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31st December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC and APIRA Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 6th February 2010. For several of the 2009 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest voting category is the APIRA Iris Page Memorial Trophy. This award goes to a racer, team or individual who has contributed to the sport over the last twelve months or achieved their own personal goals against all the odds thrown at them. The award is open to drivers, riders, marshals or officials. The APIRA Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Luke Bennett, Bennett Racing NFAA altered Vote for Luke Bennett Jon Best, Felstead, Best and Lotsabeera NFAA altered Vote for Jon Best Tony Byng, APIRA marshal Vote for Tony Byng Alec Coe, Shy Talker Supercharged Outlaw slingshot Vote for Alec Coe Adz Price, Team Gridlock Racing Wild Bunch altered Vote for Adz Price Team Ramraider, Wild Bunch slingshot Vote for Team Ramraider To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official SPRC / APIRA Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2009 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which votes are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Raceway's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Santa Pod Raceway track announcers John Price and Graham Beckwith. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2009@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. The schedule for the remaining Perpetual Award votes is currently as follows: Sunday 3rd January: SPRC Best Appearing Bike Tuesday 5th January: SCR Award for Outstanding Achievement Friday 8th January: SPRC Most Professional Appearing Team Monday 11th January: SCR Sportswoman of the Year Award Thursday 14th January: SPRC James Edgar Memorial Trophy Saturday 16th January: APIRA Endeavour Award Tuesday 19th January: SPRC Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy Friday 22nd January: APIRA Alan Wigmore Memorial Trophy Sunday 24th January: Obsession Motorsports Sportsman of the Year Trophy Swift snippets. 31st December: We would like to say a big Happy 19th Birthday to Eurodragster.com fan Sean Bowe. Have a great day Sean. ©Eurodragster.com 2010 Straightliners calendar. 30th December: Many thanks to organiser Trevor Duckworth for forwarding the provisional 2010 Straightliners calendar: ©Eurodragster.com Round 1: Santa Pod Raceway, 14th March Round 2: Elvington Airfield, 18th April Round 3: Elvington Airfield, 23rd May Round 4: Elvington Airfield, 20th June Round 5: North Weald Airfield, 15th August Round 6: Jurby, Isle of Man, 25th-26th September Round 7: Santa Pod Raceway, 9th-10th October "There is a Run What You Brung at Santa Pod on 13th March so you can get in and set up if you wish", says Trevor. You can find out more about Straightliners on the series' official web site at www.straightliners.co.uk. Swift snippets. 30th December: Two spy pictures have arrived at the offices of Eurodragster.com in the last twenty four hours: 
The picture at left came with the words "Santa has just been down from the frozen North", and the picture at right came with the words "New driver in Junior Dragster in 2010, will be driving in JMA". If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. ©Eurodragster.com Welcome Karl Lyrén! 29th December: We are very pleased to welcome 2009 Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series Super Gas Bike runner-up and Pro Stock Bike racer-in-waiting Karl Lyrén to the Eurodragster.com Blog team. ©Eurodragster.com Kalle's first Blog entry is by way of an introduction and also describes the work being done to ready the two-bike Team Veidec Pro Stock Bike Team for the 2010 season. As ever you can check out the latest Blog entry by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Hotrodove season review. 
29th December: During the 2008-2009 off-season German Super Comp racer 'Hot Rod' Ove Kröger
was very motivated for 2009 and checked or renewed the motor, gearbox, tyres, suspension, throttle stop and more,
to be ready in time for the season-opening Test and Tune at Jerry Lackey Raceway. Unfortunately that weekend started
a string of bad luck which lasted the whole 2009 season.
"The clutch went up in smoke after the third run at the Luckau weekend", says Ove. "At the first Drachten event the same problem appeared". Many friends, German and Dutch, helped Ove to fix the problem. It worked out in the end as Norbert Schneider gave him his spare gearbox for the rest of the season and Ove's gearbox is now at Dr. Tranny's in the Netherlands to be fixed for the 2010 season. One thing led to another as the season went on. After the troubles at the first T&T and the first race weekend at Drachten, there was not much track time to set up the throttle stop properly. In addition all three Drachten events were affected by mixed weather which aren't the conditions you want if you want to learn about a new throttlestop. That factor gave the team further troubles at Mantorp and Hockenheim. Ove couldn't put the performance on the track which he could have wished for, but at least after Hockenheim the electronics were under control. ©Eurodragster.com The Hotrodove Dragracing Team is now preparing the beautiful Hot Rod Roadster for the 2010 season. After Super Pro ET was added to the twenty fifth NitrOlympX Ove is thinking of a change in class as his low eight-second Roadster is a bit to fast for Super Comp, and Ove likes to go full throttle instead of throttlestopping. So we will see what happens over the next few months. Ove would like to thank Arnie, Thorsten Gosch, Sascha Wohlfahrt, Joel Sander, Schuby, Ingo Pletke, Michael Mikuscheit, Nils Stempa, Thomas Engelage, Dany Burger und Norbert Schneider. Last but not least a big thank you to his sponsors H.Geissler, BZ-Automobile, True-fan.de and Thomas Engelage. "We don't yet know which races we will attend in 2010", says Ove, "but we want to race a lot. See you all in 2010." Nitrous Junkie goes Central. 