Drag Racing Unplugged XXV

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With the 2023 season over we are, for the twenty fifth year in succession, pleased to bring you the finest stories from the year's News on Eurodragster.com - and other snippets which we didn't publish at the time.

We open with the Stories of the Year of the Eurodragster.com team...

Simon's Story of the Year

10th July: Dragstalgia 12 at Santa Pod was one of the best ever, with a new Outlaw Anglia track ET record by John Willard of 6.713, 73 entered in Nostalgia Super Stock, a dream Outlaw Anglia debut win for Dalton Scarlett, with memories, showmanship and glamour galore. We had run a countdown of selected items in the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame's Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia taking place at their pitside marquee over Dragstalgia weekend, which was the most successful yet. The only downsides were engine damage to Aussie visitors John Willard and Paul Stephens, and Christian Zulauf going off the end of the track and rolling his blown alky alingshot. We hope Christian will return in 2024 with his car repaired by its original builder Jon Webster.

Diana's Story of the Year

10th September: The FIA/FIM-E Euro Finals were held at Santa Pod in baking hot conditions. Funny Car champion Kevin Kent had a wheel come away from his car mid run due to rear axle failure, the wheel crossing lanes and making a glancing blow on the side of the Gladiator Car of Jason Phelps. Fortunately there were no injuries, and Kevin was able to bring his backup car into competition, qualify, and secure the title. Following a massive storm on Sunday afternoon, the indefatigable track crew cleared the deluge of water, readied the track by 19:00 with the remaning elimination rounds, bar three sportsman finals, run by the extended curfew time, a few minutes after 21:00. The champions then celebrated to the small hours at the post event banquet.

Kirstie's Story of the Year

19th June: We reported on the results of Santa Pod and Melbourne Raceway's Street Weekend, an event for the UK in the manner of US Drag N Drive events. 81 cars were entered for the event, social media went crazy with many posting team updates, and we are confident of at least 200 cars for 2024. As well as Street Weekend, both venues were able to combine the competition with their usual range of classes, making for a busy weekend.

Tog's Story of the Year

17th April: The first race at Melbourne Raceway in 2023 was marked by a new track record by the steam powered rocket bike of Graham Sykes who traversed the eighth mile track in 4.66 seconds at 132mph, the first run on the reopened track under five seconds. Graham went on to achieve great things in 2023, running at the NitrOlympX an early shut off 6.300 at 161.91 at Santa Pod at the Euro Finals. For 2024, Graham is building a new rocket motor that will deliver around 50% more power by using the same water capacity more efficiently.

Julian's Story of the Year

18th January: Australian racer John Willard announced he would be shipping his Outlaw Anglia (the world's quickest OA legal car) to the UK and coming over to race in our Summer; blown alky altered racer Paul Stephen would be bringing his car too. Shipping both cars over was a huge commitment, reducing John and Paul's Australian commitments but giving them a visit which was memorable for all drag racing fans in the UK. John would achieve his goal of setting new records for Outlaw Anglia of 6.762 and 204.31mph.

Kieran's Story of the Year

16th May: It was announced that no less than 22 Polish racers were entered for the weekend's Doorslammers at Santa Pod Raceway. The racers visiting had a pair of transporters to carry the cars, with other vehicles carrying teams and spares. Many would run PBs at the Doorslammers and Dawid Lamik would take his Opel Nova to the European FWD Front Wheel Drive win.

...and the rest of the 2023 Drag Racing Unplugged collection in chronological order... (click on date to go to original story)

1st January: We started the year by reporting on a change of ownership at the Man Cup US motorcycle series. Broderick "Hollywood" Jackson purchased the ailing series. His first action was positive, an addition of mandatory oil retention devices across the series. It transpired later that the Man Cup Top Fuel Bike class was cancelled in favour of a non-nitro group of classes; NHRA saw the opportunity, however it took them most of the year to get the arrangements in place to announce their own Top Fuel series in mid-November.

2nd January: We started the third season of Pioneer Stories with the first of five parts with veteran Flathead exponent Ken Cooper. Ken, a member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is a true hot rodding and drag racing pioneer in the UK and is widely recognised for his engineering skills as well as his approach to going fast. Later parts of his story tell how his son Bradley got the bug.

