Flame and Thunder Show coverage. 31st October: The Eurodragster.com team are in place at Santa Pod Raceway to bring you the action from today's (Saturday's) Flame and Thunder Show in association with John Woolfe Racing. Our coverage will consist of an end-day gallery, and the Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast will be on-line broadcasting live video and commentary / Nitro FM audio feed so long as the track is open. As ever our webcast streaming services are provided by Doyousee.me but today we must say a special Thank You to Maikel Gloudemans for going above and beyond to make this broadcast possible. You can check out our Flame and Thunder Show Event Index, which as well as links to the gallery and webcast contains links to today's provisional running order, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Wright goes Super Pro. 31st October: Paul Marston Racing have announced that, having sold his Honda Civic courtesy of Eurodragster.com's Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet, multiple UK National and Club Sportsman ET Champion Craig Wright will be driving their four-link dragster in Super Pro ET at selected events in 2016. Paul Marston writes: The off-season has already started with its usual shuffling of classes, drivers and race cars, as you would expect in a healthy Championship. Craig upgraded his competition licence for Super Pro ET in Joe Kellett's Drummin' Man dragster at the end of the season just before it was sold to Tyler and Steve Ashdown; Tyler will drive the dragster in Super Comp in 2016. Got all of that so far? Great! We can now reveal exclusively on Eurodragster.com that Craig will pilot the Paul Marston Racing Miller four-link dragster in Super Pro ET in 2016. It will currently be a limited schedule as Craig continues the quest for sponsors but there is every hope that this will eventually expand to a full event schedule of five events at Santa Pod Raceway and lead to an assault on the Santa Pod Racers Club Super Pro ET Championship. Everyone at Paul Marston Racing is looking forward to having Craig race with us as we feel that Craig will be a perfect fit. He brings with him an impressive resumé of past achievements and has a good skill set which he can apply to Super Pro ET, the premier Sportsman class in the UK National Championships. Craig has yet to undergo the customary blood and fire initiation, but ass he is a professional fireman we felt that he could probably fare well in putting himself out and won't need any outside help. Any burn injuries will probably have started healing after he is buried alive for a week. Only joking! It's actually only three days. All of this will take place in the off-season so any physical scarring should have died down by Easter, however the mental scaring should still be fresh. Craig has also had explained to him the relevance of the spade which Mick Howling always carries! Stay tuned for more PMR news here on Eurodragster.com including a feature on Paul Marston's latest Stateside trip. Swift snippets. 31st October: Thanks to Ian King for letting us know that the final points standings in the 2015 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. Ian asked us to thank Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and our own Simon for their assistance this year. Speedgroup appointments. 30th October: Speedgroup PR Micke Nordlund has been in touch with news of new appointments within the organisation: The Board of Directors have decided to implement two new marketing functions in order to strengthen the organisation of our marketing. The Motorcycle Division representative is Roger Lyrén who can be reached at roger.lyren@speedgroup.eu or mobile +46 706 245077. The Automotive Division representative is Leif Andréasson who can be reached at leif.andreasson@speedgroup.eu or mobile +46 705 559166. Speedgroup is also continuing to build its organisation to develop European Drag Racing. We announce three more resources with extraordinary competence and many years of experience within European drag racing: Mats Eriksson as Senior Technical Advisor for the Automotive Division. Mats is a certified chassis builder and is a member of the SFI Committee. He is also certified by FIA. Anders Karling as Senior Technical Advisor for the Motorcycle Division. Anders is one of the most experienced drag bike engineers and technical designers / builders. Kjell Pettersson as Senior Advisor. Kjell is a certified FIA track inspector, track preparation specialist, Race Director and Championship racing organiser. Speedgroup is grateful to have these representatives on board to meet future commitments for both the business and operation of European Drag Racing. Åsa Kinnemar adds that booking closes this Sunday (1st November) for the Speedgroup Banquet which takes place at 19:00 (check-in commences 17:30) on Saturday 28th November at the Scandic Hotel Infra City in Upplands Väsby, North Stockholm. Four hundred guests have already signed up to attend but there is room for more. As well as dinner, the top three racers in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships, EDRS Series and EDRS Pro Nordic MC Championship will be presented with their trophies as well as Swedish Drag Bike Federation awards for the Swedish and Nordic Championships and Speedgroup Special Awards. A band will play after the presentation. Tickets are SEK 695 per person or SEK195 for children under twelve. Click here for more information, or to make your booking click here. In the afternoon before the Banquet Speedgroup will be hosting information meetings with the latest news about the 2016 season and Speedgroup activities and projects. An English-language meeting will be held between 13:00 and 14:00, and Swedish-language between 14:30 and 15:30. The meetings are open to race teams and officials; signing up is not necessary. Swift snippets. 30th October: Good luck and stay safe to our European heroes Noah Stutz (Top Fuel Dragster), Kalle Lyrén, Robert Karlsson (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences, Manty Bugeja (Top Alcohol Dragster), Jonnie Lindberg, Ulf Leanders, Rob Turner (Top Alcohol Funny Car) and Colin Millar (Super Comp) all of whom are contesting this weekend's Toyota NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. Qualifying continues today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with the European invasion courtesy of Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. Staying with the NHRA Las Vegas race, our good buddy Spencer Tramm kindly got in touch from the pits at The Strip at Las Vegas to let us know that he had spotted injected-nitro legend Krister Johansson assisting in the Leanders Brothers' Top Methanol FC pit and that at time of contact (Thursday night UK time) the Mister Whippy Top Methanol Dragster rig had not yet turned up having been delayed in customs. Syko's last ride. 30th October: Graham Sykes says that his Syko V8-powered Drag Trike will be making its last run at tomorrow's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway: The Trike started out as a two-wheeler back in 1991 and has seen many guises throughout the twenty four years of its career. The trike has been raced and shown throughout Europe and always attracts a crowd because it is so different. We have taken it to all sorts of exhibitions and shows including an exhibition run up the sea front at Douglas IOM TT Mad Sunday in 1995 and even doing a burnout beneath the nose of Concorde at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. The pinnacle of the Syko's career was breaking the British Land Speed Record for three-wheelers for a second time at Elvington in May of this year with a top speed of 180.7 mph. All this with a 1970s pushrod engine on petrol, points and carburettor. No blowers, Nitro, nitrous or fairing - just brute force, and lots of fun. We have achieved everything we set out to do with Syko and it is now time to move onto pastures new with an exiting new project in the offing. I would like this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped with the bike throughout the years. Syko will no doubt be making an appearance in Eurodragster.com's John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Flame and Thunder Show coverage. Current plans are for an end-day gallery from Kirstie and Julian, and a Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast featuring live video and commentary / Nitro FM audio feed so long as the track is open. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences. Jordan's new sponsor. 29th October: UK Junior Dragster racer Jordan Payne is excited about appearing at Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway, especially as he has a main sponsor to represent: This will be a great finale to my first year running in Junior Dragster. I will be able to meet up with friends from the track whom I haven't seen for several weeks, since the European Finals. I am pleased to announce that Goodridge have approached me and will be supporting me as a title sponsor this weekend. Goodridge specialise in Fluid Transfer Systems and are recognised as the world's leading manufacturer of performance brake, clutch and fuel hoses, and also hose fittings. They supply products to the OEM, automotive, motorcycle, motorsport, defence, and other specialist industries. Ian Goldie, owner of Cam Auto Developments, has been the UK's leading distributor of Goodridge products for over twenty years, and has been given the responsibility of creating and running the UK's direct on-line store for Goodridge performance products at www.goodridge.co.uk During the break between events I have freshened up the car including refurbishing the clutch and doing lots of polishing, getting it ready for the weekend. I am looking forward to meeting up with my sponsors who are visiting the track on Saturday, and I am also very proud that the car is wearing the Goodridge logo. Thanks to all of my sponsors Goodridge, Nimbus Motorsport, CAM Auto Developments, CTR Developments, Mantis Web, Windrush Roofing, Water Wise Plumbing, Get Embroidered and Curbishley Automotive. Read adds to the Thunder. 29th October: We were very pleased to hear from the UK's Robin Read that his nitro-burning Daimler-powered dragster will be appearing at Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. Robin writes: We are testing several parts and ideas in preparation for the new car - which is progressing, albeit slowly - as well as hoping to run quicker than its 6.81 world record. It would be a lovely tribute to the "old" car to run its best ET. We had developed a tune-up for the Top Sportsman event earlier this year but had not been able to realise its full potential. We suffered some oil pressure issues at that event, which were caused by alterations to the lubrication system in an effort to prevent unacceptable wear of the camshaft and lifters, not realising just how close we were to the edge of the original oil pump's capability. We now have a highly-modified oil pump which during testing appears to have solved the problems. Hopefully the weather will be kind to the event and the good air coupled with Santa Pod's legendary track preparation will see that 6.81 bettered. Thank you to Bertie Hopkinson - without Bertie's engineering and enthusiasm life would be much more difficult, we have to manufacture everything as there is nothing available "Off the shelf "; Ella Chapman for being patient with my endless hours in the workshop and dogged determination to keep the little car alive; Mark Evans and Bill Mears for their support and loyalty; my brother Tim for all the hard work he has put in alongside me; and James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway for making things possible. Swift snippets. 29th October: Ben Barnwell tells us that the Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Annual Awards Evening for the 2015 season takes place on Saturday 23rd January 2016 at the Brandon Hall Hotel, Coventry. For more details or for a booking form E-Mail Ben at benbarneyy@gmail.com or call 07526 443043. Popular Pop. 29th October: Simon Barlow and the UK's Orange Pop Outlaw Anglia team have been flying the flag for drag racing to a highly receptive audience, and whilst there on Tuesday took the opportunity to reveal a new target. Team member Martin writes: The Orange Pop Team were invited to attend Warwick University by the team at Warwick Manufacturing Group. Students have built and continue to develop a single seat race car and were keen to learn about drag racing, and to learn from our racing experience and exploits.Warwick University has a fantastic worldwide reputation and benefits from involvement on-site from Jaguar Landrover. The team were shown building in progress on campus of the new National Automotive Innovation Centre, costing one hundred million pounds! The team put on a static display of both cars on the piazza of the main campus and countless students, lecturers and visitors approached the team to ask about the cars and drag racing in general. Many of the assembled crowd expressed an interest in attending a drag strip in the future and advice was duly given to these new converts. The team fired up the engine twice during the day and this attracted even more people over to the display. Later in the day, one visitor remarked that he had heard the car from the other side of the campus and had come to see what all the noise was! At 1:00 pm the team headed to a lecture theatre within the extensive WMG building on campus and proceeded to give a talk to around eighty students, which was very well received indeed. The team took the opportunity to officially announce our intention to build a new engine and attempt the Outlaw Anglia world record in 2017. The team will be promoting the car throughout the 2016 season and hope to be in a position to test in the later half of 2016. Owner/driver Simon made a presentation of a signed A3 sized canvas of both cars at the end of the event, in addition to donating one of the engine's old damaged pistons which was well received. As a result of the team's attendance, and contacts made during the visit, the University has invited us back as a headline act to other planned automotive themed events in the near future. The Orange Pop Drag