Eliminations round 1

Karandreas 8.729-189 kmh bye run
Haareman 8.758-239 kmh defeated Gunther 10.505-215 kmh
Spanowski 13.975-133 kmh bye run Meyer broke
Brown 8.699-253 kmh bye run Langbehn broke
Broekhuizen 12.542-184 kmh bye run
Levestone 8.725-253 kmh defeated Sell 10.306-219 kmh
Hart 8.940-244 kmh bye run Dahlbeck broke
Martis 8.607-258 kmh defeated Laken 9.499-250 kmh
Jolink 8.764-220 kmh defeated Gibs 9.443-219 kmh
Jakobson 9.152-210 kmh defeated Foit 10.539-160 kmh
Braune 10.017-234 kmh bye run Triller broke

Round 2

Harreman 8.781-251 kmh defeated Karandreas 8.741-219 kmh red light
Brown 9.342-189 kmh defeated Spanowski 9.983-230 kmh
Broekhuizen 9.018-246 kmh bye run
Levestone 8.558-254 kmh defeated Hart 8.957-243 kmh
Martis 8.590-256 kmh defeated Jolink 19.419-54 kmh red light
Jakobson 8.936-231 kmh defeated Braune 9.163-244 kmh

Quarter Finals

Brown 8.879-230 kmh defeated Karandreas 11.651-164 kmh
Levestone 8.763-255 kmh defeated Broekhuizen 9.040-245 kmh
Martis 8.626-257 kmh defeated Jakobson 9.251-229 kmh

Semi Finals

Levestone 8.532-252 kmh defeated Brown 8.784-254 kmh
Martis bye run

Final

Semaichel Martis NL 8.638-256 kmh def. Jovanny Levestone NL 8.921-227 kmh.

Herman, photographed by Christoph Lange is pictured burning out before his qualifying round, and launching in the first round of eliminations on his new Ducati Panigale-1 Drag Bike (1408 cc) (far lane) against Raul Gibs. Although he went out to eventual race winner Semaichel Martis in round 2 with a red light, Herman added "After Zerbst I took the bike to my longtime mechanic Dietmar's workshop in Braunschweig Germany where we identified some problems in the throttle linkage and found solutions so that I can have a fully open throttle rather than 60% open. I am very happy with the result, next time it will be better and quicker times will come."

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding Herman's article.

Nitro Revival celebrates the soul of the sport.
18th October: The sixth edition of Nitro Revival is in two weeks' time and features fun, fables, fellowship and fervour at Irwindale Raceway, writes organiser Cindy Gibbs:

Nitro Revival isn’t for everyone. It’s not, say, for those who think the automobile is just another means of transportation. Nor is it for those who find the smell of nitromethane somehow repugnant. Nor for those who prefer the whisper of a Tesla to the throaty rumble of a Chrysler hemi.

However, it IS for those who fancy themselves adventurers, historians, shameless gearheads or just plain old adrenaline junkies. If you’re one of those, you might want to program your GPS for Irwindale Dragstrip, highlight Nov. 4-5 on your calendar and dial back your time machine to the 1960s – an era in which the race cars were as individual as the characters who drove them.

The sixth edition of Nitro Revival, like the five before it, is designed to celebrate drag racing’s golden era with food, fun, fellowship, fables, fire and fervor. It will feature more than 65 cackle cars, from Top Fuel dragsters to Funny Cars to fuel altereds, and dozens of other nitro burners that have opted to forsake the pits for a trip or two down the concrete and asphalt racing surface.

Cackle cars include “Jungle Jim” Liberman’s Camaro Funny Car (picture courtesy Motor Trend), “The Other Guys” Top Fuel dragster of Jim Brissette and Mike Drake, the Kuhl and Olson dragster, the Dunn and Reath “Rainbow” dragster, Larry Huff’s “Soapy Sales” dragster, the Custom Body Enterprises Funny Car, Ken Veney’s “Veney’s Vega” A/Funny Car, the legendary “Freight Train” twin engine gas dragster (picture courtesy Byron Burgess), Marvin Schwartz’s “Anaconda,” Frank Cannon’s “Hustler VI” as well as the original “Dragmaster.”

Among the cars that will be in full race trim for on-track exhibition runs are the Mooneyham and Sharp 554 Coupe, Bobby McLennan’s “Champion Speed Shop” Nostalgia Top Fueler, the “Kazanjian and Lemon’ AA/FC and the “Godzilla” AA/Fuel Altered, owned and driven by one of the sport’s most popular drivers of color, the inimitable Rodney Flournoy.

Nevertheless, the cars won’t be the only stars of the two-and-a-half day festival that begins Friday with a 5-7 p.m. meet and greet and In-N-Out Cookout. More than 50 drag racing Hall of Fame members have committed to attend the event and participate in the always popular all-comers autograph session at 1 p.m. Saturday in the McLennan Foundation tent that serves as the event’s unofficial headquarters.

Notable drivers at the tables will be “King Richard” Tharp, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, Ed “the Ace” McCulloch, “TV Tommy” Ivo, “Big Jim” Dunn, Tommy “Watchdog” Allen, Carl Olson, Frank Bradley, Marvin Graham, “The Unsinkable” Kelly Brown, Jimmy Scott, Ronnie Hampshire, Bob Muravez, Darrell Gwynn, Gary Beck, Dave Settles, “Fast Jack” Beckman, Dale Funk, Bob Noice, Jim Walther, Don Hampton, Joe Schubeck and Ray Motes with more to be confirmed. They’ll be joined on the sign line by Nitro Revival founder Steve Gibbs, by a host of tuners, manufacturers and crew members including Roland Leong, Ed Pink, Ed Iskenderian, J. Ed Horton, Don Long, Donnie Couch, Bob Brandt and “Waterbed Fred” Miller, by Chic Cannon, one of the members of the NHRA’s original Safety Safari, by the “First Lady of Racing,” Linda Vaughn and by those who documented the era either in images or the printed word including Bill Holland, Dave Wallace Jr. and Kenny Youngblood.

The Saturday autograph session will precede 4 p.m. ceremonies recognizing 2023 Nitro Revival honorees including Allen, Dunn, Henry Velasco, Bruce McDowell, the late Art Carr and Dave Kempton, plus the Cal-Rods Car Club. As if that isn't enough for you, you'll see dozens of old school "push starts" throughout the day, leading up to our 6:00 p.m. "Nitro Overdose" cackle session finale and fireworks!

Highlight of Sunday’s schedule will be "One O’Clock Thunder", the simultaneous cackle of every fuel car on the property promptly at 1 p.m. during a scheduled break in the on-track action.

For ticket information and a list of participating vehicles and racing celebrities, go to nitrorevival.com.

Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell adds that flights leaving 1st Nov returning 15th from London Heathrow to Los Angeles can be booked for a price of £462 return, economy class, booked with BA.

UKDRN 2024 Calendars on sale.
18th October: Webmaster at UKDRN Jon Spoard has announced he will be producing a 2024 drag racing wall calendar. He writes:

"Many of you will know I produced these for about 10 years before covid. Unlike years gone by, I'm only producing one calendar this time. It features a mixture of some of my favourite captures from the past, some unpublished images and also some from the classes/cars or teams that I've enjoyed over the last decade. Choosing the images was really hard and I've spent weeks choosing them.

"I wanted to make something that covers a cross section of the sport for you, also something you can show to your non drag racing friends. Each image includes some information like best times and speeds.

"The calendar will be pre-order as before. The reason for this is so I can include all the UK race dates when they are released. You pay now and your calendar will arrive before Christmas making it the perfect gift. If you don't want to pay through Paypal then contact me for other options. This is a great chance to purchase a premium calendar and at the same time support what I've been doing for the last 27 years.

"The price of £22 shipped reflects shipping, packaging and Paypal charges." To purchase a calendar click here or on the image above.

Straightliners at Santa Pod, champions.
17th October: Congratulations to the winners of the Straightliners final race of the year on Sunday at Santa Pod Raceway last Sunday, 15th October:

Class 9.10: Peter Slater (Hayabusa 1300cc) (pictured top right) 9.55/146 def. Ashley Hodgson (Kawasaki ZX10R) 9.86/145
Straightliners No Mercy Shootout: Peter Slater (Hayabusa 1300cc) (8.64) 8.94/154 def. David Storrie (Hayabusa 1300cc) (9.30) 9.41/157
Nostalgic Pro Stock: See below, eliminations not completed
Race Legends: Colin Fallows Kawasaki ZZR 636cc, uncontested
Euro RWYB: Jovian Susanna (Suzuki GSXR 1000cc) (pictured bottom right) 8.49/157 def. Senaichel Martis (Kawasaki ZX10R) 9.00/118
Scooters No Mercy Shootout: Paul Gurney (Lambretta GP 244cc) (14.05) 14.37/85 def. Mike Pacey (Lambretta TS1) (13.41) 14.07/93
Juniors: Alfie Barraclough (50cc Special) (18.87) 19.17/54 def. William Mountford (Suzuki Venum 155cc) (17.92) 18.47/68

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Straightliners championships:

Car champions

Pro Comp Car: Ant Harris
Pro Extreme Car: Nik Wilson
Pro ET: Mark Briggs
Sportsman ET: Pete Eborall

Bike and scooter champions

Class 6.00: David Storrie
Straightliners No Mercy Shootout: David Storrie
Juniors: Alfie Barraclough
Race Legends: Colin Fallows
Scooters: Eric Cope

The racing was held in partly sunny but cool conditions with qualifying being run in the morning and eliminations in the afternoon. Due to time constraints, Nostalgic Pro Stock Bike completed qualifying but were only able to run one round of eliminations before the curfew. We will report on this class separately tomorrow but in the meantime congratulations to Kevin Melling for setting a new class record of 8.37/151, backed up by two other 8.3s runs. Congratulations also to Colin Fallows for setting a new Race Legends record of 11.88/129.

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

Straightliners Championship points are available on the 2022 Straightliners results repository or via our points standings page. Thanks to Martyn Greathead for posting the results and points.

Many thanks to Graham Watkinson for photographing the event. You can see Graham's photos by clicking here or by clicking on the Events link in the main menu above. Thanks to John Woolfe Racing for their support of event coverage.

Swift snippets.
17th October: Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel Bike racer and 2023 ACU Champion Neil Midgley, have a great day Neil. A belated Happy Birthday for yesterday to Top Methanol Dragster crew member Tim Read, hope you had a great day Tim.

Julie wins TAD Championship.
16th October: Congratulations to expat Norwegian Top Alcohol Dragster racer Julie Nataas for her tremendous achievements this week at the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals held at the Texas Motorplex.

We reported in yesterday's update that Julie had won the Jegs Allstars race-within-a-race. In Top Alcohol Dragster eliminations this success continued with wins over Joey Severance, team-mate Matt Sackman, Shawn Cowie and Kirk Wolf for the event title. Julie's best times were 5.129/279.76. Her semi final win gave her sufficient points to secure her the Lucas Oils Drag Racing Series TAD Championship over Tony Stewart.