29th December: This season has been an exceptional one for 2009 ACU UK Funny Bike Champion Kev Charman and the Nitrous Junkie team: To have the little Nitrous Bike beat some of the best and the Turbo bikes to win the Championship was very exciting. We worked so very hard through all rounds to achieve where we got so felt, justifiably, that it was a fantastic end to the season! As always, without the backing of my great crew none of this would have been possible. Big thanks to Chris, Donna, Ian, Lou, and support from Ken Cooper, plus fantastic sponsors Kate and Andy at Zone Security, Doug at Ensys and Ryecroft Design Services. A mention must also go to Lizzy and Jake for putting up with it all. You are the best! ©Eurodragster.com As many of you know, now with the number one plate, I decided to put the bike up for sale. As the old adage goes, today's news is tomorrow's chip wrappers, selling the bike as a Championship-winning bike was probably the way to go. The interest that the Pro Mod generated was good. Various parties called, but no firm offers until now. I am delighted to announce that the bike has been sold to a relatively new team based in Romania. They intend to come over there to learn how to ride the bike to its full potential and to get some solid settings. Ken Cooper and I are more than happy to give full support to this new team. They are hoping to contest the 2010 Championship, assisted by Ken and I - their aim is to be the fastest and quickest in Central Europe. I will still be at the track due to other things happening race wise, but more about that a later date. 2010 should be a very interesting year for us all. Swift snippets. 29th December: UK Pro ET racers Billy Gane and Will Smith took their race cars to the traditional Boxing Day gathering at the Ace Café in London, writes Jemma Harrison. "Burnouts on the main road went down very well with the crowd, although not with the police on blues and twos!", says Jemma. "Quite the usual drag racing day out: food, noise and lots of fun, although absolutely no beer was consumed. It really must have been Christmas!" 
Speedgroup have announced that German race fans can now order the 2009 FIA and FIM/UEM European Championships season review DVD from www.300mph.de or E-Mail Rene Kloss at order@300mph.de. The DVD is also available from www.santapod.com and www.summeronwheels.com in Sweden. Having won a new web site courtesy of the contest run by Eurodragster.com News sponsor 3t creative, UK and European Junior Dragster racers are invited to help Laura Turburville get the site up and running by sending details and pictures via the Contact page of her web site at jrturbovilleracing.moonfruit.com/#/contact-us/4536899114. Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher and his team spent Saturday skiing in Elsigenalp Berner Oberland in the Swiss Alps (below left). "We had great Top Fuel Hardcore Skiing with the team", says Urs. "I was not the winner but I was not the last one down hill. I wish all my fans a great Chrismas and a good 2010. We are still trying to find the money to make the Winternationals because I still dont have a Wally in my office." 
If anybody is wondering what happened to Switzerland's Peter Wacker and the Roofer's Toy Pro Modified team over the last three years, then this picture of what he says could be his shop (above right) may hold the answer. "Could it be true?", says Peter. "A Happy New Year!" Gittli Koller has asked us to wish a big Happy Birthday for yesterday (Monday) to Kirsten Krause, adding "Get well soon". No sooner said than done, hope you had a great day Kirsten and do get well soon. Also celebrating a birthday yesterday was UK Super Street Bike racer and precipitation augur Pete Bellenie. Hope you had a great day Pete. Team Erbacher season review. 29th December: Auch 2009 haben Urs Erbacher und sein Team in der neuen wie auch in der alten Welt ihre Spuren auf der Quartermile hinterlassen. Schon im Februar war Urs mit dem Top Fuel Dragster in Kalifornien am Start und tourte mit seinem Team und dem NHRA Drag Racing Tross durch Florida, Texas und Nevada. Noch vor 2 Jahren grenzte die Qualifikation eines Europäers in den USA an ein Wunder. Für das Team Erbacher ist dies längst zur Selbstverständlichkeit geworden. Als erster Europäer seit mehr als 30 Jahren bezwang Urs Erbacher im Rennen die Amerikaner und erreichte in Pomona die Halbfinals an the NHRA Finals in Pomona. Urs Erbacher und sein Team haben damit ein Stück Rennsportgeschichte geschrieben. 
Das Team aus Arlesheim ist längst von der Amateurliga in die Profiklasse gewechselt und wurde in den letzten zwei Jahren von Urs Erbacher
zum internationalen Rennstall ausgebaut. Zwei Top Fuel Dragster kämpfen in Europa und den USA um Meisterschaftspunkte und Siege. Urs
Erbacher ist ein gefragter Coach und Trainer bei Neueinsteigern in den Sport. Regelmässig erwerben hoffnungsvolle Drag Racing Talente auf
einem Dragster aus dem Erbacher Top Fuel Rennstall ihre Lizenz für die NHRA so zum Beispiel Jens Riehl, Mike Salinas und Reto Stutz.
