European Drag Racing News

FIA MSUK Regulations and Re-certification periods.
31st January: SPRC club secretary Ian Marshall has announced following the publication of the FIA European Drag Racing regulations, there have been questions raised regarding which class or category of UK Drag Racing will follow what rules and SFI re-certification period. The details below are a clarification for all of our Pro and Sportsman Classes currently running under Motorsport UK permit.

Pro Modified - FIA Events only (Main Event & European Finals).
Snell 2015 helmets not permitted for FIA Pro Modified events in the UK.
The current FIA SFI regulations for Pro Modified will only be accepted at the FIA rounds in the UK as listed above.

Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship and Comp Eliminator A/PM, AA/PM & AT/PM
Snell 2015 helmets permitted ONLY for Motorsport UK Pro Modified events. Snell 2020 also permitted.
All vehicles entering a round of the 2024 Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship (with the exception of the Main Event and European Finals) must meet the current Drag Racing White Book SFI requirements and certification periods.

Nitro Funny Car (NFC AA/FC)
Snell 2015 and 2020 helmets permitted.
For the 2024 season Nitro Funny Car (NFC) will follow the FIA regulations on all certifications, with exception of those items listed within the Drag Racing White Book. The use of the Electrimotion system is also mandatory from January 1st 2024 , no exceptions.
From January 1st 2025 the Nitro Funny Cars will revert back to the Drag Racing White Book and follow all SFI requirement there in , SFI 15.4 wheels will become mandatory on January 1st 2025 also.

Nostalgia Funny Car
Snell 2015 and 2020 helmets permitted. Nostalgia Funny car will continue to use the Drag Racing White Book as normal, the changes to the FIA rule book will not effect the class and or it's safety equipment re-certification periods.

Sportsman Classes
All Sportsman classes will continue to follow the Drag Racing White book for all rules and regulations, please note that all Snell 2010 helmets are no longer legal for competition use. However, FIA 8860-2010 are still legal until 31/12/2028 for a complete list of all available helmets for National Competition follow this link.

Electrimotion
For all classes that utilise the Electrimotion system, please remember that this is a secondary safety system, and is designed to shut down a vehicle and deploy parachutes at the relevant finish line area should the driver be incapacitated, under no circumstances should it supersede the driver's role unless absolutely necessary.

Should Racers have further questions please contact ir.marshall@btconnect.com, your questions will then be passed on to the relevant technical group.

Malta postponement avoided.
31st January: Here is an announcement made by the Malta Motorsport Federation (MMF):

Yesterday evening a meeting was held with all the sports club members of the MMF. A constructive conversation was held with all committee representatives present. We all agreed that we should proceed with acquiring the policy in hand and get on with it what we love, Motorsport. It was also agreed to change the insurance schedule to avoid negotiation during the Christmas period.

This morning the MMF communicated this decision with the local broker with the plan to hopefully have the insurance in place by Friday and therefore ensure that Motorsport events can go ahead as planned. Again we would like to thank all those representatives present during yesterday’s meeting who actively participate, in a constructive manner and with the general overview of Motorsport in mind.

Melbourne Raceway pit improvements being made.
31st January: Graham Sykes has announced pit improvements at Melbourne Raceway and a renewed appeal for donations:

Great things are happening at Melbourne Raceway in the coming months. Firstly I can announce we have pushed the button on getting the half of the bike pits re surfaced from the control tower back , we need more money in fast if we want to re surface it all. It’s going to be scraped back and air blasted and any repairs patched with AC10 tarmac to a depth of 30 mm then resurfaced with a base layer of polymer based tarmac surface dressing binder and AC8 aggregate. Then rolled and swept. This will make a massive improvement to all who pit in this area.

If this isn’t enough good news, the car pits behind the start line are also to be resurfaced in the same manner from the grass edge to the edge of the newly layed concrete pairing lanes. All to way back to the first turning where the concrete stops Sealing all the edges to make good.

This is a good start but it isn’t enough, we need to raise more money to complete the entire car pits but we need your help. We are are definitely moving in the right direction. The control tower and signing on office are going to be profile sheet clad and all new signage throughout the venue.

We are also having new fencing around the clubhouse area and the bike pits gate has been moved to create better access for competitors and public alike. We have a new track sponsor who is contributing to this work, more information on this will follow at a later date.

On track we will have new signage and banners for the start line gantry. Anew hard wired lights and beams are going to be fitted very soon and new score board in a permanent stand on the right hand side of the race track.

We are looking for a large generator to replace the generator we have at the moment, so if anyone knows of one around 50 KVA. Please get in touch with me.

All this work had cleared out what funds we had, and we desperately need more donations to complete. Everyone has been so generous in donating funds to the Melbourne Raceway track and this year we will see the fruits of your generosity.

Let's get the ball rolling and start the season off by donating to the track, click this link and make your track something to be proud of.

Malibu Express Dragster for sale - continued.
31st January: Jeff Morris has contacted eurodragster.com with an update from 17th January on his beautiful blown methanol fuelled Malibu Express slingshot.

Specifications:

The chassis is chrome Moly.

Electronic Gear Shift Powerglide.

Crankshaft: Forged Callies Magnum XL Steel and polished all over.

Aluminum Forged Billet connecting Rods 2 sets 1 set never fitted.

Brand new engine and spares, best quality race engine parts.

Trailer included in the sale

You can see full specifications on the Malibu Express Dragster in our Jeff Bull
Performance Engines-sponsored Swap Meet at this link.

Swift snippets.
31st January: Happy Birthday for today to photojournalist Andy Willsheer, Top Fuel Bike engineer and tuner Phil Brachtvogel, 2022 Super Comp champion Leah Kellett, and Super Street Bike racer Richard Hann. We hope you all have a great day.

Swift snippets.
30th January: Happy Birthday for today to Swap Meet sponsor Belinda Bull, Supercharged Outlaws racer Robbie Grabham, nitro tuner and driver extraordinaire John 'Bodie' Smith and VW Sportsman racer Andree Walklate. We hope you all have a great day.

Sick Week results from day 1 (Orlando) can be seen at this link. Swede Stefan Gustafsson in his familiar-but-repainted Corvette, is in 3rd place with a 7.146 seconds at 153.18mph in the headlining. Unlimited class which is led by Jeff Lutz, Jeff a British Drag Racing Hall of Fame guest in 2017, has aimed at the 5s bracket in his twin turbo Camaro, and ran 6.155 seconds at 247.38 mph on the first day of competition. Supercharged Outlaws racer Joel Kerr is running a 1984 Chevrolet Corvette in the DYO category and ran a best of 18.014 seconds at 59.96 mph.

Safe travels to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell who is headed to the Grand National Roadster Show at the Fairplex, Pomona, this weekend. Geoff tells us that Bob Beck, who attended the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame as a Bench Race compere in 2019 will be interviewing a number of hot rodding legends live at the event. For more details see this link.

Pioneer Stories - Alan Allard.
29th January: Alan Allard watched his father Sydney build the first British dragster in 1960 and saw it run at various sprints and on airport runways throughout the country in the early 60s.

In 1964 Sydney decided he wasn’t going to drive anymore handing the keys to Alan who got his first experience of driving a dragster, jumping from a rally 100 bhp Ford Anglia, to a 5.7 litre V8 supercharged machine. Alan also drove one of the new blown 1500 Ford powered Allard Dragons and was kept busy driving both dragsters at the 1964 Drag Festivals.

A second big Allard Dragster was built at the end of 1964 and Alan was once again in the driver’s seat driving in the rain at Blackbushe during the 2nd Dragfest. Then in 1966 Alan took it to Elvington for a shot at the quarter mile standing start world record.

Alan also ran the Allard Dragoon Anglia at Santa Pod in the 60s taking many Competition Altered wins.

Read more by clicking here.

Alan's story was written by Alan, edited by Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves with help from Andy "Tog" Rogers. All pics are from the Allard Archives unless marked otherwise.

Sick Week live streaming link (revised).
29th January: Sick Week 2024 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive will be live streamed on www.frdmplus.com or this link.

With more cameras, streaming on the routes, drones a freaking jumbotron at the track, it's going to be epic. Here is some information to help you get it going:

Subscribers to Sick The Magazine have been sent emails with their codes to sign up. Please note that subscribing to Sick The Magazine from now on will not generate a code, you will need to order the live stream through FRDM+.

You need to sign up for FRDM+ with the same email that you use to subscribe to Sick The Magazine.

If you have not received your code, first check your spam and junk folders, then check them again. If you still can't find the code, email info@sickthemagazine.com.

Anyone can sign up at FRDM+ to view the live stream. Use the code SICKWEEK to get the full week's live stream for half price. At only $10 for the whole week it is an absolute steal, plus you can access all of the historic FRDM+ content during this time.

Streaming starts at 9am EST (2pm GMT) each day, except for Friday which starts at 11am.

Swift snippets.
29th January: Today's Happy Birthdays are to former SCR official Julie Willcox, UK Nostalgia Superstock racer Neil Frances and FWD racer Craig Evans. Have a great day guys.

Extensive photo coverage of Nitro Revival 5 from last November by Don Ewald can be seen at this link.

Eurodragster.com sends its best wishes to King Racing's 10 time FIM European Championship winning Crew Chief Michael Beaumont after his hospitalisation and operation after crushing his foot in his workshop. Undeterred, Mick still plans to attend the SPRC dinner although on crutches.

Shaun Saunders' Mazda record.
28th January: Former UK Super Gas racer Shaun Saunders, now based in Arizona, has been in touch with the news that at Tucson last Saturday he passed an important milestone.

With his Mazda MX5, last weekend in Tucson with the density altitude at 4400 ft, a string of 7 sec passes ended with a best of 7.55 at 181.75. Shaun reckons this is now a record for mph and et for a Miata/MX5 with its original engine.

View Shaun's timing ticket by clicking here.

You can see video of Shaun's historic run on Facebook, click here.

Swift snippets.
28th January: Happy Birthday for today to Jet dragster and funny car racer Martin Hill, British Junior Dragster Club admin and JD mum Edel McDonald, Straightliners and Melbourne Raceway announcer Paul Cumpstone, Straightliners Bike racer Andy Higham, Modified 100e racer Troy Bull and Top Methanol Funny Car racer Mikael Larsson. We hope you all have a great day.

Commiserations to expat Swedish racer Adam Flamholc on not making the call in round 1 eliminations at the US Street Nationals, Bradenton with his beautiful new '58 Corvette Outlaw Pro Mod. Adam reported"Tough ending to US Street Nationals for us. Saturday morning I decided that we needed to change some gear ratios in the Liberty gearbox. Unfortunately we didn't have the car ready when they called us to the lanes, so we missed it. Not a good feeling.. But nothing we can do about it now. Car will be race-ready and well-tested before the World Series of Pro Mod!"

For photos and video of the Mooneyes New Years Party 2024 held yesterday at Irwindale Dragstrip, click here on Facebook. Cindy says "An absolute home run for Shige and Chico. Mooneyes New Years Party 2024, definitely the biggest one yet!"

2023 Bracket Racing Wrapped.
27th January: Dark Horse team member and web developer Richard Bell has used the excellent data supplied by SPR timing gurus Adam Bentley and David Anniwell to come up with a new online source for racers called 2023 Bracket Racing Wrapped, check it out by clicking here.

Richard writes: "It started as a challenge over the Christmas break and escalated into what you see now. Massively inspired by Eurodragster sponsor Peter Walters great work with the Super Pro stats and Kirstie Tramm's comment of “enough to go through the Sportsman ET data as well”.

2023 Bracket Racing Wrapped enables racers to:

Export/share your 2023 Bracket Racing Wrapped stats.

Compare by driver/class.

Filterable and sortable list of runs all in one place.

You will be able to see your average RTs, green, red or overall and average over/under dial as well.

