Bug Jam, Mopars deadlines approaching.
30th June: Many thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us a reminder that the closing entry date for Motorsport UK classes competing at the upcoming Bug Jam (23rd-25th July) is this Friday, 2nd July and that for the Mopar Euronationals (30th July-1st August) is 9th July. As usual a surcharge may apply to entries after the closing date.

Entry forms can be found at this link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site.

Dragstalgia preview.
30th June: Dragstalgia 10 takes place at Santa Pod Raceway from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th July 2021.

Like the 32nd Olympic Games, the 10th Dragstalgia should have been a highlight of 2020’s sporting summer. While uncertainties yet hover over the Tokyo bash, the grand Santa Pod celebration of sixty years of British drag racing will now illuminate summer 2021 before an enthusiastic audience, albeit one still limited in accord with the Government’s ongoing pandemic protocols.

After Covid stymied 2020’s planned international participation, it will be a very British affair. Dragstalgia 10 is a vintage lifestyle weekend devoted to race cars, bikes and hot rods from a bygone era, and all the retro favourites will be here.

Nitro and methanol ‘Nostalgia’ Funny Cars and Fuel Altereds will battle for bragging rights in the popular ‘Cannonball’ format with fast Front-Engined Dragsters. Outlaw Anglias, the Gasser Circus, the Wild Bunch (Nostalgia dragsters and altereds), Supercharged Outlaws, Nostalgia Superstockers and the Willys Wars (who would have imagined so many examples of the 1940s American brand would be extant in 21st Century Britain?) will keep the track busy all weekend.

On two wheels, there will be historic Pro Stock Bikes, while the National Sprint Association’s entry list showcases some of the motorcycles that set records and scorched the dragstrip decades ago.

And if further illumination is needed, the FireForce 3 Jet Funny Car will be on hand to light up, and smoke out, the track. In keeping with the old-time flavour, Showmanship Trophies will reward such achievements as Best Appearing Car and Team, Best Burnout, Best Wheelstand, and Best Backup Girl or Guy.

Off-track displays include Autoglym’s Show & Shine and the National Street Rod Association’s ‘Blast From The Past’, while Hottie’s Vintage Village fills the Vintage Fair marquee with all manner of retro delectables. Along with club displays, there are the usual funfair rides, traders, bars and catering to keep the whole family occupied, fed, refreshed and entertained all weekend long.

Dragstalgia’s 10 th anniversary celebration takes place from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th July 2021 at Santa Pod Raceway, near Wellingborough (NN29 7XA). Ticket prices start at £25, and £5 for children aged 5-15, and must be booked in advance at www.santapodtickets.com or by telephoning the Box Office at 01234 782828. There will be no admission on the gate. Full event details are available online at www.santapod.co.uk/dragstalgia.php.

Dragstalgia spectator tickets will sell out, so booking now is recommended to avoid disappointment.

Dan Melrose, newly appointed Santa Pod Raceway events coordinator, added "Ahead of Dragstalgia, the decision has been made to merge the Slingshot Showdown into the Nostalgia Cannonball class to create a bumper field of pro cars for the event. As many will understand, the current Covid situation has prevented many of our regular European competitors from racing at Santa Pod, and thus the decision was made to create one class to provide a better spectacle for competitors and fans alike. It’s a new format for the Slingshot drivers to get to grips with, but we know they’ll be gunning for the regular drivers of altereds and funny cars who will also be competing for Cannonball glory over Dragstalgia weekend".

You can see the updated entry list on the Santa Pod Raceway web site at this link, and a limited number of tickets are still available at santapodtickets.com.

Editor's note: as part of Eurodragster.com's coverage of Dragstalgia 10, we will publish lists of debuts and those who have attended the most races in the event's history.

Mike Collins' Anniversary Blues.
30th June: Many thanks to former Santa Pod announcer and photojournalist Mike Collins who has resurrected a piece he had first published by American Autoparts in Retro Ramblin’s in 2011. The main subject is the first Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway and also other memories from that year, including the induction of Harlan Thompson into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, and the anniversary of the first all-UK Top Fuel Dragster match race back in 1968.


As always with Mike's articles, he covers a tremendous range of subject matter and is not shy in offering his opinion on aspects of the sport, such as cacklefests and media accreditation. We emphasise his views are personal to him.

Mike's presentation of Anniversary Blues (3.5 Mb pdf) can be seen by clicking here or on the pictures above.

Festival of Power photo roundup.
30th June: In addition to our galleries from the Festival of Power other photographers have been hard at work publishing their work:

Our good friend and occasional contributor Callum Pudge has published 464 photos to his Pudgeys Pictures Facebook page. Callum said "Although the extended restrictions limited the amount of spectators, it was still really nice to see so many people on the bank! A really nice atmosphere and some exciting racing". (Pictured: Antti Horto launching at the Festival of Power, © Callum Pudge).

Photographer Alice Fairhead, daughter of VW Pro racer Graham Fairhead, has also published a large gallery at at her Facebook page AF Photography. Alice says "I was trackside Friday covering for Ian Blackett which was my first time trackside for Top Fuel and my dad Graham ran a new PB in VW Pro, so it was a good weekend for me".

Also posting photos to a Facebook page is Brian Slater, a fan from the stands and bank since 1974.

Web site updates.
30th June: Video interviews recorded in early June with two of the racers who were to become winners from the Festival of Power (Funny Car winner Andy Raw and Pro Modified victor Kev Slyfield) have been released on the Motor Mouth channel from Santa Pod Raceway. Well worth a watch.

Photojournalist Steve Moxley's report on ACU drag bikes at the Springspeed Nationals has been published on the Eat My Ink website which you can read by clicking on the link.

Clastres report and media.
30th June: The French drag racing organising body Association Trophee Dragster, under its leader Eric Angeloni, ran its 14th European Dragster competition at Clastres Raceway on 19th-20th June. Results can be seen at the ATD's new web site and points standings are at this link.

Billy Gane was the winner in a 20 strong Super Pro ET field. After qualifying 6th with a 8.507/261.02kph on a 8.49 dial in, he defeated Patrick Dubois's GTO in round one, Laurent Arnaud's Corvette in round two and then had a bye to the semi final where he came up against and defeated Olivier Coulon's supercharged 2nd generation Camaro. Fabien Dubois in his dragster was unable to make the call for the final allowing Billy to take the trophy on a single.

Many photos from the event have been posted which we list below: Altered racer Clarissa Czekalla also posted to the ATD page, you can see her photos by doing a search on the page. (Picture of Billy and team © Lisa Bahr photography)

Lucas Oil Cannon Motorsports wins.
29th June: Many thanks to team manager Chris 'Cannon' Hannam for sending us the Lucas Oil Cannon Motorsports team's account of their race last weekend with Neil Midgley riding:

"Wow, what a weekend that was!" said Chris, "Having just taken stock of what we have actually just done, I am so proud of our super team as the Lucas Oil Cannon Motorsports bike WON the event.

Our unique DOHC top fuel nitro twin made five strong straight passes during the weekend, qualified up top at number 1 with a new personal best of 6.28 which included world class 1/8 mile numbers. The weekend was topped off by winning the ACU UK Top Fuel Bike class at The Festival of Power held at Santa Pod Raceway in the UK."

The team had a reasonably trouble-free weekend with only one small tuning glitch which resulted in piston and valve damage. This was remedied and the bike was all set and ready for the first round of eliminations on the Sunday. The team had a solo run in the semi-finals and after looking at the data, team manager Chris Hannam made the call to stay safe and only stage the bike to save the motor from any potential damage.

Chris continued "We were ready for the final to run hard and fast and destroy another cylinder if it meant we could get the win. Unfortunately Al Smith who did a great job in beating Steve Woollatt suffered more technical problems and we were left to run the final on our own. We really did not know what to expect, but ran a fine but lazy 6.46 at 202 mph.

On checking the data we had taken too much fuel away, the engine is still brand new and we now have data to tune from. We know we are getting close to perfect as the bearings now only need changing once a day and the Lucas oil is like new coming out. The best news is we are now seven hard and fast runs in on the new primary drive setup so I'm hopeful our troubles on that front are now behind us. We now have a plethora of data to work with to go fast, the bike will now be stripped and serviced for the third round of the ACU UK Top Fuel Bike championship, the STP Summer Nationals at Santa Pod on July 17-18.

One very notable point was the outstanding track the Santa Pod crew gave all of the teams and they really have this off to a fine art so thanks guys. Thanks also to Keith Bartlett for keeping alive the dream of not only a world class track, but the plans for the future are impressive, so support Santa Pod Raceway where you can.

Thanks also go to the entire super team for getting the job done and of course to Neil for a fantastic riding job as always.

This win also means that the Lucas Oil Cannon Motorsports team keeps and extends the lead in the 2021 ACU Top Fuel Bike championship. All this is made much easier by our sponsors Lucas Oil, Cannon Engineering, MRE, and Pär PiPPi Willén."

The Lucas Oil Cannon Motorsports 2021 event schedule looking forward:

Sat 17th - Sun 18th July: The STP Summer Nationals
Thu 9th - Sun 12th September: The FIA/FIM European Finals
Sat 25th - Sun 26th September: The STP National Finals

JT's t-shirt bounty.
29th June: Many thanks to Motorsport UK Pro Mod and Super Pro ET racer John Tebenham for sending us a report of his two race cars, and a fundraising effort at the Festival of Power.

Thanks for all those who bought t-shirts to raise funds for Dave Rowlands' charity. On another note, we turned up all ready and keen to race, however the Pop didn’t drive properly and Richard Walters came and helped us (what a great guy) with the gearbox.

Then we ran the Corvette but had bearing problems. We ran 3 x 9.05-ish times with the Pop, was really pissed and even going to change class, and then Mars bar (Paul Marston) sussed the engine needs heat. Wow - 8.888. We then ran 4 x 8s with our great ICE engine it just loves heat, and gained heat two tenths. It was strange, I still really don’t understand why.

Next time hopefully we can bring more. Sorry about Elaine Hancock as, wow, she’s great trying to beat my burnouts. But she will be back. At the end of the day, we just didn’t bring enough.

Relentless FoP for Ben.
29th June: Many thanks to Outlaw Anglia racer Ben Kennedy who has sent us a report on how he fared after his top end incident on Saturday at the Festival of Power:

On Saturday afternoon, our second run of the day started as planned but certainly didn't finish as well. We tuned the car up more than it has been so far with our new set up, and around the 1000ft I see what I thought was smoke come up from the front of the engine I let off and looking at the data I had let off in 0.05s after the pressure loss

. With that, I no longer had control. I tried to hold it and press the brakes but at that point I was now a passenger. I remember a hard right and hitting the wall but, believe it or not, I didn't feel a thing from then, and I don't remember much either.

The top end track crew said that I had hit the wall three times and gone up on the two left side wheels, with just luck, the rims didn't touch the track and the car come back down on to all four wheels. I got straight out of the car, checked it over and taken off to the medical centre.

After I was released it was a waiting game, the Motorsport UK guys scrutineered the car and then called and said she was ready for release. We got back to the pits with the help of my crew, passers-by and the Outlaw Anglias.


So why?! It looks like the pressure got too much and burst open the radiator tank. Water went up, then straight under the wheels and as any racer will know, you are just along for the ride after that.

Myself and my crew Katie would like to say a massive thank you to all the crew and medics at Santapod for keeping me safe, the Outlaw Anglias for all your your support and being such a great class/family to be part of, and the fans for all your donations and words of support. It really has taken me aback that so many people care and want to help wherever possible and to Eurodragster for allowing me to post (Editor: you're welcome, any time). We will be back, the plan is for Dragstalgia, we will see, but the crash has finally helped me name the car. So thank you all again from OA115 - RELENTLESS.

Warpspeed Racing at FoP.
29th June: Funny Bike racer Stuart Crane of Warpspeed Racing has posted a report on his Festival of Power outing, which produced a win and both ends of the ACU Funny Bike record:

We went testing on the Thursday and had a few issues (head gasket) so changed a few thing's to resolve some issues. Then in qualifying we were rewarded with a 6.49 @ 205 mph which also reset the ACU ET record and speed record and really proves how strong this combination really is.

We are still really on a soft tune up, I know this all sounds stereotypical but I can honestly say it is there is room for more for sure. We then ran three 6.50's in a row to prove the reliability of the combination and used the opportunity to change my riding style to compliment the combination. With qualifying number 1 in the USA at the XDA and winning that meeting and then qualifying number 1 and winning this meeting, the Warpspeed engine combination is definitively proven!


I am currently taking order's from all round the world for these engines now and getting enquiries almost all the time, so I'd say that's mission completed. There are a lot of people involved in this team including sponsors that make this all possible. My two main crew guy's that wait on me hand and foot for days and days, Dan Wagner for just being the baddest man on the planet when it comes to tuning a bike and Steve Nichols for just being the best guy for tuning help also.

Thanks to Owens Developments for jumping on board and sponsoring us also Hel Performance for great products. Thanks to Maxx ECU also for a great product and great service. Leek's Landscapes also put up the contingency money so thank you for sponsoring the class . If there are any other sponsors looking for an opportunity to be apart of a world class team please get in contact we can arrange any opportunity big or small, See you all at the next round.

Kauhava cancelled.
29th June: We are sad to report that due to a complaint about Kauhava's environmental permit, the Finnish Hot Rod Association have had to cancel the Finnish Championships at LSK Business Park, Kauhava on July 8-10, 2021, incorporating round 2 of the Fueltech Nitrobike Showdown.

LSK Business Park will not receive an event-specific permit on this schedule. The fate of the other Kauhava events this summer will be clarified on July 5, 2021, when the decision by the administrative court where the relevant party has filed the complaint will be published.

Motopark’s August event will still be held in the same way as their earlier rounds. Competition fees for those who have already registered for the Kauhava competition will be refunded as soon as possible.

Summer Nationals entry deadline extended.
28th June: Many thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for announcing an extension to the entry deadline for the STP Summer Nationals on 17th-18th July 2021.

There are quite a few racers who have missed the Summer Nationals entry deadline, but would still like to enter, so click on this entry form link which will be available until late Wednesday 30th June with no late fee.

Beware counterfeit safety harnesses.
28th June: Many thanks to FIA Technical Delegate Frans Steilberg who has brought to our attention the following urgent bulletin from SFI Foundation:

Please note that SFI has found harnesses sold by RASTuning Parts which bear counterfeit SFI labels stating that the manufacturer certifies that their products meet the applicable SFI Specs.

RASTuning Parts harnesses have not been submitted for testing by SFI, and RASTuning Parts is not enrolled in any SFI program.

It should be noted that for any spec program, certification that products meet the minimum standards is made by the submitting manufacturer. Products are NOT certified, endorsed, or approved by SFI.

Necessary measures should be taken to ensure that items purchased from this source are not allowed to be used where compliance with the relevant SFI Specifications are required. Please contact SFI with any concerns or inquiries about questionable product.

Counterfeit products may appear with or without brand names. Genuine SFI conformance labels contain hidden security features and slightly different fonts and materials, but the above illustrations should assist in visually identifying the affected parts.

