European Drag Racing News

A minute for Chris.
30th June: Santa Pod Racers Club have announced that there is to be a minute's silence in remembrance of Top Fuel Bike racer Chris Hampson at this weekend's Cannonball. The tribute will take place at twelve noon on Sunday (2nd July), and SPRC have asked that racers ensure that no engines are running in the pits at this time. Racers and their crew are invited to congregate on the start line for the minute's silence.

Aros Nationals preview.
29th June: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with a preview of this weekend's Nordic Drag Racing Series round, the Aros Nationals at Västerås. The preview includes a link to the official entry list. It's going to be a good weekend for web-spectators since we expect that Erik and Christer will be providing their usual high-quality race coverage, and we will be posting the usual raceday updates from the Cannonball at Santa Pod - but don't let that stop you from going to either race if you can make it!

Check out the Aros Nats preview on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

You can also get detailed information about this weekend's event on the Swedish-language SMF-Västerås web site at www.emboss.se/smf-vasteras.

Spuff and Smith: actually, we'll win!
28th June: On Monday we published an interview with TMFC racer Micke Kågered who tipped himself to win this weekend's Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway. You won't be at all surprised to hear that fellow competitors, Fuel FC pilots John Spuffard and Gordon Smith have other ideas! Click here to read our latest interview and find out who Spuff and Gordon see as their main threats this weekend, what the Cannonball means to them, and what their game plans are.

You can get more details about this weekend's Cannonball on Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.com.

Nostalgia Nationals.
28th June: Meanwhile, if nostalgia is your thing then the UK's Shakespeare County Raceway is hosting the eighth annual NSRA Nostalgia Nationals this weekend. "It's always a pleasure to welcome these guys", says APIRA Press Officer Jerry Cookson. "Every year they turn up in their hundreds to further the cause of hot rodding in England. Some of the cars look like they have come straight from a Fifties movie set!". The NSRA co-ordinated event sees the strip open for to street legal pre-1969 street rods and big block customs, and the staging lanes are always crowded. "It just goes to show that the owners of these cars would rather shake them down on a drag strip than park them at a show site for two days", says an NSRA spokesman. The Wild Bunch and the Supercharged Outlaws will be in attendance putting in demonstration races

Entry to the Nostalgia Nationals is £12 each day, or £20 for the weekend, it's half price for twelve- to sixteen-year-olds and free for those under twelve. You can get more details by calling 01896 766114 or 01789 414119.

Super Series 2 timing data.
28th June: Still on the subject of Shakespeare County Raceway, timing data from Super Series 2 is now available on the Results page of the Super Series web site at www.eurodragster.com/superseries.

Web site updates.
28th June: As promised yesterday, European Drag Racing Database webmaster Tommy Nilsson has updated his site with some photographs from last weekend's Atlas Race Days at Ganderkesee in Germany, plus results from the Spring Nationals at Pite Dragway and Super Series 2 at Shakespeare County Raceway. The European Drag Racing Database can be found at www.eurodrag.com.

Thanks to Ian Hook for again sending his own press release. Ian writes:

"The FB Racing website has been updated. The site, run by Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook, carries a lot of the latest Championship information with personal race reports, points standings and latest best times and speeds. To raise a smile ensure that you check out the Rogues Gallery section featuring the crew and their alter egos! The site now also includes weather reports for both Santa Pod and Shakespeare County areas. Other additions include new links and an updated SE racecars section. The site can be found at www.fbracing.co.uk."

A look at the new PLR injector.
27th June: Swedish Top Fuel racer Peter Lantz's web site has been updated with some more details on the new-model PLR injector (aka the "Sharkfin"), which has already had a successful outing with Anita Mäkelä's victory at the recent FIA event at Alastaro. The new design came about at the request of Joe Amato's Crew Chief Jimmy Prock and takes advantage of some years of data gained using the previous design.

For more details including a picture check out Peter Lantz's web site at www.plr.nu, where you will also find an updated race calendar and a hint of a new major sponsor.

Cannonball entry on-line.
27th June: The entry list for this weekend's Cannonball is now available by clicking on the Next Event button on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com.

Web site updates.
27th June: The European Drag Racing Database has been updated with full qualifying details and a very interesting report from the weekend's rained-out Atlas Race Days at Ganderkesee, Germany. Pictures are promised later on today. You can find the European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com.

UK nostalgia racers The Wild Bunch have updated their web site with results and reports from this season's races. If you are into nostalgia racing then you could easily spend a happy hour or two on this web site as there is plenty to see including a run-down of competing teams and a list of rules and regulations including FAQs. The Wild Bunch web site can be found at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk.

The recent Super Series 2 event at Shakespeare County Raceway saw several track records broken. You can check these out on the Avon Park International Racers Association web site at www.eurodragster.com/apira.

BJ has updated his fan site BJ's Drag Racing Pages with a large number of spectator-side pictures from Super Series 2. BJ's site is at www.jsjhisted.freeserve.co.uk.

Kågered: 400 beckons at Cannonball.
26th June: 400 km/h that is! We've been talking to 1999 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Micke Kågered about this weekend's Cannonball at Santa Pod. Micke has won the Cannonball more than once, and not unsurprisingly tells us that he is planning to win again this year. Micke is also confident that the 400 km/h mark (that's 250 mph for us Imperials) will be broken in TMFC at Santa Pod this weekend, and he plans to be the one to do it.

Micke also talks about his season so far, who he fears most in this year's FIA Championship, and what dreams he has left in a career which would long ago have fulfilled most people's desires.

Click here to read the interview.

Weekend race reports.
26th June: Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have posted on their web site at www.dragracing.se a short report of the weekend's events at the Drag and Rock Festival at the Motopark in Finland. This probably despite the effects of a surfeit of herring, potatoes and schnapps...we hope that all of our Scandinavian friends had a good Midsummer.

Full qualifying and elimination details and a picture gallery from the Drag and Rock Festival are available on the Finnish Hot Rod Association web site at www.fhra.fi.

Clemens Walleit has updated his web site at www.dragbike.de with results from a report from this weekend's Atlas Race Days at Ganderkesee in Germany, which was unfortunately rained out after qualifying. English-language visitors should hold their mouse over a button for a translation, but head to zum Rennplatz for the results.

Hallo Racefans, neue Rennerbenisse der deutschen Super Street Bikes aus Ganderkesee, unter www.dragbike.de

Don't forget that you can also stay in touch with all the latest from the German Super Street Bike scene on the Loud and Proud web site at www.dragsterracing.de/ssb.

Wacker opens video library.
26th June: Swiss Pro Mod racer Peter Wacker has updated his web site with a large video library; more than fifty clips to choose from featuring not only Peter's own car but other Pro Mods, and other classes including Top Fuel Dragster and Jet Funny Car. Peter has also posted a detailed report with video clips of his appearance at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod in May. Check it out at www.roofers-toy.ch. We're very pleased to hear that we'll be seeing Peter in his Chevy at the Cannonball this weekend.

Travel: the view from Norway.
26th June: Norwegian Super Comp racer Linda R�nning has written with her views on the cost of travelling to races in Europe.