"If it makes zero sense read the help page which explains how it works and how I got to the figures. Fingers crossed the server holds out and my code/maths add up (I'm sure there will be something). Either way, hopefully it gives you an idea."

Enjoy https://2023.dragladders.com/A variety of bracket and index classes are covered, to comment on Richard's awesome programming work, you can message him or comment on Facebook!.

Craft of Speed.
27th January: A feature documentary for global movie distribution, Craft of Speed has been created about the incredible story of Shige Suganuma and Chico Kodama, two Japanese/Japanese American hot rodders, who helped save Moon Equipment Company, an iconic American speed parts company, rebrand it as Mooneyes, preserve legendary founder Dean Moon's legacy and popularize hot rod culture in Asia. Shige and Chico were recipients of the Global Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame last November.

You can read all about the making of Craft of Speed and have an opportunity to contribute to the distribution costs by visiting Craft of Speed by clicking here.

The site includes a trailer, media, profiles of those involved in the production, media kits, news and merchandise.

Craft of Speed is a Humanist Films LLC production.

Street Week Sweden Starts.
27th January: Street Week Sweden organiser Mats Appelgren has published that the 2024 edition of the Drag N Drive event will commence at the iconic Mantorp Park Raceway on 7th July.

It feels great to announce that the first day of competition is at Mantorp Park. SHRA Mantorp, announces that we are competing on Sunday between 09.00-16.00 so sleeping is not an option for those of you who want to see this year's 200 Street Week with their newly built cars. We can look forward to a nice track, a superbly organised club topped with nice cars and drivers.

If I counted correctly, we have a smoking start to this year's competition week. Of course, the Street Week competitors also go to the finish line at Mantorp, class winner and the Street Week Champion for 2024 will be crowned. The finish line for Street Week 2024 is Saturday 13th July. We do not race that day but enjoy and pay tribute to our scarred racers as they roll to the finish line, tired but happy.

#streetweeksweden is what we tag our posts with. Want to know more tracks? In the future, they will be found by CLICKING HERE

For you who are so interested we can mention that after we leave Mantorp it goes North, as high North as Uppsala.

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

Flamholc resumes Pro Modified drive.
27th January: Expat Swedish racer Adam Flamholc has always been busy, racing in the US and helping Russian friend Dmitry Samorukov on his NHRA Pro Mod journey, along with several other US based customers.

In 2024, Adam has returned to the driving seat and will be competing in two important Pro Mod races at the start of the 2024 season. First up is the US Street Nationals At Bradenton Motorsports Park taking place this weekend. Adam is competing in a new-to-him '58 Corvette with a screw-blown engine.

Results can be seen at the Facebook page of Bradenton Motorsports Park. At the end of Q4, Adam had ran a 3.781/201.88 which placed him in #31 of the stellar #32 car qualified field (38 cars making runs). Good luck to Adam for the eliminations on Saturday and Sunday. Adam commented "We are still learning the car, but we are taking steps in the right direction! Eliminations start tomorrow for us.

Adman mentions "it is great to have family and friends here at my home track Bradenton Motorsports Park!"

You can see coverage of the US Street Nationals live on (subscription required) or watch highlights on Youtube at the channels of TheRacingVids, The Limo Guy at Large, or testing video at Straight Line Media.

The next big race for Adam is the huge World Series of Pro Mod organised by Wes Buck and Drag Illustrated which takes place 1st-3rd March also at Bradenton Motorsports Park, in an all invited 32 car field for a prize of $100,000.

Spy pictures V solved.
27th January: Unusual Car Sales UK admin Nigel Taylor writes in with a Spy picture update, which was posted on 26th January. Here is a beautiful Consul now owed by Sean Field. This is a well known car which was Steve Curls old yellow moon eyes consul, Sean bought the car 18 months ago in bits due to Steve moving on to other things, it's running an LS7 holley ecu, th400 box, narrowed 9", strange shafts and gear casing with spool.

Sean has crewed for James Griffen for the past 2 years by doing loads on the car, welding and fabication work which has been a massive help. he has also been with Outlaw Street, Sean's wife should be running car as well, so see how she goes. Sean commented "she might be better than me, she's a speed freak".

The Consul's first time out this year, Sean has got lots to do still and only 9 weeks to complete it. Fingers crossed and the best of luck for Sean and his wife.

If you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

Swift snippets.
27th January: Happy Birthday for today to sponsor and car builder Geof Hauser, Wild Bunch racer Alan Skipp, Junior Dragster racer Harley Darby and Gasser Circus racer Simon Prest. We hope you all have a great day.

Pioneer Stories: Wally Parks' involvement in British Drag Racing - Part 4.
26th January:

In today's extract of Wally Parks detailed journal relating to the First British International Drag Festival Wally takes a look at the race meetings and as Wally says... ‘The wide open airfields were reminiscent of the early 1950s in the United States, and often cows grazed next to the airfields. The fans were innocent and wide-eyed, stands were crammed with spectators and the usual drag racing hijinks were in vogue.

While it appeared that everything went smoothly with fans flocking to the Festival making it financially successful, not everything went well.

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

Hulkmx5 Returns to Sportsman ET.
26th January: Sportsman ET racer Steve Mellors contacts eurodragster.com with this update: It has been a battle this year with the loss of sponsors, however Hulkmx5 today confirms that he will be back racing in the 2024 championship.

The car is pretty much as it was last year, it may or may not have the supercharger on for the Festival of Power event depending on if we can get the mount made in time and get everything else required for it to run. The plan is to attempt another full season but funds are very tight this season and even getting to we're we are for Festival of Power has been a huge struggle.

Hulkmx5 returns this season without the dual fuel racing team name. As many will know Carl Magedera who drives kuki the tesla ran his last event last year and has now retired from drag racing (at least for now). Plans are under way on building up a new team with the hopes of bringing a Junior Dragster into the team by the end of the 2024 racing season again this is funds dependant, junior dragsters are not cheap.

We believe after a troublesome season last year, we once again have a consistent car. We had it ready for national finals, but unfortunatley someone close to Steve sadly passed away and was unable to attend the event in full after travelling back and forth from Sussex in time for the funeral, so we opted to pull out from the event.

We look forward to entertaining the crowds at Santa Pod Raceway, please come and see us in the Sportsman ET pit lane and to give us a follow on TikTok, Facebook or Instagram were you follow the behind the scenes updates and see the prep for upcoming season.

Spy pictures V.
26th January: Unusual Car Sales UK admin Nigel Taylor has written in to confirm the previous Spy Picture posted on 25th January. The pictures are Paul Dales seven second 105e (middle below picture) which runs in supercharged outlaws, Paul had such a good season last year he hasn’t had the need to do too many upgrades over the winter other than strengthening the doors, as there were pulling open. Upgrading a few safety features like fire system etc!.

Paul also has a gorgeous street car Ford pop, (left below picture) which is now clocking up a few miles but he can’t wait to give the street driven pop a blast down the quarter on his first available chance. Paul would like to thank his daughter Somer Dale, his dad Steve Dale, top crew man Sean Fullick, Aaron Windridge and Mark Windridge for building an ace engine. Finaly thank you to Hayling Garage for their continued support.

Wayne Colliver commented on his spy picture: He fancied an altered (right above picture), so Wayne designed it to take everything from my slingshot!

We have a new spy picture CLICK HERE to view spy picture. If you know more on today's picture or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

Swift snippets.
26th January: Happy Birthday for today to author and photojournalist Keith Lee, Nostalgia Funny Car racer Martin Maxwell, former Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car racer Birgitte Bremnes and ET Bike mum Sharron Collier. We hope you all have a wonderful day.

Sick week Livestream Warning.
25th January: Sick week 2024 Ken White from Drag N Drive UK Group has written to mention Sick Week 2024 which starts this Sunday 28th January, there is no Youtube free livestream this year. The stream is being provided by frdm+ from the Cleetus McFarland camp so this leaves a few options for those wishing to watch along.

1. If you`re a Sick The Magazine subscriber you should receive a link and code via e mail to gain access for free as a customer.

2. If you are not a subscriber and have been thinking about it do it. Current issue has the street weekend 23 inside plus a ton of other great features. Follow this link below by. CLICKING HERE

3. I believe you can buy the stream from frdm+. Site does show a $19.99 on the picture for sick week but I have no idea if you can sign up for free then buy what you wish to watch or if it is a monthly subscription.

Follow the link by CLICKING HERE This stream threatens to be the best live stream of a Drag n Drive ever put together with 8 cameras covering the action.

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

French bike meeting date announced.
25th January: Run Cap Sud, an association founded in 1997, invests every year in the management of motorcycle drag races. Every year in July, it organizes a round of the French Championship on the track of the Pêchereau Aerodrome (36200).

This sporting event with a national audience is the largest motorcycle drag racing competition in France. For more than 20 years, this great annual weekend has offered the thousands of spectators present various demonstrations and exhibitions of Hot Rods, Cafe Racers, Jet Cars, HD and, American vehicles, motorcycle stunts, concerts and exhibitors.

The French website can be found by CLICKING HERE

Over the years, our association has also participated in the organisation or directly organized many other events on different sites.

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

Spitfire raceway no prep.
25th January: Lee Child promoter for the Spitfire raceway at Perranporth, Cornwall has contacted eurodragster.com to announce the 2024 16 door car no prep 1/4 mile elimination events,within the run what you brung format. Winner will receive £2,000 and the runner up will receive £400.

Here are the 2024 dates for 16 car eliminator category.

Saturday 10th February - AWD 16 Car Eliminator

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

Saturday 29th June - Big Tyre RWD 16 Car Eliminator

Saturday 7th September - FWD 16 Car Eliminator

Saturday 16th November - Stick Shift 16 Car Eliminator

Daily running schedule for the above dates are:

11:00-11:45 hrs - Practice

11:55 hrs - Round One Pairing Chip Draw

12:00 noon - Round One

13:00 hrs - Round Two

14:00 hrs - Semi-Finals

14:55 hrs - Final

15:20 hrs - Presentations

Enter online by Clicking Here, once you have done that email your confirmation to say you have booked to lamotorsportsvenue@gmail.com.
To enter and book unlimited runs Click HereYour buy in money is to be paid on the day.

If you don’t make the finals you can continue with the RWYB.

Spy pictures IV.
25th January: Unusual Car Sales UK administrator Nigel Taylor has provided these spy pictures devoid of comments.

If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

SPRC Dinner Dance - Important info.
24th January: Thanks to SPRC official Yvonne Tramm for an important bulletin about the Dinner Dance being held on 3rd February at the Doubletree Hotel, Stadium MK.

ATTENTION ALL DINNER DANCE ATTENDEES

Please remember that the hotel bars are cashless

The Club have been advised that the car parking is now controlled by an outside company and no longer free.

Before arriving at the hotel on Saturday 3rd February please set up an account on RingGo, following the instructions. CLICK HERE to open RingGo instructions and discount code.

We have been given a code to enter which will give us a discounted price.

The postcode for the hotel is MK1 1ST (Doubletree, Stadium MK).

Straightliners Speed Show.
24th January: Thank you to Andy Flavell from Straightliners for this news article. Anyone who hasn't been spammed by my endless posters on social media, the Straightliners Speed Show is coming up fast! A month away on the 24th 25th February. The Speed Show at Elvington will give you your first hit of drag racing in 2024

People can get tickets online in advance. £8 per adult, under 16s are free. Tickets should be available on the day but are selling fast, and you won't want to miss out. More information can be found JUST CLICK HERE.

There will be four large heated and fully lit marquees with plenty of cars and bikes from drag racing, the Straightliners' top speed events, and racing classics. Junior cars and bikes, Hot Rods, customs, side cars, Jet Cars and Graham Syke's Rocket Bike! The Tudor Rose, once driven by Dennis Priddle, Kevin Nicks 'Shed.' I could go on. The Burnout King will be there with his Charger firing out burnout exhibitions with the trademark pink and blue smoke. here is the 100m 'Dash for the Cash' drag racing sprint. Get in contact with Trevor Duckworth to enter. All are welcome, basic RWYB rules.