4th January: Funny Bike racer Dale Leeks announced he would be shipping his bike to the US for the 2023 season for it to race in both the newly owned Man Cup series and drag bike sanction Xtreme Dragbike racing (XDA). Dale's first race was in the eighth mile Pro Xtreme class at the XDA Spring Nationals at Maryland International Raceway on 21st-23rd April. He was runner up in his first race and by the end of the season, he had achieved 3rd place in the class championship.

6th January: Drag racing at Drachten Airport in Holland was announced by the Dutch Hot Rod Association to have sadly come to an end. However a reprieve was allowed by the Drachten Airport foundation. Never say never?

14th January: A number of announcements prior to Autosport International at the NEC was capped by Williams Bros Racing being announced as the exclusive UK distributor for VP Racing's range of lubricants. We were also pleased to see Straight To The Point Racing and Robin Read waving the drag racing banner, despite Santa Pod Raceway choosing to put their marketing budget elsewhere. We are currently awaiting the list of 2024 exhibitors from the organisers, but former editor Tog and sponsor Bob Roberts will be there, rain, snow or shine.

22nd January: The Santa Pod Racers' Club Riders & Drivers meeting announced a revised scrutineering system with all cars being scrutineered at the start of the season, following which scrutineering would be on a selective basis. This seems to have gone down well.

27th January: Straightliners NI announced a series of drag racing events in Northern Ireland with five full events planned. Sadly after three rounds, financial difficulties brought the series to a halt. We are hopeful of a resumption in racing in 2024.

30th January: Brits Paul Mander and Al McSweeney headed towards Orlando for Sick Week in a '86 Chevrolet Monte Carlo (which is for sale in our Swap Meet) to repeat their event participation as one of 350 attendees of the American drag-and-drive competition. European participation in US Drag and Drive events has increased following the overall winning entry of Michael Westberg and runner up Stefan Gustafsson.

2nd Febuary: The new owner of Tierp Arena, Svante Andersson, held an introductory meeting with 30-40 participants from several motorsport categories, clubs, and representatives from the municipal council of Tierp. Svante said that the two FIA/EDRS Drag Racing racers are important events for Tierp and sees great potential in expanding and managing and bringing more activities to Tierp Arena all year round. The two FIA rounds held in 2023 indeed saw a revival in competitor and crowd numbers, even if the weather didn't exactly play ball.

12th Febuary: We announced the first race of the 2023 season in the UK at Spitfire Raceway, Perranporth, Cornwall would take place on the following weekend. With five races each year on Saturdays, the well supported venue has provided south western racers with a good no-prep surface at which David Henderson set a new track record of 8.998 @155mph in September. 2024's first race is on 10th February.

13th Febuary: Scotland's Crail Raceway, based at Anstruther, announced a new timing system and a revised first quarter mile date for 2023. The new timing system from Portatree, including lots of new equipment, cabling, and up to date software provided times which are uploaded to the track's web site as well as to racers.

16th February: The National Sprint Association announced their 2023 calendar of 11 rounds with 8 to count towards the Elgar Championship for sprint bikes. Despite the loss of Westonzoyland as a venue, there are still four venues for competition, Dakota Raceway, Melbourne Raceway, Llanbedr, and of course, Santa Pod Raceway.

19th February: Markus Münch provided us with an update on the international Drag Race Union championship for 2023. This championship is run across five countries for Super Pro ET and Pro ET bracket classes, with a championship for Extreme Outlaw based in Germany. It encourages more international competition in the sportsman ranks with 22 racers from each of Pro and Super Pro scoring points.

19th February: We published the winners of SPRC's Perpetual Awards, for whom Eurodragster.com readers had the chance to vote, following the Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation in Milton Keynes. As usual, we published a trophy presentation gallery of photos. Santa Pod CEO Keith Bartlett spoke about investing before the season starts around £250k-£300k in upgrades, improvements or repairs, and the desire to market the facility as a staycation venue, with high street clothing stores a potential outlet for branded apparel.

28th February: Jerry Cookson reported on the Elvington Top Speed Show taking place on the third weekend in February. Six heated marquees housed the exhibition of drag racing and land speed cars and bikes, whilst outside there was a 1/16th (100 metre) drag strip which included some demos from the Jet vehicles present. The show is planned to return in 2024 on the weekend of 24th-25th February.

5th March: Swap meet sponsor Jeff Bull announced a three round series for 7.60 Heads Up, backed up by cash prizes totalling £3,000. The series in its initial year attracted 12 racers with several other looking to join up for 2024. Brendan Clancy took the champion title in his return season after a long break from racing his '53 Corvette.

