European Drag Racing News




































Flame & Thunder Show gallery, best times.
31st October: Many thanks to Julian for supplying photos for our Flame & Thunder Show gallery which you can see by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. As mentioned in our preview, there was something for everyone and over 90 vehicles came along to make their final Santa Pod Raceway passes in 2021.

You can see complete timing data at ETSlips.co.uk thanks to the Santa Pod Raceway timing crew. Below we list the top quarter mile times of the day by vehicle:
  1. Martin Hill (Fireforce 5 Jet Dragster - pictured right) 5.6576/163.04
  2. Martin Hill (Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car) 5.9837/219.96
  3. Roger Goring (Firestorm Jet Funny Car) 6.0562/254.8
  4. Julian Webb (Split Second Jet Dragster) 6.7283/233.82
  5. Darren Peart (Ford Cortina Mk3 - pictured right) 7.7899/170.44
  6. Ian Chrichlow (Suzuki Hayabusa 8.50 Bike) 8.0318/166.66
  7. Chris Neary (Suzuki Hayabusa Comp Bike) 8.2694/167.91
  8. Dean Robey (Thug Motorsport HRC Dragster) 8.9006/147.1
  9. Aaron Windridge (Grim Reaper Model T) 9.0239/138.12
  10. Phil Pratt (Satan's Lady Suzuki GSXR) 9.1108/147.2
  11. Michael Gooding (HoBo Racing Suzuki TLR1000) 9.2759/145.23
  12. Ahmed Jamshaid (Big Man Ting Performance Honda Civic) 9.3189/156.27
  13. Ian Walley (Ford Cortina Mk2) 9.3308/146.76
  14. John Bean (Shotgun Ford Mustang GT) 9.3335/148.18
  15. Mike Couch (Lil' Hemi Hustler slingshot dragster) 9.4108/147.68
  16. Luke Stevenson (Sechs Toy VW Pro Dragster) 9.5883/136.02
  17. John Dalrymple (Full Tilt 33 Willys) 9.6504/136.49
  18. Mark Haswell (Ford Anglia 100e - pictured right) 9.6636/139.84
  19. Paul Dale (Ford Anglia 105e) 9.6753/141.59
  20. Alan Morrison Jnr (Morrison Racing Suzuki Hayabusa) 9.6965/149.07
  21. Don Scott (Plymouth Superbird NSS) 9.726/135.34
  22. James Griffen (Po-Dunk Z28 Camaro) 9.7974/136.18
  23. Dave Mahoney (Chevy Camaro) 9.808/141.58
  24. Brad Head (Suzuki Hayabusa) 9.8133/138.97
There had been heavy rain in the morning however the Santa Pod Raceway track team did a great job of clearing the water away so that the run what ya brung could commence at 13:15. Top Fuel racer Susanne Callin brought out the Slick Tricks machine and made two passes, the quickest of which was early in the proceedings, recording a great 0.8664 to 60ft, off the throttle by before half track which she got to in 4.0316/127.57, recording a 1000' pass of 6.1051/101.90.

The sole incident of the day occured just after the start of racing when Supercharged Outlaws racer and Eurodragster.com/Twister Racing Perfect ET sponsor Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield drifted across from the right lane and made a hard hit sideways on the left wall at an estimated speed of more than 100mph. You can see a photo sequence of the incident in our gallery starting at this link. Fadster commented: "I am fine apart from a really sore neck and massive headache. Twister isn’t quite so good. The new front axle is trash, both nearside wheels are done, the engine has moved forward about 2 inches and this has damaged the fuel pump. Hard to tell whether the chassis is OK but I hit the wall at + 100mph so it’s likely to have suffered. Haven’t checked the rear axle yet, lots of checking and measuring to do but I’ve got the whole winter to sort it."

Whilst most racers had appeared earlier in the year it was the first (and last) SPR outing of 2021 for a few. Mark Haswell with his 572ci Ford 100e ran a best of 9.663/139. Also making their first runs down the track with new or modified vehicles were Jonathan Hines with his Suzuki Hayabusa which we reported on in our 27th October update, and Ollie Hutchings-Smith whose All Couped Up competition coupe morphed into a dragster for this event and repaid him with a ten second timeslip.


Melbourne Raceway gallery and results.
31st October: 'Rock up and Race' Run What Ya Brung at Melbourne Raceway took place on Saturday, with running limited due to rain and similar issues today. Former Editor Tog made the journey and posted a gallery and the best times from the 44 racers attending which you can see at this link supported by John Woolfe Racing.

Tog said "Thanks to Martyn Greathead of Straightliners for the results. Running hours were limited by heavy rain and then the requirements of the BBC TV crew filming an instalment of the coming BBC3 series All Gassed Up, of which drag racing's own Becky Evans is one presenter."

Pictured is Dave Jordan's Dodge 440ci Dodge pickup which ran 9.84/81.


Fast Fil to sell Gulf Oil bike.
31st October: Top Fuel Bike racer and double European TFB champion Filippos Papafilippou has announced his iconic Gulf Oils sponsored bike, second quickest in the world is for sale and you can read the story at www.cycledrag.com.

Fast Fil has cited family commitments causing him to sell and take a break, with three daughters to get through university over the next 3-4 years. The bike is for sale complete including a spare carbon fibre body and enough parts to build a spare engine. We wish Fil best of luck for the future, thanks for extending the legend of this fantastic machine built by Ian King and his team, and hopefully to see him at the track at some time in the future.

Swift snippets.
31st October: Happy 70th Birthday today to former Top Fuel racer Pelle Lindelöw who will be travelling to the UK soon for his induction ceremony at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala on 20th November. Have a great day Pelle from all of us at Eurodragster.com.

Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell who will be travelling to the US the moment the travel restrictions lift, kindly sent us video of the latest fire-up of his 7707 Lucas Oil Land Speed roadster which you can see at this link.

Congratulations to Malta Super Street Bike racer Simon Giordmaina who at a test run at Hal Far Raceway yesterday recorded a 7.201/206 pass to join the 200mph club. He said "Looks like the gremlins started to go away! Thanks to all the people who kept supporting and helping out when things did not look good."

Good luck and stay safe to expat Norwegian NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster racer Julie Nataas who has reached the semi final in the Dodge SRT NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (the 1000th NHRA National Event), also to Russian FIA Pro Modified racer and NHRA rookie Dmitry Samorukov who qualified #11 with a 6.251. Thanks to Robin Jackson for pointing out that all four T/AD semi-finalists at Las Vegas today are women. You can follow their progress at Drag Race Central and via live streaming at NHRA.tv (subscription required).

Santa Pod Raceway announce 2022 calendar.
29th October: Santa Pod Raceway have announced their calendar for 2022 which you can see at this link. SPR's web site will be updated shortly with event details which are promised soon, including RWYB dates. We will publish further details as they become available. Tickets will be available on 1st December.

Flame & Thunder Show tomorrow.
29th October: Santa Pod Raceway hosts its last drag racing event of 2021 this weekend with the Flame & Thunder Show on Saturday and Run What Ya Brung on Sunday.

Traditionally this has been a well attended event with strong local support, however you can still buy tickets for this year's event by going to SPR's online ticket site. Tickets are only available online and not at the gate.

Headlining the on-track programme will be the Slick Tricks Top Fuel Dragster supported by Draper Tools, driven by FIA racer Susanne Callin. There will be Drag displays running throughout Saturday featuring cars and bikes from a variety of national Drag Racing classes. Eurodragster.com will be posting a gallery of the action, and we will publish a list of the quickest times. If you're not at the track you will be able to keep up with the action by listening to Nitro FM.


Thrust driven vehicles will be there aplenty. Martin Hill will be piloting the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car in its sole outing this year and the Fireforce 5 Jet Dragster will be making rapid passes down the quarter mile. Roger Goring will be running Firestorm, the state of the art Ford Mustang bodied Jet car that is one of only 3 centre drive Jet Funny Cars in the world and the only one outside of the USA. Julian Webb will be driving the Rolls-Royce Viper engined Split Second, and Perry Watkins will be driving the 1958 VW Pickup Oklahoma Willy - The Jet Bus with its Rolls Royce Viper 535 jet engine.

Off track, there will a spectacular firework display that will begin as the Fireforce Jet Car crosses the finish line, stunt displays from Terry Grant and Lee Bowyers, Team Maximum Lock's drift show, monster trucks, Titan The Robot (returning after a multi-year layoff), drift rides, helicopter pleasure rides and live band Boxeddy who will be playing on Saturday night. Add loads of stage and kids activities and there is something for everyone.

On-track action commences at 10am on Saturday with jets timetabled to run at various intervals from 11:05 and Susanne Callin's Top Fuel Dragster at 12:30 and 16:00, all appearances subject to weather and track conditions.


Custom Car features Blackbushe Reunion.
29th October: This month's Custom Car magazine has an article on the Eurodragster.com-sponsored Blackbushe Reunion that took place in July following a series of interviews by John Hunt of Surrey-based drag racing pioneers we published earlier in 2021. Keith Lee penned the article which is accompanied by historic and current photos. We're grateful for this coverage and look forward to the second series of interviews which are in preparation and will be published in the early months of 2022.

Also included in this must-buy issue of Custom Car are race reports from the STP Greenlight Nationals, 33rd NSRA Hot Rod Drags, car shows, hot rod builds and features galore. Custom Car is available at this link in digital or print format (all issues since May 2013 also available). Subscriptions are available at this link for the low annual price of £39 by direct debit, £56 via PayPal or credit/debit card and £78 to North America or Europe via PayPal or credit/debit.


Swift snippets.
29th October: A very Happy 70th Birthday to Santa Pod Raceway PR and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame director Robin Jackson. Have a great day Robin from all of us at Eurodragster.com and your colleagues at the BDRHoF. We also wish engine builder and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jeff and Belinda Bull of Jeff Bull Race Engines a Happy Anniversary for today.

Melbourne's season finale.
28th October: Eurodragster.com will be at the season ending 'Rock up and Race' Run What Ya Brung at Melbourne Raceway on 30th-31st October with former editor Tog taking pictures, and we will also post links to results.

You can arrive after 6pm on the Friday before racing and camp out. There is a weekend of Run What Ya Brung madness, car entry being just £50 per day and bikes just £40 per day for unlimited runs, free camping, spectators £10 per day (so if you're a camping spectator it's £10 per day-camping free). There's no weekend entertainment, just a final get together as we enter the festive season and Melbourne Raceway closes for a well earned break after an epic 2021 season.

In contrast to earlier events in the season, entry is using cash on the gate and no pre-booking is possible. In other words, just turn up and let's go racing for the last time of the year! All vehicles will have to pass scrutineering and you will need a crash helmet plus appropriate safety equipment. The BBC will be filming this event for a new programme called Speed, more details on this will be published as soon as we receive them.


More improvements at Melbourne Raceway have been implemented in the form of the protection for the return road by a number of water filled barriers, which will be added to during next season.

Although there will be no Duck All Prep competition at the weekend, organiser and Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child has posted videos of competitions which took place at Melbourne Raceway on 18th-19th September and 9th-10th October which you can see on his Youtube channel at this link.

Jurby hosting events in 2022.
28th October: Jurby Motodrome opened to drag racing last weekend with the indefatigable Straightliners team operating their timing equipment on the quarter mile (albeit minus staging lights) as local racers took advantage of sunny and dry conditions to make runs at the Isle of Man track's Big Weekender. You can see a Facebook video of 11 minutes of the action on this Facebook video, with commentary by Straightliners chief Trevor Duckworth.

Included in the cars making runs were Hellzapoppin' (Pictured left below) with local racer and car builder Ian Merryweather acting as crew to his son Lee as driver and owner Peter Astell-Burt for a blast down the quarter mile track.


Jurby will have a round of the Straightliners championship in September 2022 with special boat transportation laid on to transport teams over. There will be new timing equipment provided by by Straightliners for local organisers SL Events Jurby to run drag Race RWYB type events at Jurby, to build interest in our sport on the island. It will also be used at the first Jurby drag race in 2022, which will coincide with the Isle of Man TT during the period 28th May-11th June. Both of these full on drag events will be run by Straightliners in conjunction with SL Events Jurby.

Swift snippets.
28th October: A huge (in proportion to his age) Happy Birthday to Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts, have a great day Tony from all of us at Eurodragster.com.

Eurodragster.com will be running its traditional Christmas Gift Mart earlier than usual in order to aid the order and delivery process (you know what we mean). If you have any products you would like to sell to Eurodragster.com readers, please forward details to editor@eurodragster.com. Previous gift marts have included t-shirts, calendars, mugs, prints, DVDs and even parts for race cars. The publication date for the Christmas Gift Mart will be Monday 15th November.

If you're looking for a slingshot dragster rolling chassis for sale, a great example has been listed on Ebay. Based near Doncaster, it's complete, only missing engine, has only done three runs and was built by Roy Wilding to SFI 2.6A (7.5 second) specs. Full specs are included in the advert and the asking price is £10,000.

Gerda as co-crew chief makes NHRA TF history.
28th October: Thanks to Diane Kolb, PR for Lex Joon Racing for giving us an update on the role of Gerda Joon in husband Lex's NHRA Top Fuel team:

According to published reports, women who succeed in male-dominated careers are often seen negatively. Gerda Joon is an example of a woman who is determined, capable and willing to step into the traditionally male dominated role of co-crew chief on a top fuel dragster. She has already proven her worth by absorbing all the data possible and learning about the complexities involved with setting the right tune-up for various track conditions.

Lex knows it takes a strong team to win races and championships, a strong co-crew chief he found in his wife and long partner Gerda.

“I’m thrilled to announce Gerda Joon as a co-crew chief for Lex Joon Racing. I have worked with Gerda for many years setting records, winning races and a FIA Championship. I have seen her move up from an entry level crew member to one of the few current female co-crew chiefs in NHRA drag-racing. Over the last two years she went out of her way to help me and our part-time crew to climb the ladder building a team that’s ready to be a force when real funding becomes available.

Lex and Gerda made the decision to leave their home and family in the Netherlands to move across the globe to the United States in pursuit of their American Dream. That was in 2013; they have been working as a team ever since to achieve that dream. You won't find Gerda at the nail shop or beauty parlor on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Instead, she'll be at the shop working side by side with Lex as they delve deeper into the mechanics of their top fuel dragster. Lex who has over 30 years of experience as a team owner and driver knows that team chemistry is a key element to be successful. “The most experienced teams don’t always win; you need to find the right group of people that support each other.

"I was doing everything I could to support our program in any way possible, Gerda explains. This certainly wasn't the team role I planned to be in, not ever! I was actually terrified the first few times I had to squirt gasoline into the injectors but with some great support I've overcome that hurdle and am now adapting to my co-crew chief responsibilities. I also feel very blessed to have had teachers like Eric Lane, Lance Larsen and Rob Flynn, and of course my biggest mentor Lex."

Excerpt from start line interview with Joe Castello, NHRA staff announcer, on Sunday, October 17, 2021, at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN:

Joe Castello: You and Lex are working together to tune the car; that's kind of cool. A couple years ago you were just helping out and now you've taken over some of the tuning roles. What's that been like?

Gerda Joon: Stressful, but also very educated, and I think he is doing a great job because most of the calls come from him. I just am the person who puts in the numbers but it is very cool because I think we are the only husband and wife team out here that are running their own cars on a flustering budget instead of a shoestring budget. We work our butts off during the week, we put every penny we have in it, and we just pray to God, see how it goes and give it everything we have.

"It's great to have the support of the NHRA, our sponsors and our amazing fans. As a woman, I hope that I can inspire others to step outside their comfort zones and pursue roles that will offer them personal and professional pride. I am still learning but the experience is beyond what I ever imagined possible. Being supportive is one thing, stepping up when needed into a role that is as critical as a co-crew chief, well...it's just been crazy!" While funding has continued to be a challenge, Lex and Gerda have budgeted to attend as many races as possible.

"We don't have a trailer full of motors to just throw in there so we need to be smart about our decisions, smart about when we do and don't opt to make a run. One thing you should know by now is that we never quit, and we won't ever quit! My plan is to keep moving forward, to learn more, to listen to others who know more, and to get our car into the winner's circle. We know it will happen, we just have to take lots of steps to get there as a team! Remember “The Tortoise and the Hare fable…we are the tortoise and at the end of the day we will succeed!"