"Well what should we up here in Norway say about that. A litre of super gasoline is up to nearly £1, insurance for the transporter (an old bus) is £500 and we drive about five hundred kilometres to every race, except to Gardermoen which is twenty kilmetres away. Our bus runs on diesel which costs nearly the same as gasoline, and we use two and a half litres every ten kilometres. At the Drag Festival at Mantorp in July the Super Comp entry fee is 1250 Swedish Kroner, if you want electricity they want another 500 Kr on top of that, and if you are lucky enough to take the win you get 3000 Kr when you have already spent 2500 Kr on diesel to get there. But in Norway we had a race at Valle, the entry fee was 750 Norwegian Kroner and the win money was 3000 Nkr. I am a schoolgirl and I love my sport, but things like that don't help me very much".

Points standings.
24th June: We've received updates to two UK championship standings. First up are the latest points in the ACU Championships, which are available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com.

The latest standings in the Super Series championship, kindly supplied by new points co-ordinator Simon Groves, are now available on the Super Series web site.

We've had a number of queries about standings in the UK National Championships. They are currently being ratified by SPRC and APIRA and will be passed to us when this has been done. Watch this space.

Beck's new ride.
24th June: UK Pro Stock Bike racer Dave Beck departs the UK next week for Chicago, where he will be taking his last ride on Jay Regan's Pro Mod Bike in the latest round of the AMA/Prostar series. "It all looks good with the bike", says Dave. "After a good test weekend in Georgia, all problems seem to be ironed out. There are only two other problems to deal with - Billy Vose and Tommy Micelli! This is my last race with that bike before it comes over to its new owner in England (Super Street Bike racer Dave Holland - Ed). We have purchased a bike to finish the season, and will most likely run in Funny Bike - because the bump spot is higher and it pays more ! This will allow us to look to next years programme."

Pat thanks well-wishers.
24th June: UK Super Pro ET racer Pat Talbot has asked us to thank all of her fellow racers and fans for all the cards and Get Well messages which she has received whilst in hospital. "It's made both of us realise how many good friends we have made at the racing over the last 3 years", says Pat's husband, Talbot Racing Crew Chief Stephen Talbot. The great news is that Pat is well on the way to recovery and should hopefully be home this weekend.

Meanwhile the Talbot Racing web site at www.talbotracing.com has been updated with more news about Pat and stand-in driver Jon Webster, and updated Personal Best information.

Dony: time to move, maybe.
24th June: Belgian Sportsman ET racer David Dony has written to add his voice to the recent news items about travelling costs. "What about a poor Sportsman ET racer", says David. "It's true that the costs are becoming prohibitive, especially for crossing the Channel. It's £230 to cross from Ostend to Dover on the ferry, and £380 on the Channel Tunnel shuttle. Also the fuel, I need 240 litres of super for the round-trip from Brussels. I might only be coming to England once this year, for the Cannonball. I think it's time to move closer to Santa Pod."

Web site updates.
24th June: www.straightliners.co.uk, the home site of the UK Run What You Brung Motorcycle Drag Racing series, has been updated with results for the five rounds run so far this year and a large number of photographs.

The Fantasy Drag Racing league has been updated with provisional standings after Super Series 2. TSI Timers' Andy Marrs still leads (but will change the name of his team if he knows what's good for him - Ed), although contest organiser Ian Highfield tells us that this may change when he obtains detailed results from the last race. Check out the latest standings at www.fantasy-sports-web.com.

On the subject of Super Series 2, Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has updated his personal web site with a report and pictures from that race. Sharkman's Top End Tales can be found at www.btinternet.com/~sharkman.

The Swedish Pro Street News magazine at www.swedishprostreetnews.com has been updated with some new movies and photographs.

SPR RWYB.
23rd June: If you can't get to Scotland for the Crail Thrash and Dash which we mentioned yesterday, Santa Pod Raceway is also hosting a pre-Cannonball Run What You Brung on Sunday (25th June). We do not currently know of any racers planning to attend (if we hear then we will of course let you know), but it is a good chance to give your own car or bike a run out on the hallowed asphalt. Entry to the track on Sunday is £8.00, and a further £10.00 and the production of a valid DVLC licence - Competition licences are not accepted - gets you as many passes down the track as you can fit in. You can get full details about SPR Run What You Brung events on Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.com.

FCs line up for Cannonball.
23rd June: We understand that eight Funny Cars are currently entered for next weekend's Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway: four Fuel FCs and four Top Methanol FCs. Entry is not yet closed and we hear that the list currently has some notable absences, so it's not impossible that this figure will go up. The official entry list should be available within the next few days - stay tuned.

Llewellyn on travelling.
23rd June: Lex Joon's mention of travelling costs is becoming a point of discussion amongst European racers. Following on from Thomas Joswig's comments yesterday, UK Super Comp racer Zane Llewellyn, who is planning to run in Scandinavia and Germany this season, wrote with his views.

"We ourselves have to set a really tight budget to enable us to race in Scandinavia/Germany", says Zane. "This unfortunately means that we have to forgo the British championships in favour of our quest to sample the racing surfaces and variety of competitors that we need to keep our appetite for racing alive. One thing going for us this year, and the reason for Lex and Co's despair, is the strength of the pound at the moment which cushions the travelling costs a little, especially diesel! Sometimes it's good to be British, even when soccer lets us down!"

You can keep up to date with the latest from Zane's Bootsoop Racing team on his web site at www.bootsoop.freeserve.co.uk.

Web site updates.
23rd June: Werner Rüchel has written to introduce his web site at www.dragscene.de. The web site covers the German Drag Racing scene and even from our limited knowledge of German it is clear that Werner's site covers that scene in some detail containing news, reports, points standings, race dates and links (although there's one particular link missing, Werner!). The site is well worth a look.

Tributes to Dave Graham.
22nd June: We've received more tributes to Dave Graham of Kendall Oils UK, who died at the weekend.

Smax Smith writes: "Smax and all of the Ant Hill Mob wish to express our sadness at the sudden loss of Dave Graham. A friend, a fellow Canadian and the only person ever to volunteer sponsorship to our team in my long history of drag racing! Peace and love to all his family."

Mike Kason writes: "I and all at JFDI were devastated to hear about the news regarding Dave Graham. We have known Dave for a good many years and he was always very generous, helpful and very knowledgeable. We both shared a passion for Italian exoticar, and we spent many hours discussing the virtues of his Maserati, a car we both owned. The car suited Dave and his very laid back manner. The last time we met was at the Classic Car Show at Alexandra Palace and he was very proud to have the car from the 'Private Ryan' movie on his stand. Dave will be sadly missed both by us and the racing community and we would like to express our condolences to his family and friends."

Nemesis seek crew.
22nd June: The Nemesis UK Top Methanol Dragster team are looking for another crew member to assist in their hunt for the FIA and MSA Championships. You can find full details in the Drivers/Crew Required section of our Swap Meet. Alternately, if prospective crew members want to know what they might be letting themselves in for, the News page of the Nemesis web site at www.eurodragster.com/nemesisracing has been updated with a typically-entertaining account of their recent typically-eventful trip to Finland to compete in the second round of the FIA Championship.

Joon gets to go.
22nd June: Only a few days ago, it looked as if Dutch Top Methanol Funny Car racer Lex Joon would have to miss the Cannonball at Santa Pod on 1st-2nd July, because of escalating travelling and other costs. Lex's huge legion of fans will be pleased to hear that someone has come to Lex's financial aid, so he now gets to go to the race. You can find full details on the News page of the Lex Joon Racing web site at www.eurodragster.com/lexjoonracing.

