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	Thomas 'Faxe' Herbert. 30th June: Frans M Steilberg writes with great regret to inform the European drag racing community of the death of Thomas 'Faxe' Herbert, a great friend, Club member and supporter of German drag racing. Faxe was a founding member of the MSTO Dragracing Club and a crew member of Jerry Lackey's Patriot Jet Dragster Team. Faxe was hospitalise after he suffered some heart problems during our annual Test and Tune in Luckau. But on Friday 27th June Faxe decided to leave us and watch us all from a different level. The forthcoming 20th Grand Nationals at Jerry Lackey Raceway will be held in memory of a true friend of the sport. If you would like to send a message of condolence then please write to [email protected] and they will be passed on to his family and friends. We would like to send our deepest sympathies to Faxe's family and friends. *Swift snippets.* 30th June: Track announcer Barry Bohannon led a tribute to late US Fuel FC racer Scott Kalitta on the start line at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway yesterday. Racers, hot rodders, race officials and track crew attended the tribute which included a minute's silence. Picture courtesy and ©Dominic Romney Finland's returning Top Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen will be renewing his licence at Alastaro in the middle of this week. Risto is not entered for the FHRA Nitro Nationals but will be contesting the Veidec Festival in the Rune Fjeld Motorsport dragster last driven by Linda Thun Tønseth. ©Eurodragster.com Ricky Collett won the British Truck Racing Association Sprint Cup at this weekend's UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway with a 14.551/97.49. Final round opponent Andy Lovenberry broke off the line but had the consolation of blowing away the track record with a 104.28 mph run during qualifying. You can check out Kirstie's and Peter's UK Truck Show pictures, which are presented in association with American Car Imports, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragser.com page. The post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the 2008 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com together with updated ACU class records. *Hills releases book.* 30th June: UK Fuel Funny Car team Nobby Hills Racing are excited to announce a book recounting Nobby's drag racing career. Entitled Nobby's Quarter Mile, the book relates Nobby's life story and the history of drag racing in his own words. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but never a drag. The book has been nearly a year in the making and contains not only never-before-seen pictures from bygone days but also anecdotes and interviews with the people with whom Nobby has come into contact. The introduction is written by Dave Lee Travis who many will remember was not only a well-known Radio 1 DJ but also drove a variety of dragsters, including a Top Fuel car. He is also a lifelong friend of Nobby's. ©Eurodragster.com Other contributors include Owen Hayward, who has written about his first run in the Duster, Mike Hutcherson who has written about his times with the team, and team member and driver Alan Bates. Paula Murphy has told about her first time at Santa Pod, and Roy Phelps has talked about his and father Bob's times with Nobby. Order details can be found on the team's web site at www.nhracing.com. A review of the book will appear here on Eurodragster.com in the near future. *Swift snippets.* 28th June: Pro Stock racers have been invited by Norsk Dragracing Gardermoen to run at the Sunoco Drag Challenge on 1st-3rd August. Adam Flamholc tells us that the racers are talking to a number of companies to support the Pro Stock exhibition and that the first company to come on board is Löven's Speed Shop in Nyköping. ©Eurodragster.com Tim Anderson has been in touch to let us know that both MSD and Racepak will be providing on-site support at the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park on 24th-27th July. Both companies attended the FIA Main Event and their presence was much appreciated by racers. Stay tuned as we will have more details about this in the next week or so. Author Brian Taylor, who is writing a history of UK drag racing, has been in touch to ask if any Eurodragster.com reader can help with information about the sport in the UK between 1996, when European Dragster ceased publication, and 1998, when Eurodragster.com was launched. If you can help then please drop Brian a line at [email protected]. Tom and PT Nee, Jon, Lee, Charly, Hezza, Anth, Ben and Steve of the UK's Hi Speed Gas Drag Racing Super Pro ET team would like to wish Team Manager Babs Saunders a very Happy Birthday. "It wouldn't happen if it wasn't for you!", says Steve Saunders. "Hope you like your pressie". You have a great day Babs. *Woollatt's latest race.* 27th June: ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt and the Dealer team have a major thrash on their hands if they are to make a promotional appearance next weekend. The engine of Steve's 6.3-second bike ended up "Cut in half" after a qualifying pass at the SPRC Summernationals, but Steve would dearly like to keep an appointment at Motorcycle World at Beaulieu next week where he is due to pull a couple of burnouts. "Luckily the top end crew were there with the fire extinguishers because I didn't need fire damage on top of everything else!", Steve told Eurodragster.com. "I went to them because it was better than stopping on the track and making them come to me. They did a good job. ©Eurodragster.com "It's going to be a thrash - the damage was colossal. When we looked at the motor the only thing holding it together was a spigot. The motor plate was bent like a banana. Rebore Rod Ambler is fixing the block, which has a dent where a a rod hit. Pretech are making me a new motor plate and that is meant to be ready on Monday. The oil pump digested a con rod and that is with Pace, they have also promised Monday. The head was OK apart from bent valves and Iain Malcolm is helping with the head. The whole crew is on standby to beaver away every night next week." Steve attended Motorcycle World last year at the invitation or organiser but the live displays were, in his words, "Monsooned out" although it turned out nice for the team as Steve's bike was instead put on display in the museum next to Mike Hailwood's Honda. Steve told us that he is determined to be there again this year. "It would be nice to run this event", he said. "It will be a good chance to promote the sport and to promote our sponsors." Stay tuned as Steve has promised to let us know how he gets on during next week. *Entry updates.* 27th June: We are indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th July. Today is the official closing date for Bug Jam entry; entry after today, if accepted, will be subject to a 100% penalty fee. You can check out the official Bug Jam entry list by clicking here, and if you are very quick you can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or by E-Mail at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks to Mona at the Finnish Hot Rod Association sending us the final version of the official entry list for the FHRA Nitro Nationals, which takes place at Alastaro next weekend. You can check out the FHRA Nitro Nationals entry list by clicking here (PDF format). We understand that next week's coverage schedule is end-day results for car classes and live updates for bike classes. Thanks also to L-O Jonsson for letting us know that Version 2 of the official entry list for the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Sweden's Mantorp Park on 24th-27th July, is now available on the event's official web site at www.veidecfestival.com. *Swift snippets.* 27th June: UK photo-journalist and graphic designer Mark Gredzinski has kindly given us a sneak at his latest work, a painting of Russell Long at the helm of the Sundance Monza Funny Car. "Dennis Fowler was the owner of the car and plenty of reference was used to determine the correct sponsor logos", says Mark. "The car was significant since it was the first new build car ever to use the Monza shell. It was running 6.30s at 230 mph back in 1975 using an early ally KB hemi. The painting as always, took much longer than expected and is 20" x 16" rendered in acrylic on canvas. The next one is almost completed and is a sixties Fuel Altered - not Willie Borsch; that one will be finished later. I have some English subjects lined up, but not before I get some Jungle Jim out of my system!" When Tireshake is a good thing! 26th June: We are very pleased to welcome Tireshake.com as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com News. Tireshake.com produce drag racing apparel for the dedicated drag racing fan including T-Shirts, sweatshirts, hoods and caps featuring some unique and outrageous designs, all available through their Swedish-based web shop. ©Eurodragster.com "Tireshake.com is growing and is for everyone in Europe who loves drag racing", says Benny Edvardsson. "The shop started in 2007 with all kinds of T-Shirts, hoods, headwear and we have been updating our products time after time into 2008 with more to come including multi-colour T-Shirts and hoods and more race car and motorcycle T-Shirts. We currently have over fifty products and the long-term objective is to go over one hundred. "New for 2008 is a credit card payment option in the shop which accepts Visa, MasterCard and Diner's Club. Best of all, regardless of the size of your order you pay a maximum shipping charge €5 within Sweden or €9 to all other countries in Europe." Here at Eurodragster.com we are big fans of drag racing T-Shirts and other apparel and so we are very pleased to be associated with Tireshake.com who produce clothing and headwear capturing the volume and spectacle of the sport to a tee (deliberate pun - Ed). We would like to thank Benny Edvardsson for his support and we are sure that everyone will want to check out and get their hands on his unique designs. To get attired, check out www.tireshake.com or click on the logo at left. *Entry updates.* 26th June: Annemieke Hartmans has been in touch to remind racers that if you wish to appear in the event programme and if you wish to receive your paperwork in time, then today (Thursday) is the last day to enter the Drachten Internationals, which takes place at The Netherlands' Drachten Airfield on 11th-13th July. You can enter the event on-line at www.explosiondragracing.com/?page_id=13. ©Eurodragster.com We are indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th July. The official closing date for Bug Jam entry is tomorrow (Friday) after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a 100% penalty fee. You can check out the official Bug Jam entry list by clicking here, and you can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or by E-Mail at [email protected]. Version 1 of the official entry list for the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Sweden's Mantorp Park on 24th-27th July, is now available on the event's official web site at www.veidecfestival.com. Amongst a number of notables and surprises in the as-ever huge Festival entry is Finland's Risto Poutiainen making a return to Top Fuel Dragster and the first competitive outing for Eurodragster.com and Exhaust-coating.de Pro Mod Challenge sponsor Marco Maurischat's new Pro Mod. *Drachten rocks! I and II.* 26th June: Belgian Top Methanol Funny Car racer Danny Bellio attended the weekend's opening event at the new strip at Drachten in The Netherlands and was very impressed both with what he found at the facility and his FC's performance. "We were really surprised with the excellent changes that have been made to the track, which now looks like some real fast times will be possible in the future, and a beautiful location for the drivers as well", says Danny. "There were grandstands for the public and the organising eXplosion team was very professional. "Because weather issues prevented us from testing the new engine on a prepared track so far this season, we were glad to get the Funny Car out for a few test runs on at Drachten. We really want to be ready for the second round of the FIA Championship in Finland next week. On the first run on the new track we had way too much wheelspin, and 5.7 on the eighth mile. After clutch adjustment by Sandro a 4.5 came up on the clock. Further adjustments got us down to a 4.23 on Sunday morning, and on the Sunday afternoon run, with lots of headwind, we ran 4.29 which is consistent with the 4.23. "Our mission was to let everybody see how good the track already is, and we showed that the track didn't just look good. The track of course needs to mature, but we are confident that we will be able to make a sub four-second run at this lovely strip in the near future. We are sure that a lot of international teams will find their way to Drachten in the future, and of course we will be happy to attend future events as well. Thanks for all the cheering and support, see you all back at Drachten!" ©Eurodragster.com Our good friend Markus Münch also liked what he saw at Drachten. "Good and friendly organisers who put the hell into it to bring Drachten back on the race calender, my deepest respect to this effort", says Markus. "My personal highlight was the running of the first round of the German Super Pro ET Challenge as an alternate date to the cancelled race at Wittstock the week before. "Everything was new. Due to a lack of good parts and other commitments only three drivers showed up, and another one from The Netherlands joined in but broke after Friday's qualifying. Ingo Ekert took the win in his beautiful Challenger against Kalle Kleider in his blown Corvette Stingray whose finger slipped off transbrake button and he redlit. Congratulations to the other German winners. In Super Gas it was "Hotrodove" Kröger with his beautiful Ford Hot Rod Roadster, Comp Eliminator was won by young Patrizia Kästner with 7.4-second runs up to the 300 Kmh barrier (which she will break!). Andreas Bona was runner-up in Super Street. Ulrike Golde again ran into the 9.3s in the Destroyer class, but lost because she redlit in the semis." You can check out Markus' pictures from Drachten at dragstripper.smugmug.com/gallery/5241246_JivN3#318595775_VXn5s. *Awaiting the challengers.* 26th June: With the big guys heading for Alastaro to try to beat him next week, Finnish Funny Bike racer Asko Määttä took the chance to test at the FHRA Summernationals. "I made three runs on the Saturday", says Baldie. "It all went well because I got some gremlins out of the combination of my Baldie's Gun III Suzuki. On the last run I left the line with the boost over 1.0 bar for the first time in my bike career - I ran 3.5 bar with the Top Methanol FC back in my childhood. ©Eurodragster.com "I won't have my whole team with me all the time at Alastaro next weekend, because my son, Crew Chief and clutch man Mika won't be there. Mika has two little children, so he has some homework to do. But hopefully Lenni, his son of almost eighteen months, and five-month-old daughter Maija will give him a break and Mika could be there on Saturday. Anyway this grandpa hopes and believes that Lenni grows up well because I've already promised to buy him a Top Fuel Bike. And little sister Maija will be there too, maybe on the clutch. "Thanks to all everyone who makes this possible: Pro Turbo Systems, Kuvan Moottoripalvelu, Moto Speed, Hanx Systems, MC-Kaksikko, Autokoulu Moottori, Jyväskylän Moottoriklubi, XL Energy Drinks Finland, and Baldie Racing & Media Relations." Picture courtesy and ©Mika Frilander *Trucking with the Outlaws.* 26th June: The Supercharged Outlaws make their Santa Pod début at this weekend's UK Truck Show for the second round of their 2008 Championship, writes Dave McKenzie: This round is kindly sponsored by LA Commercials of Kidderminster who are kindly donating the winner's trophy and a cheque for £100; a runner up trophy; the Best ET trophy and a most prestigious award - The Tog Award for Team of the Weekend, so there is a lot up for grabs. The first round was run at Shakespeare County Raceway four weeks ago and new boy on the block Richard Davies came away with the main trophy and a cheque for £100. Richard drives a gorgeous '41 Willys running on pump gas and with consistency managed to overcome all the big bad blown cars to lead the series after Round 1. Richard will be appearing at Santa Pod to try and stretch his lead in the series. Another pump gas car in the series is Paul Watts with the No Easy Pick Up. Paul suffered an ingestion of a bolt through the supercharger at SCR. The truck had been in storage for nearly ten years and the gremlins are now showing up as a rewire was needed on the truck as well as repairs to the heads and supercharger. Paul has made all the repairs and will be out at Santa Pod. We have a third Doorslammer at Santa Pod with the entry of Ian Hanson and his Corvette. I understand Ian sourced some new cylinder heads and will be able to be out for Round 2. The Number One from last season Lee Gallimore in the Red Mist altered will be chasing hard and he will not want to relinquish his number one plate easily. Lee ran the quickest pass of the weekend at SCR with a 7.8 second run and he is confident that he will run some PBs at Santa Pod with his new rear axle set up. On the altered front with Lee will be Brian Gandy with the Skullduggery car. Again the fine attention to detail on this car is a credit to Brian. Brian also had woes at SCR damaging valves during the warm-up and never turned a wheel in Round 1, but Brian is confident that it will come together at the Truck Show after some checkout passes at the SCR Test and Tune on 15th June. Tony Smith is another driver who has had to do a lot of work between rounds after experiencing the dreaded wheel wobble on his car. Crewman Chris Round has modified the steering for this meeting and hopefully Tony will be able to get down the quarter to the car's potential. The fourth altered is by no means the least, Steve Goode with the Wobble Plymouth altered. Steve's car sports a massive hemi engine, a 14/1 blower, twin mags and a Lenco transmission. This set up would drop straight into a Top Methanol car with an estimated 2000+ horsepower. Steve has already done some shakedown passes and one resulted in the car getting air under all four wheels. Steve should be able to unleash the car for the full quarter this meeting. We also have three slingshots entered, the first of which is Roy Wilding with the Hemi Hunter. Roy's cars always look stunning and Roy says he has found the reason why he was down on power at SCR and the car will perform better this weekend. The second is Alec Coe who is shaking down a new set up in the Shy Talker Slingshot. With the help of Johnny 'Mental' Hall the team totally rebuilt the engine over the winter and the car should run into the sevens if everything comes together. The third slingshot is a brand new nitro-powered car belonging to Jon Best, built by Bill Felstead of Fester Race Cars. This is one car a lot of people are looking forward to seeing. It is the first nitro slingshot on the track since Johnny Hall's The Happening ran down into the sixes a couple of seasons ago. Jon will be shaking the car down so if he makes it onto the track it will probably be sixty-foot squirts to get the feel of that horsepower under his right foot. With ten cars entered it looks like we will have a good show on our hands. Let's hope the weather is kind to us. *Swift snippets.* 26th June: The Dutch Junior Dragster teams are putting up €300 for the winner and €200 for the runner-up at the Drachten Internationals at Drachten Airfield on 11th-13th July. "We hope we can attract more teams from outside Holland to compete and so that we can return some of the hospitality we get when we come to race abroad", says Jaap Selles. "We hope we can welcome the youngsters to eXplosion's Internationals!". For entry details please see the news item above. Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren is taking delivery of the latest model of pit cart from sponsor Arrow Awnings. "We are very happy to have Arrow Awnings as a product sponsor as they make very high quality products", says Michael. "Arrow Awnings also makes complete awning kits for trailers, motorhomes etc but also specialise in cabinets for trailers. Pit carts can be made to match the customer's needs, colours etc. Anyone interested is more than welcome to stop by in the pit and have a look at this very nice and practical pit cart." The Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association will be participating in a Cacklefest on the Saturday evening of the 20th Annual NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway on 13th-14th September. "The Cacklefest will take place as the light dims and should be quite spectacular: lots of noise, nitro fumes and tall header flames", says Lawrie Gatehouse. "Unfortunately we have been unable to include this weekend's Nostalgia Nationals in our schedule for a number of reasons, and Tony Betts, Neil Townsend and Joe Bond have had to withdraw due to last-minute snags. We expect a full complement of NFAA teams at the Open Sport Nationals at SCR on 23rd-25th August." ©Eurodragster.com Rick Cuthbert tells us that Stornoway Cruise in the Western Isles of Scotland held a quarter-mile drag race at Stornoway Airport last weekend. The event was organised by the Club and the local police, and you can check out pictures at www.stornowaycruise.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1101&start=150. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us an updated list of European Bests taking into account those European and UK records set so far this season. You can check out the list of European bests by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. UK Junior Dragster racer Matthew Seamarks would be pleased to hear from any reader with pictures of his own Junior Dragsters in theur various colours and also of Dave and Sarah Day's Model B, Mustang, and Roadster. The pictures are for personal use only. If you can help then please drop Matthew a line at [email protected]. Our best wishes to Comp Bike racer TJ O'Brien who is in hospital with two broken legs after a traffic accident in his native Ireland. You get well soon TJ. *American Super Stock Round 4.* 26th June: The Ultimate Road Car Challenge at York Raceway was host to the fourth round of the American Super Stock Series on the 15th June, writes Richard Smith: Head of the twenty three car field after qualifying was Andy Reynolds in his Rodzilla Chevelle but a couple of heavy showers, followed by a full quarter oil down, saw a long wait until eliminations. It was the Camaro of Dan Houlston, who was struggling with worn slicks, and reigning Champion Lee Chile's Dakota which eventually emerged in the finals, and with current points leader Dave Billadeau sidelined early in eliminations due to gearbox breakage, it was a great opportunity for everyone to dent his huge points lead. However, the excitement got to Lee as he threw it away on line with a red light, handing Dan his first Super Stock victory. The prize money should help see the Camaro sporting fresh slicks next time out! With four rounds of American Super Stock complete here's how the Top 5 is looking: Dave Billadeau 4875 Lee Chiles 3425 Dan Houlston 3275 Dave Rushforth 2875 Trevor Cadman 2650 The event also featured the 22nd Annual Ford Shootout which saw the largest and most diverse number of entrants in many years. The final saw the Cossie-powered Royal Nail delivery van going head to head with Andy Bales' V8-powered Anglia, the win going to Andy's 10.9 against the van's 11.7. Round 5 of American Super Stock will be running at York Raceway's Northern Sportsman Nationals on 13th July, along with the third rounds of the Northern Drag Racing Championships. Photographs from the event can be found at richardsmith.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com *Eley hitches a Lift.* 26th June: UK Super Gas racer Matt Eley has asked us to say a big Thank You to thank Phil Gibbs, Managing Director of Alfa Tail-Lifts, for his continued support for Team Risky Trip. "As Phil is a fully fledged petrolhead himself it wasn’t too difficult to gain his support and therefore, thankfully, we have Alfa Tail-Lifts as our main sponsor and we hope this support will continue for the foreseeable future", says Matt. "We have been racing for the past three seasons and have made steady progress. We stepped up a class to Super Gas last year and are enjoying every minute. We are hoping to give Super Comp a go in the not to distant future pending some small changes. ©Eurodragster.com "If anybody has any tail lift issues or queries please do not hesitate to contact us at Alfa-Tail-lifts on 08701 650560 or E-Mail [email protected] and we will be more than happy to help you. If you would like more information about the company then the web site can be found at www.alfataillifts.co.uk. "We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our second sponsor Russ (Crew Chef) at Custom Steel Innovations for his continued support. Please do not hesitate to contact him on 07966 137720 regarding any fabrication or engineering queries." *Frost adds support.