Die Professionalität des Erbacher Teams wird auch bei Gastfahrern hoch geschätzt. Da Urs Erbacher im Sommer in Schweden und
Hockenheim für zwei Sponsoren am Start war, wurde der Dragster in den USA von Scott Weis am IHRA Texas Nationals gefahren. Das
Team Erbacher gewann das Rennen in Texas souverän. Die NHRA Meisterschaft beendete das Team von Urs Erbacher auf dem 18. Rang
von total 51 gewerteten Teams und mit nur 7 von 24 gefahrenen Rennen.
Bis zur Rückkehr von Urs Erbacher an die Rennen in Dallas, Las Vegas und Los Angeles blieb gerade genügend Zeit für diverse Fernseh- und Sponsoringauftritte in Hockenheim und in der Schweiz. Der charismatische Basler ist ein begehrter Gesprächspartner bei Journalisten und ein gefragter Referent an Kunden- und Firmenanlässen. Ein Team durch schwierige Zeiten zu führen, zu motivieren und zu leiten bedarf eines umsichtigen Leaders der einen langfristigen Erfolg garantieren und in seinem Umfeld Visionen in die Tat umsetzen kann. Urs Erbacher verkörpert diese Leaderfigur. 
Supertwin Bike Team: Sein Partner Lorenz Stäuble hat mit dem Super Twin Bike Team die Saison 2009 als Vize-Europameister
abgeschlossen. Durch seine ruhige, überlegte Art hat er sich und sein Team aus den Schwierigkeiten der letzten Saison wieder auf die Siegesstrasse
geführt. Im Kampf mit drei weiteren Spitzenteams wurde in England, Finnland, Schweden, Norwegen, Deutschland und Ungarn erbittert um jeden Punkt,
jeden Sieg und jeden Qualitifkationsplatz gerungen.
Schlussendlich konnte nur ein technischer Defekt im letzten Rennen das Erbacher Super Twin Team stoppen. Doch mit dem Vize-Europameister Titel in der Meisterschaft ist der Grundstein für den erfolgreichen Start in die Meisterschaft 2010 und den Angriff auf den Titel gelegt. Off the track: Mit dem eigenen Race-Blog und der Vernetzung mit tausenden Fans weltweit ist das Erbacher Top Fuel Racing Team ein Garant für einen starken Auftritt und das einizige Drag Racing Team das auf beiden Kontinenten im Meisterschaftskampf mitmischen kann. Die Discovery Doku-Serie Kings of Nitro rund um das Erbacher Drag Racing Team wurde bis heute in 130 Ländern ausgestrahlt und hat zum Beispiel in Australien mit bis zu 5 Wiederholungen Kultcharakter erreicht. Live-Berichterstattungen auf ESPN, Schweizer Fernsehformaten wie 10vor10, Discovery Channel mit einem eigenen Sendeformat für das Rennteam und die Printmedien tragen die Erfolge des Rennstalls aus der Schweiz in die ganze Welt hinaus. Die Saison 2010 ist in Planung. Mit 5 - 10 Rennen in den USA und der FIA Meisterschaft in Europa ist das Programm dicht, spannend und bietet viele Möglichkeiten für zusätzliche Sponsoren. Das Erbacher Top Fuel Team schätzt die professionelle Zusammenarbeit mit seinen Sponsoren sehr und versucht wenn immer möglich, Sonderwünsche und Gastauftritte möglich zu machen um Kunden und Mitarbeiter unserer Partner mit dem absoluten Siegeswillen, einer starken Teamleistung und einer Performance jenseits der bekannten Grenzen zu infizieren. In einer kleinen Werkstatt entstanden und zum globalen Player im Motorsport geworden - das Erbacher Top Fuel Racing Team. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 29th December: Our good friend Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a page of his own pictures from the 2009 season. You can check out Alan's pictures via the What's New? link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com SPRC, APIRA Perpetual Awards vote 2. 27th December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC and APIRA Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 6th February 2010. For several of the 2009 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The second category is SPRC Best Appearing Car. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: 
Jem Brittin, Super StreetGo to vote page 
Paul Foote, Super GasGo to vote page 
Dave Murdoch, B&H Autmotive/LA Racing Parts Street EliminatorGo to vote page 
Roy Walker, Pro ETGo to vote page 
Peter Walters, Super Pro ETGo to vote page 
Adele and Steve Woodbridge, Outlaw Flat FourGo to vote page To place your vote, go to the official SPRC / APIRA Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2009 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. Voting is per category, so if you submitted a vote for Most Promising Newcomer then you can of course still vote for Best Appearing Car and so on through the following categories. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which votes are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Raceway's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Santa Pod Raceway track announcers John Price and Graham Beckwith. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2009@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. The next voting category will be the APIRA Iris Page Memorial Trophy whose shortlist will be posted here on Eurodragster.com News on Thursday of this week (31st). Swift snippets. 27th December: Julie Willcox and all the crew at Shakespeare County Raceway have asked us to say a big Happy 18th Birthday to Christopher Schreier. "Our love and best wishes for Christopher's special day", says Julie. "Most of us have known since he was a 'bump' which makes us feel really old!". Mum and dad Janet and Wayne Schreier, who also asked us to say a big Happy Birthday, have arranged a visit to Don Garlits' Museum of Drag Racing. Have a great day Christopher. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 27th December: If you were tuned in on Christmas Eve then you will remember that we promised to reveal the identity of Eurodragster.com's latest Blogger. However rather than announce in one update and then post the new Blog in the next update we have decided to do both in one go, so we will be keeping you in suspense until the next news update. Tune back then. ©Eurodragster.com Our good friend Jon Spoard hasn't taken a Christmas break from his excellent UK Drag Racing Nostalgia site, having posted a couple of excellent videos from the 1970s and 1980s. The first is Drag Mad, a film project by Nick Gilbey then at the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art, and the second is the legendary drag racing feature broadcast on the BBC's Multi Coloured Swap Shop in 1981 which amongst other things includes TV presenter Keith Chegwin taking a turn in the Hellbender Jet Dragster. You can check out both video clips as well as a huge number of other unearthed gems on the Drag Racing Videos Online section of the UKDRN forum at www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum. Team RNR season review. 