18th March: Santa Pod Raceway announced that announced there would be a Nostalgia Funny Car Cup in 2023 and that racers could compete in it under either Nostalgia Funny Car Rules or Outlaw Nostalgia Funny Car Rules, subject to a "re-evaluation of performance restrictions" if speeds exceeded 250mph or ETs were in the 5.90 range. Points from the Dragstalgia Cannonball would be included for the first time ever. Of the five cars competing in the cup, four ran on NFC rules. Tim Garlick came away champion, whilst Tony Betts set new performance marks.

21st March: The annual SFI Inspection of parts took place at Santa Pod Raceway's VIP building and it was good to see SFI President Jennifer Faye as well as the team of inspectors Andy Robinson, Luke Robinson and Lars Goran Eriksson. It was Jennifer's first attendance after missing three years due to the pandemic. The tour included Amsterdam , Klaukkala, near Helsinki and Borlänge. A common theme in our chats with racers was the delays in delivery of parts which resulted in some teams not being able to get on track at all during 2023. Things can only get better...

22nd March: The Malta Drag Racing Association season got off to a record-breaking start, Clifton Abdilla running an impressive 6.192/213.67mph in his Toyota 2JZ powered rail, the quickest ever import powered ET in Maltese drag racing history whilst Glenn Borg on his Funny Bike ran a 6.766/202.52 for a new track record.

25th March: Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall announced an award in memory of Santa Pod Raceway founder and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member the late John Bennett. The trophy will be called the John C. Bennett Foundation Award and will be presented on an annual basis to a Junior Drag Bike rider or Junior Dragster driver at the season-end trophy evening based on the votes for a name within their class at each event.

3rd April: Administration of the long running Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme changed hands to the teams of incumbent racers Brett Featherstone and John Bean. As well as 11 companies remaining sponsors, Brett and John attracted six new sponsors to support the class, a fantastic achievement in our cash strapped times. Trophies and cash prizes are awarded to four achievers in qualifying and eliminations.

10th April: The first SPRC Championship event of 2023, the Springspeed Nationals, took place during Easter Weekend, but due to waterlogged conditions in camping areas, was swapped with the second race which in turn became the Festival of Power, a larger and family oriented event. The track conditions for the Springspeed Nationals were great, the air ideally suited for racing, being below sea level density altitude for most of the event, and the track as usual superbly prepared by the SPRC marshals. The only incident was Mark Dainty coming off his Comp Bike at high speed; despite bruising and a torn hamstring he was able to return at the next event and eventually became ACU Comp Bike champion!

24th April: VW Heads Up racer Dave Henderson, who has an Audi RS3 capable of running eights at over 160mph, won the VW Heads Up competition at the GTi Spring Festival. He would go on to win the other VWHU round at Das Auto Show, run quick times at Crail in Scotland and a record at Spitfire Raceway on the same weekend. After his season ended Dave's car went to Andy Robinson's for a new cage, so that he can compete in VW Pro next year.

28th April: European Top Fuel Record Holder Ida Zetterström announced a new global partnership between Edelbrock Group and KW Parts (Klintberg & Way Group) to support her efforts in winning the FIA Championship driving for RF Motorsport. After securing the championship by winning all three completed races in 2023, Ida attended the PRI show in Indianapolis and announced she would be competing in at least five NHRA rounds in the second half of the 2024 season.

2nd May: The delayed Festival of Power was completed on May Day, with Bobby Wallace winning Pro Modified with Neil Midgley the victor in Top Fuel Bike. There were demo runs by Top Fuel, Funny Cars and Jets to entertain the large crowd.

8th May: The following weekend in a busy May was the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals. Rob Stone was delighted to have won Outlaw Anglia, which saw the competition debut of a rebuilt Flyin Fyfer Anglia from Colin Millar. The Gasser Circus celebrated their 20th anniversary with special decals and an ever-larger field of entries. The Quarter Masters Vintage Drag Racing made their debut with demo passes of vintage hot rods, organised by Harley Peters, and we learned that Harley's business, Imperial Speed Co. in Hatch, Bedfordshire, is carrying out all types of work on these cars from wiring through to full builds.