Race Team wish to thank all those involved in making our visit a most memorable and pleasurable experience. Never too old for 555 ci... 29th October: Nigel Taylor writes that Arthur Bonner will again be piloting the Detroit Spinner Ford Prefect in 2016 when it returns from major engine surgery: Arthur Bonner built the Detroit Spinner back in the early 1970. After searching the London American scrapyard for a Hemi, he came away with a Pontiac 400 motor which he developed over the next few years to go faster and faster, eventually ending up running the 1.5 ton, garden homebuilt car to 113 mph in 11.7 seconds. Arthur made a lot of friends along the way racing at Blackbushe, Santa Pod and Long Marston Raceways and became a very popular figure. People got used to seeing the Detroit Spinner time and time again, eventually the car ended up in a tumble sending it on its roof. Arthur rebuilt the car yet again and back he came. People got to know him and the car until his funds and his enthusiasm dried up a bit after some teething problems within the fuel system. The car sat in a garage for twenty years and then Arthur sold it to me, I rebuilt it with the help of many sponsors and surprised Arthur by asking him if he would still be prepared to drive it? Big grin, excitement and the deal was done. In 2014 the car was rebuilt and back on the strip, back into the elevens. In 2015 a sniff of nitrous helped the car to go 11.8 at 120 mph until engine disaster struck. In 2016 the Detroit Spinner will have a new powerplant, a 555 ci / 9.1 litre Dart engine, approximately 800 bhp without nitrous and Arthur at the age of 74-75 will pilot the car yet again along with me. The support for this car and the people who have already got involved already have amazed us, and it has been great to get new people involved whilst some old faces have also returned to the scene, some big companies and magazines have supported us. You may recognise some names below. We would like to thank all of our sponsors, some great people have been involved with the rebuild and the step up in power: Sophie Taylor, Elisha Taylor, Mackenzie Taylor, Fletcher Taylor, Joshua Taylor, Arthur Bonner, Graham True, Kelvin Helsdown, KH Refrigeration, Andy Frost, Penn Autos, Graham Smith, Sercks Motorsport, Jeff Goddard, Steve Dale, Paul Dale, PDH Loft Conversions, Nick Dunford, Peter Borrett, Saunashop.com, Cliff Hepton, American Motor Factors, Justin Horne, Joust Performance and Recovery, Mark Gardner, On The Bottle Nitrous Supplies, Michael Hawkins, Get Plastered, Clacys Garage, Bob Hancox, Chris Cotten, Cindy Cotten, Ben Waldron, Leslie Waldron, Col Law, Dave Fulton, Allens Car and Van Hire - Tadley, Stuart Ashton, Rob Gregory, Edward Ede, Kirsty Cleall, Stephen Lowth, Tom Mitty, Steve Marshall, Mandy Darlison, Danny Mitty, Mick Patey, Richard Hicks, Neil Gibbs, James Gilmour, William Underhill, Mark Timson, Shakespeare County Raceway, The Flying Fyfer Drag Racing Team - Colin Millar, Andover Trailers, Richy Barnett and Anita Lowth. Check out the Detroit Spinner Racing Facebook page for all our sponsors and how you can get involved. Are you sitting comfortably? 29th October: Bob Roberts writes that Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars has become a dealer for Racetech seats: New Zealand-based Racetech offer a complete range of race seats but it's their 119 and 129 ranges which offer some special capabilities. In addition to the usual reinforcement found in Pro-class seats these have a top mount built into the structure which enables the seat to be more rigidly mounted to the frame of the car enhancing driver safety and providing better information to the seat of the driver's pants. The illustration shows one way in which this mount can be attached to the roll cage and how the structure also supports the head and shoulder restraint / padding. This is of particular interest in drag racing applications because it offers an alternative way of providing the additional head restraint padding required in the faster classes. The 119 and 129 ranges come in a variety of sizes and styles to suit many applications. Full details available at www.racetecheurope.co. To discuss applications call Andy Robinson Race Cars on 01256 880589 or E-Mail robinson_racecar@yahoo.co.uk or come and look at a couple of sample seats. Feature: CHRR gallery. 27th October: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products is a gallery of one hundred of Simon's pictures from the weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion. You can check out Simon's shots from Bakersfield by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 27th October: Regular readers will know that UK Super Pro ET racer Brad Jackson and dad Wayne will be working on one of the Muy Caliente / Lucas Oil Jet Dragsters in Las Vegas this week. Wayne tells us that he will be keeping a daily Blog which you will be able to check out at jetcar.bradjacksonracing.com. Dos Palmas restoration complete. 26th October: Simon writes that amongst the many historic cars present at the California Hot Rod Reunion was is one of particular significance to UK drag racing: The fully restored Dos Palmas dragster was on display at Famoso Raceway. The Tommy Ivo-chassised car was raced by the late Bob Keith at the 1964 Dragfest, run by the Croft Drag Racing Partnership from 1965 and US Bill Weichelt in 1970 (as Asmodeus) before Bill returned it to the US and it was thought lost. The restoration was carried out by original engine builder Arnold Chaves who was contacted by Ray Evernham, a senior member of the Hendricks Motorsport NASCAR team, after Ray had found the car by accident. Arnold said "Ray went to buy some Arden stuff from a flathead racer in Virginia and saw the car and bought it. It had disappeared for forty five years." The chassis was complete and the aluminium body intact. Arnold said "It only cost three hundred dollars for the body to be cleaned up by Jack Hagemann Jnr, son of original fabricator Jack Hagemann Snr, and then it was repainted by hand with the name on the original, Dos Palmos, corrected to Dos Palmas, the name of Arnold's original workshop which had palm trees at the entrance." A Kent Fuller-chassied dragster Bob and partners Gary Goodnight and Maurice Williamson took to the 1965 Dragfest with an Arnold Chaves Chrysler was also shipped to Australia in 1966 as the Courtesy Chevrolet Special, on that occasion powered by the world's first supercharged Big Block Chevy. In 2011 the Courtesy Chevrolet Special was rebuilt by Bob Keith and Aussie partner Lex Swayn around the original Hagemann body, using a new Kent Fuller chassis and an Arnold Chaves big block Chev. Bob Keith kept in touch with the restoration of the Dos Palmas dragster until his passing in July of this year. Ray Evernham attended the CHRR on Saturday and steered the car down the return road with cameras mounted for a planned episode of the TV show AmeriCarna. The group photo also includes relatives of original Dos Palmas team member Gary Goodnight. For more background on this iconic dragster you can see an excellent article on Chris Dossett's Trakbytes site including a diary, with historic documents, of the car while it was in the UK. Check it out at www.trakbytes.co.uk/dospalmos.html. CHRR pit notes II. 26th October: As if the above great news was not enough, Simon has also compiled us a second set of pit notes from the California Hot Rod Reunion: UK Super Pro ET racer Martyn 'Syd' Jones has been crewing for the 7.0 Pro team headed up by Joe Percoco of Conifer, Colorado. Syd said "I attended the Dallas event and saw Tom Conway who has been giving advice to me. Joe is a friend and he asked me to help him and his blown alky altered Bat Outta Hell has run 6.5s in Denver where the air is not as good due to the altitude. So Joe had to do the same as me and lift well before the finish line". Joe qualified fourth of thirty four with a 7.013 at only 150 mph and went through one round of eliminations. The team picture shows Syd, Joe and crew members Lori and Les Culliton. Colin Millar, carrying the Scottish and American flags on the Flyin' Fyfer Anglia, told us he has been delighted with the reception he has had at Bakersfield. He said "I became Facebook friends with Jim Fissel, an A/Gas racer who runs an Anglia, and has given me a lot of help and will be crewing in Las Vegas, where we will be running Super Comp on a 9.05 altitude-adjusted index. Paul Wright has also been helping with the tuning and the car has been running problem-free, he will be with us at Las Vegas before he travels to Arizona for the Hot Rod Drag Weekend. Thanks also to John Howard who has helped with storage and sourcing a motor home and to Mike Reiss, NHRA's West Coast Race Director for help with entry. Colin was honoured to be able to spread from his parachute the ashes of local race fan and desert racer Bill Morris, a friend of John Howard. We caught up with Pro Modified racer Sean Renteria whose family is Irish. Sean runs a blown Camaro in the seven-race West Coast Outlaw Pro Mods series with help from son Jake. He said "My home track is Infineon Raceway and we are allowed to run a C Rotor PSI screw blower; our best ET is 5.85/254. These cars are hard to control and I was pleased to be quickest in the first session with a 5.94/245." Many thanks to Bob and Sharon Muravez for their hospitality and enabling your reporter to announce the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala on the Famoso PA, and to Robin and Orah Mae Millar of Laff Yer Asphalt for refreshment and shade. Smax enters NHRA fray. 26th October: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith has been in touch with an account of his foray into NHRA Top Fuel Dragster with the Leverich family at the Keystone Nationals in Reading: Credit has to go to the Leverich family, Gary and Bob (dad) who work tirelessly to keep this deal alive. Taking out a loan to finally buy an NHRA-legal chassis was a huge step for the team. We had plans to do some races with other guys paying to try to get some money back, but a string of poor fortune set us back - one thing being a stupid O-ring fell out of the fuel funnel and ended up going through the motor! This had dire consequences as, apart from tiny bits of rubber compromising check valves etc, we had two gigs not performing nor getting paid. Then a stuck throttle had one driver rolling the car at the top end, this was a gentle roll but damaged both wings so they had to buy a used front wing for $5500 and the rear repair was $1500. At that point I thought we were done but Gary wanted to turn all this misfortune around and as I had just acquired my NHRA Top Fuel licence (my other was IHRA) he single-mindedly took this as a sign to pull off the biggest gamble of his racing life and go to Pennsylvania! The mission was simply to qualify and get some of the huge investment back so we have a team for next year; if we didn't then Gary was in debt and done racing. The upgrades and costs were phenomenal: with the Electrimotion shut-off we had to get all the necessary equipment put on the car, get our reverser upgraded as it is mandatory to have Neutral now, new valve covers (ours illegal), all mags re-certified, every fuel line tested and tagged, chassis re-tagged, fit the new front wing, new manifold blankets. Then we needed drive lugs (since Antron Brown's wheel came off and killed someone) which were $3500 used then needed a different shaft to drive them! All this in just three weeks. Then I had to have the inflatable helmet lifter fitted and recertify my R3 neck restraint etc. Then we found that Aidan's passport had expired so panic to get that sorted as it was not an option not to have him there as he does clutch for us, but more importantly oversees the team and gets me feeling great in the car and stages the car correctly - he's just a natural all-rounder! So Gary and Bob drove down Wednesday, and Aidan and Jake (who does a perfect job of the bottom end) wnt Friday, so I went with team-mate Dan and his girlfriend in his new Chevy truck early on Thursday morning. It was a great drive through the mountains and good brekky cooked by the only person there, but then it started raining! It rained all of Thursday and all of Friday so we were down to two chances on Saturday. Things were tense. Gary tuned the car but we decided that I would shut off and just qualify sixteenth to get the money and try to save the motor for raceday as we have no spare block and hardly any other spares. What transpired was quite extraordinary. I was first pair against Dom Lagana so after a  great launch and our best sixty foot of 0.861 I reluctantly lifted as Dom shook badly and clicked it off, but we were in the show. What I didn't expect was that most of the Pro teams failed to figure out the track and it was most likely the worst field in history - with me qualifying tenth at 69 mph! Only three teams got down track - Brittany Force was first, Leah Pritchett second and Terry McMillen but he crossed the centre line and was DQ'd. Then it rained again and the last session was cancelled. In the first round I faced Ritchie Crampton in the Lucas Oil car. We had a good car for raceday so not wanting to redlight I had a poor reaction time, but then we rocketed away on a great run but suddenly the car shut off - I was ahead as Ritchie blew his motor big time so I was yelling into the radio to Aidan as I knew a belth hadn't come off. Aidan thought a fuel line had come loose as fuel sprayed into the air but it turned out that a snap ring came out of the barrel valve and blew fuel out costing me the win. NHRA that said we did a great job and that they would be happy to have us back. Wow! So on reflection if we had run the car as normal we would have still qualified third with the snapring coming out and who knows what would have happened on raceday! I met and chatted with some really cool people like Robert Hight, Aaron Brookes (only to remind him he dodged a bullet as he's Crew Chief for Ritchie), Don Schumacher and Tim Wilkerson who gave us tyres as NHRA failed ours after qualifying. Then I was asked to be interviewed for ESPN on the big Jumbotron screens mounted at finish line in both lanes which was cool! The fans were amazing, they couldn't believe what underdogs we were with our $500 Chapparal trailer and $50 Easy-ups pitted across from John Force's ten ! I was sitting kids in the cockpit for pictures and chatting all weekend, they even bought us beers after we were done racing when Aidan and I were wandering around the pits. Such a great experience so we decidied we will watch the car counts and go to as many NHRA races as we can with eighteen teams or less, so watch this space. Again huge thanks to Gary and Bob for giving me the opportunity to realise one of my life-long dreams, and Aidan and Jake for always helping me. We had a TV company shooting a pilot for a show centering on my family and I uprooting from England to Canada in pursuit of the NHRA dream. See the news article from National Dragster (scroll down) and a quick video clip of interview and couple of cool shots of rhe car with no sponsors. Stutz heads for Vegas. 