An emotional Julie said at the televised championship presentation "I think everything I've done has led up to this, my dad getting me a Junior Dragster at nine years old, going drag racing at the weekends, going go-kart racing after school, all so I could be a great drag racer and actually drive one of these things, he's been with me every weekend and here right now. It's so surreal and I have to thank all my sponsors OTG, NGK Spark Plugs, Right Trailers and Lucas Oil Products, this is unreal!" You can see her presentation at this link on nhra.com.

Julie's final two races of 2023, the Nevada Nationals at Las Vegas and the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at Pomona, will be victory laps for Julie as she ends her championship year on a high.

Chris Hannam's funeral arrangements.
16th October: The funeral details for Chris Hannam aka Cannon whose death we reported on 26th September have been announced by his brother Harry:

"Chris's funeral will be held on Friday 27th October at 2:30pm at Rawdon Crematorium, Leeds, following which Chris's life will be celebrated at Hollins Hall Hotel in Baildon. "Anybody who would like to attend will be welcomed but Chris's family are very conscious that the Crematorium isn't a huge space. The service will also be streamed via a live link for those who are unable to attend in person, which will be shared in due course. Family flowers only, chosen charity donations can be made on the day."

Billinton collection goes on-line.
16th October: Thanks to British Drag Racing Historian Nick Pettitt who has put an important collection of early images on-line. Nick writes:

"Antony Billinton's photos were mostly taken by either Tony Densham, Peter Billinton (Antony's dad), Susan (one of Antony's three sisters), or by Antony himself. Tony owned a nice Hasselblad camera and Peter had an Asahi Pentax which Antony still has today. They developed a large portion of the black and white photos in their own darkroom at 8 Tate Road Sutton.

"The photo collection includes detailed shots of the Worden, Commuter and Firefly dragsters along with build up shots of Santa Pod Raceway, the timing equipment and many of the other cars and bikes running during the 60s and 70s.

"There are nearly 2000 images in the collection and I will be splitting them up into galleries and publishing them as I go. So far I've published two galleries with many more to come.

"Check them out on my website timetraveldvds.blogspot.com and scroll down to the Commuter on the start line pic.

Swift snippets.
16th October: Congratulations to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Yvonne Tramm who couple of weeks ago celebrated forty years of working on behalf of the drag racers in one role or another, many of them for Santa Pod Racers Club. Happy Anniversary Yvonne, and we know all racers and media are immensely grateful for all you have done for the sport.

Voodoo Hemi Racing takes sabbatical.
15th October: Thanks to photojournalist Remco Scheelings for an article on Pro Mod racer Marck Harteveld who has announced he will be taking a sabbatical in 2024.

The 2023 drag racing season of Marck Harteveld and his team Voodoo Hemi Racing is over and what a year it has been! Several ups were also followed by some downs. Harteveld set personal records and runs in 5.9 seconds became the rule rather than the exception. But the team also encountered engine damage during the last two races of the season. In short, an intense season of six matches in which a lot of kilometres were covered. After almost twenty years, in which the last few seasons in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, in particular, took up a lot of time and energy, the time has come to take a break and Voodoo Hemi Racing will take a sabbatical in 2024. However, there is no question of stopping, because in 2025 Harteveld and his team will again appear at the start of the FIA European Championship with renewed energy.

Marck Harteveld and his team Voodoo Hemi Racing kicked off the 2023 season at Santa Pod Raceway with The Doorslammers event, immediately followed by The Main Event, the opening round of the FIA European Championship. In this competition, Harteveld improved his personal record twice, bringing it to 5.862 seconds and thus dipping below 5.9 seconds for the first time. In total, Harteveld clocked no fewer than six runs under 6 seconds with the Voodoo Hemi Racing '70 Plymouth Superbird in the Main Event weekend! Only in the quarter-finals did the Dutchman have to admit his superiority to European champion Jan Ericsson with a difference of only 0.107 seconds.

This was followed by the two FIA European Championship rounds at the Swedish Tierp Arena with the Tierp Internationals and, after a summer break, the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals. The competition in June resulted in a sixth qualifying position with another nice 5.93 seconds, after which Harteveld managed to convert the first elimination round into a win on reaction time, and then drew a red light in the quarter-finals with a minimum of 0.04 seconds. In the second race at Tierp Arena, Harteveld was the highest ranked Dutchman with 5.98 seconds and a fifth place in the qualifications, but saw his race end in the first elimination round when the Superbird threatened to go towards the wall on the extremely tricky track.

The NitrOlympX at the HockenheimRing was another traditional celebration, with the Voodoo Hemi Superbird placing seventh for the eliminations. The first elimination round again resulted in a win. In the quarter-finals, however, Harteveld had to acknowledge his superiority in his compatriot David Vegter. The downer came afterwards when it turned out that the engine had suffered significant damage. The season ended with the European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, the traditional closing event of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. And once again Voodoo Hemi Racing was in the corner where the blows fell. In qualifying it still looked sunny with 5.92 seconds and a sixth place, but when Harteveld turned off the engine of the Superbird after the burnout of the first elimination round, it was clear that a serious problem had occurred. This brought the 2023 season to a premature end, where Harteveld had wanted to end with a top result. Harteveld occupied eighth place in the final standings of the FIA European Championship.

“A season that we look back on with mixed feelings and of which we expected more after such a strong start. The Main Event was absolutely fantastic, we drove great times and were also very consistent. Then the rainy season started in Tierp, during which the course of both races was seriously disrupted by the many showers. Then in Hockenheim with a fallen valve, engine damage and the same problem at the European Finals. During the burn out I heard a rattling sound, knew immediately that something was wrong and turned off the engine. We have now found the cause, but that is something that will only be of use to us later,” Harteveld reflects.

Early in the season, Harteveld announced that Voodoo Hemi Racing would take a sabbatical in 2024. “We have been active almost continuously for twenty years, with the Motorsport UK and then FIA European Championship in particular requiring a lot of time and energy in recent years. It's not just the competitions and travelling, but also the ongoing preparations, maintenance of the trailer and equipment, etc. This also continues during the winter months.

"In addition, the business has become increasingly busy and there is therefore hardly any time left to do anything else besides racing. In addition to things that need to be completed at some point, there are also so many fun things left undone. We want to catch up on that in 2024. It's also good for the crew. For years they have been sacrificing almost all their vacation days to the team, which means they can hardly go away. I am in the fortunate position that they enjoy doing this, but they too can now finally do some other fun things. It is time for all of us to recharge our batteries," Harteveld said about the year's break. However, it is certain that Voodoo Hemi Racing will be with renewed energy at the start of the 2025 season. “This game is way too much fun for that.”

Finally, Voodoo Hemi Racing would like to thank its partners from last season, many of whom have been associated with the team for many years. These are: Six-Pack Speedshop, Flexibell Systems, M-Trex IJmuiden Holland BV, Altac Coating Group, Brute Jeeps, Mooi Reclame Werk, G&L Harteveld, Qrien van Vliet, Wiretec Wire Products, FB Installations, vd Kruk Water Softeners, QD Automotive, Sunproof, P. Komen Autoherstelwerk, L Harteveld Works, J&B de J, Olsthoorn Commercial Vehicles and Sunder Scooters.

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for help in coding Remco's articles.

Julie achieves Jeg's Allstars hat-trick.
15th October: Congratulations to expat Norwegian Top Alcohol Dragster racer Julie Nataas for winning the Jeg's Allstars at the Texas Motorplex, her third win in as many years and surely a boost as she heads into the final races of the NHRA season.

Julie ran a 5.185/279.90 to defeat Mike Coughlin in the final round, depriving Mike of a chance to win the event devised and supported by his family. Jeg's Allstars pits the top racers from each of NHRA's seven divisions against one another in ten sportsman classes.

Her championship hopes for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series TAD title were also given a boost when her main competitor Tony Stewart was defeated in round two of eliminations by none other than class rookie and Pro Stock Motorcycle legend Angelle Sampey. Julie herself is through to the semi-finals of class eliminations against Shawn Cowie. You can see full results in nhra.com or www.dragracecentral.com.

Crew Killer for sale.
15th October: Sponsor John Tebenham has announced his Crew Killer Ford Pop is for sale. JT says:

"Before we start this story it’s £45,000. Absolutely no offers. The amazing I.C.E. engine has 20 passes on it, the incredible Edge gearbox and converter has 10 passes.

"It has absolutely brand new slicks on it, not even run. We went to the semi-final at the Main Event, watch the video jt racing, how far did we go? This car can win a Championship 10 x no.1 qualifiers. My team with me will teach you how to race it. Be famous. Contact Simon." (E-mail simon@eurodragster.com if you are interested).

Swift snippets.
15th October: A very Happy Birthday to Trakbytes webmaster Chris Dossett, Junior Dragster racer Max Taylor and Outlaw Flat Four racer Ian Shorrock. We hope you all have a great day.

Pro Dutch Racing looks forward to 2024.
14th October: Thanks to photojournalist Remco Scheelings for an article on Pro Mod racer Michel Tooren's 2023 season and plans for 2024.

With the European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, the 2023 drag racing season came to an end for Michel Tooren and his team Pro Dutch Racing. It was a year in which boundaries were pushed with new personal records and constant fast times, but unfortunately those good scores could not be converted into podium places. Tooren ultimately finished the FIA European Pro Modified Championship in seventh place. As standing still means going backwards, Pro Dutch Racing has now decided to purchase a new weapon! “I can only reveal a snippet and that is that our new car comes from America,” says Michel Tooren.

Pro Dutch Racing's season got off to a flying start in The Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, round one of the FIA European Championship. After Michel Tooren had already improved his personal record from 5.914 to 5.904 seconds during The Doorslammers the previous weekend, the Pro Dutch Racing '71 Plymouth Barracuda dipped below 5.9 seconds for the first time in qualifying for with a 5.871 seconds pass. That wasn't the end of the story, because in the first round of elimination round Tooren clocked 5.814 seconds and 250.85 mph (403.7 km/h). Not only was the time impressive, but this final speed, the Cuda immediately became one of the fastest blower motor-driven Pro Mods in Europe.

After Santa Pod, the two Swedish rounds of the FIA European Championship followed at Tierp Arena with the Tierp Internationals and the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals. Unfortunately, rain was the big spoilsport, but just like at Santa Pod, Tooren managed to reach the quarter-finals with times around 6.0 seconds in both matches. The NitrOlympX at the HockenheimRing was a disappointment. After finishing sixth in qualifying, the Pro Dutch Racing Cuda was in winning position in round 1 when the driveshaft broke, resulting in a premature shutdown.

At the European Finals, the final round of the season at Santa Pod Raceway, Tooren dipped back under six seconds with 5.96. The first elimination round resulted in a winning 5.95 pass, but in the quarter-finals Tooren lost to his fellow countryman David Vegter, who would ultimately win the competition later in the day. All in all, Tooren ended the 2023 FIA European Championship title race in seventh place, not quite the score that had been hoped for given the strong start to the season. “The start was definitely good. We drove quick times and were also consistent. Unfortunately, this was not immediately reflected in the results. After that it was a bit more variable. Hockenheim was just unlucky with the broken driveshaft. At the European Finals we again competed for prizes, but David was simply faster than anyone else," Tooren reflects.