“I know I am in a male dominated role, but I plan to make a positive impact for our team and this sport. Whatever they say about negativity, I hope to turn that impression around…at least so far as being a female co-crew chief is concerned. This sport is all about family and this is an example of how we show our support for one another.”

Lex Joon Racing looks forward to working with returning marketing partners as well as adding new partners for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Series Drag Racing Series. As announced, they have entered the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL March 10-13. Additional entries will be announced in the future. #NEVERQUIT

Malta final round looking great.
27th October: The Malta Drag Racing Association web site has been relaunched with a totally different look and more functionality. Track hire can be booked, and photos and videos are included. Once implemented, racers will be able to book tickets for events (currently available at the track entrance), and advertise cars and parts for sale. Take a look at www.maltadragracing.com.

The next run what ya brung meeting is on Sunday 31st October, preceding the Finals on 11th-14th November for which we hear a large group of Brits will be attending, including announcer Luke Stevenson. Payment for entry at the gate is 5 euros on Thursday, and 10 euros a day on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays, or a combined ticket for 25 euros which covers the whole weekend.

The full entry list will be published in the last few days leading up to the event however the MDRA have highlighted some of the cars attending what will be the biggest drag race in Malta in the last two years.

Malta Motorsport Federation President and 2017 FIA Top Fuel Champion Duncan Micallef will be making exhibition passes in his car. The world's quickest Escort Mk1s will be competing, the quickest 4cyl Mk1 Escort in the world from Lixxu Racing driven by Clint Fenech powered by a Cosworth YB (PB 7.053/193.08), Justin Ladmu and the Terminator rotary Escort Mk1 (PB 7.188/192), and Gary Camilleri's Zoqdi Racing rotary powered Mk1 (PB 7.18/188).

On the bike side there will be the Funny Bikes of Glen Borg (PB 6.538/329,68) and Franklyn Borg (6.908/302,73 PB at 2021's 2nd event) and Super Street Bike will feature Joseph Grima on Simon Giordmaina's SSB.


A jet dragster will be running for the second time after its May 2019 Hal Far début, with Martin Hill of FireForce Jet Funny Cars again driving the Nitro Lord jet dragster of Austrian engineer, racer, promoter and organiser Alexander Pilshöfer.

Many other spectacular race vehicles are expected to fill the 120 available spaces of what should be a great event.

The event will be observed in its entirety directly by FIA members, to issue a report on how to conduct an event at Hal Far.

Plans are in hand for upgrading Hal Far track as part of the redevelopment of the facility into an international motorsports race track as we reported on 28th September. Barriers will be replaced with new ones to comply with FIA regulations, and the MDRA will build a new Tower for equipment to be transferred from the existing one. The pit area will also be extended.

We will post links to media and results for the November event, and watch with interest continued developments in Maltese drag racing.

Laseur to retire.
27th October: We were sorry to learn that 2016 FIM-E Pro Stock Bike champion and more recently Super Twin racer Gert-Jan Lauseur from Almere, Netherlands, has announced his retirement from competitive drag bike riding:

"From 1996 onwards I have constantly engaged in drag racing, from street class, to Super Street. In 2006 I had my first wheelie bar motorcycle, in 2007 I was European champion in Top Gas! I drove throughout Europe from 2009 to 2016 for the FIM Pro Stock championship with the cherry on the cake the European championship in 2016! After that a few more years of riding in Super Twins with the last result in second place in the European championship in 2019! Unfortunately, forced by Corona, nothing has happened in the last two years and this has also made me realise how much time this sport takes me and my two crew member friends.

"In my shop it's only busier and busier, and I have to admit that I've been working with more fun in my shop for the last two years, now the pressure of work that this motorcycle sport requires is gone. It's difficult with a one-man motorcycle business to have to take leave during the busiest part of the season. It is also increasingly difficult for crewman Sander Nijssen to find the time for the sport.


"I therefore decided to stop drag racing, which I did with great pleasure and passion almost 25 years! My thanks go to my crew and friends Patrick, Sander, Angie and Jeroen and my crew members who used to join, Appie, Joram, Federico and Rick. Mucho cudos for Max who was financially the biggest help from the start through thick and thin years!

"My thanks also go to my many sponsors that I have had for years, especially the Family Pels van Zodiac, Eurol Oil, Youngerius Amersfoort and Robarcko Almere. Apologies to my mom and dad who are terrified to this day if we went out for another week for a competition.

"If anyone is interested in my Supertwin 196 ci, I'm open to a suitable proposal. I have so many extra parts that you will be able to ride this super reliable Nitro Harley Supertwin for years to come. The frame has been made longer and the exhaust needs to be modified, the seat needs to be changed and the wheelie bar too." You can contact Gert-Jean via his web site. Update 28th October: Gert-Jan's bike has been sold to a racer in Scandinavia.

Weapon for Hines.
27th October: Former ET bike racer Jonathan Hines is making a big step up by buying the ex Knut Möller Super Street Bike and will be testing the machine at this weekend's Flame & Thunder Show. Jonathan said:

"A mate and I left home midnight last Saturday, after 36hours of travelling and collecting the bike later we were back home. We stopped once for fuel, other than that, we didn’t stop at all.

"The bike is a Suzuki Hayabusa with Holley EFI management system, Garret GT35 turbo and a Rock Solid clutch. It has been at best 7.658/186 with more power to be had.


"I’m riding the bike for the first time at Flame & Thunder this weekend and on the Sunday run what ya brung, not going to be laying down amazing times, but I've got to get some bike time on it.

"I’m not sure whether I am going to be going Comp Bike or 8.50 Bike, with a view in the future to have a try at Super Street Bike. It is upto super street spec with full carbon body work.

"I'm looking for sponsors to go alongside my current sponsor Portable Power."

We wish Jonathan all the best for his testing this coming weekend.

TTS Performance bike hits the eights.
27th October: Many thanks to TTS Performance owner Richard Albans for getting in touch. Richard, as we reported yesterday, ran into the eights on a bike he had not been on for four years. "I own TTS Performance, going on 40 years next year. I’m the UK importer for Rotrex Superchargers made in Denmark, very small high revving centrifugal units. I don’t get much time to ride, but last weekend made the effort to get my bike out for the first time in 4 years.

"It’s a forged gen 2 Busa motor running a C38-91 Rotrex, not the biggest but it’s giving me 18pounds of boost and 500hp. As a result of the RWYB track conditions, we used some grip juice to get the traction needed. It was geared pretty high, going through the top end in 5th and my best was 8.8/179 (click on picture for FB video). I’m sure I could run 7’s if I set the bike up for a prepped track, but will have to wait till next year now."

If you want to know more about TTS Performance an Rotrex Superchargers, please email sales@tts-performance.co.uk, call +44 (0)1327 858212 or check out our web site www.tts-performance.co.uk.

Santa Pod Raceway's October Saturday Night Special.
26th October: Thanks to Callum Pudge for publishing a large gallery from last weekend's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway on Facebook which you can see at this link. There were some quick times and here is our list of some of the top times recorded:
  1. Ian Crichlow (8.50 Bike) 8.477/156.88
  2. Dean Robey (Super Pro ET dragster) 8.7272/146.67
  3. Richard Albans (TTS Performance Tuning) 8.8298/175.68
  4. Roberto Caira (Audi RS3) 8.9556/160.19
  5. Brian Nixon (Outlaw Street Taz Racing Anglia 105e) 9.0769/151.65
  6. Ahmed Jamshaid (Honda Civic) 9.3173/154.16
  7. Sally Woolner (Outlaw Street Camaro) 9.3283/149.62
  8. David Mahoney (Outlaw Street Camaro - pictured right) 9.5343/138.97
  9. Michael Castle (Ford Cortina Mk5) 9.6455/141.13
  10. Anna Sasiak (Suzuki Hayabusa turbo) 9.6628/151.09
  11. Helder Pereira (FWD Seat Leon) 9.8631/144.82
  12. Andy Cunningham (Outlaw Anglia) 9.822/133.72
We've gathered some comments from social media from racers who made runs: 8.50 Bike racer Ian Chrichlow has a new ride (pictured below left), built for SSB a few years back and raced a little in Comp Bike, but the bike hasn't been at the track for a few years, so after reporting yesterday that Craig Wright will be on Ian's usual 8.50 Bike next year, it's good to know Ian will still be in the saddle next year.


Another quick bike not out on track for four years was Richard from TTS Performance Tuning whose white supercharged Hayabusa (pictured above right) is a rolling demonstrator for TTS Performance Tuning's Rotrex centrifugal superchargers which the firm have developed for over 40 years. Richard ran his first eight, 8.82/175 so well done to him.

Audi RS3 racer Roberto Caira (pictured below left) represents Ecotune and came down from his Glasgow base, driving the RS3 450 miles to Santa Pod. He made six passes and running twice in the eights, his first eight, 8.9924/161.91 improving to 8.9556/160.19 under the SPR lights, the quickest RS3 runs ever. Then he drove the car home! Closer to home, Roberto set the track record at Crail earlier in the month by running a 9.250/165.40 on 10th October.


There were Front Wheel Drive racers present running low nines. Skillaturbo UK were well represented, with Helder Pereira running his 'Batmobile' Seat Ibiza (pictured above right) with Alvaro Silva into the 10s on his first day out in his TDI Seat Arosa.

FWD racer Ahmed Jamshaid of Big Man Ting Performance ran his Honda Civic and recorded 9.3173/154.16 coupled with a 157mph PB speed earlier on Saturday evening, with a new block installed at the end of September and run in at the JapShow Finale.

There were others trying out new parts or combinations, Super Pro racer Tom Atkinson tried nitrous for the first time on his Nova Wagon. "Interesting day playing with the gas for the first time, 50hp jets got it down to a 10.98@122.55 (its first ever 10) then stepped up to the 100 shot and smashed out a 10.67@125.95 backed up by a 10.68@125.81, couldn’t believe it! We left the 150 jets in the box for next year..."

VW Pro racer Richie Webb brought a street legal VW Beetle with turbo, which stood up on its rear wheels twice, and after development looks as if it will be rapid.

As reported on 21st October, Outlaw Street held its final round at this event, and the quickest are listed above. Also running were Owen Forrest in his Nova, Michelle Wallington in her Subaru powered Beetle, Mark Wallington in his rebuilt '65 Falcon Wagon, Dez Brown in his MG Magnette, Pete Lane in his Barracuda and a couple of others.

Michelle Wallington (pictured below left with Mark's Falcon) said "Well that's a wrap on my first full season and wow what a year my 2021 season has been. I started the season running 25s with suspension & clutch issues, but over the season the bugs bugs have been worked through one at a time. I've raced at Santa Pod & Melbourne and totalled 81 runs this year! As of this weekend I finished on a high with yet another PB with my final PB for 2021 of 14.37 & 94.69mph. I can't thank everyone enough who's helped with 'lil blue along the journey this year.


Owen Forrest brought two cars, his usual Chevy Nova II (pictured above right) and an Escort Mk1 driven by Cameron Smith. He said "What does it look like to achieve a goal after a year of trying: In possibly the most enjoyable and emotional end to my season’s drag racing saw the Nova finally pull in a jaw dropping leap into a 9.82 pass at 134mph. The fastest and quickest pass yet, all motor, 99ron pump gas, road legal with a strong headwind. I’d have been overwhelmed with a 9.99 but this was amazing. The Escort broke the diff but still made a personal best of 10.25@128 on the motor alone and 10.11/125 with nitrous.

"Thank you to everyone who has helped along the way or followed the journey through social media. The final and fastest pass had me in tears, the effort put in with me and the team through the season, the immediate response was to naturally share my enjoyment with Dad, I think he would have been jumping up and down with the rest of the team on the start line. What a sport. Thanks to those who have inspired me or helped along the way, you’re probably unaware of how much distraction i’ve needed this year since Dad’s passing, he was my wingman. Special thanks to Adam Smith for trackside crew and all of our team / friends and everyone at work for the relentless withstanding of my obsession."

Images © Pudgeys Pictures.

Wheelie bars for Alex.
26th October: Second Coming Single Cab racer Alex 'Jesus' Leiserach came to the SPR Saturday Night Special last weekend to continue to test his new build Bay Window machine (see news on 23rd August) and pulled a huge wheelie in the process:

"Saturday started with driver error. I have moved the 2 step switch to the other side of the staging brake to cure an issue, but didn't pull it hard enough to actually engage it. This caused two issues, the clutch management wasn't activated, and it didn't sit on the 2 step so didn't build boost. There wasn't enough power on launch to slip the clutch, nor was the clutch management active to assist. A rookie mistake, but I definitely learnt from it. So a huge wheels-up launch and it ran a 1.48 60ft on the back wheels, this is very promising. Upon landing I was very glad of the Racetech 119 seat cushioning me!


"It luckily only did cosmetic damage to the underside, although the landing was hard enough to drop both doors. Back to the pits, we readjusted the doors, gave everything a good check over and bolted on the wheelie bars. Second pass it shook pretty bad off the line but ran a 10.7/130, it had a crap 60ft due to tyre shake and the mph was down as we had it turned down in 3rd and 4th. It's only a RWYB track with a lot of cars with treaded tyres not helping the surface, we had decided to take it very cautiously. Ironically I really don't need the wheelie bars when everything is working, but they are a good safety net.

Third pass a quick bing boop (technical term - Editor) with the laptop and we adjusted a few things to help with the launch. Got all the way to the front of the queue but the starter motor decided it no longer is a starter motor and is now just a smelly paperweight. A few hours of driving around to collect a replacement and by the time we went to bed it had a fresh one.

Our fingers were crossed for Sunday with the weather and the track; the headwind was due to be a lot stronger so that was definitely be against us. Sadly after running around to collect, modify and then fit a suitable starter, the clutch release bearing failed on us Sunday first thing.

Lots learnt and its far better going into winter knowing what needs attention rather than wondering. We will be back stronger and faster, definitely glad I booked both days. Its going to be a long winter till we get to run again, but with the truck showing such promise and a few simple tweaks planned, we are really looking forward to the next season already.

'Racing is Life, Anything before or after is just Waiting.'

Images © Blackett Photography.

Swift snippets.
26th October: The Outlaw Anglia website has had a makeover with a photo slideshow on the front page and hover over updated car details for current drivers, of which there are 48. The address to go to for comprehensive information on the class is www.outlawanglia.co.uk.

Craig moves up.
25th October: Former triple SPRC Sportsman ET Champion Craig Wright has raced in various cars from low 8sec Dragsters in Super Pro ET to finishing 3rd in his rookie season in Super Comp.

Three seasons ago Craig made a big change by venturing into 9.50 Bike in 2019 with a borrowed bike from Ian Chrichlow. Although his drag racing experience was wholly in cars he got to grips with the 180hp Suzuki Hayabusa Gen1 (Gen 2 bodied) machine quickly and won his second event with it, the 2019 Springspeed Nationals. Having finished runner up in the 2019 points, Craig continued racing the bike during the 2020 Covid Cup and was runner up in that year too. This year a more complete racing programme took place and Craig was the winner at the Festival of Power, achieving runner up position for the third year in a row.


Craig is now about to embark on the next stage of his motorcycle drag racing career. He said "We felt it's time to start a new chapter and face a new challenge, then an offer was put to us. I will be on the Ian Chrichlow 8.50 Turbo'd Hayabusa for 2022 as we step up to the 8.50 class.

"We know this bike is mega and has even ran into the 7s at over 180mph, but is mainly a front running 8.50 bike. Crich won the National Finals this year on its only outing. I've just now got to get used to this 'Boost' thing that everyone's raving about!

"Huge thanks to Crich for coming up with this idea and giving us the chance, the bloke's off his rocker but an absolute' legend. 8.50 Bike is a seriously good class with some stellar riders, and actually looking to be quite a big field next season, so we cannot wait to mix it up with everyone! The team and bike will also have a fresh CW Motorsport look as well. Roll on 2022 Baby!"

