragsterillustrator.co.uk, photo of Stefan Gustavsson by KC Photography.

NHRA Winternationals Covid testing.
9th February: Visitors to the NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals at the Pomona Fairplex from 17th-20th February are reminded that compulsory Covid Testing and review of printed copies of your NHS Covid Pass (UK visitors) are requirements for entry to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Testing facilities are available by appointment or drive-up at Pomona Fairplex Gate 17. However you may be faced with long queues or test shortages when you arrive. If you arrive a day or so early, you can obtain a test at CVS Pharmacy, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Walmart and certain independent pharmacies, either by drive-up or appointment. You can see which is closest to you by going to this link.

Tests are provided as a free service and although a US Social Security number will be requested, this is not an obligatory requirement.

Printed copies of test results and NHS Covid passes are necessary for entry to Fairplex as staff on the gate may not have qr code reader for phones and the NHS app is not accepted.

Further information is available at the NHRA website.

Thanks to Geoff Stilwell for alerting us to this issue.

Swift snippets.
9th February: Happy Birthday for today to Outlaw Anglia racer Phil Drewitt, Nostalgia Super Stock and Pro ET racer Guy King and Swiss Super Street Bike racer Sandro Haldimann. Have a great day guys. Belated birthday wishes for yesterday to Nigel Taylor of Unusual Car Sales UK as well, hope you enjoyed your special day Nigel.

Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted something completely different, as someone once said, an edition of the long forgotten 'Busman's Holiday' quiz show in which Terry Revill, Mark Newby and Steve Read display their general knowledge as well as Mark's Kopex alky Funny Car. You can catch up with them on Nick's Youtube channel.

Veli "Jappe" Malin.
7th February:. We were saddened to hear of the death on 1st February of Pro Stock Bike racer and 1993 European Champion Veli "Jappe" Malin from Finland. Simo Patoharju writes:

Jappe started drag racing with a Suzuki in Street Bike class in 1985, winning the championship in his first year. By 1987 he had moved to Pro Stock Bike, riding a Suzuki for three years, then buying a Kawasaki from the legendary Dave Schultz, running quicker than him in a couple of NHRA races at the start of 1990.

He ran at Avon Park Raceway in 1992 and 1994, and in 1993 won five out of the first seven races, securing the championship before the final event. In the late 1990s, Jappe moved on to preparing rally cars for Honda Finland, followed by 10 years in Lappland working on sleds, then moving back to the south of Finland where he undertook engineering projects and attended the occasional race, giving advice to racers.

Our deepest condolences go to Jappe's family and friends. We have posted a full tribute written by Juge Aalto, Busse Lahtinen, Jarmo Markkanen (who supplied photos) and Simo Patoharju which you can see by clicking here or via our Features, Interviews and Tributes section. If you would like to add your personal tribute, please send it to [email protected].

Pioneer stories: Gleadow family, part 6.
7th February: Today's Pioneer story is part six of the Gleadow family's story and history by brothers Brian, Mick and Bob. This part concentrates on running in Top Methanol Dragster, then the story is taken up by Adam Gleadow who started in Junior Dragsters in 2000 and had graduated to Super Pro ET by 2007.

In 1997 Eurodragster.com sponsor Fay Fischer joined the team as driver of the Top Methanol Dragster, staying for two years with a new car in 1998. Dave Wilson took over the driving seat and the team ran the FIA tour in 1999. At the end of the year, Bob stepped down from the TMD team, at which point son Adam was wanting to start racing in Junior Dragster...

The Gleadow family's story will be told in seven parts bringing it to the present day.

Part six of the Gleadow's story is at this link. You can see our list of pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Eurodragster.com would like to thank John Hunt and Nick Pettitt for recording, transcribing, editing and providing illustrations for each of our stories, and Clive Rooms for providing further information.