26th October: Vor einem Jahr gab der der 20-jährige, und somit nach wie vor jüngste aktive Top Fuel Fahrer der Welt in Las Vegas, sein NHRA USA Debüt. Jetzt kommt er am selben Schauplatz zu seinem zweiten Einsatz in der höchsten Klasse des Dragstersports. Noah Stutz wird seinen zweiten USA Einsatz bei den NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas (29. Okt. – 1. Nov. 2015) ebenfalls wieder mit dem US-Amerikanischen Team Lagana Racing / Formex-Nitro Ninja antreten. Die Lagana's sind seit Jahren im Dragster Sport auf höchstem Niveau aktiv und verfügen über sehr viel Erfahrung. Noah Stutz: "Ich freue mich extrem wieder in Las Vegas am Start zu sein. Das Team Lagana Racing hat technisch extrem aufgerüstet. Ich bin zuversichtlich, dass ich noch eine bessere Leistung als letztes Jahr zeigen kann. Ich bedanke mich bei allen die diesen Einsatz ermöglicht haben und mich dabei unterstützen." EDRS Series pays out. 26th October: Speedgroup's EDRS work group is happy to announce that this year's EDRS Series generated €21,500 in prize funds. 807 drivers and riders took part in the 2015 EDRS Series. Twelve organisers together with Speedgroup formed this year's series which was run over eighteen events catering for eighteen classes both adult and junior. Eligible drivers and riders receive an amount in the range €50 - €1100 depending on class and position (awards are for first to third places). Big fields at numerous events result in the highest individual amounts for payout. The series fee charged is based on entries per class and allocated to each class when the season is over based upon the class' entry statistics. Payouts will start in the first week in November and eligible racers will be contacted via E-Mail. Speedgroup also wish to remind racers to sign up for the Awards banquet which will be held in Stockholm on 28th November. EDRS, FIA European Drag Racing Championship and EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship award winners will be honoured. Teams, organisers, officials and stewards are very welcome to attend the banquet which include dinner, bar and live entertainment. The location for this year's banquet is the Scandic Hotel Infra City in Upplands Väsby (not far from Stockholm Arlanda airport). The deadline to sign up is this Friday (30th); for more details or to book check out www.speedgroup.eu/banquet2015.html. Swift snippets. 26th October: Steve Dudley writes that the latest slot drags of the 2015-16 season at MrD Raceway will take place at the new time of 7:30 pm on Friday week, 6th November, at The Cathedral Primary School, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1PA. "There is a small car park in the school grounds which should be able to accommodate us all", says Steve. "Entry and racing are free, all we ask is that you make a donation of a couple of pounds to help toward the hire of the hall, although it's not obligatory. I have loan cars for anybody wishing to try out this exciting form of slot car racing. We usually run a couple of eliminations, for added tension. Come and have a go, it's great fun!" Web site updates. 26th October: The latest update to The Mad Welshman's Flickr site features two albums from the Saturday of the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check it out at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. The latest update to Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive features a gallery of yesterday's Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up action at Shakespeare County Raceway including shots of photographer Jeni Long's outing in one of the Orange Pop stable of Pops. As ever you can check out the latest updates via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. CHRR pit notes I. 25th October: Simon has checked in again from Bakersfield with pit notes from the California Hot Rod Reunion: In Nostalgia Funny Car there are two Brits running, Tony Betts who ran Venom in the NFAA, and Barrie 'Baz' Young whose drag racing career started in the 1970s in the UK. Tony drives the Hartmans' Running Wild VI and finished with a great run of 6.112/245.85, however this was outside the bump spot of 5.898. Richard Hartman (pictured) said "We got to know Tony on the internet, our car is for sale and Tony said he would like to run the NHRA Heritage Series. The car is new this year and we built it specially to NHRA Heritage rules. I drove it for three races and ran a best of 5.60/259 to win the DRO Nostalgia Nitro Challenge at Martin Michigan. Tony got together with us to get used to the car, did a couple of hits at a South Carolina track and did a great job. We have been fighting gremlins here but Tony has done everything faultlessly and we are looking forward to doing more races with him on board." Ex-pat Brit Baz Young ran a best of 5.995/239.02 to go twenty first out of an amazing thirty three Nostalgia Funny Cars. He said "My first car was the Ratfink Topolino altered which I built with John Wright but then found as I was only sixteen I couldn't get a licence. Pro Fual racer Tony Froome gave me a lot of help and we painted the car in his colours. We then got together with Mickey Moore and built Nitromania, an injected Pontiac engined slingshot for Pro Comp. It wasn't really competitive and then Ollie Burn front ended the chassis and we installed a 392cu in Hemi and ran that as Desperado for two to three years. I then started a career with Snap-On Tools which took me to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and since 2007 I have been based in Canotia Wisconsin as President of Worldwide Sales. I have been racing Nostalgia Funny Cars for two years after attending the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School and have a great team, Jerry Newman as crew chief and a couple of guys who have worked with Doc Halliday. We mainly match race in the North West and it is a small team without all the spare engines that the quickest cars have". For more on the team's racing exploits you can see their Blog. Steve Neimantas is in a Nostalgia Elimination I (7.60 index) dragster and crewed by Andy Marshall, Ian Tubb and Bryan Whitfield. Steve said "We were on holiday at the March meet, saw the car and asked the previous owner Randy Winkle (who races as Famoso Speed Shop and runs a body shop) would it be for sale. We did a deal and he is storing it for us as he lives only 150 yards up the road from Famoso Raceway. The car has a new upgraded engine, a blown alky 406 SBC with Brodix heads and 6/71 supercharger run at 1:1 and Read Powerglide. Steve ran the car at last weekend's American Nostalgia Racing Association meeting to sort the bugs. Yesterday he qualified twelfth of thirty three competitors, however the team were thwarted by an oil leak on the start line and were shut down by the starter. On Saturday, in the A/FX (Nostalgia Stock/Super Stock bracket) class Brian Gibson ended the day in twenty third position with an 11.487/114.81 in his '62 Dodge Dart with eliminations to run on Sunday. Brian is a regular runner with the Gasser Circus and brother John (also a Gasser Circus member) is crewing for him. Brian said "The car is shared ownership with US racer Dale Snokes and is running well. On our first run we were two hundredths away from our dial in." Colin Millar is racing in a different class for each of the races he is participating in as he tours California and Las Vegas. "We are in Exhibition class here, then we move to Super Comp at the NHRA Las Vegas National event and then we switch the Nitrous on for Top Sportsman in the Las Vegas Divisional event as the cutoff is 7.99", he said. Colin has made five passes so far and beat the US opposition in each. Yesterday evening the team relaxed to enjoy the Cacklefest. Colin's crew is Scott Crookston (Crew Chief), Barnaby Levy, Lynne Purvis and Nicole Wardrope. Don't forget that our good buddy Chris Eyre of the Time Warp Nostalgia FC team also has a reporter on the ground in the person of former FC pilot Garry Willy. You can check out Garry's updates from the Hartman / Betts pit space at euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com/news-1/2015. You can stay in touch with results from Bakersfield at www.dragracecentral.com and www.competitionplus.com. Swift snippets. 25th October: 18:45 Further to Tuesday's news item, British Drag Racing Hall of Fame 2015 inductee Ken 'Flathead' Cooper wishes to thank all those who sent texts, E-Mails and messages of goodwill and support, some of which he says were very moving. "It is times like these when you realise what caring and thoughtful people we have within our drag racing family", says Ken. "I am going to make every effort to be at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame ceremony in November to accept my membership personally, so don't sell my seat just yet!" We have quite a long birthday list today. Happy Birthday and hugs to Kirsty Giles, a manly handshake to Super Pro ET racer Joe Kellett, and back to the hugs for our good friend Deborah Marrs. Finally, Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher. Have a great day all. SPRC office closed. 24th October: Ian Marshall has been in touch to let racers and other interested parties know that the Santa Pod Racers Club office is closed from today (Saturday) until Monday week, 2nd November. CHRR check-in. 24th October: Simon has checked in from Bakersfield to let us know that he arrived safely for the California Hot Rod Reunion and that he plans to make a trip to the pits to speak to the UK contingent. In the meantime he writes that after two of four sessions Tony Betts was in twenty ninth place in Nostalgia Funny Car with 8.196/167.97, Brian Gibson sixteenth in AFX at 11.487/114.81mph, Colin Millar running in exhibition has had a best in four runs of 8.860/152.76 and that Steve Neimantas is eighth in Nostalgia Eliminator I with a 7.636 on the 7.60 index. Our good buddy Chris Eyre of the Time Warp Nostalgia FC team also has a reporter on the ground in the person of former FC pilot Garry Willy. WiFi allowing Chris will be bringing you Garry's reports on- and off-track reports from qualifying and eliminations. The first instalment is on-line now with a few pictures from the Hartman / Betts pit space at euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com/news-1/2015 and further updates will be posted at the same address. You can stay in touch with results from Bakersfield at www.dragracecentral.com and www.competitionplus.com. 10% saving and no fakes. 24th October: Bob Roberts writes that Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars is once again offering harnesses on a buy-early-and-save deal: If you order and pay for a harness before the end of the year we will give a 10% discount and then deliver it in January with a 2016 FIA tag so that you get a full lifetime on it. We buy direct from the UK factory so no imitation belts on sale here. Obviously you can buy one for yourself or a new harness could be an ideal seasonal gift for the racer in your life. If you're interested in this deal then please call 01256 880589 or E-Mail robinson_racecar@yahoo.co.uk. Fake harness warning. 23rd October: Geoff Martin of the UK tech Crew has passed on a warning about counterfeit race harnesses available on E-Bay and elsewhere from a dealer in Camarthenshire. You can read more by clicking here. Swift snippets. 23rd October: Legendary UK Fuel racer Dennis Priddle is extremely honoured to announce that Don Garlits has agreed to make his presentation at the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala in Florida next Spring. The friendship between the two icons goes back over forty years; Dennis became custodian of Swamp Rat 21 in April 1977 and set a new speed record of 230 mph at the Easter Springnationals at Santa Pod Raceway that month. A month later at Mantorp Park Dennis broke the Swedish ET record with a 6.50-second pass. Good luck and stay safe to Colin Millar, Steve Neimantas and Tony Betts who are taking part in this weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield. You will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and we will hopefully be able to bring you some pit notes over the weekend. Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for passing us the final bike-class points standings in the 2015 UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the UK National Championship points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 23rd October: In the seventh and final instalment in his exclusive Blog presented in association with Hulland Homes, Rob Loaring concludes his explanation of the issues involved in running the Apache Nostalgia Fuel Funny Car, both practical and financial. If ever there was a bible to running a Nostalgia FC then this is it, and you can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Hulland Homes Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. An invitation to bench race. 22nd October: If you are attending the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner in November then there is even more reason to make a day of it as thanks to Beech Underwriting, supported by US Automotive and Julie Braskett, the day will now include a Bench Racing session featuring some of the most well-known and respected names in the world of drag racing talking about what it was like back in the day. Those who have so far confirmed that they will be taking part include Big Daddy Don Garlits, Rat Trap's Ron Hope, Freight Train's Bob Muravez (aka Floyd Lippencotte Jnr), Funny Car Champion Bruce Larson, Blue Max Crew Chief 'Waterbed' Fred Miller, Norwegian drag racing pioneer Fred Larsen, the NHRA's Eileen Daniels, TV Network broadcaster Jack Korpela, and Top Fuel Bike Champion Larry McBride. Questions from the floor will be welcomed. The Bench Racing session will take place in the library at the Savill Court Hotel at 1:00 pm on Saturday 21st November and will be concluded by 3:00 pm giving everyone ample time to get ready for the Gala Awards Dinner later that day. Entry is free with preference given to those attending the Gala Dinner, but space could be limited. The session will be captured on video. If you would like to attend the Bench Racing session then please contact Geoff Stilwell at geoff@beechunderwriting.co.uk or call Stu Bradbury on 01933 279102. Also being filmed for the Quarter Mile Foundation's Project 1320 TV series about the history of American drag racing and the performance parts industry will be several Europeans who can recall the early days of obtaining drag racing parts as the sport grew this side of the Atlantic. This will take place before lunch and those already down for interview include Roy Phelps, Barry Sheavills, Gary Page, Russ Carpenter, John Hobbs and Steve Trice. Face-to-face interviews are also being arranged for invited journalists. For face-to-face press interviews contact Robin Jackson at robin@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or call 01933 222917. Editor's note: Tog would like to dedicate today's news update to the memory of his dad Tom Rogers, willing chauffeur to Blackbushe in Tog's youth, whose 85th birthday it would have been today. Swift snippets. 21st October: UK Funny Bike racer Bob Brooks got in touch to ask us to thank Santa Pod's track crew for all of their hard work at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. "To get the track back into a usable condition so quickly on Sunday was just amazing", says Bob. "The relentless track drying all Sunday morning was very much appreciated by all, it's just a shame that the dry spell didn't last a bit longer. Well done to all those who laid down some pretty stout performances: Stu Crane, Phil Crossley and Shaggy (at last!) to name but a few. On a similar subject many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official timing data from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Thanks also to Andy Marrs for forwarding us a new table of UK Bests now including the records set by Garry Bowe and Patrik Kras at the weekend's Extreme Performance Bike weekend. You can check out the records sheet by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. FIM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King says that the Gulf Oil Drag Racing team are featured on the Discovery Channel programme Megaspeed currently airing in Canada. The programme will be syndicated worldwide on the Discovery Channel in the near future but you can check out a YouTube taster video by clicking here. Web site updates. 21st October: In a new instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Hulland Homes, Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon races smart on a budget. You can check out Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Hulland Homes Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Pelle Lakmaker was one of the new faces in the EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship this season. After a few years away from the race track, the multiple Pro Street Bike Champion made a comeback to the sport and stepped up to Super Street Bike with a Kawasaki ZX-14. "We ended our test season with two personal bests, so we are very happy and are already looking forward to next season, where we hopefully can get our Kawasaki up there amongst all the Suzukis", he says. You can read more in Remco Scheelings' latest update on the EDRS Pro web site at www.edrspro.com. Get well soon, Flathead! 20th October: Very best wishes to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame 2015 inductee Ken 'Flathead' Cooper who BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury tells us is in hospital: Ken has been admitted with suspected bladder cancer. At the moment he is a little poorly after the initial procedures to determine the severity of his condition. Tests  are being carried out to ascertain if the cancer has spread to other organs and from there what treatment will be prescribed. Ken's son Bradley said "Dad is worried that he has caused a problem by not being able to attend his induction in November and he asked me to apologise". That just shows the measure of the man, more worried about the problems he may have caused others than his own situation. I assured the family that Ken will be inducted by the BDRHoF on the night no matter what. If necessary I will travel to Cannock to present Ken with his award personally if he or none of his family can make the Gala Dinner. If you would like to send a Get Well message for Ken then please E-Mail flathead.bc@gmail.com. 2015 UK Bike Champions. 19th October: Congratulations to this year's UK Champions in bike classes (subject to final ratification): ACU Top Fuel Bike: Rene van den Berg (concluded at the UK National Finals) ACU Pro Stock Bike: Alex Hope ACU Funny Bike: Dave Peters ACU Super Street Bike: Garry Bowe ACU Comp Bike: Kevin Osman UK National 8.50 Bike: Jake Mechaell UK National 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki UK National Junior Drag Bike: Liam Holgate Speedgroup's launch plan. 19th October: PR and Business development manager Mikael Nordlund tells us that Speedgroup will have a major launch announcement in December. "Speedgroup has been working on this for a long time and we are confident that this announcement will take European drag racing to another level", he says. Bike Weekend rained out. 18th October: Eliminations were rained out at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway after the first rounds of some classes. The track crew had worked long and hard to get the strip ready for action and racing commenced at 14:30 only to be curtailed by rain half an hour later. The following records were set, subject to ratification. Congratulations to: Super Street Bike speed: 207.12 mph, Garry Bowe Supertwin Top Gas ET: 8.128 seconds, Patrik Kras Congratulations also to 8.50 Bike racer Andy Haley who took this year's final Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award with an 8.5006 which was also good for number one qualifier. Andy has now achieved the feat of Perfect Runs in both 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike. You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored reports and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Grand(s) victory arises from defeat. 16th October: Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to thank all of those involved in the second annual Racers v Staff charity football match in memory of Paula Marshall and in aid of Bloodwise, which took place at the UK National Finals and which the racers won 6-1: The match (Which the racers won 6-1 - Ed) is now a mere memory and never to be spoken of again. Sore loser? You bet! I make no apologies that this news release is just a load of Thank Yous, but it really does need to be said as the generosity of so many really does need to be conveyed. Thanks go to the following: Santa Pod Raceway and Santa Pod Racers Club for their continuous help and support in facilitating the event and the fund-raising. Everyone who came along and supported the event and cheered everyone on, especially the cheerleaders. Well done to all the girls and that means you too Ethan! Both football teams - racers, marshals and staff (Who lost 6-1 - Ed) - thank you for a great night whichever team you played for. Craig Wright, Sam Innes, Spencer Tramm, Jon Giles, Carole Ismail and Emma Wray for your help and support. Donna Giles and Susan Ponsford for sorting the web page and collecting the monies from the pits. Jeanette, Jon and Shelby Webster for the half-time oranges. Paul Marston Racing for the PA equipment and Sam for passing out the half-time oranges! Mark and Bec of M&S Ambulance, our very own paramedics who turned into physios for the night. To anyone who donated or placed a bid at the half-time auction, especially Tina Moore for donating that great looking Coca-Cola mountain bike. Raunds Town Football Club for the use of the goals and pitch marking equipment plus the extra football kit. To all the lads from Santa Pod for making a great-looking football pitch, also to Groundskeeper Willy (Jon Sayles) - if you looked at night with the lights on it could have been Wembley Stadium! To Phoenix Personnel and Elite Textiles for supplying the football kits. The two referees who both did a cracking job keeping the racers' team (Who won 6-1 - Ed) in place. Luke Stevenson for ferrying all the away fans to the match while making a great sum of money along the way. To Matt, Ben and all the teams on the Street Eliminator cruise, what a way to raise money! Thank you to you all. To Carlsberg for supplying probably the best barrel in the world and to Tom and Linda from the Coffee Man for all of the tea and coffee. Donna Finnegan for organising the entire charity liaison and making sure that everything worked for Bloodwise, not just on the day but in the preceding months. Emma Jane Jones from the Bloodwise charity for all of her continued help and support for the event. To that pesky Mini Stig who turns up and puts you off from saving a goal (Six goals - Ed)! Chip off the old block! To Eurodragster.com for the great coverage and last, but by no means least, thanks to Colin (John Motson) Theobald for the commentary and the extra money raised in the commentary box - you're a true star. Thank you all for helping us to smash last year's total and for helping Bloodwise kick blood cancers in to touch. We raised a staggering £5,000 for a great charity. Thank you one and all. Swift snippets. 16th October: Good luck and stay safe to Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences and Jonnie Lindberg who are contesting Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol FC respectively at this weekend's AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas. Top Alcohol qualifying commences at 18:15 UK / 19:15 European today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. The board of Speedgroup have introduced a new PR and Business Development responsibility in order to strengthen their organisation and profile. The new function will reflect the activities and actions within the business part of the company and will be handled by Mikael Nordlund, who can be reached at mikael.nordlund@speedgroup.eu or on +46 703 96 53 61. Web site updates. 16th October: The latest update to The Mad Welshman's Flickr site features two albums from the Friday of the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check it out at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. SPR Nostalgia FC Series calendar. 15th October: James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch with news of the 2016 Nostalgia Funny Car Series: While it's still a little early to confirm some of the finer details of the Series, we are very pleased to announce the provisional dates: Round 1: Festival of Power, 25th-27th March Round 2: Big Bang, 22nd-24th April Round 3: SPRC Summernationals, 25th-26th June Round 4: UK National Finals 24th-25th September A non-points Cannonball-format round will be held at Dragstalgia on 15th-17th July. Drivers and teams in waiting will be pleased to read that we will be arranging a drivers' meeting where further details will be announced, probably on a weekend in November; more information on that soon. To see the teams in waiting and rule book check out www.nostalgiafunnycar.co.uk. EDRA hosts EDRS. 14th October: Åsa Kinnemar writes that Speedgroup and the Estonian Drag Racing Association, the biggest drag racing organisation in the Baltics, will be co-operating in 2016 with Estonia hosting an EDRS round: The EDRA have proven that they operate safe and professional events with a skilled team, and Speedgroup welcome them to the group of organisers connected to the EDRS European Drag Racing Series which has been operated by Speedgroup since 2011. The EDRS is currently the biggest drag racing series in Europe with more than 800 racers from ten countries participating in 2015 at eighteen events in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The EDRS workgroup is united in their opinion that EDRA and Estonia will be an exciting addition to the series in 2016. The discussions which lead to an agreement have been in process for a few months and last Tuesday the complete workgroup had the opportunity to listen to Karel Oras and Kristjan Veedler's interesting presentation about EDRA and drag racing in Estonia. "It is a great honour, for me personally and for the whole team, to get the chance to be part of something like the EDRS series" says Kristjan Veedler, one of the leaders of EDRA. "For sure this is a huge step forward for Estonian drag racing in general and of course for the spectators and racers as well. They now have something new to watch and for racers it's an opportunity to race against new and interesting cars. I can promise everyone that the EDRA team will try to offer the best available service to racers and the best available show for the spectators." In 2016 the EDRA will host one EDRS for selected classes. More information including dates, location and categories will be announced in November. Swift snippets. 14th October: The UK's Tyler Ashdown has acquired Joe Kellett's Super Pro ET dragster to run in Super Comp in 2016 and has been in touch to thank those who helped. "Thanks to Paul Marston who sorted a new gearbox for me from states and is helping Dad with the new engine, also thanks to Pete Walters for the awesome design for the car, his advice has been a great help and thanks to him car will look amazing. Finally thanks to the Kelletts". Tyler has promised us a look at the car's new colours when he is ready to reveal. Bike Weekend racer update. 