Standing still in drag racing also means going backwards and Tooren and his team Pro Dutch Racing want to take the last step towards the absolute European top, the decision was made shortly after the end of the season to look for a new car in America for next year. By acting quickly, this has now been found. More news about this will follow at a later stage. “We had already made the necessary contacts in America a few years ago. At the beginning of this season, we were at the World Series of Pro Mod in Bradenton and further strengthened those ties. As a result, we were now able to quickly reach an agreement. That's actually all I'm going to say about it now,” Tooren manages to keep the tension at bay for a while. Due to this purchase, the trusted Pro Dutch Racing Cuda is now for sale. The fastest Barracuda in Europe is sold including clutches, gearboxes and spare parts, with the sale of an engine also being an option. A unique opportunity for true Mopar enthusiasts to acquire this proven race winner. Serious candidates can contact Michel Tooren, michel@produtchracing.comfor more information.

Pro Dutch Racing is supported by: Arton USA Cars & Parts, Breko Shipbuilding & Repair, Burger Ferry Agencies, Dockmarks Signs BV, Dockside Shipfacilities BV, Driemaas Shipping, Duraship BV, DW Pumps, Electric Marine Support BV, FEMM Rotterdam BV, Flanto Shipping BV, Heftronics, Hoogendoorn maritime paneling and interior construction, Horrel Shipping, Maritiem Media, Noordtrans Scheepvaartbedrijf, Oonincx Scheepshouden BV, Petrostar AG, RBC Nederland BV, Rotyle Dakdekeling, RTR Barging, Scheepsservice Beljaars, Sinttruije Marine Service BV, Solution Maritiem BV, Tribute Space BV, Tristan Shipping BV, Verhaar Omega, VKV Service BV and Vrooam Powersports Lubricants International BV.

For more information about Pro Dutch Racing, see also Facebook, Instagram and the website www.produtchracing.nl

Happy 18th Harley Coulsell!
14th October: Thanks to Lynne Coulsell for sending in birthday wishes for son Harley Coulsell's 18th Birthday today:

"As Harley's last Junior Dragster season drew to a close, we didn’t think we would ever get that podium picture that we’d hoped for, for nearly 10 years!

However, that podium was at last in sight at the Euro Finals when Harley reached his 1st ever final! Who would have thought a storm landing during the late summer heat wave would have scuppered his only chance, but it did!

Devastated! We went home, sort of counting out blessings, but very disappointed that the curfew meant that the final could not be run!

Fortunately, the lovely folk at Santa Pod decided that the final could go ahead at The National Finals. So after 3 attempts at running it due to weather conditions, Harley finally took the win and got his Trophy!

Good luck son with whatever your next racing venture will be! Have a fabulous 18th birthday, celebrating at Santa Pod! From Mom, Dad & all at Limited Funz Racing.

Julie Nataas riding high in US.
14th October: Expat Norwegian Top Alcohol Dragster racer Julie Nataas is enjoying her best season ever in US racing since she started racing Top Alcohol Dragster racing with Randy Meyer in 2017.

She is now leading the National and Central Region standings for the class in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, after taking wins at the Gatornationals, Baby Gators regional race, the Lonestar Nationals at Dallas in May, the Cavalcade of Stars at Norwalk in June, and the September Carolina Nationals held at Charlotte.

This weekend at the Texas Motorplex, Julie is one of three racers under the Randy Meyer Racing (RMR) umbrella. Having secured the Central Region championship, Julie leads NASCAR legend Tony Stewart in the National Championship with three more national races remaining.

Julie has a boost to her championship hopes by going to the final round in this weekend's Jeg's Allstars race-within-a-race. Although she qualified sixth with 5.219/274.24, Julie upped her game in the semi final of the Jeg's Allstars with a great 5.159/280.51. The first round of National Event eliminations followed by the finals of Jeg's Allstars take place today.

Julie commented to Drag Illustrated “We have had great success winning the last two JEGS Allstars,” Nataas said. “With the recent win and car we have right now, I believe we can go for three in a row. I’d just like to do in a less dramatic way than last year (body panels exited the car following tyre shake in her final round victory). We are getting close to end of the season so this will be the first race that might not count towards the championship. We have a first-round loss and two second-round losses to switch out for something better. We have a lot to gain and I’m 100% confident in me and my team that we will change those races out for something better. Last year we didn’t qualify at this race, but I know we have a better car than a year ago. I’m not worried.”

We wish Julie good luck in her race and championship aspirations.

Swift snippets.
14th October: Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel Bike racer Shawn Rodman and FWD VW racer Ant Mincher. We hope Shawn and Ant have a fantastic day.

Straightliners Finals and championship outcomes.
13th October: Thanks to Straightliners timekeeper Martyn Greathead for posting the latest championhsip points after last weekend's Northern Finals at Melbourne Raceway. We had a look to see who is in with prospects of a championship after eight of nine events.

Contestants should remember that this coming Sunday's final round at Santa Pod Raceway is for double points, also the best eight results (six for cars) count towards the championship. Further championship rules are that an entrant must complete a minimum of 3 rounds of the season to be eligible for the championship, and car competitors must attend at least one of the Santa Pod events.

In Pro Comp, Ant Harris (Mills Dragster 8 Ltr) is ahead of Pete Youhill (Pontiac Firebird 584ci) who could nevertheless catch him by winning the event. In Pro ET Mark Briggs (Toyota Supra 2 Ltr) is well ahead of both Stephen Gilmour (Ford Anglia 100e) and Bob Molden (Peugot 205 410ci) but should secure the championship by qualifying and taking the green light in the first round. Sportsman ET has a tight three way battle between Pete Eborall (VW Golf Gti 1.8 Ltr), David Coombes (Lexus LS400 4 Ltr) and Peter Lane (Plymouth Barracuda 6.3 Ltr), with the title going to whichever goes furthest.

In the 6.00 index bike class, Graham Newbould (Hayabusa Turbo) is leading David Storrie (BMW S1000RR) by a substantial margin, however the double points format and dropped round could results in David catching Graham. Ashley Hodgson (Kawasaki ZX10R) and Mark Taylor (Hayabusa 1300cc) also have a mathematical chance of taking the title, but are more likely to be battling for runner up spot.

The Straightliners No Mercy Shootout has Ashley Hodgson and Andy Higham (Deofol 500cc) tying on top points. David Storrie could catch them as he will not need to drop a round. Also in the mix are Carl Mountford, Phil Gilson (Kawasaki ZZR1400), Terry Mountford (Aprilia 1000cc) and Phil Tomlinson (Suzuki GSXR 1000cc ).

The well attended Juniors championship for drag bikes is led by Jack Taylor (Spiderman 125cc) with Alfie Barraclough (50cc Special) and Amy Wolstenhome (Gilera DNA special 70cc) in contention. Finally, the Scooters championship has Eric Cope (Lambretta 248cc) leading Ade Horrocks (Vespa Primavera 149cc) who has been recovering from a spill in September.

You can see the detailed Championship standings at the Straightliners results repository.

As well as class racing, there will be run what ya brung available on both Sunday and the Saturday, which is not a Straightliners day so separate payment of £45 for Saturday rwyb will need to be made via this link. To enter for Sunday, you need to buy weekend or Sunday admission at this link, plus race or rwyb entry at straightliners.events. Sunday race or rwyb entry is possible by visiting the Straightliners caravan in the pits.

Good luck to all contestants. Eurodragster.com will be represented by Graham Watkinson who will be supplying photos for posting after the event, and we will also post results as soon as they are published.

Wild Bill Weichelt located.
13th October: Eurodragster.com sponsor USAutomotive has announced the last driver of the legendary Dos Palmas dragster in the UK has been located alive and well:

"Dos Palmas fans will be amazed to learn that through a chance message to Geoff Stilwell, we have found 'Wild' Bill Weichelt alive and well at 83. Bill raced Dos Palmas as Asmodeus in 1970-71. Upon his return to the US he even raced the '71 US Nationals at Indy."

Writer and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame MC Tony Thacker will be visiting Bill soon to get his story; a lot of catching up is needed.

The Dos Palmas team of the 21st Century are testing again today to get the car ready for Nitro Revival and send a big shout out to the folks at Irwindale Dragstrip for providing testing facilities. The team comprises owners Geoff Stilwell, Stewart Bassett, Nick Davies and Mick Jenkins, with support from team members Scott Barnes, Scott Campbell, Pat Coyle, and Rob Loaring of ICE Automotive.

Dos Palmas is pictured by Robin Acock in 1969, the year Bill acquired the car, at Santa Pod Raceway (source: British Drag Racing & Hot Rodding Archive).

You can read the Dos Palmas story on Chris Dossett's excellent Trakbytes website at this link and see documentary evidence of the diaries kept by Peter Godlee of previous owners the Croft Partnership at this link.

Swift snippets.
13th October: Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET racer and sponsor Mike Lacey, Supercharged Outlaw racer Aaron Windridge, UK Nostalgia Superstock supporter Yvonne O'Rourke, from the US We Did It For Love webmaster Don Ewald and Malta Escort racer Steve Pace. Have a great day all.

2024 SPRC Dinner Dance.
12th October: Thanks to Yvonne Tramm of Santa Pod Racers Club for the announcement of next February's annual Dinner and Trophy Night:

SPRC are pleased to announce that the 2024 Dinner and Trophy Night, to recognise our Championship Winners and Runners up, will be back at Stadium MK on Saturday, 3 February 2024 (Stadium Way West, Milton Keynes, MK1 1ST).

The arrangements are as follows:

Please be seated by 6.15pm, presentations will begin at 6.30pm prompt with Dinner to be served at 7.15pm

Tickets, which should be booked by clicking on this link, are £50/adult and £20/child 12 and under, which includes a three course set meal plus tea/coffee and mints. The children’s menu will be chicken nuggets and chips followed by ice cream. If you have any special dietary requirements please contact Yvonne at yvonnetramm235@gmail.com so that we can accommodate your needs. Please do not approach the hotel with requests. Seating will be 10 per table, therefore if you require more than one table please complete a second online form.

SPRC have negotiated a preferential rate for rooms at the hotel with prices at £100/single or £111/double including breakfast. To book a room please call the DoubleTree on 01908 364170, ask for ‘In House Reservations’ mentioning that you are attending the SPRC Dinner (on 3 February 2024) and quote Ref : ASPOD4. Alternatively, if you book online please use the following link : Available Rooms - DoubleTree by Hilton Milton Keynes. For a double room you will need to click ‘Edit Stay’, at the top of the page, and change details to 2 persons (then press update).

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE HOTEL AND ALL BARS ARE CASHLESS.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Yvonne by email or phone on 07762 195729.

See you there.