What are you doing here?
7th February: Many thanks to photojournalist Andy Willsheer for sending us details of a close encounter:

A social media shoutout brought a goodly turnout of petrolheads to Dowsetts Classic Cars in Colliers End, Herts., where the company was introducing an innovative road-legal single seater. What made the Saturday affair particularly interesting for this scribe was bumping into one of the guests, a certain Ian King, British Drag Racing Hall of Fame inductee and arguably best known on the straight-line scene for many years through his multi-time FIM European Top Fuel Bike Championship titles and as co-owner of Puma Engineering.

He’s currently employed by Peterborough-based Radical Sportscars, an entity that this year celebrates its silver jubilee producing a line of world-beating racing cars that are sold worldwide. And in case you’re wondering who the chaps are with him in the accompanying image, they are Ant Anstead, in the centre of the pic - a long-time friend of Ian’s and, incidentally, someone who has accompanied him to Santa Pod before his global TV career took off - and Mike Brewer (right), both of whom have gained particular renown through presenting small-screen motoring television programmes such as Wheeler Dealers both here and in the USA.

Swift snippets.
7th February: We'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday for today to Nostalgia Funny Car owner Rob Elsom, to Top Fuel Bike racer Thomas Pettersson and Pro Modified crew member and wife Belinda Nicholson, have a great day all.

The new Straightliners Events web site is live at straightliners.events at which you can buy membership, donate to either Melbourne Raceway or the timing equipment fund, enter events, sign on, and download rules, regulations and guidelines. The current Melbourne Raceway appeal total for extending the braking area and tarmacking the pits is £20,100 towards the total of £45,000 and all donations are welcome.

ET Bike racer Jayne Kay has updated her blog with photos taken at the FittedUK 2021 exhibition at Manchester Central which you can see at jaynekay.com.

Outlaw Street celebrates 2021, plans 2022.
6th February: Outlaw Street enters its 13th year and 2022 memberships are now open for new members wanting to join the nine round series which starts at Santa Pod Raceway on 26-27 March. To enter you can contact organiser Mark Wallington via the Outlaw Street Facebook page.

There are 70 members returning for the 2022 series, with 25 new member available as the serieslimits its members to 100. Howie Wright returns with his Ranchero after taking a couple of years out, Nathan Stevens returns with his Sierra, and Kai Gbebikan is making his debut with his late dad's iconic Zephyr.

Long time member George Ralph is retiring, his familiar Triumph GT6 having been sold a few days ago. George had owned the car for 31 years many of which included runs down Britain's dragstrips, instead he will be racing his 1973 Corvette & co-driving with his daughter Tracey.

Exciting new cars include a '39 Ford Coupe of Matthew S which runs a 496 blown motor, and a Austin A40 of David Reid which has a 572 BBC.


The 2021 Prize Night took place on 13th November, the top positions being kept under wraps until that evening. The top three received custom 'OS Markie' trophies:

1st place trophy – Brian Nixon (Ford Anglia 105e)
2nd place trophy - Sally Woolner ('68 Camaro)
3rd place trophy – Dave Mahoney ('68 Camaro)


A 2022 Calendar featuring the top 12 placed cars of 2021 was given to the top 12 winners including 4th Owen Forrest (Chevy Nova), 5th Pete Lane (Plymouth Barracuda), 6th Michelle Wallington (VW Beetle), 7th Nina Coombes (Lexus) 8th Simon Paul (Nissan GT-R R35). Other special trophies were:

Fastest ET V8's 2021 trophy Sally Woolner ('68 Camaro)
Fastest ET 4/6 Cylinders 2021 trophy – Simon Paul (Nissan GT-R R35)
Fastest RT 2021 trophy – Pete Lane (Plymouth Barracuda)
Reaction Time Winners Per Round Tankards & prize money
Steve Cervini 'Spirit of the Outlaw' Award - Dez Brown (MG Magnette)
Hard Luck Award 2021 – Dave Mahoney ('68 Camaro)

There were also 10 year member presentations, a petrolhead quiz of the year with prizes and prize draws for those who held a 2021 OS Race Number.