13th October: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for passing on details of the arrangements for this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: Friday 16th October 15:00 Gates open 17:00 Signing On office opens 17:30 Scrutineering commences, no set order - if possible please get signed on and scrutineered on Friday 20:00 Signing On office closes 20:00 Scrutineering closes Saturday 17th October 07:00 Signing On office opens 07:00 Scrutineering commences, no set order 09:30 Track opens for qualifying Sunday 18th October 07:30 Signing On office opens 09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations The official entry list has been updated as the two Pro Stock Bikes have moved to Funny Bike and there is an additional entry in Super Street Bike. Assuming that all bikes entered make qualifying passes then both classes will now run sixteen-bike fields. Simon's Championship Outcomes piece below has been updated to take account of this. You can view the updated entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Both Saturday's and Sunday's provisional running orders are now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that, as ever, these running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Please also note that, due to the extension of Funny Bike and Super Street Bike to sixteen-bike fields, Sunday's running order has changed from that previously sent to racers. The version of Sunday's running order now on Eurodragster.com is the definitive version. Please remember the curfew: no race bike motors are to be started before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day. Breach of curfew can result (has resulted) in exclusion from the meeting. If going to Scrutineering before 09:00 then please push or tow race bikes, do not start up and ride. SPRC would appreciate it if UK racers have their bank sort code and account number with them so that winnings can be paid directly into their accounts by Bacs the day after the event. Cheques will still be available to those who would prefer them, however SPRC would prefer to use Bacs as bank charges are lower and racers will receive their money sooner. UK Championship outcomes II. 13th October: With the UK National Drag Racing Championships on four wheels settled at Santa Pod Raceway in September, the spotlight turns to the bike community this weekend at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod, the final rounds of the ACU UK Drag Bike, UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. Many thanks to our own Simon who has penned a summary of possible outcomes: ACU Top Fuel Bike was won by Rene van den Berg at the UK National Finals; congratulations to Rene. Only two bikes were entered in ACU Pro Stock Bike and they have now moved class to Funny Bike. Congratulations then to Alex Hope who has won his second Championship in a row by dint of contesting the UK National Finals. Dave Peters is leading ACU Funny Bike by 495 points from Allan Davies with Bob Brookes a mere five points further back. Thirteen bikes are now entered (including two Pro Stock that have changed class), enabling a sixteen-bike ladder if all qualify. So the maximum points available are 680, assuming that no records are set (a record awards a further 100 points). Dave needs to win two rounds of eliminations to be assured of the Championship; runner-up position looks like a very close contest between Allan and Bob. ACU Super Street Bike is led by Garry Bowe by 545 points from Chris 'Bois' Reed. Thirteen bikes are entered and 680 points are available assuming that no records are set. Garry can clinch the Championship by qualifying four or more positions ahead of Chris and going one round further. Kevin Osman leads ACU Comp Bike by a margin of 450 from Ed Smiley. Eight bikes are entered and 530 points are available. Kevin needs to qualify better and go one round further than Ed to claim the title, subject to the usual assumption about records not being set. At the recent Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway Jake Mechaell took the UK National 8.50 Bike lead from Jay Roe who is in his first full season in the class after moving up during 2014. Jake's lead is 220 points. With an entry of twelve there will be 760 points up for grabs, not including the bonuses for Perfect ET and all rounds. Jay will need to qualify well and go a couple of elimination rounds further than Jake to get the title. In UK National 9.50 Bike congratulations to previously three- and now four-time Champion Richard Sawatzki who has clinched the 2015 title as there is entry of eight and only 620 points available. Richard has a lead of 770 going into the race. Richard has now equalled Eurodragster.com sponsor Fred Furlong's tally of four Championships. Liam Holgate has a 40 point margin over Louis Davies in Junior Drag Bike, with Stacey Reed a further 140 points back. There is a healthy entry of twelve which means four rounds of racing and 760 points available. If Liam, Louis and Stacey go out in round one then the door may be opened to Jack Shook or Blade Dummer. Congratulations to Chris Mott who is SPRC Supertwin Top Gas Champion, winning at both the SPRC Summernationals and the UK National Finals. In SPRC Supertwin ET, Fiona Moor has a 20 point lead over Phil Cordelle; Fiona is not on the entry list meaning that all that Phil will need to do to clinch the Championship will be to sign on. On Sunday Simon will be providing the usual real-time Championship updates as part of our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage. You can check out our Event Index, which includes the final official entry list, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 13th October: Congratulations to Jonnie Lindberg and the Lindberg Brothers Top Methanol Funny Car team for their win at the weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Divisional race in Oklahoma. Jonnie qualified number one and defeated Jay Payne in the final with a 5.619/258.02 to Jay's ten-second pass - ironically this was Jonnie's (relatively) slowest ET of the event. You can read more at Dragracecentral.com. Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences qualified seventh but was consigned to an early bath in the first round of eliminations. Both Mike and the Lindbergs are now headed to Dallas for this weekend's AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. Bike Weekend Perfect Awards. 13th October: This weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway is the final event in this season's Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Junior Dragster racer Billy Everitt at the UK National Finals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all ACU UK National Drag Bike and UK National Drag Racing Championship classes during 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 Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET). Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only). This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET racer Lee Huxley at the UK National Finals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, Junior Drag Bike and Supertwin ET, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV. For more details about the services which Gold RV can provide see Derek Flynn or visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals are available in the Signing On office. Web site updates. 13th October: In a new instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Hulland Homes, Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon remembers fellow Dutchman, late Pro Modified racer Robert Joosten. You can check out Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Hulland Homes Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good buddy Steve Moxley has had his UK National Finals bike review published in the latest edition of the ACU on-line newsletter. You can check out Moxey's work at www.acu.org.uk. Last Saturday Speedgroup renewed the contract with the Nordic Motorsport Council to operate and promote the EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship, the official Nordic Drag Bike Championship, for another two years. Top Fuel Motorcycle, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Supertwin Motorcycle, and Super Street Bike are again included in the Championship, and Super Gas Bike and Super Comp Bike have been added. You can read more in Remco Scheelings' latest update on the EDRS Pro web site at www.edrspro.com. From Robert Joosten's family. 12th October: Many thanks to our good buddy Remco Scheelings for passing on this message from Robert Joosten's wife Patricia and son Jerry, which we present in both Dutch and English: Getroffen door de onvoorspelbaarheid van het leven, delen wij je mee dat Robert Joosten op 8 oktober jl. in het bijzijn van zijn geliefden is overleden. Wij bieden de mogelijkheid een laatste groet te brengen aan Robert op dinsdag 13 oktober tussen 18.00 en 21.00 uur, Krommeweg 37 Hendrik Ido Ambacht. P-advies: Intratuin aan de overkant De kist is gesloten, er is geen gelegenheid persoonlijk te condoleren. Wij zouden het wel erg waarderen als je een persoonlijke boodschap of herinnering aan Robert op een kaart zou schrijven. Deze kun je afgeven tijdens deze laatste groet. Robert wordt woensdag 14 oktober in besloten kring gecremeerd. Wij willen er uitdrukkelijk op wijzen dat aanwezigheid uitsluitend op uitnodiging is. Wij gaan ervan uit dat dit gerespecteerd wordt. Struck by the unpredictability of life we inform you that Robert Joosten passed away on 8th October, surrounded by his loved ones We offer the opportunity to pay your final respects to Robert on Tuesday 13th October between 18:00 and 21:00 hours at Krommeweg 37 Hendrik Ido Ambacht. Parking is at Intratuin, on the other side of the road. The coffin will be closed and there will be no opportunity for personal condolences. We would appreciate it if you could write a personal message or memory of Robert on a card which you can leave at the viewing. Robert's cremation will be a private ceremony on Wednesday 14th October. We would like to make it clear that attendance is by invitation only and we hope that this wish will be respected. SPRC Dinner Dance update. 12th October: Further to last Tuesday's news item, Yvonne Tramm tells us that some readers have had trouble getting through to the De Vere Staverton Park Hotel to book rooms for the Santa Pod Racer Club Dinner Dance on Saturday 6th February. If you have had problems getting through to the hotel, or if you have yet to book your room, then please call 01327 302002 quoting reference SANT060216. On-line booking will not work for the hotel for this date. The Dinner Dance booking form has been updated with the replacement phone number and can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here or in Word format from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have already submitted your booking form and/or if you have already booked your rooms then you do not need to re-book. If you have any queries about the SPRC Dinner Dance then please contact Yvonne Tramm, not the SPRC office, at ytramm@africonnect.com. Ehrismann's double and triple. 11th October: Markus Münch writes that the German and Swiss Super Pro ET racers took a final chance to earn points for the 2015 Super Pro ET Challenge at Drachten last weekend: Beat and Nicole Rechsteiner from Switzerland were the only racers to attend but Beat, who was second, was not able to earn enough points to overtake 2014 Champion Rene Ehrismann. So Switzerland's Rene Ehrismann is again Champion in 2015. He won the Championship back to back, and three times overall since 2008. Beat Rechsteiner from Switzerland was runner-up and his wife Nicole third with Stefan Eisenhauer in fourth. Fourteen drivers took part in the Challenge in 2015, counting points from their four best races of the season. They competed at Santa Pod, Hockenheim, Rivanazzano, Chambley, and Bechyne; Germany, Switzerland and Austria are third-world countries when it comes to drag racing besides the NitrOlympX, so cars quicker than nine seconds can find it hard to find somewhere to race. So the Challenge is quite something for them. We have our annual Trophy Party on 24th October at the Hotel am Ring in Hockenheim, together with our buddies from the Pro ET Challenge. We would like to thank all the teams which participated and all the sponsors who supported the Challenge and added a little bit of spice to the competition: Turbo Scheune.com, Motorsport Timing and Organisation, 4x4 Garage, Stefan Eisenhauer KFZ Service and Racing, Garage Ehrismann AG, the Bruckmüller Drag Racing Team, CG Design and and Dragmag.de. Swift snippets. 11th October: Fans of the Freddy's Revenge blown-alcohol altered will know that the team have had a frustrating 2015 season, chasing a motor problem that has robbed them of power despite help from a number of racers intracking down the issues. Dave Grabham and the crew headed down to a chilly Dakota Raceway at Smeatharpe in Devon yesterday for one last chance to see if they had finally nailed their gremlins. Keith Lee was on hand to record the answer to the question, which tells the story as the blown Topolino lit the slicks on a couple of burnouts and launches, to the delight of the spectators. The year may be over, but a happy and relieved team could return Freddy to the garage knowing that 2016 will see them back out with a vengeance! Further to last week's Snippet, the list of racers participating in the traditional end-season European NHRA invasion is continuing with Kalle Lyrén, Noah Stutz and Markus Svensson appearing on entry lists for the NHRA National events in Las Vegas and Pomona to add to those already there. You can read more about Kalle Lyrén's American dream in the latest piece by our good buddy Remco Scheelings on the EDRS Pro web site. UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Mark Todd is the latest racer from this side of the Pond to be featured as Racer of the Week on Racers' Reunion Radio in association with Draglist.com. Broadcast commences at 01:00 UK / 02:00 European on Tuesday and you can tune in for the live brodcast or catch up with a replay at drag.racersreunion.com. Richard Stevens of Eurodragster.com sponsor MPM Oil UK writes with news of the company's 20W-50 classic high zinc oil. The new product is especially recommended for classic American V8s, air-cooled boxer engines, Citroen DS and 2CV and more. You can read more by clicking here or on the picture above right, or on MPM OIl's web site at www.mpmoil.co.uk. Web site updates. 