22nd May: The Doorslammers was another huge racing success with ideal conditions and a huge number of personal bests in all classes. The seemingly unstoppable Jan Ericsson won Pro Doorslammer with a slew of 5.7s times at 250mph, whilst Andy Bond took Pro Street both repeating their 2022 victories. There were plenty of stories from the race, our favourite was last minute entrant Richie Webb who had a huge streak of luck and won 4 Cylinder despite not making a single representative pass in one of the most competitive classes.

30th May: The FIA/FIM-E Main Event was completed under mostly sunny skies. For the first time track grip data from the KEG machine (Karstens Electric Grippo) was broadcast using the Discord instant messaging system, as well as being included in Eurodragster.com race reports. David Smith ran his first Pro Modified race after licensing in his beautiful '55 Chevy at the Festival of Power. Running just four rounds of the UK Motorsport UK Pro Mod championship, he finished in the top 10 and finished the year with best times of 6.3890 and 219.30.

1st June: Nitro Revival sponsor and Land Speed Racer Geoff Stilwell reported on a largely successful outing to El Mirage, with only tyre spin in the hot and dusty conditions keeping his speed lower than desired, resulting also in a set of shredded tyres. Geoff was supported by Rob Davies, Rob Loaring, Scott Barnes, Scotty Campbell, Pauly Rivera, Mick Jenkins, Tony Thacker and Mickey Larson, and the team would make their way to Bonneville in August and then back to El Mirage in October.

4th June: At the EDRS Gardermoen Spring Nationals in Norway there were six cars entered for the Pro Stock race, the class choosing not to attend travel to the Main Event a fortnight earlier. Jimmy Ålund qualified first with 6.61 and won the event over Tommy Leindahl in a new for him Chevy Cobalt. Three Pro Modified cars made demo passes as well, however we are not expecting Gardermoen to become licensed by the FIA any time soon without a lot more investment in track infrastructure.

19th June: Your editor was at Tierp Arena in Sweden for the first FIA/FIM-E race under the track's new management. All went very smoothly with the exception of the weather on the final day after three days of blisteringly hot qualifying. Sadly the August event was also marred by rain.

29th June: Stock/Super Stock racers Carla Pittau and Rick McCann sent in a 30th racing anniversary piece. Written in both Swedish and English, Carla described driving to the track in her race car with one slick in the trunk, the other on the back seat with their tent, and how in her first year of racing was voted as Rookie of the Year. International visits culiminated in migrating to Sweden to spend more time with the class they loved, and we wish Carla and Rick many years of racing to come.

3rd July: We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the historic Petersen Publishing International Series, one of the most significant events in the growth of the sport in the UK by publishing two articles describing the three race series.

8th July: We welcomed the inductees to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame for 2023, photojournalist Roger Gorringe, Top Fuel Bike racer Rod Pallant, Rocket Bike legend Eric Teboul, and Wild Bunch/Supercharged Outlaws founder and slingshot racer Roy Wilding.

16th July: In the Netherlands, Drachten Raceway was permitted to run another event and European racers flocked to it. Low ET was by Sebastien Lajoux in his Super Pro ET dragster at 6.689 at 205mph, impressive for a track used for once a year in recent years. DHRA official Mike Kraaij said "It was possibly our last race at Drachten, but fingers crossed for next year, hopefully it is possible to organise another race event again at Drachten after a change in government. The future will tell."

17th July: Street Week Sweden which again had been sold out with almost 200 cars in attendance, was won by Drag N Drive king Michael Westberg. Other championship racers involved included Pro Stock racer Michael Callin who won the Pro Touring class and Pro Modified racer Tami Brander. There was a sole UK entrant, Al McSweeney in his Volvo 162 who completed all five tracks in Street Outlaw class. Will we see Scandinavian racers in Street Weekend UK in 2024? Let's hope so!

24th July: Bug Jam 36 included four classes alongside the array of VWs at the race-cum-music festival held at Santa Pod Raceway. The big news came at the start of qualifying with Kevin Kent taking the Funny Car track record to 4.187/291.25. Bobby Wallace took his third win of the season to pull ahead in the championship race.

31st July: Ida Zetterström took the Top Fuel Cannonball at the Meguiars Drag Festival at Mantorp Park, the only non-championship Top Fuel competition of the year in Europe. Also involved were Stig Neergaard, Susanne Callin and Dennis Nilsson.

5th August: We reported the Association Trophee Dragster 2023 Champions and posted media links from the third and final French Championship car race. The status of the ATD has been assured by results being included in the German DMV Drag Racing Meisterschaft and DMSB Drag Racing Cup championships, plus Drag Race Union. Three dates have been announced for 2024.