Joswig: I know what you mean, Lex.
22nd June: German Funny Bike racer Thomas Joswig saw Lex's comments on Monday about the expense of travelling and wrote to agree.

"This is basically the reason that I have not been to Santa Pod for the last two years", said Thomas. "To be sure, I love the racing and the people there. But it is really true: the costs have exploded. Since they did away with tax-free shopping on the ships, the prices have gone up threefold. Diesel for the truck is nearly twice the price that it is here in Germany. For us bikers it us really unusual to find a big sponsor who will cover such expenses for a European-wide racing operation. Hopefully I will be back to race next year."

Thanks for writing, Thomas, and thanks for the insight. For us fans it's too easy to forget what the competitors have to go through even to get to the track.

You can find Thomas Joswig's web site at ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tjracing.

Database starts mailing list.
22nd June: The European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com has started a mailing list to inform subscribers of updates to the highly-popular and endlessly useful web site. "No guarantees are given about how often you will get a mail - once a day, once a month - time will tell..." says webmaster Tommy Nilsson. It's obvious from the quality of the site that Tommy never stops working on it, so we suspect that those mails will be very frequent indeed.

Thrash and Dash on-line.
22nd June: Crail Airfield Promotions are holding the latest of their highly-successful Thrash and Dash Run What You Brung events at Crail Airfield in Scotland this Sunday (25th June). The track is a full quarter-mile, and the RWYB is open to any vehicle be it street or race. Static shows and displays are also featured. Action starts at 10:00 am and carries on until 5:00 pm.

Crail Airfield Promotions have also launched a web site at www.crailthrash.co.uk. This very well-designed web site gives you every detail you could need about events at Crail, featuring news, calendar, a map, results, photographs, and much more. We were particularly impressed that the web site is available both in Flash and HTML versions - excellent thinking, guys.

Dave Graham.
21st June: We were very sorry to hear of the death of Dave Graham, the owner of Kendall Oils UK. Dave was deeply involved in drag racing in the UK, sponsoring both racers and series.

Pro Mod racer Nick Davies, who was a long time friend of Dave's and whose car was sponsored by Kendall when he won the UK National Championship last season, writes with the following tribute:

"It was with deep sadness that we learnt of the untimely death of Dave. A life-long motorsport fan and participant, Dave will be missed by the community of drag racing particularly, in which his widespread support was appreciated by many.

"Ever willing to share his life's experiences and knowledge, Dave listened to amateur and professional with the same attentiveness offering advice and guidance when asked. His enthusiasm, optimism and flexibility knew no bounds. Like many businesses and racing operations, Dave supported I.C.E.'s product and racing development programmes over nearly two decades, culminating in our shared Pro Mod championship success in 1999 in the Kendall Cutlass.

"Dave will be missed not only as a vast knowledge source but also as a true, solid friend."

APIRA Press Officer Jerry Cookson added a typical story. "Dave was one of our long-time sponsors of the race track, the Super Series and the sport in general. In fact, when donations for the Avon Park score boards reached a certain figure Dave very kindly matched the figure to make it all possible"

Dave's funeral will be at 11:00 am this Saturday, 24th June, at West London Crematorium. Following the funeral, a reception will be held at Kensington Tavern, Russell Gardens, London W14. All are welcome to both. Dave's family has expressed a wish that no flowers be sent, but a collection will be held for the War Child charity on the day.

Eurodragster sends its deepest condolences to Dave's wife Flo, his family, and his friends.

Heezen back on track.
21st June: If you can remember as far back as the pre-Main Event test weekend, you will recall that we reported that European Super Twin Top Gas Champion Job Heezen came all the way from Holland only to watch it rain for several hours and then suffer engine damage on his first burnout. We are pleased to be able to report that Job got everything back together in an impressive manner at Västerås last weekend.

"I'm glad to tell you that the rain and misfortune at Santa Pod are forgotten now" says Job. "In Sweden we were able to set a new eighth-mile record for Supertwin Top Gas. The old record of 5.404/204 Kmh has changed to 5.290/216 Kmh. It looks as if we are on the right track again!". Congratulations to Job on his new record.

Smax: no free weekends here.
21st June: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Smax Smith has had some busy weekends recently. The week after the Main Event he took his Astral Projection Top Methanol Dragster to the Mopar Euronationals at Shakespeare County Raceway where photographer Darryl Bradford successfully switched to the business side of the guardrail, gaining a licence in the car under Smax's guidance. Then Smax took the dragster to the Celtic Marauders charity event at RAF Portreath (a regular Run What You Brung venue) to make an attempt at the track record.

"We managed to take the track record", says Smax. "It was only an 8.8 but you have to be there to believe it. They are the best people on the planet and made us feel very welcome. The military won't let them prepare the start line, so I left in second gear and still blazed the tyres all the way just like Don Garlits! I was dodging cones and I didn't pull my chutes until after the finish line to protect the timing gear". The shutdown area at Portreath is quite short and if you overrun then you have a leisurely few seconds of free fall before hitting the rocks below or drowning - the end of the shutdown area is the edge of a cliff. "It was pretty mind-blowing" says Smax.

This weekend Smax is making a return visit to Drywood for a charity fire-up to raise money for the local childrens' school, then comes the Cannonball at Santa Pod when Smax will be back at the wheel of his Fuel Funny Car. We understand that the FC's previous owner, Top Fuel pilot Al Jackson, will be in attendance at the Cannonball to oversee the tuning of the car.

You can keep in touch with the latest from Smax and his operation on his web site at www.smax.co.uk.

Malmgren stars at Le Mans.
21st June: Michael Malmgren's six-second Camaro Pro Stock spent the weekend at Le Mans, where it was on display with sponsor AC Delco. "It was an incredible race" says crew member Magnus. "As we have AC Delco as sponsor we were parked in the middle of their display. We met and spoke to a lot of English people, and we would like to thank them for their kind support".

A dragster at Le Mans is by no means incongruous since eighth-mile drag racing has taken place there in the past, most memorably an appearance by Sammy Miller in his rocket car which over an eighth got to the finish line almost as soon as it had left the start.

Johnson does a Sid.
21st June: On 14th June we reported how UK Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones (aka Sid) was thanking his lucky stars that his final at the Main Event was cancelled since he subsequently discovered that his rear axle was all set to fail. A week later, breaking rear axles is in danger of becoming known as "doing a Sid", as Super Series 2 Pro ET winner Chris Johnson explains. "It's funny how things are short-lived", says Chris. "We finally break our Super Series duck and win our first event, and the car has done a Sid! Vibration in the shutdown area prompted us to look at the back axle, only to find that the crown wheel had started to break up". Chris hopes to have it fixed in time for the next race, the Cannonball at Santa Pod on 1st-2nd July.

Web site updates.
21st June: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have posted a mega-update on their web site at www.dragracing.se. Check it out for a preview of this weekend's Drag and Rock event in Finland, news of a new sponsor for the Super classes in the Nordic Drag Racing Series, and an interview with Roger Petterson who suffered a sprained foot and a dislocated collarbone after crashing his Pro Stock Bike at Västerås last weekend.

The European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com has been updated with a preview and the entry list for this weekend's Atlas Race Days at Ganderkesee Raceway in Bremen, Germany. Our good buddy, webmaster Tommy Nilsson promises to post full results on the Databse on Monday - from an incontrovertible source too, since he will be running the timing system.