Malta National Drag Racing Championship Round 4.
12th October: Congratulations to the official winners at round 4 of the 2023 Enemed Malta National Drag Racing Championship, which was organized at the Hal Far track by the Malta Drag Racing Association over last weekend 6th-8th October:

Dragster DTA4 and D4 classes: Nathan Bartolo (pictured right top), bye.
Dragster D5 class: John Martin, bye
Dragster D6 class: Mario Borg, unopposed
CA6 class: Anthony Vella, bye
Open 6 class: Mario Borg, bye
Open 5 class: Lewis Vella (pictured middle right), bye
Open 1 Class: Karl Mifsud, bye
Front Wheel Drive Open Class: Clayton Johnson def. Semira Galea (3rd Christian Azzopardi)
Diesel Open Class: Clive Cutajar def. Ludovic Ferte
Escort Class 3: Christian Pace def. Ronnie Busuttil (3rd Mariano Ciantar)
Escort Class 2: Mariano Ciantar def. Martin Scerri (3rd Frankie Ellul)
Index Class 1: Kevin Gauci def. Chris Mercieca (3rd Glenn Busuttil)
Bracket 7.50-7.99: Dennis Desira, unopposed
Bracket 9.00-9.49: Karl Mifsud, bye
Bracket 9.50-9.99: Christian Azzopardi def. Clayton Johnson
Bracket 10.00-10.49: Johann Camilleri def. Ludovic Ferte
Bracket 10.50-10.99: Chris Mercieca, bye
Bracket 11.00-11.49: Nickovich Chircop def. Matthew Grech
Bracket 11.50-11.99: Warren Gauci def. Malcolm Borg
Bracket 12.00-12.49: Owen Cremona, bye
Junior Dragster: Ismael Mula Debono def. Keithian Camelleri (3rd place Luca Mangion)

Top Fuel Motorcycle Class: Stuart Crane, unopposed
M/Cycle Open Class and SS1 Class: Simon Giordimaina, bye
Best reaction time: Clive Cutajar

Dragster DTA4 and D4 winner Nathan Bartolo's team commented "We have the world's quickest and fastest Mitsubishi 4G63 OEM engined car, four runs from 6.6 down to a best 6.416 @ 209.59mph. We are very proud and grateful to have such a team. Well done to Malta Drag Racing Hal Far for the excellent event and track preparation and to Haltech for their support and superb products."

Tyson Debono, driver of the XII Racing Opel engine dragster commented: "We did not manage to reach the finals due to valve train issues, but we still reset the world’s quickest and fastest 4-cylinder dragster record with a 6.11 at 227mph. "This would not have been possible without the tuning of our mastermind Cacá Daud behind the keys. Also, our racing family Tyson Debono, Elisa Aquilina, Mauro Busuttil, Emanuel Cachia, Kyle Vella and Daniel Busuttil. "We had the honour to meet again the man behind our engine management system Anderson Dick from FuelTech USA."

Justin Muscat unveiled a blown Escort Mk1 into which the team had installed blown small block Chevy power over a hectic three weeks prior to the event. The team kindly sent us full details which you can see below this story.

Dennis Desira in his street driven Sierra, ran a new PB Of 7.82 @ 183mph as well as winning the quickest bracket class. He thanked car builder and tuner Christian Aqualina of Mad Max Auto Centre.

Front Wheel Drive racer Semira Galea debuted a revised turbo setup on her Ford Focus Mk1 and was rewarded with a personal best of 9.496 @ 153mph, achieving runner up in FWD and third place in her Bracket class. She said "Special thanks goes to ZOQDI Racing (Zoqdi Technology) for all their hard work and dedication throughout the whole journey, and my father, family and boyfriend for their continues support and dedication. Also to the rest of the team for the help during the weekend."

In the bike classes, Simon Giordmaina made his return to racing in Super Street Bike, running a great 7.30 @195 on his return pass, and made a heartfelt acknowledgement in social media on the role his family and fellow racers had in encouraging him to return to riding a race bike after recovering from an accident in March.

Funny Bike racer Stuart Crane, running at Hal Far Raceway for the first time, was invited with team member Glenn Tooke to test Gabriel Briffa's bike in preparation for the November finals. Stu commented "After some 1/8 mile hits we have got something to work with and are ready to step on it. Thanks to Gabriel and all the guys for the great hospitality and MDRA, see you all again in a few weeks for the final meeting of the year."

Best wishes go to Kurstan Grech who suffered a Friday mid-track accident in Reuben Micallef's Fueltech dragster. He thanked Reuben, his team members and all those supporting him. "I have made a speedy recovery and am looking forward to continuing".

You can see videos of the event at the YouTube channel of MDRA Secretary Konrad D'Anastasi at this link.

Thanks to Samuel Mifsud for permission to us the above photos. You can see his work in Samuel's Photography on Facebook. Alex Buttigieg has posted photos in a Facebook album, and you can also see photos from DLP automotive at this link.

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for help in coding this article.

Nickei Shan's wild Escort.
12th October: We all know about wild Escort Mk1s in the Maltese drag scene, but the latest, owned by Nickei Shan, driven by Justin Muscat and run by the Terminator Racing stable, is probably the wildest of all. The team described it as a "Baby Pro Mod, sounding super strong and a wild one to navigate." Unfortunately the debut of the newly refitted car didn't go according to expectations. They explained to us:

"This car goes back to the early 90’s. It had several engines in it like the V6 Savage, Ford Cosworth and aspirated small block Chevy. It had an accident in 2021 and we rebuilt the car last year as a full tube chassis extended wheelbase Escort. "It had a small block Chevy with an iron block, race fuel and nitrous oxide. I was asked to drive the car at the beginning of this year and went straight for a personal best of 7.56 seconds at 177mph.

"We kept on tweaking it and managed to run a personal best of 7.49 at 181mph. The engine, which had lasted for 5 years let go in the night event back in July. We then switched setup to a blown methanol injected small block chevy. We managed to finish all the work the last day before the event so it was quite tight timewise.

"We didn’t change any of the drivetrain ratios or convertor, and we ended up over-powering the convertor and slipped all the way until oil from the breather tanks unloaded the rear wheels and had to back off cruising down the first pass at 8.4 seconds with only 120mph. We made some changes to avoid the scenario recurring but unfortunately it broke the Powerglide transmission in the burnout which eventually harmed the engine too.

"Nevertheless it looks very promising, we are still running a very low boost setup until we fix all the issues, so in the near future this car should be nuts!"

Photos courtesy Samuel Mifsud of Samuel's Photography.

Famoso Wally Parks Nostalgia Nationals to be streamed free.
12th October: Attention all fans of nostalgia racing Stateside! As has been widely announced, the former California Hot Rod Reunion has been rebranded the Wally Parks Nostalgia Nationals. The event takes place this weekend 13th-15th October and we know a number of British fans are once again making the pilgramage to Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield.

As ever there will be large fields of Nostalgia Top Fuel, Nostalgia Funny Car, Fuel Altereds, Nostalgia Pro Mods, A/FX, several classes of Nostalgia Eliminator cars and Gassers. Don “The Snake” Prudhomme will be serving as Grand Marshal.

For fans who can't make the trip, a live stream of the event will be available on the NHRA.tv sponsored by Good Vibrations Motorsports with camera work of videographer Warren Evans of Drag Racer TV. The coverage is free, but you will need to register an account first. You will be able to follow results from the race at this link on competitionplus.com.

Swift snippets.
12th October: Happy Birthday for today to UK Tech Crew member and Top Methanol team member Tim Read, German Funny Bike racer Stefan Hagenstein, Malta FWD racer Marvic Galea and former Top Fuel racer Tommy Möller. We hope you all have a wonderful day.

Venom welcomes Essex Emergency Group.
11th October: Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts has announced a new sponsor for his Venom Racing team:

"Venom Racing would like to welcome the Essex Emergency Group of Companies on board for the 2024 season. Racegoers may have noticed their Ambulance Crews supporting Santa Pod's medical staff at the last few meetings this year. As well as all things medical for events their Ambulance Service is also front line for the NHS.

"Part of the wider Group incorporates a hire company and a 30,000sq Ft vehicle repair shop operating out of North Weald with the latest ADAS and alignment systems. If you're running an event or have damaged your car please consider supporting those who support our sport.

Snake Eyes at Motorsport UK Offices.
11th October: Thanks to Wild Bunch and Super Comp racer Andy Clifford who has sent us his account of displaying his Snake Eyes slingshot outside, and, later, inside the the Motorsport UK HQ at the Bicester Heritage Centre.

The story begins back in early 2022 when Robin Jackson put a call out to anyone who may be interested in exhibiting their vehicle at Motorsport UK HQ for a short period of time. My dad, Terry, responded but for various reasons we couldn't quite make it work last year. However, this year it all came together. So it was, before the crack of dawn Dad, myself and my son James left Southampton heading for Bicester Heritage Centre. We unloaded the dragster and power parked it in front of the Motorsport UK reception. The plan was to display the dragster outside during the Sunday Scramble event and once finished we would wheel it into their flexible meeting/reception space where it would remain on display until the first week of November. I must admit, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the day. It's been 5 years since I last attended a Scramble.

Thankfully, the drag racers sniffed us out and it was great to settle into the day with a relaxed chat about the season. Tom, Kirstie and Andy may just have convinced me to save up for a race trip to Europe.

During the day we had a steady stream of people visiting us. We were kept pretty busy walking people round the car, explaining various parts and pieces, busting some myths and answering some rather 'interesting' questions. I never get tired of seeing the reactions of people when I explain the seating arrangement of the slingshot. Towards the end of the event, we pushed the dragster indoors. Snake Eyes will be on display until the first week of November. It is displayed in a flexible meeting/communal area behind Motorsport UK reception. On Sunday, for example, the space was being used by #racingpride to host an event aimed at promoting motorsport within the LGBTQ+ community. With around 30 attendees this added plenty of additional foot traffic past us. Our final task of the day was a quick test on the circuit racing sims. Needless to say, we will all be sticking with drag racing after that.

It'll be great to see the results following Snake Eyes being displayed. We already have a few new followers on the socials. Our thanks must go to Ross and his team from Motorsport UK for being so accommodating and engaging with the drag racing community. Big thanks also to Robin Jackson for putting the call out in the first place. Let’s hope we can get a few more of our cars on this platform and give drag racing the exposure it deserves.

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for help in coding this article.

Swift snippets.
11th October: Happy Birthday for today to Pro Modified and AA/FA crew member Scott Barnes, presumably-retired Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann and BMW doorslammer racer Harvey Bhogal, we hope you have a great day.

Ida's dream season.
10th October: In the first of a series of articles on European drag racing champions, Remco Scheelings writes that Ida Zetterström had a dream season, winning all three races that were completed of the five contested. Ida's win record was almost unblemished save one round when outgoing champion Antti Horto defeated her at Tierp in June.

In his article, you can find out how Ida reflects on her first championship season, her best race, the crucial race for her winning the title, what she is most proud of in the season, toughest moment, toughest competitor, her reaction after winning the title, thankyous and plans, goals and expectations for 2024.