All entry costs go straight into the prize fund. Mark Flavell with his Mustang ll Nostalgia F/C burning out, can he burn out the whole 100m?

Loads of bikes beyond Graham's Steam Rocket Bike. A wide range of machinery, for example, Adie Horrocks is bringing the World's Fastest Vespa Small Frame, which has hit 123mph over the mile. Becci Ellis with her world record breaking bike, the laydown land speed bike that Guy Martin has recently rode well over 200mph competing for the motorcycle land speed record. Brian Johnson's Top Fuel Bike and a wide range of drag bikes and classics.

There are of course trade stands, food and hot drinks. We have classroom talks on "Taking the World`s Fastest Jensen to Bonneville", 11.00am both days. A talk on "Preparing a Bike for Land Speed Racing" by Sean Mills to include Forced induction and Normally Aspirated Tuning. Preparing to go Fast and, "Horsepower to Speed Expectations." 2.00pm both days.

Friendly dogs on leads allowed in public areas. Free Camping Saturday. 24Hr Security.

Gates open 10.00 am till 5.00 pm Saturday and 10.00 am till 4.00 pm Sunday. Elvington Airfield, YO41 4AU

Any information regarding exhibitors or any last-minute entry requests, contact Graham Sykes 07778 053506.

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

Team Brothers drag racing update.
24th January: Thanks to Margot Schmidt from Team Brothers for send this update to eurodragster.com. We are very pleased to announce an expansion of Team Brothers drag racing. From the 2024 season, Eric Richard from France will join Team Brothers Racing with his Top Fuel Hayabusa and his crew. Eric was the 2023 runner up in the FIM top fuel championship. Welcome Eric and crew. The 3 Superstreet Hayabusa’s of Daniel Lencses, Kristzian Jasz and Margot Schmidt are currently receiving their latest and newest upgrades.

Photo Credit: Rose and Ivan Hughes Special thanks to our sponsors: Vanson Leathers Orient Express racing APE Raceparts Web camshafts HELLO Reclame Hub Dyno Budapest ACL Race bearings Structura Hungaria kft. Daniel Lencses

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

Swift snippets.
24th January: Happy Birthday for today to sponsor, car builder and racer extraordinaire Jon Webster, Santa Pod Raceway IT guru Dave 'DJ' Jones, ET Bike racer Blade King, Funny Car racer Kevin Chapman, VW Pro racer Paul Jackson and Jurgen 'Master of Desaster' Schomann. We hope you all have a great day.

Frank Hawley Drag Race School.
23rd January: Geoff Stilwell contacts eurodragster.com with the following post, fancy driving a dragster down the famous Gainesville Dragstrip in Florida and follow in the footsteps of John Force, Don Prudhomme, Larry Dixon, Doug Herbert etc and being personally coached by a 2 time world champ Frank Hawley and his team of Instructors? Well, read on.

To be honest I have no idea how many Brits have attended the Frank Hawley Drag Race School but, if you want to take your driving to the next level and in addition become more mentally aware of what is needed then you need to go without a doubt.

Let’s explain how it all works. Now the first thing is to understand that you cannot just go out there and drive a Funny Car or Top Alcohol Dragster unless you already have a Super Comp Licence. No matter what you have driven in the UK. Like me you would start in the “Super Comp” licensing program. When you have done that then you can progress to the higher classes. But that is done on different days plus you would need the NHRA Medical Forms completed and a UK Doctor will not sign the paperwork well at least the Sports Doctor i went to would not do it as you need to be able to do treadmill heart rates etc etc. It’s actually quite involved. I’m not saying it can’t be done but the Sports Doctors i visited in Slough did not have the equipment needed and i don’t know whether the school would accept a letter from the MSA as i don’t have a UK Race licence.

In any event i promise you the 572 cu in Rear Engined Super Comp Dragster with 700+ bhp i drove will certainly get your attention and i went 8.20 at 161mph in the quarter. The course i took is 2 days long and under normal circumstances you would drive the car on both days. It is important to stress that the class room sessions are very intense and start at 07.30am. There is a lot to absorb and trust me, you need to pay attention. Frank does his research on you before you get to the classroom especially if you already race. In my class we had beginners, Super Comp Racers, Pro Mod Drivers…and you all start at the bottom. There is no short cut!! I was mentally exhausted at the end of each day. Total Concentration required.

The sessions talk about “Mental Attitude”, focussing on what you need to do, being aware of your surroundings, putting the car in the right place on the start line, making sure you do things right every time, in other words “Personal Development" things happen very quick and after all you are there to get your licence. well at least i was and Frank Hawley would be signing your NHRA licence. You can take your own firesuit and helmet but, it must be acceptable in the USA. So it needs to have an SF! tag on everything and the helmet must be in date and it will be inspected. Or you can use the school equipment which is what i did - much easier. You will be fitted for the car and the dragster has moveable pedals, steering wheel etc and they are actually very comfortable to drive.

How many runs do you get? In the Super Comp Dragster you get 6 runs and if there is time you can buy extra runs assuming of course that you have achieved the correct levels or just need that extra run to “Get that Licence”. You start with a launch and use the Transbrake. WOW that was quick even though you only went 60 foot. A real kick in the back.

As my instructor said dont be afraid of it. Just “Mash” the throttle. Floor it, then just flick the transbrake off and then your body gets pushed back into the seat and you are flying down the quarter. Oh and no parachutes are used that is of course unless the brakes fail as the instructor said to me focus on points see where the trees are coming out to the track thats where the gate is and you need to turn there. You miss it go to the end preferably not into the sand trap. On your 4th or 5th pass and all things being equal you should be ready to make your final licensing passes and then graduate!!

What does it cost - The Super Comp course I took is currently $1795 in total.

So pointing out the obvious:-

Check out the dates on the Frank Hawley website. I personally emailed them and asked what dates were available that would fit in around my travel plans. That made it much easier when booking flights from the UK.

Flights: I went to Tampa with British Airways out of London Gatwick instead of flying to Orlando. Same distance in flight time but cheaper then drove to Gainesville which is around 200miles.

Hotels: I stayed in downtown Gainesville - Big Mistake. Check out the hotels slightly further out and do your research on getting to the track, My journey was 30 mins each way.

Any racer in the UK who wants to improve their skill set really ought to consider the Frank Hawley Drag Race School. It really is amazing what is noticed and what you think you did or didn’t do plus each run is filmed and discussed in class. Incorporate it with a holiday if you can. The family can come watch you from the stands and enjoy the atmosphere plus of course driving down this famous track at over 150mph is not something you can do everyday.

Finally, I would like to thank Franks and his team in making this happen. It really is “That Good”.

For more information contact: www.frankhawley.com.

Pioneer Stories: Gerry Belton.
23rd January: This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival. The man responsible for organising the Drag Festivals was Gerry Belton.

Retiring Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves had the opportunity to interview Gerry in April 2015 kindly arranged by Dave Riswick at John Woolfe Racing. You can see the interview at CLICK HERE.

In it, Gerry answers questions about his early background, working at Allards, his involvement with drag racing, organising the Mooneyes/Thompson demos in 1963 and the Drag Festivals in 1964 and 1965, the SEMA Trophy, British Drag Racing Magazine, the Drag Festival LP, the Dos Palmos dragster and life after Allards.

Gerry’s son Simon also adds to the story with some of his own words about his dad.

Brighton Speed Trials: End of an Era.
23rd January: This is from the Brighton Speed Trials Facebook page. Organiser Naomi Tribe writes: "It is with great sadness that we announce the following. It’s been an incredibly hard decision to make as a club and we hope you understand and will continue to attend our other motorsport events in the future. Can we take this opportunity to thank all of our members and motorsport friends for their continued support and love for our amazing club"

In 1905 the first motor race was held on Madeira Drive in Brighton, since then it has been an annual event enjoyed by generations of those of us who love motor sport. Every year the committee and members of the Brighton and Hove Motor Club have worked hard to make the event a success. They succeeded, The Brighton National Speed Trial has been enjoyed and loved by thousands of entrants and spectators.

For some it was the only event they participated in, entering a loved road car, for others, it was a focal part of their motoring year, entering high powered vehicles which roared along the seafront to the enjoyment of the crowds watching from the paddock or up on the terraces. Its’ appeal to young and old alike was the intimacy of the event, spectators could get up close to the cars waiting in the paddock, talk to the drivers, take wonderful pictures and feel very involved in the whole event.

Unfortunately, times have changed, despite Brighton & Hove Council’s help, the new road layouts, the closing of the terraces, and the enormous cost involved in providing required safety measures, additional security and many other additional costs, the committee of the Brighton and Hove Motor Club have had to make the heartbreaking decision that the 2023 event was the last one. The Club has been running the event at a loss for a number of years and cannot continue to do so.

2024 will see Brighton and Hove Motor Club involved in many other events, including our two annual sprints at Goodwood, Concourse and hopefully a hill climb. But the Speed Trials will not run again for the foreseeable future.

The family of Brighton and Hove Motor Club wish to thank all those who have entered the event over the years, Brighton & Hove Council, Motorsport UK, the Marshalls and the hundreds of volunteers who have helped us set up the course and return the road to the public after the events. It was not easy task and we thank every single person who has been involved and given us their support over the years.

Thank you for the fun

Steet Weekend 2024 - SOLD OUT.
23rd January: Callum Pudge at Santa Pod Raceway states after a successful debut in 2023, Street Weekend has made its presence known by selling out all 200 racer spots for this year's event in a matter of hours! In a nod to the coveted Hot Rod Drag Week in the USA, Street Weekend uses a similar format where drivers need to set and submit a time at Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire before driving around 200 miles to Melbourne Raceway in York to set a time on day 2 and then returning to Santa Pod Raceway to set a time on the 3rd day.

The event will be held 14-16 June 2024.

Track conditions will be different on each day, starting on a freshly prepped track at Santa Pod on day 1, an unprepped 1/8-mile challenge at Melbourne on day 2 and finally back at Santa Pod on day 3 after the track's had a full day of RWYB. In summary, we’re looking at around 400 miles on the road across 3 days whilst also recording a time on track on each one of the days.

There is a fantastic mix of cars on the entry list which can be seen here: CLICK HERE.

If any racers missed out on entering, please email streetweekend@santapod.com to be put on the reserve list. Although racer entries have completely sold out, spectator tickets are still available here: CLICK HERE.

New editorship for Eurodragster.com.
22nd January: We are proud to announce a new editorial team for Eurodragster.com. The New Editor will be Chris Winn, who is involved in the sport as a competitor in Sportsman ET with his black Alfa Mito. Chris is from Billingham, Stockton-On-Tees and works in logistics, following studying computing and websites at college. Chris will be responsible for posting news updates, maintaining the points page, setting up and posting the event coverage list, and posting records and champions champions.

The second in our trio of editorial staff will be Graham Watkinson who will be News Reporter, Race Reporter, Links, and Swap Meet manager. Graham, who has been helping with the coding of news updates since last August, has experience as an official and journalist in the world of drifting and is keen to get behind his laptop in the tower at Santa Pod Raceway where he will take over the live reporting and posting of timing data functions from current editor Simon. Graham will also be helping to post photo galleries posting classified adverts to the Jeff Bull-sponsored Swap Meet, including our Unusual Cars For Sale page.

The final member of our new team is Dave Nelson, familiar to many as a driver of a seven-second blown alky slingshot dragster who has performed flame burnouts on a few occasions. Dave, based in Atherstone, is a web application developer with a design services creative studio. He will be involved in managing the hosting of the site and improving its look and feel, particularly to have it render more easily on mobile devices.

The new team will be taking over the site from the end of March following a bedding in period, after which we hope that all Eurodragster.com's content will be updated.

Monday Drag Club announcement.
22nd January: Thanks to Scott Lewry for announcing that booking is open for the following 2024.