Festival of Power results.
28th June: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway:

Top Fuel Dragster match race final: Susanne Callin 10.0597/81.68 def. Antti Horto (broke)
Funny Car Cannonball: Andy Raw 5.7635/192.11 (1000ft) def. Kevin Kent (broke)
Motorsport UK Pro Modified: Kev Slyfield 8.4145/111.66 def. Wayne Nicholson 9.2332/97.77, DQ red
Track Worx Comp Eliminator: Jordan Payne 7.3905/184.26 (7.94 index) def. Dan Williams 10.1031/128.65 (10.70)
Be Fast R Super Comp: Leah Kellett 8.9839/147.66 def. Darryl Howells 8.9249/130.20
Dave Grady Super Gas: Andy Harrison 9.9982/132.07 def. Bob Molden 9.9718/124.92
Peter Nee Super Pro ET: Ron Bartlett 8.2849/157.36 (8.26) def. Tom Atkinson 8.9119/151.55 (8.92)
Modurstang Pro ET: Will Clark 9.8101/133.71 (9.82) def. Marc Huxley 10.1215/131.28 (10.22)
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET: Gary Lake 14.1557/96.64 (14.09) def. Rob Creswell 13.5429/104.55 (13.70) DQ red
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Andy Bond 7.4772/208.00 def. Al Williamson (no-show)
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Lara Bartlett 8.0409/80.07 (8.05) def. Luke Mugridge 8.4458/77.73 (8.46)
Renegade Outlaw Anglia:Jedd Guy 7.2651/182.80 def. Colin Millar 7.6107/176.45
VW Sportsman: Rob Creswell 16.0033/75.77 (13.70) def. Ethan Lisle 19.7609/67.85 (19.85)
VW Pro: Adrian Solly 11.3590/123.48 (11.00) def. Lee Cordery (12.25) 12.5711/103.35

Banks Night Club Top Fuel Bike: Neil Midgley 6.4653/202.56 def. Al Smith (broke)
Taylors Trophy Super Street Bike: Alan Morrison Jnr 7.0283/198.81 def. Steve Mead 7.1175/204.42
Leeks Landscapes Funny Bike: Stuart Crane 6.5216/207.92 def. Dave Peters 8.3830/143.43
Suzukiperformancespares.co.uk Comp Bike: Louis Davies 7.1613/179.22 def. Sean Mills 8.3338/134.41
JKE Race Works 8.50 Bike: Jay Roe 8.7360/131.30 def. Joe Elliott 8.7542/157.97
Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike: Craig Wright 9.5680/134.43 def. Rick Sawatzki 9.4887/140.35
Blood Cancer UK ET Bike:Phil Pratt 9.0568/138.53 (8.94) def. Matt Jones 10.3435/139.88 (10.10)
Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike: Meg Talbot 10.2593/65.52 (8.99) def. Hollie King 11.2874/56.60 (11.33)

Subject to official ratification the following records were set. Congratulations to:

ACU Funny Bike ET: Stuart Crane 6.492
ACU Funny Bike speed: Stuart Crane 207.92
ACU Super Street Bike speed: Steve Venables 214.89
(editor's note: Steve ran 218.95 in eliminations however the 214.89 was not within the 1% required back-up and so the lower speed becomes the record under the 'too fast' rule)
ACU Comp Bike ET: Louis Davies 7.026
ACU Comp Bike speed: Sean Mills 198.02

The following Santa Pod Raceway track records were set. Congratulations to:

Comp Bike ET: Louis Davies 7.0263
Funny Bike ET: Stuart Crane 6.4922
Super Street Bike ET: Steve Venables 6.8008
Super Street Bike Speed: Steve Venables 218.95

Many thanks to Andy Marrs who has updated his table of UK and European bests which you can check out by clicking here or clicking on Data, then UK European Bests at the top of any Eurodragster.com page.

In addition, many racers set personal bests during the event. One notable incremental is Antti Horto's 3.0382 eighth mile incremental, believed to be the quickest such ever run in Europe. Other notable firsts included the above track records, the quickest Super Twin Bike ET by a British team with Neil Midgley's 6.2842, and Pro Modified racer Nick Davies running his first five, 5.9738/242.55. The bump spot for the eight bike ACU Super Street Bike field was 7.3553; although ACU bump spots are not tracked, this is believed to be the quickest to date and quicker than the FIM all-time bump spot for an eight bike field of 7.589 set at Kauhava, Finland in July 2019. We don't have space to mention all the new PBs, but congratulations to all.

Congratulations also to Super Comp racer Paul Hudson who won the Eurodragster.com/Team Twister Perfect ET Award supported by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield of £75, and Super Pro ET and Super Comp racer Mark Coulsell who was the winner of the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award supported by Cath and Tig Napier, also receiving £75. Both awards have been reset to £50, the Perfect Light Award being made available at Dragstalgia from the start of Friday qualifying and for all racers from that point, and the Perfect ET Award being next available at the STP Summer Nationals.

Bob's Photo Finish Award was carried over from the STP Springspeed Nationals where elminations did not take place. Our sponsor Bob Roberts kindly agreed to double awards of £50 each to the closest races in each of the Junior and Senior (adult) classes. Congratulations go to the winners in Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, Jack Taylor and Harry Redshaw whose round one match-up had a win margin of 0.0103s, or 14.19 inches (Editor's note: another race had a win margin of 0.0102s however the distance was calculated as 14.69 inches due to the faster speed). In the senior (adult) classes, congratulations go to the winners VW Sportsman racers Polly Judge and Laurence Clark whose first round match had a win margin of 0.0005 or 0.87 inches. We will be in touch with the winners in due course.

Thanks to Kieran Letts of the Santa Pod Timing Crew for sending us detailed timing data which we have posted to our timing data area which you can see by clicking on Data, then Timing Data at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. Official results can be seen at Santa Pod's Official Results Site.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Festival of Power reports, results and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. Please join Simon in thanking Julian and Diana for their hard work over the race weekend, and many thanks to those who gave feedback on our coverage.

Tig's altitude record.
28th June: One team that was only able to make a brief appearance on track at the Festival of Power was Perfect Light Award sponsor Bad Habit Racing, aka Tig and Cath Napier whose Dodge Challenger suffered its most extreme wheelstand to date, the car almost (but thankfully not quite) reaching the dreaded 'tipping point'. Cath got in touch to give us a damage report:

The car has bent and twisted wheelie bar mounts, (but the bars themselves look ok); the perspex scoop is toast. The sump is cracked but repairable at home, a couple of the header primaries need a tweak. The driver needs new pants. Looking at the video I took, there is a point where the rear right tyre is off the ground, albeit very slightly.

We are sorry for the track downtime, although fortunately the diaper stopped it being a lot worse. Thank to the track crew for sorting us out so quickly with their usual efficiency, and to everyone who enquired after Tig and Habit.

We'll be at Dragstalgia and the Summer Nats, but with the Ruby Barracuda".

Twister's assisters.
28th June: Many thanks to Perfect ET Award sponsor Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield of Team Twister for letting us know his team will be expanding, in a good way, for Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway on 9th-11th July:

"Dragstalgia will be an exciting time for Team Twister. We will be joined by the amazing Pro Mod crew of Blown Bird. Kev Slyfield, Tony Underhill and James 'Woody' Woodford will be crewing for me and bringing their wealth of expertise to my humble little hot rod. I cannot wait to show them some real hospitality.

"This just makes this event that little bit more special, thanks lads".

With the additional input from the crew of the five-second-running Motorsport UK 2015 Pro Mod champions, we can surmise the personal bests of Twister (7.5643 and 180.62) will come under some pressure.

United Modified Cruisers at FoP.
28th June: Many thanks to Travis Smith for sending a report of Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET team United Modified Cruisers which took part at the weekend's Festival of Power:

What a weekend for the United Modified Cruisers race team, driver Steve Mellors, racing Hulk MX5 came fourth, reaching the semi final in Sportsman ET, what a event for a first time racer, it's not every day you can say you came fourth on your first event. The weekend wasn't all plain sailing, we hurt the gearbox in Q5 and with no spare decided to help out Carl Magedera with the Tesla, assisting him on the starting line, but it was back to racing Sunday morning.



Steve dialed in a 16.40 for the elimination rounds, and ran 16.4112 winning his first ever elimination round which gave him a bye run in the quarter finals, we decided to do a slow and steady run for that, so to protect the gearbox; it was then semi finals time and Steve went for the same dial in 16.40, but unfortunatley broke out, handing the win to Rob Creswell in the Audi RS4.

Hulk MX5 will be back for the Summer Nationals with a new gearbox, a massive thankyou for the help and support from everyone all over the pits, especially the Sportsman ET & VWDRC guys.

We would also like to thank our sponsors and supporters, Able Assist Ltd and BSC Graphics.

Web site updates.
28th June: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with two large albums from last week's Melbourne Nostalgia Drags/No Prep event. Mad commented "It was fantastic to see the event so well supported and organised throughout the weekend!" You can check out Mad's pictures at this link.

Get well soon Jack Williams.
24th June: Many thanks to Pel Norman of Super Pro ET racing team D.M. Racing for passing to us a get well message to crew member Jack Williams, who fell seriously ill last week:

Jack at just 19 Has been coming racing with us since he was 16 and has never missed a meeting. He even jumped in the bus and made the fateful trip to Malta where he suffered his own misfortune as he fell off the pit bike.

Jack was supposed to be with us at Melbourne last weekend for the No Prep Big Tyre Shootout but didn’t make it as he felt unwell. As it transpired Jack was rushed into hospital on Saturday.

Sadly Jack is now on a kidney dialysis machine with blood clots on his lung and pneumonia. Best wishes from the D.M. Racing Team Pel, Stretch, Pokie, Markie, Jasper and Nigel. Get well soon Jack, as we can’t work out this new fuel tech system without yer as we’re all dinosaurs...

We're sure the whole of the UK drag racing community will join us in wishing Jack a speedy recovery.

ACU Points posted.
24th June: Many thanks to ACU Championship Co-ordinator Ian King for letting us know the current ACU points after the Springspeed Nationals.

The latest ACU points can be viewed at this link or via our points standing page.

Gasser Circus Retro Show report.
24th June: Many thanks to 'Nervous' Nick Brooke-Langham for a report on the Gasser Circus at the Retro Show at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend:

As Brits we are known for having a preoccupation with the weather, and for drag racers, this weather watching can reach new heights. On the run up to the Retro weekend at the Pod, many racers were either checking their phones, or carefully listening to the various forecasts during the week. It appeared to be one of those touch and go weekends, which by Thursday was potentially a showery weekend with Saturday receiving the bigger portion of dry, and therefore favourable racing conditions.

When Friday arrived, so did the largest downpours witnessed so far this year. Those racers who were seeking to gain entry to the Pod were a hardy bunch, with others opting to arrive first thing Saturday morning. The Gasser Circus was expecting 13 Gassers on site, but that dropped to 12, when one of the drivers was literally taken sick. The Gassers were massed by the side and at the entry point to the Fire Up Road. Arriving Saturday morning in the dry conditions, it appeared we may arrived on washing day, as the first few railings had been turned into a make shift washing line, with various items of clothing laid over them, in an effort to dry them out. The very unlucky owners being Billy Jones and Stacey Chandler who had been soaked through as they bravely battled putting up their tent as it tried to float away on Friday evening.

As more drivers and their cars arrived, there was some juggling going on, and not the variety that involves balls, this one being trailers and support vehicles, so the Gassers could take up residence. By the time we were called for our first round of qualifying, all 12 Gassers were ready to race, included in these was Jason Pickett in his recently acquired 55 Chevy. This was set to be a weekend of getting to know his car, and by the end of qualifying he had achieved that occupying the number 7 spot. But I am getting ahead of myself here, as the task of qualifying can be laden with issues and so it was amongst the gathered Gassers.


Although we are effectively racing the clock in qualifying, it’s always exciting coming to the line against another Gasser, when I took ‘Nogbad the Bad’ round to burn out, I was going to lining up with Martyn Hallam in his ‘Whiplash’ Willys. Martyn had not raced since 2019, and through the grapevine we had heard he had made changes to his high flying Willys. He had and sat between the chassis rails was a glorious Hemi. He like all of us was keen to see what it would do, unfortunately after his burnout the car died and had to be rolled back. I was on a single and unbeknown at that time, possibly the worst run I have ever experienced, as I left the line and raced towards 5,000 rpm the car began to shake as the one period correct item from the mid-60s that none of us want to experience came calling as the front wheels began a shimmy. Within the car this was being transmitted most notably through the steering wheel. I shifted and accelerated thinking I could power through this. Wrong decision, with fillings coming loose, I let the car shake itself to a stop, before finishing the run in a stunning 25 second pass.

Other drivers were also experiencing their own problems, with Steve Matthews suffering a loss of oil pressure in his ‘Honky Tonkin’ 57, Billy Jones suffered a fuelling issue and had to be pushed back after his burnout. By Round 2 Steve’s lack of pressure was still requiring resolution so he was a no show, and unfortunately Martyn was still having problems with his new Hemi, and only made it out of the burnout, before the push back came along. Round 3 of qualifying delivered 11 drivers into Eliminations the following day, which saw ‘Honky Tonkin’ amongst them as the issue with oil pressure appeared to be fixed. Number 1 qualifier was Slick Mick Allen in his ‘Quick Buck’ Corvette.

Saturday night had been cold and wet, and Sunday was overcast with a mist like rain falling making everything damp then wet. We knew we could be in for a long wait, and with no track action and the time fast approaching 1 o’clock thoughts had turned to the drive home which for many was several hours away. Billy Jones decided to prepare his Willys Coupe for its journey. So the wheels on the rear were removed and treaded tyres and wheels swapped in. The car was driven onto his trailer and he and Stacey secured the car. A few minutes later and we got the words we had been longing to hear, ‘10 minutes and we want you in the fire up road’. As drivers and crews warmed their engines and checked their cars, Billy and Stacey had a decision to make. They made the right one, and in a speed that most F1 crews would admire they had the car unstrapped, off the trailer, slicks back on and ready to race.

Once given the nod that eliminations were on, the Gassers all headed for the empty Fire Up Road, and wasted no time in getting to the end of it, to ensure we stayed ahead of any rain that could still be seen in the surrounding clouds. The crew at Santa Pod had once again done a superb job of getting the track ready to race, and as the first Gasser Mick Allen’s Corvette came round to race he was determined to make the most of it. Being number 1 qualifier and with and odd number of Gassers racing this meant Mick was on a by turn, he duly clicked off an impressive 10.54 @ 130mph. Next up was Sean Milsom in his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ Morris Van, who by virtue of Jason Pickett having left the building, was also on a bye run. Sean dialled a 10.10 and ran a wheel launching 10.11 @ 132 mph in the gloom of the day.


The first pairing to come to the line was Graham Barton in his ‘High Anxiety’ Devon, lining up against the gorgeous Pop of Tom Margesson and John Gumble ‘The Tinsel Town Hustler’. Graham dialling 10.74 and Tom 11.27. He left and Graham set off after him and as the two cars headed for the finish line they were side by side, but Tom stayed just ahead and crossed the line first having run 11.31, Tom took the win with Graham breaking out with a wicked 10.62 pass.

Next up was Brian Gibson in his ‘Identity Crisis’ Dodge lining up alongside Jason Hollamby driving ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ Falcon. Brian dialled 11.30 and Jason 11.66. As the tree activated Jason was off and moments later Brian pulled a wheelie and the chase was on. Brian soon pulled alongside before edging ahead, and crossed the finish line fractionally ahead of Jason. However, the win light was above Jason’s lane as Brian had broken out with an 11.27!