This year's Outlaw Street series consists of the following rounds:

26th-27th March, Santa Pod Raceway (RWYB and French Fest)
23rd-24th April, Santa Pod Raceway (Best of British and RWYB)
7th-8th May, Melbourne Raceway (Powerfest)
3rd-5th June, Santa Pod Raceway (NSRA Nostalgia Nationals)
29th-31st July Santa Pod Raceway (Mopar Euro Nationals)
2nd -4th September Santa Pod Raceway (VW Action)
16th-18th September Santa Pod Raceway (Hot Rod Drags)
8th-9th October Melbourne Raceway (Grand Finale and Firework Spectacular)
22nd-23rd October , Santa Pod Raceway (Saturday Night Special and RWYB)

Thanks to Mark Wallington for providing information and photos.

Sick Week: how to watch, who to follow.
6th February: As mentioned in our news update on 19th January, UK racers Paul Mander and Al McSweeney will be heading over to the US to compete in the Sick Week 'drag-and-drive' event which starts tomorrow. Organised by Tom Bailey of Drag Week fame, the 350 entries start at Bradenton Motorsports Park on 7th February after today's registration day, then move to Orlando Speedworld, Gainesville Raceway, South Georgia Motorsports Park and then back to Bradenton on 11th February. You will be able to see live streaming of the event on Youtube or via the Sick Week website. Also to get latest updates go to the Sick the Magazine Facebook page or join the Sick The Mag FB group.

As well as Paul and Al Mc, there will be other Europeans involved. Expat Brit Stefan Rossi who runs ACE Racing Engines in Torrance, California grew up in the world of VW's which his dad was into, and after a spell in the army and in Canada, founded Aircooled Engineering in the West Midlands. In 2019, he and his partner Laura took the big step of relocating ACE Racing Engines from the UK to the USA. Stefan is now a LS specialist, entering a ‘66 Chevy Nova with 3000hp LS Next2 twin turbo engine. Also entered are Swedes Mikael Borggren from Kalmar who has a sleeper Volvo 240 estate, veteran of three Hot Rod Drag Weeks, and Stefan Gustafsson with a Corvette C4 which solves the problem of trunk space with a roof box as well as the obligatory trailer. Both are capable of six second passes.


Not shy of promotion, Tom Bailey claims that Sick Week will have "the most six-second proven and six-second capable cars ever assembled for a drag-and-drive event (and yes, even a five-second one)." We will report back on what we hear...

Swift snippets.
6th February: UK Nostalgia Superstock organiser Don Scott asked us to share Happy Birthday wishes with NSS racer Claire Johnson, have a great day Claire. Also celebrating today are Wild Bunch racer Wayne Colliver, former Junior Dragster race Skye Collier, and long time drag bike racers Turbo Tim Boutle and Pete Le Gros, Happy Birthday wishes to all of you, and belated Birthday wishes to Super Gas racer Andy Dibley who celebrated yesterday.

Pioneer stories: Tony Whitehouse - Part 1.
4th February: Our series of stories about UK drag racing and hot rod pioneers today features hot rodder and drag racer Tony Whitehouse.

Tony Whitehouse started working as a truck driver, later getting into American cars and working on automatic transmissions for a company that was eventually known as Mr Shifter and later ATP. He was with the company for 33 years, during which he got involved with hot rods and drag racing, first joining the BHRA in 1965. As Staffordshire area BHRA rep, Tony got to know a lot of local hot rodders and racers. By 1970 Tony had got his first road going hot rod, a Ford Pilot and with help from longtime friend Ken Cooper he fitted the Allard-Ford drivetrain from his donor car the ex-hill climb 'Clanger Special'. Drag racing was still a twinkle in his eye...

Part one of Tony's story is at this link. You can see our list of pioneer stories at this link or by clicking on the link in the main menu.

Eurodragster.com would like to thank John Hunt and Nick Pettitt for recording, transcribing, editing and providing illustrations for each of our stories and Clive Rooms for providing further information.

International Drag Racing Hall of Fame to be streamed.
4th February: British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and International Drag Racing Hall of Fame board member "Big Daddy" Don Garlits has announced that this year's IDRHoF induction ceremony will, for the first time, be streamed live on the IDRHoF ​Facebook page, and on NHRA's streaming service nhra.tv on 10th March at 22:30 GMT. This year's ceremony marks the induction of BDRHoF founder Stu Bradbury into the IDRHoF.