Monday Test Days:

Monday 15th April after Fast Show
Monday 1st July after Summer Nationals
Monday 23rd September after National Finals

Costs are: Entry for Driver/Rider and 4 crew £110, camping £10pp and spectators £10pp

Payment should be made to sixpotnova@hotmail.co.uk via paypal as a gift please with vehicle make/model and Racer name and which date you will be attending. Please note if you sign up and can't make the event, then Scott will give you a 50% refund if you let him know 7 days before the event. If you cancel within 7 days before the event then no refunds will be given. Scott has had to put this in place to protect people who genuinely can't make it so they get something back and to protect the event so the funds are in the pot to ensure the day happens.

There will be no gate entry tickets - there will be a list of entrants on the gate. When arriving at the security gate please give the booked on driver's full name and then they will tick your name off, for any crew as they come in they will be ticked off as crew 1 2 3 4 etc. If your name isn’t on the list you won’t be allowed in, the gate staff have Scott's number and will call him if there are any issues. It's open pitting for racers but most usually pit behind the grandstand or on the opposite area of the pairing lanes.

Sunday Camping Arrivals
Racers/Crews who have paid for camping can enter from approx 6pm onwards however as there is a large event on, the racing needs to finish and the site needs to be cleared before we are allowed in. Santa Pod are organised for this but it may mean a wait outside the gates.

Monday Racer/Crew Arrivals - Gates open at 8am.

Signing on procedure & Race Numbers
Track sign on is done the “old skool” way as we know it via the signing on office where you will need to present your license and signing on form. It is preferred to print the RWYB form at home so that it is ready to present with your driving license when you sign on to limit people at any one time in the sign on office. You can get the RWYB signing on form by clicking here.

Please let Scott know if you need him to email the form, he also carries some spares if anyone needs one and there is some worst case in the signing-on office but please print at home if you can.

*Racing*
The day runs on RWYB ruling so please familiarise yourself with the rules so that you can meet any requirements. See RWYB Rules - CLICK HERE

Race numbers
A lot of the racers have their own race numbers on their vehicle so please use this for the day. If you don't have a number and want to create your own Scott advises using your initials and then a number just so it is unique to you and the tower staff don't have any issues on the day. I will provide a pen on the day so we can write names on the back of your car if not they will use your reg numbers.

The track will be prepped and run as best as seen fit by the Santa Pod track crew. To meet everyone's testing needs we will run 1 Lane for treaded tyres and 1 Lane for slick tyres and then towards the end of the day open up both lanes for some grudge racing, this way gives everyone a fair crack to the best track for their application. Only cars that are paid onto the event will be permitted on track. Anyone caught trying to race who isn’t part of the event won't be coming back and will be told to leave immediately. Please don’t abuse our trust. The track usually opens around 9.30 and closes at around 5pm with a half hour lunch break for the staff.

Passengers Runs
There are no issues with anyone having a passenger ride in any of the racers cars, however you will need to sign on as a passenger in the signing on office and meet Santa Pods criteria.

*Rain/Dryer situation*
If we have a rain-off situation on the day then no refunds are given and there will no date change. A decision on the day will be made if we need to use the jet dryer to speed dry up times as there is an extra cost.

*Behaviour* Please behave as adults and no foolishness its simple. If anything gets reported to me or the Santa Pod staff then I give my full backing if required to have anyone removed from the site or any racing will stop until the situation has been sorted. Please when camping have a few beers and enjoy the evening calmly security will be on site so don't want phone calls saying people are messing about revving engines and generally being idiots towards the Santa Pod staff.

Hospitality
The Santa Pod shop will be open for Nitrous (See previous post about Santa Pod running very low on Nitrous) and Fuel and merchandise, snacks etc, they ask that you ring ahead if any fuel/Nitrous is wanted to make sure they have stock. The burger van by the grandstand will also be open. Toilet blocks will be open.

Any questions or problems please let Scott know via his FB page.

Swift snippets.
22nd January: Happy Birthday for today to Outlaw Anglia racer Adam Cuthbert, Swedish Stock Superstock racer Thomas Strand and Marshals Club stalwart Chris Hobson who is celebrating by receiving eye surgery. We hope you all have a great day.

A belated Happy Birthday for yesterday to Santa Pod Raceway Chief Starter David Warren, Pro ET racer Will Clark and NSA historic drag bike exponent Terry Homan. We hope you all have a great day.

Roger Gorringe.
20th January: It is with the utmost sadness that the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has been informed of the death of Roger Gorringe. The distinguished drag racing photojournalist was inducted into Hall of Fame Membership only last November, writes Robin Jackson.

For half a century, Roger had compiled an unparalleled photographic record of British and European drag racing and its competitive history, principally at Santa Pod Raceway but including numerous events on the European continent, together with material gleaned from frequent trips to the USA. Vitally, he catalogued and annotated the collection in detail, the value of which was evident from the carousel of photographs screened during last year’s Hall of Fame Gala Dinner to accompany his induction, all of them enhanced by precise captions identifying on-track action captured often decades ago.

Roger’s trackside photographic career began in 1972, following a spectator visit to Santa Pod four years earlier. He edited and published Drag Racing News from 1978 and subsequently freelanced for numerous other publications at home and abroad. From 1999, he edited Santa Pod’s principal event programmes, continuing for more than 20 years.

In 2018 the Hall of Fame’s special Lucas Oil Media Award – received with fellow photojournalist Andy Willsheer to recognise their joint 50-year service on the sport’s behalf – was the latest of several drag racing awards and accolades to come Roger’s way. Away from the dragstrip, Roger shared an enthusiasm for birdwatching and wildlife photography with some of his trackside associates.

Last summer a detailed profile was posted on the Hall of Fame’s website to mark Roger’s induction into Membership and can be found by clicking here.

With poignant irony, that profile now serves as a valedictory appreciation of Roger’s life and times in the world of drag racing.

Eurodragster.com sends its deepest condolences to all of Roger's family, friends and colleagues.

Straightliners/NSA National Sprint Championship.
20h January: The all-new British Sprint Championship gets under way in April 2024 at Santa Pod, writes Straightliners director Trevor Duckworth:

"This all-new championship replaces the old ACU National Championship. Run jointly by the NSA and Straightliners this new championship with its knock-out format will be the highlight of 2024 for all riders from both organisations, It will be run over 8 rounds, with venues in the South (Smeatharpe) midlands (Santa Pod) and Melbourne in the North.

"With awards on the day for the round winner and a £1,000 prize pot at the end of the season with £500 for the champion £300 for second and £200 for third Plus the National Championship Shield, the championship winner also gets free entry to all championship rounds in 2025."

Dates are:
Santa Pod 7th April
Smeatharpe 20th April
Melbourne 11th-12th May
Smeatharpe 6th July
Llanbedr 20th-21st July
Melbourne 3rd-4th August
Melbourne 1st September
Santa Pod 13th October

Trevor adds "Events will have a full NORA permit and as such are open to NSA and Straightliners members with NORA licences. You may sign up for events on the Straightliners web site".

Speedgroup announces 2024 EDRS schedule.
20th January: The 2024 European Drag Race Series, organised in Scandinavia by Speedgroup, has been announced in clicking here

Speedgroup said "It’s being published a bit later than we wished for, but this year there have been a number of changes that needed to be sorted out. We are happy to welcome yet another organizer to our series: Hudik Raceway with a nice 1/8 track. The schedule is Is provisional and may be updated if needed.

"Also new for this year is also that we have appointed Ms Helene Rapp as a Summit Racing EDRS Series Project Manager. For questions please contact her at helene.rapp@speedgroup.eu.

MDRA racing postponed.
20h January: Only a day after our mentioning that the first Malta RWYB is planned for 24th February, news has arrived of a potential postponement of activities whilst insurance cover for all motorsport in Malta is being negotiated:

The MDRA accounced "We regret to inform you that due to an ongoing issue with the insurance policy covering multiple motorsport clubs under the Malta Motorsport Federation, any form of motor racing organized by these clubs is currently suspended until further notice. As such the Malta Drag Racing Association cannot operate the drag strip under any condition until the situation is rectified.

"Although no racing can take place, our venue will still be open every Sunday for gatherings and static car shows." "We apologize for this inconvenience and will keep you all updated with any developments."

Swift snippets.
20th January: A very Happy Birthday today to sponsor and racecar builder Geof Hauser. Have a great day Geof, and see you soon.

Happy Birthday for today to Nostalgia Funny Car racer Andy Raw, Pro ET racer Tom 'Cherry' Watkins and Time Traveller II crewman Tom Hawkins. We hope you all have a wonderful day.

Street Week Sweden organiser Mats Appelgren has announced that competition for the 2024 event will commence on 7th July and will this year take part in the central part of the country. Five other tracks will be announced, but in the tradition of the event, it will conclude after the week's competition on 15th July. Registration for the event opens on 27th February at 10:00 via streetweeksweden.se but competitors first need to register a profile at www.nitroz.se. Once the maximum number of first come, first served, 200 vehicles have been registered, a queueing system will be used for racers who have been unable to secure a place.

Pioneer Stories: Wally Park's story of his involvement in British Drag Racing - Part 3.
19th January:

Today we publish further excerpts from Wally Parks' detailed journal relating to his candid thoughts at the time of the First British International Drag Festival. Part 3 which you can see at clicking here, includes material about Dante Duce as the NHRA Director of International Activities, International FIA licenses for the American team, and sponsorship from Goodyear who wanted all cars to be fitted with their product. Gerry Belton was expecting 20,000 spectators at each of the six races held throughout England and there was tension between the BDRA and the BHRA who were not invited to run their dragsters at the Festival as it was Allard’s Brainchild.

Wally Parks' journal was obtained and edited by his son Richard who has kindly given permission to us to publish extracts from it relating to the period when British Drag Racing was being founded on Eurodragster.com. The opinions are those of Wally, who is referred to by Richard as "Parks" or, occasionally as "my father".

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

Yam Yam Drag Racing Club 2024 Test Days.
19th January: Thanks to Scott Lewry for announcing the Monday Drag Club dates for 2024. Scott says:

"We have the go ahead for 2024 Test Days as per the dates below. As expected, the cost has gone up the same as everything else at the moment, but in my opinion, for the cost of the day and the track time you get, plus the chilled experience and no massive queues, and not pushing your car from by the Pod Shop vs a general RWYB it's a no brainer. We run 1 lane for street tyres and 1 lane for slick tyres for the best experience for everyone.

"The days will need to run off a minimum 65 vehicle for cars, bikes, karts etc with entrance at the current price to make the day happen. As before, I don't have the funds to pay out of my own hand, I anticipate once we get the numbers paid, the day is then covered. If we don't hit the numbers then it will be refunds all round. I will put out event and payment details in the next couple of days to start taking bookings.

The entry price is £110 for a racer and 4 crew and the dates we have are:

Monday 15th April - after Fast Show
Monday 1st July - after Summer Nationals
Monday 23rd September - after National Finals

Any Questions please let me know at my Facebook page or the Yam Yam Drag Racing Club private FB group!

Run What Ya Brungs at Enniskillen in 2024.
19th January: Thanks to Straightliners (N.I.) director Ben Lawrence for letting us know the provisional dates of Run What Ya Brung drag racing at St Angelo Airport, Enniskillen, three miles North of Enniskillen town, on the shores of Lough Erne, Co. Fermanagh.

The three dates provisionally booked are:

Sunday 26th May
Sunday 21st July
Sunday 29th September

Ben says "Unfortunately the promoter (Irish Drag Racing) went bust part way through the 2023 season leaving many financially heavily out of pocket along with the racers.

"That being said, it is somewhat of a blessing in disguise as it means that Straightliners N.I. will be promoting and organising the events. That puts us at the helm, we will be promoting and running own events from now on with the racers' interest put first. It will very much be taking one event at a time and we will not be taking entries or anybody's money until we are 100% green light..