The final pairing had ‘Nogbad the Bad’ lining up against ‘Grumpy Grizz’ of Billy Jones, both cars edged to the line with Billy set to a small amount of chasing as he had dialled 10.60 and I had dialled 11.60. Leaving the line I didn’t see red, and by ¾ track Billy had closed in on me, we both hit the line together, and as usual I had no idea who had won. Back in the pits it became clear as I had run 11.62 and despite him touching the brakes, Billy had broken out with 10.68. I was through!

Quarter finals, the day had not brightened up and the gloom was prevalent as the first pair came to the line, this was ‘Nogbad the Bad’ dialled in at 11.60 and ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ dialling 11.66. This could be close, but Jason never surrendered the lead from the start and moved on to the semi-finals with 11.85 to my 11.76.

The next two cars were green, with Sean ‘Chili’ Milsom in his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ Morris, and Tom Margesson in ‘The Tinsel Town Hustler’ Pop. Both cars still running their previous winning dial in, Sean 10.10 and Tom 11.27. Tom was first to leave and a wheel standing ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ was soon following, unfortunately too soon, with Sean leaving a cherry on the tree. This meant that in only his second event with the Gasser Circus Tom was through to his first final, as the winner on this side of the ladder had a bye to it.

The final pairing pitted Steve Matthews in ‘Honky Tonkin’ against Slick Mick Allen in the ‘Quick Buck’ Corvette. Steve had 9.91 on his rear screen and Mick was showing 10.50. The cars appeared to almost leave together, and when they crossed the line Steve was ahead and the winner with a 10.21 @ 132 mph with Mick on the end of a 10.57 @ 121 mph.

Semi-finals came round really quickly as the weather was looking ever more ominous, and the crew at the Pod were just as keen as we were to run our race to a conclusion.

Both Steve and Jason’s crews guided their cars into the burnout boxes and they began frying the hides. As they both approached the starting beams, we could see that Jason had dialled in an 11.70 and Steve had retained his 9.91 from the semi-final. This meant roughly a 2 second loiter on the line would be required by Steve. As the tree activated Steve went onto his Transbrake, but the car rolled forward placing what must be an infuriating Cherry on it, handing the win to Jason who was already gone and on his way to the final.

The drama wasn’t over even though Tom had a bye to the final he was still required to stage and break the beams. He duly did this and launched off on a run, only for the track to fall silent as the car’s engine died and it rolled sedately to the 60 foot mark. The issue was quickly located as the cable had come out of their MSD killing the engine. Luckily for Tom this did not stop him progressing to the final where it was another all green affair with the ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ of Jason Hollamby.


Both cars burnt out and prepared to race the final, the tree was activated and as the lights dropped, both cars left. Jason kept on going whilst Tom’s fell silent again, thereby handing the win to a hard charging Jason.

The issue with the Pop again being the MSD cable, which had been pulled out on launch as the battery was found to be moving slightly, but no matter how slight it was enough to cause a frustrating loss. This was not how Jason wanted to win, and it certainly wasn’t the way that Tom wanted to end his Stella weekend, but that’s racing. Back in the pits, all the drivers gathered round to congratulate Jason on his victory and enjoy the moment he was handed his trophy, and the recipients of the ‘Prest for time’ Awards received their cash.

The weekend was a challenge, but we would like to spare a thought for the work that all the Santa Pod team do for all racers. Be it the staff on the gates, the signing on room, the commentators, the fabulous pit crew and fantastic track crew, the team that feed us and the team that keep the bins clean and empty, we all thank you, we literally couldn’t do it without you. Our thanks also goes to the Neil Melliard’s Modern Pinstriping & Lettering, the NSRA, Simon Prest and Renegade Fuels.

The Gasser Circus will be racing once again at Dragstalgia in July. Gasser Circus – Racing the Dream.

New Gladiator body breaks cover.
24th June: Team Hawk of Mark and Jackie Hawkins yesterday revealed the new body with a fabulous paint job for the rebuilt Gladiator Funny Car driven by Jason Phelps which will be racing at the Festival of Power this weekend:

It all started with a Big Bang...

As many of you will know, our COVID-affected 2020 season was cut down to just one admittedly spectacular 4.7 seconds, that resulted in a huge explosion and an equally huge repair bill...Unfortunately, amongst too many other things to list we lost our beautiful Gladiator #4 body.

This was however one of the few things that we had covered having already bought a new Toyota Camry body for a pre planned upgrade. With the long winter lockdown, movement restrictions and everything taking 3 times longer than usual we set about on the rebuild. Money was tight and with the production proving difficult we fell back on our old and trusted friends to get something/anything thrown together.

Darren West from Power Race Graphics got his crayons and scratched out an idea on the back of a napkin. Steve Taylor at GB Refinish Supplies happened to have an old tin of silver paint holding open a door at his place and a couple of past their sell by date purple rattle cans he said we could owe him for. Dominic and Karon Classic Legends UK and VIP Cars Repair Ltd respectively brushed and rollered the colour on whilst Claus Mocanu at Rushden Graphics went through the scrap bins down there to see if he could find some offcuts to match the designer's ideas.

This is what happens when you throw one together! Gladiator 1980...The winter of discontent...

Thanks to: Lucas Oil Products UK, Cool Flo, ProFormance Metals, Power Race Graphics, Rushden Graphics, GB Refinish Supplies, Classic Legends UK, VIP Cars Repair Ltd, Baumgartner Race Cars, Goodridge Ltd, Pro Detailing Uk, American Autoparts, East Side Custom Tattoo Studio, FGR Motorsport and Jay Manton - Mobile Vehicle Valeting.

Race entry deadlines approaching.
23rd June: The deadlines for three races to be held in the next month are approaching fast. Below are details of how you can enter to race:

The deadline for Dragstalgia, 9th-11th July, for entries in invited classes, Gasser Circus, Supercharged Outlaws, Wild Bunch, Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike, Nostalgia Superstock, Outlaw Anglia, NSA Bikes, Willys Wars, Dragstalgia Cannonball, Slingshot Showdown and Friday RWYB, is Friday 2nd July 2021 at 5pm. You can enter at SPR's racer tickets site the by clicking here.

The closing date for entries for the STP Summer Nationals, 17th-18th July, at normal fees is this Thursday, 25th June. Entry for SPRC National Championship classes, plus SPRC Club Championship in Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia, VW Pro and VW Sportsman is available at the SPRC site by clicking here.

The same day, Friday 2nd July 2021 is also the deadline for class entries to Bug Jam, 23rd-25th July, which will be a National Championship round for Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator, and SPRC Club Championship round for VW Sportsman, VW Pro with Supercharged Outlaws as an invited class. Entry is available at the SPRC site by clicking here.

Racers return.
23rd June: Two stalwarts of the sportsman classes are returning to racing this weekend with new to them, or completely new cars.

Long time racer in Pro Stock Bike and Super Gas (Super Comp for a while) Jon Morton has acquired the '92 Camaro (pictured right) raced by the late Paula and Ian Marshall, Paul Woodhead and Paul Watson to race in Super Gas. Jon says "It's received a fresh paint job and driver-appropriate name of No Hair. Jon says "I'm back back after 4 Year exile , the doctor said I was suffering with OCDD (obsessive compulsive drag disorder).

"Thanks to Dan (Page), Neil, and Chalk (Mark White) for all they do for me , and to Paul (Watson) for a smooth Transaction, also to the Fulton Boys for allowing me to be their surrogate for the last few Years . And a big Thanks to Dave Townsend for the very Yellow Paint, and a big Thank you to Luke at WOSPerformance for his continued support". Photo by Dan Page.

Super Pro ET racer Jack Brewster last competed in the 2018 Festival of Power where the Just Mustard Pontiac Firebird made a hard left, contacting the Santa Pod barrier head on resulting in a very bent front end and considerable chassis damage.

Jack has since then commissioned a brand new Pro Mod style Firebird built by Robinson race cars (pictured left), and it's great that he will be returning with the 540ci supercharged engined car in the Super Pro ranks once again; his old car has been sold on for rebuilding.

Anita flies.
23rd June: "When you can’t race, you can try something else", says four time FIA Top Fuel Champion Anita Mäkelä, who had her first experience of skydiving yesterday.

"My kids came up with a nice summer surprise for mom, booking a tandem parachute jump (click for video) for me at Jyväskylä skydiving club. It was a nice experience in every way. I was like a bird in the clouds.


"Big thanks to Lassi-Pekka Ruuskanen; you are a professional! - Kids, now I know, how the birds are feeling, and the cloud really is soft cotton".

Attention in the Santa Pod pits.
22nd June: Many thanks to Adam Bentley of Santa Pod Raceway's timing crew who has announced the roll-out of a new messaging system which will send instant messages to racers with smartphones, and where anyone can find official results:

We are now offering message notifications for class call-outs in conjunction with the pit marshals and PA announcements. These can be accessed through the Discord app, available for both Android and IOS (click on the link to download for your phone type). Just create an account, and join the chat using the app or this link. If racers would like to give feedback after the event, email Racecontrol@santapod.com.

The location of the online notice board for official results has moved to santapodresults.com . Here you can find PDF copies of the official results (qualifying and eliminations) as soon as they are published. If you do see a mistake you should inform a pit marshal or race control as soon as possible.

Editor's note: Discord is not intended for racers sending messages between one another. If you wish to have an update on your vehicle, request for help, or announcement of a personal best published to the ticker on the SPR streaming service, send your message to Eurodragster.com editor Simon via Facebook message or email to simon@eurodragster.com and we'll get your message out immediately.

Signing on at Festival of Power.
22nd June: Many thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us details of track opening and signing on at this weekend's Festival of Power, 25th-27th June.

The main gates to the track will open at 08.00 on Thursday, 24th June 2021. Racers booked in for the Test Day only will be able to arrive Wednesday.

Thursday 24th June:
08:00 Main Gates open
10.00-18.00 Signing on open
16.00 Scrutineering for bikes.

Friday 25th June
07.00 Signing on open. Scrutineering in your own pit bay for bikes – no specific order. There will be no scrutineering for cars unless you are asked to visit scrutineering, or as a class are required to visit the scales following a run.
09.30 Track open for qualifying/eliminations.

Saturday 26th June
07.00 Scrutineering (Bikes only) & Signing on opens
09.30 Track Open for qualifying/eliminations.

Sunday 27th June
07.30 Signing on open
09.30 Track open for qualifying/eliminations.

The detailed running order and printable entry list can be seen in our event coverage page.

Festival of Power Perfect awards.
22nd June: £350 is up for grabs at this weekend's Festival of Power courtesy of Eurodragster.com and our sponsors.

This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been rolled over to £75 after it went unclaimed at the STP Springspeed Nationals. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available in all classes during both qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.

The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supported by Andy Hadfield and the Twister Race Team has also been rolled over to £75 after it went unclaimed at the STP Springspeed Nationals. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to run +0.000 on index or dial-in. The Perfect ET Award is available in Peter Nee Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET, B Fast R Super Comp, Dave Grady Super Gas Shootout, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman, JKE Race Works 8.50 Bike, Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike, Blood Cancer UK ET Bike, and Eurodragster Junior Drag Bike. but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the weekend. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield of the Twister Race Team.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect ET Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.

Bob's Photo Finish Award, which is presented in association with Eurodragster.com sponsor Bob Roberts, will award £50 each to the racers involved in the closest race of eliminations at this weekend's event. As the abbreviated STP Springspeed Nationals didn't have eliminations, Bob has kindly agreed to two awards at the Festival of Power, one for junior classes (Lucas Oil Junior Dragster and Eurodragster Junior Drag Bike) and the other for the adult (senior) classes.

The closest race will be decided upon distance rather than time since, for example, 0.001 seconds at 230 mph is further than 0.002 seconds at 110 mph. For this reason the official timing data will need to be consulted so the winners will be announced here on Eurodragster.com as soon as possible after the event and the winners will then be contacted for their preferred method of payment.

Bob's Photo Finish Award is open to all classes during eliminations only and although Eurodragster.com decals are not mandatory we would appreciate if it they are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On.

Eurodragster.com to sponsor Melbourne Raceway.
22nd June: Following our successful visit to Melbourne Raceway for the No-Prep Nationals, we are proud to announce the beginning of a sponsorship collaboration with Melbourne Raceway. Eurodragster.com will make a cash injection towards the development of the facility including the emergency braking area and pit works and will be pleased to continue this for a number of years.

Melbourne Raceway provides a desperately needed track for the North of England, which served it since 1977. Under management of the Straightliners Organisation headed by Trevor Duckworth, work has proceed apace to re-lay the first eighth of the racing surface and make spectator facilities better than ever. The pit layout has turned a necessity into a virtue and marshalling and running of events goes smoothly with a minimum of downtime. With further funding, Melbourne can potentially become a National Championship facility once again.

Melbourne Raceway announced "We are absolutely delighted by the sponsorship from one of our most cherished drag racing organisations".

No-prep Nationals results.
21st June: Congratulations to the winners at this weekend's No Prep Nationals held at Melbourne Raceway:

Eliminations

Big Tyre: Pete Youhill (Firebird) def. Marc Manning (Ford '34 Coupe) (see photo)
Small Tyre: Phil Drewitt ('54 Anglia) def. Chris Goodale ('69 Camaro)

Motorcycles: 6.00 class: Maxine Taylor (BMW 1000RR) def. Stuart Donald (Suzuki GSXR 1000)
6.50 class: Leigh Williams (Hayabusa) def. Ashley Hodgson (Suzuki GSXR 1000)
7.00 class: Dave Grundy (Triumph Street Triple) def. Daniel Leather (Suzuki GSXR Turbo 1100)
7.50 class: Rob Kneeshaw (Suzuki GSXR 750) def. Colin Fallows (Yamaha FZR 600)
Classic Legends Class: Mark Taylor (Suzuki GSX '82 1428cc) def. Chris Urwin (Suzuki GSXR 1985 750cc)

Quickest ETs (car classes)

Pro Extreme: Darren Peart (Ford Cortina III '72) 5.72
Outlaw Street: Sally Woolner (Chevy Camaro '67) 6.70
American Superstock: Paul Smaile (Chevy El Camino '75) 6.43
NSCC: Russ Pursley (Dutton Pheaton '89) 6.16/123
RWYB Cars: Andrew Murphy (B Sting Topolino altered) 6.73

The event was a great success with the many attending vehicles able to make a large number of passes. Big Tyre winner Pete Youhill made a generous gesture by immediately donating his winnings to the Melbourne Raceway Appeal.

You can see our coverage of the No Prep Nationals, sponsored by John Woolfe Racing, with on-track and off-track galleries by former editor Tog, at our event page.

Mali returns to the track.
21st June: Many thanks to Melbourne Raceway track record holder and Funny Car racer Mark Flavell for giving us an update on an important member of his team who after being away from the track for too long, made the journey this weekend:

We sat out the June event at Melbourne after taking the inaugural win in Pro Extreme at Melbourne in May. But we did attend as spectators to enjoy a great event, watching the no prep classes battle it out and took crewman and great mate Mali Rigg back to the drags for the first time in seven years.


Many know Mali who sadly had a severe stroke seven years ago and has been living in Poplars Care Home pretty much ever since. COVID has seen us all denied the chance to visit him for a long time but as soon as we were allowed and we had the opportunity, we seized it and had a great day out together. I’d like to thank everybody that sort us out and came and said hello. The disabled viewing is organised and readily accessible for wheel chair access with clear viewing. We all had a BRILL day, hopefully to be repeated when we return to compete in Pro Extreme in the Steel River Hot-Rod Alcohol Funny Car.