* 26th June: UK street-legal racer Andy Frost tells us that a lot has happened since he submitted his last news item appealing for help after the engine of his seven-second Vaxhall was wrecked: Aside from the engine rebuild we of course have been in negotiation with some potential sponsors. Now we can announce that two of those potentials have now become official sponsors of the team. First up is Kustom Konsulting Ltd (KKL). The company was first established January 2005 by owner and director Rob Inglis following several years spent working as a drilling consultant for the Landmark Graphics Corporation division of Halliburton. Offering bespoke consultancy, training and delivery services in the oil industry, KKL has continued to grow and thrive since inception and has carried out successful projects for many oil majors in countries across the globe. Full UK and Norway offshore safety and medical certification, first aid, firefighting and H2S training means that assistance and expertise can be provided directly on the wellsite, reducing lost time and drilling operational costs where they matter the most. Experts in DIMS and its replacement OpenWells and EDM data management software systems as well as modern real-time data transmission technologies such as WITSML, KKL can undertake any challenge to improve and integrate drilling computing technologies within any size of drilling operation. To discuss requirements or for more information contact KKL on [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1358 725814. "I'm glad to be in a position to sponsor Andy and his unique race car", says Rob Inglis. "It's obvious he's a serious racer who has dedicated much of his time and money over the years to build and progress a fiercly competitive vehicle that is at the top of its class, but when you talk to him it quickly becomes clear just how approachable, helpful and easy-going a person he is. These qualities are something I try to keep in my business approach, working hard and in a direct manner while at the same time remaining open and straightforward to work with. Red Victor 1 itself also represents the core ethos in the modern oil drilling industry : Maximum performance and safety with the minimum of downtime. If you follow the Street Eliminator class, I think you would struggle to find a car with the extreme levels of performace and consistency of RV1 along with its remarkable history of very little breakage. I believe that Andy and RV1 have a great chance of taking home the crown of the World's Fastest Street Legal Car from Canada, and I look forward to having my company associated with that effort." We are proud and honoured to be associated with a company like Rob's and look forward to working together. ©Eurodragster.com Secondly is Nova Engineering (Essex) Ltd run by long time racer Brendan Clancy. Nova Engineering specialise in air conditioning, industrial boilers and general maintenance of office buildings and are Corgi registered (commercial). If you need this kind of service give Brendan a call on 01708 768692 or 07949 154995. Again the team are honoured to be associated with Brendan and his company. Lastly I would like to thanks the people who have contributed to the cause in any way. In no particular order they are: Benni Voss and Markus Münch from Germany, Steve Wilson, Tethys, Tony Smith, James Shelley of PDP Racing, James Forrester, Santa Pod Raceway, Rich Nicholls of American Car World, Jonathon Hebler, Alan Grimes and Mark Shepherd. We are still a way short of our target and with not a lot of time left before we are due to go to Canada, so we are still after companies to sponsor the team. Contact me on 07970 573872 or E-Mail [email protected] if you are interested in a great marketing opportunity. There is now a regularly-updated Blog on my web site at www.redvictor1racing.co.uk so keep checking in for updates. The latest Gadget at SCR. 26th June: Regular readers who tune into Channel Five's The Gadget Show on Monday evening may well have seen presenter Dallas Campbell experience the world of jet power first hand, quite literally feet first, at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson: The mode of transport for Dallas was a crazy jet-powered luge: a petrifying, modified version of one of the most daring and dangerous sports in the world - Street Luge. Standard Street Lugers can manage up to 80 mph using just gravity down enormous hills. Owned and ridden by Joel King the jet luge, with a small lightweight jet pack developing over 80 lbs of thrust at 90000 rpm, is a completely different animal indeed pushing its intrepid passenger to speeds of 110+ mph in the measured quarter mile. On a fifty centimetre long skateboard Dallas was very apprehensive at first, as we could all see from his piece to camera beforehand. But once the first run was over and the nerves had disappeared behind the door of his 'happy place', Dallas completed a further three attempts resulting in recorded times over the quarter mile of 62.86 mph in 25.435 seconds, a tad shy of Touring Car star Jason Plato's 80 mph speed run achieved a couple of years ago in front of Sky TV's cameras. According to the record books, other attempts riding this kind of device do exist; 98.5 mph by American Billy Copeland using rocket propulsion. In fact on an unrestricted runway Joel has run his Street Luge to a staggering 130 mph. Now that's amazing when you consider it's running on eight solid rubber wheels and some bearings six inches from the ground! ©Eurodragster.com *What's on this weekend.* 26th June: Västerås is the location for the next round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series and the Southern Division of the Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series. The Aros Nationals, organised by the Västerås Drag Racing Club will play host to 250 race vehicles and 6,500 fans. Heading the bill will be a Top Doorslammer Shootout between Tommy Leindahl and Lenn Lindell and there will be Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street and ET bracket racing. A number of racers will be testing including the Top Fuel Bike of Matti Vähäsaari. Entry is SEK100 for one day and SEK150 for the weekend. Racing will be from 09:00 to 18:00 on Saturday and 09:00 to 17:00 Sunday. Our colleagues at EurodragsterNorth.com will be covering the event and results will also be available at www.aros-nats.se. ©Eurodragster.com This weekend's UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway includes drag racing demonstrations by Super Street Bike, Super Modified, Supercharged Outlaws, Supertwin, Funny and Comp Bike, Super Gas, Pro ET and more, as well as BTRA drag racing and the ten-second Maksar Racing truck from Malta. You can find out more about the UK Truck Show either by checking out Sunday's news item or on the event's official web site at www.uktruckshow.co.uk. If you can't make the event then Eurodragster.com's Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam will be posting a picture every sixty seconds throughout Saturday and Sunday, and we will also be posting a post-event photo gallery in association with American Car Imports. *Web site updates.* 26th June: In the latest update in his exclusive Racer Blog, Swedish Pro Stock racer Adam Flamholc gives us an overview of his year so far including trips to the USA and the latest test at Malmö's Meca Raceway where the Glueharbor team appear to have solved the GTO's handling problems. You can check out Adam's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher has posted an update on his Blog on the US' Competition Plus web site at www.competitionplus.com. Multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund has launched a web site at www.jimmyalund.com. The site contains news, team history and biographies, photo gallery and more. *Bug Jam entry update.* 24th June: We are indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th July. The entry list for Championship rounds of Super Modified, Sportsman ET, B&H Automotive Street Eliminator, Outlaw Anglia, VW Pro, VW Sportsman and VW Alternate Engine, and the Junior Dragster exhibition, currently looks relatively sparse: racers please remember that the official closing date for Bug Jam entry is this Friday, 27th June, after which entry (if accepted) will be subject to a 100% penalty fee. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out the official Bug Jam entry list by clicking here, and you can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or by E-Mail at [email protected]. *Veidec Festival entry update.* 24th June: Racers are reminded that today (Tuesday) is the deadline for entry the Veidec Festival which takes place at Mantorp Park on 24th-27th July. Late entry after today, if accepted, will be subject to a penalty fee and the absolute closing date is 17th July. FIA and FIM/UEM registration should also be completed today. You can download entry, power, ticket etc. forms from the official Veidec Festival web site at www.veidecfestival.com and on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. On-line entry is also possible on the Veidec Festival web site. To register for the FIA and FIM/UEM Championships visit www.fiauem.com. ©Eurodragster.com *King Racing press release.* 24th June: 2007 FIM/UEM European Top Fuel Bike Champions King Racing are set to take on the best that Europe can offer with their strongest team ever in their quest for a fourth European Championship crown. An exciting line up of team partners and associates are headed by South African company Portable Shade who have joined the team as primary sponsors. Portable Shade are world leaders in folding sunshade awnings, modular exhibition systems, A-frame advertising hoardings and advertising flag systems. Brad Anassis, the owner and founder of Portable Shade, is no stranger to multidisciplinary motorsport as a former SA Road Racing champion, saloon car racer and now a nationally decorated rider in the burgeoning drag racing Pro Street Class and the first rider in SA in the seven-second bracket without wheelie bars. King Racing have benefited from an extremely strong and loyal team of associates whilst winning their three previous European Championships. They are extremely proud to announce that these associates are to remain on the team in their quest for an unprecedented fourth European Championship title: Torco Oils The only oil recommended by engine manufacturers Puma Engineering. Goedhals Precision specialist gear cutting and engineering. Mickey Thompson Tyres The best drag race tyres in the world bar none. Goodridge UK The original and the best in fluid transfer systems. Gates The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics. Vanson Leathers Thirty years producing the best quality track-tested motorcycle apparel. Performance Machine The leader in aftermarket custom wheels, brakes and components. Kent Cams Specialists in motorsport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs. Pro Alloy The UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators. PsycleWorkz The UK's best custom and race fabricators and innovators. House of Kolor Manufacturers of the world's most stunning specialist paints. Cannon Engineering Gear cutting and precision engineering services. Zodiac Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts. Pixeleye Innovative graphic and website design. MRE Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems. Customize Premier sign makers and vinyl sign and design services. Turboville Your one stop drag racing resource. NitroShutter, The combined efforts of ace photojournalists Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes Wackyshack, Creators of stunning paintwork and murals. In their quest for more reliability and power the team had various discussions with those performance component manufacturers who are at the very top of engineering design and development in the fields. They also had much valuable help and advice from individuals with much experience in relevant areas – Larry and Steve McBride of Cycle Specialists, Andy Bloyce at œrlikon Balzers and Jan Roelofs at Roelofs Race Service to name but a few, to whom thanks are due. Subsequent to their discussions the team are very proud to announce the addition of five further blue chip companies as new associate partners for 2008: With almost sixty years experience serving top professionals, JE Pistons is the world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons for the most demanding racing applications and it was clear that this company was to be the piston supplier of choice for the team if it were to realize their 2008 goals. Bespoke pistons to suit the demands of the team's 1000HP + Top Fuel Bike engine have been designed and manufactured to replace the previous items. Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc. has been manufacturing valve train components for the motorsport industry for over sixty years providing the highest quality valves and components. They have developed a reputation for quality and value and are a primary source for all valve train needs regardless of whether you need a single component or a complete system of valves, guides, seats, shims, springs, retainers and lower collars. The team are to use their titanium retainers, keepers and industry standard valve springs after identifying deficiencies in components used in their previous campaigns. Swecomposite are a leading supplier of carbon fiber parts to the automotive racing, performance and custom markets. Already the supplier of choice to US Top Fuel Bike rider Tom Perry and multiple European Supertwin Champion Anders Karling, the team turned to the Swedish company in their search for a lightweight and innovative new nosecone to house their all new management and logging systems whilst providing superior aerodynamics at high speed. Craft Safety Helmets produce the ultimate in safety and unique in design using only High Performance materials such as their TRI®-FLEX Superlayer Carbon-Dyneema-Fiberglass construction. Design Patented since 1984 and meeting the highest Standards such as ECE 22.05-DOT Snell and ACU Gold Label team rider Ian King has chosen Craft helmets to protect him in what is the fastest and quickest motorsport in the world. Del West Engineering Inc, was formed in 1973 as an aerospace structural materials R&D laboratory. With manufacturing sites in Switzerland and the US the company's pioneering in metallurgy; coatings, manufacturing techniques and design have been highly instrumental in the technology which has seen the operating speed of engines nearly double since the first Del West lightweight valves were produced. Their clients are now virtually all of the engine manufacturers in Formula One, CART, the Indy Racing League and Indy Lights as well as for almost every manufacturer in touring car and GT/Prototype racing. Their customers also include countless private engine builders in NASCAR, drag racing and many other segments of the sport. After various issues with exhaust valves over the last years the design team at Del West have come up with designs to alleviate these issues for the future. The Portable Shade Top Fuel Bike will compete at the following events in 2008: 3rd–6th July: Alastaro, Finland 24th–27th July: Mantorp Park, Sweden 1st–3rd August: Gardermoen, Norway 14th–17th August: Hockenheim, Germany 4th–7th September: Santa Pod, England ©Eurodragster.com *Swift snippets.* 24th June: By all accounts UK National Super Comp Champion Paul Knight made good progress on his Funny Car driving course at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Florida, which he was attending as part of his preparation to drive Mark and Jackie Hawkins' Hogsback Brewery-sponsored Fuel FC later this year. PR Wayne Corbitt tells us that we will soon be hearing more about Paul's experiences. ©Eurodragster.com Racers running at the UK Truck Show this weekend are invited to send commentators' notes to your News Editor who will be announcing during the drag racing demos. Please send your notes to [email protected]. Our colleagues at EurodragsterNorth.com have some new and exciting prizes in their draw which will be held later this year. Racers in whichever class and from whatever country merely need to register details at www.eurodragsternorth.com/team.info.htm. "Teams which have already registered are encouraged to update their information", says Tezzii. "Just fill out the same form and we'll take care of it. Teams who have pictures of more than just their vehicle are very welcome to send them to [email protected]." *HKS Drag Series results.* 24th June: Another weekend of fantastic racing took place in Round 2 of the HKS Drag Series at the weekend's JapShow at Santa Pod Raceway, writes Dave Jones. Despite incredibly strong headwinds, ETs were down and numbers of competitors up across the classes. Tricky track conditions made it a tough job for drivers and the favourites didn't get an easy ride at all: Pro: John Bradshaw, Nissan Skyline GTS, 8.137/167 def. Andy Forrest, Subaru Impreza, 10.026/138.11 Street: Gary Passingham, Nissan Skyline GTR, 9.806/136.41 def. David Greenhalgh, Nissan Skyline GTR, 11.663/119.24 FWD: Guy Chamberlain, Honda Civic Type R, 10.477/136.45 def. Neil Knight, Honda Civic Type R, 11.953/112.33 A full report will be on-line shortly on the JapShow web site at www.japshow.com. ©Eurodragster.com *A weekend of Nostalgia.* 24th June: More than two hundred quality street rods and American muscle cars will be on show this weekend at the sixeenth annual running of the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. The event, co-ordinated by the National Street Rod Association, features two action-packed days of street legal drag racing for pre '73 high-dollar street rods and Big Block custom cars. The 1950s was the cornerstone of drag racing and it is events like the Nostalgia Nationals and the NSRA's original Hot Rod Drags event in September which help recreate the golden days of the sport as well as the customising scene. Where else can you expect to find period flathead roadsters, GM-powered Deuce Coupes, Chevy powered Fiats, classic supercharged Willys Coupes and ground-thumping dragsters all with unbridled horsepower and gleaming chrome. Adding spice to the mix will be the Gasser Circus, featuring high riding doorslammers of the 40s, 50s and 60s, along with the Custom Car magazine-supported Flathead Meltdown, where sidevalve engines still reign supreme, and least but by no means least the Outlaw Anglias, a class dedicated to Dagenham's finest sit up and beg Anglias, Poplars, Prefects and Fordsons. Within the ranks of Nostalgia drag racing you can expect to see the Wild Bunch, a class which runs front-engined slingshot dragsters and altereds, where Jaguar straight sixes rub shoulders with Buick nailheads as well as all kinds of Fords, Chryslers and of course Chevrolet V8s. The Outlaw Flat Four VWs will be looking for some more wheels-up action with their VW Gassers too. On the exhibition front, Roger Goring's Firestorm Jet Funny Car will be looking for further improvements on Roger's outstanding Personal Bests on his last outing at Santa Pod, while Carolynne Campbell's Rocket Dragster Laffin-gas will be looking towards two full-powered runs armed with eight rockets and 150 lbs of nitrous! Admission to the Raceway is £18 per person. RWYB track fee is £18 per day or £30 for a weekend of nostalgic fun. A full DVLA licence is required, radiator overflow catch can, seat belts, fire extinguisher and helmets are compulsory - no exceptions. For further event information please call the Raceway office on 01789 720180 or see the track's Events page. Pictures courtesy and ©Jon Spoard ©Eurodragster.com *Web site updates.* 24th June: In the latest entry in Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon's exclusive Racer Blog, Lex's wife and Team Manager Gerda writes about the loss of Scott Kalitta and the safety of the sport including running on one of Europe's shorter tracks. You can read Gerda's thoughts in Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Editor's note: We have a Blog entry queued up from Pro Stock racer Adam Flamholc, which will be released tomorrow. Jamie Dyks has updated his Fotopic gallery with shots from the SPRC Summernationals. You can check out Jamie's pictures at topnitro.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Also updating a Fotopic gallery from the SPRC Summernationals is Dick Bodily, who has also added some more shots from the FIA Main Event. Dick's pictures are at dicksphotos.fotopic.net. The official web site of the UK's Sportsman ET class at www.sportsman-et.co.uk has been updated with a report from the SPRC Summernationals as well as a full gallery of shots of Sportsman ET racers at the race. "May I take this opportunity to say well done to Geoff Cowley for winning in the final and for not dropping me down the stairs!", adds webmaster Nigel Holland. Finally for the SPRC Summernationals updates for today, Marcin Gwozdz has updated his gallery with shots from the recent event which you can find at www.marcingfx.co.uk. If you do Facebook then you might be interested to check out the Eurodragster.com Fan Page, maintained by Kirstie, which you can join at www.facebook.com/pages/Eurodragstercom/8220299411. The Fan Page is currenltly running a contest to guess the identity of a race vehicle from the location of its Eurodragster.com decal. The latest of Anders Envall's regular updates on the web site of Blackout Fullsize Racing leaves readers in no doubt what the usually-jovial Swede thinks about the circumstances of Scott Kalitta's death. Anders' views can be found at www.blackout.nu (Parental Advisory on this one - Ed). Scott Kalitta. 22nd June: We were shocked and very sorry to hear of the death of US Funny Car racer Scott Kalitta at the age of 46 in an accident at the NHRA Lucas Oil Supernationals at Englishtown yesterday. Scott had been racing since 1982, firstly in Top Alcohol then Funny Car, Top Fuel and finally Funny Car again. He was twice NHRA Top Fuel Champion and was one of a handful of racers to have won event titles in both Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car. He reached the final round of Funny Car in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, his thirty sixth career final. You can read more about Scott and his career at www.nhra.com. We are sure that everyone will join us in sending our deepest sympathies to Scott's wife Kathy and sons Corey and Colin, to dad Connie, and to all of his family, friends and teammates. *Cue the itchy cheque book...* 22nd June: Having raced air-cooled Volkswagens for ten years, chasing Personal Bests all the while, the UK's Jim Smith was looking for a new challenge. UK National Super Pro ET Champion Spencer Tramm had an answer for Jim with an offer to try out his eight-second Corrado, which is for sale, at last weekend's SPRC Summernationals. "Firstly I must thank Spencer for the opportunity to compare the thrill of going rounds in a consistent car with that of chasing PBs, before committing to a purchase", says Jim. "Our weekend started early on Friday morning at the Peak Performance Day which allowed me to start on my licencing runs and get initial nerves out of the way. Spencer was even good enough to allow me to break his car on the second run - just to make me feel at home racing a VW! ©Eurodragster.com "My final licencing run was completed in qualifying on Saturday morning, 8.72 on an 8.70 dial-in, good enough for number four qualifier, which I believe led to at least a three-foot leap from Spencer! I lost out in the first round of eliminations. It was my own fault entirely, as ten years of habit racing another car was hard to break. When I was in pre-stage I suddenly seemed to find myself in my own car! "I had one of the most enjoyable weekends of drag racing I've had in a long time. It was especially great to meet a new bunch of racers who were very friendly and welcoming, especially when I was late on the Tree! Although the thrill of chasing PBs is very different to that of trying to go rounds, the level of excitement is just as high. "Hopefully I will return to race again in the Quantum Leap Corrado and my crew, who were absent from the Summernationals, will also be able to see - well, be reminded of - what this side of racing is all about! Then, who knows? Maybe I will have to dig out my cheque book!" *Calm it down and break it out.* 22nd June: UK Super Gas racer Malcolm Motler, wife Marcie and son Callum had a great weekend on their return to racing at the SPRC Summernationals. The beautiful Spellbound pick-up is now toting a new Procharger-equipped engine and quickly went below 9.90 seconds. ©Eurodragster.com "After our dyno session we decided it was time to calm the launch down a bit, so the week before the Summernationals I had a chat with Andy Robinson about gear ratios in the back axle", says Malcolm. "We decided to put in a taller gear, going from 4.57-1 to 4.11-1, job done by early the following week . That did the trick with a slight wheels-up and going forwards launch, rather than pointing at the sky. We ran our elusive first nine-second pass off the trailer: after going straight after a gentle footbrake launch I stayed with it and ran 9.81/139.88, hooray! On our third run of the weekend, in the first round of eliminations, we cracked off a 9.32/142.88 off a transbrake launch at 3600 rpm. A little under the 9.90 index but very satisfying. It was a very happy camp and it was great to be back" "Thanks to our super crew for the weekend of Steve and Jayne Wells, Steve Good and Andy Chilton, and last but not least thanks to Andy Robinson for changing the gears so quickly and coming over to our pit in the dark on Friday night to help us programme our new MSD digital ignition system." *It may be foam rubber, but...* 22nd June: Chaos Fuel Altered owner and Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association promoter Lawrie Gatehouse dropped us this picture of what happens to a set of front canards when the car on which they are mounted hits several timing reflectors at over 200 mph, and a helpful note from the Assistant Race Director (click on picture for large version). "The blocks are quite lightweight and one would not think they would do much damage", says Lawrie. "However, if you look at the picture you will see how they trashed the substantially-constructed front canards. At 200+ mph it is a salutary lesson that even lightweight stuff can hurt. ©Eurodragster.com "This of course reinforces the care taken by the track crews to make sure that there is no debris on the track, however small, before the racers run. So for those people who are impatient to get going and cannot understand why the track crews appear to be aimlessly walking the lanes - this is an indication of the hazard that could happen to you." The team's official web site has been updated with a report on the team's weekend at the SPRC Summernationals. "Mysterious brake gremlins, John Wright taking up slalom racing, a low six second pass, damaged front wings, it's all there" writes webmaster Alan Currans. You can check out the report under News then Latest News at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com. *Webster saves the day.* 22nd June: UK Supertwin Gas racer Chris Mott has been in touch to ask us to thank joint Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Jon Webster for keeping him in the race to defend his NAST Supertwin Gas title. "On our third qualifying attempt on Saturday afternoon we tried to fire the bike in the pits to ride down to the start", says Chris. "Just as the offboard starter tried to turn the engine, the shaft holding the socket on the starter sheared! With no way of starting the bike we had to sit out the third round, but we walked down to the start to watch the other guys run - and to add insult to injury I saw my #1 qualifying position taken by 0.002 of a second, well done to Andy Smith. ©Eurodragster.com "Determined to get the starter fixed for Sunday I consulted with Dave Branch how best to get it fixed. We went on the hunt for a welder and ended up at Tim Blakemore's pit where I was lucky enough to meet up with Jon Webster. What a star Jon is. He not only opened up Webster Race Engineering for us at ten o'clock on a Saturday night, but he also machined and welded a new extension shaft on the starter. We got the starter back together on Sunday morning and managed to get through to the finals, which we lost to Andy Smith. But we'll beat him when we can manage to get the bike to leave straight! "So thanks again Jon, you've kept us in the Championship." *Another Good weekend.