24th December: UK Supertwin Gas racer Ric Naylor has been in touch with his review of
2009:
The season didn't get off to the start I was hoping for as my new motor was proving to be more complex to put together than I'd anticipated. As such the first round at the Springspeed Nationals was contested with the old 440 from last year. It continued running on form and shaving another few hundredths of my Personal Best, down to 9.71 in a close-run final against Chris Mott, but not quick enough for the win thanks to Chris' holeshot. By the SPRC Summernationals I'd got the new 580 cc motor completed and equalled my best ET to date in the first couple of passes. A bog in the first round of eliminations put me out though. Two weeks later at the UK Truck Show my PBs started tumbling, first a 9.48, then a 9.44, giving me my first #1 qualifying position ever. In round one on Sunday against Chris Mott, another tenth was smashed off with a 9.37. After a clutch slippping bye run to get in to the finals, a bog off the start line gave the win to Dave Jones, but the runner-up trophy was more than welcome. At the Open Sport Nationals the ETs kept dropping again, now down to 9.29 and another #1 qualifier. A new PB speed of 138.39 mph was also set. With everything looking good and two tenths' advantage over the field I was looking for another final and try for that first winner's trophy. However the bike had other plans and "Sprouted" me by jumping out of gear on the start line in the quarter final against Les Harris. With a three-second head start gifted to Les, my weekend was over. ©Eurodragster.com Unfortunately, this set the tone for the rest of the season. For the National Finals I'd fitted a new ignition - I know, not a good idea to test new kit at a race! Whilst trying to get it dialled in I was over a second off my PB pace and then a problem selecting second gear put me out in the first round. With the gear box checked over (and nothing found amiss) and the ignition problems sorted, it was time for the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, our final race of the year. Whilst getting the mph back and getting into the nines again, second gear was still playing up. Then the clutch decided to start disassembling itself which was luckily found during inter-round checks. I sat out the last qualifier to get it fixed ready for eliminations the next day. The gearbox let me down again in round one, another weekend over. However, I was able to get some very valuable data from the datalogger on the passes I had made, so even though the highs of taking almost half a second off my previous PB were clouded by a lack of consistency, the bike has shown great potential for next year. Running my bike is only one half of my race effort, the other is being Crew Chief for Dave Beck on the TVR Power Pro Stock Bike. What can I say, what a season! Continuing our work from last year to fine tune the Ward/MTC motor, the team took another ACU Championship - Dave's eleventh! - resetting the ACU ET and speed records in the process. We also dipped our toes into European competition at the UEM Finals, my first ever time at UEM and a return for Dave fifteen years after he took the UEM title in 1994. Setting the pace with an off-the-trailer 7.16, the competition soon hotted up with the European ET record swapping hands between three riders no less than five times! However, after quickly getting a handle on dialling into the awesome track, it was the TVR Power team which walked away with the final honours of holding the record and running the first ever 7.0 pass in European Pro Stock Bike! To say I was still grinning weeks later is an understatement! It's going to be a busy off-season with several modifications to the 580cc Cheetah DM to get it running consistently and to its full potential, and the TVR Power team having practically a new bike to build for Dave (see his Eurodragster.com Blog for details). 2010 is going to be an exciting year with an eye on the eight-second barrier for my own bike, and going abroad for some UEM rounds and chasing that first six-second European Pro Stock Bike run with Dave. Thanks to everyone who has helped me one way or another in 2009: Dave, Jerry, Tom, Mick, Fluff, Bob, Nigel, Tim, Calvin and anyone else whom I have forgotten! Roll on next season! Swift snippets. 
24th December: Bill Macdermid writes that Eurodragster.com News sponsor Topspeed
Automotive has just received a shipment from the USA. "We have filled the shop with
Holley and Aeromotive pumps and regulators, B&M shifters, oil coolers, dress up kits and air filters,
Fram oil and fuel filters, Valvoline oil, line locks, Wilwood proportioning valves, catch tanks, trans pans and
TCI shift kits, carb spacers, ally fuel line, Flowmaster exhausts and associated hardware etc.", says Bill. "Have a great Christmas and New Year!".