Craig thanks Ian and Jay Roe and the Fossil Fuellers Drag Bike Team for sorting everything and giving him this opportunity. He also said he's looking for sponsors.

Spottedmotors into the nines.
25th October: You may have come across the Youtube channel Spottedmotors which is presented by Dale Ackworth and Michael Castle. During the last four years Dale and Michael have posted a number of videos featuring buying, selling, modifying and racing their favourite cars. The channel has developed along the way, with narration added from 2018 and Dale restating his objectives for the channel in 2019.

Many cars have been featured including Michael's Ford Cortina Mk5 featured in the very first video posted, a race at Shakespeare County against a Ford P100. In February 2019, Dale and Michael went to Bill Inghams Speed Shop (co-incidentally located in Billingham), to reveal their dream to convert the Cortina to a full on drag car with a twin turbo 5.3ltr LS6 engine. Its previous 500ci Cadillac engine suffered an engine blow up in October 2020 which provided the trigger for installing the replacement.

A series of videos covered the stripping down and replacing of the engine with the LS6, including rebuilding the valve train. Along the way Dale and Michael crewed for David McCallan and his Chevy C10. They also took the Cortina to John Sleath Race Cars and discovered the car made 750hp on 10psi boost after some tweaks. The videos are presented in a light hearted manner with plenty of onboard footage so the viewer feels almost part of the team.

Fast forward to Santa Pod Raceway at the Saturday Night Special and RWYB held last weekend 23rd-24th October and the car, driven by Michael, ran well from the start. By the end of Sunday the car had made nine runs with a best of 9.645/141.13. With a race number of Pro 86, we hope Michael will be entered in Pro ET in 2022 and that we will be able to follow his and Dale's progress on Spottedmotors.

Street Eliminator Bentley for sale.
25th October: Thanks to Wayne Allman for spotting a For Sale advert for the legendary Street Eliminator Bentley on racecarsdirect.com. The car described as an "incredible piece of engineering, professionally built by Jon Webster at a cost of £300K+" will be sold "fully prepped by Jon Webster Engineering and ready to run".

The car as most drag racing fans know first competed in Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator in 2014 driven by its first owner Steve Neimantas to best times of 7.301 and 208.10, then in 2016 Martin Smith of Extreme Racing bought and raced it until 2018, winning the Main Event that year, following which it has been in storage.

The car is being sold by current owner Academy Motorsport Ltd. Interested parties should contact Matt Nicoll-Jones on 07814705352 with a suitable offer.

Picture credit: Tog.

Swift snippets.
25th October: We send Happy Birthday greetings for today to Top Fuel racer Urs Erbacher who is 60 years young today, to Super Pro ET racer Joe Kellett, to former crew member for Peter Schöfer's TMD team Gittli Kürten, and to Giles & Hartley crew member Kirsty Giles. Have a great day from all of us at Eurodragster.com.

The Ain't No Saint Volvo P1800 of Lee Johnstone and family are the subject of a Hot Rod Magazine Car Profile article.

Samorukov licenses for NHRA.
23rd October: Adam Flamholc, crew chief for Russian Pro Modified racer Dmitry Samorukov (pictured right with Adam), has announced that Dmitry will be racing at the NHRA Vegas Nationals from 29th-31st October:

"Big news for Russian dragracing! My longtime friend Dmitry Samorukov just got his NHRA license and will run his SMP Racing Camaro at the NHRA Pro Mod final round next weekend!

"Me, Dmitry and the guys from the Russian Drag Racing Championship have worked together for six years now, racing in Russia and in the FIA European championship. NHRA have always been a dream for Dmitry, and now he will become the first Russian to race with NHRA!

Chris Duncan is doing some NHRA safety updates on the Camaro and will meet us in Tulsa, so we can get some testing in before we head out to Las Vegas."

Dmitry was born in 1976 and after coming second in the 24 Hours of Barcelona circuit race in 2012, took to drag racing in 2014, starting with the All Wheel Drive class and in 2015 becoming runner up in the Rear Wheel Drive class Russian championship in 2015. In 2016, Dmitry acquired a Dodge Viper and teamed up with Adam Flamholc who travelled from the US where he now resides to assist him in running it. The result was five Russian Drag Racing Championships in a row in the US class, the top category. He also raced in Finland at the 2016 Nitro Nationals, and at Tierp in the Scandinavian Internationals in Top Doorslammer.

In 2019, Dmitry competed in each round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship and came 10th in his first full season, achieving best times of 5.846/ 245mph. Whilst the pandemic in 2020 prevented Dmitry from competing internationally in 2020, he scored his fifth RDRC title.

Good luck and stay safe to Dmitry as he prepares for NHRA competition.

Picture of Dmitry and Adam taken at 2019 FIA Main Event.

Hans Olav on the road to recovery.
23rd October: A couple of days ago, Super Twin racer Hans Olav Olstad was released from hospital after a long stay following his accident on 12th September at Gardermoen. He wrote:

"Finally I'm strong enough to sent an update on my situation. Right now I am healing faster then anybody can explain, however there have been massive injuries to my face, chest, shouler and lungs, together with lot of blood in the lung.

"Right after the huge explosion, the rescue team was by my side. The cylinder head hit my chest and face and demolished everything in the way. The rescue team did all what they could to save my life, and succeeded. I will never be able to give them enough credit or thanks for saving my life. A helicopter brought me to the best hospital in Norway, to stabilise my body for a huge operation. I was on the operating table for over eight hours to repair my sternum and put together all different bones in my face. The upper and lower jaw was totally separated from rest of the skull and were just in pieces. I was placed in breathing machines for one week, then the doctor told me there was no more danger to my life.

"My girlfriend Margrethe was by my side every day. She spoke to me, touched me, and the monitoring apparatus registered a reduced heart rate together with lower blod pressure. I was still in a coma although nobody can explain why this occured. Then, after 10 days in a coma, I woke up to my new life. At that time I could not speak and it was hard to communicate. I was mostly blinking with my eyes.

From that moment every small step forward have been a huge step for me. I'm now up and can walk small steps. I can talk again, eat mashed food, and drink by myself.

"Last week they remove all the steel in the mouth, 14 days earlier then planed, and I was able to swallow and talk properly without any pain.

Right now I have a overhwhelming desire to give the biggest credit to all my friends and helpers for all their warm words, and offers of all kinds of help. One of the biggest surprises was seeing a kid putting a sticker on his go cart that said "get well Hans Olav".

About the bike, almost everything is damaged, the frame is damaged, the complete engine with compressor damaged. The data logger and screen are damaged, mostly all the cables are damaged. It's impossible to say anything about the future of this bike. It needs years to put it back to a drivable condition. One thing is the cost, the other thing is all the parts neded.

But I will be at the track next year, mostly to help friends and their teams. Thank you all.

Picture taken at 2016 FIA Main Event.

Dakota's final cash day of 2021.
23rd October: The final cash race day of 2021 at Dakota Raceway Southwest, Smeatharpe, Devon on Saturday 13th November has been announced by promoter and Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child:

"This is a great day out for any petrolhead, all are vehicles are welcome. There is a 1/4 mile drag strip for Run What Ya Brung where you can grudge race your friend. There is an 1/8th mile drag race for cash competition, Street Outlaw style. It's an excellent place to meet up, with coffee, cars, bikes and bacon butties.

"The 1/8th mile drag race competition will be run as duck-all prep, with 1/4 mile run what you brung and passenger rides as well. To enter, go to this link.

"In the no-time 1/8 mile drag race there is a chance to win £400 per category, first across the line wins. All categories will have the 16 car pairings decided from a out the hat selection until the final two race for the money. The categories of competition are:

Pro AWD: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Street AWD: Factory appearance, full interior
Pro Rear Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Street Rear Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior
Pro Front Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Street Front Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior

Based on a 16 car field, the winner gets £400 in each category. In the event of numbers in each category not being fulfilled, there will be a reduced prize fund, for example in a 4 car category £150 and 8 car category £200. In event of the category exceeding 16 cars, the prize will go up from £400. However Lee is looking for sponsor input to increase the prize funds "so be aware things are subject to change".

Lee has been keeping score and the leader in points is Pete Lane (Plymouth Barracuda - picture by Jerry Cookson) who has an almost 100% win record and the most wins outright in 2021 at Dakota. He is 50 points ahead of Graham Butler (rat rod) who is in turn 10 points ahead of Dave Mahoney (Chevy Camaro) and Audrius Bagdonavicius (Audi S2).

Entry fees: Entry to the 1/8 mile heads up drag race cash day with 1/4 mile test and tune is now open costing £100, including one crew ticket. Run What Ya Brung racers can enter for £55. Drifting is £75, or £45 in addition to other entry. Racers should enter online as there is pre entry only, no entry on the day.

If you get eliminated from the 1/8 mile no time drag race, you then can do timed 1/4 mile test runs at no extra charge. Passengers have a £35 additional charge, and the entry cost on the gate for spectators is £10 per person kids go free.

The Dakota drift team add: "For anyone that hasn't been to one of our events before we have a dedicated beginners' area away from the spectators as well as the main track which is fast, flows and still good for tandem drifting. Seat time is really good too. One of our tracks strong points is the space and freedom to practice higher speed entries at the top corner."

Click to enter at this link. The post code for Smeatharpe Airfield is EX14 9RF.

Swift snippets.
23rd October: We wish a Happy 60th Birthday today to Pro ET sabbatical-taker Paul Baynton and to our namesake, hot rod builder Simon Groves, also Happy Birthday to former Shakespeare County Raceway clerk of the course Osmond Maguire. Have a great day guys.

For those enjoying coverage of the Calfornia Hot Rod Reunion, the webcast of today's racing is at this link. You can also see the results of yesterday's qualifying in Nostalgia Funny Car and Top Fuel by going to Competition Plus.

Your editor was kindly invited by Dave Turner of the must-see Facebook Group UK & European drag racing photos to select five pictures to be voted on for this month's header poll. You can see, and vote on, the selection at this link. Thanks for the opportunity Dave.

Outlaw Street finale this weekend.
21st October: At this weekend's Run What Ya Brung and Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway (racing on Saturday planned to run to 8pm), the Outlaw Street series has its sixth and final round. The well-established series for street legal cars reached over 100 members in 2021 and held all its rounds at SPR.

Looking back at the rounds held this year, the delayed first round was at VW Breakout on 28th-30th May, and was followed by round 2 at Melbourne Raceway on the weekend of 19th-20th June. Round 3 was at the Mopar Euronationals on 30th July-1st August, however round 4 was split between 15th August (Das Auto Show), 3rd September (VW Action/Doorslammers) and 9th October (GTi Festival) due to the limited running possible at those events (points scored on the first date attended count). Round 5 was held at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags on 17th-19th September, with only pre-1973 cars being eligible to score points.

The points system is built on a combination of 3 factors, the quickest ET on the day, a racer's personal improvement from the last race meeting and attendance. This means that members don’t have to run the fastest car to have a chance of winning a trophy across the season, as proven by the top 3 winners on many occasions over the past 11 years of Outlaw Street. Points from four of six rounds in the 2021 series count towards a racer's final score and decides the series winners, and the first round a racer attends is their ‘dial in’ round scoring zero points apart from 25 attendance points.


The six cars that have scored points in four rounds so far are Brian Nixon (Anglia 105e) (pictured above left), Dave Mahoney (Chevy Camaro) (pictured above right), Owen Forrest (Chevy Nova), Pete Lane (Plymouth Barracuda), Michelle Wallington (Beetle) and Nina Coombes (Lexus). Three other racers who are in with a chance of a trophy, having scored in three rounds are Sally Woolner (Chevy Camaro), Rob Leyman (Chevy C10 pickup), and George Ralph (Corvette C3).

Mark Wallington is the series organiser, using the Outlaw Street Facebook page being the main means of member communication and posting of media. You can see the latest Outlaw Street points at this link, or via our points standings page.

The series' 2021 Prize Night will be held at the Crown Lodge Hotel, Outwell, Wisbech on 13th-14th November.

Old School Stockers' Rule repeat champion.
21st October: Old School Stockers, the group of small (8") tyre Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike racers, yesterday announced that Claire Rule (pictured right) is the 2021 Champion, winning the title for the second year in a row. Congratulations to Claire who has been riding these bikes since 1988, the last year of small tyre bikes. Claire engineered, machined and built her latest bike, based on a 1985 GSX1100EFE, in 2016-17 essentially as a copy of her first Pro Stock bike with some minor updates to make it suitable for modern track conditions. Aside from Old School Stockers, Claire's main business is conversions of Mazda MX5s, at her firm Crapengineering.

The championship was split between Melbourne Raceway and Santa Pod Raceway, with the first round at Melbourne on 22nd May, the second at the Retro Show on 21st June, then Dragstalgia on 9th-11th July. The group returned to Melbourne Raceway on 7th-8th August and its season finale was at the Straightliners event on 17th October. Riders in the series thanked Santa Pod Raceway and Melbourne Raceway for hosting rounds of racing.

Old School Stockers was adopted as the title for the series to correspond to their Facebook Group which is run by championship organiser Tyne Blight with assistance from Dan Blight who calculates championship points. The class's Facebook Group keeps an eye on the other nostalgia Pro Stock bikes running in Europe (currently a couple at Kjula Dragway) and also includes a copy of the 1985 ACU rules under 'Announcements'. The Group also contains some historic photos and memories from those who raced in the class back in the day.

Swift snippets.
21st October: Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has uploaded to his Youtube page an hour's footage from round 4 of the 2001 Super Series at Avon Park Raceway which were shot by the late John Hutchinson. The video includes a fair proportion of pitside footage from which team members of yesteryear may be identified.

For those wishing to watch the NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion, which takes place this weekend, a stream will be on the Youtube channel DragRacer.tv from 22nd-24th October.

The entertaining series of video interviews filmed by Cindy Gibbs this week features Nitro Revival organiser Steve Gibbs interviewing Bill Schultz, who worked with Alan Jackson and Micke Kågered's TF teams in Europe, and 1971 NHRA Top Fuel Champion Gerry Glenn. You can see the video, on the Nitro Revival Group FB page, by clicking here.

Arthur Christy.
20th October: We were sadddened to hear of the passing of South African drag racing pioneer and AA/FD racer at Santa Pod in their 1971 International meeting Arthur Christy.

Arthur had a lifelong love of cars and drag racing. As well as creating South Africa's first drag strip, Rainbow Drag Strip, he built cars, the best known in the UK being his Hawaiian III which he transported over 5000 miles to race at Santa Pod. Despite it being a half century since his landmark visit to the UK, Arthur closely followed UK drag racing and was the subject of an interview feature we posted in 2016, and later in HOFtalk 11. In return, he kept in close touch with his UK friends and admirers. Arthur's nephew Wavell Vere wrote:


"For those that knew him, know that he was a mountain of a man, not only physically but also in character and had a huge heart.

"In his earlier years he was the South African drag racing champion, later he became one of the most well known engineers of his time, selling his machinery and innovations around the globe.

"He was known to many as friend, but to me he was my uncle Arth, a man who was a massive influence during my younger years growing up. Time spent with him was either around cars, one of his passions, shooting, hunting or running around the workshop and always laughing.

"I am sure it will be no surprise to many that he passed over listening to Frank Sinatra, music that everyone I am sure remembers blaring out of the pub at his house.

"Our thoughts are with his daughter Cat Christy and family, at this time." We add our deepest condolences to Arthur's family and friends.

Picture credits: Cat Christy, Roger Phillips.

Dal Denton remembered.
20th October: Many thanks to former Top Alcohol crew member and colour commentator Dave Alexander who has written in with his memories of Dal Denton.

"I was really sorry to read the report on the death of Dal Denton. He was a genuinely nice guy who would help anyone. I think he first appeared in Europe in the late 80s.

"Many years ago, when I was crewing for Steve Read (87 or 88 I think) we were racing at Mantorp Park and blew the engine in qualifying; dropped a rod and holed the block, it was toast. Lots of the other teams lent us parts, I remember that one of Peter Lantz's crew made a long round trip to fetch a block from their home workshop. It was late at night and we had a pile of assorted parts and an all-nighter in front us to build something that would race the next day.