* 22nd June: Nick Good and the UK's NG Motorsport Super Pro ET team have had time to reflect on their most successful weekend of racing yet, after the team recorded their first event win at the SPRC Summernationals. Nick writes that it was a weekend of lows, highs and a fair sprinkling of luck: Shaun and I arrived at the track lunchtime friday, got the awning up, the car bolted together and through scrutineering. When Bob arrived in the evening we fired up the motor and set the timing and checked over the motor and trans, deciding to check the valve lash in the morning with the motor cold. Next morning, what should have been a routine check of the valve lash turned into a panic when it was discovered that #3 exhaust rocker had decided to spit out half a dozen needle rollers! It must have failed just as we had shut down the evening before as five of them were within a couple of inches of the valve spring. We popped the needle bearings back in the rocker hoping that they had all been recovered. No such luck, one was still missing! Although these bearings are only a quarter of an inch long and less than a sixteenth of an inch in diameter they are incredibly hard, so there was no way we could risk hurting the new motor. It had to be found. First off we fished around with a magnet in the valley as best we could, then the oil came out along with the filter. No sign of it. Then the pan came off whilst the nearest valve springs were removed and checked, still nothing. Next, off with the blower and manifold and all the rockers to carefully remove and check the lifters. Bingo! The little so-and-so was sitting tight behind #1 exhaust lifter. It was popped back into the rocker to make sure it was the last one missing. Karl Harrison lent us a spare rocker, and with his assistance we started to reassemble the motor. We had obviously missed the first qualifying session but were really surprised when ten minutes into the rebuild the call for the second and only remaining session came. Doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourselves! This was going to be tight. Periodic silences coming from the track gave us some hope of making it to the line. The team of Andy, Bob, Shaun, along with invaluable help from Karl, had the motor together and fired up as the rest of the class were putting in their last runs of the day. We towed down with seconds to spare. John Everitt was last in the Super Pro queue and about to fire up. I was quickly strapped in and after a short burn out managed to stage without holding up John for too long. We had planned the first run of the day to be a half pass as we had taken some blower and timing out of the motor to concentrate on setting up the chassis, and a new rear wing with more downforce had been fitted since the last meeting. I was expecting a straight steady run to half track, no chance! Off the line then left, right and back left again to half track before coasting through the finish line. At least we were in Sunday's race. It was only after the run that the crew told me that there just had not been time to get both rear tyres down to their correct pressures. This didn't matter, it was a brilliant effort by all the crew to get the car to the line under real pressure. ©Eurodragster.com Mechanically, Sunday was a breeze, with just between-rounds servicing and checks going as planned. Going into eliminations we had no idea what times the car would run as we only had a less than perfect half pass to work with. We guessed it would run mid 6.9s so we dialled in 7.0 so as not to leave ourselves short at the top end. It was a case of having to pull a decent light and being careful to just nose ahead at the line. This worked fine against John Everitt in round one running a 7.03. In the second round against Nigel Turner we really had some luck. The chute shook itself out at a thousand feet. There was no way I was going to catch Nigel, but fortunately for us he broke out by seven thousandths. In the third round against Bob Doyle we dropped the dial in to 6.92 and lifted to a 6.93/170.79. In the semi-final we were up against Ian Tubb who had just knocked out Simon Rowland with as close to a perfect run as you're ever likely to see, perfect Reaction Time and four ten thousandths off his dial-in. We dropped our dial-in to 6.89. Again lifting just before the line, we ran 6.894/187.22. The final was an anti-climax after the excitement of the previous rounds: a mix-up with Crunch's dial in of 7.00 took away his chance in the final, which was a real shame. An easy 7.15/145 was enough to take us to our first event win. After thinking on the Saturday that this would be a wasted weekend, we couldn't really believe the turnaround in our fortunes on Sunday. This was a brilliant team effort, with Shaun at his first meeting as a crew member really being thrown in at the deep end. Thanks also to Karl, Rod and Kim of Team Stardust for their generous help throughout the weekend. Without the backing of our sponsors we wouldn't be at the track, so a big Thank You to Formula Tanker Rentals, Beovax Computer Services, Focal Point Digital, Hardwick Road Garage, Chris Brown Body Repairs, BGC Motorsport Components, Glasweld Systems, D&R Engineering and Morris Armitage. *FBs need help.* 22nd June: UK B & H Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook and the FB Racing team might not be using any nitrous these days, but they don't seem to be able to break the habit of melting pistons. The subject this time was not in a big block Ford but the 500 cubic inch diesel which powers, or used to power, the well-known FB bus. Ian promises that he's not put a blue bottle anywhere near it but now needs the help of Eurodragster.com readers to get the bus running again. Fatty takes up the story: Returning from the Summer Nationals last Sunday we were about fifteen miles from home when the coach engine suddenly got very hot. Before our driver, Pauly B, could pull over the engine had seized and he just managed to haul the on the now non-power steering and get us half on the verge. To cut a long story short we finished up on the end of a very short chain behind a four wheel drive 'fast' tractor for a very scary journey back into Cheltenham down some steep hills. Big thanks go to Lee Sharples and his friendly farmer who provided the tow for a very reasonable cost - especially considering that it was the early hours of Monday morning when we got home, and not forgetting Pauly B who performed heroics behind the wheel of our coach. ©Eurodragster.com The main reason for this piece, as I guess the story of our bus isn't the most exciting article to appear on Eurodragster.com, is to ask for help from amongst the army of Eurodragster.com readers. Stripping the engine has revealed one melted piston, two or three with cracks and a cracked head. We now need a replacement and I'm hoping that someone out there in drag racer and drag fan land can help us locate a second hand unit. The engine is a six-cylinder Bedford 500 turbo but I am sure that we can use a non-turbo or an 8.2 unit. Even a Cummins may fit. If you can help or if you need more information then please E-Mail me at [email protected] or give me a call on 01452 856926. Thanks go to Eurodragster.com for allowing us to get the message out and rest assured that we'll be doing our best to continue to support the B & H Automotive Street Eliminator series at the next meeting, the Bug Jam in just three weeks' time. *Family fun at UK Truck Show.* 22nd June: Organisers of the most exciting truck show in the country are promising fantastic family fun at the UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday-Sunday 28th-29th June. This exciting new concept of show was introduced in 2006 and has grown swiftly in popularity. Highlights at the event include the awesome Truck Racing Sprint Cup, which provides the only chance to see BTRA Trucks Drag-Racing at over 100 mph in the UK. These trucks are capable of dragster-style burnouts and quarter mile times faster than a Porsche 911 at the famous home of European Drag Racing. Visitors will also get a rare chance to see Europe's fastest drag racing truck, the awesome Maksar racing truck from Malta, in a rare UK appearance. The Maksar team will be hoping to break their ten-second quarter-mile record at Santa Pod. In addition, further track action will feature the world's fastest Jet Car Fireforce in 300 mph action, plus a field of dragsters and drag bikes including Super Modified, Super Street Bike and the Supercharged Outlaws. ©Eurodragster.com The UK Truck Show will also feature the Santa Pod début of Titan The Robot courtesy of show sponsors Truckinsure. Titan is an eight-foot tall robotic entertainer that will charm visitors of all ages. Away from the track, further entertainment includes a battle of the monster trucks between Podzilla and Red Dragon, plus trials bike displays from the Zero Gravity team. Hundreds of spectacular trucks attend the UK Truck Show to compete in the National Show Truck Championships. Tickets are £12 for adults or £6 for children, or a Family ticket for £30. Discount tickets are available in advance by booking on-line or calling the twenty four hour hotline on 0870 0603798. For more details see www.uktruckshow.co.uk or call organisers Event Developments Ltd on 01775 723723. Note for racers: Santa Pod Raceway are still accepting entries from teams wishing to run in demonstration next weekend. To run at the UK Truck Show call Darren Prentice on 01234 782828 or E-Mail [email protected]. *Look in on Drachten live.* 21st June: Maikel Gloudemans of The Netherlands' eXplosion Drag Racing Club has been in touch to let us know that an experimental webcam will be streaming from Drachten this weekend. Two hundred and fifty viewers will be able to tune in. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out what is happening at Drachten at www.ziejeme.nu/eXplosion. Please note that the stream service is experimental and so there may be interruptions or pauses for maintenance. *Event deadlines approaching.* 21st June: FIM and FIM/UEM European Championship class racers are reminded that next Tuesday, 24th June, is the deadline for entry the Veidec Festival which takes place at Mantorp Park on 24th-27th July. Late entry, if accepted, will be subject to a penalty fee and the absolute closing date is 17th July. FIA and FIM/UEM registration should also be completed by 24th June. You can download entry, power, ticket etc. forms from the official Veidec Festival web site at www.veidecfestival.com. On-line entry is also possible on the Veidec Festival web site. To register for the FIA and FIM/UEM Championships visit www.fiauem.com. ©Eurodragster.com Super Modified, B&H Automotive Street Eliminator, Outlaw Anglia, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, VW Alternate Engine, Sportsman ET and Junior Dragster racers are reminded that next Friday, 27th June, is the official closing date for entry to Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th July. Late entry, if accepted, will be subject to a 100% penalty. You can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Junior Dragster racers please note that this is a non-Championship round. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or by E-Mail at [email protected]. *Swift snippets.* 21st June: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm for forwarding us the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the 2008 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the latest SPRC Championship positions on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page Stephen Moon has been in touch to let us know that the Test Day at Santa Pod Raceway on Wednesday 30th July is definitely on. Sign-on is £100 and payment can be made on-line at www.200mph.net/mkportal/modules/oscommerce or by cheque / money order / cash to 200mph at 5 Carr St, Brighouse, West Yorkshire HD6 4AZ. All bikes are welcome, and if any slick-tyred cars would like to attend then please drop Trevor a line at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com Rick Cuthbert tells us that a new project by Eurodragster.com Site Search sponsor Hauser Race Cars will be making its début at this weekend's JapShow at Santa Pod Raceway. "Prepared in conjunction with RE:WORX in Portsmouth, this new Mazda RX8 is certain to be the talk of the show", says Rick. "If the performance of their old RX7 was anything to go by - it was the UK's first rotary-engine car in the nines - this new RX8 will be mind-blowingly quick. The triple-rotor setup should give it more than enough grunt to compete with the six-cylinder cars running eights". You can find out more at japdragseries.co.uk/hks_dragseries_2008detail.php?JapID=71. Sandie and Andrew Gibb have opened a storage facility in Romford with parking space for trailers, motorhomes, caravans etc and also twenty-foot containers for self-storage. "The site is secure with twenty four hour security and reasonable access outside normal operating hours", says Sandie. For more information contact Sandie on 07799 038592 or Andrew on 07956 334987. UK blown-alcohol altered racer and now absolute European blown-alcohol ET record holder Paul Wratten has asked us to say a big Thank You to the team for all their hard work at the SPRC Summernationals. "To say we were busy is an bit of an understatement, but it was a blinding weekend nonetheless!", says Paul. "Thanks to Terry - it's half his car but he still lets me cane it! - Russ, Mark, Kev, Pete, Scott, Ant and last but not least Charlie, who cooked up another of his special tunes which make me look good even with my sundial reaction times!". We would like to add our own Thank You to Charlie Draper for taking a moment to come up to Race Control to alert us to the significance of Paul's 6.5-second pass. UK Wild Bunch racer Martin Holgate says that Team Paranoia enjoyed being back in competition at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend. "We qualified #1 after the first session which was a bit of welcome luck after what we have been through in the last twelve months", says Martin. "Although we could not compete on Sunday due to a trashed starter motor we came away with the engine intact. It looks like our bearing problems are finally over after Andy Mapes line bored both blocks for us. Special thanks to Herb and William. We now look forward to the Nostalgia Nationals." As if being one Crew Chief down to a heart attack wasn't enough, the UK's Freddy's Revenge suffered more bad luck when clutch technician Robbie and girlfriend Tash were involved in a road traffic accident a few yards from Tash's front door. "Both were taken by ambulance to Yeovil District Hospital", says Dave Grabham. "Tash was given the all clear and was sent home, but Robbie was detained overnight with a fractured pelvis. With both TC and Robbie currently incapacitated and Hils working this weekend, it looks like Dopey will be stripping Freddy down on his own". Our very best wishes for rapid recoveries to both Robbie and the now-home TC. *Web site updates.* 21st June: The Caravan Tube have posted three more video clips featuring Swedish Pro Stock racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Adam Flamholc. The videos are up to the usual high standard and can be viewed on YouTube individually at www.youtube.com/watch?v=quAwbfUcgs0, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bccPCfUiZxE and www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOXhtgJ9S9k although we recommend going via the Caravan Tube index page at www.youtube.com/thecaravantube. Motoring photo-journalist Simon Hodder has launched a web site at www.simaxphotography.co.uk which will appeal to both nostalgia and modern fans. As well as excellent spectator-side pictures from last week's SPRC Summernationals (including a couple of superb people shots) and the FIA Main Event, Simon has also posted shots from Santa Pod dating as far back as 1976 when, like some of the Eurodragster.com staff (of which a subset is "Those who had actually been born then" - Ed), he was a lad in short trousers. There is also a scan of an event programme from 1978 on which we can find at least ten names still actively involved in the sport. Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated his Fotopic gallery with shots from last weekend's Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Peter's pictures at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Also updating from last weekend but in this case featuring Saturday's action at the SPRC Summernationals is Colin Donisthorpe whose Fotopic gallery you can find at colindonisthorpe.fotopic.net. Sue Whyte of drag racing sponsor Motorshack has also updated her Fotopic gallery with shots from the SPRC Summernationals. As ever Sue's shots concentrate on people and pitside - one of the few gallery sites to cover these areas - and are well worth a look. Check it out at suewhyte.fotopic.net. *Summernationals timing, points.* 19th June: Many thanks to our good buddy Andy Marrs of TSI Timers for forwarding us the official timing data from the weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks also to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for providing the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the latest UK Championship positions on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. *Thirty two years of low rainfall.* 19th June: Steve Murty has been in touch to tell us that the UK's York Raceway is celebrating its thirty second season in 2008, and that there are all sorts of reasons for checking out the Yorkshire venue: York Raceway, with its famous four lanes, is situated in the vale of York which has one of the UK's lowest annual rainfalls. This has meant that only one per cent of York Raceway's meetings have had to be cancelled in thirty two years. It also means that the Northern Racing Championships have never suffered with the weather as they would elsewhere in the country, so racers rarely face the frustrations of a wasted journey. ©Eurodragster.com Another advantage York Raceway has is that treaded vehicles have the use of the Shell Grip. This allows for a much cleaner surface on the prepped concrete side of the track throughout the day and still provides adequate grip in the wet. This allows York Raceway to continue to function should there be a sudden down pour. Or even in the extremes of last Easter, when there was four inches of snow in the morning, racing had started by 1:00 pm and a few Personal Bests were even recorded during the day. York Raceway has recently invested a in a brand new TSI race computer and a radar gun integrated with the TSI to provide accurate 0-60 mph times at regular events, which is of great interest to the modifiers and tuners. York Raceway, Dakota Raceway and North Weald Motorsport are the only drag strips which run under a Road Traffic Act Authorisation Permit at every event, issued by the International Organisation of Professional Drivers.This allows York-Raceway to run non-tagged vehicles which can compete in the Northern Drag Racing Championships without the need for extensive and sometimes destructive modifications. You can find the York Raceway web site at www.york-raceway.co.uk. *ACAG seek 354 Hemi.* 19th June: The Allard Chrysler Action Group would be pleased to hear from any Eurodragster.com reader who may have, or who knows the whereabouts of, a good long block 354 hemi. The block needs to be standard bore, or at most thirty thousandths over to enable it to be supercharged within safety limits. Overall condition is not too much of a problem, as long as most major elements are there, or at least could be reclaimed. At best, a block and heads may be of interest if that's all you have, the rest can be sourced. ©Eurodragster.com US Automotive have found several 354 hemi engines in the in the USA and have very kindly agreed to handle the purchase and shipping on behalf of the ACAG if necessary. However, it would be more cost effective if we could find something here in the UK. Any help would be appreciated: please contact Stu Bradbury at [email protected] or the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame at [email protected]. *A/Fuel for Finland.* 19th June: FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson says that he and the Silverline Tools-sponsored team were more than a little pleased with the car's first run on its new injected-nitro set-up. Grumpy pulled a 0.9325 sixty foot time on his way to a 6.057/229.11 which included shake and tyres up in smoke. "It was a promising start, so we're going to Finland with this set-up to see if we can do better", Grumpy told Eurodragster.com. On his first attempt at a pass Grumpy discovered what Bill Reichert had been talking about when he said that the A/Fuellers have a completely different driving technique. "I stabbed the throttle and it didn't go anywhere", said Grumpy. "It dropped the revs at the hit, so we backed up for a think. It was fine in the pits and so we concluded it was hesitating for some reason. I spoke to Bill and he said "How long did you wait on the throttle?" and he told me that I should have stayed on it for at least a second. "On the second run the burnout worked and when I stood on the gas it went, a 0.932 sixty foot which is good for A/Fuel. Everyone tells me that's the hard bit. Then it shook and that broke a cable to a fuel valve and leaned it out. We have a number of adjustments to try and we have to get the datalogger working because we got no data from that run and with these cars you really need to have a log. These cars are so difficult, you have to cover everything and leave nothing undone, but finally you get to where you want to be and you have nothing else to do but to take it to the start line. "We've got a second bite of the cherry with the rain-out at the Main Event. We could have been dead in the water as far as the Championship was concerned, but we're not, so we are going to take the risk and take it to Finland." *Dahlbloms' new ride.* 19th June: Sweden's Dahlblom Dragracing have bought Tim McAmis '63 'Vette from the USA. The 'Vette will be powered by an EFI methanol-burning and Procharger-equipped 398 ci Small Block built by longtime friend Jeff Taylor, with Powerglide by COAN. ©Eurodragster.com "We went to visit Jeff Taylor at his house in February and we met the big EFI guru John Meany from Big Stuff", says Thomas Dahlblom. "We had a four-day blast together with these two guys. We would like to thank our team members Conny Johansson, who is a fantastic fabricator and a very good friend, Willy Sigurdsson who always follows to the races, Johan Nordgren another great guy who follows us to the track, Jeff and Patty Taylor who support us with engines and parts, John Meany from Big Stuff , Mike Corvo Jr who supports us with chassis parts from RJ Race Cars and some other goodies, and finally Patrick Barnhill from PTP Racing, who works as an engine tuner. "We are planning on running the car in Competition Eliminator and Top Doorslammer." *Webster's busy weekend.* 19th June: B&H Automotive Street Eliminator and 9.50 Bike racer and joint Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Jon Webster was looking forward to SPRC Summernationals weekend with some trepidation as not only was he driving his own MG SV, but he was also riding Tim Blakemore Racing's Kawasaki ZZR1400 in 9.50 Bike and as if that wasn't enough he was supervising David Rowe's first outing in Pro ET in Jon's Barracuda: The positive side was that I finally had the parts together for the MG, with which I had intended to attempt to compete in the Championship with this year, but as is often the case barriers kept getting in the way. I was excited about riding the bike so much I almost parked the MG because I felt I could be stretching myself a little thin, and I didn't want to compromise efforts or concentration on either. I also had an added element of introducing David Rowe, our friendly Motec Engineer, to drag racing by way of Pro ET and my '68 440 Barracuda. I finally decided we would book in to the Peak Performance Day with the bike, MG and Barracuda. The MG had to be run to sort out the mapping for the 388 cu in motor and M800 ECU, so we had an idea that everything was working well for the King Of Europe in Belgium, for which we leave today. Dave and I both had to complete our observed runs for competition in Pro ET and 9.50 Bike respectively. Anyway, this effectively gave us a dress rehearsal for the weekend; I would help Dave with the race procedure and point him in the right direction for driving, scrutineering etc. The Barracuda also needs little attention so Dave could also get involved with mapping on the MG. Tim Blakemore had already set the bike up on the dyno (270 bhp at the wheel) and that was ready to go when we arrived Friday morning, all that was required was the tyre pressure setting and the air bottle topping up. Before we got underway I pawed the bike for fifteen minutes - it is a beautiful machine. While Dave warmed up the Barracuda I donned my helmet and took the bike around the pits to test the controls. Fifteen minutes later Dave was strapped in and ready to go. After a short briefing behind the tower, Dave fired up the 440 and very competently clicked off an eighth-mile pass under the watchful eye of Darren Prentice, who promptly OK'd a full pass next time out. What seemed like a short moment and we were back around with Dave being a little more aggressive in the burnout and getting the tyres a lot warmer. He completed a full pass within four tenths of the car's best and all was good with the licencing procedure. ©Eurodragster.com My turn next with the Kawasaki. Very conscious of the bike's power I asked Darren what was required from me, to which he smiled and implied something representative of a competent and responsible pass. My approach was small burnout in first, carefully stage and don't overdo the RPM, feed the clutch and be ready with the shift button then short shift all the way at maybe 8000-8500rpm, which I duly did and everything went OK. A little more rpm would have been better but the result was a 10.47/144. On the next pass one of the gentlemen of drag racing and probably one of the most qualified to learn from, Wayne Saunders, pulled up alongside me on his Suzuki and gestured a pass together. It was a perfect opportunity for me to pace out an attempt at a 9.50, as Wayne had already established himself as competitive in the class. It was ideal from the lights Wayne got out three bike lengths on Reaction Time and I figured that if I got to the finish line three bike lengths behind him I'd get some idea of some sort, albeit crude, of how to run a 9.50. The result was a 9.54, thanks Wayne! This was the first indication of the bikes power as I had to wind the power on a bit to get the distance back, the finish line speed was 154 mph. Dave and I completed a few more passes. Dave ran consistent 11.60s setting him up for qualifying eighth of forty two cars on Saturday, a very competent début. Unfortunately Sunday's first round was a perfect illustration of margins in bracket racing. I ran another 9.55 and 9.7 on Friday which gave me more insight of what was required for Saturday's qualifying. Again fortunately pairing along side a seasoned and very competent 9.50 rider, Fred Furlong, twice during qualifying paved my way to a #8 qualifier with a 9.57 and 9.58. Then I got my wake up call in the first round with a rider error and a poor operation of the clutch, resulting in a 9.8 and subsequent elimination, keeping it very real. But all in all the weekend was thoroughly enjoyable. The Kawasaki ZZR 1400 is an amazing machine and was faultless thanks to Tim and Wendy at Tim Blakemore Racing, the Barracuda was great fun, and the perfect bracket car. I was more than happy with the MG, Dave Rowe being largely responsible for bringing the tune-up round so quickly, we ran only five hundredths and four miles per hour off our Personal Best (8.86/166) with ten pounds less boost than we have previously run. Thank you for all the help from Alex McIntosh, Lawrie Bamford, and my family Jeanette and Shelby who I know were more nervous than me. Also a huge thank you to the guys at SPRC for their understanding and organisation around our logistical circumstances over the weekend. I am looking forward to the rest of the season, to testing and running the bike further, also to completing the remaining rounds this season in the MG in Street Eliminator. Ian Jackson's Corvette will get further testing moving on from the consistent 8.40 passes all year; it's unlikely I will run it in competition but Ian wants the boost turning up a bit and we will see if someone takes the opportunity to grab a potential class-winning bargain. *Swift snippets.* 19th June: Wendy Clutterbuck says that Tim Blakemore was more than happy with the form of his Kawasaki-backed Funny Bike at the weekend. "Tim's new dry clutch set up is really starting to work", says Wendy. "We recorded a best ever sixty foot time of 1.0633. We had to rebuild the engine overnight on Saturday after a broken shift rod damaged third gear". Wendy would like to hear from anyone with pictures of her attempt at Speedway in her first qualifying pass; if you can help then drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll put you in touch. ©Eurodragster.com *Jim looks down on Turbo.