Retro Show affected by rain.
21st June: A rain-affected Retro Show still allowed the main invited class groups, Gasser Circus, Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike and Supercharged Outlaws to make runs at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-20th June.

In Gasser Circus, there was a field of 11 cars which had three qualifying sessions against dial-in. No.1 was Mick Allen's Corvette with a 10.513/130.61 on a 10.50 dial. In eliminations Jumpin' Jalopeno with Jason Hollamby defeated a broken Tinseltown Hustler driven by Tom Margesson.

Nostalgia Pro Stock Motorcycle saw an excellent field of eight riders make the call for three qualifying sessions. Kevin Melling (Kawasaki H2 750) took the no.1 spot with a 8.644/152.63 and he became winner of the competition with Claire Rule (Suzuki GSX1100) as runner up. For a great pairing lanes video of the riders by Daniel Blight, see this Facebook video.


Pictures: Kevin Melling (Nostalgia PSB) and Mick Hannah (Supercharged Outlaws), photos courtesy and © Pudgey's Pictures

Seven cars made the call in Supercharged Outlaws with Joe Bond returning to the cockpit of the Nuthin' Fancy alky slingshot, running a half pass of 7.5091/117.77 for quickest pass of the group which ran four qualifying sessions. See below for Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield's report on the class.

In RWYB action, congratulations go to Ben Rushforth (pictured right), who brought out his Hot Pursuit 23T altered, powered by a V12 Jag-based engine, and went 7.79/169 on nitrous on only his third pass, backed up by a 7.805/169. The car has a string of previous owners including Jonny Mac (when it was known as Mc's Rat) and Phil Sweeney (when it was called Bone Idle), and the body goes back even further with previous names cited as Tantrum, Reckless Rat, and Paranoia.

You can see the results of the Retro Show at Santa Pod's official results site and we will post a gallery, with Kieran also producing video for Mk1Kieran.

Supercharged Outlaws at Retro Show.
21st June: Thanks to Supercharged Outlaws co-ordinator and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield for providing a report on the class's Retro Show:

There were plenty of ups and downs weekend at the Retro Show with a good showing for some and disappointments for others.

Keith Freeman was having lots of fun with the El Loco '32 Ford five window altered and the car was going really well with his new suspension set up.

Mick Hannah suffered oil pressure issues in his slingshot dragster, a real kick in the teeth given the long trek from Scotland, but he’s a step closer to a reliable package.

Roy Wilding struggled to get grip on the RWYB track in his slingshot dragster but got Chariots of Fire up to the big end and got some useful data for the next meet at Dragstalgia 10.

Neil Townson’s welcome return with the Northern Spirit '32 Ford altered saw him get some good track time and the team are thrilled to be back at the sharp end.

Mike Couch suffered gearbox issues in his slingshot dragster with a leaking front seal, it’s a bugger to repair trackside so Mike decided to save his powder for another day.

Gary Parkes had oil pressure issues and decided to retire early and save the motor, very wise choice!

Joe Bond and the Nothin Fancy slingshot dragster crew tested today and netted a 7.50 at a 1000 foot shut off, a fantastic result and real promise!

Des Taylor and the Team Thundergod 23T altered has real success and netted a new PB of 7.77, Duncan Beard working hard to get the car dialled in and its working!

Team Twister, Andy's 23T road-legal altered, has gearbox issues that were just frustrating and made no runs.

Thanks to all the Teams who attended and to Santa Pod Raceway and the marshals for their hard work in giving us a track despite tough conditions.

Web site updates.
21st June: Photographer Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Flickr site with events from 2020 and this year's Springspeed Nationals. By following this link you can see galleries going back thirty years, well worth a visit.

Dragstalgia fire burnout roll call.
19th June: Santa Pod Raceway Events Manager James Forster has been in touch with a request for racers willing to perform a fire burnout on Saturday July 10th at the 10th Anniversary Dragstalgia:

As Dragstalgia approaches, it’s time to cast our thoughts to one of the more “eye-catching” parts of the event with the fire burnouts.

If anyone would like to submerge themselves in a petrol fueled ball of flame for one of the most spectacular photo opportunities of the year, please get in touch with James on james@santapod.com. All of the usual rules and regs apply ie. front engined, rear wheel drive, open wheel cars only.

Entry list update.
18th June: Many thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us the first version of the STP Summer Nationals and Bug Jam 34 entry lists.

Teams are reminded that entry at standard fees closes on 25th June for the Summer Nationals and 2nd July for Bug Jam. A surcharge will occur for entries received after this date.

Festival of Power preview.
18th June: There’s just a week to go until Santa Pod Raceway's Festival of Power Unlocked and three days of action-packed drag racing entertainment awaits.

Traditionally held over the Easter weekend, this year’s event has been rescheduled to 25th – 27th June and whilst restrictions won’t be totally lifted, there’s a thrilling line-up in store!

The sound of Top Fuel Dragsters will once again reverberate around Santa Pod as these nitro-burning machines gear up for the long awaited first match race of 2021. Drivers Susanne Callin and Anti Horto will be behind the wheels of these 10,000bhp Top Fuelers.

There’s a Funny Car treat in store, call it a match race for the ages – old versus new, David v. Goliath. Three Nostalgia FC racers, Tony Betts, Andy Raw and Rob Elsom, will seek to upset three modern stars of the Euro Funny Car Series, Steve Ashdown, Jason Phelps and Shelley Pearson, in a ground-pounding battle for flip-top bragging rights. The Funny Cars will be running on Friday in the evening session starting from 6:00pm, with three qualifying sessions for Pro Modified, Top Fuel Bike and Competition Eliminator also taking place on Friday alongside sportsman qualifying.

Five fearsome Jet Cars are ready to throw some flames as they take to the track for exhibition runs. Fireforce 3 and Firestorm Jet Funny Cars, Fireforce 5 and Split Second Jet Dragsters, and Oklahoma Willy Jet VW Bus will be taking to the track on all three days. Solo runs will be performed by all jets, but you’ll also get to experience the unique sight of side-by-side jets as they battle it out for fun!

Adrenaline fuelled entertainment takes place in the Live Action Arena with stunt shows galore featuring the mighty Monster Trucks ‘Podzilla’ and ‘Swamp Thing’ as well as professional stunt driver Terry Grant and freestyle stunt bike rider Lee Bowers.

The full timetable for the weekend is available here.

Saturday day spectator tickets are sold out and Sunday day tickets have limited availability, but tickets are available for Friday including Funny Cars and Jets with three day admission with camping also available on the Santa Pod Raceway ticket site.

Eurodragster.com will report live from the event with daily photo galleries, and Nitro FM will be welcomed back alongside SPR's streaming video service.

No Prep 4 preview.
17th June: This weekend, No Prep 4 takes place at Melbourne Raceway. The No Prep field of 37 cars, 10 in small tyre and 27 in large tyre is shown at this link. In addition to this Outlaw Street will be represented by 22 cars coming from across the country for their second round of 2021.

You will be able to keep up with the action by going to our coverage page sponsored by John Woolfe Racing where we will be posting live reports and daily galleries. Thanks to former editor Tog for dusting down his cameras and lenses and make the trip to Melbourne Raceway to capture the event.


(Photos: Ian Walley and Dave Peart, © Callum Pudge)

Much work has been done to Melbourne Raceway to improve it with the ultimate aim of bringing it up to championship standard. Since the reopening in 2020 with a relaid racing surface and grandstand, improvements and repairs have been made to the pit area and return road with improvements to the start area buildings too.

It's still not too late to apply for tickets for the event; run what ya brung racers and spectators should go to the Straightliners web site to apply on-line. Further down the page, if you wish to donate to Melbourne Raceway, fundraising continues to raise £45000 to extend the braking area and tarmac the far side of the pits. You can see the progress at the Melbourne Raceway Community Facebook Page.

Spy picture solved.
17th June: Many thanks to Aidan Heatley Smith of the Ant Hill Mob Dragracing Team for solving the puzzle of which Top Fuel car has been headed overseas from Sweden, posted yesterday:

"We have purchased the ex Stefan Gunnarson Top Fuel operation, so this will be the second top fuel car we have imported from Sweden in the last year (Editor: the other was the ex-Patrik Pers car)! Racing is completely dormant in Canada. We can't cross the border, yet we can watch and cry while racing continues in the States a few hours from us.

We are buying the car to up our program, we currently have no spares, so it will help us tremendously, and we will be ready for when the border opens and hopefully get to some NHRA races finally!"

If you have a spy picture of your own to send, please contact the Editor at editor@eurodragster.com.

Web Site Update.
17th June: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with a large album from last week's Private Test Day, as he says, "the perfect excuse for a Monday off work!" You can check out Mad's pictures at this link.

Mosten Test & Tune.
17th June: A test and tune held at Mosten Raceway last weekend attracted 58 competition vehicles, 25 cars and 33 motorcycles with some European stars of drag racing going for their first hit since 2019. The track had been resurfaced for 2020 but, due to the pandemic, no racing took place. With a massive effort by many people the track was brought up to racing condition and the 2021 season looks more promising, with Mosten Raceday planned for 2nd-5th September.


Among those trying out the new surface were Top Fuel racer Stig Neergaard (above left) who achieved a 0.9845 60ft time and then lifted to record 4.8786/155.84kph at the eighth. The quickest time of the day was 4.375/278.78 by Mike Reymond's Mustang which we featured on 11th May, followed by Rene Laustsen's supercharged Firebird on 4.4496/262.52. Stig's former nostalgia slingshot dragster was also making passes, now owned and driven by Svend Larsen (above right) with a 565ci Reher Morrison unblown combo in place.


On the motorcycle side, Super Street Bike racer Mogens Lund (above left) tested a new fuel system to make some low boost passes at soft settings, his best being 5.1999/238.62. Second quickest was electric bike racer Hans Henrik Thomsen (above right), who had stunned us at SPR last September running a new quarter mile electric record, running at Mosten to an early shutoff 5.5120/157.02. FIM Super Twin Champion Marcus Christiansen also made a hit, Marcus planning to compete in the Fueltech Nitrobike Showdown in Finland.

You can see more photos of the Test & Tune at the Dragracing Club Denmark Facebook page. A full list of who was running and their best times can be seen by clicking on the link on the left hand side of the page dragracing.eu.

Fueltech Nitrobike Showdown round 1.
16th June: Many thanks to Finnish photojournalist Pasi Uponen who has provided us with a report on the Fueltech Nitrobike Showdown round 1 at the Kannon Romu Savo Nationals, Motopark Raceway, Savo, Finland last weekend 12th-13th June:


(Pictured: Mikko Rajaniemi and Lasse Leponiemi. Photos courtesy and © Pasi Uponen).

Unfortunately Sunday was a rainy day and we could see only three qualifying rounds during the event. That's why some of the riders didn't get a time and all of them had a lot of problems with engines and set ups. But it was the first race after a long break. It was nice to see two new riders making a few license runs, Marko Lantto and Kalle Myllylä. Soon we will have even more riders on track.

Qualifying results were:

1. Mikko Rajaniemi TFB "Sirpa" 1364 cc 6.991/320.82 kmh
2. Lasse Leponiemi TF Twin 160cid Overkill 7.304/305.57
3. Torsti Kettula TF Twin 168cid PRP 7.388/273.25
4. Aku Lantto TFB Harsh 1699cc 8.423/177.12
5. Samu Kemppainen TF Twin 196cid V60 10.079/255.57
6. Harri Piensalmi TF Twin 186 cid 14.253/92.70


(Pictured: Kalle Myllylä and Marko Lantto. Photos courtesy and © Pasi Uponen).

Pasi commented "Almost all riders had made a lot of changes on their bikes during last winter which was the main reason why they had so much technical problems. Also let's hope that travel restrictions change before the next round, on 8th-10th July at Kauhava, to allow for bikes outside Finland to compete in the Showdown".

Reckless Racing, comprising Aku Lantto and Marko Lantto have posted video of their weekend, with footage of the riders after the race at Youtube.

Spy picture.
16th June: This picture arrived at the offices of Eurodragster.com with the comment "Another Swedish car heading overseas..."

If you know more, or have a spy picture of your own to send, please contact the Editor at editor@eurodragster.com.





Swift snippets.
16th June: A very Happy Birthday from our Nitro Revival Sponsor Geoff Stilwell and all of us at Eurodragster.com to Ron Hope, Fuel Altered pilot and supporter of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Have a great day Ron.

Gardermoen results, photos.
16th June: Results from the Spring Nationals EDRS round at Gardermoen Raceway last weekend 12th-13th June have been posted at ndrg.no. Qualifying results from 12th June are at this link. You can see a gallery of photos from the event at the Johansen Photo FB page of Kim Johansen.

FMV Racing, comprising Odd Erik Fossum in their nitrous Pro Mod Camaro and daughter Trine Fossum in her 555ci Super Pro ET dragster, were at their first race since 2019 after Covid-19 "took a trip into the world".

"For us this was more a test weekend, to check out all the things we have done to the Pro Mod car. Our Stroupe built 68 Pro Mod Camaro is going straight as an arrow, so we are very satisfied. We didn't put so much power in it because we wanted to test the chassis instead of going for low ETs. We hope to get back at the track in August and try to step up a little bit more". Running solo in test mode, Odd Erik ran a creditable best of 6.328/360.25kph.


Trine (pictured above right), racing for the first time since 2018, was no.1 qualifier in Super Pro ET, with a 7.700/281.06kph on 7.69 dial. She went to the final of the twelve car field, where she raced 19 year old Madelen Andersen in a BBC-engined dragster (pictured above left). Trine pulled a red on the way to a 7.588/284.16 on 7.58 dial, allowing Madelen ran a 8.696/227.06 on her 8.45 dial and take the win.


In Pro Street, Renate Rosén Skinne (pictured above left) won in a field of four cars, of which two were unable to take the green in the first round. Renate, who qualified 2nd ran 7.603/291.71 to defeat the Chevy Pickup of Fredrik Gravningen (pictured above right) who ran 7.839/253.69 after getting off the line first by two tenths.

(Pictured above right: In Super Comp, the dragsters of Julie Andersen and Mats Wanvik met in qualifying. Picture © Kim Johansen).

Dragstalgia entry looking good.
15th June: Being one of the largest meetings of the year, Dragstalgia racer spaces are overall subject to limits. Also, one of the benefits of coming out of lockdown is that the event already has a large number of applications as shown in the current entry list.

Don Scott, organiser of UK Nostalgia Super Stock has been in touch to ask if the 50+ racers in his class can finalise their race entries as soon as possible, which will allow other racers applying for Custom Car Invitational Run What Ya Brung more chance of a place in the pairing lanes.

We would imagine this line of thought might apply to other classes. The page for class entries is at this link, and the closing date for entries, bearing in mind the above message, is strictly Friday 2nd July 2021 at 5pm.

00Heaven championship car tracked down.
15th June: Remember the feared "00Heaven" Vauxhall VX4/90 with its 582ci engine, raced to eight championships, four in each of Super Gas and Super Comp, by Stuart Doignie in the UK 2015-18?

A viewing of Youtube videos by videographer Jakob Cecil of Icelandic drag racing's championship event held on 12th June in Hafnarfjörður showed this legendary car running in the Doorslammer class over the eighth mile. You can see the video by clicking here or on the photo above (photo © B&B Kristinsson).