In a preview of the event on Joe Castello's WFO Radio podcast, Don said on Wednesday: "Stu contributed so much to drag racing in England and internationally, he was a wonderful guy, I'm so glad the selectors picked him this year, unfortunately he passed away in July 2020 and his wife Bev and daughter Genna will be coming over and accepting his award." Joe said that as well as founding the BDRHoF Stu was chief starter at Santa Pod Raceway from 1968 to the late 80s, and that there will be an (alleged) proclamation read from the British Government. Stu and Don are two of the five people who are members of both the BDRHoF and IDRHoF.

To see the whole of Don's assessment of all the 2022 IDRHoF inductees go to the WFO Youtube Channel or hear it via your podcast app (Castbox is your editor's preferred app).

2022 White Book published.
3rd February: The Motorsport UK and ACU “White Book” has been published on the Santa Pod Racers Club website at this link (PDF download) and contains the car and bike rules for drag racing competition in the UK.

As usual, changes from 2021 rules are highlighted in red.

Supercharged Outlaws AGM.
3rd February: Many thanks to Mark Windridge who has announced details of the Supercharged Outlaws UK AGM:

"The Supercharged Outlaws UK are having their AGM meeting on the 26th Feb at the Kettering Park Hotel, Kettering Parkway, Kettering NN15 6XT at 2pm in the Rutland Suite. Any interested parties please feel free to come along and speak to us to find out more about the Outlaws, which have been established as an organisation for 15 years.


"We also would like to thank Good Vibrations Motorsport for continuing their sponsorship for the Outlaws again. They are a family run business, great to deal with and very helpful with fast delivery times."

Swift snippets.
3rd February: A very Happy Birthday to 9.50 Bike racer Stacey Reed, Super Pro ET racer Daniel Giles, 9.50 Bike racer, also Super Street Bike crew Dave Bowe and Dual Fuel Sportsman ET racer Steve Mellors. Have a great day to all of you.

The Malta Drag Racing Association have announced that their first practice session of 2022 will be on 12th February at Hal Far Raceway. You can see MDRA 2022 calendar by clicking here.

A new tune for Perkins.
2nd February: It is not often that we get to hear about the extra-curricular activities of racers - we all just assume that they spend all of their time away from the track in the workshop - but even so, we can't say that we would ever have expected to receive a CD of music featuring the vocal stylings of UK Comp Eliminator racer Kev Perkins. Kev tells us that his CD, named Heart and Soul, is now available to order.

"I was a choirboy when I was about eight", Kev said of his first experience of singing in public. "As a choirboy you got eleven bob a month and that paid for your fags and everything! I also did Gang Shows with the cub scouts at Islington Town Hall. Later when I was at the Engineering Industry Training Centre a couple of guys were in a band and I did bits and bobs with them. If the likes of Rob Loaring, Charlie Draper and Pete Wallis had cottoned on to my singing at the time they'd have ripped me a new one!"

Singing then took a back seat for Kev until about twelve years ago. "I would go to a local pub and sit in a corner drowning my sorrows. There was karaoke and I kept getting asked if I was going to get up and sing or not, and after the fourth time I decided that I would."

Finally getting up and singing was the start of a friendship with singer and karaoke host Kat Hall. "Kat was singing and I thought what a lovely person", said Kev. "Over four or five years I started going to all of her gigs around Essex and London and helped out as a roadie. It was Kat who gave me the courage to stand up and sing in front of people without being drunk first.

"Kat encouraged me and we get a good sound from her gear. Some of the pubs want you to do a half hour set before the karaoke starts so I join in with Kat. A couple of racing colleagues have come along to the odd gig and been surprised at what they heard. It's a good confidence builder... maybe they're just being nice but the more people say it's good the more confidence I get."