7th August: The Gardermoen Raceway Drag Challenge in Norway included racing in Pro Modified and Pro Stock, whilst the nitro classes saw demo runs, including two surprising Brit entrants, Shelley Pearson (Top Fuel) and a new Nitro Outlaw Pontiac Firebird Nostalgia Funny Car owned and piloted by Jamie Willis who made his first licensing pass.

14th August: The Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena was curtailed, all FIA and FIM-classes having run two rounds of racing along with the Summit Racing Equipment Super Pro ET and Pro ET shootouts. The remainder of sportsman racers went home after their racing was cancelled on Saturday with drizzle causing problems for track officials and racers. FIM-E Top Fuel Bike racer Neil Midgley came off his bike in the shutdown area, the bike getting severely damaged and Neil suffering broken ribs. But his Cannon Racing team would have even worse news in the next few weeks with the loss of team manager Chris Hannam.

28th August: Drag Racing was showcased at the Silverstone Festival (formerly Silverstone Classic) with 17 cars on display and engine startups. Sadly, no on-track action was possible however organiser Colin Theobald did a great job of introducing cars and drivers, and the racers present chatted to the motorsports enthusiasts present, which can only help promote the sport.

28th August: The NitrOlympX at Hockenheim was one of the best attended we can remember with a sell-out for the legendary Saturday Night Show. Racing was intense with championships still to be decided, and Pro Stock racer Robin Norén suffered an accident in the final against Michael Malmgren when his Pontiac GXP skidded on oil that had been deposited on the track by a previous race car and impacted both barriers. Undeterred, Robin made plans to compete at the FIA/FIM-E Euro Finals at Santa Pod with his previous car borrowed from fellow PS racer Lasse Britsmar.

10th September: On the 60th anniversary of the historic runs at Silverstone by Dante Duce in the Mooneyes dragster, John Hunt and Nick Pettitt of British Drag Racing Historians linked up with current Mooneyes owner Shige Suganuma to bring the story of the visit to England by Duce, and Mickey Thompson who brought his AA/FD to the Brighton Speed Trials.

18th September: Rain came once again to put a premature end to the 2023 NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Santa Pod Raceway. However there were two and a half days of mostly glorious weather, over 1,000 RWYB runs, and many PBs. The sole incident was Joe Bond whose Bond, Hannis & Osbourne slingshot contacted the right wall on a wild ride which left Joe with bruising and a suspected dislocated thumb. We look forward to seeing the car repaired and Joe back on track in 2024.

25th September: The UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway decided the SPRC Championships. An extension of the race schedule to three days worked to perfection as all scheduled qualifying sessions able to be completed thanks to the efforts of the track crew. The race saw the completion of the three final rounds unable to be run at the FIA/FIM-E European Finals. We have included these three results in our Champions' Champions as well as the wins and SPRC championships.

27th September: Pro Modified triple Champion Jan Ericsson announced his retirement from drag racing. He said "When you have been dedicated full-time to the task of winning all three Championships then there are no backward steps to take other than to retire". Later in the month, Netherlands-based Marck Harteveld announced that his Voodoo Hemi Racing would be taking a sabbatical in 2024.

2nd October: Santa Pod Racers Club announced it had added three new members to its committee, Andy Dibley, Jake Mechaell and Peter Walters. Each has huge race experience, many contacts with other racers through both racing and business, and we wish them all well in their additional roles.

16th October: At the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals, expat Norwegian Top Alcohol Dragster racer Julie Nataas secured the Lucas Oils Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster Championship, the first European racer to win an NHRA Championship since Jonnie Lindberg back in 2015 and 2016 in TAFC. To cap it an ecstatic Julie also won the Jegs Allstars race-within-a-race.

31st October: In Greece, Agrinio Raceway had two records set, Konstantin Dinev from Bulgaria ran a 6.982 @ 195mph in his 4WD Audi S2 whilst in bikes, Savvas Tilsisoglou (SSB Suzuki Hayabusa) ran 6.823/207.50 to be seventh quickest in Europe (bettered at the start of December by Stamatis Mavromatis at 6.807/211.82). For 2024 Agrinio is looking to have more international competitors take part with the opportunity of vacations on the island of Leykada following the event.

7th November: Nitro Revival at Irwindale Dragstrip has become the premier drag racing nostalgia event in the US, incorporating a huge car show, cacklefest and demo runs. Our intrepid friend Andy Willsheer visited the event as well as sponsor Geoff Stilwell, both supplied us with galleries.