11th October: UK Funny Bike racer Lorcan Parnell says that the latest update to the official blog of The Storm team features a report and pictures from UK National Finals weekend at which they broke into the sixes, went over 200 mph, and set a new record. You can check it out at www.stormdragbike.co.uk. Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon site with pictures from the Saturday of the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can take a look at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. 2015 APIRA Champions. 10th October: Many thanks to our very own Simon for forwarding details of this year's APIRA Champions. Congratulations to: Super Pro ET: Brad Jackson Pro ET: Tim Stanbury Sportsman ET: Craig Wright Super Comp: Andrew Williams Super Gas: Stuart Doignie Super Street: Karen Stevens Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Paige Wheeler Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Mark Todd Outlaw Anglia: Cliff Griffin Wild Bunch: Darryl Howells VW Pro: Phil Norman VW Sportsman: Paul Herbert Funny Bike: Dave Peters Comp Bike: Mick Winyard Super Street Bike: Alex Hope 8.50 Bike: Jake Mechaell 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki Junior Drag Bike: Jack Shook NAST Supertwin Gas - Chris Mott NAST Supertwin ET: Pete Harrison You can check out the full final APIRA Championships points standings on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Tributes to Robert Joosten. 9th October: We have now set up the promised tribute page to late Pro Modified racer Robert Joosten. You can check out the tributes by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like to send your own tribute to Robert then please send an E-Mail to tributes@eurodragster.com and we will include it as soon as we can. Robert Joosten. 8th October: We were very sorry to hear of the death of Dutch Pro Modified racer Robert Joosten, taken from us far too young and very quickly by cancer. Robert first raced in a Street class in 1996 then moved into Super Gas in 1999 with his Bad Nova. He won his first Dutch Championship in 2000. In 2004 he campaigned an ex-Pro Stock Truck in Super Comp and Super Gas. The move to Pro Modified took place in 2006 with a 2001 C5 Corvette acquired from Jim Oddy. He quickly made his mark by finishing third in the 2007 MSA British Drag Racing Championship. His best finish in the FIA European Pro Mod Championship was runner-up in 2008. After dealing with various issues with a 1970½ Camaro Robert acquired a 1971 Cuda with which things were coming together nicely this season. He is one of fourteen five-second European Pro Mod racers with a best of 5.990 set at the 2013 Scandinavian Internationals at Tierp Arena. A longtime Eurodragster.com supporter, Robert happily submitted to one of our Features in 2006 and you can check that out by clicking here. He was a frequent contributor to the News page and we were made very welcome in his pit where he was always cheerful and informative and a willing Simon Victim. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Robert's family and friends. Many thanks to our good friend Remco Scheelings who sent us an English-language version of his tribute written for the Autosport.nl and FIA European Championships web sites: It's hard to believe and hard to accept. On August 22nd and 23rd Robert Joosten was competing at the Scandinavian Internationals at Tierp Arena, Sweden. Ready to travel to Santa Pod for the last round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, after a short visit to his family doctor, he unexpectedly ended up in hospital. The diagnosis was as shocking as unexpected: cancer, and in one of the most aggressive forms. Further investigations made clear that treatment was not possible and that there was no chance of recovery. On the morning of 8th October, Robert passed away at home, at only forty six years of age. Unbelievable for a person who was so full of energy only six weeks ago, had so many plans for the future, was leading several companies, running Pro Dutch Racing, competed in drag races, but above all a husband and father. As a reporter and photographer I had the honor to work with Robert over the last twenty years, and he will be sadly missed in drag racing for many years to come. But my loss is insignificant compared to the loss for his wife Patricia and their son Jerry. My deepest condolences go out to Patricia, Jerry, family and friends, and I hope they will find the strength to overcome this terrible loss. Robert's track record makes him to one of the most important Dutch drag racers of the last twenty years. But maybe even more important was his innovative and professional approach to the sport, a sport he loved so much and that he wanted to take to the next level. Robert started his career in a street legal American muscle car and was a regular competitor in Street machines between 1985 and 1998. But from the very first start, Robert had a plan that should bring him to the top of the drag racing ladder. Cars were chosen for their performance and the possibility to step up to the next level. Special attention was paid to the appearance of the car and team, something completely new in Dutch drag racing. And that was also one of the reasons Robert bought his first real drag race car in Sweden, a Chevrolet Nova '62, and went to the States to buy the next one, a Chevrolet S10 Pro Stock Truck. Between 1999 and 2005 Robert was extremely successful with these cars in Super Gas and Super Comp, and won Championships and runner-up positions in the DHRA / Explosion Championship, Dutch Championship, KNAF and Dutch Open Championship. Robert was also the driving force behind the Dutch Open Super Gas Championship, and under his guidance it became an internationals series with more than twenty competitors. But after his successful years in Super Comp, Robert was ready to step up, to the class he wanted to be part of from the beginning - Pro Modified, the fastest doorslammers on earth. Because he knew that was the next step, the team name was already changed to Pro Dutch Racing and a state-of-the-art truck and trailer were purchased. In 2006 Robert made his debut in Pro Modified with a Corvette C5, and again, was successful from the beginning. He won at Hockenheim, and in 2008, at Mantorp Park, he was the first Dutch drag racer to win a race in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, and with a runner-up position was the best ever Dutch drag racer in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship. The same year he won the Nordic Drag Racing Series, was Swedish champion and Dutch national record holder. In 2010 the Corvette was replaced by a brand new '70 Chevrolet Camaro, built in the States. Although Robert didn't win races with this car, the Camaro brought him his moment of glory when he made his first ever five-second run with a 5.990 at Tierp Arena 2013. That same year he was fourth in the FIA European Championship. Early in 2015, Robert bought a unique and state-of-the-art '71 Plymouth Barracuda from the States. In June, at Tierp Arena, the Cuda made its first runs and went quicker and faster almost every run. With the improvements they made in the next races, the team were convinced that they had the right car to go for their first FIA European Pro Modified title in 2016. Robert had new and innovative ideas about running his team and a professional approach of the sport. The race car, trailer and team always looked clean, fresh and state-of-the-art, and he was the first Dutch drag racer to publish press releases and newsletters, and to arrange press presentations for media, sponsors and fans when there was a new race car. For the next few years to come, there was one important goal to achieve in the sport for Robert, the title in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship. We now know that that will not come true. But even without this title, Robert Joosten's name, and the influence he had on Dutch drag racing, will never be forgotten. If you would like to send a tribute to Robert then please send an E-Mail to tributes@eurodragster.com and we will post it here. 2016 SPRC Dinner Dance. 6th October: Santa Pod Racers Club are pleased to announce their 2016 Dinner Dance and Trophy Evening which takes place at 6:00 pm on Saturday 6th February 2016 at a new venue, De Vere Staverton Park Hotel in Daventry Road, Staverton, Daventry, NN11 6JT (map). This event will present Champions and runners-up in the 2015 UK National Drag Racing Championships, MSA British Drag Racing Championship, Santa Pod Racers Club Championships and SPRC Perpetual Award winners. The arrangements for the SPRC Dinner Dance are as follow: Pre-dinner drinks will be available in the bar from 5:30 pm. Proceedings will start prompt at 6:00 pm with trophy presentations to the 2015 Santa Pod Racers Club Champions and runners-up. For this reason it is important that everyone is in their seats in the function room at 6:00 pm as the presentation will not be held up for latecomers. If you miss your presentation then we will not be going back! Dinner will be served at 7:00 pm. After dinner, the 2015 UK National Champions and runners-up will be presented with their trophies, then the top three in the 2015 MSA British Drag Racing Championship, and finally the 2015 SPRC Perpetual Award winners. Tickets to the Dinner Dance are £35 per adult and £20 for under-twelves which includes three-course meal plus tea / coffee and mints. An additional £1 per ticket should be added if paying by credit card. The main meal for children will be chicken nuggets and chips, but please choose a starter and dessert for your child and also specify on the booking form that they are for a child. If you have any special dietary requirements then please inform Yvonne Tramm at ytramm@africonnect.com and she will include them on the menu selection list for the hotel. SPRC have negotiated a preferential rate for rooms in the hotel. These are priced at £85 for a single room and £95 for double or twin rooms, including breakfast on Sunday morning. To book your room, please call the hotel on 01327 302002 quoting reference SANT060216. Please do not try to book your room on-line as the electronic reservations system has been told that the entire hotel booked for that evening, so your attempt at reservation will fail. You can download the Dinner Dance booking form (PDF format) by clicking here. A Word format form will be available on the Entry Forms section of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Please note that booking forms should be sent to Yvonne Tramm at the address specified on the form and not to the SPRC office. If you have any queries about the Dinner Dance then please contact Yvonne Tramm, not the SPRC office, at ytramm@africonnect.com. 2014 Perpetual Award winners please note that trophies should be be returned to SPRC as soon as possible. To make arrangements for trophy return please contact Ian Marshall at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625. A rebuild for Santa Pod. 6th October: For almost fifty years, Santa Pod Raceway has reigned supreme as the home of British and European drag racing. Now, as the venue's 2016 Golden Anniversary approaches, a second Santa Pod has sprung to life on UK soil. Millions will know the location. The clue lies in its construction materials: not exactly bricks-and-mortar – just bricks. Lego® bricks. Welcome to Santa Pod Raceway at the Legoland® Windsor Resort. The Legoland Windsor Resort first unveiled a model drag strip in the world-famous Miniland in 2001, just five years after the Resort opened. This month the modelling team completed a newly-refashioned model, as a faithful replica of the legendary British quarter-mile racing venue. It took 84,780 Lego bricks to re-create the Santa Pod Raceway - 19,800 of them to make the grandstand and its crowds of spectators alone. The seven-strong team of skilled Lego model-makers invested a whopping 744 hours in creating the amazing model which also includes incredible animation. Guests at the Legoland Windsor Resort can actually race the Santa Pod dragsters down the track. The dragster animation is controlled in its entirety by a central Programmable Logic Controller housed within the animation plant room. At the press of a button, a car in each lane edges forward into stage on the start line. The starting system and the audio are triggered and, as the green light flashes, the guests flick levers to send their cars rocketing side-by-side down the strip to the finish. A further sensor brings the cars to a halt and returns them to their positions at the head of the pairing lanes, ready to explode into action once again. The Legoland Windsor Resort's 2015 season ends on 2nd November and Santa Pod Raceway's racing season ends with the spectacular Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 31st October. Perhaps Legoland guests' experience of the Santa Pod-in-miniature might inspire them to try the real thing, while there is all the more reason for Santa Pod racegoers to enjoy a full family day out at Legoland. Dakota's Autumn promise. 4th October: Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts writes that Dakota Raceway in Smeatharpe, Devon, opens its gates at 08:00 next Saturday (10th) for the third Drag and Drift day of the 2015 season: The quarter mile drag strip is open to any type of vehicle for test and tune whether street-legal or pure race. Next Saturday, for example, the participants will range from daily drivers to NFAA Team Freddy's Revenge . Dave Grabham, a solid supporter of Dakota Raceway from the beginning, will be making a couple of test passes. At Dakota Raceway we have our own points series which runs with the Test and Tune. Man of the moment in the street-legal categories is loyal Dakota Raceway supporter Jason Bowden in his GTR35. The Nissan's best at this moment in time is a 10.50 ET with regular street tyres and no prep on the track. Jason drives the GTR35 up from Torquay, blasts out consistent ten-second passes, then then drives home after collecting his trophies. Also running good numbers on street tyres at Dakota are the bikes; we see mid-nines from some of them. On Saturday we will apply a little traction compound to the start line area. Adding to the event, we will also be allowing passengers on the drag strip but only in cars, not on motorcycles. Trophies will be awarded for the quickest ET by category and there will be trophies for the Show and Shine and Club stands. We should see up to 150 cars on static display in the show area. For regular updates check out our Facebook page Dakota Raceway Southwest. Swift snippets. 