"Dal Denton was over as a 'hired gun' tuning for another team, Urs Erbacher I think, but when he had finished working on the car he was paid to tune he appeared in our pit and offered to help. He picked up the camshaft, looked at the lobes and the serial number then picked out the best combination from the parts we had and we set to work. He could have just had a beer and gone to bed but no. We had a problem and he pitched in without being asked or asking for anything in return. It wasn't just him, many other people helped us out with their time and that's one of the great things about drag racing, teams do that. "If I remember correctly, we went out in the first round, then the rebuilt engine was installed in the car of somebody else who had a problem with theirs for the semi-final. It really was a 'community engine' that weekend.

"My condolences to his family and many friends."

Picture credits: Chris Plunkett (Dal vs Todd Simpson), Jerry Cookson (Rico Anthes at 1993 NitrOlympX).

Straightliners at Santa Pod, champions.
20th October: Congratulations to the winners of the Straightliners championship following their final race of the year on Sunday at Santa Pod Raceway:

Car champions

Pro Extreme Car: Mark Flavell
Race ET: Nik Wilson
Street ET: Paul Smaile

Bike champions

Pro-Extreme: Mickey Blackburn
Class 6.00: Maxine Taylor
Class 6.50: Ashley Hodgson
Class 7.00: Daniel Leather
Class 7.50: Rob Kneeshaw
Wheelie Class:Jason King
Juniors: Jack Taylor
Nostalgic Pro Stock: Tyne Blight
Up to 750cc Racing Solo: Andy Higham
751cc to 1000cc Racing Solo: David Storrie - pictured right)
Unlimited cc Racing Solo and Classic Racing Solo: Mark Taylor
Sprint Legends: Colin Fallows
Classic Legends: Mick Varey

Scooter champions

Top Scooter (Silhouette): Eric Cope
Top Scooter (Modified): Russ Shea
Class 8.50: Dean St Leger-White
Class 9.00: Mike Pacey
Class 9.50: Gill Pacey
Class 10.00: Adrian Horrocks

The racing at Santa Pod was abbreviated due to morning rain, however riders were able to run qualifying passes during the afternoon. New Straightliners records were established in the following classes:

Nostalgic Pro Stock: Claire Rule (Suzuki GSX EFE 1428cc), 8.72/147
751cc to 1000cc Racing Solo: Pete Field (Suzuki GSXR 1000cc - pictured right), 9.23/152
Unlimited cc Racing Solo: Steve Everett (Hayabusa 1300cc), 9.53/143
Classic Legends: Mick Varey (Suzuki Katana '81), 11.28/121

Complete lists of ETs and speeds recorded on Sunday, including a sizeable RWYB bike contingent, are available at this link.

We were sorry to hear that 6.00 Bike Champion Maxine Taylor came off her bike at speed and was hospitalised with back injuries. We wish Maxine a speedy recovery and return to the track in 2022.

Straightliners Championship and Melbourne Raceway Cup points are available on the 2021 Straightliners results repository or via our points standings page. Thanks to Martyn Greathead for posting the results and points.

Photos: David Storrie, Pete Field © Paul Fishwick Photography

Swift snippets.
20th October: A Happy 21st Birthday to Ruaridh Hart for today. Dad Ian Hart says "Ruaridh was runner up in the SPRC Junior Dragster championship in 2016 and has crewed on Paul Brown's two-seater dragster, Andy Harrison's Super Gas Sierra and latterly has been working on the clutch for Rune Fjeld Motorsport cars, including Maja Udtian, Anti Horto and Ida Zetterström. From the little four year old that got dragged along to the track by his dad, Ruaridh has not missed an event since 2004 and now builds race cars and sells Docol tube through his company RH Weldfab." We all at Eurodragster.com wish Ruaridh Many Happy Returns.

Happy Birthday to Super Pro ET racer Peter Lane, have a great day Peter from all of us at Eurodragster.com.

Thanks to John Harding for letting us know that his captioned photos from the September 2021 Hot Rod Drags at Santa Pod can be viewed at his Facebook page, the galleries numbered as Part I - Thu/Fri, Part II - Sat, and Part III - Sun.

Photographer Becci Ellis has updated her Flickr page with a gallery from Melbourne Raceway's round 6 held on 9th-10th October. You can see Becci's pictures by clicking here.

Dal Denton.
19th October: We were very sorry to hear of the passing of US Funny Car and Top Fuel racer and crew chief Dal Denton, who raced and crewed in Europe in the early 1990s, at the early age of 60 after a long battle with cancer.

Dal started his career in his native Texas with a number of Top Alcohol Funny Cars in the 1980s of which the most well known was called 'Sudden Pleasure' which he built and drove in the All American Funny Car Circuit as well as NHRA and IHRA. In 1991 he came over to Europe with a Dodge Daytona alcohol FC called "Euro Drag School" which, after racing it at Santa Pod, sold it to budding Top Alcohol racer Urs Erbacher. Whilst in Europe, Dal met Leif Helander and was crew chief for him on his alcohol-fuelled Saab 9000 in 1993.


Between 1993 and 1995, Dal was crew chief for Rico Anthes whose Top Fueler was sponsored by Dakota, Pioneer and Coke. In 1994 and 1995, Dal drove a second car for Rico at the NitrOlympX, being the rebuilt car from Rico's blowover at the 1993 World Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. On returning to the US in 1996, Dal got into jet dragsters, building and driving cars for a few years, followed by his final drive, an AA/FA, again going under the name Sudden Pleasure.

In contrast to drag racing, Dal was also a world champion on his cutting horse, a western-style equestrian competition in which a horse and rider work together before a judge or panel of judges to demonstrate the horse's athleticism and ability to handle cattle.

John Wright commented "I was crew chief for Viveca Averstedt at the same time that Dal and Rico raced in Top Fuel. I remember the fun we had sitting on Sunday night with Dal, Tony Bryntesson, Dan Söderberg (Monica Oberg's crew chief) and others, trying to pick each other's brains for information."

We send our condolences to Dal's family and friends.

Stilwell to test at El Mirage.
19th October: Many thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell who has some great news about his next trip to the USA:

After more than 18 months of not being able to travel to the USA myself and Nick Davies will be making the journey in November to Los Angeles. The 7707 Team consisting of Geoff Stilwell (Team Owner), Nick Davies (Crew Chief), Mick Jenkins of Micks Paint who built the car, together with Landspeed Motor Specialists John Beck who holds a host of land speed records himself and Paul Bowman. We cannot of course forget Team Jester Tony Thacker. All of us will be heading up to the dry lakebed of El Mirage to take part in the final land race series of 2021 organised by the SCTA (Southern Californian Timing Association). This will be the first time we have actually really been able to run the car properly since it was built in 2019 due to bad weather and then the pandemic. I would add that during the time off we have not been idle and in addition to all the constant updates we also made a commercial for Lucas Oil.

As this is testing sadly we won’t be able to run for any records at El Mirage, but this won’t stop us trying to go as fast as we can. This event will enable us to get to grips with this totally new car and will give me valuable seat time in preparation for our attempt on resetting the class record at over 300+mph next August on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lucas Oil both in the UK and USA for being a fantastic supporter of the team, Nick, Rob and Scotty at I.C.E. (Team Havoc) for taking time out to crew for me, Ron & Brian Hope of Rat Trap for all their support and help, Mick Jenkins and all the team at Mick’s Paint for building me an amazing car and not forgetting John Beck of Vintage Hot Rods who has put together an incredible motor. I stand in awe and if anyone has seen the fire up video recently on Facebook they will know this is one exceptional car and of course Tony Thacker for looking after everything and being there whilst we have been stuck in the UK. We would not have been able to do what we are doing without Mick Jenkins and Tony so, special thanks guys.

For those interested in attending El Mirage the borders to the USA formally open on the 8th November. El Mirage is about 2 hours north of Los Angeles right near Victorville and there are plenty of Hotels nearby and camping is allowed on the lake bed. There will also be a live feed broadcast from the track and the link can be found at www.scta-bni.org.

Swift snippets.
19th October: Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts following a left hip replacement operation. See you back at the track before too long Tony.

VP Racing Fuels supports BDRHoF.
19th October: VP Racing Fuels, Inc., regarded worldwide as the leader in racing and performance fuel products, has committed to sponsor the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala.

"VP Racing Fuels is excited to be part of this year’s British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala," said Tom Davis, VP Racing Fuels’ UK and European Business Development Manager. "VP has a long tradition of supporting drag racing in the UK and around the world, and this event is a premier addition to our involvement."

While the Hall of Fame salutes drag racing’s past, it also seeks to foster the sport’s present and future by recognizing each season’s leading Junior Dragster and Junior Dragbike competitors. VP Racing Fuels will be a prominent supporter of this year’s awards to the champion Junior racers of both 2020 and 2021.

Hall of Fame Honorary Chair Lesley Wright said, "We’re equally excited that VP Racing Fuels has elected to support our Gala on its return after last year’s Covid-enforced postponement. We recognize that VP is becoming an increasingly important contributor to drag racing in the UK, and we’re grateful that the company has chosen to align itself with our continuing project to benefit the sport."

VP Racing Fuels joins the company of sponsors enabling the Hall of Fame to resume its annual Gala Awards Dinner after Covid-19 forced the cancellation of 2020’s celebration. The Gala returns this year to the Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge, Surrey, on Saturday, November 20.

For more information about VP and its products for racers, enthusiasts, and general consumers, visit vpracingfuels.com.

BDRHoF Gala sold out.
18th October: The Directors of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame have announced their 2021 Gala Dinner, to be held on 20th November at the Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, is now completely sold out. Anyone who has made firm enquiries for tickets should contact Bev Bradbury at gala@britishdragracinghof.co.uk to finalise their booking and payment.

The Oatlands Park Hotel has also informed the BDRHoF that all their room accommodation for the Gala Dinner is fully booked. The Directors of BDRHoF have suggested as alternative hotels the Best Western Ship Hotel, the Hilton in Cobham (7 miles away) or The Brooklands Hotel (which has a two-night minimum stay).

The Directors look forward to welcoming those who have booked tickets at 5:30pm on 20th November for a Drinks Reception in La Terrazza Suite presented by Santa Pod Raceway.

SPRC Dinner Dance sold out.
18th October: Thanks to Yvonne Tramm of Santa Pod Racers Club for sending an update on the Clubs' Dinner Dance Trophy Presentation Evening on 29th January 2022 at the Mecure Centre Hotel Bedford (details in our news update on 27th September):

"Thank you for the amazing response to our Dinner Dance Trophy Night. Tickets are now completely sold out."

Melbourne Raceway to lengthen braking area.
17th October: Melbourne Raceway have announced a new funding appeal for lengthening the braking area from the current eighth mile racing surface.

Trevor Duckworth of Straightliners said "The next round of funding is going to be for the extra 200 meters of braking area. As we progress and we attract the faster cars and bikes we need to get this done over the winter. This is our priority and if we get the funding in, approximately £40,000, it's a big target I know, but we can and will do it." The additional braking area will bring the total length to 700 metres. Eighth mile racing will continue, however the extra braking area will allow quicker cars and bikes to run at the track.

The page you can go to in order to contribute is at this link. If you wish to donate by BACS the details are Sort Code 20-98-98, Account Number 13430782.

As of this morning over £7,000 has been raised in just over three days.

Pictured: Ant Harris's dragster © Tog.

Spitfire Raceway's November event.
17th October: Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child of LA Racing Parts has announced the next event at Spitfire Raceway, Perranporth, Cornwall.

"There will be more VP Racing Fuels products for the top 6 on the drag strip Saturday 20th November. Also, it’s way overdue, the bike record hasn’t changed for a long time. Maybe it will be different at the next event on Saturday 20th November and the current record will be reset to under the 9.97/141 recorded by Mark 'Wolfy' Smith (pictured left) back in 2016.

"Drag or drift competitors can enter in advance by going online to the Spitfire Raceway web site at www.spitfireraceway.com. You can buy a spectator admission ticket for £10 (under 16s go free), and, if you have a crash helmet and full driving licence you can then go drifting or Run What You Brung drag racing once registered. £10 buys you one dragstrip run, £20 three runs and £35 unlimited runs. £60 buys you unlimited drifting. "Gates open at 8am, with track action 11am to 3pm. All vehicles have a safety check for drag racing and drifting, and drag strip riders and drivers meeting at race control 10.45am.

"Camping is £10 per night per head and kids go free. Pre enter the drag racing or drifting on line first then to book your camping by calling 01872 552856. If you have any roll over credits from previously cancelled events please email Kevin@perranporthairfield.com."

Spitfire Raceway is located at Perranporth and the postcode for your sat nav is TR5 0XS."

Ain't No Saint winner of Hot Wheels Legends UK tour.
16th October: Congratulations to entrant Eleanor Jones and the Ain't No Saint Volvo P1800 team Lee Johnstone with wife Sue and daughters Eleanor, Sarah and Victoria, for winning the the Hot Wheels Legends UK tour and proceeding to the next round of the worldwide Hot Wheels Legends tour where the overall winner will have their custom-built car in with a chance of becoming immortalized as a Hot Wheels die cast sold around the world.

The distinguished judging panel, chaired by Car Throttle’s Alex Kersten, were designer Ian Callum CBE FRSE, automotive photographer Amy Shore and podcaster/Youtuber Sam 'Seen Through Glass' Fane.

You can see the livestream of the selection and videos of the cars entered at this link including Ain't No Saint and Wayne Allman's Mental Breakdown VW Pickup which was highly commended by the panel.

The Volvo P1800 Gasser will contest in the Semi Finals of the competition on 4th November, with the chance of going onto the Global Final on 13th November. The global winning car will be immortalised as a Hot Wheels 1:64 scale die-cast for both children and collectors to enjoy. To learn more about the Hot Wheels Legends Tour visit www.hotwheels.mattel.com and follow #HotWheelsLegendsTour.

Image © Santa Pod Raceway.

US opening - too late for some.
16th October: With the disappointing announcement yesterday by the US Federal Government that entry of non-US citizens to the US has been delayed to 8th November, it seems that those planning to travel from Europe to the West Coast will be unable to attend Nitro Revival taking place on 6th-7th November. European visitors will also be unable to attend the California Hot Rod Reunion on 22nd-24th October, Dodge SRT Nationals at the Strip Las Vegas on 29th-31st October and SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center as a result of the the same delays.

However, those with a later trip planned to Auto Club NHRA Finals on 11th-14th November or Man Cup World Finals on 18th-21st November are still advised to check with their airlines before finalising travel arrangements.

Our Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell explains: "the Airline Assoc of Europe have been demanding a date and every country is running out of patience. To put it into context, any plane takes one month to ready if it has not been flown for the past year, due to safety checks. Plus, they have to submit to the FAA in the US the flight plans a minimum 30 days before the flight to get permission to enter US airspace. The US government say they want to open up the borders but until today have not actually said when. And where we have the phone app, in the US it is all done by paper."

We can only wish travellers to the US after 8th November a safe and trouble free journey. In the meantime, Geoff has released a photo of the latest addition to his US stable, a junior Ford EXP funny car in Blue Max livery.

Image © Tony Thacker.

Zerbst Test & Tune media.
16th October: Last weekend the Hanau Auto Racing Association held a season ending test & tune at Zerbst Airport on 9th-10th October. The location had held test & tunes on 1st May, 26th-27th June, and a FWD Shootout on 17th July. Organising and track lessors AMC Dessau organised a race on 28th-29th August as well but sadly that was a rainout. So members' championship points were calculated on their performances at the ATD Clastres Dragway events.

You can see photos of the October Zerbst Test & Tune from Bob's Albums at this link. Harald Czekalla has posted photos of all the season at his Motografie web site.

And now for something completely different, there was a "Stoppie" competition involving FWD cars launching and then putting the anchors out sharpish around 60-100ft down track. You can see a Youtube video of this extraordinary competition (if that's the correct term) at this link.

ACU affiliation codes available.
14th October: Many thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for letting us know that from 1st November ACU licence applications are being accepted on the ACU website:

Affiliation codes for ACU riders are now available from SPRC, please just email ir.marshall@btconnect.com and I will get the code to riders by return, please note you must be an SPRC Member to obtain the code.