The car is now run by Stefán Kristjánsson who won the Doorslammer category. Other categories fought were Open Class in which the dragster of Stefán Helgason defeated the similar car of Ingólfur Arnarsson, and Top Sportsman (9.99 index) where Hilmar Jacobsen in a Saleen Mustang was the winner. True Street, Standard, and three motorcycle classes.

The local newspaper Morgunbladid reported "Conditions for racing put in place by the organising body Kvartmíluklúbb have recently changed. Active members of KK have put a lot of effort into making the area (a 25 minute drive from Reykyavik) much more accessible and the area has served many motorsport disciplines.

These include both a quarter mile and a sand drag track, as well as a circuit area and off-road terrain, to name but a few. It can be said that the area offers much more possibilities than before in terms of events for motorsport and it is a big part of the service to the ambitious competitors who practice and compete in motorsports, as well as general driving instruction".

You can follow the activities of Iceland's Kvartmíluklúbb on their Facebook page.

Clastres race coming up 19th-20th June.
15th June: Since 2015, Association Trophée Dragster (ATD), based in the Allier region of France, has been organizing its competitions on the Clef des Champs site at Clastres Dragway. The only track in France exclusively reserved for drag racing also has in its favour the quality of its welcome and its facilities. Racers will compete against each other three times during the summer on the 402.32 m of the Axon straight line, which corresponds to a quarter of a mile.

The first round will take place this weekend, 19th-20th June, with other rounds on 31st July-1st August and 4th-5th September and spectators welcome at each round (spectators can pay on the gate). For this 14th European Dragster, the organizers will welcome pilots from all over Europe who will compete in four categories. Super Pro ET and Pro ET are joined by the Street Run ET category, for modified road vehicles and finally Junior Dragster for 8-17 year olds.


Pictured: Billy Gane and Peter Wacker. Pictures © Motorsport Pictures and Harald Czekalla

The entry list can be seen at this link, and contains plenty of entries from France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland – and one from the UK, Super Pro ET racer Billy Gane. We look forward to hearing about Billy's progress as the first team to venture overseas from the UK since Brexit and lockdown!

Taking their place in the run what ya brung will be former UK Pro Mod champion Bruno Bader, long time Pro Mod racer Peter Wacker and Walter Strobel's new Camaro which we showed a few months ago.

In April ATD launched a new website association-trophee-dragster.com, in which you will be able to find everything you will need in the future: registrations, results back to 2004, rankings, history, the ATD webstore and many other things !

They said "Some details are still to be refined but it's almost 100% operational and automatically translated to English! Thanks to the Webmaster who did a remarkable job to make the website: beautiful, attractive and practical".

For latest details, head to ATD's Facebook page.

Quick times at Hudik Raceway.
14th June: Hudik Raceway, Sweden held their second event of the year this last weekend following a test & tune on 23rd May. The eighth mile Swedish facility was at last able to invite spectators into the facility and Britt Sundqvist was able to post video of some of the quicker runs at the Hudik Raceway Facebook Page.

Some of Europe's heaviest hitters were present at the track which was evidently in great shape. Mattias Wulcan was the quickest of all with his Wulcano running a best of 3.7154/332.10kph for a new track record. Fellow and reigning (2019) FIA Pro Modified Champion Jan Ericsson ran a 3.8834/ 309.28 in his Pro Mod legal Camaro.


Pictured above: Andres Arnover and Niklas Heikkilä. Photos courtesy and © Cenneth Schiller.

Others who were present, electing to run at Hudik rather than compete at the Dooslammer Tour at Kjula Raceway, included Estonian Andres Arnover in a new twin turbo Mustang (3.8930/321.24), multiple FIA Champion Michael Gullqvist (4.0517/299.83), Jimmy Ålund (4.3271/265.36). Making a return after running in Comp Eliminator for over a decade was Niklas Heikkilä who ran 4.2302/271.77 in his new Pontiac GTO with a Sonny's 705ci naturally aspirated combination.

You can see results from Hudik by clicking on the link on the left hand side of the page at www.dragracing.eu.

FHRA Motopark rained off.
14th June: The first round of the 2021 FHRA championship which was also a round of the Summit Racing Equipment EDRS series, was held at Motopark Raceway. Finland at the weekend. The FHRA said:

It’s a pleasure to see how the acceleration nation arrived in large numbers to follow the first race of the season. The audience was able to surprise both the event organizer and the track owner positively. The crowd really came in and the atmosphere was great among the audience. I don't think there have been so many people seen in the acceleration times since the 90's Midsummer celebrations!"

The race was preceded by FHRA Street Mayhem & Test n´Tune Day in which several drivers gained their 'oven fresh' licence for racing. At the beginning of the first day of the competition on Saturday, the track held a quiet moment in memory of Pasi Häkkinen, who was involved with the Motorpark track as his life's work and the family of whom were sent condolences by the assembled crowd.


Pictured above: Lasse Niskavaara and Aku Lantto. Photos courtesy and © TMu Photography, also at teemumultisilta.myportfolio.com.

The competition went well and a total of two qualifying sessions were run. The intention was to run two races over the weekend, but due to the rain, Sunday’s race was not run. The Fueltech Nitrobike Showdown 2021 race was also at the track and there was a handsome number of nitro bikes entered. These 'rattlesnake royal' class gladiators brought their own addition to the race and were definitely a reason for many to come to Virtasalmi over the weekend. The presence of the Vintage Drags group was also a special feature to the race.

In Top Doorslammer, Tero Laukkanen qualified no.1 with a 4.168/294.47kph. The list of qualifying times after two sessions was
  1. Tero Laukkanen 4.168/294.47
  2. Hannu Flink 4.178/281.02
  3. Jari Sokura 4.352/291.62
  4. Lasse Niskavaara 4.397/276.16
  5. Mikko Siironen 4.556/259.41
  6. Henri Halikka 4.774/250.76
  7. Jaakko Lauhasmaa 4.837/231.39
  8. Tomi Stamblewski 5.222/222.96
  9. J Nyberg 11.665/49.93
Sadly that was all that took place in Top Doorslammer as the rains came.

The FHRA track team and FHRA Crew did a tremendous amount of good work on the track and the series next moves to Kauhava on 8-10 July.

Mälardalen Open 6 report.
14th June: The Mälardalen Open 6 race took place at Kjula Raceway last weekend on 12th and 13th June. The entry of 95 racers ran in 11 classes, plus run what ya brung. The quickest class was Pro Street Car, where Roger Kullander qualified no.1 with a 7,6168/ 286.51. Roger reached the final in eliminations where he came up against no.3 qualifier Mikael Norén. Mikael came out as winner running 7.755/273.40 to Roger's 8.194/282.2.


Pictured above: Fredde Carsting (Street) and Conny Karlsson (Pro Comp Bike). Photos courtesy and © Henrik Lindberg Photography.

In 4to6 Pro, the final was a single for no.2 qualifier (8.3225/264.41) Björn Lundin after no.1 qualifier Kristian Sjöberg (7.9976/271.29) was a no show along with his competion Kin Norgren in round one. Kristian's run was the quickest of the class.

You can see full results by clicking on the link on the left hand side of the page at dragracing.eu and Henrik Lindberg's great photos of the event are in this Facebook album.

Spy picture.
14th June: The pictures below arrived at the offices of Eurodragster.com with the comment "On its way to its UK owner soon, can you tell what it is yet?"


If you know more, or have a spy picture of your own to send, please contact the Editor at editor@eurodragster.com.

Crail Raceway hosts mag themed events.
13th June: Crail Raceway, Scotland's one and only dedicated ¼ mile Drag Strip (with drifting), re-opened for business on 9th May and has hosted three events in 2021 so far.

The first event, held without spectators, was Total Vauxhall on 9th May, with seven track awards, top five Vauxhall and top non-Vauxhall, as well as Top 5 show n shine, Best Club Stand and a ‘Best Non-Vauxhall’ trophy. You can see photos of the event here on Crail Raceway's FB page.

The second event was Tora Tora Banzai day on 23rd May, sponsored by Grant Swan Racing Team, including great Japanese cars and club stands, with what organisers believe is the fastest 1/4 mile car time ever seen at Crail Raceway, 9.329/162.5 - from the Ecotune Audi RS3, to the undoubted chagrin of Jap car enthusiasts on the day. Spectators were allowed to attend and you can find a huge gallery of photos from the event at the Facebook page of H2o Automotive.

Following the traditional ¼ mile Thrash & Drift held on 6th June, Crail Raceway plans another marque based event on 20th June, German Invasion. Sponsored by Ecotune, there is no requirement to pre-register for the ¼ Mile, Drift Oval or Static Show/Top 5 Cars, and numbers of spectators allowed by the local Fife Council will be greater than the Scottish Government restrictions. Entry for the ¼ mile plus drifting will be £20, and spectator entry will be £10 (£5 for 12-16 year olds and free for under 12s). You can see more details with a log of times recorded at Crail's web site.

JT out and about.
13th June: Many thanks to Pro Mod and Super Pro ET racer John Tebenham for providing a preview of his plans for the Festival of Power on 25th-27th June:

Another five at hopefully 240 mph in The Fabulous Lightning McQueen and a 150 mph in my mad Ford pop is our goal at the amazing Festival of Power, coming very soon to Santa Pod. Both cars are in bits, but are nearly there, the white car broke the gearbox (well it was me actually doing the crazy burnouts). I have been told to do smaller burnouts, NO NO NO, we are just taking more spares. It still can’t do 150 mph, one day...

The Blue car needs pistons, crank, blower, the engine is in bits but we are going to be there and we want to win. Another five at a hopeful 240 mph would make our weekend.

We have an amazing support crowd who always buy T shirts and posters from us, which really helps us to run the weekend. I drive both cars at 100% you can probably tell, that's probably why I break them so bloody much but, like Colin Theobald says, I'm The Entertainer. Also we are also headlining American Speedfest at Brands Hatch on 3rd-4th July, it’s an amazing weekend, get a ticket and come and say hello, we are at the entrance with the blue car. Oh yeah, and the little white Pop on show as well. Dont miss it, JT (The One Man Show).

Pop picture courtesy and © Mick Smith

More Unusual car sales.
13th June: Many thanks to Unusual car sales U.K. administrator Nigel Taylor for supplying an update, with pictures and prices, of the tastiest drag racing cars for sale on the page:

"Nearly 25,000 members now on the Unusual car sales U.K. page, it’s been great to help out drag racers like Andy Carter, Steve Neimantis, Tony Betts, Paul Watson, Williams Bros Racing, Paul Dale, Ian Marshall, Col Law, Colin Millar, Brian Huxley, Wayne Saunders, and many more.

"The site has grown into more than just a sales site, It is now a big Hot Rod, Drag Racing community listing over 100 useful contact numbers in the hot rod world, show dates, parts, services, advise, and anything else connected to the scene.


"A massive Thank You to Mike Gates of Hayling Garage for all your support, and the level of cars that you now get in stock is just superb, with many more on their way including Chevy Novas, Dodge pick ups, etc and they not only sell hot rods, yanks etc but also carry out repairs, servicing, exhausts and much more-highly recommend, give Mike and the team a call on 023 9246 2346 and they even offer finance on a lot of the cool vehicles in stock.

Massive thanks also to Jack Lad, my northern dad for all the banta and the ace cars you keep finding.


Thankyou to every single person that has got involved with the site and to Simon and the team at Eurodragster.com (thanks! - Editor) and the commentators at Santa Pod Raceway for giving us the mentions!

Spitfire Raceway re-opens.
11th June: Spitfire Raceway at Perranporth, Cornwall TR5 0XS re-opens on 26th June for drag racing and drifting with spectator capacity and camping. Our sponsor and track operator Lee Child has announced that even if the Government guidelines don’t change on the the 21st of June the track can still operate unchanged on Saturday 26th June under the current guidelines. The quick surface has records set at 9.48 from the APR Performance Audi TT RS and for bikes, Mark 'Wolfy' Smith's 9.97/141mph has held for the last five years. Will we see these re-set?

Overnight camping is available for Drag and Drift teams before and after the event at a price of £10 per night per head, kids going free. Racers should pre enter via the following links for drag racing or drifting on line first, then to book your camping call 01872 552856. If there are any roll over credits from April please email Kevin@perranporthairfield.com.

Crash helmet and full driving licence are required for all racers. Show & shine has no charge apart from £10 admission, all vehicles are welcome. Gates are open at 8am with track action taking place 11am to 3pm, All vehicles have a safety check for drag racing and drifting and drag strip riders and drivers should attend a pre-race meeting at race control 10.45am. Spectators, now given a bigger and longer drag strip viewing area, are £10 per person under 16s go free.

Retro Show Lite preview, racer deadline.
10th June: Santa Pod Raceway's Retro Show Lite is on Saturday and Sunday 19th-20th June 2021 with Pre 1995 RWYB, Autoglym Show & Shine, Retro Parking and KitFest Lite.

Race Classes eligible for entry to the event are Gasser Circus, Supercharged Outlaws and Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike (their first outing as a group this year). The deadline for entry for these classes is Friday 11th June and racers that are members of these groups may enter at the Santa Pod racers' ticket shop.

Run What Ya Brung and spectator admission is handled via the SPR ticket shop. Tickets may be bought at any time prior to the event subject to availability.

JapShow gallery, shootouts update.
10th June: With thanks to Kieran and support from John Woolfe Racing, we have posted a gallery of 90 photos from last Sunday's Japshow which you can see by clicking this link.

Sadly, the JapShow shootout planned for the event didn't take place, however, other shootouts are planned for later in the year and racers are encouraged to enter. There will be a FWD only Shootout at Ultimate Street Car along with two more Shootouts where FWD cars can enter alongside compact 4WD and RWD cars at Fast Show Reloaded and JapShow Finale. The entry fee for the USC Shootout is £200 including 2 weekend tickets and £100 for the other events also including 2 weekend tickets. Prize money is £750 winner, £250 runner up if the minimum of 8 cars qualify, plus trophies. This increases at Ultimate Street Car to £1500 winner, £500 runner up, again with a minimum of 8 cars qualifying.

All entries must be proven to have run quicker than 11 seconds to be eligible for the shootouts and all entries are on a first come, first served basis with entries limited to 20 cars qualifying for a 16 car elimination ladder, so if you want to race enter now. Entries are now open at Santa Pod racers' ticket shop.

EDRS championship to start this weekend.
9th June: The European Drag Racing Series, based in Scandinavia and organised by Speedgroup, kicks off this weekend with two events, in Finland and Norway.

Many thanks to Lena Perés for a preview of the round of the EDRS Championship at Motopark in Finland:

Motopark in Finland is first out in the Summit Racing EDRS Series events, on 12-13th June. Jarmo Grönman, chairman of FHRA, has announced that currently there are 104 racers registered, only one of which is from outside Finland, and about 60 Test & Tune drivers booked to show up at Motopark for Friday testing.



Pictured: Top Doorslammer racers Jarmo Nyberg (Dodge Dart), Tero Laukkanen (Camaro), Tomi Stamblewski (Hyundai), Henri Hälikkä (Duster); photography: Martin Westerlund, Heikki Malinen, TMu Photography.

Lots of cool classes are to be driven down the track. For example, The official Top Doorslammer series which currently has nine entries where you can see, among others, Pro Modified driver Tero Laukkanen with a new livery on his Camaro and Tomi Stamblewski with his twin turbo Hyundai Coupe.

The event is also a round of the FuelTech Nitro Bike Showdown which has attracted 11 entries and now has its own web site at nitrobikeshowdown.fi. Riders include record-setter Jaska Salakari and 2014 FIM Champion Samu Kemppainen.