"All the best for 2024."

Swift snippets.
19th January: Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel Bike engineer and tuner Marius van der Zijden, Supercharged Outlaws racer Andy Park, VW Pro racer Sam Chisholm-Brown, FWD racer Ian Pepper, and Willys Coupe racer Gary Daley. We hope you all have a great day.

Malta Drag Racing Association Secretary Konrad d'Anastasi has posted 135 videos of individual runs from the December Hal Far Raceway Run What Ya Brung at his Youtube channel. This serves as a reminder that the first Malta RWYB of 2024 will be taking place on Saturday, 24th February. You can see the 2023 final MDRA Championship standings at this link (7MB pdf file).

Team Force of Nature Cleans Up.
18th January: With thanks to Graham Sykes for bringing us news of the Straightliners Presentation Evening

What a night!

The Straightliners presentation evening last weekend awarded the “Force of Nature” team the following records for this year`s achievements. 4 x UK&ITA World records for fastest and quickest 1/8th mile and 1/4 mile for any steam powered vehicle with recorded times of 3.407seconds for the 1/8th mile at 185.8 mph and 6.107 seconds for the 1/4 mile at a speed of 166.486 mph.

Also winning the Best Team Award. The Pip Higham Mifuni Award for something special and out of the ordinary that does not fit into the norm and the prestigious Zef Eisenberg Memorial Award for building, riding, driving cars or bikes or organising records events or anything else worthy of keeping his name alive in the world of record braking.

“Well done team, if 2024 is as successful I will be a very happy man,” commented Graham Sykes.

Force of Nature team from left to right. Jin Dickman, Diane Sykes, Graham Sykes and Billy Hudson.

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

Malibu Express Dragster for sale.
17th January: Jeff Morris has announced that following some intractable back problems, he is unable to continue to race his beautiful blown methanol fuelled Malibu Express slingshot (pictured) and the car is now for sale.

With a Roy Wilding constructed chassis and built over a number of years by Jeff, who has been involved in constructing dragsters for over 50 years, Malibu Express made its debut with the Wild Bunch at the 2020 Hot Rod Drags and made a single shakedown pass down the Santa Pod Raceway quarter mile.

The car, run with team member Rod Howitt and members of the Wild Bunch, wowed everyone that saw it with its incredible detail and nostalgic looks. Jeff's previous work from the 1960s is still active in the hands of Chris Hartnell as Backdraft (formerly the original Malibu Express), and from the 1970s the Oblivion Avenger Funny Car and Malibu Express II rear engined dragster which he ran with team members Kevin Burrows, and Rob Spence.

More details and specifications to follow soon. if you're interested, contact Jeff on 07540 685877 via WhatsApp or the Malibu Express Facebook page.

Details of Roland Leong's celebration of life.
17th January: Nitro Revival organiser Cindy Gibbs has shared details of Roland 'The Hawaiian' Leong's Celebration of Life which will be held on Thursday 21st March at the Lions Automobilia Foundation 2790 E Del Amo Blvd, Rancho Dominiquez, California 90221.

“Friends and Family will be remembering the life of legendary NHRA Funny Car and Top Fuel team owner and tuner Roland Leong. Dress code will be Hawaiian Printor Business Casual. Doors open at 5:30pm PST.”

Street or valet parking is available, or visitors may arrive using MetroLink to the Del Amo Blue Link Station. Details are included on the attached image.

Roland's name is included in the Nitro Revival memorial to those many US racers who passed away in 2023.

Swift snippets.
17th January: Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel and Funny Car racer and Junior mum Shelley Pearson, Super Pro ET racer and Junior Dad Matt Peters, former Top Fuel racer Andy Craddock and Pro Stock Bike racer Frederik Kirkhoff Schack. We hope you all have a wonderful day.

Nostalgia fans of US racing are alerted to the Snake And Mongoose movie now being available on Prime Video at this link which can be watched free of charge by Amazon Prime subscribers. Thanks to Carl Kirk for posting this information.

Pioneer Stories: Gerry Belton and the 1964 Drag Festivals - Part 3.
15th January: In the sixtieth anniversary year of the first UK Dragfests our fourth series of Pioneer Stories concentrates on the people and events surrounding these massively influential meetings. This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival which was organised by Gerry Belton who thankfully kept all his correspondence leading up to, during and after the Drag Festivals and Part 3 includes more offers of magazine coverage as Lynn Wineland wrote ‘I shall be covering the meetings for a number of magazines in this country, principally, Hot Rod, Car Craft, Modern Rod, Drag Racer, Hot Rod parts illustrated, Cycle World and the Motorcyclist. In addition I will be shooting some movie film, including the use of a 16mm helmet-mounted camera. Several TV news stations and one major network have expressed an interest in this material.’

Four shows were planned in London, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol but not all went to plan. The Automobile Club Di Milano, confirmed four participating Dragsters for demonstration and show at 35th Italian Grand Prix which Moonbeam, two Allard Dragons, Tony Nancy's slingshot and George Brown's Vincent motorcycle would attend.

Gerry received many thank you letters after the events, although they had received some criticism during the events there was a lot of positivity and gratitude after the Festival and there is a link to some Drag Festival eyewitness accounts along with a list of American drivers who are still with us and those who have passed.

This story which you can see by clicking on this link, was produced by John Hunt from Gerry's letters, edited by Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves. Simon Belton, son of Gerry, and Allan Allard, son of Sydney, have given their kind permission to publish letters and other paperwork.

Appeal for Paula photos.
15th January: Thanks to Herb Andrews for sending in an appeal he received from the late Paula Murphy's son Dan:

Paula Murphy's son Dan has been in touch. He's looking for any pictures 'especially of Mom & Jack themselves. Also the cartoon of Jack on the truck lid of the Duster'. Please PM me on Facebook with whatever you have and I'll pass it on to Dan. Thanks in advance.

Dan also sent me this link to Paula's racing history, which you may have seen on Eurodragster when her passing was announced on December 22 2023.

Karl Birkinshaw steps down.
15th January: SPRC director and race director Karl Birkinshaw has announced that he is stepping down from these positions. Karl said:

"It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you of my decision to step down from my role in Santa Pod Racers Club. This journey has been nothing short of exhilarating, filled with memorable races, records being broken, shared passions, and the camaraderie that defines our community.

"I have cherished every moment spent with each one of you, witnessing the growth of the club and the spirit of competition and teamwork that unites us. However, personal and professional commitments now require me to bid farewell to this incredible community.

"I want to express my deepest gratitude to each member for contributing to the success and joy of the club. Your dedication and enthusiasm have made my time here truly special. I am confident that the Santa Pod Racers Club will continue to thrive, and I look forward to following your future achievements.

"Thank you for the cherished memories and the friendships forged at the racetrack. Wishing you all continued success, thrilling races, and endless joy."

Eurodragster.com wishes Karl, wife Nikki and son Tye all the best for the future.

Swift snippets.
15th January: Happy Birthday for today to FIA Pro Stock racer and legend Michael Malmgren, Outlaw Anglia racer Garry Hill and German Pro Modified racer Jürgen Kath. We hope you all have a wonderful day.

A belated Happy 92nd Birthday for yesterday to drag racing legend Big Daddy Don Garlits, we hope you enjoyed your day Big. A Belated Happy Birthdays also to Malta Drag Racing Association secretary Konrad D'Anastasi and former Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook, we hope you had a great day guys!

Motorsport UK's magazine Revolution has a feature on Drag Racing in the January edition (written by Robin Jackson and Darren Prentice) which you can see by clicking here. Thanks to longtime supporter Bob Roberts and Robin for letting us know.

UK Riders' and Drivers' meeting.
14th January: This Sunday the annual SPRC riders' and drivers' meeting took place. Thanks to SPRC club secretary Ian Marshall for providing details:

UK CHAMPIONSHIPS

The dates and classes of this year's ACU UK and UK National Drag Racing Championship rounds are listed below, together with a table of other non-National classes running at Championship events. You may download and print the full tables in pdf format, including all FIA/FIM-E classes, by going to the links for car classes and bike classes.

Cars

Top Fuel
Dragster

Motorsport UK
Pro Modified

Pro Stock
Car

Top
Methanol

Comp
Eliminator

Super Pro
ET

Pro ET

Sportsman
ET

Super
Comp

Super
Gas

Junior
Dragster

Street
Eliminator

Festival of Power
Santa Pod Raceway
29th-31st March

✔

STP Springspeed Nationals
Santa Pod Raceway
27th – 28th April

✔

FIA/FIM Main Event
Santa Pod Raceway
24th- 27th May

✔
FIA

✔

Retro Show/ STP Sportsman Nationals
Santa Pod Raceway
8th–9th June

✔

STP Summernationals
Santa Pod Raceway
29th – 30th June

✔

Bug Jam
Santa Pod Raceway
26th – 28th July

✔

STP Green Light Nationals
Santa Pod Raceway
17th – 18th August

✔

FIA/FIM European Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
5th-8th September

✔
FIA

✔

UK National Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
20th-22nd September

✔

Bikes

Top Fuel
Bike

Pro Stock
Bike

Funny
Bike

Super Street
Bike

Comp
Bike

8.50
Bike

9.50
Bike

ET Bike

Junior Drag
Bike

Nostalgia
Pro Stock Bike

NSA
Shootout

Super Twin
Top Fuel

Festival of Power
Santa Pod Raceway
29thth – 31st March

✔

STP Springspeed Nationals
Santa Pod Raceway
27th – 28th April

✔

FIA/FIM Main Event
Santa Pod Raceway
24th – 27th May

✔
FIM

Retro Show/STP Sportsman Nationals
Santa Pod Raceway
8th-9th June

✔

✔
NPC

STP Summernationals
Santa Pod Raceway
29th – 30th June

✔

Dragstalgia
Santa Pod Raceway
5th – 7th July

✔

STP Green Light Nationals
Santa Pod Raceway
17th – 18th August

✔

FIA/FIM European Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
5th – 8th September

✔
FIM

UK National Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
20th – 22nd September

✔

Other classes at Championship events	Fuel Funny Car	Nostalgia Funny Car	Wild Bunch	Outlaw Anglia	Outlaw Flat Four	VW Pro	VW Sportsman	Nostalgia Super Stock	Big Bracket	7.60 Heads Up
Festival of Power Santa Pod Raceway 29th – 31st March	✔	✔
STP Springspeed Nationals Santa Pod Raceway 27th – 28th April				✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
FIA/FIM Main Event Santa Pod Raceway 2th – 27th May	✔	✔
Retro Show/STP Sportsman Nationals Santa Pod Raceway 8th – 9th June				✔ NPC		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
STP Summernationals Santa Pod Raceway 29th – 30th June			✔	✔		✔	✔
Bug Jam Santa Pod Raceway 26th – 28th July	✔				✔	✔	✔			✔
Mopar Nationals Santa Pod Raceway 9th – 11th August								✔
STP Green Light Nationals Santa Pod Raceway 17th-18th August			✔	✔	✔	✔	✔			✔
FIA/FIM European Finals Santa Pod Raceway 5th-8th September	✔	✔
UK National Finals Santa Pod Raceway 20th – 22nd September					✔	✔	✔	✔

Non-permit events	Nostalgia Funny Car (Cannonball)	Wild Bunch	Outlaw Anglia	Outlaw Flat Four	Nostalgia Super Stock	Supercharged Outlaws	Gasser Circus	Modified 100e	Willys Wars	Nostalgia Eliminator
Nostalgia Nats Santa Pod Raceway 4th – 6th May		✔	✔		✔	✔	✔
Dragstalgia Santa Pod Raceway 5th – 7th July	✔	✔	✔		✔	✔	✔		✔
Mopar Nationals Santa Pod Raceway 9th – 11th August					✔	✔	✔			✔
VW Action Santa Pod Raceway 30th August – 1st September				✔		✔	✔
Hot Rod Drags Santa Pod Raceway 18th – 19th September		✔	✔			✔	✔

EVENT ENTRY

The entry fees for the 2024 season will stay the same as 2023 the only exception being the FIA entry fee which has increased by 60 euros.