Straightliners Round 9 at Santa Pod this weekend.
14th October: The final round of the Straightliners Championship will be held at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend 16th-17th October.

Championships will be decided for all the Straightliners car, bike and scooter classes as noted under Melbourne Cup Championship below, however the Straightliners Championship additionally has points awarded from Elvington on 25th July, Armstrong Raceway on 1st August and the Santa Pod finals. The best 8 out of these 9 rounds will count, with the final round at Santa Pod Raceway being a double points scoring round.

Car and bike/scooter entry is available at the Straightliners web site. Spectator tickets are available direct from the Santa Pod website and must be purchased in advance. Competitors must also have a Santa Pod ticket to gain entry on the day.

Photo © Mad Welshman: Mickey Blackburn, Pro-Extreme points leader

Melbourne Cup Championship points.
14th October: Congratulations to the winners of the Melbourne Cup Championship for the six races held at Melbourne Raceway during the year:

Cars

Pro Extreme Car: Pete Youhill
Race ET: Nik Wilson (photo right, courtesy Mark Nightingale of Image Village)
Street ET: Paul Smaile

Bikes

Pro-Extreme: Mickey Blackburn
Class 6.00: Maxine Taylor
Class 6.50: Ashley Hodgson
Class 7.00: Gilbert Cook
Class 7.50 and Sprint Legends: Colin Fallows
Wheelie Class:Jason King
Juniors: Jack Taylor
Nostalgic Pro Stock: Kevin Melling
Up to 750cc Racing Solo: Andy Higham
751cc to 1000cc Racing Solo: David Storrie
Unlimited cc Racing Solo and Classic Racing Solo: Mark Taylor

Scooters

Top Scooter (Silhouette): Eric Cope
Top Scooter (Modified) and Class 10.00: Adrian Horrocks
Class 8.50: Dean St Leger-White
Class 9.00: Mike Pacey
Class 9.50: Gill Pacey

Straightliners Championship and Melbourne Raceway Cup points are available on the Straightliners results repository or via our points standings page. Thanks to Martyn Greathead for posting the points.

Overseas racers at Man Cup Finals?
14th October: Back in September, the organisers of Man Cup in the USA announced they were excited to see changes in travel restrictions that will allow for foreign travel in time for the 45th annual FuelTech World Finals at South Georgia Motorsports Park on 18th-21st November, 2021. Foreigners will be allowed into the USA if they have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test.

Whilst three Top Fuel Bike teams from the UK (Gulf Oil, PBR Rocket III and Allan Davies) have confirmed they will not be attending, we wait to see if other European teams will make the journey.

Lex ready for Thunder Valley.
13th October: Since Lex Joon and wife Gerda emigrated to the United States in 2013, he has worked hard – and never quit – to get his performance to the level that won him an FIA Championship in 2005. Recent signs show the work is bearing fruit, and Lex is marketing his racing operation with renewed vigour as he heads towards Bristol Motor Speedway for this weekend's Thunder Valley Nationals.

After emigrating and establishing a company Lex Joon Racing, Inc. to work with US sponsor companies, Lex hired a well-known motorsports marketing agency to help find partners that would be interested in working with him as a proven Top Fuel winner in Europe.

After considerable work in gathering support and preparing the car, Lex ran a best of 4.069/232 at the 2018 US Nationals, which didn't qualify him for eliminations. He also failed to qualify for the Midwest Nationals or the Carolina Nationals.

In 2019 the team with experienced crew chief Lance Larsen raced in 11 events, 4 weeks in a row at Chicago, Topeka, Bristol (where he memorably defeated Leah Pruett in round one) and Norwalk. In 2020 however the pandemic reduced Lex's racing activity to just four races at his local track Indianapolis Raceway Park which hosted multiple events whilst travel was restricted.


The team's 2021 campaign with Rob Flynn (previously with Kalitta Motorsports for six years and 15 years of NHRA nitro experience before that) as consultant tuner, and Lex himself and Gerda as co-crew chiefs, started at Indy, at which Lex was excited about the car's first run in 2021: "All preparations worked out as we had planned. The car left the starting line with an .854 sixty foot time and a 330 foot time of 2.18 sec running it full throttle for 2.02 seconds. This was a planned shut off run since there was no testing opportunity available before the NHRA US Nationals event as usual."

However rain after the strong launch prevented Lex from qualifying. He said "I’m puzzled and disappointed to learn this years #USnats qualifying is called due to rain and the teams that are not qualified have to deal with the fact they only had one chance to make it into the biggest NHRA race in the world."

Undeterred, Lex went on to St Louis, ran his quickest-ever qualifying run in his US campaign, 3.953/240.12, and said it "proved his car can run the numbers to qualify and go rounds at all tracks around the globe. The tune up we ran last weekend was really soft just to make it from A to B. To see it ran 3.03 sec with “only” 275mph to the 1/8 mile tells the story." Sadly the bump spot was 3.809 so Lex did not feature in eliminations.

"In Q1 we had a new set of rear Goodyear slicks mounted which need about two runs to create the desired traction. The first second of the run wheel spin was too high moving the front of the car to the right while the front wheels were up in the air. When I was able to make the correction the car was out of the groove moving over towards the centre line to the other side of the lane which got me out of the groove again. The right rear slick had more traction being in the groove and pushed me to the centre line. Tyre pressure, adjusting ignition timing and clutch settings will help to prevent this but more runs on the tyres will help to fix this issue for sure."

He also stepped up his promotion of his main sponsor. "You will see the Hot Wheels Premium Car Care logos on the car because I’m taking care of the global sales for this unique and one of a kind brand. This is for me to help create global awareness and drive sales for our partners like for example CoolDrive Auto Parts in Australia.


Lex has put a plan together for upcoming NHRA races to find the necessary funding to be able to continue his presence at track, work on the team's program, and also give his fans an opportunity to be part of his #NeverQuit team. The plan revolves around a new reality TV series titled Pursuit, designed to integrate existing lifestyle marketing (aligning teams and the NHRA) with a reality show alliance.

In addition the Lex Joon team sponsorship program now extends to fan opportunities. Lex said "We have received requests from our fans if there is a way to be part of our #NeverQuit LJR program like some other (independent) teams as opportunity occasionally provide. As you know our Fans are our #1 reason we NeverQuit and so we listened and came up with an opportunity with On top of the perks presented we are also going to give away some of the Hot Wheels Premium Car Care products. Winners will be randomly picked. This give away offer is valid for the USA with more countries to follow soon.

"When you want to treat yourself or maybe your partner with a cool present this is your chance. We have created an opportunity to add your name on our Top Fuel dragster for the upcoming NHRA race in Bristol Oct 15th-17th. On top of the perks presented we are looking to add two crew tickets to the Tier 2 package deal which will get you an experience of a lifetime. When you purchase or already have purchased the Tier 2 #FanDriven program costing $200, send us an email at info@lexjoonracing.com and explain us how you believe you can support us as part of our team during the Thunder Valley Nationals.

Lex acknowledges the support of NHRA, Gates Corporation, CP-Carillo Gates, Nitro Alley Graphix, INOX Lubricants, Start Imagining, SAVE22Veterans, ProThings clothing, Earp Machinery, TF Logistics, Premium Motorsports Products, CoolDrive Auto Products, Tom Knapp and Custom Floaters.

We wish Lex, Gerda and the whole Lex Joon Racing Team a successful Thunder Valley Nationals this weekend.

Swift snippets.
13th October: We send Happy Birthday greetings to Supercharged Outlaws racer Aaron Windridge and Super Pro ET racer Glenn Pallant for today, have a great day from all of us at Eurodragster.com. Also a belated Happy Birthday to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and UK Tech member and sometime Top Methanol dragster crewman Tim Read, hope you had a great day yesterday.

Photojournalist Steve Moxley has had his report on the STP Summer Nationals from Santa Pod Raceway published on Tim Hailey's Eat My Ink web site. You can read all the snippets and see some great photos by clicking on the link.

This weekend Serres Racing Circuit in Greece hosts the fourth race of this year's Greece Drag Racing Championship. The race will be organised by Serres organisers LENOE under the auspices of Greek Motorsport regulators OMAE where you can see an entry list.

Malta Drag Racing club have announced their November meeting will be extended to four days on 11th-14th November with a full day of practice on Thursday followed on Friday with two hour practice and then qualifying and eliminations from that point. There will be quite a few Brits travelling to Malta to join the party, but if you're watching the live stream you will be able to hear the commentary of European FWD organiser and VWDRC Chair and racer Luke Stevenson who will be guest announcer at the track. There will be a pre-event Run What Ya Brung on 30th October.

ACU final standings published.
12th October: Many thanks to Ian King for updating us on the latest ACU/UK Championship positions on the King Racing web site.

Ian would like to congratulate all the riders who competed in this Covid troubled year and thank all the staff and officials at Santa Pod Raceway, the SPRC and the ACU for their hard work in ensuring a thrilling and safe championship in 2021.

Special congratulations to the riders who achieved top 3 positions in their respective classes to win ACU Championship medals and in addition for those in the 'pro' classes their share of the ACU prize fund. The winners of their class will be awarded their trophies and medals alongside their peers from all British motorcycle sports at the ACU British Championship Gala Awards dinner in the new year:

Top Fuel Bike
Steve Woollatt: 1210 pts
Al Smith: 1150 pts
Neil Midgley: 910 pts

Funny Bike:
Stuart Crane: 2000 pts
Tony Clark: 1660 pts
Dave Peters: 1540 pts

Competition Bike:
Louis Davies: 2085 pts
Chris Neary: 1360 pts
Sean Mills: 975 pts

Super Street Bike:
Steve Venables: 2725
Alan Morrison Jr: 1990 pts
Stephen Mead: 1340 pts

Junior Drag Bike:
Hollie King: 1740 pts
Casey Holgate: 1640 pts
Meg Talbot: 1270 pts

The complete points tables and positions can be found by clicking here.

Melbourne Round 6 results.
12th October: Congratulations to the winners at Melbourne Raceway at Round 6 over the weekend:

Duck All Prep

Super Pro Comp (Sunday): Andy Fadster 5.94/142 def. Lee Gallimore 5.87/122
Pro Rear Wheel Drive (Roll over from Duck All 1): Mark Flavell 5.06/145 def. Pete Youhill 5.76/128
(Saturday): Pel Norman 5.33/139 def. Ian Walley 6.73/118
(Sunday): Pel Norman 5.40/123 def. Ian Walley 6.31/120
Pro Small Tyre Rear Wheel Drive (Saturday): Lee Chiles 6.56/110 def. Dave Billadeau 6.65/110
(Sunday): Lee Chiles 6.57/110 def. Russ Pursley
Street Rear Wheel Drive (Saturday): Derek Beck 7.36/97 def. Peter Lane 7.86/91
(Sunday): Peter Lane 7.80/92 def. Derek Beck, broke
Street All Wheel Drive (Saturday): Steve Long 7.71/96, unopposed
Pro Front Wheel Drive (Saturday): Craig Brown 9.66/69, unopposed

UK Nostalgia Superstock

(Saturday): Dave Billadeau 6.61/110 def. Paul Smail 8.36/85
(Sunday): Lee Chiles 6.53/110 def. Andrew Bosomworth 6.73/107

National Street Car Challenge

(Saturday): Russ Pursley 6.32/110 def. Ian Walley 6.57/118
(Sunday): Ian Walley 6.45/117 def. Martin Rawlinson 7.26/98

Bike eliminations

Pro-Extreme: Mickey Blackburn 8.58/106, unopposed
Class 6.00: Maxine Taylor 6.14/126 def. Pete Field 6.14/125
Class 6.50: Ashley Hodgson 6.75/108 def. Phillip Tomlinson 7.38/90
Class 7.00: Robert Mercer 7.19/104 def. Jamie Brooks 6.97/118
Class 7.50: Rob Kneeshaw 7.99/95 def. Colin Fallows 8.37/91
Wheelie Class: Daniel Leather 9.37/83 def. Jason King 12.91/33
Juniors (Handicap): Jack Taylor 12.19/52 def. William Mountford 14.41/40
Top Scooter (Silhouette): Eric Cope 8.24/85, unopposed
Class 9.00: Mike Pacey 9.46/76, unopposed
Class 9.50: Gill Pacey 10.51/72, unopposed
Up to 750cc Racing Solo: Andy Higham, unopposed
751 to 1000cc Racing Solo: David Storrie 6.34/126 def. Terry Mountford 13.67/90
Unlimited cc Racing Solo: Mark Taylor, unopposed
Sprint Legends (Handicap): Colin Fallows, unopposed
Classic Legends (Handicap): Mark Taylor 6.51/118 def. Mick Varey 7.31/102

Blessed with superb weather all weekend it was another meeting of personal bests, track records and nailbiting finals.

The track was in fine form all weekend with Mark Flavell proving that with an experienced crew dialling the Steel City Hot Rod in record breaking pace could be achieved with a new track record set at 5.03secs, a 4sec run the next goal for the team. Pel Norman, who had been fastest lowered his PB to a 5.33secs.

NSCC once again had a big field of cars putting on a great show running rounds on both days. Duck All Prep was along for the 2nd meeting running their various classes. UK Nostalgia Superstocks were along for the first time providing some excellent racing with their dial in based format notable among them being Lee Chiles with two perfect runs to his dial in.

Eurodragster.com Perfect ET sponsor Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield commented "I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the whole of the Straightliners / Melbourne Raceway crew. We had a fantastic weekend and developed our tune to nett a 5.45 @ 146 with plenty in reserve to get closer to that magical 4 second pass next year. Team Twister had an amazing time and the welcome from friends, old and new, was heart warming. I look forward to next season with renewed enthusiasm and hope to bring many more Supercharged Outlaws UK with me."

It was great to see Supercharged Outlaws racers Lee Gallimore back with his blown 'Red Mist' alky 23T altered after a gap of three years. He commented "What a fantastic weekend, big thanks to a great crew, Liam, John and Jock top job lads as always. Fantastic to see everybody again brilliant Saturday crack as always. Thanks to Trevor/ Lee and all the Straightliners team for a great track and weekend. Brilliant old school racing."

Commiserations to Tom Parry whose new build Ford Consul Mk1 (powered by a twin turbo LS) rolled on Saturday, a photo sequence of which you can see from this link onwards. Tom commented "I climbed out without a scratch, cage and harness did their job."

Winners of the £50 consistency awards kindly donated by jdcomps.co.uk for times achieved on Sunday up until 3pm were Andrew Bosomworth with three runs between 6.78 and 6.80 seconds in his Dodge Coronet 8.2 Ltr and Pete Field with six runs between 6.24 and 6.40 seconds on his Suzuki GSXR 1000cc.

Full official results from the event and previous Melbourne rounds in 2021 can be found at the Straightliners Melbourne Raceway 2021 results repository, courtesy Martyn Greathead. All Straightliners results and championship points from 1997 onwards can be found at this link.

The final Melbourne Raceway event of the season is on 30th-31st October, a RWYB meet with the BBC attending to film part of a drag racing documentary.