* 19th June: SPRC Summernationals Top Fuel Bike winner Ian Turburville took on the supercharged Pumas and won under sunny skies and on a sticky track. Turbo has been in touch with his story of the weekend: I put another motor in the bike recently, a new timed fuel system and a timed clutch so we knew we had to start all over again to get a combination that worked. I couldn't get the last parts to plumb the hydraulic clutch cannon in time for this race so had to guess on a setting using it as a conventional clutch. As it happens we didn't quite find the ideal setting and although the bike was making good power the clutch was slipping too much and we couldn't get the front wheel off the ground. These bikes will not go straight if the front wheel touches and several times I had to back off as it headed for the wall so no fast times. We found a major problem with the cam shafts on Saturday and, with help, got it all fixed by midnight. Unfortunately Steve Woollatt had a rod let go and it trashed his motor, putting him out of the running but that gave me a solo into the eliminations and a bye in the other eliminator which was a great relief as they all outpowered me by two hundred horsepower. Ian King was on a mission and he had just run a record 221 mph so was seemingly unstoppable. The final between Ian and myself was a very exciting moment and the tension was high! On the green I got the drop on him at the Tree and blasted off but he was by me immediately on the immaculate Puma. I started to drift to the wall again so got off the throttle to correct it but realised that Ian was suddenly coming backwards towards me! He had broken a blower belt which stopped his thousand horsepower in their tracks. I quickly seized the chance, gave my throttle a big snap and blew past him at the line. I couldn't believe my luck, my first win in ACU Top Fuel Bike. I think Jim McClure was definitely looking down on me there so that one was for him. Big thanks to Terry Dutton for jumping in at the deep end and becoming Crew Chief again in Denzyl's absence. Thanks also to Ingrid and Martin for constant help at every race this year, they are just great and I don't deserve the abuse I give them! Without some sound advice and help from chassis builder and tuner to the stars, Al Smith, the weekend would have been lost so big thanks to him. Commiserations to Ian King and Steve Woollatt but I know they will be back in the low sixes again soon. Mr. Spokehead is all in one piece and ready for demonstration passes at the UK Truck Show on 28th-29th June and the Bulldog Bash on 8th-10th August. Our team would like to offer a great big congratulations to former crew chief Brum and his Northants Nitro team on winning NAST Top Fuel at the same event in his very first race! Well done team 81! A big shout to our winning sponsors Custom Chrome Europe, Red Line Oil, Gates Belts, Arias Pistons, Curbishley Automotive, Rush Racing, Sprint Dampers, RST Wheels, Fast Lane Racing, King Racing, Innovate Dataloggers, Bentec Transmissions, Exhaust Gas Technologies, Timtime.co.uk, I&S Logistics, and Deeside Automated Controls. ©Eurodragster.com *Counting the weeks...* 19th June: Sharron Collier says that the Jade Racing Pro Stock Bike team went to the SPRC Summernationals not knowing what to expect, Jerry Collier's entire experience of the bike being his observed passes. In the event Jerry broke his Personal Best twice and now the team can't wait for the next race: In the final observed run the bike had taken the long way round, swooping to the right around half track, and we didn't know if our changes to the wheel would stop that happening. We ended up working all Friday night cleaning up the pistons that had touched the head, and sorting out the stud that wouldn't torque down. We packed up about midnight - this was our first weekend away without the kids. We carried on next morning but weren't ready for the first qualifier so had to miss it. We managed to get to the second qualifier about four hours later and were very happy with the 7.93 that came up, the bike still moved still slightly to the right but lots better than before. Back to the pits to download all the stuff we don't understand, and before we had got the Racepak to talk to the laptop we were called again so we just fuelled it and went. It ran ran 7.836 and we were well chuffed. We didn't realise until then that it was only a four bike field in Pro Stock, and that by running that we had put Paul King on the trailer as he had not made the qualifier due to a problem from earlier. We personally think that of all the rules being talked about in PSB, this has got to be the one to change. We think this would put people off entering a meeting much more than having to put a bit of lead on. If there were eighteen and a sixteen bike field it would be a bit different, but running four bikes out of five, ridiculous. This will never encourage new bikes to be built. It felt like crap bumping Paul out, nearly as crap as it would if he had put us on the trailer! ©Eurodragster.com Anyway first round and we had Len Paget, he had us off the lights straight away so can't blame it on the horsepower! A great race. We were amazed that everything was OK, we brought the bike back home in one piece, still running, and with three seven second passes under its belt. We have been on planet Pro Stock ever since. A fantastic weekend, and a great class. We have got loads of people to thank: Dave Beck for his help rebuilding on Friday night and his expert use of silicone, Ric Naylor for all his computer help, Steve French for the starter and general Steveness, Martin who kept in touch from his beach in Dubai, our top crewman Baz, without whom we truly couldn't have been there, George and Lorraine Laycock at GLS Engineering for top quality workmanship, everybody who replied to our pleas for help for a starter including Ian who brought one for us to try, all the Stocker riders for lending us stuff, giving us advice and being great competitors. We're counting the weeks until next time. *NFAA Summernationals review.* 19th June: At last, after the 'Snowball' and the 'Rain Event', we had good weather for the 'Sun Nationals', says Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association promoter Lawrie Gatehouse: With a slightly depleted field, due to a number of racers finishing off their modifications, we had warm, dry weather with an excellent track surface. Memorable aspects include Paul Wratten in Dirty Harry IV carding all four runs in the sixes, with new Personal Bests, culminating in an impressive 6.460/208.12; tremendous burnouts by Nick Davies in Havoc and a PB of 6.832/200.43; Freddy's Revenge, shoed by Dave Grabham, continuing to improve with a new PB in the bigger-engined Topolino - 7.421/183.56; Chaos running a new AA/FA class record of 6.195, albeit using both lanes in an interesting excursion. The Mob had a torrid time, first with fuel system glitches, then a leaking 'O' ring on the oil filter and finally being shut-off with a small oil leak from the front of the blower. As Ollie was heard to say, "All I need now is a plague of locusts". Clayton Round in Rebel 'T' put on his usual consistent show in the immaculate machine. Joe Bond was coming to grips with the bigger motor, with an easy first half-pass in Round 1. The subsequent attempt in the next round ended after the burnout, with what turned out to be bent pushrods and broken lifters, sidelining Nuthin' Fancy for the rest of the event. Arguably the most exciting match-up was in Round 3 between Dirty Harry IV and Chaos. At the hit, John Wright had a marginal advantage with a quicker reaction time, but by the sixty foot timer, Paul was ahead of John 0.991 to 1.021. By the 330 foot mark, Chaos had just clawed it back with a 2.699 to Paul's 2.730 and thereafter the nitro power kicked in after the eighth. At around nine hundret feet a puke tank hose came loose on Chaos, putting oil under one slick, causing it to veer into the left lane. John did a superb rescue job to get back into the right-hand lane, at the expense of the foam blocks and reflectors, before tripping the clocks at 6.195/204.14. Luckily he was a length or two ahead of Paul who also reacted swiftly to lift and record the win due to the Chaos infringement. The foam blocks trashed the front canards on Chaos and unfortunately some of the foam particles were ingested into Dirty Harry's blower, causing their belt to break and damaging the valves. To the credit of Paul and Terry's Crew, they thrashed hard to repair the damages and take their deserved place in the finals. The other finalist was Nick Davies in Havoc, his three-run aggregate total just pipping Rebel 'T' by 0.17 of a second. In the final, both cars had problems. Havoc with a broken blower belt after the burnout and Dirty Harry with a remote starter engagement glitch. As neither could make their runs due to what were minor problems, in the interests of the sport, the class and the fans, it was decided to give them fifteen minutes' grace and re-match them for a re-run. This was adjudged to be a good decision as, after long smokey burnouts, a thrilling side-by-side race was run. Havoc ran for at least a thousand feet with the front wheels six inches off the deck, but Nick had no intention of backing off. But at the stripe it was to no avail as Paul Wratten took the win with a fine 6.460/208.12 to a gallant, but losing, 6.927/196.17 from Nick Davies. A great meeting, plenty of action, new PBs and plenty of fun...it doesn't get much better than this. ©Eurodragster.com *PMR: Goal achieved.* 19th June: Paul Marston says that the Paul Marston Racing team set out to achieve results at the SPRC Summernationals and did just that. "With six entries competing in three classes and only two qualifiers, this is the kind of racing that shows the benefits of a big team", says Paul. "Dave Catton driving the PiranaZ-backed four-link Dragster qualified fourth in Super Comp and with no byes or redlighting opponents carved his way through a tough field, to face a resurgent Paul Letchford in the Super Comp final. Dave took the final and the big cheque and trophy, courtesy of Santa Pod Racers Club. Dave Catton is now starting to make his mark, after garnering pole at both the Springspeed Festival and the FIA Main Event, a win at the Summernationals will probably see him leading the UK National Super Comp Championship with three events to go. "Firstly this was a team effort", said Dave. "They all deserve to share in my success, I could not do this without them. Paul Marston Racing provide me with the tools I need to get the job done, for which I am always grateful. The PiranaZ backed four-link dragster was utterly faultless, exceptionally drivable and deadly consistent. It is as reliable as the Boeing aircraft I fly as my day job! "Again this is down to the PMR crew, the high standard of maintenance and preparation that goes into the Paul Marston Racing cars really shows. We did have an amusing moment when replacing the trans fluid. As some may know prior to qualifying #1 at the FIA Main Event we broke the transmission and the convertor on the dragster, Gary Springford from Drag Race Engineering rebuilt the trans and the convertor was replaced. The fluid change was scheduled after the first qualifier Saturday morning due to the prior trans work, but Gary wanted to remove the sump and check it out thoroughly. Upon doing so we found a piston type plunger and a broken circlip. Where did it come from? Neither Gary Springford nor Paul Marston could identify where it came from in the dragster's Powerglide transmission. After checking with Dave Day, Frank Mason and finally Al O'Connor we agreed, it was not part of a Powerglide transmission! So with that put to bed I went on to win the event, safe in the knowledge that the part was not needed." "Mick Howling was driving a resurgent Grumpy's Dodge in Pro ET and Super Gas, fresh from the Drag Race Engineering workshop complete with new propshaft, ring and pinion and a through check over. All the hard work was rewarded handsomely with Mick putting Grumpy on pole in Super Gas. Mick lost to eventual winner Conrad Stanley in the second round. In Pro ET Mick lost a squeaker to Andy Williamson, in a race that could easily have gone either way. "After breaking Grumpy at the Main Event, I was so disappointed, I always take it personally when she gets broken", says Mick. "To come back like this is fantastic. As I always do I went down to Drag Race Engineering to help Gary Springford repair Grumpy, it's the best way to learn and understand how these race cars work." "Gary Springford returned to Pro ET in Hulk Shogun and went two rounds, again having a great event, supremely confident but losing to Keith Herbert by seven ten thousandths of a second. Gary afterwards admitted that maybe he closed it up a little too tight and paid the price. "Both Keith and I thought I had it, so when Keith's win light came on neither of us could understand it", says Mick. "That's racing I guess, but I will get Keith next time, I owe him one now!" ©Eurodragster.com "Gary Springford also garnered a round of applause from the fire crew, as upon crossing the finish line one of the velocity stacks on the injection system on Hulk Shogun flew off. Somehow Gary managed to stand on the brakes and catch it on the bonnet, then by steering the car carefully and slowing down at the same time wedged it against the remaining stacks and saved it from damage. "When the firecrew realised I was not in trouble but just trying not to run over the stack and actually managed to save it", says Gary. "They were all clapping when I pulled up, it must have looked hilarious! I knew I had to save it, they only sell them in sets of eight!" "Steve Bolton was pulling his usual wheels-up launches, courtesy of Paul Marstons Pro Stock carbs due to the non-arrival of Steve's refurbished Barry Grant carbs from the states. Competing in Pro ET, Steve succumbed to a first round loss. Steve will be hoping for better success when he competes at Drachten next month. "I was in unfamiliar yet very comfortable territory this weekend, still in Pro ET but with Gary Springford's street-legal Procharged Mustang, running down to a best of 10.67 with more to go and a nice and safe tune. I had a great time. With a full interior and exhausts, it could easily have been mistaken for an everyday drive were it not for the slicks and the performance. It was a very easy car to live with. Power windows, full leather interior, bright colour, I was in heaven. The only thing that spoilt it was that it was so quiet - in the staging lanes you cannot hear the motor turning over with all the noisy cars around you! Come first round the motor did not catch quickly enough and flattened the battery. Shame really, and yes I did want to burn it to the ground there and then but it's not my car! I was really looking forward to a great day's racing but I was tickled pink to run so well straight off of the trailer. "Paul Marston Racing had changed their approach and tactics a little at this event and the results speak for themselves. You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of a big team and play to your strengths, work on your weaknesses. Our final round win/loss ratio was impressive, we just need somewhere near that percentage in the first round. PMR know what needs to be done, we just need to work harder at achieving that goal. "Very special thanks go to Santa Pod Racers Club for staging such a well run and successful event; Santa Pod management, staff and track crew for all their hard work; Eurodragster.com for making us all look and sound so good, and it was great to see Sharkman at the track again, get better and better each day, we all miss you; Nigel and the guys at Nitro FM for a job professionally done; all the PMR guests, fans, ex-drivers, passenger ride victims etc, it was great to see you all again. All the fantastic people who make up the Paul Marston Racing crew: The Crew Chief, Sefton and Lecia Whitlock, Mick Pusey and Lighthouse Leigh, Special Guest Duncan, Special Tea Needs Len Springford, Loopy Lou Louisa, Simon and Sam Innes, thank you all as without you PMR does not exist. Special thanks to Mick Howling who works so hard behind the scenes and a warm welcome to all the new crew who are with us this year. A big shout to the US branch of Paul Marston Racing - Tony Morris and all our American racer friends in Florida. "Thanks to our sponsors PiranaZ (now available at C&P Hot Rod Tees), Drag Race Engineering, CTM Performance & Machine, Geddex, London Road Tyres, and everyone else who helps us out and supports us and believes in what we do." *Diary of the #1.* 19th June: Konrad Ree of the Islanders Drag Racing Team has been in touch an account of Norwegian Top Methanol Dragster racer Paul Ingar Udtian's pre-season testing and FIA Main Event: Peak Performance Day: The team was ready for testing on the Norwegian National Day. The day started with racing, and we were ready for a test when the rain came. We waited and had almost given up when the track was finally ready. We were the last car, and managed to do a test run. We started very softly, and ran a 6.1909/243.77 in our first test of the season. We had some problems with the pistons last year, and we had planned to go through the whole engine in the evening. It didn't look bad, so we decided to go for another test on Sunday. Run What You Brung: We stepped up the car a little, and ran a good 5.72. The smile was on again, until we opened the engine and found destroyed pistons. At this point we were very confused and decided to contact our main sponsor Q8 Oils on the morning of Monday 19th. We had a talk with Gunnar Brandstrøm from OK - Q8 in Sweden. He did an incredible job setting us up with a lot of people from Q8; too many to remember all their names, but I have to send a thank you to all involved. Thanks to Petsa (Predag Ljubinkovic), Caroline Celsing, some from Antwerpen and at last but not at least, Phil Davies from Q8 in Leeds, who did something that we didn't think was possible: he managed to make a new oil for the Islanders Drag Racing Team in just two days and had it delivered to Santa Pod at midday Wednesday. Pro Peak Performance Day: We continued testing on Thursday, and we stepped the car up a little more, running a good 5.68. On the second run we had 0.9331 to sixty feet, 3.6730/200.09 at the eighth and a personal best 5.6377/248.61 at the line. Wow, we were back and ready for the Main Event. Maja Udtian made many runs with her Junior Dragster on this day, and the only time we saw her was when she was in the pit for more gasoline. She drove the Junior for sixteen test runs, and is now starting to get control of the car. FIA Main Event: We softened down the car a little bit in the first qualifying session of the year, so that we could go for a good qualifying time. That made us number two in the first round, with a 5.6461/253.10. The engine was in good condition and the top speed would come so we decided to step it up for a 5.5 in the next round. On the next run the car seemed to leave the line as planned, with a little bit more wheelspin, and we had 0.9605 at sixty feet, 3.6777/204.24 at half track. There seemed to be a little problem at the end, but we ended up with a new Personal Best 5.600/255.02. When we checked the engine, something had happened. Paul had finished the race with only seven cylinders. We had a broken lifter, but things like that happen. We started to rebuild the engine for Sunday. The car was ready, but we woke up to rain. The rain wouldn't stop, so the race was cancelled at half past two on Monday. We can't do anything about the weather, but we were the number one qualifier and we are now leading the FIA Championship. The Racepak is now up and working. We hope to see you all in Finland. ©Eurodragster.com *Carter gets Trucking.* 19th June: Andy Carter and the Lucas Oil team once again have a very busy month ahead of them. In two weeks' time the Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster will be on display at the UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway (28th-29th June). Lucas Oil founder Forrest Lucas was a truck driver for and the owner of, a long haul trucking fleet for twenty years prior to establishing his company with the simple philosophy of producing only the best line of lubricants and additives available anywhere. It's with great honour that the Lucas Oil / Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing team will be representing Forrest and his fantastic range of products to the fans of UK truck racing. This coming weekend the team will again be at Santa Pod and will display the 8000bhp Top Fuel Dragster to the fans of the rapidly growing Jap scene. Sunday's Jap Show will combine Run What You Brung, the HKS Drag Series, drifting and car show. If you will be attending either show be sure to stop by and say hello to the crew who will be more than happy to talk to you about Lucas Oil and Top Fuel drag racing. In July the Lucas Oil / Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing team get back on the Championship trail as they travel to Finland for the second round of the 2008 FIA European Top Fuel Championship on 3rd-6th July. After a wet Main Event stopped the team in their tracks everyone in the camp is eager to continue where we left off. "Not being able to build on our number one qualifying position at the Main Event was very disappointing", says Andy Carter. "But we left Santa Pod number one in the points and we will be putting up a fight in Finland to make sure we hold onto that spot." ©Eurodragster.com *The race to the Sevens.* 19th June: Making a Japanese car which runs sixteen-second quarter-miles on the drag strip go two seconds faster is easy. A simple remap and some bolt-on bits could be all you need to do to find those extra two seconds. But making a ten-second car run a low eight is a leap of light year proportions. Every fraction of a second and every mile per hour after that is an epic battle undertaken only by true heroes. Yet here we are in 2008 with not one, but two competitors in the HKS Drag Series are hoping to make this Sunday's (22nd June) JapShow at Santa Pod Raceway the first event where a Japanese car dips into the sevens. John Bradshaw has taken his Nissan Skyline R33 GTST through a number of mutations before it became the seven-second contender that it is today. Where everyone else was successfully developing the 4WD GTRs, and running nines in some cases, John took the underdog of the Skyline litter, the GTS, and spent his time and money lightening it and boosting the power until it eventually ran its first nine in June 2006. In 2007 John went to the drag racing experts, Andy Robinson Race Cars, and asked them to modify the rear end of the GTS to cure its Achilles' heel: traction. Wider tyres and drag-specific suspension were needed to get the extra grip, so a narrow axle was installed and John could turn up the power once again. As a result, 2007 brought about another massive leap in progress, with John down to 8.5s at the end of the season. In 2008, John has gone from 8.5 to a string of consistent 8.1s at the FIA Main Event, and John feels there is room for improvement in both the tune of the car and his driving. Surely the time for a seven is upon us... The Toyota Supra has been Steve Whittaker's weapon of choice ever since he got involved in drag racing Japanese cars. At the end of 2006, Steve had got his Mk 4 Supra to run regular super-low tens, but it was hitting a performance brick wall, and would need something drastic to make it go quicker. Steve was beaten in the finals of the 2006 JapShow Finale by Tim Webster, who was running the much lighter and more drag-focused R33 Skyline GTR, and Steve simply couldn't match Tim's eight-second runs with the Mk 4. His response was to construct an all-new car for the 2007 season. Steve got his hands on a former Super Modified car in the shape of a Mk 3 Supra and removed the V8 that had been used in national drag racing. Back in went a single-turbo Supra straight-six and drag transmission, and the set-up was devastating straight from the crate. It was so good in fact, that by the end of the 2007 season it had run 8.0s and far outperformed the specification of its safety equipment. Before the 2008 season started, Steve had a new cage built and the chassis stiffened, and was quickly back to 8.0s at the PTM Show. A seven-second run is just a blink away. Steve and John are not the only guys gunning for sevens. At least two Skyline GTRs are also aiming for sevens in the quarter mile: Andy Barnes is just waiting for a new turbo to take his 8.2-second GTR that bit faster, and Mick Begley has taken Tim Webster's old R33 a step closer to the goal too. But who will get there first? You can find out at the JapShow at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday. For more information check out the event's official web site at www.japshow.com. ©Eurodragster.com *What's on this weekend.* 19th June: The 2008 Drachten Nationals takes place on Friday-Sunday of this weekend at Drachten Airport in The Netherlands. Drachten is in the north of Holland, about 2 hours 20 minutes' drive from Hook of Holland. All Sportsman classes will be taking part and Danny Bellio (Top Methanol Funny Car) and Robert Joosten and Mark Meihuizen (Pro Modified) will be making demo passes. Scrutineering starts this evening (Thursday). Gates open to spectators at 8:30 with running from 10:00 each day, qualifying until 21:00 on Friday and Saturday and eliminations on Sunday. Entry is €10 (€7.50 for children) on Friday and €15 (€12.50 for children) on each of Saturday and Sunday. More information can be found at www.explosiondragracing.com. ©Eurodragster.com The fourth year of the King of Europe street-legal drag racing reaches its conclusion this wekend at Brustem Airport, Belgium, between Brussels and Liege. The event includes a drag racing competition for street cars and drifting. Scrutineering will take place tomorrow and practice starts at 09:00 on Saturday, with drag race qualifying between 17:00 and 19:00. On Sunday there is a drag warm-up from 09:00 to 12:00 and eliminations from 14:00 pm to 17:00 to decide the King of Europe West. At the end there will be a Super Final between the winner of the King of Europe East, Grzegorz Staszewski with his 1550 horsepower Corvette, and the winner of the King of Europe West. The UK have the most vehicles entered, 22 out of 103, with such names as Ray Comer, Jon Webster and Jeff Thurston from B&H Automotive Street Eliminator and several members of Run What You Brung regulars Taz Racing. Other counties with strong representation are Belgium (18), France (16) and Germany (11). Spectator tickets for the weekend are €25 with children under ten getting in free. More details and results can be seen at www.kingofeurope.net/2008/koedrag. *Web site updates.* 19th June: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Derek Flynn relates the acquisition of his new injected-nitro dragster and Matt Glassup's outing in his previous dragster. You can check out Derek's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Also posting a Blog entry is Brian Taylor with the latest update to the work on his forthcoming history of UK drag racing. You can find Brian's Blog on Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has updated his Nitro Exposure web site with pictures from the SPRC Summernationals and a couple more vintage photographs. Check it out at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. An SPRC Summernationals report and pictures have been posted on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/e_summer_nat.php. Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon photo site with pictures from the SPRC Summernationals. You can take a look at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. Editor's note: Apologies for the lack of a news update yesterday. Your News Editor was unwell, probably just the weekend catching up with him so hold the flowers. *Swift snippets.