UK1320 at www.uk1320.com has been updated with a report and results from last weekend's Super Series 2 at Shakespeare County Raceway. Webmaster Gareth Evans tells us that he is currently scanning his photographs from the race, but that he has already posted a photograph of Pro Mod racer Bill Weston's scoop-launching nitrous burp. We've had a look at the photograph and it is amazing - certainly an early candidate for photograph of the year. Check out UK1320 and see if you don't agree.

The web site of the Fang Supertwin Modified team has been updated; Fangmeister Carl wins extra brownie points for sending his own news item. "www.thefang.co.uk has now been updated with the latest photos and news of our performance (?) at Shakespeare County Raceway over the weekend. 'Teething troubles' with the new bike along with the heat caused a severe headache, but we will be back at Super Series 3."

Joon to miss Cannonball?
19th June: Dutch Top Methanol Funny Car racer Lex Joon may miss the Cannonball at Santa Pod on 1st-2nd July, because of growing travel costs. This would be a double blow for the popular racer since he loves to run at the Cannonball and the event is also the third (of four) round of the MSA Top Methanol Championship. You can get more details plus news of Lex's planned appearence at Drachten in mid-July on the Lex Joon Racing web site at www.eurodragster.com/lexjoonracing.

Beck: try me.
19th June: UK Pro Stock Bike rider Dave Beck, who set new ET and Terminal Speed records at the Easter Thunderball, wrote to us a while back to report that he has suffered the attention of doubters.

"It seems that certain European Pro Stock riders are saying that my bike is not legal for FIM, and therefore that my 7.46 would not count in their eyes", said Dave. "My bike is now and always has been within the rules, and if any of them would care to come and race at an ACU round, I would show them how legal it really is."

Weekend reports.
19th June: The Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se is carrying full details of the Bike Weekend at Västerås, one of the highlights of which was Anders Karling's new Swedish record of 4.42 over the eighth-mile on his Supertwin Top Fuel Bike.

Clemes Walleit has updated his web site at www.dragbike.de with results from this weekend's Super Street Bike race at Wittstock in Germany, which was won by Frank Hetscher. English-language visitors should hold their mouse over a button for a translation, but head to zum Rennplatz for the results.

Hallo Racefans, unter www.dragbike.de findet Ihr wieder einmal die aktuellen Rennergebnisse vom 18.06.00 aus Wittstock für die Super Street Bikes (hat sich einiges bewegt).

Our own limited reports and full photo coverage of Super Series 2 at Shakespeare County Raceway is available on our Race Coverage page. Eurodargster's full reporting service will be back in place for the Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway.

Web site updates.
19th June: The official web site of UK Fuel Funny Car team Shockwave Racing has moved to its own URL at www.funnycar.uk.com. The site has also been updated recently with new entries in the Photo Gallery, news and an update to the team run-down.

Super Series 2 coverage.
17th-18th June: This weekend's Super Series 2 race coverage from Shakespeare County Raceway will be limited since usual raceday reporter Tog cannot attend the race, which means that Sharkman is on his own. The plan is for qualifying and winner/runner-up details at the very least to be posted, and the usual end-of-day picture updates are planned for both days.

Click here to go to the Super Series 2 Raceday Update index.

Eurodragster's regular raceday coverage service will be back in place at the Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway.

Bike Weekend coverage.
17th-18th June: Meanwhile our good friends at Svensk Dragracing are covering the Bike Weekend eighth-mile event at Västerås in Sweden. For the latest from Västerås check out the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

Super Series 2 entry on-line.
16th June: The entry list for this weekend's Super Series 2 is now available on the Race Info page of the Super Series web site at www.eurodragster.com/superseries.

Web site updates.
16th June: Swedish Super Mod racer Freddy Fagerström's web site has been updated with news of some new sponsors, an updated calendar, results, and new photographs of everyone's favourite blown-alcohol pick-up. Check it out at www.swedishprostreetnews.com/Fast-freddy.

Web site updates.
15th June: The European Drag Racing Database has again been updated, with qualifying and elimination details from the AvD/HARA Grand National at Alteno in Germany, and the Deep Forest Nationals at Kubbe Raceway in Sweden. You can find the Database at www.eurodrag.com.

The King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com has been updated with the latest FIM Championship standings after the FIM round at Alastaro.

Custom Car Street Eliminator contender Allen Curtis has updated the No Manners Racing web site with a report on the team's progress at the Main Event, and a Guestbook so you can tell Allen how great the van looks. The No Manners Racing web site is at ourworld-top.cs.com/ACurtis9/street.htm.

The Super Series 2000 web site has had a facelift in time for Super Series 2 which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend. The Super Series site can be found at www.eurodragster.com/superseries.

Lantz happy with weekend...
14th June: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster pilot Peter Lantz had a very satisfactory weekend. As we reported on 8th June, Peter and Crew Chief Morgan Svensson were on Saturday acting as consultants to Anita Mäkelä who had the first of the new-design Lantz/Svensson injectors on her Top Fueller at Alastaro, and then on Sunday Peter was putting in demonstration passes for the SHRA in Malmö.

"The weekend turned out just fine", said Peter. "Anita won the race at Alastaro, and we made our two runs in Malmö on Sunday in forty five minutes turnround. Not bad! The new injector won on its debut, that's not bad either! The power was down a little on Anita's car; I think we will find it, but it was still enough to win the race and take the lead in the FIA Championship."

...and eyes TFT bonus.
14th June: We reported yesterday that Pelle Lindelöw had his eye on the special bonus offered by the Swedish Top Fuel Tour promoter to the first racer to run a Four. Pelle is not alone, as Peter Lantz has designs on the four-second run and the 25000 Kroner prize which goes with it.

"The bonus is a great idea by the promoters", said Peter. "Of course makes you try harder to run that first four!". 1999 Top Fuel Tour Champion, Peter is not resting on his laurels and in fact is already looking over his shoulder. "First and foremost it is about winning races", he said, "and it doesn't look any easier to do it this year. Jens Nybo, in Knut Soderqvist's car, will be very tough to beat. Knut has already shown that he's a great racer since we have more or less match raced a lot in the past, and we all know about Jens' skills. And this doesn't mean that Monica Öberg and Pelle Lindelö should be discounted; on the contrary, they are both as good as anybody".

Peter is looking forward to the 2000 Top Fuel Tour and is optimistic about the prospects. "There is no doubt that the Top Fuel Tour looks to be as good as last year, when it had the lowest ET in Europe at each round. I'm sure that someone will grab that bonus; the tracks at both Piteå and Tullinge can take a Four, no question about it. So if you are a Top Fuel fan, you know where to go this year - see you all there!"

The Top Fuel Tour starts at Pite Dragway on 14th-15th July; you can get full details on the official web site at www.topfueltour.com.

Jones thanks lucky stars, and others.
14th June: UK Super Pro ET racer Martyn (aka Sid) Jones is thanking his lucky stars that the Super Pro ET final did not take place at the Main Event. "We had destroyed the pinion in the semi-final - a fact of which we were blissfully unaware (the car had run an 8.01 on a 7.99 in the semi). Sometimes you don't know when you are getting the luck!", said Martyn. The car has been repaired in time for this weekend's Super Series 2 at Shakespeare County Raceway and Martyn is grateful to several of his colleagues for their help, not least because he is currently working in Amsterdam and has to commute to races in the UK. "I would like to thank the Talbots for supplying a spare set of gears, Hauser Racing for installing them, and my Crew Chief 'Crunch' for working his butt off in getting the car back together in time for Super Series 2", said Martyn.