More details at www.topspeedautomotive.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com As this is the last news update until Sunday (see below), we will take the opportunity to wish a very Happy Birthday for tomorrow (Friday) to Santa Pod Racers Club marshal Alan Brown. Have a great day Alan. Drag Racing Unplugged XI. 24th December: As has become traditional on our last pre-Christmas update, we have posted a page of the best quotes from this season's Eurodragster.com Event Coverage including Tog's, Simon's, Roger's, Kirstie's, Ed's, Christer's and Spencer's personal Quotes of the Year, together with other one-liners we didn't publish at the time. In association with our Event Coverage sponsor American Car Imports we are pleased to present Drag Racing Unplugged XI, the 2009 collection. ©Eurodragster.com Click here to view Drag Racing Unplugged XI, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. Enjoy! 2009 Champions' Champions. 24th December: Honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Andy Marrs of TSI Timers and Simon have again been hard at work to compile lists of European and UK Champions' Champions. The Champions' Champions tables show the all-time highest points earners since the FIA and FIM/UEM European Championships began in 1996 and 1992 respectively, and the UK National Championships began in 1999. On the European Championships front, Michael Malmgren (FIA) and Roger Pettersson (FIM/UEM) remain the all-time highest points earners in their respective Championships. In all-time FIA European Championship points, FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Ulf Leanders has moved up to #7 from #8, whilst multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund has entered the top ten. Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered has passed 4500 career points and Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon has passed 2500 career points. Micke Kågered passed 2000 career points in Top Fuel Dragster in 2009, whilst Lex Joon moved up from #5 to #4 in the all-time Top Fuel standings. Anita Mäkelä has leapfrogged husband Tommi Haapanen, moving up from #7 to #6. ©Eurodragster.com In Top Methanol Dragster, FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Timo Habermann passed 1000 career points and moved up from #8 to #7 in the all-time standings. All-time #1 TMD points scorer Dave Wilson passed 4000 career points whilst #3 placed Rob Turner passed 3000 points. Dan Larsen moved up to #3 in the all-time Top Methanol Funny Car standings passing 2500 points in the process whilst Eurodragster.com News sponsor Ulf Leanders passed 3000 points and remains #2 in the all-time standings and Jarmo Kuutniemi moved up from #11 to #10. Micke Gullqvist has taken over #1 place in the all-time Pro Modified standings whilst Urban Johansson, FIA European Pro Modified Champion Mats Eriksson and Andy Robinson have also all passed 1000 career points. Jimmy Ålund passed 2500 career points in the all-time Pro Stock standings whilst Magnus Hansson passed 2000 points and moved up from #5 to #3. Kenneth Söderström passed 1000 career points. Movement, too, in the all-time FIM/UEM Championship points as Top Fuel Bike racer Sverre Dahl moved up from #9 to #8 and FIM/UEM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King moved up from #10 to #9. In Top Fuel Bike, Rikard Gustavsson moved up from #10 to #9 in the all-time standings. Three movements in the Supertwin all-time standings as Ronny Aasen moved up from #5 to #4, Hans Olav Olstad moved from #9 to #7, and Lorenz Stäuble also moved up two places, from #11 to #9. There were no changes in the top reaches of the all-time Pro Stock Bike standings. The ground rules for the UK Champions' Champions are that an event must be completed for a win to be registered; wins are ranked by those scored by a particular driver or rider, whereas points are scored and ranked on a team basis. For teams with multiple cars or drivers changing teams during the season, the compiler's decision is final. Turner Racing has the lead in Top Methanol (using points counted towards the SPRC Championship) with seven Championships and fifteen wins for Rob who heading the points tally over second-placed Dave Wilson. Over his entire career, Rob has won the UK Championship ten times. In MSA Pro Modified Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson has two Championships in the last eleven years and also won the 1997 and 1998 Championships. Andy has the most wins with eleven and leads aggregate points with a margin of 360 over Bert Englefield. Super Modified has three racers on two Championships each: current Super Modified champ Nigel Payne joins Ellis Racing and Danny Cockerill. After two wins in 2009, Andy 'Fred' Hone joins Danny Cockerill with a total of seven wins to date. In the points chase Fred has now overtaken Ellis Racing and now has a fitting 2009 point lead. Super Comp continues to be led by inactive racers. Tim Adam has a lead over Brian Pateman of 2600 points and has ten event wins to Brian's eight. Chris Johnson is tied with Tim on two Championships each. Seven drivers have one Championship each. Tim also leads the number of Championships in Super Gas with four against Jon Morton, Conrad Stanley and Frank Mason with two. The now-retired Frank is still well ahead in event wins, having won twelve events, and Super Gas points with a margin of 5690 over Tim Adam. In Super Street, 2009 Champion John Grant, Leigh Morris, Bob Lees, Mike Bentley and Team Rat Rage each have two Championships. With four wins this year, John Grant has now tied with Leigh Morris on number of wins, eleven in the last eleven years. Bob Lees still has the greatest points tally, with a reduced margin of 140 points over Leigh Morris. In Super Pro ET Steve Green, Martyn Jones and Ian Tubb have two Championships each. Barry Giles leads wins with twelve in total to Steve Green's eight, and Barry Giles and Steve Johnson have overtaken Martyn Jones (Team H&C Racing) in aggregate points. Pro ET has three teams with two Championships each, Paul Baynton, Team Heaven & Hell and Team Top Banana. Team Heaven & Hell's original Camaro leads the points from Team Top Banana with a margin of 5660. Team Top Banana driver Lee Huxley is the lead on wins with seven against Bob Doyle's six. In Sportsman ET, there is no alteration in the top positions from last year with now-retired Al and Linda Platt's Team Rainy City Lightning being ahead in the Championships and ahead of Nick Gay in the points by 2460. Rick Denny continues to lead the number of wins at seven. Scott Hauser and Nick Mugridge have both won the Junior Dragster Championship twice. Nick continues to lead the points tally with a thirty five per cent greater total than Scott who is second place, and Nick also leads the wins with nine in total. 