* 17th June: Pictured is a flyer showing the front cover of the forthcoming book from UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter (click on image for back side of flyer). The book will be hardback, 160 or so pages, and we understand that it is a mainly pictorial look at Andy's drag racing career. Pre-orders, including orders for signed copies, will shortly be taken on Andy's web site at www.andycarter.net. Congratulations to Swedish Pro Modified racer Mats Eriksson on a Personal Best speed of 232 mph at the Deep Forest Nationals at Sundsvall at the weekend. Lars-Göran Eriksson tells us that Mats had to pedal for shake but that the car then hooked up and went. "On the second qualifying run the tyres went up in smoke and then we were rained off", says L-G. "They have a nice smooth strip at Sundsvall. Congratulations to Andy Robinson and the team on the 6.16 at the Summernationals!" ©Eurodragster.com Racers attending the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro at the start of next month are invited to take part in a golf tournament on Alastaro's new golf course at 17:00 on Thursday 3rd July. The entry fee includes green fees, facilities, dinner, shower and sauna. Registration should be submitted to [email protected] by 30th June. Click here to view the official invitation (PDF format). The UK's Freddy's Revenge blown alcohol altered team have asked us to thank Santa Pod's medical team Human Touch for a spot-on diagnosis and speed and efficiency of care when Crew Chief TC suffered a heart attack at the weekend. "We hope that TC will be hone on Thursday", says Jo Carter. We're sure that everyone will join us in wishing TC all the very best and a rapid return to the track. UK Volkswagen Sportsman racers Adrian Wigley and Spencer Tramm, who work together, happily shared an office bin until 3:00 pm on Sunday when they faced off in eliminations at the SPRC Summernationals and Spencer won. "It makes up for the time I got my butt kicked by Adrian at Big Bang" said Spencer. "I let him win to stop him whining in the office!" riposted protégé Adrian. Both drivers will be hoping that the final at Bug Jam will be each other's chance to make the score 2-1. We are very pleased to announce that Eurodragster.com will be posting live Event Coverage from the Nitrolympx at Hockenheim on 15th-17th August. We received the good news just as this news update went to post so stay tuned for more, but in the meantime you can find out more about the race at www.nitrolympx.de. A big Thank You to Rico Anthes and Christine Calwer, and also to Gittli Koller and Benni Voss for their help. *Web site updates.* 17th June: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon writes about the rocketing costs of fuel both for his race car and rig, the effects of the price increase and possible nitro shortage upon his and his competitors' operations, and the proposed introduction of oildown penalties in the 2009 FIA European Championships. You can check out Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Editor's note: Only a brief news update today due to pressure of work in your News Editor's day job. Tune back tomorrow for the latest from the Islanders Top Methanol Dragster team, a new car for Sweden's Dahlblom Brothers, the race to be the UK's first seven-second Import and more; please keep those news items coming to [email protected] and we'll post them here. *SPRC Summernationals results.* 16th June: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: Pro Modified: Bert Englefield 12.3765/109.23 bye Super Modified: Nigel Payne 7.5916/178.40 def. Tim Garlick 7.7934/161.84 Super Pro ET: Nick Good (6.89) 7.1586/145.55 def. Dave Crunkhorn (7.00) 7.7972/159.49 Pro ET: Charlie Chivers (10.70) 10.7309/126.44 def. Paul Baynton (10.98) 10.9528/120.67 Sportsman ET: Geoff Cowley (15.50) 15.4499/89.64 Nigel Holland (15.25) 15.2494/86.30 Super Comp: Dave Catton 8.9350/143.38 def. Paul Letchford 9.0159/157.88 Super Gas: Conrad Stanley 9.9051/153.63 def. Tim Adam shut off Super Street: Leigh Morris 10.9908/119.76 def. Neil Grant 10.9366/122.80 Junior Dragster: Jayne Kay (8.01) 8.0202/81.60 def. Dan Giles (8.92) 8.9089/71.50 B&H Automotive Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.1035/178.31 def. Steve Nash 8.2290/181.28 NFAA: Dennis Wratten 6.4604/208.12 def. Nick Davies 6.9276/196.17 Wild Bunch: Darren Law (9.20) 9.3891/134.78 def. David Rowlands (9.70) 9.7692/141.62 VW Pro: James Hodson (10.60) 10.6780/128.64 Steve Parfitt (11.65) 11.7751/106.94 VW Sportsman: Spencer Tramm (15.93) 16.0042/79.70 def. Craig Allen (15.20) 15.2197/84.68 VW Alternate Engine: Matt Attwood (13.53) 13.7657/97.89 def. Scott Evison (11.90) 11.9064/110.42 Outlaw Anglia: Paul Hensher 8.4283/158.99 def. Paul Wright 8.9075/67.72 ©Eurodragster.com Top Fuel Bike: Ian Turburville 8.6468/145.18 def. Ian King 12.2693/63.28 Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.4447/168.44 def. Len Paget 7.5658/166.62 Funny Bike: Neil Midgley 6.8061/174.19 def. Tim Blakemore 7.5849/151.00 Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 7.4549/192.05 def Dave Smith 7.8462/173.02 Comp Bike: Ivan Birch 7.4828/178.32 def. Alexander Rose 8.8819/158.44 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki 9.5514/136.41 def. Martin Walker 9.5561/141.13 Supertwin Fuel: Martin Blackwell 8.5530/140.65 def. Wendy Clutterbuck 9.1269/132.49 Supertwin Gas: Andy Smith 9.5747/136.45 def. Chris Mott 9.8317/134.38 Supertwin ET: Joe Elliott (10.58) 10.7966/119.73 def. Simon Clamp (11.40) 11.4564/118.46 Two UK National records were set. Congratulations to: ACU Top Fuel Bike: 221.06 mph, Ian King ACU Funny Bike: 6.703 seconds, Neil Midgley Congratulations also to Paul Wratten who blew away the European blown-alcohol altered ET record with a 6.460 in the NFAA final having already broken Kenneth Feldthusen's previous best with a 6.575 on Saturday. Dave Day took the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award with a 0.000 in Super Gas eliminations, and Shane Rae took the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award with a 17.550 on a 17.55 dial-in during VW Sportsman eliminations. You can access our American Car Imports-sponsored SPRC Summernationals coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Editor's note: Can we draw readers', or some readers', attention to the FAQ about contacting Eurodragster.com whilst we are at the track. *Swift snippets.* 13th June: Super Modified, B&H Automotive Street Eliminator, Outlaw Anglia, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, VW Alternate Engine, Sportsman ET and Junior Dragster racers are reminded that the official closing date for entry to Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th July, is two weeks today, Friday 27th June. You can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Junior Dragster racers please note that this is a non-Championship round. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com Photo-journalist and graphic designer Mark Gredzinski has been in touch with a picture of himself at work on his latest main d'oeuvre which is shaping up to be another Gredzinski classic. If you click on the picture to check out the full-sized version you will see that Mark uses "Cheap hogshair brushes for big areas of colour and small decent quality sable ones for fine detail". Mark tells us that what we can see is a base coat in oils and has been put away for a week or so to dry before another session. "The next picture I show you will be a Monza done in acrylic, which is coming on well." Thanks to Mona at the Finnish Hot Rod Association sending us Version 5 of the official entry list for the FHRA Nitro Nationals, which takes place at Alastaro on 3rd-6th July. You can check out the FHRA Nitro Nationals entry list by clicking here (PDF format). *Web site updates.* 13th June: Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive has been updated with the latest entry in Brian Taylor's Blog describing the activities of the Allard Chrysler Action Group, with news of an initial inspection of the car carried out by fourteen members of the group at the National Motor Museum on 10th June. The car was found to be generally in very good repair. You can read all about it, and check out an extensive photo gallery, via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com *Flamholc joins our Blog team.* 12th June: We are very pleased to welcome Swedish Pro Stock racer Adam Flamholc onto Eurodragster.com's Racer Blog team. Adam will be giving us the inside track on events in the Glueharbor Dragracing Team, home of the first European Pro Stock in the 6.6s. Adam's first Blog is an introduction to himself and his team and you can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Don't forget that The Caravan Tube are producing a series of short documentaries about Adam and the team including his trip to the USA where Adam ran the 6.6-second pass. A set of episodes about the FIA Main Event will be posted soon but in the meantime you can check out the current series at www.youtube.com/thecaravantube. In addition David Flamholc has forwarded us a 3D graphic of Adam's Pro Stock which comes in MP4 format and which you can view by clicking here. Bloggen på svenska hos flamholcdragracing.blogg.se. *Webster rides for Blakemore.* 12th June: UK Funny Bike team Tim Blakemore Racing and Kawasaki Motors UK are proud to welcome Jon Webster onto the team riding TBR's ZZR1400 turbo in 9.50 Bike. John will make his competitive début on the bike at this weekend's SPRC Summernationals after testing at Friday's Peak Performance Day. "When Kawasaki asked us to take on this project we were really excited, but with the current team workload taking up all of our time we were wondering how we could properly do it justice" says Wendy Clutterbuck. "So unless Tim split himself in two we couldn't think of another rider who wasn't involved elsewhere. I would love to have a go myself but the nitro bug is a real problem! "In a chance conversation with Jon the subject came up and his eyes lit up and he said that he would be really interested to ride the bike himself. We thought it was a great idea and are absolutely honoured to have Jon aboard." "I have known of Tim Blakemore as long as I've been racing, but I got to know him personally in 2004 when we were asked to build him a new Funny Bike to be powered by a ZX12 Kawasaki motor", says Jon Webster. "Since then we have continued a healthy working relationship, maintaining communications regarding the progress with his bike and Kawasaki. Webster Race Engineering are not normally associated with two-wheeled drag racing, but I have always had a keen enthusiasm for bikes, owning and riding road bikes since I was old enough to hold a licence. So when Tim was telling me about his continued association with Kawasaki and further support in the form of his building a new ZZR14 for 9.50 Bike, I nearly fell over when he asked me if I wanted to ride the bike in competition. "I have been fortunate to build and drive some wonderful machinery in drag racing and I have always been intrigued by the bikes. Tim is obviously more than occupied tuning and riding his Funny Bike, so I an only too glad to help. I am still on standby to drive the McDonald Racing Top Fuel car, and meanwhile will still be competing in Street Eliminator. The Summernationals will be the bike's and my début as well as competing in Street Eliminator, which I had already entered and in which I am currently third in the Championship. I think it will be a tall order to compete in both disciplines, especially as I will need to be a quick change artist if the classes run close to each other. ©Eurodragster.com "From what I understand it will be a very capable race bike, extending it's pedigree from the road. I am honoured to be asked to be involved with this project and I hope I can do justice to Tim Blakemore Racing and Kawasaki." "The ethos for the project is to keep the bike relatively simple with a view to attract new blood into the sport", says Tim Blakemore. "Most of the components are off the shelf bolt on items and can be removed easily to revert back to everyday road use. The Tim Blakemore Racing turbo system is probably a little overkill for the class but Kawasaki were keen to incorporate it for promotional purposes. Therefore it will be set up with just a whiff of boost. "Tim Blakemore Racing would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors and wish Jon all the best with the rest of the season. Thanks to everyone at Kawasaki Motors UK who have been absolutely great, Elf Lubricants, CR Turbo Engineering, Dynojet UK, Performance Parts Ltd, TJC Design Custom and Race Paint, HEL Performance and Reality Motorworks." *Swift snippets.* 12th June: Thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding us the post-FIA Main Event UK National Championships points standings. You can check out the latest UK Championship positions on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Stephen Moon tells us that there are still places available for the Track Day at Santa Pod Raceway which is planned for Wednesday 30th July. "We have twenty four bikes booked and six possibles, so a handful of other interested parties would get us there", says Stephen. "Virtually unlimited track time on one of the best tracks on the planet for only £100 has to be a deal. Check out the number of UK-based test and race opportunities between now and the end of August, and it's clear this is a prime opportunity to test and tune. Cars with slicks are also welcome". If you are interested in attending then please call Stephen on 07967 564301. ©Eurodragster.com Further to his recent note, UK Pro ET racer Phil Toppin tells us that his new motor has been fired up. "I must say many thanks to Jeff Bull", says Phil. "Jeff gave up his Saturday to help me finish off my heads. Well, I mostly watched. A very clever man. See you all on Friday." *Wild Bunch latest.* 12th June: Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows writes with the latest from the Nostalgia racers: A field of fourteen Wild Bunch cars attended the Yanks American Weekend st Shakespeare County Raceway on 31st May-1st June. At RWYB events such as this we run a time trial format, and because of the rain delay we ran just two rounds out of the usual four. Darren Law with the Wicked Lady rear-engined dragster came into the event with the Real Steel Series points lead, and continued his dominant form, winning the event with a margin of just one thousandth accumulated across the two rounds over second-placed Dave Williams in The Cunning Plan Minivan altered. Third place was Scot Durrant in the wheelie-pulling Tiki Munki Ruby-bodied altered, with the Top 4 being rounded out by Terry Clifford's golden Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot. ©Eurodragster.com Quickest E.T. of the weekend was Neil Ward's Andromeda slingshot, with a 9.008/147 during a test run, with Neil also having the best Reaction Time of 0.033. Crazy Chris Hartnell in the Backdraft slingshot was pulling some good wheelies, won the Best Slingshot prize, and ran a season-best 9.22/141, before some damage put him out of the event. Many thanks to Roy Wilding for all his help with the rebuild since the event. Darryl Howells was a popular repeat winner of the Drivers' Choice vote in the Chemical Reaction slingshot. Dave Rowlands with the Destiny's Angel altered was 0.005 off his declared time in the first round, and this looked promising until fire-up problems prevented him from staging in the second round. Mark Richardson's Pony Express was voted Best Altered by the commentary team, and Dave Williams was smokin' them good for the Best Burnout prize. Unfortunately, Martin Holgate's return with his gorgeous Paranoia altered was thwarted by an errant gudgeon pin and rod, but miraculously he has already rebuilt ready for next weekend! Keith Crampton discovered damage to the diff in the Soultown Shaker slingshot, but will hopefully be back out soon in the well-presented car. Former Shakespeare County track marshal Jacko made his first outing of the year with his Claustrophobic rear-engined dragster but suffered some unusual gremlins of a rodent nature! Father and son Mike and Andy Cresswell were swapping seat time in the Freq Racing Living the Dream slingshot, in preparation for Andy's first drive at the Pod, whilst Steve Field was getting some air under the front wheels of his popular altered The Black Pig. Many thanks to all the track crew and officials at Shakespeare County Raceway for their hard work. After the weekend, Darren Law now leads the Wild Bunch Series over incumbent title holders Tony Smith and Dave Williams, with Scot Durrant in third. Darren has also increased his lead in the Real Steel Series, with Chris Hartnell still in second place, and Dave Rowlands close behind. For full details, see the Wild Bunch web site at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk. We're now looking forward to this weekend's Summernationals event which will be our fifth Real Steel Series round of the year, and the first round for the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series. Can Darren Law continue his run of good form? Or will Riot Racing stablemates Mark Richardson and Dave Rowlands stop him in his tracks? Will Martin Holgate be rewarded with a long overdue race win, or will first-time Pod driver Andy Cresswell score one for the youth of today? Or will one of the slingshot quartet of Chemical Reaction, Backdraft, RamRaider and Ratcatcher Resurrection be triumphant for their first Finals win of the year? Find out on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! *PMR locked and loaded!* 12th June: Paul Marston tells us that Paul Marston Racing are locked and loaded ready for this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: Grumpy's Dodge has a new prop shaft, ring and pinion, courtesy of the talented hands of Drag Race Engineering's Gary Springford. Special thanks to Grumpy's driver Mick Howling for coming all the way down from Norfolk to lend a hand to put Grumpy back together again. Thanks also Russ Gorman of Customville (020 8590 1449) for the advice and for the supply of some hard-to-find parts which helped keep us on schedule with the repair. What was also noticed was that the replacement gears are different to those previously supplied, which does lead you to ask why? Mick Howling will enter the fray as a potent combo in both Super Gas and Pro ET. Steve Bolton returns to Pro ET with the Dark Destroyer Plymouth Scamp, with new carbs courtesy of Barry Grant. Steve is loaded for Bear. After garnering Super Comp pole at the FIA Main event in the PiranaZ backed four-link Dragster, Dave Catton is simply looking to take up where he left off. Gary Springford, head honcho at Drag Race Engineering (020 8597 9484), returns again in his newly-sponsored Jap Mad Hulk Shogun. Gary had a relaxed and very enjoyable Main Event so he is looking forward to splitting some wigs!! ©Eurodragster.com I am rounding it off with yet another race car début, but this time it's not one of mine! This one belongs to Drag Race Engineering proprietor Gary Springford. A recent Florida import, it's a bit special: a genuine 3,000 mile totally stock appearance bright yellow '94 Mustang, packing a Procharger on a full aftermarket 347 ci small block. Yes, this is a real low ten second stree tcar, complete with the optional full leather, electric power windows, you get the picture. Gary and I ran this ultimate sleeper last weekend at North Weald's Test and Tune, although it succumbed to a faulty battery, the first two passes won it Fastest Time of Day to that point, so it shows good promise. It will make the perfect addition to Pro ET and it could be yours as it's for sale, so come check it out in the PMR pits this weekend and pick up a real bargain. Paul Marston Racing will from now on be stocking in our pit a limited number of consumable spares for the racer. Spark plug sets, both gasoline and alcohol, oil filters, trans fluid, fully synthetic 20/50 racing engine oil, Small and Big Block Chevy gaskets, starter motors etc. The prices will be keen, so if you need anything please stop by and see us. We are pleased to announce that business associate PiranaZ Clothing With attitude, who currently sponsor Paul Marston Racing here in the UK and NHRA Pro Stock driver Ben Watson in the US will have a selection of clothing available at the C&P Hot Rod Tees stand at Santa Pod this weekend. Chris at C&P and I are excited to finally be able to represent the PiranaZ brand and make the range available to UK Drag Race fans. This stuff is not for the faint hearted and has only ever been available at race tracks, so always retains an exclusivity. PiranaZ Clothing With Attitude is for the hard-core drag race fan. Check out the range at C&P Hot Rod Tees behind the Grandstands, just by the pedestrian crossing. *Weekend events update.* 12th June: As well as the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway there are a number of other races this weekend. Sweden's Sundsvall Raceway hosts the twentieth running of the Deep Forest Nationals and the return of Fuel Funny Car Racing to Scandinavia for the first time in over twenty years. The drivers that have confirmed they will be running are Patrik Pers, Hakan Fällström, Gary Page and Leif Helander. Also featured are the Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series including the UEM Snowmobile Drag Racing Cup, Top Doorslammers and Sportsman classes. Entry is 150 Kroner with free entry for under-15s. Action starts at 8:30 am on Saturday and 9:00 am on Sunday. More information at www.shrasundsvall.se. ©Eurodragster.com In the Czech Republic, Hoškovice hosts the UEM Open Drag Day. This is an all-bike race that features the Euroserie Supertwin Top Gas Championship and Harley Davidson V-Rod Destroyer Cup. The Czech Drag Serie championship includes FIM/UEM regulars Otto Knebl and Michal Ponca. Qualifying begins at 12:00 noon on Saturday and 9:00 am on Sunday. Full details can be found at www.dragster.cz. The UK's York Raceway has two events this weekend. On Saturday there is the PPC £999 Challenge for road cars including quarter mile racing and Track Attack Slalom along the York asphalt. On Sunday there is the Ultimate Road Car Challenge including the 22nd Annual Ford Shootout, Wizards of Nos Nitrous Nationals, 2NZ Modders Shootout Round 5 and Roger Goring's Firestorm Jet Funny Car with Run What You Brung time allocated as well. The track is open from 10:00 am. *Web site updates.* 12th June: The official web site of Finland's Alho and Lähdemaa Pro Modified team at www.promod.fi has been updated with news about the team's latest outing, which was at Alastaro last weekend. The team's photo gallery has also been updated at promod.galleria.fi/kuvat. ©Eurodragster.com *Feature: Graham Ellis' Superbird Pro Mod.* 11th June: One of the most eagerly-anticipated débuts this season was that of Graham Ellis' blown-alcohol Plymouth Superbird Pro Mod. Graham moved to Pro Modified this year after a highly successful Super Modified career which included an entire season in which he won every round of eliminations he countested. The Bird has made very few runs but is already well into the sixes and over 210 mph and promises much more to come. ©Eurodragster.com For the latest in Eurodragster.com's occasional series of Features, presented in association with John Woolfe Racing, Kirstie and Tog visited Graham Ellis at his Essex base to check over the Plymouth Superbird and to talk to Graham about his racing career and about what we think is one of the one the baddest-looking cars ever to intimidate a drag strip. You can check out our Plymouth Superbird Feature by clicking here, or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Editor's note: If you would like to volunteer to be the subject of a future Feature then please drop us a line at [email protected]. *Grumpy happy with Torco.* 11th June: FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson and the Silverline Racing team are looking forward with great anticipation to this weekends SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. Not only will this be the first occasion that they will be able to try the new injected-nitro set-up, but it will also be an occasion to renew a past association with Steve Clark of Nimbus Motorsport who will be supplying the team with the Torco Oil products they will be using this year. "After extensive technical discussions with Steve it seems that the Torco product will fit in perfectly with the requirements of the A-Fuel set-up we will be running this year" says Dave Wilson. "The quality and the ability to provide oil at the upper end of its specification will suit our requirements very well. ©Eurodragster.com "The change to nitro and the different set up has so far caused a few unexpected problems for the team but with the arrival of some more new parts this week we should be in a go condition to be taking to the track. For a fuller account check out the illustrated reports at www.silverlinedragracing.com. "I have to thank all our sponsors Silverline Tools, PlayStation, BMRS, Crane Cams, IronCad, 1st Line Motorcycles, Euro American and now Torco Oils as well as Andy Robinson and Gary Burgin for all their help and the many people who continue to wish us luck. We need it!" *Moores lock in a sponsor.* 11th June: The UK's Roger and Dave Moore have announced a new sponsor for their Dodge Viper Pro Mod which makes its début at this Friday's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway. Surelocking Systems have designed a new lock system with a unique shape and concealed fittings which makes it extremely resistant to attacks by thieves with bolt cutters or crowbars. "We are very pleased to be sponsored by Surelocking Systems", Roger told Eurodragster.com. "I can vouch for the product as I use the Neulock on my own garage. Samples of Surelocking Systems' quality products will be on display in our pit area at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend." ©Eurodragster.com This product is bound to interest anyone with a workshop or garage, which is just about every drag racer and hot rodder we know, so to find out more check out www.neulock.com. *Swift snippets.* 11th June: Thanks to Mona at the Finnish Hot Rod Association sending us Version 4 of the official entry list for the FHRA Nitro Nationals, which takes place at Alastaro on 3rd-6th July. You can check out the Nitro Nationals entry list by clicking here (PDF format). Also from Finland, congratulations to Top Fuel Dragster racer Janne Ahonen and his wife Tiia on the birth of their as-yet unnamed son, a brother for Mico, who arrived at 1:07 on Tuesday weighing in at 3975 grammes and at a height of 51 cm. ©Eurodragster.com Congratulations also to UK Pro ET racer Ron Bartlett and his partner Tracy on the birth of their son Harrison (Harry) who certainly didn't arrive on the stated 11th June unless Ron has got his Anglia time travelling. Ron tells us that Harrison weighed in at 6lb 6oz and that both he and Tracy are fine and should be home today. "Thanks to everybody who asked me how things were going", says Ron. "New baby, new engine, can't be bad!" Eurodragster.com News sponsor Peter Walters has asked if Nick Fitt can contact him with an E-Mail address different to the usual address. *A Good start.