You can see the entry list of this race at dragracing.eu. A free live stream can be seen at livestream.com/fhra.

Norway's Gardermoen Raceway hosts two days of racing at its Spring Nationals on 12th-13th June, with sportsman classes plus a few licensing runs from the 108 competitors registered. Spectator tickets are on sale on-line at ndrg.no until until 12.00 11 June. Covid rules are in place which you can see at the link.

You can see the entry list for Gardermoen at this page and results will be published on ndrg.no after the event. There will be ten car racers and five bike racers licensing at the event. One of them, six year old Martin-Emiil Petterson, will be licensing for Junior Dragster (yes, six year olds are permitted by Norwegian rules) and is profiled by Lena on the dragracingeurope.eu web site.


Jan Sturla Hegre is scheduled to run demo passes on his Top Fuel Bike and there are three Super Twin racers, 19 year old Julia Wagner (above left) making her Super Twin competition debut following her licensing in September 2019, Hans Olav Olstad (above right) and Trond J Høiberget. Odd Erik Fossum will be running demo passes in his Pro Modified Camaro, previously seen in Comp Eliminator. One class we haven't come across before is Small Tire Stock Suspension, which we expect does what it says on the tin.

Swift snippets.
9th June: Kieran has uploaded 37 minutes of video from the morning session of Monday's private test day to his Mk1Kieran Youtube Channel. He says: "The 2nd private test day of the year organised by Scott of Yam Yam Racing went down well with around 80 vehicles signed on for a days testing on a fully prepped track. There was a real good mixture of stuff including a huge field of serious FWD cars, a handful of Classic Fords & some American muscle too! Part 2 will follow later today".

Many thanks to Trakbytes webmaster Chris Dossett who has uploaded the latest update to the site. Chris writes: "The latest update to the Trakbytes website has just been uploaded. This time we have a total of 42 new or updated entries, plus 76 new programme covers and a dozen or so new entry lists. Some meetings that previously only contained a few details have been comprehensively updated, something that I will be continuing to address in forthcoming updates. The earliest entry this time is from 1964 (not counting a programme cover from 1931) and the most recent is 1998. There's a few other odds and ends and some record performances in there, so hopefully you'll find something of interest somewhere. I'm always open to receiving any new material or events that readers feel should be included, or indeed corrections to anything I may have got wrong".

Demo vehicles required for this weekend at SPR.
8th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Raceway events manager James Forster who has a request for drag racing demos for the coming weekend's BMW Show:

Santa Pod Raceway are seeking a few Drag Demos for the BMW Show this Sunday, 13th June. If you’d like to come along and run with a car that runs quicker that 10.99 or a bike that runs quicker than 9.99 please get in touch with James on james@santapod.com.

Private test top times, gallery.
8th June: Congratulations to the racers who had low ETs in each of their classes at yesterday's Private Test Day organised by Scott Lewry of Yam Yam Racing:

Class A (FWD treads) Aaron Nunn (Honda Civic) 11.4498/128.69
Class B (RWD/AWD treads) Mark Biggers (Ford Mustang) 8.4051/165.47
Class C (FWD slicks) Chris Backshell (Renault 5 Turbo) 8.8798/167.91
Class D (RWD/AWD slicks) Nathan Freke (Toyota MR2) 8.2986/172.39

The test day was once again the beneficiary of great weather conditions. With thanks to Kieran and support from John Woolfe Racing, we have posted a gallery of 100 of his photos which you can see by clicking this link.

Streaming video and commentary from the startline tower were made possible by FWD Europe organiser Luke Stevenson who posted the video on its Facebook page.

A big Well Done to Chris 'Scoff' Backshell who ran his first nine in his Renault 5 turbo owned and tuned by his EFI Parts in Runcorn and then followed it up in his first eight. Scoff's engine has had extensive dyno work done by EFI Parts; the engine spec is Renault F4R with concrete filled block, custom Arias pistons, H beam rods, EFI Parts girdle plate, strengthened Clio 200 cylinder head, custom cams, followers & lifters revving to 8800rpm. Turbo is a GTX4202 at 52psi giving 3.3 bar (47 psi) of boost. On each of Chris's quick runs there was plenty of engine smoke from half-track as Luke Stevenson's video shows, but it held together for the amazing numbers.

You can see our top 20 list of runs to the left, congratulations to all those who ran personal bests. Commiserations to David Swift running the rebuilt John Maher Beetle whose engine threw a rod at the finish line, the resulting fire causing David some superficial burns however as a precaution he was transported by air ambulance. He told us this morning "as usual Santa pod crew were amazing and a massive thanks to all involved".

2021 FIA Championship cancelled.
7th June: Keith Bartlett, Chairman of Drag Racing Europe has kindly supplied an update on the 2021 FIA Championship:

After many months of delay and uncertainty on a final decision regarding the 2021 FIA European Drag Racing Championship events at the Tierp Arena (Sweden) in August and Santa Pod Raceway (UK) in September, we have, along with the FIA, reached a decision that even a two-round FIA Shootout Cup will not be possible to hold owing to the Covid-19 restrictions with travel and quarantine regulations.

Although the FIA European Drag Racing Championship was already a non-starter owing to cancellation of all the rounds in the UK, Sweden, Finland and Germany, we had hoped to be able to hold an FIA Cup over the two late-summer rounds in Sweden and England. This is no longer feasible.

The current plan is that each venue (Tierp and Santa Pod) will hold its own event under ASN national rules and permits, making them both now National Events. Any international teams wishing to attend either event are welcome as always.

DRE will now concentrate on setting up the 2022 FIA European Drag Racing Championship, which we all hope will be campaigned over six rounds. Additionally, the management of DRE is discussing with the FIM to bring the FIM European Drag Bike Championship alongside the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at all rounds in 2022.

ACU Springspeed Nationals report.
7th June: Thanks to photo journalist Steve Moxley for letting us know that his report on the ACU bike classes at the STP Springspeed Nationals has been published on the ACU web site.

The next round of the ACU Championship is at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway from 25th-27th June.

Swift snippets.
7th June: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with 230 pictures from Saturday at VW Breakout. You can check out Mad's pictures at this link to his Flickr Site. He says "All pictures are available as prints, canvasses, cards, calendars, t-shirts and clothing, posters, coasters, mousemats, stationery and much more".

Mälardalen Open 5 report.
6th June: Last weekend the first competitive event of the Swedish season took place at Kjula Dragway, the Mälardalen Open 5. You can see detailed results by clicking on the link on the left hand side of the page at dragracing.eu and there is a gallery of photos by Henrik Lindberg on his Facebook page.


The quickest class was Pro Street (7.6s index) which was won by Anna Knutes out of a field of 11 entries. Anna, in a 632ci BBC engined Mustang built by Jerry Bickel, qualified third with 7.713/280.8kmh, then defeated Thomas Karlsson in round one, and was the beneficiary when Tommy Abrahamsson (above right) was a no-show in the semi final. Anna defeated no.1 qualifier Preben Baerentzen in the final in what looked like a pedalfest, times recorded being in the eight second zone.

Kim Norgren won the 4 to 6 Pro class in his Volvo 142, defeating Jörgen Andersson in the final 8.828/242.9 to 9.378/268.3. No.1 qualifier and quickest ET of the class went to Kristian Sjöberg in his 2.3l turbo Volvo powered Volvo 740, capable of 7s but running 8,049/275.44 in qualifying.

Congratulations to the other winners and top qualifiers in Bracket, Gathoj, Junior Drag Bike, Junior Dragster, Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike, Pro Comp Bike, Real Street, Street, Super Comp Bike and Super Gas Bike.

The next race at Kjula Dragway will be the Mälardalen Open #6 on 11th-12th June, a round of the Doorlammer Tour.

Record broken in Hungary.
6th June: Kiskunlacháza Airport in Hungary was the location of the Drag Wars Hungary vs Slovakia, part of Slovakia's Powerfest 2021 yesterday. Although results are yet to be published to the Hungarian Drag Racing web site we have heard of some of the outstanding passes with video posted on the Hungarian Drag Racing FB page. Peter Révhelyi with the Fenstermen Drag Racing Team alky dragster ran a new Hungarian record of 6.6/337kmh on a test pass. The team are looking forward to competing internationally with their car. Also Arthur Kratochwill of Green Mamba Racing made a couple of test hits in his new Camaro with a blown alky setup running a 8.0/285kmh.


The next round of Powerfest 2021 and of the 'Drag Wars Hungary vs Slovakia' is on 3rd July at the eighth mile Boľkovce Airport in Slovakia.

Photos, video from Hal Far Test Day.
6th June: After an extended break due to Covid restrictions, the Maltese Drag Racing Association got back on track at Hal Far Raceway on Saturday with testing during the day and evening. Photographer Alex Buttigieg posted a gallery of 26 pictures which you can see at his Facebook page.


The dragsters of Tyson Debono and Neville Grech (pictured above, photos courtesy Alex Buttigieg) were amongst those testing and you can see individual videos of a lot of the test runs at MDRA secretary Konrad d'Anastasi's Youtube channel.

Yam Yam Racing stream and commentary tomorrow.
6th June: A private test will be taking place at Santa Pod Raceway tomorrow, 7th June. Organised by Scott Lewry of Yam Yam Racing, who put on a number of such events in 2020, around 80 cars and bikes will be taking part. Kieran will be there to photograph for our gallery supported by John Woolfe Racing. If you go to the European FWD Facebook page, you will be able to see a live stream plus commentary from SPR announcer Luke Stevenson.

Swift snippets.
6th June: A very Happy Birthday to Junior Dragster racer Caitlin Wilson, who reaches 18 today from Mum Rachel and the family. Have a great day Caitlin from all of us at Eurodragster.com.

Aad Möntemann.
4th June: We were sad to hear of the passing of Aad Möntemann.

Aad, based in Zaanstad, Netherlands, was a well respected drag and sprint racer both in UK and the Netherlands at Zandvoort during the 1960s and was the first rider in Holland to record a sub 11 second 1/4 on his home brewed 750 Triumph.

In later years Aad was a visitor to Dragstalgia and UK Sprints, contributing to the British Drag Bike History private Facebook group and members can see his posts by clicking here. You can also see some of his video collection on his Youtube channel.

Our thoughts and condolences go to Aad's family and friends.

JapShow Shootout at Jap Show Lite.
4th June: This Sunday Santa Pod Raceway hosts JapShow Lite. Jap Show Lite embraces the world of Japanese cars and bikes, incorporationg a Jap car and bike Run What Ya Brung, Autoglym Show Car paddock, a special parking area exclusively for Japanese cars – and the Japshow Shootout.

Some of the quickest "Compact" cars in the UK will be competing in this new style Shootout, open to FWD, RWD and 4WD cars with 4, 5 or 6 cylinder engines and rotaries. Entries are limited to 20 cars qualifying for a 16 car elimination ladder.


You can see full rules for this competition at japshow.co.uk/shootout.php. The entry fee is £100 including 2 weekend admission tickets to the event. All entries must be proven to have run quicker than 12 seconds to be eligible for the shootout, and gates are open at 8am Friday for ALL competitors.

The prize money, if a minimum of 8 cars qualify is £750 to the winner, £250 Runner Up, plus trophies.

You can enter for this competition at racers.santapodtickets.com. Spectator, RWYB and Show & Shine tickets must be booked online at the Santa Pod Raceway's ticket shop.

We will be posting a gallery of Kieran's photos after the event, plus results from the JapShow Shootout.

Taz Racing roll call.
4th June: Many thanks to Chris Skinner of Taz Racing for sending a report on the RWYB group of cars from last weekend at VW Breakout and a run down of what’s happening in the group:

It was great last weekend, with 3 Taz cars running new personal best ETs. We were a bit low on numbers but as the year progresses and restrictions lighten we hope a few more of our cars will come out to play.

TAZ001 - Chris Skinner, red Fiat, 406 small block Chevy, has been running really well last year and this, just dipping into the 9’s now and then, naturally aspirated, but last weekend I added a 150hp shot of nitrous which resulted in a 9.31 at 147mph, the quickest and fastest it has ever gone in the 36 years I have owned the car.

TAZ002 - Mark Skinner, orange Fiat, fed up with his older brother Chris kicking his a***, has decided to change from his old small block Chevy to a LS motor with a single turbo which we are currently installing; he will be out next year and it will be pay back time.



TAZ003 - Lucy Skinner (Chris's daughter), blue Fiat, Toyota MR2 turbo powered, has run down into the high 11’s, she hasn’t been out for a couple of years but hopefully she will return this year.

TAZ005 - Adam Skinner (my nephew, Mark’s son), yellow Fiat (The Rat), Toyota MR2 turbo powered, Adam has upgraded and developed his engine and gearbox and it rewarded him with a new PB of 10.20/136mph although getting the car to keep on the track and stay in a straight line is a bit of a mission!

TAZ006 - Brian Nixon, Anglia (below, top left), naturally aspirated big block Chevy, Brian’s car really came together last week with a pair of 8.9s at 150mph and for a naturally aspirated car that is very good. Although Brian has had the help of Jeff Bull's expertise in putting his engine together; on that note Jeff has had a hand in a few of our cars.

TAZ007 - Kev Preston, Austin pickup (below, top right), small block Chevy 434 twin turbo, Kev is the quickest of the group running a 8.7 at 159mph so he is the one to chase although Brian is not far behind him.

TAZ 008 - Lee Denham, Ford Capri, 400 small block Chevy nitrous, has run a 9.26 at 149mph, but there’s a lot more to come. He has changed the rear to a ladder bar set up for better launches although if you have seen him I don’t think he needed to!

TAZ009 - Den Reynolds, Corvette , 434 nitrous, Den has had his car as long as I have and regularly uses it on the road, his best time on the track is 10.22 although he will now have to better that as Adam is now two hundredths in front of him and he won’t have that!



TAZ011 - Darren Scannell, Escort Cosworth (above, bottom left), anyone who goes to Santa Pod has got to know Darren’s car with his mad burnouts and nutty launches; he runs regular mid 9’s, but if he doesn’t its usually a broken gearbox, which if you watch him change gear, you will see why.

TAZ012 - Jeff Thurston, Mustang, big block Ford; Jeff’s the oldest of the gang but has the best reaction times, the car runs regular high 9’s and has done for a long time, a credit to its engine builder.

TAZ013 - Paul Bentley Corvette LS with Procharger; Paul has been building the car forever so that’s why you haven’t seen it ,nor have we!

TAZ014 - Dave Arnold, Pontiac, big block Chevy with Procharger, at the moment low 10’s but a lot lot more to come, Dave used to be with Surrey Muscle and we ended up adopting him!

TAZ015 - John Dewey, 57 Chevy, big block Chevy (above, bottom right), runs mid nines, I can only describe this car as immaculate, paint, engine, interior all great and goes well too, although being towed back to the pits in France a few years ago by a Fiat 126 didn’t do a lot for his street cred!

TAZ016 - Mark Thorogood, 100e Cosworth, ran a 10.9 a few years ago, but then had a argument with the Santa Pod barrier, now fully repaired and with a new bigger turbo should be out later this year.

TAZ017 - Paul Mags, Escort Cosworth, runs high 9’s; Paul is a newbie and the main reason he is with us is his wife makes exceedingly nice cakes.