2009 Champion Anna Stanley has the highest aggregate points of current racers and is third overall. Steve Pateman leads Street Eliminator with five Championships, seventeen event wins and a points margin of 7450 over second placed Jeff Meads (points for Street Eliminator are scored since 2000). Rebel T, with driver Clayton Round's hat trick of Championships in the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association, still head the standings. In event wins, Dennis Wratten and Frank Bennett now tie on four each. Frank's Relentless team, 2009 Champions and Eurodragster.com bloggers, are now second in the aggregate points, behind Rebel T by a margin of 540. In ACU Top Fuel Bike, Steve Woollatt has won nine Championships since 1999, has 22 event wins to his name, and leads the points tally with more than double the points of second-placed Steve Carey. In his career, Steve has won no less than thirteen Championships. Neil Midgley retains his lead in all categories for ACU Funny Bike as does Dave Beck in ACU Pro Stock Bike. In ACU Competition Bike, Ivan Birch has now equalled Phil Leamon with two Championships over the last eleven years. With his four victories in 2009, Ivan has also tied with Phil on eight wins. However, Phil has a commanding points lead of 2.7 times the points tally of Ivan. Graham Dance still remains ahead in all categories in ACU Super Street Bike with Steve Venables drawing ever closer. 2009 9.50 Bike Champion Richard Sawatzki is now the only three time Champ in the class (formerly 9.90 Bike) over the last eleven years. Richard has also overtaken Fred Furlong in the the points tally with a slim margin of 190 and Richard now has the largest number of wins with nine. You can check out this year's Champions' Champions tables by clicking here or by clicking on the Champions' Champions link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please join us in a big Thank You to Andy and Simon for their hard work. Eurodragster.com's Christmas break. 24th December: We will now be taking our Christmas break, but fear not we will return on Sunday (27th December). Keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com and we will post them on Sunday. In the meantime we have compiled our usual requests to Father Christmas, together with our New Year resolutions, and you can hold us to these: Top of Tog's Christmas list: All of Eurodragster.com's sponsors to renew. Top of Simon's Christmas list: A dry year. Top of Roger's Christmas list: A pair of Ugg Boots so that I can keep up with Kirstie the Eurodragster.com fashion icon. Top of Kirstie's Christmas list: The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From The Living Dead by Max Brooks (well, you can never be too careful with 2012 looming). Top of Ed's Christmas list: Sunny (F11 and 1/1000 second) days at Santa Pod. ©Eurodragster.com Tog's New Year resolution: To get people to read what is under their noses. Simon's New Year resolution: A 'dry' year. Roger's New Year resolution: To successfully dodge more errant race cars than Andy Willsheer. Kirstie's New Year resolution: I'm going to try and give up procrastination but maybe I'll try it next year instead. Ed's New Year resolution: To never again break Eurodragster.com tradition by refusing a free burger. Tog, Simon, Roger and Kirstie would like to wish all Eurodragster.com readers and their families the very Happiest of Christmases, and to thank everyone who has sent us personal Christmas wishes and cards as well as those on our on-line Christmas Card. See you on Sunday when we will bring you the candidates for SPRC Best Appearing Car. Until then you are honour-bound to eat and drink too much (the latter if you are not driving) - your favourite web site expects it of you. Welcome TPM Trailer. 23rd December: We are very pleased to welcome Sweden's TPM Trailer as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com. TPM Trailer is a manufacturer of high performance US design race trailers in Europe whose goal is to design trailers to fit all their customers' individual needs. TPM Trailer use only the highest quality materials and the latest CAD/CAM design equipment to get the most out of the weight/performance ratio on their trailers. Standard US trailers start at four metres and go all the way up to twelve metres in length - and longer if needed. Two- or three-axle designs are available of total weight up to 3500 kg (or up to 6500 kg with gooseneck design). ©Eurodragster.com TPM Trailer can deliver trailers across Europe, and delivery to Hamburg is included in the price. For more information check out www.tpmtrailer.eu, which is presented in Swedish, English and German, or call +46 493 146 51. We would like to say a big Thank You to Christer Hultberg and TPM Trailer for their support, and we are very pleased that we are adding yet another sponsor which helps to ensures that anything which our readers need from a spark plug to a turn-key race vehicle and rig can be found from our sponsors here on Eurodragster.com. Take a look at the TPM Trailer web site via the banner at right and please be sure to consider TPM Trailer when buying. Swift snippets. 23rd December: Julie Willcox, Gerry and Joan Cookson, and everyone at Shakespeare County Raceway have asked us to say a big Happy 50th Birthday to Jerry Cookson. We are very pleased to do so, have a great birthday Jerry - there aren't many people around who care more about the sport so you have certainly earned it. We would also like to say Happy Birthday for yesterday (Tuesday) to Santa Pod Racers Club marshal Stuart Driscoll, hope you had a great day Stuart. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 23rd December: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, multiple ACU Pro Stock Bike Champion and European record holder Dave Beck tells of his recent trip to the USA and of the arrival of his new PSB frame. As ever you can keep in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com If you are a regular at Pete Robert's excellent web site The Pod - A Look Around you will know that he posts a picture a day as well as hosting excellent 360-degree panoramas, history of USAF Podington and more. Pete has now posted gallery showing all of his Daily Pod Shots for the last year at www.podlook.co.uk/album2009/index.html. Pete attends just about every event at Santa Pod Raceway so his 2009 album is a great potted history of the year and is well worth a look. In The Blood Tour 2010. 