Entry Fees for the 2024 season will be:

Class	Two-day event	Three-day event	Four-day event
Motorsport UK British Pro Modified; Top Fuel Dragster; Nitro Funny Car; Nostalgia Funny Car	£198	£209	£247 (FC and NFC only) NB FIA classes pay FIA fees for FIA European Championship events
ET classes; Super classes; Junior Dragster; Comp Eliminator; Street Eliminator; VW classes; Outlaw Flat Four; Wild Bunch; Outlaw Anglia; Nostalgia Super Stock; other Sportsman car classes	£165	£181	£209
ACU Top Fuel Bike, FIM classes	£203	£215	NB FIM classes pay FIM fees for FIM European Championship events
ACU Funny Bike; ACU Pro Stock Bike; ACU Comp Bike; ACU Super Street Bike; 9.50 Bike; 8.50 Bike; ET Bike; ACU or FIM Junior Drag Bike	£170	£187	NB FIM classes pay FIM fees for FIM European Championship events

PITSIDE POWER AT SANTA POD RACEWAY

The electric fees will remain as per the 2023 season, so thankfully no increase there (see table below).

Event duration	Single phase	Three phase
2 days	£75	£195
3 days	£87	£207
4 days	£99	£219

OTHER ITEMS

The 2023 National Champion Winners will receive free entry to their respective National Rounds as normal. We must stress this is only for the class you race within and does not include additional events outside of the National Permitted Calendar. FIA/FIM E entry fees will be covered to the same cost of a national entry, the remainder paid by the entrant, for example, a national entry £240 FIA or FIM Europe entry £300, the entrant will only pay £60 plus electric.

A reminder that the new membership system has now been put in place, all memberships will run from 1st January to 31st December.

Entry fees must be paid 3 days prior to the race event, in previous years we have had may racers arrive at signing on having not paid and thus being chased for payment, beginning in 2024 there will be a small fine applied to late payments of £25 for the first offence and £100 for future failings within the Race year, you know who you are please get yourself organised, to help we are looking at emailing all those that chose BACS payment 1 week prior to the event as a gentle nudge to pay the entry fee, this will be a blanket email, so please do be upset if you have paid, it's just simplifies the email option for us.

Rule change updates, to include a discussion on 2010 helmets which are now out of date, Nitro Funny Car, and Rule book updates, the rule book is now live and any update is highlighted in red as per usual.

Track updates, Replacement of 3 concrete patches at 300 feet to remove a 2 small bumps on the track, site improvements, details of which Darren will be able to confirm once the meeting is concluded. but suffice to say the site will have a better look to it for 2024.

SPRC 35 Years, Santa Pod Racers Club, organised its first permitted event under the RAC MSA banner in 1989, and has been carrying out its membership, racing and organisational roles for 35 years, various elements of Racer Membership and the Summer Nationals event will be added to celebrate our 35 years and beyond in Drag Racing, for details will be forthcoming later this year.

Chris Isaacs who has been a committee member and Racer with us for many years has decided to hang up his goggles and welding torch, he and his family have moved to the midlands area of the country. Santa Pod Racers Club would like to wish Chris and his family the very best with their future endeavours and to pass on our special thanks for all of his time and effort with in Drag racing and the Santa Pod Racers Club. He will be missed.

Message from Ian Marshall: I will be standing down from my position as Chief Starter at the end of 2024, the National Finals will be my last event, whereupon I will pass the button and Startline over to David Warren. David as many know has been my assistant for so many years, and I feel that it's now time to pass the role on. I know David is and has been capable of running the startline for many years, but it`s a difficult thing to walk away from. This year I will be 60 in September and I feel the time is right to take a step back and focus more on the race track in terms of prep and various other elements, so I'm not going anywhere just changing roles and looking to improve on our track prep and clean up procedures, and of course continue to run Santa Pod Racers Club. I would at this point like to thank all of the Racers, Crews, the Marshals, Media guys, SPRC and all of Santa Pod Raceway (including the Boss KB ) for their help and support over the last 33 years in my role as Chief Starter.

We have 4 items from Racers

An update will follow once these items have been discussed.

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

Williams fly the VP flag at Autosport.
13th January: Drag racing fans at this weekend's "New and improved" (Translation: smaller - Ed) Autosport International at Birmingham's NEC had one stand to which to head: Williams Brothers Racing were representing the lubricants side of VP Racing Fuels and Lubricants whose UK distribution they took on in 2023. Nic Williams told Eurodragster.com that a lot has been achieved in that first year.

"VP started supporting us as a team in 2019, did more in 2022 then the opportunity to work with the lubricants arose last year", said Nic. "We have been educating people that there is more to VP than fuels. It has been a long process but sales and conversion rates have been better than expected: if you have no problems and the price difference is negligible then why change? So racers will only switch if the product is better.

"In 2024 we will have a bigger presence both in drag racing and in other sports. We will be starting this year with VP Racer Appreciation Drinks at the SPRC Dinner Dance: every table will have beer and wine courtesy of VP Racing Fuels and Lubricants.

"We will be appointing new lubricant dealers and introducing new products including mainstream regular oil products for daily drivers. It's a good market and VP's products meet manufacturers' specifications. And it means that more people can use VP!"

Nic added that Williams Brothers Racing are working hard with car and engine builds and a busy paint shop. "We air-freight weekly and bring in containers monthly", he said. "We will be making product announcements month-on-month. We have some great customers and both repeat and new business.

"It was busy getting ready for Autosport but Lee, Louis, Lorne and Colin helped us. Steve in the office is my personal saviour! We're lucky to have people who want to do things and actually do them. The guys in the workshop will be full steam ahead whilst we are out for the four days of the Show. We're fortunate to have a really good team around us, we couldn't do it without these people. This is a tough gig, but it's fun."

International Sales Director James McVey also stressed that VP are much more than racing fuel. "The lubricant market is saturated so the right partner is important", he said. "The Williams Brothers are at the track every week and they have a good name. Having them run our oil is beneficial: they drain the oil after every race and it's immediate feedback for us. Before they took us on they tried our oil, and others, and they saw for themselves how good our oil was. So they have the data, they are not just taking our word. It's been a joy working with these guys, they are great people with a great business and it's a great partnership for us - you can't ask for more."

VP's Technical Director Freddie Turza is pleased with the progress made with the lubricants business by Williams Brothers Racing. "We have been working closely with racers and we want to continue to grow this division", he said. "Everyone knows about our fuel, but we are expanding with our lubricants and coolants. We partnered with Greg Anderson in Pro Stock, the cars in that camp run our oil. David Barton has won consecutive Factory Stock Showdowns with our oil. The racers here in the UK follow NHRA and recognise the names, and Williams Brothers Racing have invited David Barton to come to Santa Pod Raceway to run one of their cars.

"In their first year distributing our lubricants the Williams Brothers have attended every race, talked to the racers and answered their questions. Old Hall Performance do a great job with our fuel. Our fuel and lubricant distributors work together as a team and I am very proud of that."

A visitor to the Williams' stand was Pro Modified, Outlaw Anglia and future Fuel Altered racer and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Jon Webster who told us about his 2024 plans. "We are hoping to have the Fuel Altered rolling shortly and it will be going to the paint shop at the end of February", he said. "The drivetrain in the altered is dependent upon the Pop selling as the Pro Mod Mustang has all the budget: we are looking forward to the year with the Mustang now that it is working and we will continue to work on making it consistent and reliable. But I'd like to think that the altered will be ready for Dragstalgia to run with Nick and Brian."

Editor's note: Thanks to Bob Roberts and Tog for attending Autosport International for Eurodragster.com

2024 Non-Permit Race Entries.
12th January: Thanks to Santa Pod Raceway events coordinator Max Frost for letting us know that Non-Permit Race Entries will soon be available from the SPR ticketing site.

"Attention in the pits! Our 2024 Non-Permit Race Entries will go on sale Monday 15th January 2024 at 11am.
"These entries will be available in the usual place by clicking here.

"We look forward to welcoming you back to Santa Pod this season!"

Pioneer Stories: Wally Parks' involvement in British Drag Racing - Part 2.
12th January:

Throughout his long career developing hot rodding and drag racing in the United States, Wally Parks kept a detailed journal relating his candid thoughts at the time. That journal was obtained and edited by his son Richard who has kindly given permission for Eurodragster.com to publish extracts from it relating to the period when British drag racing was being founded. The opinions are those of Wally, who is referred to by Richard as ‘Parks’ or occasionally ‘my father’.

This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival and this part includes the selection of American drivers to join the trip to England, the involvement of the British Drag Racing Association and Drag Festivals Ltd, the RAC forbidding any advertising on race cars and a tentative schedule for shipping and lodging.

The story which you can see by clicking here, or clicking on the above picture, was produced by Richard Parks, photos, images chosen by Nick Pettitt and John Hunt and published by editor of Eurodragster.com Simon Groves. We all thank Jim Miller of the American Hot Rod Foundation for scanning the photos and adding captions.

Swift snippets.
12th January: Happy Birthday for today to European Top Fuel legend Anita Mäkelä and Pro Stock racer Stefan Ernryd. We hope that both of you have a wonderful day.

Santa Pod Raceway are looking to expand their voluntary team of Track Marshals in all areas. From covering the pits, to staging lanes, race control and on track, there are a range of positions to suit all backgrounds. For more information, and to apply, please fill out the form by clicking here.

Santa Pod Racers Club have issued the 2023 Car and Bike Drag Racing Yearbook, including rules and regulations relating to the sport in the UK at this link (pdf download). Changes from last year are marked in red.

Spy picture III solved.
11th January: Unusual Car Sales UK administrator Nigel Taylor has written in to confirm the subject of Tuesday's Spy Picture:

"The lads at Hayling Garage, Mike Gates, Stevie Gates, Nick Davis and the rest of the team purchased a new race car last year, and have now totally stripped and gone through the whole car. It’s now gone for paint, the team hope it will be back and rebuilt ready for the Festival of Power!

"The team have been very busy and are still number one supporters for Unusual Car Sales UK. Meanwhile, the Hayling Garage team have their previous race car, the Plymouth Duster pictured, for sale if anyone is interested and a full forecourt of hot rods, Yank cars etc if you are looking.

Check out Hayling Garage via the Unusual Car Sales UK site or direct on Facebook.

Talking of Spy Pictures, a photo of Guy Burgess ironically does not qualify, Chris Orthodoxou..

Alice's Mighty Hike for Macmillan.
11th January: Photojournalist Alice Fairhead (pictured) has written in with news of her doing a charity hike for Macmillan Cancer Support:

"Back in January 2023, which seems so long ago now, I decided to take on the challenge of the Norfolk Coast Mighty Hike for Macmillian cancer support, walking 26 miles on a set route along the very pretty Norfolk coast raising money as I go. After having very achey legs I said I wouldn't do it again but I know this year I can do better so I've signed up and started training already completing walks of half what I'll do on the day.

"We all know and have lost people to cancer in recent years with many being in our racing families and close to our hearts so this year I'm determined to do it again and beat last year's time.

"Click on the JustGiving link to my fundraising page. £250 is the minimum pledge we can make but it would be great to smash it, if any individuals or companies would like to sponsor me it would be very much appreciated. "If anyone fancies a bit of fun you can get in touch and guess my time (last years time was 9hr 56 min) or sponsor a mile "Being close to my heart I'd love to do better than last year and raise even more so anything and everything no matter how big or small is greatly appreciated.

Swift snippets.
11th January: Perfect Light Award sponsor Cath Napier has asked if we can wish her husband Tig a very Happy Birthday and anniversary for today, we hope you have a great day Tig!