* 11th June: UK Super Pro ET racer Nick Good and the NGMotorsport have been in touch to say a big Thank You to everyone who helped them achieve their goals for the season with a six-second run in the dragster's first full pass at the FIA Main Event, after a major off-season rebuild: We were all feeling down at the end of the 2007 season. We had paid good money last year for a motor and trans installed last year which was supposedly the mutts nuts. Unfortunately it wasn't but actually had some surprising 'tuning modifications' we didn't expect or appreciate. We managed to get the car out for the European Finals as we had obligations to our sponsors and their guests. In the first round of elimination's a failed oil filter seal managed to oil the track from one end to the other: Fram have since ordered a recall on their HP4 and HP8 filters manufactured during mid 2007 after other racers had suffered the same problem. Luckily the high volume Titan oil pump prevented any serious motor damage. We also lost a body panel at half track, Gary Malin had lost the same panel at half track when he had run the car as Serious Playtime. Thanks to Geof Hauser for the chassis stiffening mods which have now cured the problem. To run the numbers we wanted reliably, we realised a new motor was the only way to go. After numerous phone calls and weighing up the options we decided on a Steve Schmidt 509 ci solid Donovan short motor, new Dart Pro-1 heads and a Keith Black gear drive. The only parts salvaged from the old motor were the cam, oil pump, inlet valves and spring retainers. Air Sea Logistics provided a speedy door to door shipping from Steve Schmidt Racing Engines at a great price, thanks to Malcom Francis for an excellent service. Thanks also to Carl Harrison without whose help we wouldn't have made the Main Event, from timing the cam to machining the adapter plate for the setback blower and numerous other jobs and advice. He really knows his way around a blown alky motor, thanks mate. Can't wait to see your Mustang Funny Car at the track.' ©Eurodragster.com Having only got the car fired up just before the Main Event we'd had no track time going into our first qualifying session. The plan was to do a launch with a fairly soft tune in the car. Unfortunately excessive tyre shake at the end of the burnout knocked the kill switch off. We had the same problem in the second qualifying session same problem, but with the switch back on the car fired up. We had dialled in a 7.55 knowing we would only be doing a 330 foot practice launch. I kept my foot in to nearly half track and coasted through the top end, a lucky 7.592 put us in eleventh position. A 1.01 sixty foot time and the motor sounding strong made all the winter's hard work seem worthwhile. After checking out the the car Stevie Metcalfe of Team MFR sorted some glitches in the data logger. It was then time to relax and enjoy some cold beers. The tyres shook hard twice on the last run and for Saturday's first session we decided to drop the rear tyre pressures by a quarter of a pound. The car is nearly ten per cent lighter with the alloy block and we decided the pressures in the rears should reflect this. We thought the car was ready for a full pass as long as the tyre shake was not still too excessive. We were paired against my sponsors' Formula Tanker Rental car with Simon Rowland at the wheel. The motor sounded really strong on the burnout on the same relatively soft tune up. With a few more revs on the motor the car launched hard and there was no tyre shake, just a slight vibration as the car wandered out of the centre of the groove. I kept my foot in through the top end, then the fun started, no chute! It's surprising how far you travel in the couple of seconds your waiting for the chutes to hit but after a few wild bounces and cooking the brakes I managed to get round at the end of the strip and into the return road safely. The faces of the crew when they came to tow me back said it all, a 6.753 second run. The timing slip showed a 0.969 sixty foot time but no terminal speed, although the datalogger indicated a speed of between 203 and 204 mph across the line. Our goals for the season were a six second pass, a 200mph+ terminal speed and a sub one-second sixty foot time. All achieved in two days! The car has much more in it. We haven't hooked up the port injection yet, and it will take more boost and timing. For the Summernationals we intend to take some power out of the motor and concentrate on tuning the chassis. None of this would have been possible without the financial help of sponsors Formula Tanker Rentals, Beovax Computer Services, Focalpoint Digital, Chris Brown Body Repairs, BGC Motorsport Components, Morris Armitage, Hardwick Road Garage and Glas-Weld Systems. A big thank you to crew Andy, Bob and Hester for giving up so much of their time to get us to the track, and dad Rex for the refurb on the truck. We have three additions to the crew this year, namely Mike and William Penny and Shaun Clarke, which should help spread the workload. You can check out the team's progress at www.ngmotorsport.co.uk. Hopefully we can look forward to better weather and a completed meeting at the Summernationals. Fingers crossed! *Blaze and Blaze.* 11th June: Jeff Rainbird has been in touch with the latest from the UK's two-car Nova Blaze Sportsman ET team: It's now twelve months since Nova Blaze's old motor died ungracefully at the Summernationals and with only twelve runs on the new combination it is yielding all of the expected performance and more. We stepped on the rev limit at the Big Bang and yes we went slower. After six years of stirling service from the old motor I had forgotten what we were running in the carbs, which was really just a slight choke increase from what was run with the 1300 cc motor. The new parts may well be in the carbs but we may just keep the motor on a tight leash for the Summernationals before we cut loose. Having one of the quickest cars to sixty and 330 feet is an area that driver Martin Lewis is not familiar with. It has caught him out twice now but he has been on my leather couch and been psychoanalysed with some blunt and colourful language experience. We are out with both cars and it will be the first time for in twenty two months that I will be doing the full weekend, so I will be chasing down even more performance and tightening up the consistency which at present is a six-thousandths window from the twelve runs we have. Axeman Steve Partis is looking to get Nova Blaze 2 up the track in a straight line, but there is a mysterious transmission problem and I am looking favourite to get dirty this weekend to find it. Nova Blaze 2 will be in team colours, and a big thanks to John of Inzane Racing for the paint job. ©Eurodragster.com The next engine combination is being looked at as we do not intend to stand still, but we may well have to come away from GM. I will know which way we will go once I can get the tape over the Nova's engine bay. We have looked at some donor engines, that's the nice thing about working with Martin, he is good at putting his money where my mouth is. The downside is he's skint all the time, or Lisa has sewn up his pockets. You may well have seen the team mascot lurking in Nova or the Astra van at Big Bang, we bandied round what to call him with all the usual monkey names like Clyde or Louis coming up but we settled on "Spank". So if you see a monkey in the Nova's seat it's our team mascot Spank, not Martin. *SPR seeking head gaskets.* 11th June: Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to ask if any Eurodragster.com reader can help with an urgent request. ©Eurodragster.com "We are sending our monster truck Podzilla to Lithuania at the end of this week but one of its heads is warped", says Darren. "We are urgently looking for copper head gaskets for a Big Block Chevy, 4.25 to 4.4 or 4.5 inch bore". If you can help then please contact Darren at [email protected] or leave a message with Santa Pod Raceway's office on 01234 782828. *SPRC Summernationals coverage.* 11th June: Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway in association with American Car Imports. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports of qualifying and eliminations throughout each day together with a photo gallery at the end of each day. As Tog is commentating this weekend, Simon will be producing the race reports, which means that we will not be posting pit notes. As a bonus, however, we will be posting an end-day photo gallery from Friday's Peak Performance Day. ©Eurodragster.com The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam will be on-line all weekend and will be scheduled to post a picture every sixty seconds starting at approximately 8:00 on Friday morning. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences but in the meantime you can check out our SPRC Summernationals coverage index, which includes the official entry list and provisional running orders, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. *Summernationals running orders.* 10th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall and Race Director for this event Robin Shone for forwarding us the provisional running orders for this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the running orders by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the SPRC Summernationals. Please note that as ever the running orders are provisional and subject to change due to weather or track conditions, or for any other reason deemed necessary by Race Officials. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod's gates open at 12:00 midday on Friday, although if you are entered for Friday's Peak Performance Day then obviously you will be able to enter the track earlier. Signing-on will be open between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm on Friday. Scrutineering will be available from 3:00 pm Friday for cars and from 6:00 pm Friday for bikes, and will restart as usual at 7:00 am on Saturday. If you have been paying attention to Eurodragster.com News in the last couple of weeks then you will have noticed that Graham Beckwith is to be joined in the commentary booth this weekend by none other than your News Editor. If you would like to send commentators' notes about yourself and your race vehicle then please drop a line to [email protected]. The alternative is for Tog to say the first thing which comes into his mind as you appear out of the collection area and there is always an inherent risk in that sort of thing. Thanks to those three racers who have already sent notes. *Flynn's serious cancellation...* 10th June: Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor and Blogger Derek Flynn has cancelled in some style his plan to sit out the rest of the 2008 season. Derek intended to take a break to regroup after the termination of his Top Fuel Dragster rental deal with Knut Söderquist but he called Eurodragster.com from the USA this evening to announce the turnkey purchase of an injected-nitro Top Methanol Dragster. "Having looked at three cars I have bought Larry Miersch's A/Fuel Dragster", said Derek. "We are all very excited and I am a lot more content owning my own stuff. We are hoping that the car will arrive in time to run at Hockenheim in August, and Larry and his Crew Chief Jim Rizzoli will be coming over to teach me how to drive the car and to help us to tune it." ©Eurodragster.com The car has been a consistent low five-second runner in the USA. The Spitzer chassis totes a Brad Anderson billet block and BAE heads and a Hogan injector, and is equipped with a one-piece carbon fibre body. Larry's team have been experimenting with Top Fuel tyres on the dragster and Derek said that he plans to continue with that. "I would like to thank Mats Björklund and Howard Main for their hospitality and assistance when I looked at their cars, but the nitro won out in the end", added Derek. Stay tuned and we will have more from Derek soon. *...Frosty's serious problem.* 10th June: The UK's Andy Frost is appealing for help after suffering severe engine damage on a demonstration pass at the Vauxhall Performance Show at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday (Sunday). After running a 7.6 at 191 mph Frosty's engine put out a rod after an 8.0-second pass. With five weeks to go until he departs to represent the UK in the World Street Event in Canada Frosty would be pleased, not to mention relieved, to hear from anyone who can assist. ©Eurodragster.com "I could have done without this", Frosty told Eurodragster.com. "The whole bottom of the engine is gone. We have already acquired another engine block from Paul Marston Racing but we need everything else which goes in there. As the UK's sole representative at the World Street Event we are duty bound to be there - and I am determined to be there. "The 7.6 was very easy and we have the potential to do well in Canada, but we need the help of the racing community to make it. I would like to thank everyone who put money in the bucket at Santa Pod yesterday, and if anyone would like to help us out either with parts or financial backing then please contact me by E-Mail at [email protected] or call me on 07970 573872." *Swift snippets.* 10th June: Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson tells us that Sweden's Bo Pettersson was making licencing passes at Gardermoen at the weekend in this very neat-looking Pro Stock. As well as the Championship racing, about which you can read at www.ndrg.no and Patrik's own site at www.racebilder.nu, Pro Mod racers Roger Johansson, Micke Nord and Terje Håkonsen were testing as well as Top Methanol FC racer Arvid Grødem. "I do like to be in Norway", adds Patrik, "the people are so nice and friendly, and this weekend they had a big sun in the sky." UK Pro Stock Bike racer Jerry Collier would be pleased to hear from anyone who can help with a starter motor suitable for a 1570 Suzuki. We borrowed Martin Bishop's starter at the Springspeed Festival as ours was being stripped and rebuilt", says Jerry. "We just got our starter back, and it won't turn our motor over. Yes the batteries are fine! If anyone has a starter which they would be willing to loan or sell to us in time for this weekend's Summernationals then please ring me on 01246 570304 or 07935 801171, or E-Mail [email protected]." ©Eurodragster.com UK National Super Comp Champion Paul Knight is currently on a four-day Fuel Funny Car course at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Florida, before taking the wheel of Mark and Jackie Hawkins' Hogsback Brewery-sponsored Fuel FC here in the UK. Team PR Wayne Corbitt asked us to thank Paul Shields for his help in organising the course, and adds that things are now starting to come together quickly for the team so we should hear more very soon. If you fancy some last-minute testing before the SPRC Summernationals then Santa Pod Raceway are hosting a Peak Performance Day this Friday, 13th June. Advance booking has closed but places will be available on the gate. For details including track fees check out www.rwyb.com. Mike Lacey tells us that following the success of the gig in the pits at last year's SPRC Summernationals, there will be not one but two bands, Celtic Pride and The Angry Pirates, playing in the Pro ET pits this coming Saturday evening. "Although the gig is funded by the Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme, all racers and crew are welcome", says Mike, "but be warned that we will be shaking the bucket (I'm guessing this is literal, not a euphemism - Ed) so please bring your loose change and let's rock. This may turn out to be an annual event, so suggestions for a name are invited, something like Race and Rock II." *Web site updates.* 10th June: Marcus Andersson tells us that a web site has been launched for Nordic Funny Bike racers and that the web team would like to hear from Nordic FB racers with information about themselves, their bikes, their results and their sponsors. Please send details to [email protected] and you can check out the new web site at www.funnybike.se. ©Eurodragster.com UK photo-journalist Dick Parnham has added a number of new collections to his Fotopic gallery at dickparnham.fotopic.net including the Springspeed Festival at Shakespeare County Raceway and a 2007 SPRC Summernationals retrospective by way of preview for this weekend's race. Editor's note: The rest of today's news update has been cut short by a lunchtime meeting requiring your News Editor's attendance - not that anyone bothered telling him about it until about ten minutes before it was due to take place. Tune back tomorrow for the latest from Dave Wilson's Silverline Tools Top Methanol Dragster team, the story of UK Super Pro ET racer Nick Good's first six-second pass, and an SPRC Summernationals preview from the UK's Nova Blaze Sportsman ET team, and please keep those SPRC Summernationals previews and other news coming to [email protected]. *Summernationals A45 warning.* 9th June: If you use the A45 to get to Santa Pod Raceway, and if you are planning to attend next weekend's SPRC Summernationals, then be warned that resurfacing work will be closing the A45 next weekend between Billing and Weston Favell, on the east side of Northampton between the M1 and Wellingborough. According to the Highways Agency web site next weekend's closure is westbound and so will be a problem after the race, but with traffic likely backing up on alternative routes you should probably expect delays in the area in whichever direction you are travelling. ©Eurodragster.com The closure of the A45 is scheduled between 8:00 pm on Friday and 6:00 am on Monday. The road will also be closed, although in which direction is not clear, between 8:00 pm on Thursday and 6:00 am on Friday should you be coming up for Friday's Peak Performance Day. You can read more at www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/18756.aspx. *Swift snippets.* 9th June: NHRA Wally Parks Museum Executive Director Tony Thacker has brought us up to date on the cars attending the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July: Tommy Ivo's Barnstormer (pictured) and his four-engined dragster; Addict; the Glass Slipper; Mooneyes; Beebe & Mulligan; the Howard Cams Rattler; Chrisman #25; Chrisman Hustler 1; and the Over The Hill Gang. Tony adds that the Don Garlits Museum are not sending any cars, nor will Don or Tommy Ivo be attending in person. You can find out more about the Festival of Speed at www.goodwood.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com East Coast Impala SS Racing Series racer Karl Ellwein has seen off the container ship carrying his street/strip 1995 Chevy Impala SS to Europe to race in Sweden and then England. The Impala is due to arrive in Sweden on 22nd June. You can check out at picture of Karl seeing off the Atlantic Companion from Baltimore Harbour by clicking here. Juoni Westerlund tells us that coverage of the weekend's FHRA Kamasa Tools Nationals at Alastaro is available at www.fhra.fi for cars and www.dragrace.fi for bikes. *Saboury in for World Street Event.* 9th June: One of the pioneers of real Street Car Drag Racing will be in the house for the Lucas Oil Products World Street Event to be held as part of the Extreme Drag Race Shootout on 1st-3rd August in Miramichi New Brunswick, Canada. Rod Saboury will be ready, willing and able to represent USA in what has become one of the world's only events fashioned for the grassroots of this sport, real street machines that can prove it! The Lucas Oil Products World Street Event will be hosting competitors from at least three countries and awards cash and prizes for cars that enter from twelve seconds right through to seven second performances. "Having a legend in this sport such as Rod Saboury intereste d in racing along side his peers at the Extreme Drag Race Shootout is an honour" explains Event Director Raymond Knight. "With the two-tier set-up of the Lucas Oil World Street Event it just makes it right for everyone to come have some fun and prove that they really do got what it takes! Twelve seconds or seven seconds it really doesn't matter! Let's face it, when will any of us ever have the opportunity to race with all of these fine folks again? Rest assured though the big guns will be loaded to take on the likes of Rod Saboury, Eddie Miller, Boo King and the man from UK, Andy Frost. It will be one wild time in Atlantic Canada this coming August!" "We are extremely excited and anxious to participate in the World Street Event", explained Rod. "I have been building street cars and drag racing since 1968, so I am obviously not a newcomer to the sport. I also realize that even after forty years with these cars, there are many things yet to experience and even more to learn. But that is what drives me and keeps the old ticker going - I hope! "Even though I ran what was called Pro-Outlaw and Pro-Street, I was always uncomfortable and even somewhat embarrassed to call them Street cars because I knew (and so did the fans) that these cars could not be really" driven on the street. That is where the inspiration was born for the crazy new car I have now. I realize there is a distinct difference between "streetable" and "street-legal" but with that in mind, four years in the making, and the help from Lowdown Hotrods, Mike Moran and many others, I think we have been able to combine the spirit of all my past street and race cars to create a car that is both. I know there are many incredible, seriously fast street cars making their way to Canada from several different countries to participate, but this is what interests us the most as it will be the best of the best and we are proud to be included." Rod Saboury is best known for his '57 and '53 Vettes which were both World Champions and world record holders. The '57 was 1995 Super Chevy Champ and the 53 was 1998 Outlaw Street Champion in the NMCA. The '53 was also the first in the sixes on DOT tires. It also ran 200 mph. In 1999, Rod campaigned a twin turbo Firebird that set both ends of the NMCA records with a 6.77/206, which was the last time Rod raced. Rod adds "With your Street rules and expectations of being more strict than any previous race, I feel it would be really tough for an eight, nine, or even ten second car to make it through to the World Street class portion of the event, so my hats off in advance to whoever wins. For us, we consider this a once in a life time event because your race should finally determine who truly has the World's Fastest Street Car. The EDRS welcomes Rod Saboury into the very diverse mix of racers that will make their way to Canada in August. Picture courtesy and ©Godragracing ©Eurodragster.com *Summernationals Perfect Awards.* 9th June: Next weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest event in the 2008 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance. Next weekend's Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET racer Marius Blackburn at the FIA Main Event. The money will be presented to the first racer next weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to all racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first perfect light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to the Swedish Kroner equivalent of £75 for the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park; if it is won then it will be reset to the equivalent of £50 for the Veidec Festival. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow, whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk. As Santa Pod's timing system works to four decimal places we must clarify that although the Perfect Light Award goes to three places, we will not pay out for red lights with zeroes in the first three decimals since a foul is a foul however far in the first non-zero digit may be. So 0.0001 will win you the money (if you're first to do it), but -0.0001 will not. Decals are not formally required for the Perfect Light Award but of course we appreciate it if racers carry Eurodragster.com decals: you can get Eurodragster.com decals at the track from any Eurodragster.com staff member. ©Eurodragster.com Next weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET racer Paul Baynton at the FIA Main Event. The money will be presented to the first racer next weekend to run to the thousandth on their dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Junior Dragster, 9.50 Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, VW Alternate Engine, the Wild Bunch, and Supertwin ET during qualifying and eliminations (eliminations only for Junior Dragster) but will only be awarded for the first perfect run of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to the Swedish Kroner equivalent of £75 for the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park; if it is won then it will be reset to the equivalent of £50 for the Veidec Festival. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV, whose web site you can find at www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers will be required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle whether car or bike. The decals are available at signing-on but please note that, as is usual with contingency schemes, racers are responsible for requesting or picking up decals when signing on. A list of required decals per class is always on display in signing-on. *Newbery and Rush: Back soon.* 7th June: Months of hard work by UK Top Fuel Bike owner Dave Newbery and his team paid off at Santa Pod Raceway last Saturday when rider Ian Carruthers ran 6.48 on an early shut off pass. The big number came at a price after the crank broke and the head was blown off on the following run but Dave says that the bike should be back on track in September. "On the third run the crank broke in half, although it was not a big deal, and the hydraulic blew the head off", Dave told Eurodragster.com. "This used to happen in the era this bike is from because the standard cranks can't go quicker than 6.70 to 6.80. I didn't know it would run that quick!" Dave realised that something special could be on after the first run of the day, and on that run he also realised that he had a special rider on the Puma-powered machine. "On the first run in the morning the slick smoked so Rush got off it and on again, it smoked again, and then he got off it and back on again and it hooked up and it was really moving in the second half", said Dave. "This was exactly what I had told Rush to do and he did a blinding job all day, like a duck to water. That first run gave me an idea how much clutch to put in for the next run. ©Eurodragster.com "On the next run it went 1.05 to sixty feet, 2.68 to 300 feet, 4.14/174 at the eighth, and then the primary belt broke at 900 feet which was 5.33. It went quiet and I was expecting a 7.50 because the throttle was off so long but a 6.48/188.9 came up on the board and the short times confirmed it." Having seen that a billet crank is the only way to go Dave and the team are going to do the sensible thing. "We'll sit out the Summernationals and the Open Sport Nationals, put in a billet crank and new head, and aim for the European Finals", he said. "If we won't make that race then we'll go to the National Finals. It would be nice to make the European Finals now that we have something to work with. So far we've not leant on it at all so there is a big margin to put a tune-up in it. "I would like to thank the crew at Santa Pod for their prep and their patience, they worked very hard. Thanks to Rush for a fantastic riding job, to Dave Witts for the pit bike and tent, my crew Darren Govey, and to my wife Marie." Spellbound returns. 7th June: After eighteen months of planning, UK Super Gas racer Malcolm Motler is almost ready to come out to play with his new Procharger'd engine. The last step was a dyno test which took place this week and the engine and transmission are now being fitted into the immaculate Spellbound Morris Minor pick-up in time for next weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. "Last Monday Steve Wells and I drove up north for a dyno session with Kenny Coleman, Dennis and Ben at EDA", says Malcolm. "It was an extremely enjoyable two days, what a great bunch of blokes and well worth the four hour drive . The old girl fired up first hit and behaved herself throughout producing some interesting and very satisfying figures. We are now hoping this will enable us to dip our toes in to the nines at last. ©Eurodragster.com "I would like to thank a few people for their help and support: Steve and Jayne Wells being the top people they are, Andy and Kate Robinson and the guys at Andy Robinson Race Cars for supplying parts and being flexible when I needed something tig-welded, Rob Loaring at ICE Automotive for block machining and balancing , Steve Morris at Steve Morris Racing Engines for supplying us with a Procharger package which lived up to and exceeded our expectations, all the guys at EDA for being so calm and helpful, Andy Chilton for help with the car, and last but not least the missus Marcia for being so passionate and supportive over this project. Thanks a lot as usual to our great Eurodragster.com team (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). "I'm looking forward to driving Spellbound again, Marcie, Callum and I will see you all there next week." *Swift snippets.