Yesterday we revealed that Jon Webster is to take the seat of Pat Talbot's Super Pro dragster whilst Pat recovers from medical treatment, and Martyn send his best wishes to his fellow competitor. "It's always good to hear about a new driver in Super Pro, but it's sad when it's due to ill health of one of our own. Get well soon Pat!", he said.

And still more good wishes from Martyn, whom we suspect was the worse for wear after following up a news item we published from Robert Joosten on 2nd June, in which racers visiting Drachten or passing through on their way to Hockenheim were invited to stop by for a brew. "I would also like to thank Robert Joosten and all the guys at Ijmuiden for their hospitality when I visited them a week or so ago" said Martyn. "I got in touch with Robert after reading the article on Eurodragster, and I can vouch for the fact that visiting racers will be made more than welcome."

The view from the Top End.
14th June: Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers, who operate the timing at Santa Pod Raceway, for sharing with us a photo sequence showing the aftermath of Barry Sheavills' fuel line blockage which led to engine damage during qualifying at the Main Event. Andy happened to be in the shutdown area on business when Barry arrived, and had the presence of mind to pick up his camera and reel off a few shots, which you can see by clicking here.

Andy Marrs has also been updating his list of European bests, which we featured on 11th May. From his continued research, Andy has produced a table which is available by clicking here. If anyone has any corrections or amendments, Andy tells us that he would be pleased to hear from them at tsitimers@orange.net.

Web site updates.
14th June: The Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se has been updated with more great photographs from Alastaro (including a first look at the new Lantz/Svensson injector on Anita Mäkelä's Top Fueller) and the latest standings in the FIA Championships.

The Fantasy Drag Racing Competition site at www.fantasy-sports-web.com has been updated for the second time in a week. "It now contains the results and league table following the race at Alastaro in Finland", says contest organiser Ian Highfield. "Spencer Tramm and his Quantum Leap team do as their name implies, jumping to second place (but Ian, the word 'quantum' actually means 'very small' - hair-splitting Ed), and are only one point behind the current leader Andy Marrs of TSI Timers".

BJ has updated his fan site BJ's Drag Racing Pages with nearly 200 spectator-side photographs from the Main Event. "Check out the wave of wheelies from the Pro ET guys, and the nitrous burp in Roger Moore's Herald", says BJ. BJ's Drag Racing Pages can be found at www.jsjhisted.freeserve.co.uk.

ICE/McAmis partnership ends.
13th June: ICE Automotive have announced that their engine development work with Tim McAmis' Pro Mod operation in the USA is to cease. The decision was made by the McAmis team as a result of the rapidly-increasing performance gap between the nitrous- and blower-equipped IHRA Pro Mods. We interviewed ICE engine builder and tuner Rob Loaring last night; he gave us the lowdown on the McAmis situation, and had some very interesting things to say about the IHRA nitrous v blower debate. You can read our interview with Rob Loaring by clicking here.

SS2 organisers ask for pit help.
13th June: The organisers of this weekend's Super Series 2 at Shakespeare County Raceway have asked for racers' help to avoid congestion in the pits. APIRA have received more than two hundred and thirty entries and both they and Super Series organisers Obsession Motorsports are determined to give all racers their fair share of pit space - but this can only be achieved if everyone co-operates. "It's great to have such a huge entry for this weekend's race", says Tina Gibbs of Obsession Motorsports, "but we'd like to put out a plea from the heart for racers' help. We're asking all racers to pit sensibly, and to park spare vehicles out of the way. The aim is for everyone to be in the same area, pitted on the hard standing, rather than having to use the overflow pits".

If anyone would like to discuss pitting arrangements then they should contact either Obsession Motorsports on 01483 236262, or APIRA on 01986 788114.

Pelle: it's 502-metre runs from now on.
13th June: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Pelle Lindelöw is satisfied with his weekend's work at Alastaro. After a problem-plagued 1999 season, Pelle feels that the Red Line Oil-sponsored team have broken the back of their troubles and is much more confident about 2000.

"Our main goal was to find out if we were on the right track in our attempts to find out what caused all the problems last year" says Pelle. "The answer is YES! The new clutch, together with the change of oil and some other work we've done gave us a problem-free weekend with no hurt bearings or other motor parts at all. For the first time in years we could leave the track with the same motor having sat in the chassis throughout the race. Performance-wise there is still a lot to do, but we know now that we have a working combination, so we can start to sort things out instead of getting more exercise in changing engines (whatever happened to the pit-crew challenge? We've had a lot of training for that!).

The biggest problem for the Top Fuel cars in Alastaro was to finding enough traction, as the track couldn't hold all the power. It's tough when you want to run quick and you know that the car is capable of it, but you have to slow everything down so that you don't lose too much traction. Anyway, we are happy with the results of the weekend even if it's a bit frustrating to lose a race on the finishline (which Pelle did in round one of TF eliminations - Ed). But Barry lost the final against Anita in exactly the same way. Consequently I have decided that in future I will go an extra one hundred metres past the finish line under power so that I don't jeopardise victory again!

"Thanks to my dedicated team who never give up, and to Dan Soderberg for his assistance. We had some nice weather and we had some questions answered. I also want to say thanks to Red Line Oil for the excellent lubricants which they produce - the bearing producers in the States have lost one of their biggest customers..."

Pelle also has his eyes on a special bonus which has been announced for the Swedish Top Fuel Tour, which starts at Pite Dragway in mid-July. "The Top Fuel Tour promoters have promised the sum of 25,000 Swedish Kroner for the first 4 second run in the series", says Pelle. "Looking at the best ETs from last year's series, a four second run is not far away. We will definitely try hard to earn a little bit more, so watch out Monica, Peter and Jens!"

You can stay in touch with the latest from PG Racing on their web site at www.pgracing.nu.

Sheavills: success at last!
13th June: Fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills has posted his account of his weekend at Alastaro, in which he got to the final round, on the Press Release page of his web site at www.topfuel.co.uk.

You can get an idea of how happy Barry was with his weekend from his report's subtitle: Success at last!

Webster handles Pat's seat.
13th June: UK Super Pro ET and Pro ET team Talbot Racing have announced an enforced driver change in their Super Pro ET dragster. The e-manumit.com-sponsored team suffered what they described as a "liquefied" torque convertor at the Main Event, and having had that fixed have now had to draft a new driver. Pat and Stephen take up the story:

"It was quite a shock missing the first round of eliminations at the Main Event, due to breakages. In fact, it's the first round we've missed in nearly three years of racing!

"However we received a bigger blow last week when we found out that Pat is not going to be able to drive the dragster for about three months. She is undergoing medical treatment and won't even be able to drive a road car for at least six weeks.

"However the good news is that we have recruited a new driver for the car. Jon Webster has been kind enough to volunteer for the job, and with the kind permission of Brian Burrows, who let us run at the GTI Festival at Santa Pod, he gained his Super Pro licence on Sunday. Jon ran a best of 7.61 on Sunday and is happy to run the car for the rest of the year if necessary. This may be a relief to his Super Gas and Super Comp competitors out there, but the jury is out on whether he will run his roadster at some events later in the year.

"Jon makes his first competitive outing this weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. Both Pat and I are happy to welcome him onto the team. Ray Eldred will be driving the Celica in Pro ET, so we can say that it's all swap round in the team this weekend!