You can read Remco's fascinating profile of Ida's championship year at this link on www.dragracingeurope.eu.

Top Fuel 200mph at Melbourne.
10th October: Many thanks to Nimbus Motorsport director and Eurodragster.com sponsor Steve Clark for writing to let us know that the Frontline Video Top Fuel team, with which he was involved in the 1980s, recorded a 200mph timing ticket at York Raceway, the predecessor name of Melbourne Raceway:

"As soon as I saw the report on Spiderman jet dragster being only the second car to exceed 200mph at Melbourne, I thought this has to be updated!

"Back in September 1983, Andy Craddock and I along with the rest of the Frontline crew took the Frontline Video Top Fueller to Melbourne. As ever it was a last-minute booking as the Top Fuel car that had been scheduled to appear was unavailable (probably broken!).

"Back in the day this was all quite an adventure and there are many anecdotes from the weekend (maybe another day). Although it was only about a 200-mile trip from our Hertfordshire base it might well have been in a different country.

"The upshot of this trip, much to the delight of everyone apart from the Promoter, who we had to re-negotiate our contracted with on the day, Andy’s first pass resulted in a 6.75 second run at 222mph for the quarter mile. This was backed up with another smoke free run of 6.47 seconds again at 222mph. So, both these runs were sub 7 second passes in excess of 200mph.

"I had to dig out the run logbook to make sure the details were correct, and I still smile at how the day’s events unfolded. "Hopefully, these facts are correct, unless anyone knows differently, but it was 40 years ago!"

Long Marston photo by Jerry Cookson

FIM-E Drag Racing Commission meeting next month.
10th October: Thanks to FIM-E Drag Racing Commission member Job Heezen for sending in an opportunity for racers to connect with him about any issues that they would like addressed at the forthcoming Commission meeting:

"With the 2023 season under our belt we are already working towards the 2024 season of the FIM-E European Championship. Now the dust has settled, we are preparing for the annual FIM-E Drag Racing Commission's meeting in November.

"If you have anything on your mind that needs to be adressed or talked about, please send in your thoughts, ideas, proposals or amendments to one of our commission members listed below.

"All mail must be send in before 1st November to give us time to prepare for the big meeting.

• Ian Marshall - ir.marshall@btconnect.com
• Joerg Bensemann - joerg.bensemann@hockenheimring.de
• Jozsef Hadnagy - hajoe@t-online.hu
• Rejje Iren - rejje.iren@svemo.se
• Laurynas Kentra - laurynas@xracing.lt
• Job Heezen - jheezen1@hotmail.com

Swift snippets.
10th October: Happy Birthday for today to former Super Comp and Comp Eliminator racer George Chiarella, former Street Eliminator racer Ray Tucker and Maltese Dragster racer and Junior Dragster dad Roderick Fenech, we hope you have a great day.

Attention UK Tech Committee meeting attendees.
9th October: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for a notice to all attending the National Drag Racing Tech committee meeting taking place at 10am on this coming Sunday, 15th October 2023.

"Could those attending the Tech meeting this weekend please send me a quick email to ir.marshall@btconnect.com to confirm your attendance, so that final numbers can be confirmed with the hotel." The meeting will be taking place at a different venue from last year, at The Holiday Inn Northampton, Tudor Rose Suite, Bedford Road, Northampton, NN4 7YF.

Melbourne Raceway Northern Finals results and galleries.
9th October: Congratulations to the winners of eliminations at the weekend's Northern Finals race held at Melbourne Raceway:

Pro Comp Cannonball: Ant Harris Mills (Dragster 8 Ltr) 11.87s aggregate, Pete Youhill (Pontiac Firebird 584ci), 11.87s aggregate
Pro Extreme: Nik Wilson (Quartermixer dragster), unopposed
ET Eliminations: Pete Eborall (VW Golf Gti 1.8 Ltr)(9.30) 9.45/79 def. James McCarthy (Plymouth Barracuda) (9.45) 9.23/85
NSCC (Sunday): Ian Walley (Ford Cortina Mk II 1968) 6.55/115 def. Phil Winstanley (Morris Minor) 6.88/107
NSCC (Saturday): Phil Winstanley (Morris Minor) 6.87/110 def. Ian Walley (Ford Cortina Mk II 1968) 6.67/113

Straightliners No Mercy Shootout: David Storrie (Hayabusa 1300cc) (6.50) 6.62/119 def. Carl Mountford (Suzuki GSXR 750cc) (6.95) 6.86/112
Scooters No Mercy Shootout: Nigel Howard (Vespa Smallframe) 200cc (8.47) 8.51/84 def. Mike Pacey (Lambretta TS1) (9.26) 8.88/81
Juniors No Mercy Shootout: Jack Taylor (Spiderman) (10.60) 10.61/61 def. Toby Jackson (Piaggio Trike 50cc) (11.92) 11.75/52
6.00 index Bike class: Chris Hodgson (Hayabusa 1300cc) 6.36/125 def. Peter Slater (Hayabusa 1300cc) 6.55/110
Race Legends class:Colin Fallows (Kawasaki ZZR 636cc), unopposed

Full results are at the Straightliners results repository. Congratulations to Spiderman Jet Dragster racer Julian Webb who set a new track speed record on Saturday of 203.1 mph, with a 4.67/190 on Sunday.

Many thanks to Tog for covering the event providing photo galleries and best times of the day courtesy of Martyn Greathead. You can see our coverage of the event sponsored by John Woolfe Racing by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link in the main menu above.

Keep an eye on Eurodragster.com for announcements about Melbourne Raceway's 2024 dates.

Pictured: the Junior Drag Bike racers pose for an end of term picture at the end of Melbourne Raceway’s last event of 2023; the Straightliners season comes to an end with their final round at Santa Pod Raceway next Sunday.

Jamshaid wins JapShow Finale shootout.
9th October: Congratulations to Ahmed Jamshaid for winning the JapShow Finale Sports Compact Shootout held at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday.

Ahmed in his Honda Civic headed qualifying with 8.9558/158.55 in a 32 car field that had Matt Davison (Honda Civic) in #2 with 9.2809/155.75, only a tenth away from his PB and Ian Pepper (Vauxhall Nova) with a new PB 9.7802/148.09 as the top three.

In eliminations, Ahmed had an easy 9.7s pass in round 1 when #32 qualifier Billy Bamber (Nissan Micra 20vt) broke. In round 2, his 8.8916/160.18 saw off Jack Bowley (Toyota MR2 K24) who ran a new PB of 9.4134/151.62. In round 3 Ahmed was the beneficiary of Scott Lewry (Vauxhall Corsa 3.2l) breaking off the line. The semi finals saw him run 8.9253/163.65 to defeat Lewis Simpson (Honda Civic EG) who later run a PB ET of 9.315 after an earlier speed PB of 158.50.

In the final, Ahmed's opponent Scott Linacre (Vauxhall Chevette) who had run consistent mid to low 10s was unable to challenge the Gordon Darby-tuned 8.9596/162.51 winning time of Ahmed.

Ahmed also had a side bet with Jack Bowley and celebrated by posting this entertaining Tik Tok video. Also well done to Ford Fiesta racer Dean Hyndman for a new PB of 9.514@155.74mph and to VW Golf Mk1 racer Ant Mincher who ran a PB 9.805@140.81mph in eliminations.

Thanks to Kieran for supplying galleries of pictures taken at Saturday's Run What Ya Brung as well as the JapShow Finale on Sunday. You can see Kieran's gallery, sponsored by John Woolfe Racing, together with links to results at this link or via the Events link in the menu above.

Swift snippets.
9th October: Happy Birthday to Sue Hunter, we won't be forgetting the much-missed Neil, and we hope your day is full of happy memories.

Spiderman jet breaks 200 at Melbourne.
8th October: Congratulations to Spiderman Jet Dragster racer Julian Webb who set a new track speed record of 203.1 mph in 6.14 seconds on day one of the Northern Finals at Melbourne Raceway.

You can see former editor Tog's galleries sponsored by John Woolfe Racing by clicking here or by clicking on the Events link in the main menu above.

We believe this is only the second time 200mph has been exceeded at the venue, Martin Hill running a 7.78 at 227 mph over the quarter mile back in May 1992 (thanks to Trakbytes for this info). If you know differently, do get in touch.

Swift snippets.
8th October: Happy Birthday to David Vegter team member and Santa Pod marshal Holley Marshall, Street Eliminator racer Al Williamson, Wild Bunch and future Super Pro racer Allan Schofield, Pro ET racers Sean Law and Roy Walker, and Malta doorslammer racers Mario Muscat and Joe Galea. We hope you all have a great day.

Trakbytes' 25th Anniversary.
7th October: Congratulations to Trakbytes webmaster Chris Dossett for the silver anniversary of one of the most detailed drag racing history sites on the planet. Chris writes:

The Trakbytes website has been updated today (6th October) on the 25th anniversary of the first few pages of the site being uploaded way back in 1998. The latest updates, of which there around thirty, span almost 40 years, from Dante Duce at Brighton in 1964 to Smax Smith at Shakespeare County Raceway in 2003, and a lot more in-between. I have decided that now two decades have passed it’s about time I began to extend the later years in the archive, and have started work on adding material from 2003.

Hopefully each future update will bring the site a little closer to today. The popular series of Retford Scrapbooks has reached Volume Five, which covers 1974 and 1975. The focus begins to lean more towards bikes here with cuttings from Motor Cycle Magazine & Motor Cycle News as well as Autocar and Autosport magazines. Amongst the subjects included are a review of the 1974 season from Autosport, some race reports from SPR and Blackbushe, a profile of Tom Christenson of Hogslayer fame, who sadly passed away last week, and another of Clive Skilton's Dragster, and a lot of talk about the new Weslake powered machine being built by John Hobbs. As always, my thanks to everyone who has sent material to add to the archive. If anyone out there has any details they feel should be included please let me know.

You can visit the Trakbytes website by clicking here. Thanks to Graham Watkinson for help in coding this article.

Elmeri into the threes.
7th October: Congratulations to Elmeri Salakari who rode dad and Super Twin legend Jaska Salakari's bike to two superb runs yesterday at Throwdown in T-Town. Elmeri's eighth mile runs were 4.005/191.81 (1.047 60ft) in early afternoon and 3.857/191.78 (1.011 60ft) in the evening. You can see video of the evening run on Facebook by clicking here.

Jaska commented "Elmeri shutoff early after 3.35s. The crank seal blew and leaked oil under the slick, causing it to slide. Elmeri handled it ice cold."

US website Dragbike.com has published a video of US veteran drag bike racer Mac McAdams on his first pass on Jaska Salakari's nitro twin bike including an interview with Dragbike.com publisher Tom McCarthy. You can see the interview and footage of Mac's run at this link.

Photo courtesy Tm McCarthy of Dragbike.com.

Swift snippets.
7th October: Happy Birthday for today to Top Methanol Funny Car racer Urs Embacher and former Super Street Bike racer Dave Holland. We hope you both have a great day.