4th October: Eurodragster.com reader John Hughes tells us that he is looking for pictures or clippings about the Spiderman 23T altered, which he owns but which was previously owned by Roy and Julian Webb. John has divined as much information as he has from Nostalgia web sites but would be grateful if anyone has anything further. If you can help then please drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com and we'll put you in touch. Editor's note: Points standings, screenshots, Facebook, copyright... you know how the rest of it goes and you will be hearing from us. Bloodlines 2015. 4th October: The UK's Bloodlines Racing have been fielding a number of cars over the past few years, during which circumstances have changed along with plans but that was always the scenario. Ian Turburville writes: "Race, have fun, and take it as it comes, when you can" was the mantra. After all, this is a hobby, a passion, but on a very limited budget with almost no reward apart from the glory and the sense of achievement. The True Blood nostalgia dragster had been campaigned with Laura Turburville in the driving seat, for a couple of years in the fantastic Super Pro ET class but the slingshot was not likely to win any Championships as it is almost impossible to dial in a car like that. No limiters, no transbrake, no launch control, manual shift, wheels-up, against a giant field of cars all running deadly consistent times. Even so, Laura did fantastically always qualifying in the top part of the field and going a round or two, which is no mean feat! At the Main Event in May, on her twentieth birthday, Laura again did well and ran the car to its first seven second run, but the car was getting tired after all that bracket racing. Ian looked the car over and nothing was broken, but all of the valve springs needed replacing along with the bearings and other usual service items but it was decided that another approach was warranted. Laura wanted a car of her own to race, one which could compete and so Bloodlines agreed with Oomen Racing to buy the dragster which Shari used to drive. It was a bit dated in style but a good, solid American-built car with a very good Reher Morrison 555 ci Super motor and a proper race trans. It had not had much track time in its life so was in great condition and just needed a bit of a re-pop to bring it up to date. The plan was for Bloodlines to re-coup their money by selling the Beach Bomb slingshot which they commissioned last winter, another beautiful 555 ci powered slingshot. Ian took the Dutch car back to the Turboville Racing workshop and proceeded with the makeover. The car was treated to a whole host of improvements from the wheels to the wing, and all the bling in between. It was also cut and joined in the middle to make it easier to transport, common practice in the UK with its tiny, congested roads not suited to giant American race trailers. This was performed at John Spuffard's and Kevin Kent's workshop much to their bewilderment - they decided Ian was certifiable! Parts were gathered, plans were hatched, beer was sipped and work commenced. Meanwhile, Ian took the Beach Bomb along to Dragstalgia to do some test runs and set it up. Kenny and Asa Gomez travelled down from Scotland to crew as Laura and Chris were off in Switzerland with Marcus Hilt and Trouble Racing, our twinned Pro Mod team. Ian made a few nice wheels-up launches in the Beach Bomb and went a bit sideways on the last run as the car before had exploded its transmission all over the start area. The ATF must have soaked into the track as it was like ice; the next car after him suffered the same fate but went straight into the wall so Ian decided not to risk the car any further that weekend. The car was all good and fine tuned for its next owner. It is still up for sale, ready to run sevens, and offers will be considered through Ian. Someone who has featured on all the Bloodlines cars is the great pinstriping artist Simon 'Nefarious' Pollock, so we made a date for him to style the new car which had just been painted satin black by Curbishly Automotive who paint all the team cars. We met at Santa Pod on VW Action weekend and Simon did his thing in the live music tent the night before the crowds arrived, thanks to Brian Burrows and his team. It turned out spectacularly well and has that 1950's Bonneville look about it now. The car was christened Bad Blood which seemed fitting after True Blood and Young Blood. Laura's official race number 717 was painted large on the side and then distressed. On the Saturday the fresh car was put on the track for its first runs, with Ian Marshall looking on in bewilderment as he couldn't keep up with what Laura was driving from meet to meet! The car went well but got massive tyre shake, and we mean massive! It broke the trans cooler and the MSD ignition box and left a trail of Dzus fasteners down the track. Ian took the car home, checked the chassis over and fitted a new cooler etc. but he didn't have a new ignition for the European Finals. Luckily our great family of racers came to the rescue. Cristiann Carlo of NG Motorsport helped sort all the sparks out and fitted a new MSD from Dave Cherrett, so we were back in the game. Laura, Chris and Ian then set about learning to dial in the new car. A series of fantastic close races followed against some brilliant racers such as Voodoo Hemi Superbird, Scott Hauser, Peter Lane, and best of all Jayne Kay. Having not raced a fellow female competitor before, Laura had always wanted to race Jayne but hadn't had the opportunity until then. Both girls gave it everything and it was quite something to watch. Laura blasted the car to a 7.7 run, a new PB leading to much start line dancing by dad and a nod of approval from Dom Lagana! Back in the pits however it was discovered that the tyre shake from VWA, since cured, had broken the weld on the oil pump pick-up, starving the motor. Ian, Chris and Declan quickly sourced some new rod bearings from Gary Kay, a tig welder from the Harrisons, bits from the Przybyls and Richard Walters, then fitted them in time for her first round against Brad Jackson. Interestingly Laura and Brad raced each other in their very first drag race in Junior Dragsters six years ago! The elimination run was epic, with a lot on the line for Brad in the Championship, but Laura was not going to do him any favours. They both cut incredible lights and were neck to neck all the way down the track, the race was definitely on. At the stripe it was Brad by just 0.012 of a second, a brilliant drag race, no one minds losing when it's that good! Wayne Jackson looked mightily relieved! The car came from the Netherlands running Ethanol so that is what we ran that weekend but Ian decided that it would be better on Methanol as E85 is very expensive and hard to get in the UK, so they spent the rest of the day making the switch. They started it up and it instantly sounded happier and stronger so everything is set for next season. Unfortunately, as the Beach Bomb had not sold, funds were not available to compete at the UK National Finals and the 2016 season hangs in the balance. Once the blue slingshot sells then Bloodlines have some new, exciting plans for 2016 but some new sponsors will need to step up if they are to do a full season. Interestingly, while waiting in the pairing lanes at the European Finals, surrounded by dragsters, door cars, Pro Mods, Funny Cars, alcohol dragsters, altereds etc. Keith Bartlett strolled up the line and wished Laura good luck and said he loved the new car, he then turned to Ian and said "You know, I really do think Super Pro is the best class in drag racing", we had to agree! A big shout out goes to Rick, Pete and Julie Walters for their hard work in promoting this great class. Bloodlines must give thanks to all the people who helped get the new Bad Blood car to the track this year: Turboville Racing, Bloodlines Racing, Kleen Freaks, Central College Nottingham, USAutomotive, Nefarious, Chromeworx / Ultracars, Trouble Racing, Racecraft, Pete Whitmore, Paul Bland, AC Custom Coatings, Northants 81, Patvan Racing, Dan Giles, Paul Brown, Julie Braskett, the Harrisons, Andy Raw, Nick Good, Chris Carlo, Dave Cherrett, Robin Orthodoxou, Chris Allen, Johan Oomen, Willem VDB, Martin Curbishly, Pete Kellett, Matt the Stitch, the Chesworths, Eurodragster.com, all the photographers and the track crew at Santa Pod Raceway. Team shirts, T-shirts, Caps, coffee mugs and Kleen Freaks detailing products are all available at www.turbovilleracing.com / www.turboville.co.uk. Watch out for the finale of the great mini-series This is England '90 on Channel 4 tonight Sunday. Some of the graphics and props in the film are by Laura who did an internship with the production company as part of her University course. Sponsors return to BDRHoF Gala. 4th October: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has announced that two more of its 2014 Gala Awards Dinner sponsors have returned to back the 2015 event which is being held at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on 21st November 21st. The first is the Flint Insurance Group who are sponsoring the table wine as they did in 2014. Flint is an independent broker offering a wide range of high quality, affordable insurance products. The Group specialises in all aspects of commercial business insurance, motor fleet and motor trade in addition to being able to look after any personal insurance requirements such as car, van, home and travel. Their client base is varied, but all enjoy a professional and personal service. For more details visit their web site at www.flintinsurance.co.uk. Directors Darren and David Taylor (right and left, John Price centre) along with longtime Flint Consultant and drag racing commentator John Price confirmed their support early in September. David will be attending the event with his wife Carolyn and John will be playing an increased role on stage this year. David Taylor said, "I'm looking forward to attending this event again. Last year's Gala Awards Dinner was special and we are happy to support it once more. Many guests will be our customers so it's great to socialise with them at such a prestigious evening and it's good to see John so involved." The second returning backer – with a substantial four figure sum - is the National Street Rod Association who once again will be sponsoring the Audio Visual support for the event provided by AMP Audio Solutions. The NSRA is the UK's Premier Hot Rod Association for owners of pre-1972 Hot Rods, Street Rods and Customs. Nick Brooke-Langham, the Editor of its house magazine Street Gasser, was the winner of one of the BDRHoF Sydney Allard Media Awards last year. Each year the NSRA organizes two of the UK's largest hot rod show weekends, plus two major auto parts swap meets. Furthermore, in conjunction with Shakespeare County Raceway and Santa Pod Raceway, the NSRA is involved with three nostalgia drag racing event weekends. For more details visit their web site at www.nsra.org.uk. NSRA Chair Jason Hollamby (right) said "We are pleased to be supporting the BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner again. The event is a welcome addition to the social side of things. As an organizer of several events I know just how much hard work goes into getting such a show together and the BDRHoF Management Board do a great job. The NSRA Committee thinks long and hard about which events to support. Drag Racing and Hot Rodding were promoted by the same group of people in the early years so it is natural for us to celebrate the sport's pioneers in this way. They were our pioneers too." BDRHoF Chairman Stu Bradbury said "A big thank you to both the Flint Insurance Group and the National Street Rod Association. Although it is fabulous to welcome new sponsors, in a way it is even more satisfying to welcome back the repeat sponsors because it must mean we are doing something right. Putting on this Gala Awards Dinner is a team effort and our sponsors are very much a part of that team." Web site updates. 4th October: The latest update to The Mad Welshman's Flickr site features albums from VW Action and the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day, both of which took place at Santa Pod Raceway in August. You can check it out at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. IDRHoF confirm 2016 intake. 