So there you have it who drives what car and how fast ,we race for fun and most of the time we race between ourselves although if there’s any other groups out there who fancy a bit of match racing get in touch or come and have a chat at the track. We will be at the Retro show, possibly the Mopar Euronationals, VW Action/Doorslammers and Flame and Thunder, also maybe a Saturday Night Special sometime.

You can Kieran's video of the Taz cars in action in his Mk1Kieran Youtube channel by clicking on this link.

Young photographer submits.
3rd June: Many thanks to GCSE photographer Callum Fowler who has submitted a selection of shots from the startline grandstand last Saturday at VW Breakout, a couple of which we display below (Billy Jones (Gasser Circus) and Rob Nixon (Outlaw Anglia)):


Callum says "I use a Lumix and my iPad with Snapseed to edit and sometimes Photoshop. I would be delighted if you were to use my photos and publish them". Callum's photos show that angles from the grandstands are close enough to the action to give great detail, we look forward to receiving more photos from him in the future.

Festival of Power deadline tomorrow.
3rd June: Many thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us the latest version of the Festival of Power entry list, which shows 182 entries as of 7am this morning.

Teams are reminded that entry at standard fees closes tomorrow, 4th June.

Dragstalgia call to action.
3rd June: Many thanks to James Forster, Events Manager at Santa Pod Raceway, for sending details of the racer entry process for Dragstalgia 2021:

The 10th annual Dragstalgia is just over a month away and although it’s a year later than it was originally planned for, it looks like we’re finally going to be able to celebrate 10 years of the event on the 9th-11th July. Due to Covid restrictions, it’s not going to be the worldwide celebration we’d originally planned for 2020 but fortunately for us, we all know there’ll be one hell of a line-up from our homegrown entries alone. In a twist of fate it almost feels like the event has come full circle as International entries were few and far between in the first couple of years so we’re almost back to where it all began. We are now taking entries and will continue to do so up until Friday 2nd July so if you’re planning on coming along to take part, please do get your entry submitted ASAP at: racers.santapodtickets.com.

Please note that the “Pro Race Entry” option is for Cannonball and Slingshot Showdown entries only.

There is however a sooner deadline for anyone that doesn’t quite fit into one of our invited classes and that is for the Custom Car Invitational which makes a very welcome return to Dragstalgia 2021. As a staunch supporter of Dragstalgia since its inception in 2011, Custom Car magazine is excited to again be taking an active role in the event with the re-instatement of the Custom Car Invitational. After a brief hiatus at the 2020 event, which never happened, the Custom Car Invitational sessions are back to showcase some of the best vehicles from the UK to join the invited race classes in making some passes throughout the weekend. Apply for your spot by emailing details of your vehicle with an image, and current PB to 2021@dragstalgia.co.uk. Entries for the Custom Car Invitational must be submitted by Sunday 13th June and applicants will be notified soon after that whether they have been successful or not.

For further information and the full event line-up, please see santapod.co.uk/dragstalgia.php.

No Prep prep.
3rd June: Many thanks to No Prep Drag Racing organiser Paul Marston for sending racer requirements for the forthcoming race at Melbourne Raceway:

No Prep 4 at Melbourne Raceway happens later this month 19-20th June; it has all the signs of being the biggest No Prep event the country has ever seen. It is the very first No Prep Nationals to be held at Melbourne; we want to support Melbourne in any way we can to ensure its future survival for everyone to enjoy. Because a lot of competitors will be first time visitors, there are a few things that the competitors will have to do and need to know. Yes, the event will be all the usual features that make No Prep unique - flashlight start, no times, no speeds, 1/8th mile heads up racing with a lot of cash prize money to be won.

Big Tyre is on Saturday; all races will be drawn out of the hat, every single race will feature cash win money. The wins and losses will create a table, from which the top 16 cars with the most wins race in the main race Sunday and the cars that didn’t make the cut will race in a second chance race on Sunday. There will be trophies for both the main and the second chance race and cash prize money in the main Race. Small Tyre will be a little more traditional, Saturday features two practice hits, then straight into eliminations. Sunday is the same deal, two hits then into eliminations. There will be prizemoney for each day and trophies.

Event & license requirements

Every competitor has to be a member of the organising club, which in this case is Straightliners which you can join in 'Options' at the foot of the race entry booking.

Every competitor has to have a competition license; if you have an MSA License, that can be used. Otherwise you need to have a NORA92 License. Go on the NORA92 web site and you can purchase either a standard Straightliners license (National Basic - Adult Trials £20.00) or one with medical insurance (National Basic - Adult Competition £55.00)

Entry forms that everyone must fill in

Due to covid restrictions, everyone must go on the Straightliners web site and using promo code NOPREP40 and enter your details, plus you must list the details of your two allowed crew as well.

At the same time you can also enter other Melbourne Raceway classes if you so wish, although you will have a busy weekend racing in No Prep, so bear that in mind.

The forms must be filled in asap please. Your entry is already paid for but for covid reasons these forms are very important. We understand not all competitors do the internet so please spread the word to ensure everyone knows, that way they can get someone to do the form for them if required. This is why we have posted on Eurodragster.com in the hope that all competitors know about this.

We must thank our sponsors, Pro Modified star John Tebenham for putting up extra cash prizemoney for No Prep in Both Small Tyre and Big Tyre, same rules apply as ever with JT. The prizemoney is only paid if the event is completed and we have winners. No Prep competitor Gary Springford, through his company Drag Race Engineering is sponsoring all the Trophies in Big Tyre and Small Tyre. There will also be a special perpetual Trophy supplied by the Alder Barber Family in memory of their father Keith Alder-Barber who we tragically lost to covid earlier this year. Dave Caruso, who partnered Keith in the ownership of Heavy Chevy, will be competing in Big Tyre to honour big Keith's name.

Special thanks to all the PMR Crew who give up their time to marshal and help organise the event, could not do it without you guys. Lastly all the competitors who will make this event what it is, you simply are the show.

For extra crew tickets and spectator tickets please go to the Straightliners website and click on the Melbourne Raceway icon to book. A very big thank you to the Straightliners Organisation for hosting us.

Before it happens, I will apologise now for any mistakes we make, this is the first time that No Prep is attending what is essentially a brand new facility at Melbourne Raceway. No we won’t get everything right, there will be teething issues and there will be things that could have been done better, please be patient. We will learn and it will get better, don’t expect us to be perfect, but do expect a great show, the very fastest No Prep cars in the country and alot of people having a great time.

Gasser Circus at VW Breakout.
3rd June: Many thanks to Gasser Circus co-ordinator Nick Brooke Langham for sending a review of the class at VW Breakout:

What a triumphant return to Drag Racing in 2021, the VW Breakout event turned out to be, not just for the Gasser Circus but also the wider racing community. The sun gods agreed, blessing the entire weekend with copious quantities of sun and heat.

Strip action kicked off on Friday with a RWYB, with several of the Gasser Circus cars getting heavily involved. Unfortunately, the session was not without incident, the most damaging of these being when Ray Turner (below, left) in his Green Onions 55 Chevy, suffered damage to his new engine in the shutdown area. At times like this, it’s always hard to find a silver lining but one later came to light, as it could have been so much worse, as the seven quarts of oil that exited the engine, thank fully did not get under his slicks. However, there was a film of oil on the inside wall of them!


The Gasser Circus pits were rammed, the gathered Gassers included two new Gasser Circus Members, Billy Jones in his 37 Willys Coupe ‘Grumpy Grizz’ and the duo of Tom Margesson and John Gumble, with their eye catching ‘The Tinseltown Hustler’ Pop. The latter doing double duty like Ted Booth (above, right) in ‘The Mighty Mouse’ Pop, in Outlaw Anglia. Also in attendance was the aforementioned Ray Turner & Green Onions, Nick Barnett in the ‘B&G Racing’ Falcon, Tony Pearson and H in the ‘Guzzler’ 56 Chevy (below, left), Jason Hollamby in his ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ Falcon, myself and Jungle Pat with the Austin ‘Nogbad the Bad’ (below, right), Slick Mick Allen and his ‘Quick Buck’ Corvette, Ray Irish in his ‘Gas Junkie’ Willys pickup, Wobbly Graham Barton in his ‘High Anxiety’ Devon, Steve Matthews in ‘Honky Tonkin’ 57 Chevy, Lee Pike making a welcome return with ‘Honky Tonkin’ 2, one half of the Gibson brothers in the form of Brian with his ‘Identity Crisis’ Dodge, Paul Dominey now in sole ownership of the 640 Austin and current reigning champion Sean ‘Chili’ Milsom in his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ Morris van.

Saturday arrived and the fire up lanes were soon busy, with qualifying laying ahead. I think it is fair to say that most drivers were a little rusty but that was soon eradicated as everyone once again got to grips with their cars. Within the class, there were new combinations being put through their paces, with varying degrees of success. A new engine was not the exclusive domain for Ray Turner as Jason Hollamby was keen to get passes on his new 460ci engine, 11.87 was the kick off point. Steve Matthews showed once again his passion for racing in the Circus, with what was his 3rd Big Block Chevy in the past 18 months! Graham Barton was also keen to see what his new transmission and back axle would bring. 10.7 was the answer for Graham and for Steve is was a very pleasing 9.65 @ 136 mph.


Ray Irish did not receive his Dart block in time so had a stand in engine on duty this weekend which was not blown. So it was a new experience for him, especially on his final qualifying run of the day, as during the burnout he became aware of a strange vibration, highlighted by his shifter performing a shimmy. As he brought the Willys to the line the issue appeared cured, but ran a slow 11.74. Once back in the pits, he checked the car over and was rather surprised to see the bell housing on his transmission had a crack in it. On closer inspection the crack had gone from one side to the other. Thereby ending Ray’s racing weekend. He was not the only driver to miss out on Sunday, as Brian Gibson on his 3rd qualifying run rolled into stage, followed by his customary loading up the car (which can be seen via his back axle) and the moment he left the line the prop shaft UJ decide it had had enough of the strain and disintegrated, leaving the prop hanging down and Identity Crisis motionless on the startline.

Billy Jones and Tom Margesson had both announced their arrivals in the class ending their day with Billy posting a 10.72 and Tom an 11.04. Number 1 qualifier was Nick Barnett with a series of 11.44 runs on an 11.44 dial in, with Number 2 qualifier being Graham Barton. The ladder was set for Sunday, now the evening festivities could begin.

Santa Pod often organise a fly past or brief air display and at 22:52 on Saturday night those who looked skyward were treated to without doubt the fastest flypast seen at Santa Pod, as clearly visible in the dark sky was International Space Station as it orbited earth, scurrying above the sky at 17,000 mph! A rare treat to see it.

Sunday morning caught many unawares as it was bitterly cold and overcast, surely the weather was not about to turn. The sun soon burnt through and some very pink/sore spectators and racers could be seen nursing and regretting their lack of sun cream the previous day. In the Gasser Circus pits we had already lost three Gassers to mechanical gremlins, and it appeared this would soon be four. Jason Hollamby and his crew were battling an issue with their fuel regulator, and despite their best efforts, they could not control the flow of fuel and it was swamping the carb. Jason was telling me that he would have to withdraw as he only had a few minutes before Round 1 of Eliminations. Just then Dean Maudsley arrived in the pits driving his '37 Chevy gasser, and Jason joked with me that he could use Dean’s regulator. Suddenly, he realised what he had said, and Jason’s Pirate came rushing to the fore, and he and his crew had soon press ganged Dean into handing over his regulator. With swift work by the crew ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ was back in the game.


The breakages provided a few bye runs on the ladder, but it also provided some great pairings and of particular note were when it delivered two sets of twins, with two Pops and two Devon’s lining up against each other. Ted Booth taking on Tom Margesson who unfortunately red lit while Ted ran 10.59 and Graham Barton taking on yours truly. Graham thought he had also red lit, where in fact he had cut a good light consigning Nogbad to a defeat. Elsewhere, Tony Pearson took the win over Paul Dominey (above, right) with a stout 10.74, as Paul broke out, Lee Pike red lit against Jason Hollamby, and Billy Jones took the win against Steve Matthews when Steve couldn’t quite catch him. The breakage bye runs saw Sean Milsom, Mick Allen advance with Number 1 Qualifier Nick Barnett. Mick was keen to get as much seat time, as his he could as he was struggling to keep the Corvette running at anything under 3000 revs!

Billy Jones could not quite believe the debut weekend he was having in the Gasser Circus, and it just kept getting better. In the quarterfinals he was up against Ted Booth, and at the end of their race Billy had another win, running 10.57 on a 10.57 dial in. The next pairing had Jason Hollamby ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ burning out alongside ‘Guzzler’ with Tony Pearson at the wheel. Tony dialling a 10.65, Jason 11.79. At the gantry the win light went on in Jason’s lane as Tony had run a 10.64, such short margins is what drag racing is all about.

‘B&G Racing’ Falcon with Nick Barnett then took on Mick Allen, in his Corvette with the injection stacks shooting out of his engine bay. Mick ran through at 129 mph but Nick took the win running 11.50 on an 11.40 dial in. The final pairing pitted Sean ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ Milsom (above, left) against Graham Barton in his ‘High Anxiety’ Austin. Sean had dialled 10.09 and Graham 10.70, Sean knew it would be a close race, perhaps too close? The tree activated and as the cars left the line, a red bulb was lit, this one sitting squarely in Sean’s lane. Sean stayed on it and broke out just for good measure running 10.05!

With Honky Tonkin and Honky Tonkin 2 previously eliminated, Lee and Steve decided to have a grudge race (below left), for bragging rights, both cars performed their burnouts and left the line hard they were side by side but by three quarter track Lee was edging ahead, and stayed there taking the win with a stonking 8.91 @ 151 mph with Steve finishing with a great 9.62 @ 136 mph.


Now it was semi-final time the two pairings being Nick Barnett against Billy Jones, racing a car built originally and raced in the Circus by Nick and Ryan Welch. Graham Barton taking on Jason Hollamby. It turned out that both semi-finals were settled by break outs with first Billy running 10.51 to his 10.56 dial in and Jason running 11.74 to his 11.80. Billy was not down at all, as this was his best ET of the weekend.

The final pairing was arguably a reflection on qualifying as Number 1 and 2 brought their cars round (above right). Stout burnouts took place with Nick choosing to run the left hand lane. Graham was in his unflavoured right lane with the car being left hand drive. When the tree activated Nick was off, but there appeared a momentary hesitation from Graham, and although he gave it all he could, he could not get up with Nick who took the win with an 11.42 on an 11.40 dial in. Both drivers were well chuffed with their respective weekends work, but more than anything else we were all so pleased to be back racing with a superb group of Gasser racers, not to mention the great team at Santa Pod who keep us safe, fed and watered while at their venue. All that was left to do was to hand over the winners' cash and wicked trophy both from Neil Melliard (below), and the ‘Prest for time awards’. The best bit is we get to do it all again on the 19th June.


The Gasser Circus are delighted to continue their sponsorship with the National Street Rod Association and Neil Melliard’s Modern Pinstriping & Lettering, and introduce new sponsors Simon Prest and Renegade Fuels.

Gasser Circus – Racing the Dream.

Swift snippets.
3rd June: A very Happy 60th Birthday to Kjell Pettersson, former Track and Racing Operation Manager at Santa Pod Raceway and Race Director and event adviser at Mantorp Park and Tierp Arena. We hope you have a great day Kjell, and see you soon.