A reminder that JapShow Finale takes place tomorrow at Santa Pod Raceway, including the 32 car Sports Compact Shootout for £1,000 to the winner and £500 to the runner up plus trophies. See the entry list at this link. Many other attractions at JapShow Finale are described at the event website. RYWB racers and spectators can buy tickets from santapodtickets.com. Kieran will be taking photos and video from the event which we will publish on Monday.

George Ralph.
6th October: We were sorry to hear that Outlaw Street racer George Ralph passed away yesterday. Outlaw Street class organiser Mark Wallington writes:

It breaks my heart to write this, but George Ralph's engine fell silent at 3pm this afternoon. He passed away peacefully with Tracy by his side. All our thoughts and love go to Tracy, Rosie, Harry and Jim at this difficult time.

George, was a true gent, a passionate racer and my friend, he will be dearly missed by everyone who ever had the pleasure of knowing him.

I am so so glad that he managed to fulfil his dream of getting to make it to the HRDs to make not only making one last pass down the strip in his Corvette, but of also being able to sit next to Tracy as she made her first ever pass. Godspeed George.

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

Finns at Throwdown.
6th October: Two Finnish racers will be taking part in ThrowDown in T-Town at Tulsa Raceway Park today and tomorrow.

Elmeri Salakari, with dad and Super Twin legend Jaska in attendance will be making demonstration passes in Top Fuel Bike with US racers Mitch Brown and Sam Wills, all three racers using FuelTech equipment. Elmeri's bike was run by Jaska in 2018 to a Super Twin world best of 5.837/222.65.

Running to the eighth mile, Elmeri ran two checkout passes of 4.361/178.47 (1.140 60ft) and 4.174/180.07 (1.064 60ft) and Jaska posted "Two easy passes today, more come tomorrow!" Today, veteran US racer Mac “The General” McAdams will be making his first-ever passes on the supercharged nitro burning bike.

Also racing at Tulsa Raceway Park is Finnish Top Doorslammer racer Jaakko 'Ylli' Lauhasmaa of the SPTR Racing team who is driving a Pro Mod 1968 Mustang and ran a 3.758/191.62 (0.937 60ft) in testing yesterday.

The Finnish racers have been helped massively by Todd Martin who posted that Jaska's bike had been delayed and its crate only arrived a couple of days ago to be reassembled for the event at the last minute. Ylli has bought Todd's 1968 Mustang and Todd helped set him up to run his PB time (previous PB was 4.10). Todd also had to drive from his Tulsa base to Dallas to collect the teams' luggage.

ThrowDown in T-Town, which has a variety of classes including the Mid-West Pro Mod Series, will be livestreamed on Floracing.com which you can see by clicking here (subscription required) from midnight BST with instant replay available .

Swift snippets.
6th October: Happy Birthday for today to turbocharged Rat Rod exponent Graham Butler. Have a great day Graham.

Good luck and stay safe to Stuart Crane of Warpspeed Racing who has entered the MDRA October event at Hal Far Malta to race the Funny Bike of Malta based Gabriel Briffa. In a recent post, Stuart said of his own bike "We’re busy looking for the remaining 2 tenths of a second to make our 5.99 pass". You will be able to see Stu's passes via live streaming at the Facebook page of Motorsmt.eu, starting today.

Well done to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell who has coverage in a feature about Bonneville Speedweek by Chris Tarling in this week's Autosport Magazine which you can buy from all good newsagents or read online at this link (subscription required).

Panhellenic Championship update.
5th October: The fourth round of the Panhellenic Drag Racing Championship in Greece took place last weekend at Agrinio Raceway, from 29th September to 1st October.

32 entries for heads up and index racing, comprising 20 cars entered, many cars double-entering. Oustanding times in the car classes were from Konstatin Dinev from Bulgaria who recorded a 7.3s pass in his 1500hp Audi S2 (pictured right) and Antonis Kakarakis who recorded a 8.075/275.65kph pass in his Subaru Impreza.

Antonis Karakis's crewman Nikos Tzanidakis wrote "Antonis himself manufactured 75-80% of the parts he uses in the car with his own CNC tools. After five years away from the track we finished the race looking good and without damage. The car has Fueltech electrics (ECU, ignition, injector driver etc) and we've collected a lot of useful data for the next event where we'll strive to become the fastest Subaru on the planet. To make this happen we need a pass under 7.89 sec." Nothing like a target...

Fotis Xondropoulos reported to the European FWD Facebook page another good weekend with his Peugeot 106. Fotis ran consistent 9.0-9.1s throughout the weekend taking 1st place in the AT1 class and was Runner up in the Index 8 class.

He also managed to net a new PB of 9.045@169.07mph just a slight improvement on his previous PB of 9.085 moving him up from 39th to 37th in the European FWD League. Pulling the parachute a fraction earlier could have cost him his first 8 second pass.

In the Motorcycle Cup, Sam Mavrommatis (pictured left) recorded an outstanding 6.934/326.97 new unofficial Greek record for Super Street Bike, with a backup of 6.97 @323.09km. Sam also raced a Tiger 1050 for the Pro street 2 category and ran a best of 8.7s, his best for that bike so far.

You can see all the action from Saturday and Sunday at Agrinio at the Youtube channel of Sportal TV which livestreams all rounds of the championship thanks to its sponsors.

The next round of the Panhellenic Drag Racing Championship, which still has two rounds to go in its season, is on 20th-22nd October at Agrinio raceway, before the final round at Lenoe, Messina on 28th-29th October.

Swift snippets.
5th October: Happy Birthday for today to Straightliners boss Trevor Duckworth, newly married 9.50 Bike spouse and FB group administrator Debbie Sawatzki, photographer Kenzie Taylor, Dutch Pro ET racer Hans van der Spek and NHRA Top Fuel great and B.R.A.K.E.S. Teen Pro-Active Driving School owner Doug Herbert. We hope you all are having a great day

Taking the spoils of victory to Cornwall.
4th October: Thanks to Carol Jenkinson for a gallery of NSA pictures and to Jerry Cookson for a report on the NSA Sprint at Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe Airfield last Saturday.

Jerry writes: "Everyone attending the final NSA bash of the season at Smeatharpe Airfield’s Dakota Raceway thought that Pete Ford and his venerable blown 750cc Suzuki would take the class and the FTD win last Saturday. But in changeable conditions that accolade lay in the hands of Cornwall’s B&H Motorcycles teamster Andrew Boswell (pictured) as his 1200cc Harley Sports drag bike ran into the low nines; not once but four times with the best for everyone else to beat being a 9.381/142.52 mph to seal the deal for FTD [Fastest Timed Driver] as well as the Unlimited class win.

"Pete did manage second quickest ET of the day to the tune of 9.428s, good for the 750cc class win and possibly the NSA’s highly competitive 750cc Racing championship. Third quickest was Simon Havercroft’s 1000cc Blackjack Suzuki (built by James & Will Holland) with its one and only 9.581s ET to compliment its 150.22 mph fastest speed of the day."

You can read Jerry's full report and see Carol's gallery along with Kieran's photos by clicking here or via the Events index in the main menu, sponsored by John Woolfe Racing.

Clastres 2024 dates announced.
4th October: Association Trophee Dragster official Clément Dubois has been in touch with dates of the 2024 Championship at Clastres Raceway, France:

Another great year for French Drag Racing! 2023 will remain for us a year of records, the ATD (Association Trophies Dragster) wants to thanks racers, fans, the crew, the safety team, the track prep team, and all involved in making Clastres Dragway one of the hotspots for sportsman drag racing!

2023 marked the 20th anniversary of the association that was created by a handful of racers to keep drag racing alive and build a championship. In 20 years, we have managed to not only build a championship that’s getting tougher every year, but we are also happy to have the first and only permanent drag racing track in France, for which we hope we’ll be able to use for many years to come.

In the three “European Dragster” competitions organized by the ATD in 2023, we saw more racers than ever before, with around 140 race cars each round, coming from all over Europe! Nations form all over Europe gather at Clastres Dragway, enjoying a great track and lots of runs per day (up 6 or 7 qualifiers).

Fifteen nations visited this year, from our usual ‘locals’ from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland or Luxembourg; and as far as Ireland, Spain and even Ukraine! It was also nice to welcome back some Brits on French soil! This shows that the ATD’s hard work pays off, even though this year has not been easy with a lot of oil-downs and pouring rain on the last event, we are trying every year to get better equipment so that racers get to play as much as possible.

For over 20 years the ATD has also been working tirelessly with the FFSA (French Motorsport Federation) to update, adapt and modernize the rulebooks, for the safety of our racers. 2023 was a year of records both on and off track. Sebastien Lajoux kept resetting the track records with his blown BBC top dragster, both for ET and Speed, ending the year with a 6.64 at 333 kph (207 mph), but the first 6 seconds Doorslammer seat is still open (Patrick Dubois has been 7.09 at 200 mph).

We also saw the biggest field of junior dragsters in French Drag Racing History with 17 juniors from all over Europe; this is a good sign for the future of Drag Racing, they are the next generation of Drag racers! The biggest class, Pro ET, also had its biggest entry ever with over 40 racers per event and a total of 58 competitors in the championship!

We are very happy with the overall 2023 season and are hoping that it will go on for years to come! Clastres Dragway had become a home away from home to many of us, a community with so many familiar faces!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Yellow People (our lovely staff), the Timing system crew, and all of our sponsors: Speed Flex (thanks to our Friend Sébastien Lajoux), Dulamon racing (well done Jeannot for the new PB!), MTech, Nitro Magazine, Kame Motorsports, Milwaukee Tools France, without them the ATD would not be where it is today!

We would love to welcome our racers back in 2024.

You can watch the 2024 preview video by clicking here. The dates are:

• 23rd European Dragster: 11th and 12th May
• 24th European Dragster: 22nd and 23rd June
• 25th European Dragster: 27th and 28th July

See you in 2024! The ATD staff, for the Racers, by the Racers

DRU Pro ET Challenge Final in Zerbst.
4th October: Thanks to Drag Race Union committee member Markus Münch for an article on the final round of the Pro ET Challenge in Zerbst last weekend:

The hot autumn is experiencing its revival. Pure tension. Thirty-one entries set out on the qualification journey. The best weather ensured good conditions, as well as Michael Behrens track prep skills. Ronnie Mercer (top left) came especially from England, very remarkable. He and Janine Petzold from the Schumann Motorsport team are currently in the lead. Martin Weikum (bottom right) is only driving in his fourth race this year, as well as Magnus Sommer (pictured) in the Laturna Motors Mopar (four races count towards the overall ranking). Magnus was in the lead at the start of the season, but then with a technical failure in Clastres and due to Mr. Papa's intervention in the steering wheel in Hockenheim, he lost some ground, but can still win just like the newcomer Robert Vos (bottom left) from the Netherlands.