Photos courtesy and © Mad Welshman Photography

GTI Festival results.
11th October: Congratulations to James Rhodes (pictured right) who won the VWDRC Heads Up race which took place at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday. Here are the results of the race:

 Qualifying
  1. Paul Jackson (VW Lupo 1870cc) 9.7414/143.95
  2. Jacob Bailey (VW Jetta 3200cc) 9.7508/153.17
  3. Mike Whittaker (VW Caddy 3000cc) 9.8753/136.03
  4. Paul Jordan (VW Polo 1800cc) 10.0157/143.97
  5. Helder Pereira (Seat Ibiza 1900cc) 10.2781/130.16
  6. James Rhodes (VW Lupo AWD 1984cc) 10.3198/136.46
  7. Carl Goldsmith (VW Golf 1781cc) 10.3937/140.39
  8. Jose Leite (VW Polo 2000cc) 10.4298/134.13
  9. Chris Waterhouse (Audi S3 2500cc) 10.7569/128.81
  10. Wayne Gill (VW Golf R 2000cc) 10.8955/126.17
  11. Grant Parker (VW Golf AWD 2300cc) 11.0553/124.43
  12. Chris Roylance (VW Golf 2000cc) 11.0993/119.95
  13. Jamie Lockyer (VW Jetta) 11.1379/122.39
  14. Marc Taylor (Seat Leon 1800cc) 11.3335/140.82
  15. Ed Keech (VW Golf 2800cc) 11.4609/119.62
  16. Ant Mincher (VW Golf 1800cc) 11.5744/133.23
  17. Dave Lea (VW Golf 3200cc) 11.7485/118.26
  18. Tom Herbert (VW Golf 2800cc) 12.4070/108.33
  19. Bruce Kopasz (Porsche 2000cc) 12.5387/118.07
  20. Oly Whitehouse (VW Beetle 2276cc) 13.0188/100.60
  21. Becki Turnock (VW Beetle 2109cc) 13.0762/100.83
  22. Ben Lomas (VW Golf) 13.7093/102.79
  23. Daniel Walton (VW Lupo) 14.4499/92.75
  24. Alex Day (VW Golf 1800cc) 16.3741/97.51
  25. Ethan Lisle (VW Lupo 1000cc) 19.9710/65.75
Eliminations

Round 1
Carl Goldsmith 11.7099/100.99 def. Wayne Gill 11.0546/125.80
Mike Whittaker 10.1742/129.18 def. Marc Taylor 10.5452/142.93
Paul Jackson 11.5749/138.67 def. Ant Mincher 12.2047/119.80
Jamie Lockyer 11.5433/123.10 def. Paul Jordan 11.9788/104.25
James Rhodes 10.3380/136.58 def. Grant Parker 10.6109/127.94
Jose Leite 13.4895/129.04 def. Chris Waterhouse, NTR
Helder Pereira 9.8066/147.60 def. Chris Roylance 12.6063/110.84
Jacob Bailey 9.7888/153.11 def. Ed Keech 15.5180/57.61

Round 2
Jamie Lockyer 12.3092/95.50 def. Helder Pereira, no-show
Jacob Bailey 9.8878/151.12 def. Carl Goldsmith 10.6509/138.55
James Rhodes 10.1548/136.59 def. Mike Whittaker 10.7799/99.04
Paul Jackson 9.9986/144.88 def. Jose Leite 23.6019/43.30

Semi finals
James Rhodes 10.2931/135.64 def. Jacob Bailey 16.2200/64.13
Paul Jackson 9.9272/144.89 def. Jamie Lockyer 14.3037/117.93

Final
James Rhodes 10.2516/136.45 def. Paul Jackson 10.9274/145.30

With acknowledgements to Santa Pod Raceway timing crew.

Winner James Rhodes commented "What a way to end the season! New Pb for the Lupo - 10.15 @ 136 with a 1.41 60ft, getting ever closer to that 9 second pass and the 1.3 60ft, and to top it all off 1st place in the heads up competition! The Lupo performed great all weekend, it feels great to bring home a trophy, but even better that Hannah and Jacob were there to share it too!"

Runner-up Paul Jackson said "Wow, wow, wow! What a GTi that was! So many great runs and achievements this weekend, here’s a few of my highlights: Firstly huge congratulations to James Rhodes for taking the Heads Up win, you absolutely smashed it mate! Jacob, 9.75 @ 153! Incredible, well done on cracking the 150! What an achievement. Becki for fastest Aircooled and Fastest lady! Bad luck with the car but at least Jay knows a thing or two about these engines. Ed Keech has not only built the engine, but also wired it and is mapping it himself, PB of 11.31 today, that 10 is just round the corner! Luis and the rest of the Portuguese engine replacement army! I’m absolutely amazed at all of your dedication, I had Jose E2, I saw the engine was out with 30 minutes to go and I said ‘100% that car will be on the start line’ And it was. Alex Day, what a way to be be 16 years old and 11 days! Absolutely fantastic seeing you out racing. Bruce ‘Mr Wheels Up’ Kopasz - say no more. PB’s for Jamie and Ben, the Cab is definitely getting there Ben and that 10 can’t be far off Jamie! I had a pretty good day too. As always, a wicked weekend with the VWDRC family, can’t wait to do it all over again."

You can see a gallery of the GTi Festival including Show N' Shine by going to Santa Pod Raceway's Facebook gallery of the event. Video of the event taken from the tower by commentator and VWDRC chair Luke Stevenson can be seen at the VWDRC Facebook page.

Melbourne Round 6 Saturday results, gallery.
11th October: Thanks to photographer The Mad Welshman for sending us photos from Saturday of the Melbourne Round 6 race at the weekend including Straightliners Championship, NSCC and Duck All Prep competitions.

You can see Mad's on- and off-track pictures by going to our Melbourne Round 6 gallery or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page.

Mad commented "Melbourne Raceway had a great turnout and the track record broken again! We reached a huge milestone on our Flickr page early this week (10 million views!) so thanks to everyone who has viewed our photos".

Saturday results for the competitions held plus best times, courtesy of Martyn Greathead of Straightlines, can be seen at the following links: Winner of the £50 consistency award kindly donated by Cath and Tig Napier (Bad Habit Racing) was Adrian Portalli with three runs between 7.05 and 7.10 seconds in his Dodge Charger 540ci.

We will report in more detail on action from Melbourne Raceway in tomorrow's update.

George Bebikan.
10th October: We were sad to hear of the passing of street car racer George Bebikian, known for his Ford Zephyr. George's son Kai writes:

"My Father, known to many as George, sadly passed away on Thursday morning after spending 10 months battling through a variety of illnesses in hospital. He was a veteran of Santa Pod Raceway first racing there back in the early eighties, he owned his distinctive Ford Zephyr for over 30 years and had taken it from a 14 second AMC powered street machine to a 9.2 second big block Chevy powered street demon. Dad was a font of knowledge on many subjects, he was always reading and researching. He freely offered his wisdom to many at the track, always willing to help others.

"He never raced in any pro class, preferring the casual structure of classes such as Street Machine SRS and Outlaw Street. Dad enjoyed these classes as he always maintained that the car was a true street car, driving it from London to Santa Pod to race.

"He will be sorely missed and the drag racing world is a poorer place for his passing. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his family who he loved very much."

We send our deepest condolences to George's family and friends.

Kjula Dragway ahead of the curve.
8th October: In Sweden, Kjula Dragway near Eskiltuna has run four Mälardalen races (named after the lake in southeast Sweden) on its quarter mile during 2021 despite crowd restrictions limiting spectator attendance to 600. During the season and since the final event on 18th-19th September, the organisation behind the Kjula have not been slow in promoting the track.

The track's web site says that it is a successor to Tullinge, located close to Stockholm, which was closed in 2006. Organisers Ronnie Palmsäter and Börje Thunmen located Eskiltuna Airport around 60 miles to the west, and initially ran hot rods and vintage drag racing vehicles. But the classes were later broadened to all classes of race cars. Nevertheless the track still positions itself as a gateway to the bigger classes in the sport and having fun is the main objective. The track acknowledges its debt to the local community in allowing its four events annually.

To improve space available for pits in 2021 the bold decision was taken to reverse the direction of the track, which also enabled the startline surface to be preserved rather than being completely removed annually as part of airport maintenance.


A record 179 competitors took to the track surface for the final 2021 round held on 19th-20th September. The quickest cars were to be found in 4to6 Pro where the top qualifier Tobias Johansson from Läckeby pretty much swept the board, qualifying #1 in a field of 19 cars and then winning four rounds of racing Tobias ran a best in qualifying of 7.3564/ 294.72 kph. Tobias races a chrome moly chassised and fibreglass bodied Volvo 142 (above left) with a 5 cylinder 2.4l Volvo engine with a turbo coupled to a Liberty gearbox.

In the large bracket race (ETs 9.00s to 12.99), there were 31 qualifiers including a certain Jimmy Ålund of multiple FIA Pro Stock championship fame, who qualified fourth and went out in round 2. Eventual winner was Viktor Olsson, who qualified #16 and kept ahead of all his competitors.

Fourteen Junior Dragsters entered with Marcus Andersson qualifying #1 and going on to win the race from Emile Eriksson. Pro Street (7.60 index) had Anna Knutes qualify #1 however in the final she was defeated on a holeshot by Peter Almqvist in a nitrous assisted BBC-engined Chevelle (above right).


Street (8.60 index) was dominated by Lennart Hilander from Åland in a Chevy Vega, Real Street was won by Leif Näsman in a '80 Malibu, and in Stock/Super Stock the victor was Fredrik Frisberg in his Plymouth Sport Fury from 1964 (above left). In Vintage B Johan Carlsson was the winner with a 8.988/240.2 bye run in his blown SBC 5 window coupe, and in Vintage G Kjell Andersson (above right) won in his '56 Ford Crown Victoria when the nine second Nova of Stefan Flodell, which incidentally is up for sale for £19,500, didn't show.

Pro Comp Bike featured the Honda GreenBird (Kawasaki-bodied) of Peter Rundström and was won by Jens Karlsson on a Hayabusa (below left). Super Comp Bike (8.50 index) had Peter Östlund qualify #1 and then take the eight bike ladder on his Suzuki 1100 turbo (below right). A similar clean sweep of Super Gas Bike (9.50 index) occurred with Jesper Jerresten with a Suzuki GSX-R1216. The Gathojar class for street bikes was won by Kim Hilander on a Suzuki GSXR 1000 and Junior Drag Bike was a best of three between Moa Nilsson (Yamaha FZR 400) and Alfred Lagerlöf (Honda CBR 125) which Moa won two of three, running a best of 6.59/170.1 on the eighth (JB Pro has an index of 6.50).


Since the race dates have been announced for the four races planned in 2022, on 28th-29th May, 18th-19th June, 6th-7th August and 17th-18th September. There was also a swap meet on 1st October, and the prize banquet is planned next Saturday 16th October. Kjula Raceway is looking forward to starting next season with as good a finish as they had in 2021 with many teams, a large audience (without restrictions next year) and many fast times. How much fun would that be?

You can see full results at www.dragracing.eu and a Facebook photo gallery by Henrik Lindberg at this link. Also posting a FB album from the event was Micke Falk.

Above photos courtesy and © Henrik Lindberg.

Happy 85th Keith Parnell!
8th October: The Storm Drag Bike team wish a Happy 85th Birthday to drag bike legend Keith Parnell:

On behalf of the team, Lorcan Parnell said "Keith ran the first 8 second quarter mile by a non-American rider in June 1975, and Motorcycle Mechanics magazine made him part of their pull-out centrespread calendar that year. He was also voted 9th overall in Motor Cycle News "man of the year" award, the highest I think any motorcycle drag racer has reached in that publication. He also set the FIM world record for a 750cc bike in the quarter mile at RAF Elvington."

All of us at Eurodragster.com join the Storm Drag Bike team in wishing Keith a very Happy Birthday.


Whatever happened to the Flux Capacitor?
8th October: Many thanks to Julian for letting us know that on his awesome Youtube channel The Late Brake Show, Jonny Smith tells the back story of how in 2012 he built a drag racing version of an electric vehicle and came out with the Enfield 8000 aka the Flux Capcitor.

This fascinating video shows Jonny's inspirations for embarking on this extreme electric project car build - which became the world's quickest street legal EV. Starting with the least likely of base cars, a British electric city car from the 1970s and rebuilding it with almost 1000hp, with help from Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster with Ollie and Sam Young from Black Current Racing.

This 'project cars' episode tells the retrospective story of why and how Jonny went about converting the 1974 Enfield 8000 ECC (Electric City Car) to become an extreme electric drag car, which went on to clinch the world record in 2016. 9 second quarter miles in a 9ft long car with no traction control or launch control. To find out what happened after this, you will need to see the end of the video.

You can see Jonny's video by clicking on this link. The original web site documenting the car and its build is still up at www.flux-capacitor.co.uk.

GTI Festival preview.
7th October: At Santa Pod Raceway this Sunday 10th October, the GTI Festival takes place. Back in April the GTI Spring Festival was cancelled, so this Sunday's event will try to pack two events into one. Entry remains £35 for Run What Ya Brung, £15 for adult spectators and £5 for children and you can enter before the day by going to this link.

The GTI Festival is for enthusiasts of all VAG marques, SEAT, Skoda, Audi and of course Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Group now includes Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti too.

Awards on the track include quickest VW, Audi, SEAT and Skoda, as well as a number of awards based on engine sizes - there are 12 ET awards in all. We will publish details of the awards next week.

The main competition on the track is VW Drag Racing Club Heads Up which has an entry of no less than 25 cars fighting for a place in a 16 car ladder. You can check out the previous rounds on the VWDRCTV YouTube channel by clicking on the links for round 1 and round 2.

The Show & Shine has a massive number of awards including Best of Show, Best Engineering, Best Paint, Best Engine and 18 more. And there are other attractions such as club displays, Dizzy Rascals autotests, and the Girlz N Dubz competition with its own special trophies.

The action begins at 09:30 on Sunday 10th October.

RAD Design Lines competition winner.
7th October: In our 7th September update we mentioned a colouring competition from Darren West of Power Race Graphics through his new brand RAD Design Lines. Darren writes:

We have our winner! Hawk Racing have picked the fantastic work of Scarlett Austin as the winner of our Gladiator / Hawk Racing colouring sheet competition. The RAD Design Lines 'Door Slammers' colouring book and special prize from the team at Hawk Racing are on the way!

RAD Design Lines colouring books are in the post to the runners up, and huge thanks to all the design stars for their amazing entries - we loved them all! Thanks also go to the Hawk Racing team for being great sports handing out the colouring sheets all weekend and showing the kids the beautiful Gladiator funny car.

Stay tuned in to the RAD Design Lines pages on social media for news of the next colouring book release which will be launched in time for Christmas!

Swift snippets.
7th October: A reminder that MrD Slot Drag Racing returns to Brentwood this Sunday 10th October 2021 where there will be a full length (6 hours) event at Brentwood RC Raceway Unit K1 Frieze Hall Farm Coxtie Green Road Brentwood Essex CM14 5RE. Action will include MrD Crazy Horse and Outlaw Elimination races as well as the MrD Gasser Circus and starts at 11am with the first race around midday. (pictured: Winners Circle from 1st October meeting for Outlaw Round 2 - winner Matt Dudley Ford XP ET: 0.799, runner up Alec Quarman 57 Chevy Sportsman ET: 0.834. Photo: Steven Dudley.).

Videographer Terry Robbins has published two videos to Youtube of action from the 2021 Hot Rod Drags, filmed from the spectator banking. You can see Outlaw Anglia action at this link and Supercharged Outlaws at this link.

Photojournalist Steve Moxley has published his detailed report on ACU classes at the STP National Finals on the ACU web site which you can see by clicking on this link.

Funny Bike racer, and winner of the class in the National Finals, Dave Peters, has had his story documented in his local newspaper, The Mail based in Barrow-in-furness, and you can see an online version of the report by clicking here. In it, Dave reveals he has plans to bring the legendary Imperial Wizard built and ridden by the late Brian Johnson back to the track.

Dakota Raceway October rain event.
6th October: Last weekend at Dakota Raceway, despite soggy weather, racing still took place in the drag, draft and NSA motorcycle championship. It is hard to remember racing taking place in such appalling conditions for a long time, and well done to organiser and Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child for persisting despite the deluge that swamped the track. Lee said after the event "To every rain warrior that attended, you are totally and utterly hardcore, thank you."

Congratulations to the car winners of the drag racing that took place for trophies and cash. They are:

Rear Wheel Drive: Pete Lane (Plymouth Barracuda), runner up Ian Walley (Ford Cortina Mk2)
Front Wheel Drive: Jamie Cole (Mini), runner-up Mark Swanborough (Ford Fiesta)
All Weel Drive: Nick Martin (Mercedes), runner-up Nick Turner (Nissan GTR)

Other cars who braved the conditions included Marcus Chapman (Subaru Impreza STV AWD), Stephen Cherrett (Vauxhall Astra FWD), Kevin Headon (Pontiac GTO Le Mans RWD), Conor Jeffries (Ford Mustang RWD) and Connor Parsons (Ford Fiesta FWD).