* 7th June: Entry is open for the next Championship round for UK Junior Drag Bike, which takes place at the Mini Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway on Saturday-Sunday 12th-13th July. Entry forms can be downloaded at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com and the closing date is Monday 23th June. Paul Watson of DynoSpeed Developments has spent the last few weeks putting together a new turbo Hayabusa for the 8.50 Bike class which is being run in exhibition with a view to introduction in the UK next season. "It's not been without problems", says Grumpy. "Last week I put my back out for a couple of days (must be the age), this week I scalded both legs on the dyno when a bike blew off a hose and threw hot water over both legs. The joys of my job. "I am hoping that I will be OK to début the new bike at the Summernationals next week, we will see how it heals. I would like to say Thank you to Martin and Cindy at Psycleworkz for their help and a big thank you to Nod for all his fabricating and to Ian Berry for all the help with the bike. We look forward to seeing you there. We would like to say a big Happy 50th Birthday to Swedish Pro Stock racer Micke Callin. Micke's brother Gordon asked us to remind Micke about the big party everyone is expecting. Micke had an early birthday present with new PBs at the FIA Main Event and we hope that he has a similarly happy day today. We were very pleased to hear that APIRA Race Official Paul Satchell came home from hispotal yesterday. "Paul has been suffering from a bacterial influenza but the antibiotics have been working their magic and he is much better now", says Beth Satchell. "I will be at home with him for the next two weeks playing nurse maid but there is every chance he could end up back in hospital by the end of that especially if he asks for a bell! All being well and providing Paul continues to improve we will hope to be back at the track and back to normality in the not too distant future. If anyone wants to drop in and say hello please feel free to do so just give us a call first to make sure he is up to it. Thanks again for all the kind wishes, it really is appreciated." *Plenty of choice this weekend.* 7th June: There are no less than three Championship rounds occuring in Scandinavia over this weekend as the season moves into high gear. The Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series (TSDS) is hosted by Amcar International Raceway, Gardermoen. A full roster of Sportsman classes will be racing for points in the South Division. There are a number of Pro racers in attendance, including Arvid Grødem (Top Methanol Funny Car), Roger Johanssen, Micke Nord and Terje Håkonsen (Pro Mod), Ronny Aasen and Svein Olav Rolfstad (Supertwin). Spectator entrance is 150 Krone with under 15s getting in free and parking at 30 Krone. Results can be seen after the race by clicking on Resultater at www.ndrg.no. The North Division of the TSDS is present at Pite Dragway for the fourteenth running of their Spring Championship. Once again a full entry of Sportsman racers is the main competition. Entry is 140 Kroner and free entrance for under 12s. Results can be found after the race on the organisers' web site at www.shralulea.se. ©Eurodragster.com In Finland, Alastaro hosts the FHRA Kamasa Tools Nationals with NDRS points up for grabs in Super Gas, Super Comp, Stock/Super Stock, Competition Eliminator, Pro Modified, Street Bike, and Super Gas Bike. Top Fuel racer Timo Lehtimäki will be testing as will Pro Mod racer Kristian Nyström. More details can be found at www.fhra.fi. Entry is €15 per day and action is 10:00 to 18:00 on Saturday and 11:00 to 17:00 on Sunday. In addition a race takes place in Germany this weekend at Bitburg Airport (Flugplatz). in Rheinland-Pfalz. The track opens at 10:00 and closes at 19:00 followed by a Beergarden Party on Saturday and with time trials at 10:00 on Sunday and Bracket Eliminations at noon. Spectators will have an opportunity to make passes for €5 at the end of Sunday before the track closes at 16:00. For full details in English as well as German see www.1on1-motorsports.de. Dakota Drag Strip in the UK's West County is hosting Saturday Street Night and Sunday Street Wars this weekend, featuring eighth-mile Run What You Brung into the night tonight (Saturday) and a full day's action tomorrow. Entrance is £5 per person per day and track fees are £20 per driver day or £35 for two days - don't forget your DVLC licence and crash helmet. More information at www.streetnights.com. Editor's note: We will aim to run these weekend event previews every week through the season; if you would like your event included then please send details to [email protected]. *Go Steve!* 6th June: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Steve Read will be taking part in this weekend's Castrol Edge Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland, Australia, which starts today (Friday). Team Manager Heather Bond tells us that this is the biggest event outside the USA with just short of six hundred entries and a crowd of between thirty five and forty thousand. "We've had five weeks since the Nitro Champs at Western Sydney to work on the small amount of data we were able to get there, and a few small changes have been made to the car now", says H. "As you will no doubt have read from the report posted on the Read Speed Racing web site, we didn't get in a single full pass in which was very frustrating. Anyway, that has gone now and we are ready for this weekend's event. ©Eurodragster.com "As usual we will be posting all qualifying and elimination results for Pro Stock, Pro Stock Bike, Top Doorslammer (Pro Mod) Top Alcohol, Top Fuel Bike and Top Fuel Dragster directly to our web site at www.readspeedracing.com.au so that you can all see what's going on." Picture courtesy and ©John Van Daal *Swift snippets.* 6th June: From our "You heard it here first" department: if you were tuned in to our coverage of the Swedish SFI Weekend you will remember that we posted a picture of a bellhousing belonging to Swedish Fuel FC racer Leif Helander and surmised that Leif's retirement had been rescinded. The latest update on Leif's web site at www.starkotter.se says just that, adding that Leif will be making three racing appearances this year and that Mats Eriksson is building him a new car for 2009. We were sworn to secrecy on that last point but now that Leif's blown it we guess it's safe for us to mention it. UK Pro ET racer Phil Toppin tells us that his recently-acquired altered has a new heart (pictured) and that he will see us all at the SPRC Summernationals. Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association promoter Lawrie Gatehouse says that the NFAA will again be running a Cannonball-type format at the SPRC Summernationals, with the two cars with the quickest agregate ETs from three qualifying runs facing off in the final and the third and fourth quickest also racing for places. ©Eurodragster.com Nina Carbone of The Gamma Project writes that Kings of Nitro, their Reality TV series following FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher, starts screening on the Discovery Channel in Finland and Iceland at 21:00 from Saturday 21st June, in Poland at 23:00 from Friday 4th July, in The Netherlands , Belgium and Luxembourg at 22:00 from 23rd August, and in France and French-speaking Africa at 21:40 from Monday 1st September. A very Happy 40th Birthday to Eurodragster.com Links sponsor Lee Child. Lee is spending today working on the set-up of Dakota Drag Strip in the UK's West Country but hopefully will take some time out to enjoy his special day. Have a good one Lee. *Web site updates.* 6th June: Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated his Fotopic gallery with his full set of shots from the Yanks Weekend/Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Peter's pictures at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. Also updated from Shakespeare County Raceway at the weekend is the official web site of UK Fuel Funny Car team Nobby Hills Racing. Nobby's latest Houndog FC made its first trip down the track at the weekend and you can find out all about it at www.nhracing.com. ©Eurodragster.com UK Pro ET racer Carla Pittau has updated the Heaven & Hell Racing web site with a clip of the Heaven & Hell As Well Camaro launching at the FIA Main Event. You can check out the clip on the Heaven & Hell As Well page at www.heavenhellracing.com. Paul Lister has also posted an FIA Main Event update, in this case a second gallery of pictures on his Drag Car Anon site which you can find at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. *MTC release ZX14 clutches.* 6th June: MTC Engineering have released two new clutches for the Kawasaki ZX14 which are available from Dave Beck Racing. The first clutch is the new slider for the ZX14. It is built and designed with the same robustness as the past slider models. The slider clutch is designed strictly for racing and gives the rider a very repeatable, fast engaging clutch to control the horsepower to the rear wheel. The second clutch, is the new ZX14 Gen II multistage clutch which falls in line with the series of new Gen II clutches coming out this year. This clutch significantly reduces clutch lever efforts and yet improves clutch adjustability through its "multistage" technology. The new design runs on engine RPM, and demonstrates a quicker reaction time and more repeatability between passes. The new design also allows for easier dynamic spring replacement with its quick access cover plate over the springs. MTC has also redesigned the method used to make the clutch cover fit over these new clutches and the old existing multistage clutch. The new design uses a spacer ring instead of a modified stock cover. This will help make the bike look more like a stock bike, and will also reduce the customers costs by not shipping the stock cover to MTC. For more information visit www.mtceng.com, E-Mail [email protected], or contact Dave Beck Racing via their web site at www.davebeckracing.com. ©Eurodragster.com *Night and day at Dakota Drag Strip.* 5th June: Dakota Drag Strip in the west of the UK holds its first full weekend of action this weekend including night action on the eighth-mile strip on Saturday. "I have wanted to run this type of event since my visit to Midnight Mayhem at LasVegas", says promoter Lee Child. "We have had some great street-legal cars and bikes and the odd competition vehicle at Dakota Drag Strip and this weekend will be no different. Gates open at 12:00 midday on Saturday, and the track will be open for test and tune between 2:00 pm and 9:00 pm. "As with all events at Dakota Drag Strip the handling circuit will be open and there will be the traditional Show and Shine, not forgetting the Saturday Street Night Bikini babe contest! A bunch of trophies will be up for grabs (No connection with the previous sentence - Ed): Drag strip trophies Quickest Street Car Quickest Street Bike Quickest Outlaw Street Car (slicks allowed) Quickest Outlaw Street Bike (slicks allowed) Quickest 4WD Car Quickest RWD Car Quickest FWD Car Quickest Pre 1980 Car Quickest Japanese Bike Quickest Italian Bike Quickest German Bike Quickest American Bike Handling circuit trophies Quickest RWD Car Quickest FWD Car Quickest 4WD Car Show and Shine Trophies Best of Show Best Club Stand Best Paint Best Interior Best Street Glow "Sunday Street Wars takes place on the following day and will also be action packed on the drag strip, handling circuit and the show area. Dakota Drag Strip sees the return of the quickest Japanese street-legal cars in the South West for round two of the Enginetuner Japanese Performance Series. This race series is getting hotter and hotter. With all of the improvements made by the point chasers its going be close but some more new names will be entering this round to mix it up. "The King of the Hill eliminator will also be held on Sunday to find the quickest street legal car and street legal bike of 2008. There are only eight slots available in both categories and the final race is the battle for the title. "The titles don't just finish there, every body gets a shot with the following trophies at Sunday Street Wars: Drag Strip trophies Best Burnout Trophy Best Appearing Car or Bike on track Quickest French Car Quickest British Car Quickest German Car Quickest Italian Car Quickest Swedish Car Quickest American Car Quickest Yamaha Bike Quickest Honda Bike Quickest Suzuki Bike Quickest Pre-1990 Bike ©Eurodragster.com Handling Circuit trophies Quickest RWD Car Quickest FWD Car Quickest 4WD Car Show and Shine trophies Best of Show Best Modified Best Retro Best Street Rod Best Club stand Best Classic Best Custom Bike "Unfortunately no overnight camping is allowed at Dakota Drag Strip. "Admission on both Saturday and Sunday is £5 per person per day. Drag strip fees are £20 per driver per day for unlimited runs, or £35 for two days (licence and helmet required). Handling circuit fees are £20 per driver per day for unlimited runs, or £35 for two days (licence and helmet required). You can find out more on our web site at www.streetnights.com. "As always a big thank you to everybody that supports Dakota Drag Strip: David Lloyd Jones and Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway, Steve Murty of IOPD, and Eurodragster.com. Thnaks also for all the help from our sponsors Enginetuner Ltd, Copy print Depot, Chelston Valeting Centre, Devon Car shows, Eclipse Photos and Torre Trophies. *Outlaws open 2008 account.* 5th June: With nine cars coming through the gates of Shakespeare County Raceway it was a healthy start to the Supercharged Outlaws' 2008 season, writes Dave McKenzie: There were four altereds, three slingshots and two doorslammers in attendance with the first session scheduled for noon on Saturday. Already we had casualties during the warm-ups with Brian Gandy bending a couple of valves, and with no spares this put Brian out for the weekend. Wayne Colliver broke his starter on the 1.6 crossflow and this also put Wayne out for the weekend. During the warm up there was another casualty when Alec Coe lost drive. This was traced to a broken sprag on the pump drive in the Powerglide. Following several frantic phone calls, Andy Frost came to the rescue. The gearbox was removed from Shy Talker and taken to Andy's workshop where Andy replaced the broken parts and sent Alec back to the track feeling a lot happier. Alec was back at Shakey for 8.30 on Saturday night and Kev, Tom and Johnny Hall refitted the gearbox ready to run on Sunday morning. Many thanks go to Andy Frost for his invaluable assistance and for opening up his workshop on a Saturday evening rather than enjoying a pint at his local! The final casualty was Paul Watts with the big pick-up. Paul went out for an early test run Saturday morning and the engine swallowed a small bolt through the supercharger damaging the blower rotors. Paul did have some luck as the bolt went through #2 cylinder flattening the spark plug and exiting out through the exhaust - the only other damage was to the spark plug. When the wiring let the car down, Paul decided to call it a day. I believe the car is now heading to Andy Robinson for a new ignition system and a full rewire in time for the next round at Santa Pod. Back to the racing and at twelve o'clock we had five cars make it to the start line. First car out was Richard Davies with the immaculate '41 Willys who ran a 10.6/132 on a solo run. Next out was Roy Wilding in the Hemi Hunter slingshot. Alongside Roy was Tony Smith in the Faster Pussycat ltered. Tony was away first at the green but by half track Roy was powering past Roy getting to the stripe first with 8.74/158 to Tony's 10.08/127. Final pair in this session was Lee Gallimore in the Red Mist Altered against the Wobble car of Steve Goode. Steve was only doing a checkout pass and the car sounded really strong. Steve left on the green and shut of after about two hundred feet and he ran 15.06/52.92. Lee in the opposite lane was also checking out a new combination in the rear axle - a half pass from Lee gave him a 9.762/93.86 which concluded the first session. Session two was run at four o'clock and again only five cars made it to the staging lanes. The first pair out was Steve Goode against Tony Smith but unfortunately Tony's starter let him down and although crew man Chris Round quickly borrowed another starter, this had the wrong battery voltage leaving Steve on a solo run. Steve left the line a lot harder this time and again was off the throttle by mid track to give him a 12.65/65. Next pair out was Roy Wilding in his Slingshot against Lee Gallimore's Altered - Lee was back on the numbers with this run. Lee led Roy all the way down the track with a stout 7.8/160.78 to Roy's 8.8/156. Richard Davies on another bye ran an arrow straight 10.33/132.35. Sunday morning dawned a bit wet at Shakey with rain in the air most of the morning, but by dinner time it was looking good for the slicks to be allowed onto the track. We were finally called to the staging lanes at 2.30 where we now had seven cars out with Alec Coe having repaired his slingshot. First pair out this session was to be Roy Wilding against Alec Coe - both slingshots fired up and turned onto the track together and then produced side by side burnouts. On the green Roy was away first but at the stripe Alec just nosed ahead with an 8.54/158.48 to Roy's 9.08/145.28. Next out was Richard and the 41 Willys with another solo pass for Richard with a 10.19/133.36. Next pair up Lee Gallimore and Tony Smith and gave strong side by side burnouts. Unfortunately Tony was shu tdown on the start line by Crew Chief Chris Round which left Lee on a bye. Lee was on a mission and on the green both front wheels clawed the air and when they returned to terra firma Lee was heading towards the barrier but managed to steer away from trouble to give him a shut off of 8.3/117. Last car out was Steve Goode with the wicked looking Wobble Altered. The massive engine fired up and sounded really strong but disaster struck when Steve tried to move forward as he had no drive and Steve had to shut down. Yours Truly tried to find out what Steve's problem was back in the pits, but Steve was not forthcoming and his only reply was "It's a simple fix - no more comment!". This round was sponsored by Bill Felstead of Fester Race Cars, Romford. The Outlaws would like to thank Bill for his continued contribution and support. The Fester Race Cars Trophy and a cheque for £100 went to Richard Davies and his 41 Willys. Runner up spot went to Roy Wilding who received an inscribed tankard and £25 prize money. Spot prizes of an inscribed tankard and £10 went to Lee Gallimore for the lowest ET of 7.8. The final award was the Commentator's Award chosen by Barry in the Tower. In Barry's own words "It has got to be Steve Goode - that car frightens me just looking at it!". Steve received an inscribed tankard and a £10 prize. We would like to thank Jerry Cookson at Shakespeare County Raceway and all the track marshals and officials for their hard work. And again thanks to Bill Felstead for donating the winner's trophy and the £100 winner's prize. The next round of Outlaw action will be at the UK Truck Show at Santa Pod on 28th-29th June. Tog will be guest commentator and I will be asking him to choose the Commentator's Award for this round. ©Eurodragster.com *Old Git rescued by Frosty.* 5th June: As mentioned by Fuzzie above, Supercharged Outlaw racer Alec Coe accompanied by Johnny Hall headed for Shakespeare County Raceway at the weekend having done a fair bit of work on the engine of his Shy Talker slingshot: We had a few things left to do on Saturday morning. The crew spannered away and fired the engine up for the first time since the rebuild and she was sounding lovely. A run through the gears and a quick check over, so far so good - just a bit of tinkering before heading down the track. Fired her up again to find we had no gears at all. To cut a long story short, we checked everything we could but had no choice to drop the transmission and found a broken pump. After a run round the pits in a hopeful search, someone suggested we give Andy Frost a ring and I was pointed in the direction of the Orange Pop crew who passed on his number - thanks guys. I loaded the gearbox in the car and headed to Andy's as he had agreed to meet me at his workshop. Andy kindly stripped the box and replaced the pump and was all back together in record time. We can't thank Andy enough for agreeing to help out at such short notice and give up his free time on a Saturday evening - we wouldn't have raced without him and would highly recommend his work. Thank you very much from the whole team. ©Eurodragster.com With the gearbox back in and fired up by Sunday lunch time, all gears present, all we had to do was wait for the track to dry. We headed out around 3:00 pm with the Supercharged Outlaws and had a great heads-up with Roy Wilding netting an 8.51. Not the start to the season we'd hoped for but we're looking ahead and will only be a matter of time before we reach the magic seven-second run. Thanks again to all who helped out over the weekend, too many people to mention but you know who you are. We are displaying the car at Farming World at Faversham in connection with Invicta Roadsters and Mitchville Hot Rods on 14th-15th June. Should be a great weekend. *Eight seconds' trying before buying.* 5th June: Eagle-eyed Eurodragster.com readers will have noticed a different name is listed to drive Spencer Tramm's Quantum Leap VW Corrado in Super Pro ET at the SPRC Summernationals. Its driver will be Jim Smith, a former VW Pro Champion who has been campaigning his Cotsweld VW Beetle in Outlaw Flat Four since its inception. Jim is driving the Corrado next weekend as a try before you buy offered by Spencer. ©Eurodragster.com "Jim is no stranger to the car having piloted it in a Run What You Brung session at Bug Jam a couple of years ago", says Spencer. "I left my driving licence at home and needed to test something on the car so Jim stepped in at the last minute. He managed a respectable 10.0 even after realising at a thousand feet that his foot wasn't the whole way down!" Meanwhile Spencer himself will not only be aiding Jim at the Summernationals but will also be piloting his Championship-leading VW Polo in VW Sportsman. *MSD to the rescue.* 5th June: UK Pro ET racers Liz and Iain Malcolm regretted taking it easy after arriving early for the FIA Main Event. Luckily Joe Pando of MSD, who was at Santa Pod to support MSD users, was on hand to help out: "When we attempted to fire up the dragster on Friday morning, our dragster had a bad misfire, that was after we eventually got it started", says Liz. "I never thought I would say "I'm glad its raining", but a short shower gave us time to overcome the starting problem which was a broken wire in the remote battery connector, but this still left the misfire! After two attempts at qualifying we still had not found the problem we knew it was an ignition problem because my shift light was going crazy along with the rev counter. "Luckily for us MSD had come along to the meeting with Grand Prix Racewear. We would like to thank Joe Pando and Chris Phillips from MSD who came along to test our system, three times, but everything was checking out fine. With their help we discovered an internal broken wire on the distributor signal unit. Joe made a quick trip to Leif Andréasson 's trailer to get some new connectors which he supplied to us free of charge. New wires fitted, we fired the engine Saturday night and all was well. Thanks Joe!" Tim Anderson of Racepak, who attended the FIA Main Event alongside MSD, says that he received an amazing response from racers as well as an impressive amount of product sales generated from the GPR support trailer. "The most popular question we received was whether we would be attending at Mantorp Park", says Tim. "I believe that Joe Pando from MSD is working on plans to attend that event, and I am lobbying for Racepak to be there too." *Swift snippets.* 5th June: German Super Pro ET racer Ingo Ekert is hoping that a Eurodragster.com reader can help him to track down a set of Goodyear or Hoosier 33 x 15 x 15 slicks for his eight-second Challenger before the forthcoming race at Drachten. Markus Münch tells us that if you can help then you can contact Ingo at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks to our good friend Hannele Höydén for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for the FHRA Nitro Nationals, which takes place at Alastaro on 3rd-6th July. You can check out the Nitro Nationals entry list by clicking here (PDF format). *Get well soon Paul!* 5th June: Best wishes to Paul Satchell, scruitineer, sometimes Clerk of the Course and general piece of the furniture at Shakespeare County Raceway, who underwent heart surgery last Friday following another heart attack on 18th May. "The operation went well but Paul is now suffering some post-op complications which we hope he will get over in the next couple of days", says Beth Satchell. "I am hoping that I will have him home by Friday, as it is very lonely without him and he has been in hospital since his heart attack as he was found to be too high-risk to be let out before he had the op, but only time will tell. ©Eurodragster.com "My thanks to all the people who have sent cards and kind wishes while Paul has been in hospital - you are all very kind. My love and thanks to my best friend Bev Batsford who has been keeping me sane through all this madness and who I could not have managed without. As you all know she is still recovering herself from major surgery but she has been with me throughout with her love and support." We're sure that everyone will join us in wishing Paul all the very best for a rapid return home and an equally rapid recovery. Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news items which we will post on tomorrow's update; please keep those news items coming to [email protected] and we'll post it here. *SPRC Summernationals racer update.* 4th June: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch with news of arrangements for next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: Entry is now closed. You can check out the final version of the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the SPRC Summernationals. If you have any queries about SPRC Summernationals entry, then you can contact Paula by E-Mail at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). If you like your entry lists illustrated then don't forget that our good buddy and Santa Pod Raceway webmaster DJ maintains a photo entry list featuring racer portraits and vehicle shots, which you can find at www.santapod.co.uk/e_summer_nat.php. A couple of points of note on the SPRC Summernationals entry list are the largest UK Pro Mod field in several years, as mentioned by Roger and Dave Moore a couple of days ago, and tucked away under Exhibition Dave Wilson's first on-track outing in the Silverline Tools Top Methanol Dragster now sporting its injected-nitro set-up. ©Eurodragster.com Gates open at 12:00 midday on Friday 13th June. Obviously if you are entered for Friday's Peak Performance Day then you will be able to enter the track earlier (We understand from 8:00 am - Ed). Signing-on will be open between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm on Friday. Scrutineering will be available from 3:00 pm Friday for cars and from 6:00 pm Friday for bikes, and will restart as usual at 7:00 am on Saturday. *Editor's note:* Only a brief news update today because your News Editor's work day was affected by a suspect device in Parliament Square and the death of Her Majesty the Queen. If you're wondering how the BBC and other news outlets managed to miss these startling pieces of news then the explanation is that it was only an exercise but it necessitated a move to a back-up site unequipped with file upload facilities. Tune back tomorrow for news about a full weekend of eighth-mile action at the UK's Dakota Drag Strip including night racing, the latest from Alec Coe and the rest of the UK Supercharged Outlaws, Phil Toppin's new motor and more, and please keep those news items coming to [email protected]. *European Nitro supply.