Qualifying ends with a final round on Sunday morning, after five rounds, the situation was as follows:

Vos in the lead, with +0.003 seconds on his dial in, followed by Janine Petzold (top right) with +0.004 seconds and Mercer in third position with +0.009 seconds. The first 19 drivers were all within +0.0xx seconds of their dial. These are almost all English conditions. In the race the following happened: Niek de Kruif, Robert Vos' neighbour, (the driver of the orange Firebird, brought his neighbour Vos into drag racing) and he defeated Janine Petzold in lap one. A classic hole shot. Janine +0.001 seconds away from the dial in, but Niek wins the race at the tree. 0.029 seconds is the MOV at the finish. Phew.

Ronnie Mercer now has a great chance of gaining points on the other pursuers. Lucas Pothoff (below left) in the ex-Marc Henney Dragster (supro ET Ethanol Guzzler), his first season in Pro ET, clears the number at the finish with a margin of victory of 0.003 seconds. Is this close racing or what? As a top qualifier, Vos has a bye-run into the second round. Magnus Sommer beats Armin Widmann, last year's champion in his only race this year. He took over the family Camaro from his brother Gabriel for the last race. Sommer continues, Widmann red. Martin Weikum advances without a fight as Karin Becker's Beetle did not take part in round one.

In lap two, Vos and Sommer continued, Weikum was out with a red light, meaning he was also out of the title race. In round three then the duel for the DRU title. Sommer against Vos, Mopar against Chevy, Germany against Holland, both in their first full Pro ET season. Magnus Sommer shoots away his title chances at the tree with a -0.033 seconds redlight, and Robert Vos is the DRU Champ 2023. He is eliminated in the semifinals against the eventual winner Lucas Pothoff.

Congratulations to the young Lucas Pothoff from Iserlohn for winning the race and to the Dutchman Robert Vos for winning the DRU championship. Was that exciting? It was. The overall ranking: 1. Vos 310 points, 2. Mercer 299 points, 3. Sommer Junior and Martin Weikum tied with 293 points, 5. Janine Petzold 272 points. One more lap of the race would have been enough for Sommer and Weikum to win, as well as for Mercer. That was a really tight box.

The Supro ET Challenge was already decided when the Spaniard Angel Romero won this DRU Challenge again with his Centauros team from Barcelona. He is followed by a Swiss trio. Alain Dürr, Christian Schneebeli and Alex Halter.

The Extreme Outlaw class has already found its champion, Thomas Ranft and Micha Vogt share first place, Kalle Kleider is third.

Now everyone registers for the championship celebration on October 21st, 2023 in Bad Kissingen with the Knight Riders.

Further information can be found here clicking here.

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for help in coding the above two articles.

Swift snippets.
4th October: Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET racer Kieran Turner, expat racer and carburetor guru Tony Morris, Nostalgia Superstock racer Jason Dodd, Maltese Super Street Bike racer Franklyn Borg and German Super Pro ET racer Oliver Petzold. We hope you all have a great day.

Congratulations to Audi A3 racer Dave Henderson who ran a string of eight second passes to win the VWDRC Heads Up competition once again at Das GTI Show at Santa Pod last Sunday. Eight cars qualified under the 11.99 cut-off and Dave at 8.7217/159.05 was almost two seconds ahead of second qualified Wayne Gill (VW Golf R). In eliminations, Dave ran another 8.7 at 156 single in round one when Jake Tipping (VW Caddy) was a no-show, defeated Marc Taylor (Seat Leon) in the semi final with a 8.816/159.60 and overcame Mark Gunns (VW Corrado) in the final. Dave becomes 2023 VWDRC Heads Up Champion with Mark Gunns runner-up.

Lex's tenth US anniversary.
3rd October: Expat Dutchman, and now US citizen Lex Joon racing in Top Fuel has celebrated emigrating to the US ten years ago by running career best ET and qualifying for the most recent NHRA event.

After building a racing operation with wife and crew chief Gerda, Lex was able to compete at three NHRA events in 2018 and 11 in 2019. Like many, the pandemic restricted his 2020 season and he competed in four events at his local Indianopolis Raceway Park. Three events in 2021 and five in 2022 produced no qualifying positions and so far his best event has been his round win against Leah Pruett at Bristol in 2019.

In 2023, Lex has competed in six events and qualified for two, Topeka and the Midwest Nationals held at St Louis Missouri. After Topeka, the team upped the settings on their Top Fuel dragster and ran a career-best elapsed time at 3.858. You can read an interview of Lex's wife and crew chief by Susan Wade for Competition Plus by clicking here.

Sadly the Indy qualifying effort still left Lex out of the ladder - after five sessions his best time was good only for #18 qualifier with a bump spot of 3.822 and the field covered by just 0.114s.

However at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Madison Illinois, Lex was able to qualify #16 with a 3.920/314.09, his performance undoubtedly improved from the data gained at Indy. Qualifying was not straightforward. He said "We lost an engine due to a fuel delivery problem in the burn out in Q2, but our NVRQUIT and smart racing attitude got us in the race for tomorrow.

"We are facing Doug Kalitta in the first round. We will do our thing and keep racing smart. It’s pretty cool to celebrating our 10 year anniversary date at the race track racing rwith the best NHRA race teams in the world. 10 years ago we landed in Chicago, and will be Americans for the rest of our lives."

Lex enjoyed the fan reception at the NHRA pre-race ceremony which you can see by clicking here

After an elimination loss in round 1, Lex reported "The car left the starting line together with Doug Kalitta, then an oil line came off the motor which ended our day." But sheer grit and determination has allowd Lex to race Top Fuel in front of countless thousands of fans and TV viewers, and our congratulations go to him for his efforts and thrills.

Lex thanks his sponsors and supporters Custom Floaters, LLC Anthony Fox Trucking, Inc., Red Line Synthetic Oil, CP-Carrillo, SAVE22Veterans, Boats-NL.com, John McNeal, McKinney Corp and Randy Garnett at NA Graphix.

Dale's explosive Fall Nationals.
3rd October: Funny Bike racer Dale Leeks went one round at the eighth-mile XDA Fall Nationals at Maryland International Raceway. After going #1 in Q2 in a field of 10 Pro Xtreme bikes with 4.032/183.02, and ending in #3 in final qualifying, Dale defeated Thomas Gunn in round one, improving his time to 4.013/183.54. He then came up against series champion Chris Cutsinger whose 4.062 with 0.061 RT just kept ahead of Dale's 4.089 with 0.056 RT, a win margin of 0.022s.

He then made a time trial run on his Suzuki 1700cc Funny Bike which ended with an exploded engine. He reported "I was going to run through the quarter mile with George Whitaker but my motor exploded before the eighth. I was on my fastest pass ever and pretty sure it would have been a 3 in the eighth with the short numbers.

"Bits of my motor made it into the stands and oil exploded over me and covered my visor completely, so I had to get it stopped blindfolded. Fortunately I got it stopped.

"I’m sorry to xda crew that work so hard that had to clean the track. We were pushing it real hard to go the big number and the conrod said no thanks."

Well done to Dale on achieving third place in the final Pro Xtreme points standings in his first racing season in the US.

More Nitro Revival fan opportunities.
3rd October: Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell has been in touch about two more opportunities for fans in Southern California in early November:

"For those coming out to Nitro Revival at Irwindale Raceway on 3rd-5th November, why not join everyone at the Lions Hall of Fame ceremony on the 9th November at Lions Automobilia, 2790 E Del Amo Blvd, West Rancho Dominguez, California. Tickets for the dinner and silent auction are available at this link, and it's a rare chance to rub shoulders with some of the greatest people in our sport. Lions Automobilia is well worth a visit as former editor Tog found last year.

Geoff adds he has been contacted by Jon Lundberg who would like to get a group pic of the Brits attending Nitro Revival for Hot Rod Magazine, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of US drag racers arriving on British shores.

Swift snippets.
3rd October: Happy Birthday today to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and drag bike pioneer Alf Hagon 91 years young, 8.50 Bike racer Andy Haley and Super Pro ET racer Saskia Jell. We hope you all have a wonderful day.

SPRC Committee expands.
2nd October: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for letting us know about an expanded SPRC committee:

Santa Pod Racers Club has recently added three new members to its Committee. From time to time it's important to have a fresher perspective and understanding from our younger members and racers. Andy Dibley, Jake Mechaell and Pete Walters fit this bill perfectly, and we would like to take the opportunity to welcome on board Andy, Jake and Pete, and look forward to working with them to move our sport forward.

All of these names will be familiar to our SPRC members and racers as they have very distinguished careers in not only competition but also provide products and services to the drag racing world.

Andy Dibley started racing in Sportsman ET half way through the 2015 season after doing the Dial-in Day and helping out crewing with Tom Atkinson in Super Pro. His first full season was in 2016, racing my 1989 Camaro Iroc-Z, where he won the National and SPRC Championship in Sportsman ET.

In 2017 he won the National and Shakespeare County Raceway Championships. In 2018 he was the runner up in the Sportsman ET Championship and was his last year before stepping up to Super Gas. Andy's dad purchased Jon Morton's 1969 Camaro and since 2019 they have raced the full season in Super Gas, apart from 2020. In 2022 he won the SPRC Championship in Super Gas.

Being the son of Clive and Lorraine Mechaell, Jake Mechaell was born into the world of drag racing, attending his first meeting “Big Go” at Santa Pod Raceway just 3 weeks old. Brought up with a Nitro Fuel Altered “The California Kid”, Jake got to know Knut Söderqvist and drove a Jnr Dragster for him at the age of 9, which was his first time up the race track. Jump forward to 2009 when he decided to buy a 9.50 bike to have a go at a few meetings, running a perfect reaction and perfect ET at his first event, which helped in being awarded most promising newcomer in 2009!

After 2009 Jake was hooked and stayed in 9.50 bike for two more years gaining 9 event wins and the 2010 and 2011 National Championships. Winter 2011 he decided he wanted to give 8.50 bike a go so decided to fabricate a turbo kit along with some other upgrades to be competitive. He stayed in 8.50 bike from 2012-2018, gaining 13 event wins and National Championships 2015, 2017 and 2018.

After riding Alex Hope's Super Street bike at the Main Event in 2018, he knew this was the class for him, in so sold his 8.50 bike operation to start his journey to Super Street bike. 3 years later having saved funds, and started his business, JKE Race Works he debuted his Superstreet Bike in 2021 running 6.95 on his 20th pass.

Peter Walters started racing Junior Dragster in 2001 aged 10, moved up to Super Pro in 2008 aged 16, the first person to go straight from juniors to big cars without a break. Pete licenced and tested in Dave Wilson's A/fuel car in 2014, running a best of 5.635@246mph. He has raced in Super Pro solidly since 2008, also having the odd spell in Sportsman ET, winning an event in 2020.

Pete has also been responsible for the new SPRC websites and all of the functionality within, and continues to upgrade and refine our entry system on a constant basis. He is also responsible for many race vehicle and crew uniform designs seen across the racing world.

Sjödin Motorsport Tierp Arena race report .
2nd October: Thanks to Pro Mod racer Andreas Sjödin for sending his race report Tierp Arena and Summit Racing Equipment Internationals August 2023! Andreas's viewpoint is his own...