Breakout from Tight Fit.
2nd June: Many thanks to Wild Bunch dragster owner Russ Heaven, now based in Spain but still in touch with the British drag racing scene and son Steve Heaven who is currently running and driving the Tight Fit slingshot:

What a weekend, the sun shone and the dragster was ready after some major updates on the heads and fuel system. The engine had only been put back together the weekend before and was yet to be run. Thursday morning, Steve left Swindon in the tow truck to pick up the trailer only to have half the exhaust system fall off. While checking underneath, the truck he found out why his fuel mileage was so bad, there was a leak on the LPG system!

On Friday morning the dragster was fired up for the first time this year. It didn't sound right, lots of fettling with timing and fuel followed, but then disaster!...no oil pressure. The sump was removed and the oil pump checked - it had failed. So a run out to Topspeed Automitive and a new pump and gasket were purchased and fitted. The car was fired up and all was ok but the team had lost all of Friday's test day.


The first test run netted a 8.79 run with a new PB speed of 161.38 but another problem had reared its ugly head, oil was leaking out of the front of the valley gasket. The sealant that the team had used was out of date and had failed, so repairs were made but this meant sitting out the next run. The dragster was fired up again but there were more problems with the distributor, which was fixed eventually but that meant another missed run.

After that the car ran great. The team of Steve, Dave and Diana finished the meeting with a new PB of 8.32 and over 161 mph and came home with a hatful of trophies. The team would like to thank the Wild Bunch, especially Pete and Rob, for all their help, Diana for doing all the running around and, of course, all the crew at Santa Pod for making this a great meeting. Thank you also to Mr. Mopar himself, John O'Sullivan, for all his help and with the machining of our heads.

Wild Bunch Spring Nationals report posted.
2nd June: Wild Bunch co-ordinator Claire Meaddows has published brief news from the 'Spring Nationals' at VW Breakout to the Wild Bunch website.

The word 'brief' is actually a bit of an understatement, as Claire's race reports are very detailed and contain many snippets of racers' successes and getting over their disappointments. Being a lifestyle event, the Wild Bunch ran in qualifying to establish a fixed dial-in; Sunday's competition was to find out which racer gets closest to their dial-in on average. Here are the top four from Sunday to whom congratulations:

1st Place: Phil James in ‘Rampage’ 0.043 average
2nd Place: Matt Hollins in ‘Cheap Thrills’ 0.072 average
3rd Place: Graham Rawlings in ‘Little Digger’ 0.168 average
4th Place: Steve Heaven in ‘Tight Fit’ 0.177 average

See the Wild Bunch web site for all news about the class and its history as far back as its founding year 1995.

Speedfest slots available.
2nd June: Nostalgia Super Stock co-ordinator Don Scott has been in touch to mention that there are two available slots for his static drag car display at Brands Hatch Speedfest on 3rd and 4th July, Independence Day.

This event which should see full crowds, NASCAR style racing and a great atmosphere and doesn't clash with a Santa Pod NSS round, as their next race is at Dragstalgia a week later.

Talking of which, Don is hoping for a field of 50 cars meaning a 64 car ladder at Dragstalgia, and his own Superbird back in the thick of competition. "It had no major problems, although I had to be towed back from the start line due to the oil pressure switch suddenly started leaking from behind the dash, a five minute fix by Jack Bishop and then back out again, which I hope allays people's concerns that the 'Bird was out of the competition".

"I reckon we are the most exciting and fast growing class there is ... but then I would say that…".

Gredzinski new book to focus on '80s.
2nd June: Many thanks to photojournalist Mark Gredzinkski for letting us know about his new project:

"Just a quick thing about my drag racing book. Being as I'm called Accurate Dragster Publishing, I felt I'd better get on and do a drag racing book! Following the ongoing success of my truck book, Midnight Movers which has had only happy customers and positive reviews (I'm relieved to say - one never knows!) I intend doing a book for the end of the year. Its only in the planning stages but collating and scanning pictures has commenced.

"The emphasis will be on quality. I have had great feedback from purchasers of Midnight Movers I have a reputation to keep.. I've contacted my printer and priced it all up as it needs to be viable as I make my living doing this and I have more titles planned.

"It will cover drag racing in the 1980's which is sometimes a forgotten decade but had many significant aspects to it. Not to mention, cars and bikes too. At least 90 percent of the pics will not have been seen before, so it promises to be a book that most fans will relish!"

Mark promises more details later as work progresses and has sent a photo of Paul Manders' Mustang Funny Car from 1980 to whet our appetite.

Swift snippets.
2nd June: Happy Birthday to former Santa Pod Race Director, drag racing fan and Eurodragster.com team nutritionist Syd McDonald. Have a great day Syd and see you soon.

The SPRC club points have been updated with bike classes including Top Fuel Bike, Funny Bike, Super Street Bike, Comp Bike and Junior Drag Bike. Thanks to Yvonne Tramm for the updates which you can see by clicking here.

M&Ms at Springspeed Nationals.
1st June: Many thanks to Michelle and Mark Turner, aka M&M Racing, for sending us an exclusive report on the successful conclusion to Mark's licensing for Super Pro ET at the Springspeed Nationals.

Ok, so we are week in from STP Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway and it can only be described as a exhilarating and frustrating weekend! Having arrived and got the pit setup on Thursday afternoon, after a very windy night Friday dawned wet and windy. We took down what remained of the 'heavy duty' gazebo and prayed for the dry spell in the weather that never came. The plan had been to complete Mark's licensing runs and then turn the engine up to see what the car would run before qualifying, the weather had other ideas and the day was called in the early afternoon.

Saturday started dry and a lot less windy we warmed the car and got it ready for qualifying and to complete the required licensing half pass with a parachute release. With Mum and family watching on from the grandstands we had zero drama on this one apart from the cherry on the tree, we qualified 16th. So back to the pits and from looking at the timing ticket we made some adjustments to the engine and picked up the launch rpm, again the weather had other ideas and the day was called at about 4pm.


On to Sunday and we were told that there would be another shot at qualifying before going on to eliminations. So with a few things turned up we went out with a few goals first for Mark to complete his first full pass and get his licence and to solidify our qualifying position. Dialed in with an educated guess 8.75, Mark performed a perfect burnout and rolled into stage; he cut an 0.03 light and a solid 9.47 to get back his 16 spot.

Back in pits talking with John and Lesley Wright, we thought something didn't look right with the timing ticket which prompted us to take an extra careful look over the motor, at this point it was spotted that we had only been getting about 75% throttle due to the setup on the carb linkage. Adjustments were made akin to removing the training wheels from the car and we were ready for our round 1 race against Dave Russell in the van with no name but again the weather had other plans and the event was called.

So here we are with the accidental throttle stops removed, the launch turned up and the driver legal to race but we will have to wait for the Festival of power to see what the car is capable of running. Grateful thanks go out to John and Lesley Wright, Luke 'pro-jack' Shakeshaft, Paul and Dave and Michelle for keeping us all fed and watered and for the great camera work on the start.

Post-Springspeed points posted.
1st June: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm for forwarding the latest points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championhips and SPRC Club Championships after the STP Springspeed Nationals. You can check out the UK and SPRC points on our points standing pages by clicking here, or by clicking the Points Standings link under News in the main menu above.

Points for ACU bike classes will be published at a later date.

VW Breakout racer snippets.
1st June: A much appreciated VW Breakout came to a successful conclusion on Sunday 30th May at Santa Pod Raceway. Following yesterday's results and our full event coverage, today we focus on the racers who either sent in, or posted on social media, their comments.

Nostalgia Funny Car driver Andy Raw (below left) said "Wow, what can I say, VW Breakout, what an absolutely brilliant lifestyle event - we learned a lot with the Nitro Bug as we have made some big changes to the car. I can’t thank enough our dedicated crew, these boys and girls worked tirelessly the whole weekend, and even managed to put an unplanned extra run at the end of the meeting to close the show. Thanks to our sponsors for making this possible, Cool Flo, Fastec Racing Ltd, Lite-Steer, TSR engine conversions and Jason Phelps of FGR Motorsport".


The quickest Supercharged Outlaws racer on site was Robbie Grabham (above right) in the Freddie's Revenge blown alky altered at 7.055/193. The team have sorted the machine to the point that talented driver Robbie can handle it with confidence. The team remarked "With PB’s being set on every increment on the track we are all chuffed as nuts. I’d just like to thank everyone who congratulated or wished us well over the weekend, the response we have had from everyone has been fantastic!"

Fellow alky altered competitior Gary Parkes said "What a fantastic week end we had, a new PB 7.8/176 mph; thanks to all at Supercharged Outlaws for their help and advice. We had a few issues, severe bouncing and nearly ending upside down after the finish, big thank you to all the Santa pod safety crew and ambulance. Then the rear wing decided to leave the cage and smash into the rear body And after all that, getting ready for the last run we couldn’t get any oil pressure. On investigation in the workshop on Monday the team turned the engine over and had full oil pressure. That’s a relief for us sorted out other issues brakes etc and now to building a new rear wing I do need a 12 foot parachute if anyone has one. A big thanks to Carl Bergfeld in making it all happen to get into the sevens and thanks to Christy Bergfeld and Chrissy Parkes".

You can see Outlaw Anglia racer Jedd Guy's report yesterday, wife Jemma added "We were so chuffed for our customers and fellow racers Mick Taylor and Colin Millar who came away from VW Breakout as Winner (Mick) and Runner Up (Colin). Mick came to us over winter for some new bigger headers to be put together for him and for some other bits to be mounted. Colin had a new four link, new track locator and we mounted the new wing and twin chutes".

Brian Nixon wrote following a successful OA race for brother Rob Nixon (below left). "This was probably the best weekend I've ever had in 50 years of attending race meetings at Santa Pod. It was hard the imagine the car hadn't even been started since last year until Tuesday. The new artwork was literally still wet, having only being added by the incredibly talented Sam Trench who managed to fit me in at the last moment and completely got what I was looking for. We honestly didn't think that Saturday's qualifying high could have been topped, but there you go, and we got all the way to the sportsman finals. I have to thank my wife Alison who puts up with and supports me, Rob Nixon who knows no fear and always has the answer, and Donna Nixon our chief entertainment officer for her boundless enthusiasm. Thanks to all the OA family".

Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster (below right) was the quickest OA at 7.15 and showed visible improvement in avoiding tyre shake for the first couple of hundred feet, who knows what would have happened if he had more runs?


Fellow racer Doug McClure said "First time ever racing for me, what an absolute amazing weekend. I’d like to thank everyone who helped me. I’d also like to say I was made very welcome by everyone. A big thanks to Mark Bracking and Rachael Raych Hamilton and Matthew Mcclure. Roll on Dragstalgia weekend, well done everyone!

Less lucky with various engine woes were Peter Butler, Adam Cuthbert Gary Bird and Ben Kennedy; we hope they can return to the track asap.

Class co-ordinator Don Scott (below right) summed up Nostalgia Super Stock: What a weekend, lovely weather and a fantastic array of race cars and racers, loads of PB's all weekend and some fantastic close racing as always.

Starting off, well done to Dave Billadeau (below left) for taking the win, and Rob Tyrrell taking the runner up spot, well done both, a fantastic effort. Well done to everyone that took part and made this class what it is, the most exciting and fast growing class there is, and looking forward I can see it only getting better.

Commiserations to those that suffered breakdowns and failures, sadly there were a few this weekend, a racer's car on the trailer during an event is not good to see but inevitably part of this sport we love so much. I hope you guys get the problems sorted in time for Dragstalgia. Many thanks to Andrew Bishop for all the running around to get all the pairings sorted.


Finally, many thanks to my crew Yvonne O'Rourke and Grace Roaf and Grace's friend Dave for all the help etc, the 'Bird ran strong but with 19.2 slippage through the drive train due to a failing converter it was never going to be that consistent, but i got through a couple of rounds of eliminations before being put on the trailer by Dave. Thanks also to Jack Bishop for sorting out a broken oil pressure switch for me.

Dragstalgia is in around five weeks time I believe, so lets get ready to put on another great performance with what I believe will be a huge field of cars ... see you all there!

Gary Carr, one of the quicker runners and getting close to the 8.90 cut off for the class said " It was my first ever competitive bracket run in my life and I went out in first round, I’ve got a lot of learning to do and looking forward to the challenge with a great bunch in UK Nostalgia Superstock Thanks for an awesome weekend.

Jacob Kopasz returned to the track to race in VW Heads Up six years after his last Junior Dragster race, in a Golf Mk4 with fellow ex JD racer Rhiannon Bellenie on the crew, however Jacob was not able to make the 11.99 cutoff for competition, running a best of 13.830/102. Dad Bruce Kopasz in a Porsche 924 suffered the same fate, with a best of 12.504/121, as did three other racers.

Dave Lea (below left) of 15 Degree Racing in a nitrous VR6 engined Golf, sporting a new CG motorsport clutch, qualified 13th, just below the cutoff with a 11.801/119, but during eliminations showed more consistency and reliability than his peers. In round 1, Dave was the recipient of a bye-run when Adrian Solly's R32 turbo Audi A3 suffered multiple gearbox breakages. You can see a video account of the Adrian's L8 Goose woes by crew member and VW Up! racer Charlie Roberts via Youtube.


In the second round Dave again benefited from a bye run when Jacob Bailey's turbo VR6 Jetta was a no show, suffering a broken drive shaft. Gaining in confidence, Dave ran new PB of 11.403/119, realising he was already into the final with a 'competition bye' from the 13 car ladder.

On the other half of the ladder, Richie Webb (above right) in his RJ Volks Performance Beetle Cabriolet qualified first with 9.400/143, then had a bye in round one (9.830/137), a defeat of Graham Fairhead's Type 3 Fastback in round two (9.301/151), and then really turned it on in the semi final with a 8.165/164.87 defeat of Paul Jordan's Polo.

But in the final Richie suffered breakage meaning Dave singled to a 11.998 for the win, to show that reliability and consistency were the key to winning this heads up race.

There were some outstanding passes from the large Run What Ya Brung contingent. A group of twelve Wild Bunch cars ran their own class within the RWYB and were joined by many VWs, Outlaw Street and Taz Racing. Outlaw Street racer Simon Paul (below left) sent us this account of his weekend:

"I had a great day at the VW Breakdown event at Santa Pod on Saturday. I just did one run in the morning RWYB session in my Nissan GT-R - but what a run it was! I got a great launch with a PB 60ft time of 1.5443 and went on to break into the 9 second zone for the 1st time with 9.8465 @ 142.47mph! It is 45 years since I made my 1st run at Santa Pod on 28 March 1976 - so this was a great way to celebrate this anniversary!"


Others with notable runs included Russ Pursley (above right) and his 434ci SBC V8 powered Dutton Phaeton kit car which ran down into the eights (8.7454/151.12), a string of runs for Steve Mitchell in Snow White (best 9.5739) and Dominic Sharpe's Firebird which went into the nines 9.7916/140.79. Three Taz Racing cars had PBs, Brian Nixon (Black 105E) 8.93/150, Chris Skinner (Red Fiat 126) 9.31/147 and Adam Skinner (Yellow Fiat 'The Rat') 10.20/136. On the VW side Dave Crowhust brought back the rebuilt Wanger, now showing Carbuilder.com lettering and running down to 9.9211/132.55 on its first time out.

More photographs of action from VW Breakout are from Alice Fairhead, a sample of whose work you can see at the AF Photography Facebook page. Alice says "I have got around 1500 photos in total so more are available if people are interested." You will be able to contact Alice using Facebook Messenger, via her e-mail afphotographyalice@gmail.com or by mobile phone on 07413 088768.


Earlier news