Also celebrating today and reaching the landmark of 40 is megafan Mikey Durbidge, we hope you have a great day Mikey.

Spy picture III.
9th January: We have a new spy picture with the comment "Our new race car purchased last year, now totally stripped and gone through and gone for paint, hoping to be back and rebuilt ready for the Festival of Power!"

If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

Our previous Spy Picture posted on 19th December was from Kyle Rushby of 'Rents go Racing' who explained "This year, we are going to run a standard Busa in ET Bike with me on it along side wife Anna in Comp Bike. The spy picture is the new Comp Bike we are building this year for me to ride in 2025. Yes, the 'Rents go Racing' is now a two rider team!"

JT's challenge.
9th January: Site sponsor and Pro Modified/Super Pro ET racer John Tebenham has been missing racing badly, and has busied himself getting his cars ready for the 2024 season:

"Look out! For Easter (Festival of Power - Editor), we are ready with the Crew Killer to show the green van (With No Name - Editor ) how it’s done.

"We have all the new kit, obviously new slicks which are only lasting a meeting. Come on Dave - more side by side burnouts. Then the Pro Mod is getting readied with a new motor from I.C.E. Can’t wait."

Any other racers wanting to publicise a challenge, get in touch at news@eurodragster.com.

Pioneer Stories: Gerry Belton and the 1964 Drag Festivals - Part 2.
8th January: In the sixtieth anniversary year of the first UK Dragfests our fourth series of Pioneer Stories concentrates on the people and events surrounding these massively influential meetings. The First British International Drag Festival was organised by Gerry Belton who thankfully kept all his correspondence leading up to, during and after the Drag Festivals. Part 2 includes letters which relate to requests for magazine, press and newspaper advertising or film coverage before, during and after the Drag Festival.

Allen Friedrich who lived in England and was a British editor of the American Motor Sports Illustrated was looking to do a feature on the Drag Festivals. Southern Television wanted to feature the series on their programs 'Here and Now' and ‘Day by Day’ and the BBC were also interested. American Rodding magazine ran a competition in their first magazine to fly the winners to the Festival as well as a stay at the London Hilton. Not only that but they were planning to have over 2000 trucks throughout America with posters on their sides talking about the Drag Festival in London, England, and they asked Gerry to get Sydney Allard to give them one of his Dragsters in kit form to give away free in their next magazine contest!

You can see this story at this link, or by clicking on the photo. It was produced by John Hunt from Gerry's letters, edited by Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves. Simon Belton, son of Gerry, and Allan Allard, son of Sydney, have given their kind permission to publish letters and other paperwork.

Swift snippets.
8th January: Happy Birthday for today to Melbourne Raceway Community FB admin Kelli Barrett, Junior Dragster dad Matt Fordham, and Swedish Pro Stock racer Lasse Britsmar. We hope you all have a great day.

2023 SPRC Perpetual Awards vote 5.
6th January: Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are again teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the 2023 SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation on 3rd February 2024.

For several of the 2023 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon their winners.

Today's category is the James Edgar Memorial Trophy awarded for outstanding performance by a Crew Chief, tuner, racer/tuner, or crew member.

The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows:

John Atkinson (Tom Atkinson, Peter Nee Super Pro ET)
John Atkinson

Gordon Darby (Ahmed Jamshaid, Track Worx Competition Eliminator)
Vote for Gordon Darby

Bob Doignie (Stuart Doignie, Be Fast R Super Comp and Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas)
Vote for Bob Doignie

Andy Fensome (Jake and Kai Cooper, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster)
Vote for Andy Fensome

Simon Holgate (Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike)
Vote for Simon Holgate

Ollie King (Hollie King and Jaxon King, Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike)
Vote for Ollie King

Tony Underhill (Brad Head and Motorsport UK Pro Modified)
Vote for Tony Underhill

To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here. If your device doesn't automatically generate an E-Mail then please E-Mail your choice to 2023sprcawards@eurodragster.com.

The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Paul Marshall for pairing lanes marshalling. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to 2023sprcawards@eurodragster.comspecifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail.

For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. Please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing then please drop us a line at 2023sprcawards@eurodragster.com. Voting for the Awards closes on 21st January 2024

Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please contact SPRC direct rather than E-Mailing Eurodragster.com or commenting on social media.

SPRC Dinner Dance & Memberships.
6th January: Thanks to Yvonne Tramm of Santa Pod Racers Club for two announcements relating to the Dinner Dance and membership renewals.

Dinner Dance

As the annual Dinner Dance Trophy Night approaches Yvonne confirms that sales of Dinner tickets will close on Friday 19th January 2024, two weeks from yesterday. If you have purchased tickets by BACS please ensure that your payments, if not already completed, are made by Sunday 21st January 2024.

Note : should you or anyone in your party have any special dietary requirements that have not been identified email Yvonne at yvonnetramm235@gmail.com please do not contact the hotel. See you there.

Memberships

Yvonne confirms that all 2023 memberships have now expired. A reminder to all racers, if you are attending the Riders and Drivers meeting on 14th January 2024 and wish to vote on any proposals you need to be a member of the SPRC. All memberships that have been received over the last few weeks will be posted out the week commencing 15th January 2024 or can be picked up at the Riders and Drivers meeting.

Further Details for membership applications can be found by clicking here

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

Pioneer Stories: Wally Parks' involvement in British Drag Racing - Part 1.
5th January:

This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival and this part includes the British Hot Rod Association and their publication Kool Kams, the 1963 Yankee Invasion of England when Dean Moon and Dante Duce brought over the Mooneyes dragster and Mickey Thompson arrived unexpectantly with his AA/Fueller and the initial steps to organise the 1964 Drag Festival.

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

7.60 Heads Up season review.
5th January: Many thanks to Swap Meet sponsors Jeff and Belinda Bull for sending in a review by Dave Turner of the first championship of 7.60 Heads Up:

Christmas and New year have us all looking back over the 2023 season in 7.60 Heads Up and what an amazing season it has been. We were treated to some of the closest racing of the year, which for a fledgling UK class is quite extraordinary. Over the 2022-2023 off season there had been a lot of interest in the class from a few teams looking at the challenge of running in 7.60 Heads Up and with the class scheduled for 3 meetings in 2023, namely the Sportsman Nationals, Bug Jam and the Greenlight Nationals, things were building up for an exciting first championship.

Round 1: The Sportsman Nationals. 7 cars entered in the class all capable of running in the 7’s. Brendan Clancy in his wicked fast 53 Corvette, Darren Peart with his mad Mk3 Cortina, Billy Gane and the Super Pro championship winning Vauxhall Victor, who had now connected the N2O bottles and was figuring out the combination really fast, Ron Bartlett’s Sweet FA 105 Anglia, Ron was also using Nitrous as a power adder in the search for that elusive 7. Belinda Bull’s extended cab Pro Stock S10 pickup truck, Paul Marston who had put the Pro Stock motor back in the PT Bruiser and Mark Turner who ran at the classes first outing in 2022 but had spent the winter converting the nitrous BBC to a blown methanol setup.

Qualifying was tight with 5 of the 7 cars running in the 7’s. Mark Turner in the M&M Racing Supra topping the field with an unimaginable 7.6006 run (taking the Eurodragster perfect ET money for the meeting) closely followed by Belinda’s 7.68. Billy, Darren and Brendan being the other 7 second runners.

Sunday dawned and everyone was ready for eliminations. Round one winners were Mark (bye run), Billy, Brendan and Darren. The semi’s saw Mark red light against Billy (Billy has a way of getting into Mark’s Head) and in a close race Brendan defeated Darren with a 7.66 run to a losing 7.93. So, to the final and it was Brendan who came out on top after the Vauxhall got way out of shape at the 1/8 mile.

Round 2: Bug Jam saw the return of Brain Pateman in his firebird and Kev Jenkins in the Fraudster along with newcomer Jack Williams driving Martin Green’s bad looking blown Nova. The weather wreaked absolute havoc with the qualifying schedule at this event and only one qualifying run was made on Friday. It was topped by Darren’s Cortina with a 7.72 followed by Billy, Mark, Belinda, Brian, Jack, Kev and Brendan who broke out slightly with a 7.46.

Saturday was a complete washout but with the partying that went on courtesy of Carl Cox’s DJ set on Friday night perhaps that was a good thing. Sunday however was dry and round one of eliminations saw Mark facing Kev in the Fraudster. Kev had tyre shake at the hit and shut off which turned out to be somewhat fortunate as further down track Mark was having issues of his own. The steering wheel came off at the 1000ft! luckily Mark managed to get the wheel back on and the car brought safely to a stop. He had the added bonus of keeping the car in his lane to take the round win. In the less eventful runs Darren saw off Brian, Billy red lit against Jack and Brendan ran a 7.6007 to take the Eurodragster perfect ET money and put Belinda on the trailer.

In the semi-finals Mark managed to claw back a start line advantage against Darren taking the stripe just 0.0009 seconds ahead of him. Jack rolled through the beams to give Brendan the win with an oh so close 7.599 to get his place in the final. The final turned into an all-Brendan affair with a 0.03 light to Mark’s 0.1 and a slowing 7.70 at the stripe, extending his lead in the championship. As the event closed Billy Gane was already on his way to catch the ferry for Sweden to race at a few events in the Pro street class that 7.60 Heads Up is based on.

Round 3: The Greenlight Nationals saw the addition of Jack Brewster and Elaine Hancock to the entry list. Unfortunately, Kev Jenkins was unable to attend and Billy was missing after his successful visit to Scandinavia where he had made quite an impression with the Pro Street crowd. A few of whom expressed an interest in coming over and running 7.60 Heads Up in 2024. The event didn’t disappoint though. Qualifying was incredibly tight with Darren and then Mark both running in the 7.6’s in Q1. Q2 saw Belinda also running a 7.6 and Jack Williams running in the 7’s. Brendan also hit the 7’s just missing the number with a 7.58 opening shot. Q3 saw Darren top the qualifying with an epic 7.61 and Belinda leap frogged Mark in to number 2 with a 7.62. Brendan moved up to number 4 with a 7.71, Jack Williams ran a 7.81 and Ron turned on the gas and ran a 7.96. Q4 didn’t really see any movement in positions but Sundays last qualifying session saw a Mark and Darren both breakout but both happy to run PB’s in doing so. Brendan got a handle on the Vette making the top 4 an all 7.6 second affair. Jack Brewster ran an arrow straight 7.78 meaning that the whole field was in the 7’s which was a great achievement.

Round 1 of eliminations and Darren used his bye, courtesy of his number 1 qualifier spot to dial himself and the car in and broke out with a 7.57. Belinda and Jack Williams had an issue with the tree which was in sportsman mode on their race. Their race was later re-run with a pro tree and Belinda came out on top with a 7.71 to losing a 7.81. Next run saw Mark face the other Jack in his blown yellow firebird. Jack left a cherry on the tree so Mark spied his chance to make a test pass and drove the car out the back door to another PB of 7.50. Brendan managed to knock himself out with a slowing break out pass of 7.48 against Ron in the Sweet FA Anglia.

In the first of the semi’s Darren cut a 0.009 light to Mark’s not too shabby 0.06 effort. Unfortunately for Darren engine issues around the 1/8 mile allowed Mark to catch and pass him to book his place in the final also keeping his championship hopes alive. He would be joined in the final by Belinda after she beat Ron running a 7.81 against a losing 8.03. So, it was the final run in 7.60 Heads Up that was going to decide the championship. Mark needing to take the event win to surpass Brendan. Both cars staged and Mark was away first with a 0.04 light to Belinda’s 0.1 but at the stripe the S10 charged down the Supra taking the win by 0.0031 with a 7.61 to Mark’s 7.66.

I think it’s safe to say that 7.60 Heads Up was somewhat of a success in 2023 with racers and fans loving the close racing and awesome performances. Two cars running near perfect 7.600 numbers and the championship being decided by the final race of the season. Congratulations to the 2023 7.60 Heads Up Champion Brendan Clancy and the Dublin Up team.