The car racers were joined by a handful of bike racers who ran late morning, and although the event was the final round of the NSA Southern Championship, official confirmation of the results is awaited.

Bikes pictured are Pete Francois (Suzuki GT250 – 42), Andrew Langdon - Honda VT250 – 66), Peter Ford (Suzuki Bandit Hillclimb Spl – 160), Tony Lockwood (Norton ES2 - V168 ), Rob Bowyer (Suzuki TL1000 – 202) and Barry Curtis (red Kawasaki GPZ1000).

You can check out our gallery of pictures from Dakota Raceway taken by Jerry Cookson, Alison Jackson, Lee Child and Kerrie Lane by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page.

Mk1Kieran video update.
6th October: Kieran has posted two videos to his Mk1Kieran Youtube channel from last Sunday's Japshow Finale. Kieran reports: "As the show season comes to a close in the UK, the Jap Show Finale is one of the last big 'Lifestyle' events hosted by Santa Pod Raceway. Jap Show Finale has it all for any Japanese Car (or bike!) fan! You can expect to see Drag Racing, Drifting, Show & Shine and Stunts in the Live Action Arena. Here's some clips I got throughout the day of the RWYB Action on the Drag Strip. The Japshow Finale Shootout, where 20 racers raced heads up for a cash prize, will be in a separate video!"

Also posted by Kieran is the unfortunate incident where in Q1 of the Japshow Finale Shootout, Gary Gooding launched his 7 second Supra but it turned hard right with the wheels up in the air and hit the wall head on. Kieran said "Thankfully Gary was ok as he has all the right safety gear in the car and a well built chassis. The team suspect that water was up in the sills from the heavy rain the day before and went onto the rear tyres the moment it launched."


Ain't No Saint in Hot Wheels competition.
6th October: Co-creator of the unique Ain't No Saint Volvo P1800 gasser Lee Johnstone has entered the car, built in conjunction with Steve Wright, in the Hot Wheels collectors UK Legend Tour with this video around the construction of the car which is driven by Lee and daughters Eleanor, Sarah and Victoria.

Lee says "Regardless of our success (the prize is to have the car made into a Hot Wheels toy) it is a nice record of the build process". It shows how the idea of building a gasser based on this car, made famous by The Saint TV series, developed over time, and how various features such as the headers exiting through the wings came about.


Duck All Prep at Melbourne this weekend.
5th October: Sponsor Lee Child of LA Racing Parts writes that more prizes to be supplied by sponsors VP Racing Fuels will be up for grabs at the Duck All Prep 2 no-prep Race to be held this weekend, 9th-10th October at Melbourne Raceway:

"It will be a heads up drag race cash weekend, first to the finish line on 9th & 10th October. Entry includes run what you brung and two crew tickets Let’s race again, get those entries coming to win, cash, trophies and sponsor products prize fund. We will be presenting fuel jugs, delux hoses, goody bags and Stay Cool product from VP Racing Fuels."

There will be the same categories raced at the previous Duck All Prep race in September:

Pro AWD: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Street AWD: Factory appearance, full interior
Pro Rear Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Pro Small Tyre Rear Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres maximum height 30 inches maximum tread width 11 inches, interior removed.
Street Rear Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior
Pro Front Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Street Front Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior
Super Pro Comp: Pure competition vehicles, altereds, rear engine dragsters, front engine dragsters and funny cars, where the driver is seated in a central position in the vehicle.


With two days of separate eliminations, one on Saturday and another on Sunday, the prizes give a driver a chance of winning £800 over the weekend, if they choose to run the whole weekend.

Based on a 16 car field, the winner gets £400 in each category. In the event of numbers in each category not being fulfilled, there will be a reduced prize fund, for example in a 4 car category £150 and 8 car category £200. In event of the category exceeding 16 cars, the prize will go up from £400. Entry fees: Fees include driver entry to the Duck All prep race with Run What Ya Brung included, plus two crew tickets and free camping. For the best deal, pre-enter, as entry will cost more on the day.

Driver entry for Duck All Prep on Saturday 9th or Sunday 10th is £115, weekend entry for both Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th is £200. You can arrive from 6pm on the Friday if you are racing the full weekend.

Weekend spectator tickets are £30, or £35 including camping, or day tickets may be bought for £15 per day, all tickets available on line or at the gate. Straightliners/Melbourne Raceway Championship advance racer tickets are £140 for the weekend or £80 per day for a driver with two crew, or £50 per day at the gate with £15 each for each driver and crew member.

Click to enter at this link.

All there is now to do is to get entered! Cars entered so far include Mark Flavell (Super Pro Comp), Craig Brown (Pro Front Wheel Drive), Lee Chiles (Pro Small Tyre RWD), Pete Youhill and Kris Thoburn (Pro RWD).

There will be live music on Saturday night, a firework display, auctions of memorabilia by Pauline Cox and a raffle of a £50 note kindly donated by NSS racer Bob Main. Supporting this final Melbourne Raceway event of the season will take the venue another step forward. Follow Duck all prep drag race competition Melbourne Raceway on Facebook.

Duck All Prep pre entry at a discounted price closes 6pm Friday, with entry on the day available after that time.

Final 2021 SPRC Championship standings.
4th October: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm for forwarding the final points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championhips and SPRC Club Championships after the National Finals. You can check out the UK and SPRC points on our points standing pages by clicking here, or by clicking the Points Standings link under News in the main menu above.

In addition to the National and Club champions announced on 27th September, we congratulate the SPRC Club drag bike champions, whose points are calculated on a different basis to the National ACU championship:

Banks Night Club Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt
Taylors Trophy Super Street Bike: Steve Venables
Leeks Landscapes Funny Bike: Dave Peters
Suzukiperformancespares.co.uk Comp Bike: Louis Davies
Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike: Hollie King

Yvonne adds: "SPRC would like to congratulate all 2021 Winners and Runners up of their Championships and hope to see them at the Dinner Dance on 29 January 2022. Almost two thirds of the 300 tickets available have already been booked, so if you would like to attend to collect your trophy, please complete the form on the SPRC website and join us for the evening.

"Thank you for supporting the Club and the SPR track this season, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2022."

Japshow Finale Shootout results.
4th October: Congratulations to Mark Moseley who won the Japshow Finale Shootout which took place at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday. Here are the results of the race:

Qualifying
  1. Mark Moseley (Nissan GTR32 3000cc) 8.8883/160.77
  2. Jeff Ludgate (Nissan GTR 3000cc) 8.9680/152.60
  3. Allan Duthie (Vauxhall Corsa 2000cc) 9.9393/153.12
  4. Matt Davison (Honda Civic 1600cc) 10.0503/145.76
  5. Adam Skinner (Fiat 126 2000cc) 10.0870/140.71
  6. Terry Newton (Ford Escort van 2100cc) 10.0949/145.79
  7. Ahmed Jamshaid (Honda Civic 2400cc) 10.1037/138.69
  8. Jack Burn (Honda Civic 2000cc) 10.1856/145.22
  9. Simon Durrans (Nissan GTR R33 2500cc) 10.1895/137.28
  10. Craig Evans (Vauxhall Corsa 2000cc) 10.3807/137.71
  11. Ali (Nissan GTR) 10.4212/177.81
  12. Dougie Gemmell (Honda Civic 2200cc) 10.5761/131.33
  13. Ian Milne (Vauxhall Corsa 2000cc) 10.9298/135.33
  14. Sean Prout (Honda Civic 2000cc) 11.7844/127.22
  15. Andy Nicholls (VW Scirocco 2000cc) 12.6545/106.17
  16. Ant Mincher (VW Golf Mk1 1800cc) 18.5986/91.39
  17. Darren Dewhurst (Vauxhall Corsa 2000cc) 19.5297/48.12
  18. Ross Laird (Ford Fiesta 1600cc) 22.4490/121.24
Eliminations

Round 1
Dougie Gemmell 14.0436/121.55 def. Adam Skinner, no-show
Matt Davison 10.2714/139.88 def. Ian Milne 12.6139/134.12
Ahmed Jamshaid 10.1846/137.28 def. Craig Evans 11.1868/105.17
Allan Duthie 10.1259/155.76 def. Sean Prout 15.3469/58.04
Jack Burn 10.2286/143.50 def. Simon Durrans, no-show
Jeff Ludgate 14.5682/66.08 def. Andy Nicholls, no-show
Ali 8.0610/183.62 def. Terry Newton 10.3134/141.68
Mark Moseley 15.5306/54.74 def. Ant Mincher, no-show

Round 2
Allan Duthie 10.0340/154.17 def. Ali 10.9972/169.19
Matt Davison 10.0642/144.30 def. Dougie Gemmell 23.8107/41.86
Mark Moseley 8.8077/157.38 def. Jack Burn 10.2257/142.59
Jeff Ludgate 21.7379/65.80 def. Ahmed Jamshaid, no-show

Semi finals
Mark Moseley 9.5662/154.16 def. Matt Davison 10.0837/143.92
Jeff Ludgate 20.2659/71.74 def. Allan Duthie, no-show

Final
Mark Moseley 8.7251/156.28 def. Jeff Ludgate 9.3489/156.88

With acknowledgements to Santa Pod Raceway timing crew.

Both finalists were running engines prepared by Mark Moseley's Mark's Xtreme Engines. We were sorry to hear that Gary Gooding in his Toyota Supra suffered a head-on collision with the wall on the launch. Gary said "We think it was caused by water on the right rear tyre from the sills, there were huge amounts of rain the day before and the car sat in 4 inches of water overnight. An oversight on my part which won't happen again. Now I've got to work out how I'm going to fix it. I'm overwhelmed with all the well wishes and love after yesterdays events."

We will be posting a gallery of Kieran's photos from the event in the next day or two, in the meantime you can see the action by going to Santa Pod Raceway's recorded streamed video of the event, and their gallery of Show n' Shine winners at this link. Video of the event taken from the pit side grandstand can be seen at Stones Films Youtube channel.

Malta Round 3 media and results.
4th October: Congratulations to the winners at the October Malta Drag Racing Association Round 3 event at Hal Far Raceway:

Open 6 class: Louis Vella
CA6 class: Anthony Vella
Dragster D4 and D5: Tyson Debono (pictured right © Samuel's Photography)
Open 2 class: Mark Farrugia
SM3 Class: Glenn Caruana Escort Class 2 and 3: Martin Scerri
Extreme 2 Class: Justin Muscat
Outlaw FWD Class: Paul Gatt
Junior Dragster: Luca Mangion Index Class 1: Anthony Vella
Index Class 2: Luke Spiteri
Index Class 3: Rudolph Cortis
Bracket 8.00-8.49: Justin Mizzi
Bracket 9.00-9.49: Victor Felice
Bracket 9.05-9.99: Glenn Caruana
Bracket 10.00-10.49: Catriel Dimech
Bracket 10.50-10.99: Luke Spiteri
Bracket 11.00-11.49: Stanley Muscat
Bracket 11.50-11.99: Warren Gauci
Bracket 12.00-12.49 Neil Caruana
M/Cycle Open Class and Outlaw M/C: Shawn Buttigieg
M/Cycle Index 8.5 and Bracket M/C 8.50-8.99: Leslie Said

You can see recorded video of the event at Motors MT, also video of individual races can be seen at the MDRA Secretary Konrad d'Anastasi's Youtube channel.

You can also see photos at the Facebook pages of DLP Photography and Samuel Mifsud at Samuel's Photography.

Swift snippets.
4th October: October 2nd saw the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Ron and Jenny Clark, founders of the Midland Drag Racing Association on March 13 1974.

In Ron's words, "I then went on to create Long Marston Raceway and thus became only the third person to establish a brand new dragstrip in the UK – the others being Ted Peddle (Podington Airfield 1965) and Steve Murty (Crossland Moor and later New York dragstrip in 1974). I never dreamed that we would ever reach this rare milestone when we attended my grandparent's 50th in December 1969." Ron and Jenny celebrated quietly on this special day. We wish a happy, if belated, Golden Wedding Anniversary to Ron and Jenny.

Photojournalist David Beitler has posted a report and photos from the Euro Finals Shootout from Santa Pod Raceway which you can see by clicking on this link.

Ian Warren.
3rd October: We were very sorry to hear from the Warren family that 9.90 and 10.90 Bike racer Ian Warren passed away on Friday. They wrote:

Ian Warren died on the 1st October after a long illness. After many visits to Santa Pod Raceway in the '70s as a spectator and after coming to the 1996 World Finals , Ian decided to start Drag racing.

Ian started racing in 1997 with a Suzuki GSXR named Shy-Tot in the 10.90 bike class and in 1998 Ian won the Super Series Championship and was Runner up in the Santa Pod Championship. Ian moved up to 9.90 bike in 1999 and after a accident at work in 2000, he returned to racing in 2002 and after qualifying No 1 at the National Finals Ian decided to retire from racing himself.

Ian carried on enjoying Drag racing through crewing for both his sons and then watching the racing at the track or through the Web casts when he could.

We send our deepest condolences to Ian's family and friends.

Can Do Marc thankful.
3rd October: Many thanks to Pro ET racer Marc Huxley of Huxley Motorsport for sending us his thoughts on his first full season in the class:

First of all, gotta say what a year it’s been, getting back into the sport of drag racing as a racer. After completing the Can Do Corolla in April I never expected to get anywhere near my goal of top 10, especially in such a challenging class as Pro ET. the car has just been so good, and been improving every single round (apart from the Summer Nats). Building a car from scratch really tested my skills, and I learnt so much along the way. Getting advice from top chassis builder Wayne Allman really helped me believe I could do it and, look, I built a winning car. Making the podium at the Festival of Power really blew me away!

One of the best things that happened this year tho was letting my Dad loose in the car at Dragstaglia and it had to be done, considering it’s a tribute car to the one he raced from 1982-1989. He drove it to its limit and did everything right, it really made me proud but his skill level is still unreal even at his age!

Pro ET has always been a welcoming class but, becoming a driver, it was nice to have the extra welcome and as a class it’s all a team effort with great personalities. This year was extra special really, as not only was I racing alongside the Dark Horse Mustang with dad driving, we had Lee running a borrowed Chevy Nova to become a team of three which was just awesome!

I wanna say a huge thank you to my sponsors that have kept me on track. The main one was ASD Engines, Trevor and Steve Hirst I’d really be stuck without them and their skills. SERCK Motorsport for supporting me and helping with parts and custom work to go faster. Also Dave Gibbons and Tony Morris for their carb setup pushing me finally into the nines (well chuffed).

But I wanna say a special thanks to my team and friends Rich Dance, Andy (Spud), Matt Cutler, Tippers, Rich ‘erm’ Bell and my better half Rhiannon.

I can’t wait to be back in the seat already, and hopefully have more new cars and faces to the class.

Oh, and was so good to see Straight Up playing as a band again in our pits at National Finals.

Swift snippets.
3rd October: We wish to congratulate British drag bike pioneer and member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Alf Hagon a very Happy 90th Birthday. Have a great day Alf.

Also Happy Birthday to Super Pro ET racer Saskia Fensome Jell and to former 9.50 Bike racer Andy Haley, we hope you enjoy your special day.

UK Tech Committee meeting.
2nd October: Thanks to to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for letting us know that The Drag Racing Technical Committee will be holding its annual meeting on 28th November 2021 at the Hilton Hotel Northampton.

If you wish to have an item added to the agenda and/or attend the meeting, could you please contact Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com before 19th November 2021.

Once there is a list of delegates, further details regarding start time and travel details to the hotel will be published on Eurodragster.com.

Sywell Classic report and gallery.
2nd October: Thanks to event commentator Jerry Cookson and photographer Darren Skidmore for providing a report and photo gallery of the drag racing action at Sywell Pistons & Props which took place last Sunday 26th September. Jerry writes:

Sywell Airfield hosted a demo Street Car Shootout last Sunday, all the cars ran twice and all put on an exciting, colourful and smoky show which the crowd loved. There was lots of audience participation with many imaginary bets made and lost!