"Our thanks go out to Al O'Connor and Hauser Race Cars for the quick turn-round on our broken parts, which enabled us to run last Sunday."

Our best wishes to Pat for a speedy recovery.

Danish Drag Weekend stats...
13th June: European Drag Racing Database webmaster Tommy Nilsson has updated his web site with qualifying and elimination stats from the Danish Drag Weekend at Vandel last weekend.

"The Danish race season got off to an electrifying start when two severe thunderstorms passed Vandel Dragway during Saturday", says Tommy. "Multiple lightning strikes knocked out the power supply and it took until three o'clock before power was restored and the track dried. The event was round two of the Nordic Pro Street Cup and thirteen car and bike classes were invited. Three rounds of qualifying for all classes were completed in just five hours.

"Sunday saw much better weather and some really close racing during eliminations. The traction got better and better, and Kim Reymond recorded a new track record of 6.25/370 kph on a demonstration pass in his Top Methanol Dragster. "The European Drag Racing Database now has all qualifying lists and elimination rounds in the usual immaculate format". Well, that's exactly what we would have said Tommy! The Database can be found at www.eurodrag.com.

...and pictures.
13th June: Swedish Pro Street News magazine webmaster Hasse has posted some pictures from Vandel on his web site. You can get directly to the Hasse's picture gallery at www.swedishprostreetnews.com/foto.htm.

Alastaro FIM results.
13th June: Monique Pels has posted on her web site Supertwin Top Fuel qualifying and elimination details from last weekend's FIM round at Alastaro, together with the current standings in the FIM STTF Championship. The race details can be found at home.wxs.nl/~monique_pels/RES2000RND2.HTML and the Championship standings at home.wxs.nl/~monique_pels/2000STANDINGS.HTML.

Alastaro results.
12th June: Anita Mäkelä, Jarmo Roivas, Leif Andreasson and Niclas Andersson were your FIA-class winners, and Stefan Junerud and Roger Petterson your FIM-class winners, at Alastaro over the weekend. Couple this with an astounding run by Anders Karling on his Supertwin TF Bike, another six from Michael Malmgren, some huge speeds from Micke Kågered, and the usual close-fought racing in the Nordic Drag Racing Series, and you've got a great race, very well (and rapidly) reported by our good friends at Svensk Dragracing. Check out the report and pictures on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

Top Methanol updates are also available the ETMRA web site at www.etmra.com.

Reports from Vandel.
12th June: Hasse, the webmaster of the Swedish Pro Street News Magazine, spent the weekend posting updates from the weekend's Danish Drag Weekend at Vandel in Denmark. Check out Hasse's reports at www.swedishprostreetnews.com.

Wayne and Helen star on IoM.
12th June: Wayne Bradley and Helen Curran took a starring role at the recent sprint festival on the Isle of Man. Wayne ran a best of 6.45 at 117 mph on what we guess was an eighth-mile track; Helen ran the best time by a female racer of 6.80 at 114 mph, and this with an injured hand. Congratulations to Wayne and Helen.

You can find more details of this event on the Pit Lane Gossip page of the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com.

Web site updates.
12th June: The official web site of UK Fuel FC team Showtime racing has been updated with Crew Chief Bob Jarrett's thoughts on next month's Cannonball, and new details on the Technical Specifications page. Check out the SRUK web site at www.showtimeracing.co.uk.

Timing data from the Main Event, courtesy of our buddies at TSI Timers, is now available on Tony B's web site at www.eurodragster.com/tonyb.

Web site updates.
11th June: Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has updated his web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a detailed report and pictures from the Main Event. Included in the pictures is a great photo sequence of Anita Mäkelä's engine going away in the Top Fuel final, and whatever you do don't miss the story about the Pro Mod team checking a new seat harness; it has all the makings of the story of the year. Sharkman's site can be found at www.btinternet.com/~sharkman.

The Fantasy Drag Racing contest wen site has been updated with provisional standings after the Main Event. Our web colleague Gareth Evans of UK1320 leads the field at present although it's a close thing. Check out the standings at www.fantasy-sports-web.com.

Snow White gets a nose job.
10th June: We've had some great news from UK Super Gas racer Roger Butterworth, who hit the guardrail in his "Snow White" Chevy at Shakespeare County Raceway last Sunday.

"The good news is that Snow White is in better shape than first thought", says Roger. "The main damage is the two acres of fiberglass (the nose), some side and rear panel damage and a load of original '57 Chevy trim pieces. All the trim parts are easily obtained along with original steering and suspension components which will be replaced as a safety measure. With the help of my crew - what would we do without them - we should be back racing in just over the month.

"I would again like to thank the gang at F.A.S.T. for the professional way the incident was handled, the Doctor and Paramedics for the check over, and the S.C.R. track crew for the concern shown. I would also like to thank the many people who came by the pit to express concern for myself and the car, it's just amazing how many nice people there are out there."

Embacher prepares for Cannonball.
10th June: Swiss Top Methanol FC racer Urs Embacher has his sights set on the Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway in July. "After some work on his Funny Car, Urs is now ready to test all the parts that he had updated and checked for proper function in the USA", says webmaster Horst Pauli. "He is looking forward to running in England!".

You can get all the latest news from the Hawaiian Tropic TMFC operation on Urs' updated and newly-URL'ed web site at www.hawaiian.ch.

Lantz cuts a dash.
8th June: Swedish Top Fuel Tour Champion Peter Lantz faces a busy weekend with Top Fuel commitments to fill in two countries. Anita Mäkelä has purchased a Lantz/Svensson injector and clutch system for her Top Fuel Dragster, and has hired Peter and his Crew Chief Morgan Svensson as consultants for this weekend's FIA round at Alastaro. But the story doesn't end there.

"I'm flying to Finland today, and Morgan is coming over tomorrow", said Peter. "We will be giving Anita all the help we can. Meanwhile back at home the rest of my crew are doing the final work on my own Top Fueller. I have to fly back home Saturday night to join my crew and drive down to the south of Sweden to appear in a display with SHRA Malmö. We will be making two demonstration runs on an airfield as part of a show for a large IT Company. So my weekend will be busy!"

Nice work if you can get it, we say. You can keep in touch with the latest from the Lantz camp on the PLR Motorsports web site at www.plr.nu.

TFC Promotions: thanks!
8th June: Sarah Reed of TFC Promotions has written about Tony Betts' successful appearance at last week's Main Event in the Jungle.com-sponsored Fuel Funny Car.

"The guys from T.F.C. Racing and Promotions would like to thank everybody who helped us before and at the Main Event", says Sarah. "All the guys - Steve, Kevin, Dave and Nicky - worked very hard and into the night and gave up their hard-earned free time to be successful over the weekend. Neil Taylor was an inspiration to all the team and always eager to improve the car no matter how long it took and how much sleep was lost. Tony Betts was as calm as anybody could be and made it all seem like a ride in the park, this was possibly due to Elaine's Cafe.

"Gordon Smith and all the guys from the Shockwave racing team were always there with advice and hands-on help, they are a credit to the sport and to their sponsors. The paintwork on the car looked fantastic; many, many thanks to Ian Plumb, Custom Art for all his hard work (he can be contacted on 01708 442015).

"Special thanks to Teng Tools the symbol of power, GTA Oils, and Pro-Blend Motor Sports Products for all their support at such short notice, may the good times roll.