22nd November: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala had taken place on 18th November and we published the presentation and acceptance speeches from the auspicious occasion. Santa Pod Chief Executive Keith Bartlett reiterated his desire to open a museum to British Drag Racing at the facility and announced he had acquired another exhibit, the 1968 Motovation dragster which had been built by Allan Herridge, member #1 of the BDRHoF.

29th November: SFI Specifications for the 2024 season were published by the FIA. Whilst this routine announcement is not usually an entrant in the News Stories of the Year, this year's specs are remarkable for the recertification period for a wide range of parts being lengthened or made not applicable (subject to scrutineering), which can only be good for teams that are on tight budgets.

3rd December: The much anticipated Malta Drag Racing Association Finals was marred by poor weather, with rain and high winds affecting all qualifying days and eliminations being cut short on the Sunday. Visiting fans, many of which were from the UK, were able to party instead, however the teams, several of which had travelled across Europe to race, had a frustrating race. But we are sure they will be back, particularly when track improvements take place as announced the following week.

11th December: The FIA announced the 2024 regulations, clarifying sporting rules over sporting regulations. More significantly, the FIA kept to previous rules for power adders in Pro Modified, another sign perhaps that continuity in the class is being prioritised over it becoming unaffordable to all but the super wealthy.

In memoriam - those we have lost in 2023, in date order with links to tributes:

John Bennett - British Drag Racing founder and co-founder of Santa Pod Raceway (BDRHoF member).
Les Szabo - former Super Gas racer whose Barracudas were both named Hot Metal.
Nobby Hills - pioneer UK Dragster/Funny Car builder and tuner (BDRHoF member).
Dave Bartz - National Association of Supertwins racer.
Fred Whittle - Fuel Altered pioneer and racecar builder.
Simon Rees - NSA Sprinter and drag bike racer.
Richard Stirling - Topnitro web master, photographer and enthusiast.
"King Harold" Bull - The first racer to go down the Santa Pod quarter, builder of race cars and driver of Stripduster
Odd Erik Fossum - Norwegian Competition Eliminator, Top Doorslammer and Pro Modified racer.
Avril Brown - former Santa Pod Racers Club marshal.
Rulebook.
Eric Frank - Swedish team member of The Beast FIM-E Super Twin motorcycle, and former Super Twin Bike racer.
Rulebook.
Brian Taylor - former Santa Pod Raceway announcer, writer and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame director.
Rulebook.
David Owen - pioneer of the sport, organising drag racing at Graveley and Santa Pod, writing the first UK Drag Racing Rulebook.
John Bolton - longtime crew member on nitro and blown methanol cars.
Rolf Simonsson - Swedish Competition Eliminator, Top Doorslammer and Pro Modified racer.
Amos Meekins - retired Santa Pod Raceway chief scrutineer.
Arnold "Arnie" Kuhns - safety pioneer and founder of SFI Foundation.
Steve Moxley - longtime photojournalist and friend to many in the sport.
Jim Brisette - Famed US nitro tuner and frequent visitor to Europe in the 2000s.
Brian Sparrow - founder of Dragster Developments in 1962, writer and photographer of the British drag racing scene (BDRHoF member).
Arthur Bonner - builder and driver of the Detroit Spinner Ford Prefect.
Mick Patey - hot rodder and racer, member of Detroit Spinner team.
Malcolm Frost - competition altered racer from 1980-90s, best known for Firecracker Reliant Regal.
Chris Hannam - engineer, drag bike builder, rider and team manager.
Dan Söderberg - Top Fuel crew chief and racing partner of former champion Monica Öberg.
Laurence Clark - VWDRC racer, best known for his Thunder Bug New Beetle.
Jerry Lackey - pioneer of the sport in Germany and longtime race director at the NitrOlympX.
Håkan Mattsson - longtime Swedish Super Gas racer and multiple champion.
Jam Palmqvist - Swedish Pro Stock racer of cars named Snowball and race car builder.
Jöran Persåker - Swedish speed shop owner and Top Fuel/Pro Modified racer.
Bill Marsh - ET Bike racer and team member.
Don Schumacher - NHRA team owner and Funny Car pioneer.
Paula Murphy - Funny Car and Land Speed legend.

Roland Leong - legendary Funny Car owner and tuner.

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