Organised by the Rodfathers UK, the Sywell Classic Pistons & Props was certainly a memorable one for its side-by-side rollin' & smokin' Ford Escort burnouts, '57 'Shoebox' duels, slammin' Pops and high flyin' Fiats from Taz Racing - bring on the next one. The Rodfathers UK would like to thank all the drivers and hard working marshals and helpers who, without them, the show wouldn't have been possible. Many thanks to my partner Ali for pairing up the cars to make for a great show, one of the best seen in a long time.

The track is all concrete and is just shy of an eighth. Once the sun came out and some rubber had been laid it would have made for some great No Prep racing as it was very tacky even though none of the teams were using any traction aids, just water burnouts. The tree was supplied again by Wayne and marshalled by members of the Shakespeare County Relics as were the two startline fire marshals, Andrew Willcox and Dave Bramley.

Although the date was moved so not to clash with the Goodwood Rival the attendance was quite busy on both days with lots watching the the drag racing more than the side-by-side sprint laps from the circuit cars that included an ex James Hunt Marlboro McLaren. Super karts and classic and modern bikes also took to the track for demo runs while the Two Brothers Stunt Team provided the tricks, smoke and rev limiter appeal for the bike fans!

Mark Pacey had his double engined tractor puller on display plus there were Spitfires and Messerschmidt's in mock dog fights, lots of car and bike clubs alongside a mouth watering collection of street rods and classic cars, all made possible by Mark & Louisa Ashman of the Rodfathers UK.

You can check out our gallery of Sywell Classic pictures from Darren Skidmore by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page.

Jerry kindly supplied a list of the racers taking part in the Sywell Classic:
Ollie Finch (V8 Zodiac)Ray Shortland (MK1 V8 Zephyr)
Mark Biggers (Turbo Mustang)Kevin Dudley (2ltr Turbo Morris Minor)
Garth Wong Ford (100E LS8)Steve (Triumph Herald with s/c 355)
Ty Strevett (Pro Street Ford Falcon)Mark Bracking (Outlaw Anglia)
Ian Smith (Pro Street Moggy)Garry Hill (Outlaw Anglia<)/font>
Steve Mitchell (Snow White 57 Chevy)Den & Caz Reynolds (Corvette)
Chris "Boss Taz"Skinner (Fiat)Adam "The Adonis" Skinner (Fiat)
Mick Sharpe (71 Dodge Dart "Detroit Hustle")Kev " Firefighter"Preston (Pickup)
Darren Scannell "The Galaxies Fastest" (MK1 Escort)Danny Wilson (MK1 Zephyr)
Warren Wilson (MK1 Zephyr)John "The Adonis 1952" Dewey (Chevy
Paul Mags Taz 17 Escort (black & gold MK1 Escort)Arron Windridge (Supercharged Outlaw.
Justin Woolner ('68 Camaro)

Jerry said "Sunday saw Arron Windridge really get up on the tyres to lay smoldering rubber across the startline with the small block powered Supercharged Outlaw Altered".

Other photo albums of the event can be seen by clicking on these links: Malta October event video and photos.
2nd October: MDRA Secretary Konrad D'Anastasi has uploaded video from yesterday's Hal Far practice session preceding this weekend's race which you can see at this link. Another early poster of media from the event is DLP Automotive Photography whose photos you can see at this link.

Live streaming video of the race can be seen at the Motors MT Facebook page which will be live after the commencement of racing on both Saturday and Sunday, 2nd and 3rd October.

NSRA Hot Rod Drags trophy winners.
1st October: Many thanks to Alan Martin from the National Street Rod Association for sending in a full list of trophy winners from the NSRA Hot Rod Drags held at Santa Pod Raceway on 17th-19th September, and some news for those attending the Classic Motor Show at the NEC on 12th-14th November.

The full list of trophy winners for the Hot Rod Drags is as follows:

NSRA Dirty Dozen:

Richard Tunstall, 27 Model T Roadster
Jacqui Kowalewsky, Fiat Topolino
Harley Peters, Model A Coupe
Johnny Best, 34 Roadster
Hayden Mommery, 56 Chrysler Window
Steve Taylor, 61 Mk11 Consul
Sally Woolner, 67 Camaro
Danny Wilson, Mk1 Zephyr
Kenzie Taylor, 100E Prefect (16 years old and first run!)
Laurence MacGillivray, 351 Cleveland Ford Pop
Lauren Moules, Willys Coupe
Colin Wood Jr, Hillman Husky

Most Friday Runs: Andrew Jackson, Triumph Herald Coupe. 10 runs.
Quickest Friday ET: Robin Read, Spirit of Le Patron Daimler Dragster, 6.6579 secs @201.65mph. (Also beating his one record for the fastest Britis engined Dragster over the weekend)
Quickest Outlaw Anglia: Jedd Guy, 6.8864 secs @ 193.85mph. (also taking the honours for the first 6 second Anglia in Europe over the weekend)
Quickest Wild Bunch: Alan Lloyd, Gonzo the Great Topolino, 7.979secs @ 160.75mph
Quickest Supercharged Outlaw: Tony Underhill, Willys Coupe, 7.05 secs @ 191mph
Gasser Circus Quickest Reaction Time: Lee Pike, Honky Tonkin’ II. 0.000secs (a perfect reaction time)

Alan and other NSRA committee members will be attending the Classic Motor Show at the NEC. He said "One of the cars that will appear on the NSRA stand that weekend will be my co-conspirator in organising the Hot Rod Drags for the last 30 odd years, Martyn Payne and his ‘Great Barrbarian’ Outlaw Anglia (pictured right). All told, there will be five cars on the NSRA stand and Martyn’s will be a first for the club to feature a race car."

As well as the NSRA stand, Santa Pod Raceway and Outlaw Anglia will be exhibiting and Modified 100e will be represented on the Ford 100e stand.

We will publish developments for the 2022 Hot Rod Drags and, we hope, Nostalgia Nationals as soon as we know more.

Gasser Circus Hot Rod Drags report.
1st October: Many thanks to Gasser Circus co-ordinator Nick Brooke Langham for a report on the class at the 2021 Hot Rod Drags at Santa Pod Raceway:

The Hot Rod Drags for the Gasser Circus marked the conclusion of our racing season, and it has so far been the event when the winner of the Championship finally emerges. This year it was set to repeat this well warn path, with 3 drivers and their Gassers still in contention. Billy Jones in his ‘Grumpy Grizz’ Willys Coupe, Jason Hollamby in his ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ Falcon and sitting in the number one spot Nick Barnett in his B&G Racing Falcon. However, a cloud hung over the Gasser Circus as the news filtered out, that Dale Edmonds had passed away earlier in the week. Dale had been a regular in the Gasser pits, supporting and assisting his good friend Ray Turner with Ray’s ‘Green Onions’ 55 Chevy. Dale is renowned in racing circles as he supplied and made so many fibreglass and carbon fibre panels for drag racers, he and his friendship will be sorely missed.

With 20 Gassers on site, Gassers fans were in for a treat with two 55 Chevys, two Austin Devons, an Austin Dorset, two Falcons, a 56 Chevy, two 57 Chevys an Austin Devon pickup, a Chevy Nova, a Morris Van, 33 Willys, 37 Willys, Willys pickup, two Ford Pops a Corvette Stingray and a Dodge Dart. At 9:15 Saturday morning the Gassers were at the end of the fire up road having the privilege of kicking off the weekend. It was a truly heart-warming sight, to look back and see 19 Gassers in the lanes, unfortunately for debutant Adam Kruczynski he was in the lanes but without his superb 55 Chevy ‘Not so Mellow Yellow’, having suffered clutch damage whilst testing the car on Friday's RWYB. Needless to say, he took on the racers mantle despite his setback and was helping other drivers with their Gassers.

First pair up were Tom Margesson in the ‘Tinsel Town Hustler’ Pop, he lined up against Katie Booth in her ‘Mighty Mouse Pop’. The pair signalled their intentions when they both ripped off superb runs with Tom dialling 11:38 and running 11:3814 and Katie dialling 10:43 and stopping the clocks at 10:4376! Tom just taking number 1 qualifier a position he held onto throughout qualifying.

After the first round, most drivers appeared to be suffering the same issues, being slower than they expected. With 19 Gassers and a 16 car ladder, three were going to miss out on Sunday.

At 12:30 just ahead of the second round of qualifying one of the stalwarts of the Gasser Circus ‘Roarin Rat’ was inducted into the NSRA Hall of Fame. The legendary 57 Chevy now under not only the stewardship of Keith Bartlett, but being raced by Keith as he continues where Ken Brookes left off, racing in the Gasser Circus. With the presentations over, it was time for round two of qualifying.

At the conclusion of this Lee pike had a huge smile on his face as he had posted a perfect reaction time 0.0000 in his ‘Honky Tonkin’ 2 Chevy Nova. The 3 Gasser’s not qualified were playing a dangerous game they were me in Nogbad the Bad, Paul Dominey in his 640 Austin Dorset and Martyn Hallam in his 33 Willys Hallam, Hallam & Couch.


Pictures: Round winner Graham Barton, Round Winner Pin from Neil Melliard, Championship winner Nick Barnett, Championship Trophy Bowling Ball from Neill Melliard.

Final qualifying arrived and at its conclusion 2 of the 3 had made it into the final 16 leaving Paul Dominey in his ‘Dorset’ being first alternate sitting at number 17. Behind him was Brian Gibson in his ‘Identity Crisis’ Dodge and Simon Glen in his ‘Straight Shooter’ Austin Pickup.

Being first alternate paid dividends when Keith Bartlett in his ‘Roarin Rat’ 57 Chevy were not going to make eliminations. Paul Dominey was back in. Saturday night brought the Cracklefest and the Gasser Circus were well represented with 5 joining the line-up and along with the other racers they looked awesome. At the conclusion of the Crackle a miscommunication meant that the Gassers arrived at the end of the shutdown area expecting to use the return road, but they could go no further as concrete barriers blocked the way. The cars in the darkness slowly turned around and were soon safely back in their pits! Within these it was also our annual spoof awards, with many drivers, worried about what award they would pick up, some of these involved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Engine Slayer T shirts, Ker Plunk, a bottle of Guinness, braces, tinsel, a prop shaft and a giant dog!

Sunday arrived and so did a few rain showers which delayed proceedings somewhat, but finally track prep was sorted and Round 1 of Eliminations was good to go. This was where Nick Barnett could place a grip on the championship that would be very hard to dislodge. He was up against Tony Pearson who had a freshly built gearbox in his ‘Guzzler’ 56 Chevy. It bit too hard, too soon and lit the red handing the win to Nick and with that Nick secured the Gasser Circus Championship for 2021.

Ray Irish took on and beat Jason Pickett in his immaculate ‘Cherry Bomb’ 55. Graham Barton won against Steve Mathews in his ‘Honky Tonkin’ 57 Chevy, Sean Milson in his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ van red lit against Paul Dominey and Katie Jane Booth in her Pop saw off the still smiling Lee Pike. The other Pop piloted by Tom Margesson took on Mick Allen in his ‘Quick Buck’ Corvette, Tom taking the win on a hole shot. Jason Hollamby took the win against Nervous Nick, Martyn Hallam took the win against Billy Jones. Although at first the win appeared to have gone to Billy, but a glitch with the timing system had incorrectly illuminated the win bulbs in his lane. Therefore, a few minutes after the run there was a swap of emotions in the pits as the news of the error was shared with the drivers. Billy took this in his stride, and Martyn was surprised but ready to move into the next round.

Second Round Eliminations

Jason Hollamby in ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ was set to race Katie Jane Booth in ‘The Mighty Mouse’ Pop. Jason dialled 10.80 and Katie dialled 10.45. The cars left with green lights on the tree and they headed down the strip together at the top end Katie took the win moving to the semi-finals as Jason had broken out posting a 10.71!

Tom Margesson ‘The Tinsel Town Hustler’ and Graham Barton ‘High Anxiety’ came to the line, Tom with 11.50 on his Pop and Graham with 10.83 on his Austin. In another close race the gantry told the tale of two breakouts with Tom running 11.40 and Graham 11.79. Graham took the win as he broke out by the least. New Gasser Circus Champion Nick Barnett took on Martyn Hallam with the Champ dialling 11.72, Martyn dialled 11.37. Another side by side race followed with Martyn taking the win running perfectly to his dial in with 11.37. On the other side Nick had broken out with an 11.71.

Alternate Paul Dominey in his 640 Austin Dorset, was making the most of his opportunity but was now up against Ray Irish still bedding in his new blown Chevy Motor. Paul dialled 11.84 and ran 11.85, with Ray dialling 10.19 and running 10.22 Ray taking the win by virtue of his reaction time, with him posting a 0.07 to Pauls 0.25.


Pictured: Perpetual Gasser Circus award, Ray Irish and Graham Barton in the fire up road, Lee Pike with his NSRA Award for best reaction time with an 0.000.

Semi Finals had the pairings of Katie Jane Booth against Ray Irish and Graham Barton taking on Martyn Hallam in his 33 Willys, which put a smile on his face as since swapping from a Chevy 383 to a Hemi, he has not had the best of times, as he and his team sought to get it running right.

Katie lost out by the narrowest of margins to Ray as she broke out with a 10:44 on a 10:45 dial in, and Martyn’s Hemi was running too well against Graham Barton in ‘High Anxiety’ with a breakout 11.33 on a 11.37 dial in.

Final

Both drivers were delighted to make their first final especially Ray as he had missed a few rounds whilst sorting out his new blown Chevy motor. Ironically the person in the other lane to Ray was not only a good friend, but it was due to Ray that he was there. A few years ago, Graham came along to crew for Ray and he was almost immediately hooked, saying he wanted to share in the racing and fun that everyone was having. This led to the internet and Racing Junk, where he spotted the High Anxiety Devon Gasser for sale. A couple of clicks later and the deal was done. The rest they say is history.

Both drivers were determined to continue that history and both did strong burnouts, before the edging to the line could begin, with both cars staged the tree activated, Graham had dialled in 10:79 and Ray 10:19.

The cars launched and were side by side, they maintained this along the quarter mile, with it so close neither driver was sure who had taken their maiden win. The gantry told the story of this superb drag race and befitting way to conclude the Gasser season, as Graham had run to his dial in with a 10:79 but Ray had broken out with a 10:19. Graham had taken his first win, back in the pits he was visibly stunned and Ray although disappointed was happy for his friend.

A few minutes later, the Gasser Circus gathered for the trophy presentations, the superb Round Winners pin and prize money from Neil Melliard to Graham, followed by the Championship trophies awarded to Nick Barnett & Hoch of the B&G Racing Team. The Championship Bowling Ball and prize money from Neil Melliard the ball the winner keeps and the Gasser Circus Trophy that the winner keeps for the year.

It was then time to pack the Circus up for another year, and begin to plan its return, when it looks like there will be a few more Gassers joining the growing ranks of those who want to pay tribute to the Gassers from the mid-60s.

Now as the days draw in and the leaves turn to brown before falling, we look back over the year, and it has been quite a journey for all racers, from the point of uncertainty if we will get to race, to the sheer joy and relief of driving up Airfield Road knowing Round 1 was moments away. To then be able to follow this up with another 4 weekends when the Circus came to town has been truly fantastic. This of course would not have happened had it not been for the superb dedication of the Santa Pod team, for which all racers are so grateful. It also wouldn’t happen without the loyalty and support each team receives from family and friends, and our sponsors, Neil Melliard, the National Street Rod Association, Simon Prest and Renegade Fuels.

The Gasser Circus are now preparing and looking forward to 2022, when Gasser’s will once again, thunder down the quartermile, ‘Racing the Dream’.

Modified 100e Challenge expands for 2022.
1st October: Many thanks to Nigel Taylor for bringing us up to speed about the Modified 100e Challenge for 2022:



"The Modified 100e Challenge 2022 campaign is shaping up to be something special! There will be five rounds, dates to be confirmed, and a number of sponsors have already been signed up to whom massive thanks: Check out the Modified 100e Facebook page if you would like to get involved in the 2022 Challenge.

Pictured: Scott Collin's new car (the former Paula Atkin car), Dave Mott's Brickyard Shaker built by Zero3 Custom Creations, Scott Collins' current 100e which ran 10.2s at 130mph at the Hot Rod Drags, and Sharon Carver's 100e.


Earlier news