"A personal thanks to my good old buddy Smax.

"And Tony says thanks to his mum and dad for having him."

More points standings.
8th June: Further to yesterday's news item about points standings, Custom Car Street Eliminator contender Ian Hook has written to let us know that his FB Racing web site will be carrying the latest CCSE points standings thoroughout this season. You can get directly to the CCSE points at www.fbracing.btinternet.co.uk/points_standings_2000.htm, and we have added a link to these in our own Points Standings page. Thanks, Ian.

Another Ian in points action is ACU Championship co-ordinator Ian King, who has followed up yesterday's FIM points standings by posting the latest ACU Super Street Bike standings on his web site at www.kingracing.com.

Web site updates.
8th June: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Monica Öberg has launched a new web site at mracing.just.nu. The Swedish-language site contains everything you need to know about Monica Oberg Racing including a driver biography, team run-down, photo gallery, sponsor page, race calendar, guest book and much more.

Detailed timing data from the first round of the FIA Top Methanol Championships is now available on the European Top Methanol Racers Association web site at www.etmra.com. Dave Alexander, the ETMRA webmaster, is off to Alastaro for this weekend's second round of the Championship, and will attempt to update the web site as the weekend progresses.

Gary and Phil Cottingham have updated their fan site with a Main Event report. Check it out at www.dragracing.atfreeweb.com.

Veggie Dave has updated his web site with detailed reports of the first two rounds of the Straightliners UK bike series, which took place at York Dragway and Shakespeare County Raceway. Dave promises reports on the next rounds very soon. You can find Dave's reports at www.bikehouse.demon.co.uk/racing/results.htm.

CBD owner credits driver, cuts Nitro.
7th June: Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team owner Knut Soderqvist has credited driver Alan Jackson with the team's victory at last week's Main Event. AJ got a holeshot over Anita Mäkelä only for the tyres to go up in smoke at 330 feet. A great pedalling job got AJ back on track and he took the win.

"Alan's calibre as an innovator and engine builder is well-known" said Knut, "but at Santa Pod last weekend he proved his skill as one of the best drivers in Europe. It is one thing to drive a car when everything goes OK, but another thing when you have problems, and that is where you see the difference in drivers. That was one of the best pedalling jobs I've seen in twenty five years of owning Nitro cars. It was hard to find anyone to succeed Harlan Thompson, but Alan proved that he is the man. I don't usually usually say 'That was good driving' but I did this time!"

Knut revealed the contents of his pre-race talk to AJ. "We thought that the car may go up in smoke", said Knut, "we were not able to do anything about it at the race. Alan said 'What do you want me to do?', and I replied 'What do you think? I want you to win!'". AJ exclusively revealed to us his answer: "OK".

Knut was also quick to heap praise on the CBD crew. "They all worked so hard", said Knut. "We had Bill Schultz from the USA overseeing the operation, John Wright our fuel and clutch management specialist, Franco Pace from Malta, Mark and David on the clutch, and Robert who flew all the way from Aberdeen. They all did a great job".

The CBD Top Fueller was running on ninety per cent nitro, which is the maximum allowed in NHRA competition in the USA. No such rule yet exists in Europe, but a number of Fuel teams are already following the new standard voluntarily. "We decided early in the season that we had to run the car as they are in the USA this year", said Knut. "It has made a big difference in the amount of engine damage. Our car ran very well on ninety per cent except for the tyre shake, but we think that we have found the problem there. Whatever our competitors do this year, we will continue to run ninety per cent as we think that it's the only way to go in a low-budget European team".

Nybo to contend Swedish TF Tour.
7th June: Knut Soderqvist has also announced that the Carbon By Design Top Fueller is to run in this year's Swedish Top Fuel Tour, with Danish driver Jens Nybo at the wheel. Jens retired from regular Top Fuel competition in 1998, although he made one appearance last year at the FIA European Finals, piloting the US Autos Top Fueller. This year he will be competing against 1999 TFT Champion Peter Lantz, Monica Öberg and Pelle Lindelöw on the series which starts in Piteå on 14th-16th July and goes on to Stockholm on 4th-6th August and Landskrona on 25th-27th August.

"This doesn't mean that Alan Jackson and I have split up", says Knut. "He will be Crew Chief on the Top Fuel Tour. This is a separate deal with Jens for the Swedish races.".

For full details of the Swedish Top Fuel Tour, check out the official TFT web site at www.topfueltour.com.

Points standings.
7th June: The latest points standings are beginning to come through after last week's Main Event. Thanks to Spencer Tramm for providing us with the latest standings in the Santa Pod Racers Club Championships, which you can find on our Points Standings page. Spencer tells us that the latest standings in the UK National Championships are currently being ratified by SPRC and APIRA and will be available soon.

The latest FIM Drag Bike Championship standings are now available on the FIM Championship page on the King Racing web site.

Finally our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have posted the FIA Championship standings on their web site at www.dragracing.se.

Weekend race coverage.
6th June: The Svensk Dragracing web site is still carrying last weekend's live updates from the Deep Forest Nationals at the new Kubbe Raceway. The updates are extensive and make great reading; nice work guys. Our buddies at Svensk Dragracing are now limbering up for a busy weekend reporting from this weekend's FIA round at Alastaro in Finland.

For our own part, we have posted a large number of photographs from last weekend's Mopar Euronationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can get to the pictures via our Race Coverage page.

We are pleased to report that Roger Butterworth was completely unhurt after a top end collision with the guardrail in his beautiful "Snow White" Super Gasser at SCR on Sunday. The car is, alas, not quite so uninjured. Hope to see you back on the track soon, Roger.

Main Event reports.
6th June: A number of racers have now posted Main Event reports on their web sites.

First up is Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills, whose Main Event report is on the Press Release page of his web site at www.topfuel.co.uk.

Swedish TMFC racer Leif Andreasson's web site contains both the race weekend's on-site updates and a post-race report, which can be accessed directly from Leif's Home Page at www.andreassonmotorsports.com.

UK TMD and Junior Dragster team Shell Racing have posted a brief Main Event report on the News page of their web site at www.eurodragster.com/shellracing. Also posted is the news that Doug Bond gets into the Fives this weekend - check out the News page and you'll see what we mean. Congratulations Doug.

FIA European TMFC Champion Micke Kågered has posted qualifying and elimination details plus a team report on his web site at www.kagered-racing.com.

In the absence of a team web site Eric Shallenberger, a member of the crew of Jarmo Roivas' Top Methanol Dragster, sent us his opinions on the team's experiences at the 2000 Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, at which they did not qualify. Click here to read Eric's comments, and let him know what you think at eric.shallenberger@iobox.fi.

Custom Car Street Eliminator contestant Ian Hook has posted a highly entertaining Main Event report in the Custom Car Street Eliminator (duh) section of his FB Racing web site at www.fbracing.co.uk. The FB Racing site also includes the current points standings in the CCSE series.

Web site updates.
6th June: Eurodragster staffer Tog has updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with a number of pictures from the FIA Main Event. You can find TDRP at www.togsdragracing.com.

The UK1320 web site at www.uk1320.com has also been updated with a large number of excellent pictures from the Main Event.

Chris Hampson's funeral (updated).
5th June: Chris Hampson's funeral has been arranged for 3:30 pm this Friday, 9th June, at Stafford Crematorium.