22nd December: If you didn't guess the identity of the mystery racer posted on Sunday, it is none other than
Laura Grace Turburville, the new addition to the Turboville team.
"Laura will contest her Junior Modified Advanced Dragster in the National Championship next year while I take the year off to try to recover from all the expenses incurred this season", says Ian Turburville. "I had a hard year as I tried to step up the performance of Mr. Spokehead with new fuel and clutch systems but had a few mishaps along the way, which cost me dearly. Racing a fuel bike or any nitro vehicle has been getting increasingly expensive for decreasing returns and, as the only normally aspirated V-Twin in ACU, I have to race in Top Fuel Bike against the blown Pumas, a race I can never win. The costs of touring Europe in UEM are totally beyond my reach so that is out of the question. "I also struggle constantly for crew and the stress of building, tuning, riding, driving, etc was taking the fun out of racing, and without that what is the point? Joe and Pete were great all year but have left to continue their own program in Super Street Bike for 2010. Ingrid and Martin are still with us, thank god, and do all the hard work behind the scenes setting up the pit and looking after us. They have made friends with just about every team at the track and are just great, but not technical crew. The year was emotionally draining also, especially after my terrible start line incident at the European Finals, which brought any future drag racing for myself into serious doubt. "After a lot of soul searching I decided that drag racing meant too much to me and I had to carry on but not at that level of expense and grief. I love that bike too much and owe it to Jim McClure's memory to persevere! "So, in 2010, I will just do the odd event or demo as money becomes available, but no Championships, and try to coax the bike down to the sixes. The performance at the National Finals was very promising, resulting in our only trophy of the year, so I know I am on the right track at last. "The brightest moment of 2009 was when my daughter Laura, without any encouragement, suddenly decided she wanted to race! We rented the Pod car for her birthday and she turned out to be a natural, pulling great RTs and coping with problems very intuitively, so she got her licence quickly. As she is fourteen there was no point in getting her a slow car so I bought a nice ex-NHRA car from German racers Dirk and Carlo (massive thanks to Pro Stock racer Harald for bringing it over) and have since brought it up to date. It is a lovely JMA Dragster with a good motor and an SFI-tagged, flex chassis with launch air suspension and all the right bits. It went really well in testing and now I have to learn about tuning methanol, which seems to be the complete opposite of nitro! ©Eurodragster.com "These lessons will be put to good use as I decided that I too needed a dragster like Laura's, so I am building a big 'Junior Dragster' for myself to race in Pro ET. Laura can step up to it in 2011 if she wants, as she will be sixteen then. We are mid-way through the build already and it is looking good! The car is called Overkill because it is powered by my spare Overkill motor, which will be set up in a similar fashion to my bike motor. It will be normally-aspirated, injected, single-speed, slider clutch etc, but on methanol with a good hit of nitrous oxide. No idea what the performance will be like, around the ten second mark would be good, but we will have fun. Anyway, I can pretend to be Barry Sheavills for a while and hopefully be competitive in that great class of Pro ET whilst not incurring the costs inherent with nitromethane. "The concept is proving quite popular and the car is already attracting interest from sponsors but of course we need more to finish the car and race it, so please get in touch if you can help. It will be pretty unique and a great crossover between the bike and car classes. Pretty sure it will be a hit with the crowd! 
"Laura is also in need of sponsors to help with entry fees etc for next year but has concentrated her efforts so far in sponsoring others! She is
registered with that great charity
Help for Heroes and will be a great advert for them throughout
the year. We will also collect for them at our pit so please come up and see us in the Junior Dragster pits next year as Laura
Races for Heroes. Laura has made her own web site so please
have a look at www.turboville.com it and check out the new division of
Turboville Racing. Also check out the picture of me getting stuck in her car on delivery, D'oh!