The logical next step was a trip to a recording studio. "I always liked the idea of going into a studio and wailing like a cat, and Kat helped with that", said Kev. "We were in the studio for a day. If you notice me struggling to hold a note that's because I've got COPD which doesn't help... that probably started from smoking fags at the age of eight!

"Having done a CD we thought why not sell them to raise funds for the race car, and if people want to come around to my pit and take the piss or tell me what they think then they're welcome!"

Heart and Soul contains fourteen tracks including standards such as Stand By Me, The Great Pretender, Sealed With A Kiss and Never Can Tell. The cover features a picture of Kev's Oldsmobile race car taken by Callum Pudge. "On the CD Cry To Me is the song all the girls want", said Kev. "It's from Dirty Dancing; I've quite often sung that and ended up with gyrating girls in a train behind me and that wasn't because of my looks!". For live dates and more information join the Tomkats Roadshow Facebook group.

Heart and Soul is available directly from Kev for £10 plus £1.60 shipping. You can PayPal Kev or E-Mail queries to [email protected]. Remember folks, each CD sold means that Kev spends more time at the track.

Thanks to former editor Tog for his time interviewing Kev.

Swift snippets.
2nd February: Happy Birthday for today to Supercharged Outlaws racer Jake Clayton, Super Street Bike racer Dave Thomas and US Funny Car legend Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch. Have a great day guys.

Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted more historic footage to his Youtube channel. Nick's latest posting is 1985's The Big Yank doorslammer event held at Long Marston Raceway which you can see at this link. You can see a complete list of Nick's drag racing history video uploads at his British Drag Racing & Hot Rodding Archive.

2022 Riders and Drivers meeting.
1st February: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending the arrangements for the annual Riders and Drivers meeting:

The 2022 Riders and Drivers meeting will take place on 20th February at the Hilton Hotel Northampton. The hotel can be found just off junction 15 of the M1 on the east bound carriageway, the address details are: 100 Watering Lane, Collingtree, Northampton, England, NN4 0XW

The meeting will take place at 1pm; refreshments will be available upon arrival, could anyone wishing to have an item added to the agenda please email the details to [email protected] by 14th February. Usual restrictions apply, if you want the item emailed to us to be discussed, then you must also attend the meeting in order to discuss the matter fully.

The Riders and Drivers meeting will be followed by the SPRC AGM; Members are welcome to attend should thewy wish to do so.

RAD Design Lines - 'Mr Six' colouring competition.
1st February: Many thanks to Darren West of Power Race Graphics who has announced another colouring competition, based on a historic Funny Car built and raced by the legendary Dennis Priddle. Darren writes:

To help kill some of the winter blues, it’s competition time again at RAD Design Lines! We have teamed up with longtime drag racing photographer and author Keith Lee, and offer the exclusive chance to win a copy of Keith’s fabulous book - ‘Mr Six’ - The Story of British Drag Racing Legend Dennis Priddle!

One of the pages of our new RAD Design Lines colouring book - ‘Funny Cars’ features the 1975 Chrysler/Hillman Avenger body style Dennis made popular. As a nod to this legendary racer we included it in the colouring book. All you have to do for a chance to win the ‘Mr Six’ book is design and colour-up that Avenger page - if you haven’t already. Then just take a phone snap and post it on either the RAD Design Lines facebook or instagram page. Borrow a mate’s book if you haven’t got one, or grab a copy of the book from the RAD Design Lines web site at £7.99, where you’ll find 16 more pages of fantastic funny cars from all eras to design the graphics and create the colour schemes for.


We have a very special judge joining Keith to look through the entries - ace painter Jeff Glasser, who designed and painted the Avenger, among other funny cars and dragsters campaigned by Dennis Priddle! So unleash that creative flair, and get those entries over to us at RAD Design Lines. Post them up on our socials - or you can message or email them to us.

Final date for entries is February 28 - and we will announce the lucky winner in early March. Please note - the competition is only open for UK entries.

Entries and any queries can be sent to Darren at [email protected], RAD Design Lines on Facebook and rad.designlines on Instagram.

Look out for Keith Lee's new drag racing book launching in 2022 - 'John Hobbs and the age of the twins'! Another brilliant title to look forward to from this drag racing author!