What a crazy year...Now after the season is over for real, I’ve got some well-needed vacation, found some spirit again and I’m back at work, I felt it was time to sum up the last event for the year in Pro Modified with Jörgen Berg 's Chevrolet Corvette '79 at Tierp Arena! It turned out to be the worst and most disappointing weekend at a race track this year.

Me, Sofi, Jörgen and Benkt went to Tierp Arena for the last race with Jörgen's Pro Mod Vette for 2023 on Wednesday after 2 rainy days at Jörgen's shop. The plan was to service the Vette during Monday and Tuesday after the race at Gardermoen but, due to bad weather, the car was still like brand new when we left Norway.

Anyway, the trip from the Bat Cave in Ludvika was pretty simple and we arrived to Tierp Arena around 13:00 on Wednesday! As soon as I went out from the truck we got some rain, that’s pretty amazing! Haha! And then after a lot of arguing with the wind trying to put up the tents in our pit space for hours then team Old 51 arrived and saved us by blocking the really powerful winds with their bus!

Benkt and Krille started to do some small adjustments on the Vette in the driver’s area that I wanted to do after the Norway weekend, this car was not built for me so it takes some time to adjust all small stuff to make me satisfied with it.

No racing for us on Thursday because that’s the day for the sportsman classes only. So, our plan was just to relax, finishing up some details on the Vette and get her inspected for the qualifying that started on Friday. Thursday was a rainy day at Tierp Area and it was cold on top of that. In the afternoon the qualifying got cancelled due to the rain. It was a really bad day for all the sportsman racers and I felt sorry for my fellow buddies in Top Doorslammer who sitting there all day waiting for nothing to happen.

Jörgen and Krille serviced the Vette and checked the rod bearings during the morning. Me and Benkt diagnosed and fixed some air shift issues that we had the weekend before in Norway by changing out the Co2 air regulator that for some reason didn’t give enough air any more.

Friday started with a cold and cloudy morning at Tierp Arena. When I got the running order for the first qualifying round it looked to be around 12:30-13:00 I assumed. We waited 4 hours until it was time for Q1 for us. I looked at the weather forecast and I did hope that it was wrong, because it did not look good at all. Q1 got delayed. We did have a couple of classes before us and unfortunately a Top Fuel Bike crashed (Neil Midgley - Ed). We were ready to go but more rain came, so we were on hold again. After many hours delay, and more rain whilst we were in the lineup we got a round that was enough to get some decent data to start work from.

After the adjustments in the driver’s area, I found out that it was even harder to see the tree when I was in the right lane, especially seeing the pre stage and stage lamp and getting into stage. I needed to listen to Micke when he went up on his 2-step so I could do the same. So, the reaction time wasn't that great, haha, but I held the pedal to the floor until three seconds out when I started to shake some and I was off the throttle. I think the round got delayed at least three hours. The Vette got serviced and we were ready again.

It looked like we would go out again pretty much directly after that against Gullan, but then we got some drizzle in time for Q2, but we once again got some rain in the lineup, that’s two times in one day. Sitting there in the lineup we could actually see a rainbow in the sky, not sure if that is how I want it to be on a race track. Our second qualifying round was at 20:00 in the evening.

It was even better than Q1, but I needed to add more power! We did not have enough time to change transmission in the car, but I was happy now that I'm was closer to find a tuning window even though I'm still way low on power. It's a HUGE difference between a roots and a screw blower when it comes how much fuel you can give it or how much timing you can take out, but I`m learning and I really miss my screw blower which would help me find the window quicker.

So, a long day of waiting again out on a race track, but one really good thing is that the camshaft is still ok. After Q2 at this race it has made 6 launches without any issues compared to the one that only made 2 before it broke. Still the manufacturer tells me that the stuff he sold me (the cam that broke) is all ok. Well, I assume this will be something to continue arguing about during the coming winter. After that we did serviced the Vette, switched to a new transmission to get some more wheel speed, and we also put together another trans so we could add even more ratio after the first pass, because I'm pretty sure that we would need it. For me it is a “low power roots blower engine”, compared to what I’m used to when it got a screw blower on top.

On Saturday morning at a chilly and cloudy Tierp Arena, the Vette was ready to warm up when it was time and I assumed that we would be called in about 2 hours. The bad weekend continued, startin with a clean up after an oil down and then some light rain delay. Following a change of schedule, Pro Mod ran passes after the bikes rather than Pro Stock. After more hours of waiting in some drizzle on and off in the line-up, we finally made our Q3 round against Roger Johansson around 14:30 in the afternoon! The car was happy with a more aggressive first gear and ended up with a good 60ft of 0.9793! But a good 60ft is nothing if the car goes into shake after it! It’s hard to sort out all parts down the track with so few rounds in the car and when it's cloudy, cold and rains on and off it is tricky conditions to test a car that has never made a real pass. I was getting closer, but I'm also starting to get really frustrated about this now.

Q4 was the last chance to make a pass to get into the ladder, I was pretty sure that the changes I made to the car won’t be enough but it’s the last test round for the year for us so let’s just try. I felt that this must be the worst year ever since I started racing 20 years ago when it comes to bad luck and bad weather. When we rolled out from our tent it felt like you can cut through the moist outside and the whole car fogged up!

We were third pair out in this session against Patrik Wikström, but it turned out to be a solo round because he had some problems with the engine. When I went up to the starting line to look at the mess it of course also started to rain again and when I looked out on the track, I could see a half track clean up after an oil down at the same time! What a strange racing weekend, and like I said earlier the worst ever since I started racing!

Finally, the weekend was over for us. I think we made the pass around 19:30 after sitting in the lineup for I don’t know 1 or maybe 2 hours. You could feel the moisture in the air and the car was almost wet from it, when I put the helmet on and closed my visor it fogged up. It did not feel good but I was happy to have a solo round so I won’t mess up someone else car if something happens. The burn out felt it was like making a burn out on grass, then for first time ever I got wheel speed in the Corvette, however it was from spinning the tyres immediately on the launch. The change from the round before when we were way low in wheel speed was to move a little weight in the car and a little shock change, but we had no runs to talk about because a slick car has nothing to do on a wet race track.

In my view, the fourth qualifying pass should have been cancelled before they told us to roll down from the pits. Some crew members were not allowing their driver to make a pass, and others decided not to run on Sunday. Should it be like that?

Sunday was just one more rainy day at the track after raining all Saturday night! We ended up at spot nineteen in the qualifying list and due to one car before us already loading to leave we were second reserve. I decided on Saturday evening that I was not going to sit and wait again in the lineup for the third day in a row, so we started loading up everything that wasn’t wet already after breakfast on Sunday morning.

It was still raining on Sunday at 10:10 and they cancelled all the sportsman classes pretty early due to the weather. When we were about to leave around 15:00, they held an extra drivers meeting to see if any racers would like them to continue to work on the track and make it ready to start the eliminations, good for the ones that are there to get points in the series they couldn't finish the race completely because they are not allowed to make noise long enough in the evening, but that is how I feel about it, and I was on my way home anyway.

Oil downs are time consuming, however oil downs are caused by the racers, so I think that the correct place to start complaining is to the racers having their cars in order and also that there should be harder rules when it comes to engine diapers and fines when it comes to oil downs.

I think that the crew did an amazing job all weekend trying to get the track dry because it was raining on and off more than ever before! Great job guys and girls. Me and Krille left Tierp Arena and maybe 15-20 minutes later the sun came out, the first real sun since Wednesday or so, so typical and frustrating! Back at our ÅBM shop we got clear blue sky, sun and 22 degrees Celsius!

It was kind of hard not getting angry after four days at the race track in rain, cloudy sky and no sun and on top of that it was cold with heavy winds. Directly after we arrived at the ÅBM shop we we started to prepare for the weekend after at Dala-Järna and an exhibition race with the Chevelle after letting it sit in the shop for almost a year.

I want to say thanks to all involved during this unsuccessful test year in Pro Modified, Jörgen first of all that trusted me and gave me the opportunity to drive his brand new Pro Modified car! Dad (Ake), Sofi, Max, Krille, John the Sneaky Snake, Marcus, Dennis, Benkt, Katrin, Ludde, Moa and Mike Canter for a lot of input when it comes to the fuel system.

Then I want to say a special thanks to my partners that supported this test year, our own shop of course Åkes Bil & Motor, Peter and Patrik at Rörmekano, Tobbe at T.Grundström Plåtslageri, Christer at Alwerco Svets & Smide, Kaare at ICA Gärdet, Micke at Clearwrap East Coast, Nicke at Nicclast and Leif at Catch with Care!

Let’s see what 2024 will bring us, we got no plans yet.

Swift snippets.
2nd October: Happy Birthday for today to Street Eliminator racer Mark Sheridan,radio presenter and former Nitro FM DJ Nigel Fitzmaurice, former 9.50 Bike racer and Billy Gane team member Jak Hylton, and former Junior Dragster racer Joe Holland-Villa. We hope you all have had a great day.

Dakota Raceway gallery.
1st October: Thanks to Kieran for supplying a gallery of pictures taken at yesterday's Dakota Raceway run what ya brung held at Smeatharpe Airfield.

You can see Kieran's gallery, sponsored by John Woolfe Racing, and a link to his Youtube video at this link or via the Event Coverage page in the menu above.

There were a wide range of vehicles making passes including hot rods, the Scoobybits Subaru driven by Jamie White, the Gasser Circus Falcon of Patrick Hobbs and some quick street machines. Bikes included several National Sprint Association entries and Wild Bunch member Chris Hartnell's Backdraft II historic machine.

This was Dakota Raceway's closing event of 2023, watch out on straightliners.events for 2024 dates to be published at the start of the year.

Swift snippets.
1st October: Happy Birthday for today and congratulations to 2023 Wild Bunch Series Champion Dan Wilson who has topped the final standings, as reported by co-ordinator Claire Meaddows on the Wild Bunch web site at this link. Although there was a tie in points for championship place with Pete & Rob Brown's Rebel team, Dan won by virtue of his two wins over the Marras' one.

At Santa Pod Raceway today, Das GTI Show will be taking place and there are a variety of activities including RWYB, jets, drifting and stunts. The main competition element is VWDRC Heads Up for VAG vehicleswith a upper cut-off time of 11.99. You can see results updated during the day at this link and spectator and rwyb tickets are still available at this link.

Good luck and stay safe to European racers racing in the US today. Well done to Dale Leeks for qualifying #1 in a field of 10 Pro Xtreme bikes at the eighth-mile XDA Fall Nationals at Maryland International Raceway. Dale's qualifying time was 4.032/183.02 and he vows he will be leaning on his Suzuki 1700cc Funny Bike for eliminations.

Also doing well in the US are Lex Joon who qualified on the bump spot for Top Fuel at the NHRA Midwest Nationals with 3.920/314.09, and Dmitry Samorukov who qualified #3 in a field of 18 cars in Pro Modified, with a time of 5.756/245.76. We will bring results in tomorrow's update.

Earlier news