* 3rd June: It was bound to happen sooner or later and the enquiries have started to arrive about the supply of nitromethane to European racers given the current concern about the issue in the USA. We approached our sponsors VP Racing Fuels and Sunoco Race Fuels as well as Antony Billinton of G-Max Chemical and Research who between them and their business partners and agents supply most of the European scene. First to respond was Antony Billinton of G-Max Chemical and Research who sent the following statement: There has been a fair amount of comment and concern recently regarding the worldwide supply situation of the product Nitromethane which we currently supply into various markets and have done for the past forty years or more. The current situation with this product is of significant importance. The world demand for Nitromethane has overtaken supply considerably, the reasons for which are complex but certain factors such as the recent production restrictions at source of manufacture and the now total cessation of some but not all plants' production in the Far East have contributed to this. The knock-on effects when supply is unable to meet demand are usually an increase in product costs throughout the supply chain and restricted availability of the product. This case has proved to be no exception. As far as supply is concerned, at G-Max we are confident that we will be able to offer a continuous and uninterrupted supply of our Nitromethane and Nitromethane-based products to our current existing Nitromethane customers and this capability will also include honouring our larger manufacturing contracts that draw off product at regular intervals. We are however not actively seeking to entertain any new business for these products at this time. ©Eurodragster.com The recovery process we feel is likely to be a partial and a fairly lengthy one given the current climate. Even when the equilibrium of supply and demand is again reached the long term financial impact on costs for this product means world markets are unlikely to revert back to previous levels. We regard keeping supply to our regular customers of utmost importance and therefore invite our customers to relay any concerns that they may have after reading this press release by E-Mailing us at [email protected] where we will be glad to answer any questions. Literally a few minutes later we received the following from Jim Kelly at Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor VP Racing Fuels: Things are tight in Nitro supply here in North America but that has not interrupted our supply to the NHRA National events. Congrats to one of our favorite customers, John Force, for making it back to the winner's circle yesterday in Topeka, Kansas. We've managed to fill our European distributors' orders earlier in the Spring before things tightened up here in the US. For anyone needing Nitro in Europe at this time I would recommend they contact Antony Billinton at G-Max in the UK to see if he can help them on that side of the Pond. *A heavy price for a licence.* 3rd June: UK Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Peter Walters went to the FIA Main Event with the intention of gaining his race licence. Pete got his licence and is now amongst Europe's youngest fully-licenced racers, but he tells us that it came at a cost: To get my licence we had one last run to do, a quarter mile pass under power with the chutes out. Our first run on Friday went pretty well. An OK burnout, and a quarter mile pass of 9.55/133 with a 0.043 light. The engine was still misfiring, but was alot better than our previous run at Shakespeare County Raceway. This was my first ever run with the chutes out and it felt very strange. We went to speak to Darren Prentice and he was happy with the run but asked if we could run under a 8.99 before he signed off my licence. ©Eurodragster.com We had a small oil leak so we sorted that out, played with the tune a little bit, and leaned it out a bit. We went down for the second run, and after the burnout the car shut itself off. We are still not a hundred per cent sure why, but we pushed back and restarted after a few pairs had gone through. A similar run to the first resulted in a 9.63/132 with an excellent 0.001 light! Dad told me not to worry too much about the shift points at the moment and shift at about fifty or sixty feet. On this run as soon as I hit the throttle I shifted, which probably lost a bit of ET. But we were still happy with how the car sounded. Saturday came and we were ready to go, we advanced the timing a bit and joined the queue for the first run of the day. The car sounded amazing when we fired it up in the pits, the best we had heard. The burnout was a lot better and felt way better from a driver's point of view. I hit the throttle to a 0.011 light and from then on it was flying. I don't remember much from the first half of the run, but I do remember having my foot off the throttle at the eighth mile. I hit it again and then heard a pop and the car shut off at about a thousand feet and coasted to the first turn-off. When I got out of the car I could see loads of oil in our belly pan, but fortunately no holes which is always a plus. Dad, Tom, Derek and Mick came down to pick me up, they were all smiling so I knew I had done alright. The run was 8.609/115, the slow speed was obviously because I was coasting through. It was doing 130 mph at the eighth with a 1.13 sixty foot. Looking at our incrementals from the run we think it would have been a 7.8 or 7.9. We got back to the pits and had a look around the engine. Dad spotted a long crack along the back corner of the block. That was us out for the rest of the weekend. The guys got to work and took off the sump. Looking up from the bottom we could see the crank had broken and was in about four pieces. We were all gutted to say the least. We went to see Darren and he had already signed me off and was happy with the run. So that was it, I was officially the youngest person in the UK with a full race licence! When we got home we stripped the engine down and it wasn't a nice sight. The crank fell out in four pieces, the crack in the block had gone further down, and also there were lots of hairline cracks. There were a few bent push rods and a broken lifter. The pistons were burnt, there were a few rings squashed in, and four of the rods were banana shaped. We are not sure what the plan is now. Ideally we would like a new Donovan block and all new internals, but funds dont allow it. The block may repair but we aren't certain. We are now looking for sponsors to help us, if you are interested then please contact me via my web site at www.pwrd.co.uk. We are hoping that we will be out at the Open Sport Nationals in August. I would like to say thanks to my crew and sponsors, and I would also also like to say good luck to Matt Glassup driving Bob's car at the SPRC Summernationals. *Swift snippets.* 3rd June: Thanks to our good friend Hannele Höydén for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list for the FHRA Nitro Nationals, which takes place at Alastaro on 3rd-6th July. You can check out the Nitro Nationals entry list by clicking here (PDF format). Entry to this race closes today (Tuesday) so unless you fancy paying the late entry fee check out www.fhra.fi for the entry forms. ©Eurodragster.com We have two birthdays today (Tuesday). Hot on the heels of the best wishes for his return to Sweden for his new job we would like to wish Kjell Pettersson a very Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday, too, to Lex Joon's son Ruben Joon who is eleven years old today. Have a great day, guys. *PMR's thrash pays off.* 3rd June: Paul Marston has been in touch to let us know how the PMR team fared at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway: Firstly Paul Marston Racing would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to some very helpful and selfless teams and people who helped us to achieve our objectives: Mark Flavell and his team for the lending of a Tig welder (we carry a Mig but not a Tig), kindly lent not once but twice; part time crew member young Dave Gibbons for his welding expertise; Andy Robinson of Andy Robinson Race Cars for the supply of chromoly tubing and a bender, also the re-tagging of the flexplate, bell and shield; Santa Pod's Chief Starter from Webster Race Engineering, Ian Marshall, for the supply and personal delivery of a ¾ by ¾ rod end; Geoff Martin of the UK Tech Crew for advice and help in getting the dragster chassis re-tecched; Mike Lacey for going all the way back home on Saturday and fetching an eight-inch torque converter as there was a compatibility problem with our spare; Paula and Stan Atkin for the loan of trans fluid; Ashley Bell for trans fluid; our good American friend Bill from MSD who identified and supplied the MSD ignition parts we needed for the Monza; and last but by no means least Gary Springford of Drag Race Engineering for cobbling together a transmission for the dragster as the sprag failure in the converter also took out the pump in the Powerglide trans. All of the Paul Marston Racing Crew deserve a special mention as so much was achieved by so few in, at times, some high pressure situations. They pulled us through and did themselves proud, I thank you all for making the drivers look so good. So how did the drivers fare? Dave Catton was driving the Ugly Stick in Super Comp. After the thrash to get the dragster tecched, which included the Tig welding, then a complete rebuild of the transmission and fitting of a new converter, Dave went out and qualified #1 with an 8.901. That was special, all the hard work paid off. The long, long awaited trailer loaded full to the brim with much needed parts finally arrived from the States and was collected from Southampton only two days prior to the FIA Main Event. A massive thank you goes to Pro ET racer Billy Gane's dad Dave for helping bring all the equipment back from Southampton, invoking the 1966 Old Pals Act. With a brand new set of Goodyear rear slicks Mick Howling and Grumpy's Dodge were like clockwork, killer reactions and ultra consistent ETs, leading to a #5 in Pro ET and #6 in Super Gas. Alas in the last qualifier on Saturday Grumpy lunched her rear axle at the hit. Mick was devastated but due to his good qualifying points and Pro ET only going one round, the Championship points should see him move up the ladder especially in Pro ET. With the new parts already on order, Grumpy's Dodge should hopefully be back for the Summernationals courtesy of Gary Springford at Drag Race Engineering. ©Eurodragster.com Mick Pusey made a welcome return to National Event competition in the Whoopass Monza in Pro ET. He tested at the Pro Peak Performance on Thursday was on the money Friday, coming so close to a perfect ET but just thousandths under - drat! Mick eventually qualified, which in such a tough class is an achievement in itself. Come first round, Mick again emerged victorious, well done and congratulations. Gary Springford, proprietor of Drag Race Engineering, was out again in his awesome Hulk Shogun, and Gary like myself missed out on the first three sessions of qualifying so that he could attend to the needs of the other drivers before qualifying. Gary put in a banker right off the trailer, a 9.84 on a 9.80 dial-in, none too shabby for a driver who has not driven Hulk for a year now. I doubled up with Mick in the Whoopass Monza. The wind blew the bonnet of the Monza over and damaged the paintwork, and the Monza acted up a little on Friday due to an electrical problem, but by Saturday the car was perfect. A big thank you to all the track cew, staff and management of Santa Pod Raceway for doing such a great job over the weekend. The track was awesome right from the get go. A big thank you also to all our associates and sponsors: PiranaZ - Clothing With Attitude, Drag Race Engineering, ACL Bearings, Black Box London, London Road Tyres, Jap Mad, Geddex Products, CTM Performance & Machine, Customart and all the rest of you guys, you know who you are. *Web site updates.* 3rd June: Peter has provided us with a small gallery of shots from the weekend's Yanks Weekend/Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Peter's pictures, which are presented in association with American Car Imports, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Also updating from the Yanks Weekend is Alan Currans who has posted eighty three pictures of Saturday's weekend including an animated sequence of a burnout by one of the Taz Racing guys. Alan's shots are on show on the Acceleration Archive at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Patrik Jacobsson has updated the Racebilder site at www.racebilder.nu with a short report and pictures from the weekend's MMR Nationals at Meca Raceway. *York avoids the rain...* 2nd June: The UK Spring Nationals at York Raceway on 25th-26th May managed to escape the typical Bank Holiday weather with two full days of racing, even if it was a little cold and very windy, writes Richard Smith. Despite the 20+ mph headwind many racers set new Personal Bests and there were several new cars, mostly joining the American Super Stock Series: Round 2 of the Series took place on Sunday, with Brian Wood's Coronet taking the top spot in qualifying. The top thirteen of twenty seven qualifiers were all within one tenth of their dial-ins, which just goes to show how competitive the class is! In eliminations, Dave Billadeau once again reached the finals where he was narrowly defeated by Dave Rushforth, whose slightly better reaction saw his 15.37 on a 15.35 dial-in just get the edge on Billadeau's 10.14 on a 10.12 dial-in. On Monday, Jerry Smith's Grim Beeper Roadrunner topped the qualifying list for Round 3. Jerry's consistency and great reaction times saw him reach the final against, yep that man again, Dave Billadeau. The two class heavyweights promised one of the quickest and loudest finals yet but it was over as soon as it started as Jerry left a red on the Tree and handed an easy win to Dave, who ran 10.09/133, his Personal Best at York. Dave now has a commanding lead in the Championship standings, will anyone catch him? Over in the Pennine Drag Racing Club classes, Round 2's action saw Dave Rushforth take another trophy home in Sportsman ET (see www.sportsman-et.co.uk for a full report). In Pro ET, Sag entered his dragster and prevented Andy Bales getting too far ahead in the points by defeating him in the final. Andy however made up for that by winning the Hot Rod Challenge again. The VWs also returned in Air Cooled Eliminator where 'Dirty' Nigel Hull took his second win of the season. ©Eurodragster.com Julian Webb also brought his new toy up to York for the first time, putting on a great flame show and making several strong launches in his Split Second jet dragster. Next up for York is the Ultimate Road Car Challenge on 15th June, which will feature the Round 4 of American Super Stock. You can check out Richard's UK Spring Nationals pictures at richardsmith.fotopic.net. *...but Zagreb doesn't.* 2nd June: Not quite so fortunate was the opening round of the 2008 StreetRace402 series due to be held near Zagreb, writes Paul Fischer: April and May saw back-to-back warm sunny days until the race, but then a complete deluge meant that not a wheel was turned. We know we don't have the cars you lucky people have in Northern Europe but we thought we had the climate! This is the first race here ever to have been rained off. ©Eurodragster.com The next round in the five-race series is a two-day event to be held in Slovenj Gradec (Slovenia) on 14th-15th June followed by one of the two big three-day events in Varazdin (Croatia) on 27th-29th June. Both are in the north of our region so they typically draw competitiors from Germany, Austria and Hungary. Some details of what goes on over here in the far flung east can be seen on the StreetRace402 web site at www.402streetrace.com/eng. *Information sought.* 2nd June: We have a couple of requests for information today. First up is UK Super Modified racer Paul Brooks who wishes to continue the web site started by his late Crew Chief Glen Walker. Paul would like to complete the history of his Sierra which was formerly Dave Warne's Mean As Hell and would like to get in touch the Warne family. If you are out there, guys, then please drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll put you in touch. ©Eurodragster.com Mikey from Danny Cockerill's Pro Mod team would like to hear from anyone who has pictures or video of any of Danny's runs at the FIA Main Event, particularly the run in round one of eliminations which was best described as lively. If you can help then please drop Mikey a line at [email protected]. "A big thanks to everyone on the crew and everyone who helped out at the weekend" adds Mikey. *Web site updates.* 2nd June: Our EurodragsterNorth colleagues Tezzii and Big Stan were at Malmö's Meca Raceway at the weekend covering the MMR Nationals. You can check out their reports, results and pictures at www.eurodragsternorth.com. ©Eurodragster.com The Hassebilder site at www.hassebilder.se has been updated with video from the MMR Nationals, with more clips promised. *'Bird flies on debut.* 1st June: Pro Modified racer Graham Ellis tells us his Main Event in the Plymouth Superbird was a success with two PB runs in spite of gremlins still in the car: My first real Pro Mod race ended up being a test of how many times you can remove a oil pan in four days. We arrived Thursday morning with the intention of testing that day after setting up camp and getting the awning up. The car was almost ready; there was just an hours worth of small jobs and then we could warm it up. On the warm up we noticed rapidly falling oil pressure: off with the pan, check the pick up wasn't blocked, back on with the pan. We warmed it up again, things were no better, so it was again off with the pan and check the bearings. All was ok there, so on with the pan, and with thicker oil the pressure was still the same. Off with the pan for a third time, check the main bearings, on with the pan, go to bed. On Friday morning, we took the pan off for the fourth time as we'd forgot to torque some small extra bolts in the rear main. This time it up seemed better on the warm up but still not right. At this point I went home as I had some work to do on Friday. Kev Perkins and Andy Kirk were left to play with the 'Bird and after warming it up with the car creator in the seat, it was decided that the pressure ok, so when I got back it was drink beer and go to bed, Saturday arrived and we were the second Pro Mod to run as rookies go first in the first qualifying session and after that it's down to how well you run. Suddenly it was my turn, and it all went like clockwork: good burnout, controlled staging, good light - and leave. I thought: surely I should shift by now, hit button, oh, its already in, hit another, oh, that one's in too - now I know why there's flames and smoke coming from the bell housing - ok, it seems quick so don't look down and keep the foot in. After the finish line, I pulled the chutes and coasted to the end. The time and speed came over the radio, 6.83 at 213 so I was pretty pleased with myself until I realized I had not armed the data logger, so I had no info. It was the first run, I'm allowed a few mistakes, right? Back to the pits, pull the pan, check the bearings, replace a few, replace the pan, out with the clutch, replace the burnt bits, put it back and we're ready. We were in the left lane, paired with Roger Johansson. This time again the burnout was ok: check in first, arm computer, strange, the shift light came on when I armed it, never mind. I could see the stage and prestage lights, then he was gone; I thought 'Why's he going already', then I realized something was mounted on the A post (which we have fixed now) so that I couldn't see the yellows. Anyway, I gave chase which was pretty pointless as a race but this was just qualifying: good launch, arm overcome with G force flew off the handbrake, better get it back to the shifter quick, d'oh, hit both buttons at about 60 ft, still you know the drill, don't look at the can, pretend there's no sparks coming out and you'll be ok, great. I got to the end and it felt faster. Roger had beaten me but, as we had a heavier car, I was losing speed much slower than him: never mind, he's in his lane, damn, now he's in mine. It was a good job I have carbon brakes, because I had to pull so hard I actually locked up the rear end at well over 100 mph and it stepped out a little after that little brake test. I barely managed to clear the track at the top end, in fact it took a bit of pushing by the top end guys and gals, still 6.71 and 215 was fine and we would have data. So it was back to the pits, pan off, download data. Problem: no data. Honest guv, I pushed the button but I did notice the shift light came on with it, whoops wrong button. We also had a problem with a tight spot in the engine bay, so we tore it down right to its component parts. We found nothing wrong here, so we then took out the clutch and found some ring gear retaining bolts had backed out and one or two were fouling the motor plate hence the tight spot. It was good practice though - hehehe. Then it was reassemble the motor, rebuild the clutch, drink beer, sleep. With the rain-out on Sunday we tidied the trailer, warmed the engine, went bowling, ate at a restaurant, got back, drunk beer, and slept. On Monday we were paired against Urban Johansson, Who, along with his crew, seem pretty decent guys. He was no. 1 qualifier and and we were on the bump, so no pressure there then. As no. 1, Urban had the choice of where to run in the eliminations and he chose last, so we had a little time to sweat. Finally, it was our turn: good burnout, up to the line in first gear with computer activated, lights fell, decent reaction, and a 60 ft of 1.02. I was a little in front as he'd had a bad light, then it all went wrong: a spark plug went out and the loss of power caused the car to start to shake. I short shifted it a bit to try to calm it down and then it turned right like lightning. These cars can bite. I straightened it up and had another stab but the car was all upset and unloaded so it turned again, and game over. Still, I wasn't the only one to have problems. There was a slight controversy about Urban hitting the cone with his headers. As far as I'm concerned, he had won. I'd hate to win a round against someone I've admired for years like that. When it's our turn to win, we will take it. We all know the rest but as we were initially told we'd won, you guessed it: off with the pan, new bearings, clutch checked engine checked, then we found out we are out after all. For me, all I can do is thank my crew who were superstars: Kev Perkins, Rob Millward, Andy and Lee Kirk, Dave Clarkson and Gareth, and to Fred Hone, who was pretending to help but was really stealing secrets to help Steve Rawlings when his car is ready. Lastly I can't say enough about my hot rod, a credit to Andy Robinson Race Cars. The car goes as straight as a string and the after sales service is first class. Thanks to Andy and crew for the help and advice this and last weekend. Roll on the Summer Nationals - every pass, I'm getting more and more comfortable in the car, and when I'm fully at home, this 'Bird will fly. *Moore Pro Mod news.* 1st June: Roger Moore has sent some pics of their new nitrous Pro Mod Dodge Viper, which is on the entry list for the Summernationals (click on photo for different aspect). Roger says: "Brother Dave has done an excellent job on the body and paint. We are taking the car to Andy Robinson race cars next weekend to have a base line set up on the chassis. "Andy has been a great help in getting the car finished, after building me an excellent chassis. A big thank you to my sponsors Shakespeare Engineering and Challenger Solutions who have made this dream a possibility. I will be testing at the Pod on Friday 13th, not unlucky for me I hope, then competing at the Summernationals. "An 8 car British Pro Mod field - when did that last happen?" *Smax is back.* 1st June: Fans of legendary Nitro madman Smax Smith will be pleased to hear that after something of a barren spell (last year was the first season in 34 years of drag racing that Smax didn't have a drive - he was so stressed he had to build himself a supercharged altered), drag racing's most flamboyant leadfoot is back in Top Fuel. Now living in Canada, Smax has secured a spot with long-standing family team Leverich Racing, who recently entered the Top Fuel ranks, for drives at his local tracks of Grand Bend and Cayuga this summer. The team are based in Michigan in the States, so a successful inauguration could lead to more drives in the future. Smax tells us, 'They're a great up-and-coming team, fully committed, and I'm looking forward to working with them and progressing the car. So far they're running consistent mid-fives without breakages, so it's a solid baseline to start from.' Then he breaks into his usual grin - 'Hell, they've even got a five-plate clutch - I'm definitely moving up in the world.' Just like buses all coming at once, just as the Leverich deal was confirmed, Smax also got offered a Top Alcohol drive at the same meeting. But two cars at once seemed like a bit of a big ask even for Smax. UK fans shouldn't feel like they're missing out though, there are strong rumours of Smax letting rip over here in Blighty next year too. And in something quick enough to befit his spectacular talents. It's too early in negotiations to confirm any details yet, but watch this space. *Houndog fires up.* 1st June: Eurodragster.com's reserve photographer Peter Donaldson has sent a report of the latest development in the comeback of British Hall of Fame member Nobby Hills. A welcome appearance at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend was Nobby Hill's latest in a long line of Nitro Funny Cars. The engine was fired up on Saturday drawing appreciative crowds to the team's pit area. Nobby built the chassis, on which is mounted a 2000 Camaro Carbon Fibre body. A 500ci TFX motor with fuel, clutch and timing mods by Nobby provides the approx 6000 bhp. Back in the 70's and 80's, Nobby's cars were driven by Owen Hayward and his 21 year old son Simon will be the driver of the latest Houndog. Also helping the team are Simon's brother Richard, Chris Blows and Joe Titley. Simon who works for Formula 1 team Force India will be attending Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School when funding becomes available. So hopefully in the near future we should once again see a Houndog Funny Car pounding the quarter mile. Building and running a Nitro car does not come cheap, Nobby would like to thank the following for their support, Ware Heating and Bathroom Supplies, Earl's Performance Plumbing, www.homesdirectinthesun.com, Dolphin Graphics, GMAX Racing Fuels, Good Fabrication's, ML UK Ltd, Teng Tools, USA Automotive, Chicago Pneumatic, Emagine Productions, Crystal Clean Limited, Cometic, Dennetts Welding and Fabrication and Stotfold Plating. *Web site updates.* 1st June: In his latest Racer Blog entry, Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Derek Flynn describes how he spent the Main Event acting as crew chief for Bob Glassup and his plans for a return to the cockpit. You can read Derek's exclusive Racer Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We have posted the post-Springspeed Festival points standings in the Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championships, which you can check out on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings page on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Earlier news