If you wish to send a floral tribute then you can contact the Funeral Directors on 01538 752164, or from outside the UK +44 1538 752164.

Please contact Ian King on admin@kingracing.com if you need any more details, or visit the King Racing web site.

Deuchar considers future.
2nd June: UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Lindsay Deuchar is considering his racing future after suffering severe engine damage at the Main Event on Monday. In the Main Event report on his web site, Lindsay tells of getting back to the pits after yet another PB and finding the remains of four cylinders in the diaper. This would, unfortunately, appear to be the final straw for the entirely self-financed racer just as he was getting into the fives and taking out some big names in eliminations.

If anyone out there is looking to sponsor a race team then check out Lindsay's web site at www.laracing.co.uk and drop him a line if you can help.

Joon's Main Event.
2nd June: Another racer to post a run-by-run account of his Main Event is Dutch Top Methanol FC racer Lex Joon. For this and news of Lex's latest promotional stunt, check out his web site at www.eurodragster.com/lexjoonracing.

Svensk Dragracing sign with McKinney.
2nd June: The Svensk Dragracing web site has been updated with the very welcome news that a contingency sponsorship deal has been signed with McKinney Corp, covering both the Nordic Drag Racing Series and the FIA European Championships. McKinney Corp were involved in the NDRS last year, but this year have widened their coverage.

For full details check out the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

Quick Times on-line.
2nd June: Quick Times Racing News, the official newsletter of the Avon Park International Racers Association, is now available on-line as well as on paper. You can read the first on-line edition at avonquicktimes.tripod.com. QTRN's Editor Ozzy, who has recently taken over the Editorship from APIRA's Press Officer Jerry Cookson, would be pleased to hear from anyone with any comments on the format of the newsletter. We've had a look and we love it, take a look and see what you think.

Weekend race coverage.
2nd June: The Web is offering on-line coverage of two races in Sweden this weekend. First up is the Deep Forest Nationals at Kubbe Raceway, the first round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series, which will be covered by our good friends at Svensk Dragracing.

There is also the Bilsport South Nats at Feringe Dragway, which will be covered by our buddy Hasse on the Swedish Pro Street News Magazine web site. Hasse tells us that the live updates will be Swedish-language, with a round-up in English at the end of the day. More details on the Bilsport South Nats from the Nordic Pro Street Cup web site.

Bad Nova: come up and see me.
2nd June: Robert Joosten writes with news of an update to the web site of Holland's Bad Nova Super Gas team.

But Robert also adds the following invitation which racers will doubtless find very welcome. "I hope that some racers from England will be coming to the Dragten Nationals (certainly a bunch of Super Street Bike racers are going, Robert - Ed). I hope to race some of them! If I can help any racer in any way, please let me know. And for those racers who are going to Hockenheim, if they need a stop to have some cold beers then let me know - I can take care of that!"

There you go, guys, you've been invited. You can contact Robert on cougar@cistron.nl.

7th Mopar Euronationals.
1st June: This weekend sees the seventh annual Mopar Euronationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. The event, organised by the Mopar Muscle Association, is one of the biggest on the American muscle car circuit, attracting enthusiasts from all over Europe.

The Mopar Euronationals has everything: racing, Run What You Brung, exhibitions, Show and Shine, market, cruise, a legendary burnout competition and much more. This year sees the first ever running of the "King of Street" event for street and modified cars, and a round of the Classic American Magazine-sponsored Car Of The Year. The winner on the strip last year was France's Laurence Arnaud who drove his street-legal 1970 Dodge Challenger to a best of 9.9 seconds at over 140 mph.

The Supercharged Outlaws and the Wild Bunch will also be out on the strip contributing their own unique brand of drag racing action.

The event starts tomorrow, with the track open for race and RWYB action on Saturday and Sunday. For more details on the Mopar Euronationals including ticket prices and a map, check out the Mopar Muscle Association web site.

Nemesis: what (never) happened.
1st June: The official web site of UK Top Methanol Dragster team Nemesis Racing has been updated with the story behind the team's DNQ at last weekend's Main Event. The report makes interesting reading and the team are to be congratulated on the lack of excuses or spin in their account. Check it out on the News page at www.eurodragster.com/nemesisracing.

That Six: see for yourself...
1st June: Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has placed on his personal web site a video clip of Michael Malmgren's historic 6.990 in the Monday's Pro Stock final. As Sharkman himself points out, the video is likely to surface in all sorts of places on the Web, but to see it in its natural habitat check out the 2000 Race Reports drop-down menu on Sharkman's Top End Tales at www.btinternet.com/~sharkman.

...or go to Le Mans.
1st June: If you are going to Le Mans then keep an eye out for Michael Malmgren's Pro Stocker as it will be on display at the track. If you go to Le Mans and you encounter Michael, the team or the car then be sure to send pictures or a report to us at news@eurodragster.com and we'll post it here.

More tributes to Chris Hampson.
31st May: The King Racing web site is now carrying several tributes to Chris Hampson, sent in by racers and fans alike, including a moving tribute from Chris' Team Owner Phil Baimbridge. Ian King is posting the tributes as he receives them; you can either send a message via the Click here to send us your gossip link on the web site, or by e-mail to ian@kingracing.com. Ian has also posted an address to which sympathy cards and other messages of condolence can be sent.

Both dragbike.com and stripbike.com are also carrying tributes to Chris.

Malmgren's gratitude.
31st May: Chris Hampson's death naturally totally overshadowed the FIA Main Event, but in as much as the race could have had highlights, one was Europe's first ever six-second run in Pro Stock, by Michael Malmgren in the final round. Michael and Jari Konola had been swapping the European ET record all day, with Michael stamping his name all over the record books at the end with a fantastic 6.990 pass.

Crew member Magnus Cato writes in appreciation of Malmgren Racing's reception after their feat. "Our team just want to say how much we appreciated all the cheering and the congratulations we received from the spectators and everyone in the pits. The feeling when we towed back the car through the pit was just amazing and made the work a lot easier."

We at Eurodragster were in a win-win situation since both Michael and Jari's cars were carrying the new Eurodragster stickers. "That sticker will never come off", says Magnus. Well, of course not!

A big thank you from Eurodragster to Michael, Jari and all of the other racers in various classes who have so readily agreed to carry our stickers. It's very much appreciated and we hope that they turn out to be as lucky for all of you as they appear to have been for Michael. If you don't yet have Eurodragster stickers and want some then don't worry, we'll be bugging you at the next race!

Web site updates.
31st May: The official web site of UK Fuel Funny Car team Showtime Racing has been updated with a report on the weekend's events, which culminated in a new European best of 5.39 seconds on Monday. You can find the SRUK web site at www.showtimeracing.co.uk.

The TFUK web site at www.top-fuel.co.uk has had a facelift. The site still contains all of the features from the previous version such as an engine tour, class run-down and race dates and has a few new features still under construction.

Chris Hampson.

30th May: Eurodragster is deeply saddened to have to report that UK Top Fuel Bike racer Chris Hampson (right, at the Thunderball) died after a top end crash at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday.

We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to Chris' family, friends and team.

Fellow Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King has posted a fine tribute on the King Racing web site. Ian has promised to post details of funeral arrangements when they become available.

A Tribute.
30th May: Our good friend, Drag Racing journalist and photographer Roger Gorringe has kindly sent us a tribute to Chris Hampson, which you can read by clicking here.

Earlier news

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