ETSlips.co.uk feedback sought.
1st February: Many thanks to Santa Pod Raceway timekeeper Adam Bentley who has put out a request for feedback on the excellent ETSlips.co.uk website which supplies racers and others with detailed timeslips.

"A new website design for ETSlips is in the works and we're looking to make it even better than before. So we're asking for any and all feedback on the current ETSlips site. Feedback can be given using this link. Responses will be anonymous. Feel free to fill in the form or drop it in an email back to me at [email protected]. Thanks in advance."

Santa Pod lifestyle events racer tickets on sale.
1st February: Racer tickets for 2022 lifestyle events at Santa Pod Raceway have gone on sale at racers.santapodtickets.com giving us the first opportunity to see the classes that will be competing at those events.

Compact Shootouts will be running at four events where FWD cars can enter alongside compact 4WD and RWD cars; RWD and 4WD cars will have a 0.8 second handicap on the tree against FWD cars. The four events featuring Shootouts are Fast Show (2nd-3rd April), Fast Show Reloaded (25th-26th June), Ultimate Street Car (5th-7th August) and JapShow Finale (9th October). The entry fee for the USC Shootout is £200 and £100 for the other events, each including 2 weekend tickets (driver plus one other). Shootout rules are on each entry page and prizes will be announced later Prize money is £750 winner, £250 runner up if the minimum of 8 cars qualify, plus trophies. This increases at Ultimate Street Car to £1500 winner, £500 runner up, again with a minimum of 8 cars qualifying.

All entries must be proven to have run quicker than 12 seconds to be eligible for the shootouts and all entries are on a first come, first served basis with entries limited to 20 cars qualifying for a 16 car elimination ladder. Entries are now open at Santa Pod racers' ticket shop.

Doorslammers will have the same classes as before, Pro Doorslammer, Pro Street, True Street, FWD, 4 Cylinder, 6 Cylinder, with a Big Bracket run on each of Saturday and Sunday.

The nostalgia and other lifestyle races will again include a range of classes plus Run What Ya Brung when any vehicle falling within the period for entry will be allowed:

NSRA Nostalgia Nationals (3rd-5th June): Gasser Circus, Nostalgia Superstock, Outlaw Anglia and Supercharged Outlaws
Retro Show (18th-19th June): Gasser Circus, Supercharged Outlaws, Old School Stockers
Dragstalgia (8th-10th July): Gasser Circus, Supercharged Outlaws, Wild Bunch, Old School Stockers, Nostalgia Superstock, Outlaw Anglia, NSA Bikes, Willys Wars, Friday only RWYB
Mopar Euronationals (29th-31st July): Nostalgia Superstock, Gasser Circus, Supercharged Outlaws
VW Action: (2nd-4th September): Supercharged Outlaws
NSRA Hot Rod Drags (16th-18th September): Outlaw Anglia, Supercharged Outlaws, Gasser Circus, Wild Bunch
To enter, racers must be affiliated with the race class of their choice, and must submit your entry number issued by the class. Entries to classes without being affiliated to them will be refused.

Full details and entry details are available at racers.santapodtickets.com.

Spitfire Raceway results.
1st February: Many thanks to sponsor Lee Child for sending results of the RWYB at Spitfire Raceway last Saturday, which you can download from this link (page 1) and this link (page 2) (both pages PDF format). Congratulations to Nathan Lang in his Nissan GTR who was quickest on the damp surface at 11.175/132.23. 85 racers were registered for the event, a great outcome for a January event.

You can see video footage of the event posted by Kieran at his Mk1Kieran Youtube channel. and Kieran's gallery at this link or via our event Coverage link on the main menu.

The next event at Spitfire Raceway, Perranporth Airfield, Cornwall is on Saturday 9th April.

Swift snippets.
1st February: Happy Birthday to Super Pro ET racer Martyn 'Syd' Jones, photographer and UK Drag Racing News and Nostalgia webmaster Jon Spoard and Straightliners administrator Helen Greathead. Have a great day all.


Earlier news