4th October: Thanks to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury for forwarding the official press release from the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame confirming this year's inductees: Comprising Class of 2016 are six of the sport's most accomplished Top Fuel and / or Funny Car pilots, one of which is one of Great Britain's most prolific names, and a successful New England drag racer who became a track manager. The 2016 Founder's Award goes to a highly successful track operator, who helped create the model for media relations, not only for drag racing, but for motorsports as a whole. The 2016 inductees are (in alphabetical order): Preston Davis (Bartlett, Tenn.), Jack Doyle (Wakefield, N.H.), the late Marvin Miller (Bakersfield, Calif.), Mark Oswald (Houma, La.), Dennis Priddle (Yeovil, Somerset, U.K.) and Gas Ronda (Palm Desert, Calif.). Steve Earwood (Rockingham, N.C.) has been named to receive the 2016 Founder's Award. Preston Davis drove the famed "Tennessee Bo-Weevil" Top Fuel and Funny Cars for master tuner Ray Godman (International Drag Racing Hall of Fame member – 1991) out of Godman's shop in Memphis, and their successes helped build the sport in the Southeastern U.S. and the lower Mississippi Valley. Davis and the Godman-tune up made for a formidable pair, and for years, the team was a threat in both classes, either in NHRA sanctioned events or match racing in the Mid-South. Jack Doyle was a successful New England racer who fielded gas coupes, comp coupes, and top gas dragsters, and competed on the East Coast during the 1950s and 1960s. He was a driving force of the New England Hot Rod Council in the 1950s, which was a major factor in popularizing the sport throughout New England. After he retired from the driver's seat, he became the Track Manager, and later, the General Manager of the famed New England Dragway in Epping, N.H. The late Marvin Miller was one of the three partners of the famed red and white Coburn-Warren-Miller "Ridge Route Terrors" Top Fuel cars with tuner Roger Coburn and driver James Warren, argued by many as the most successful Top Fuel team in the era of the 1960s. Miller, who owned the Rain for Rent business in Bakersfield, supplied financial backing for the team, and the later rear-engined dragsters which carried his business name on the sides. Mark Oswald was one of the sport's most successful drivers in both top fuel and Funny Cars. He teamed with fellow Cincinnati, Oh. racers Tom Kattleman and Ross Thomas with the Thomas-Oswald-Kattleman Top Fuel car. His driving successes took him to the famed Candies & Hughes Top Fuel and then Funny Car team, where he won the 1984 Funny Car World Championship, and then drove successfully in the In-N-Out Burger Funny Car before retiring from the seat. Today, he is the co-Crew Chief of Antron Brown's Matco Tools Top Fuel car at Don Schumacher Racing. Dennis Priddle has been referred to as Britain's Don Garlits, as one of the prolific pioneering legends of British and European drag racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is a member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. He campaigned a series of Top Fuel and Funny Cars, and was the first driver into the six-second range outside of North America with a 6.995-second pass at the famed British Santa Pod drag strip in 1972. This earned him his "Mr. Six" nickname. And, during his career, he and Clive Skilton, another noted British drag racer, engaged in quarter mile battles across Britain and Europe, helping build drag racing across the Atlantic. Gas Ronda ("Gas" is a nickname for his given name, Gaspar) was one of the favorite West Coast Funny Car drivers in the 1960s. His career started with Stock and Super Stock cars, and was a member of the famed Ford "Thunderbolts," and their factory-backed 427 Ford powered Fairlanes. He partnered with famed engine builder Les Ritchey and moved to the emerging Funny Car class in 1966, with a stretched bodied Mustang sponsored by Russ Davis Ford. His last, and most potent ride was a 1969 Mustang-bodied Logghe chassis car, but a serious fire burned Ronda in 1970, and forced an end to his racing career. Steve Earwood the recipient of the 2016 Founders Award. While never a racer, he was raised in a motorsports-oriented family. Drag racing attracted him while a student at West Georgia University (Carrollton, Ga.). After working at Gainesville (Fla.) Dragway, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) hired him as the National Media Relations Director where he teamed with 2015's Pioneer Award recipient, Dave Densmore, to create a comprehensive programme of cultivating the major market media around National events. Earwood and Densmore formed Denswood Sports Marketing after leaving the NHRA, representing major drag racing teams and race tracks. Yearwood also managed the Texas Motorplex, Atlanta Dragway and then purchased "The Rock" – Rockingham Dragway (Rockingham, N.C.), which he operates today. The honorees are selected by a committee of veteran drag racing and performance industry figures. The selection committee consists of Steve Gibbs (Retired Vice President, NHRA), Harry Hibler (President, UNI-Marketing, LLC), Ted Jones (Masters Entertainment, Retired President, IHRA) and Greg Sharp (Curator, Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum). Second a first for Lindau. 2nd October: Congratulations to Germany's Sebastian Lindau who took runner-up spot with his bike at the recent Sand Drags in Akureyri, Iceland, becoming the first non-Icelandic trophy winner at that track. "It was a perfect day with perfect weather", says Sebastian. "Unlike last year my bike worked perfectly that weekend and was very reliable. I'm very satisfied with this result and want to say a big thanks to my sponsors Eimskip, SGFKC, United Arts, PM and Projektart, and of course thanks to the Billaklubbur Akureyrar. "Congratulations to the deserving winner Olafur Arason. With his nitrous charged ZX 10 he was just unbeatable that weekend and also became 2015 Icelandic Champion. "You can see some raceday pictures by clicking here and a video summary by clicking here. You can find further information on my web site at www.sanddragracing.de." Holmberg's season. 2nd October: Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Kenneth Holmberg and the Swecomposite Racing team chose to prioritise the FIM European Championship in 2015 and if time and finances permitted to participate in the EDRS Pro Series. As it turned out Kenneth was able to participate in every round. Kenneth set four Personal Bests this season attaining 7.11 seconds and 306 kmh. The team fell behind at the start of the season with a couple of inglorious red lights but had a semi-final finish at the FIA / FIM European Finals ultimately finishing in sixth place in the FIM European Championship - three points separated fourth and sixth places. Kenneth finished fifth place in the EDRS Pro Series. Kenneth says that he had the best possible team members Gabriella 'Gabbi' Nikolovska and Kent 'Kenta' Carlsson taking the lead with Leif Grundén and Lars Möller assisting at individual events. Kenneth also had one hundred per cent support from his sponsors Erik Larsson at ProService (engine tuning), Texstar (team clothing), Bilglasdesign (vinyls and signs), Backman Info (printing services), Johan 'Findus' Blomqvist of EG Nord AB (sponsorship and support) and of course Swecomposite who also made it possible. Especially exciting was that the team's newest latest sponsor Texstar of Norrtälje, their promotional clothing supplier, helped them to win Best Appearing Team at Alastaro. The team will now attend various events promoting their marketing partners and discussing with potential new partners. They will also make changes to the bike's frame and motors during the winter. Finally Kenneth says that the whole team is already looking forward to 2016. Small hopes, big win. 2nd October: Going into the UK National Finals, UK Pro ET racer Steve Hudson of Eurodragster.com sponsor Hillingdon Speed and Spares had done the maths and was aware that a good performance could win him runner-up spot in the Santa Pod Racers Club Championship. Team Dark Horse had all but sealed the UK National and SPRC Championships so runner-up was the best for which Steve could hope: Following a couple of poor qualifiers - I had a fuel blockage in the first and a fuel leak at the top end in the second - we went into the third and final run with only a small hope of qualifying well. How wrong I was! 0.007 off dial in and we jumped to second. One of our main rivals in the chase for runner-up was Paul Jackson in his Camaro. He ran alongside us in the third qualifying session and went into #3 spot. Bizarrely we both suffered the same problem shortly after the finish: both of us had oil pick ups fail! Back in the pits the thrash began to get repairs done. Sump off, pick-up down to Andy Robinson for one of his best welding jobs (thanks Andy) then back together. Unfortunately we could not run the car due to the noise curfew so were just hoping that we had no leaks when we fired up on eliminations day. Warm up showed no leaks so it was on with round one. First up was Liz Malcolm. A good light and I was past Liz at about 1200 feet and coasted for the win. Then a worrying run against Tig Napier who was having troubles of his own so had dialled 11.99. I desperately did not want to pull a red so was a little slow on the tree. Tig almost coasted down the track but I did manage to catch him just before the line and won by 0.05. The third round was a bye courtesy of my #2 qualifying spot and that was the first chance of the day to run flat-out. Dialled 9.18, ran 9.20, that'll do! By now Paul Jackson had been eliminated and people were telling me that if I won the meeting then I would pip him to runner-up in the UK National Championship. No added pressure there! Next up was Nic Williams in the semi-final, a great close race at the top end with Nic breaking out by a couple of thou. Onto the final against my good mate Gino Bernadine who was back at the track for the first time since killing his crank and rods earlier this year. He was on his game and would not be easy. Near identical reaction times  meant it was a race on dial in. Luckily Gino was a couple of hundredths off and I took the win.  Going into the event I was hoping for very little, but I came out of it with more than I could ever have expected. Now let's get ready for next season. Have a good winter! Bayntons' bests. 2nd October: UK Pro ET racer Paul Baynton says that the 2015 season will go down as one of his favourites: Although I've had some successful seasons, to finally see my daughter Laura behind the wheel of the Capri will definitely be one to remember. Easter was a nerve-wracking time as it was her first time out but she got licenced and got to the second round. On to Shakespeare County Raceway at the beginning of May and it was my turn. I qualified OK and got to the semi-finals where I lost to an on form Tim Stanbury. We then headed to Santa Pod at the end of May for the Main Event. Laura qualified fourth and again went to the second round. The next event was the SPRC Summernationals. Laura qualified nineteenth at this event and again got through to the second round. On returning from this event the motorhome failed its MoT due to a rear axle oil seal leak, but this was sorted at short notice by American Autoparts. August Bank Holiday and we headed off to Shakey and it was my turn behind the wheel again. The Capri was running well with three back to back 10.36s. I was feeling confident for race day. Alas the weather put paid to that and I left with a third place in the APIRA Championship. We then headed over to Santa Pod for the European Finals and Laura was back driving again. At the end of qualifying Laura was sixteenth which put her up against Mark Bailey in the first round. It was a good race with Laura's 0.04 light just beaten by Mark's 0.03. Laura got to the stripe first but broke out by a long way. A new PB for her and the Capri of 10.162 at 132.51 mph, but on a 10.26 dial in. Mark took the win with a lesser break out. On that run Laura experienced brake fade and ended up sideways, almost in the field, having apparently had the car hopping on two wheels before coming to a stop. Fortunately Laura and the car were safe and Keith Herbert's crew of Jim Massey and Dan Devlin came to the rescue and towed the car back. Thanks guys. The following weekend we replaced the brake fluid and adjusted the rear brakes and all seemed fine. So next we set off to the UK National Finals at 10:30 am on the Friday and things started to go wrong right from the off. A queue of traffic on the M23 and then the same on the M25, fairly normal for us of late. During our crawl in the traffic we heard a noise from the engine which went away as quickly as it came and we thought no more about it. Just as we got to Heathrow the radio cut out and the all the lights, indicators etc went off. At that point I realised we had lost the alternator belt. I managed to pull over on the hard shoulder by Junction 15 and call for rescue. A low loader was expected but three hours later a van turned up. "Are you here to fit the belt?", I said. "What belt?" was the reply. Great! Well finally he did fit a belt and gave us a jump start and we were off again finally arriving at the track at 7:00 pm. Qualifying went OK and Laura was thirteenth. She was nervous before the first round and unfortunately snoozed on the line and the race was over. The results for us this year were tenth in the UK National and SPRC Championships and third in the APIRA Championship. This was well above my expectations for the year. Laura has grown up with the car and so for me it was satisfying to see her finally behind the wheel and taking to it so well. Thanks to everyone who has encouraged and supported Laura this year. Thanks also to the staff and crews at both tracks and to Eurodragster.com for keeping us up to speed on all things drag racing (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Roll on 2016. Web site updates. 2nd October: Our good buddy Alan Currans has been busy with two web site updates. The first is a ninth page of Alan's own historical Doorslammer pictures on his excellent Acceleration Archive site at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk; you can take a look via the What's New link. Alan's second update is a UK National Finals review on the official web site of the Chaos Fuel Altered which you can check out at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com. The update includes a link to a YouTube video from the event. Swift snippets. 1st October: Good luck and stay safe to Smax Smith (Top Fuel Dragster) and Jonnie Lindberg (Top Alcohol FC) who are contesting this weekend's NHRA Keystone Nationals in Reading. Qualifying commences tomorrow (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. On that subject the traditional end-season European NHRA invasion is starting to come together with usual suspects Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences, Jonnie Lindberg and Ulf Leanders joined by Manty Bugeja, Rob Turner and of course Colin Millar variously in Dallas, Las Vegas, Pomona or all of the above. Colin will also be running at the California Hot Rod Reunion together with Steve Neimantas and Tony Betts. More to be added so keep an eye on NHRA.com. Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for passing us the final car and latest bike points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Earlier news