As we look forward to the 2024 racing season it is only going to get more exciting with, amongst others, Colin Millar and Jed Guy looking to compete with two of the quickest Anglia’s on the planet and Ian and Harrison Brown with the Thatadoo Camaro plus plenty of interest from a few of the Scandinavian Pro Street racers.

Thanks go to Jeff & Belinda Bull, Jeff Bull Race Engines, Neil & Debbie at West Country Fencing Supplies, Joe Hilerio at BLP Racing Products, Doug Herbert at Doug Herbert Performance, Ken at Transmission Specialties and Ricky at MRB Surfacing. Jeff adds that he has been given a green light for 7.60 Heads-Up for the 2024 Santa Pod season. Three events have been announced (Sportsman Nationals on 8th-9th June, Bug Jam on 26th-28th July and Greenlight Nationals on 17th-18th August - Editor) and we are waiting for further updates from the Santa Pod Raceway team regarding the possibility of more events.

Racers, fans and supporters are encouraged to send a positive message to the Santa Pod Raceway team and SPRC showing them the growing interest in 7.60 Heads Up. We hope that Swedish Pro Street teams will be attracted to the UK to compete in the same way that Billy Gane competed in Sweden last season, and that other UK doorslammer teams sign up for the well-funded series.

Launch of Oil Cooled Outlaws.
5th January:

RWYB motor cycle racer Jim Cross has announced Oil Cooled Outlaws, a new bike class which will be seen racing at two events in 2024:

Oil Cooled Outlaws will be running as a heads up shootout at the two Jap Shows at Santa Pod this year (Sunday 12th May and Sunday 6th October) with more dates coming. It's for oil cooled GSXR/Bandit engine based street tyre bikes.

The rules are basically:

Street tyre
No wheelies bars
Oil cooled Gsxr/bandit engine

For example, if you have a Bandit turbo bike you are perfect for this or an old GSXR nitrous bike, that's good too. We all put £30 in the pot so, with a 10 bike field, if you win, you get the £300 pot.

We race over the 1/4 mile with no test hits on race day. We pull chips out of a hat to organise your opponent each round. We run this using normal rwyb rules but Santa Pod kindly give us pit space so we can park together, as its easier to organise on the day.

If you think you might be interested, please send me info of your bike setup and I'll put you on the list I'll be picking the first 10 nearer the first date.

Hopefully this is the start of a good fun class and money to be won can't be bad. We have done this style of racing a few times now and with out doubt it's the best as your only interested in getting that win light.

Places still available at Straightliners AGM.
5th January: Straightliners head Trevor Duckworth has confirmed that places are still available at the Straightliners AGM and presentation to be held at Briar Court Hotel, Huddersfield, HD3 3NT on 13th January.

The AGM starts at 1:30pm and Dinner and presentation will be at 7:00pm for 7:30pm and the cost is £32 per person. Trevor says "Email us at orders@straightliners.co.uk with your confirmation and menu choices. to reserve your booking and don't forget to let us know what food you will like to eat. We will let you know the payment details then.

To book a room at the Briar Court please contact them directly on 01484 519902.

Swift snippets.
5th January: Happy Birthday for today to Funny Bike racer Mark Smith, Top Fuel crewman Ian Pellant, Norwegian Super Street Bike racer Dag Wagenius and Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Fredrik Kempe. We hope you all have a fantastic day.

Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has updated his British Drag Racing & Hot Rodding Archive website again with another gallery of Antony Billinton's photos. This time a selection of colour slides taken by Peter Billinton at Santa Pod during the 1971 season which you can reach by clicking here, then scroll down to the picture of The Commuter for Antony's photo galleries.

Congratulations to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell whose 7707 Salt Shaker LSR roadster has been selected as the poster car for the SCTA Awards Banquet being held at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel, near the Grand National Roadster Show, Fairplex, Los Angeles on 3rd February.

Stilwell's 2024 mission.
3rd January: Thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell for sending a New Year preview of what 2024 will hold for him in the worlds of land speed racing - and drag racing...

Well, 2024 is here and the 7707 Landspeed Team have a very busy year ahead of us. To start with, I kick the year off in a couple of weeks when I will be getting my Super Comp Licence in Gainesville.

Then, it's off to Los Angeles to get 7707 ready for the Grand National Roadster Show at the Pomona Fairplex which is on 2nd-4th February . This is a huge show and allows us to promote the car and we will also have “Dos Palmas” on display as well before it makes its long trip to the UK for Dragstalgia. There are over 800 cars entered together with the Hot Rod drive in on the Saturday. Last year we had something like 800 drive in hot rods. it really was something special. This is a major event in the LA Hot Rod Calendar.

Then on the evening of the 3rd February the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) will be holding the 85th Awards night and around 300-plus Landspeed Racers will be there.

Following that 7707 will be taken back to the race shop where the hard work will start to prepare the car for this year's racing. Our first race will be a three day race at El Mirage near Los Angeles on 20th-21st May, followed by Bonneville Speedweek on 3rd-9th August, and then back to El Mirage for the season finale on 9th-10th November. I hope to see any of my UK or European followers out there.

Nostalgia Superstock displaying at NEC.
3rd January:

UK Nostalgia Superstock committee member Nïamh Frances Smith has announced that the class have been accepted to have a club stand at the NEC Restoration show on 22nd-24th March.

For those who haven’t been before, it’s like a smaller version of their Classic Car Show that’s held later in the year, but still several halls full of classic cars, trade stands and other industry professional stands and is well worth a visit We will be looking for a couple of cars to be on the club stand that will represent the best Nostalgia Superstock has to offer and adjacent to the NSRA stand.

You will need to be available to deliver your car to the NEC in Birmingham on either the Wednesday afternoon or Thursday daytime before the event, and remove the car either during breakdown Sunday evening after the show ends or Monday. You won’t be required to stay on the stand, but you are more than welcome to as visitors love to ask the owners about their cars!

We are also encouraged to have live restoration activity, servicing, general maintenance and work etc on our cars. You will be given 2 free wristbands per display car, and one parking ticket per display car. When we have done it in previous years they have a car park where you can keep your trailer if necessary.

If you are interested in displaying your NSS car on the stand, please either message me or comment below, and also let me know if you plan to be doing any work on your car while there. I believe we have room for three cars, so if there are more people wanting to have their cars on display then we may have to make decisions about which cars make the cut- please don’t be upset if you don’t get picked but it may come down to who will be doing work on their car etc.

Closer to the time we will also be given a discount code for members of NSS to buy discounted public day or weekend tickets!

Team Berg & Sjödin Motorsport plan to race in UK.
3rd January: Thanks to regular contributor Andreas Sjödin for sending us the announcement that Andreas, with Team Berg & Sjödin Motorsport will be racing in 2024 in Sweden and the UK.

"We want to wish all of our family, fans, friends, partners and sponsors A Really Happy New Year! 2023 was fun! And that’s all because Sjödin teamed up with Berg!

The plan was to do some test rounds in 2023 with the Vette but we fell in love with each other so we will continue this love story in 2024 also!

"We will do some FIA Pro Modified drag racing with Jörgen's '79 Corvette in the 2024 season! We will start our season at The Doorslammers and then continue at The Main Event in May at Santa Pod Raceway!

"We are looking for partners to team up with for 2024 to make our plans possible! See y’all in 2024!" Current sponsors may be viewed at the website of Sjödin Motorsport.

Swift snippets.
3rd January: Happy Birthday for today to Harry, aka Brian Palmer (member of Mark Sheridan's SE crew). Harry, we hope you are having a wonderful day.

Wanted: new Eurodragster.com editor.
2nd January: Eurodragster.com is on the lookout for a new editor and publisher after current editor Simon Groves announced he will be stepping down with effect from 31st March 2024.

Simon said "I have mentioned, and some of you will have noticed, that I have been suffering from stress over the last season and unfortunately, this has affected my health, both physically and mentally. I have been getting medical treatment, however, I have not been responding as well as I could have at a younger age.

"I have therefore taken the difficult decision to look for a replacement Eurodragster.com editor. I am grateful to everyone who has supported me during my four years as editor and 15 years as pit reporter. It will however be for a future editor to oversee live race reporting, posting of classified adverts and all the other features of the site that have fallen to me.

"I thank my colleagues Julian, Kieran, Kirstie, and Diane, who have given so much of their time to the site on photographic duties for Eurodragster.com. I also thank Graham Watkinson for his help in coding articles; and of course, site founder and former editor Tog for his help and support. Finally thanks to our sponsors without whom it would not have been possible to maintain and develop the site over many years.

"If anyone would like to apply to take over the editorship, please write to me at editor@eurodragster.com or Facebook messenger. Any prospective candidates should have comprehensive knowledge of the European drag racing scene and be proficient in html coding and operating a website. A small team of people to handle the editorial duties collectively will be preferable, I will be grateful for any suggestions.

"If no suitable candidates for these positions come forward, I will sadly have to close Eurodragster.com on 31st March. I fervently hope that the drag racing community can show their support for an independent website dedicated to the sport in Europe, despite the growth of social media and streaming video which has become the predominant source of live coverage of larger meetings."

New Top Fuel driver for Europe.
1st January: Johnny Nilsson at Autoart Motorsport is thrilled to announce that Teddy Larsson, Johnny Nilsson's youngest son, and Dennis Nilsson's younger brother, will be testing for a Top Fuel license in 2024.

Teddy has been around with his dad and brother in the dragracing scene since he was 4 years old, during the time they were competing with the Tre Kronor car in Bakersfield.

Currently, Teddy is working on the car that Dennis drives, taking on significant responsibilities. Johnny sends a big Thank You to Gary Page, who will be Teddy's mentor.

Eurodragster.com comment: It is to be hoped that Autoart Motorsport will be competing regularly in the FIA Europe Top Fuel championship regularly in 2024. After an appearance at the NitrOlympX in 2022, the team's car was seen in 2023 at just one round, the Main Event, although the team with Dennis also competing at Mantorp Park in the TF Cannonball held at the end of July. Much will depend on the team's finances, sponsor deals and stock of spare parts. Those interested in providing support should contact Johnny via the above link.

Pioneer Stories: Gerry Belton and the 1964 Drag Festivals - Part 1.
1st January: Today we commence Series 4 of our Pioneer Stories, our final series which will be published twice weekly between today and the end of March.

This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival which was organised by Gerry Belton who thankfully kept all his correspondence leading up to, during and after the Drag Festivals including the first letter he wrote to Wally Parks of the NHRA telling him of the ambitious plans to hold the first big international drag event outside America in September 1964 and Wally’s enthusiastic reply as it had long been a hope of the NHRA to send a contingent of cars for such an occasion.

Gerry had a stand at the 1964 Racing Car Show in January featuring an Allard Dragon dragster which created a lot of interest and useful contacts for the Drag Festivals. The British Drag Racing Association was formed, and practise days were organised. Different venues around the country were looked at as possibilities for the Drag Festival and the RAC were contacted about exempting the American participants from some of their strict regulations.

One of the most important letters came from Odhams Press on the 12th March which eventually led to The People newspaper becoming the main sponsor to the Series...

This story which you can see at this link, or by clicking on the photo, was produced by John Hunt from Gerry's letters, edited by Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves. Simon Belton, son of Gerry, and Allan Allard, son of Sydney, have given their kind permission to publish letters and other paperwork.

Swift snippets.
1st January: Happy Birthday to erstwhile Top Fuel racer Tethys, Comp Eliminator racer David James, and German Super Pro ET racer Robert Gassner. We hope you have a great day. A belated Happy Birthday to Nostalgia Funny Car crew, and former Dennis Priddle crew, Phil Pead, UK Nostalgia Superstock racer Mick Sharpe and Super Street Bike sister Bianca Mechaell, we hope you all had a wonderful day.

Earlier news