"We both look forward to seeing you all at the track in 2010 for a year of great racing and good times, and we wish all of you the very best of Christmases and and another rain-free New Year. Especially good wishes to the people who have helped with parts and advice already, namely Jon Webster, Al Smith, Tim Blakemore, Dale Wilch, Ron Houniet, Rush, Martyn Jones and Crunch, Martin Curbishley, Dave Wilson, Hayden Wheels, Shaggy, Jimmy Fox, Sparky Wiffen, Chris Mott, Tim Fountain, Will Sharman, Martin and Ingrid, Vincent Pels and of course the wonderful resource that is Eurodragster.com - no really, what would we do without it (Thanks - Ed). Team sponsors so far for 2010 are Turboville.com, Custom Chrome Europe, Gates Belts, Red Line Oil, Fast Lane Racing, Rush Racing UK, Sprint Dampers, Butler Fabrications, Egt, Timtime.co.uk...you? Swift snippets. 22nd December: Funny Bike racers and bike fans should check in with the Pit Lane Gossip page of the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com for news of a non-Championship UEM Funny Bike Cup to make up for the removal of Funny Bikes from FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike in 2010. You can find details on page two of the Gossip section. 
The Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association are pleased to announce that they have
a limited number of 2010 calendars available, produced in association with Dom Romney of Modernpics. Each month features a superb
shot of one of the wild NFAA machines. To order your calendar, send an E-Mail entitled NFAA Calendar to
dom@modernpics.co.uk specifying your name and the number of
calendars you require and a payment link will be sent by return. Calendars are £10 plus £2 P+P.
©Eurodragster.com Sharron Collier has been in touch to ask us to say a big Happy 13th Birthday to Junior Drag Bike racer Scott Collier. No sooner said than done Sharron, have a great day Scott. The last pre-Christmas news update here on Eurodragster.com will be posted on Christmas Eve (Thursday). This update will include the traditional and eagerly-awaited Champions' Champions, the equally popular Drag Racing Unplugged - the eleventh in the series - and the Christmas present wishes and New Year resolutions of the Eurodragster.com staff. The deadline for news items and Christmas Card messages to be posted before Christmas is 22:00 Europe / 21:00 UK tomorrow (Wednesday). We will then take a break and will be back on Sunday 27th December. We're not sure that we could have made the warning any more clear but obviously we have one or two people out there who don't get simple English. So: please do not send multiple votes or otherwise attempt to rig the Perpetual Awards vote. Clear enough? Whatever you try, it will be picked up because those auditing the votes know all the tricks. If you want the disqualification of your favoured candidate on your conscience then go right ahead, but you should also be prepared to be named and shamed. VP expands Tech Support. 22nd December: Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels, the world leader in race fuel technology, today announced the expansion of its Technical Support group. "VP's strength has always been its leading edge technology and dedication to R&D, much of which has been conducted right alongside racers on their dynos and at the track", said Steve Burns, VP's President and CEO. "But because we can't be everywhere at once, we want to make sure that technical support for all our other customers remains just a phone call or E-Mail away. "You won't find another fuel company offering this level of support, which will be yet another point of difference which will set VP apart", Burns continued. "Customers can now easily tap into the specialised expertise needed to ensure they not only select the best fuel for their application, but tune their engine to achieve the maximum performance of which that fuel is capable." VP's expanded Tech Support roster includes: General Tech Support tech@vpracingfuels.com / (+1) 812 878 2025 Drag Racing dragtech@vpracingfuels.com / (+1) 812 878 2025 Motorcycle/Powersports motorcycletech@vpracingfuels.com / (+1) 210 241 1192 Small Engine Fuel sef94@vpracingfuels.com / (+1) 812 878 2025 In addition, customers can visit VP's web site at www.vpracingfuels.com to review fuel information and submit tech questions on-line. As always, customers may also contact their VP Regional Distribution Centre, which can field not only technical questions, but queries about pricing, dealer locations, shipping and more. "The importance of technical support can't be overemphasised", Burns concluded. "When you lead an industry in technological development as we do, people look to you for guidance and support to ensure they can effectively implement that technology." ©Eurodragster.com PMR's Bruiser heads for Fester's. 22nd December: Paul Marston tells us that as soon as the winter breaks then Paul Marston Racing's PT Bruiser is booked into Bill Felstead's Fester Race Cars: Paul Marston Racing and Fester Race Cars have always enjoyed a good relationship and a mutual interest in Bertie Bassets, so we are both looking forward to some joint ventures over the coming months. In fact nearly all of the Paul Marston Racing race cars will be paying a visit to the Fester Race Cars workshop over the off season. It's a bit like them all going to the dentist but without the form filling (Bill can’t read). Essentially it’s all about upgrades. I have always been a real fan of Bill Felstead's work. Bill does not build race cars, he creates pieces of art in my opinion. Just the way that Bill talks about the way the shape has to flow in any aspect of the design shows a deep understanding of how a race car should look. To Bill it's not cutting and welding pipe, bending sheet metal etc - it's creating a shape, a piece of the big picture. Over the years that I have come to know Bill he has helped educate me to understand the whole process and appreciate his craft, for which I will always be grateful. ©Eurodragster.com The PT Bruiser is my signature race car and so I am very choosey who works on it. Over the years pieces have been removed from the PT Bruiser and additions have been made. I figured it was about time that I have someone who understands car design to take a look at the Bruiser, listen to what I wanted done and see what he can come up with. Immediately upon viewing the PT Bruiser Bill understood where I was coming from and I liked his ideas and solutions. Pretty soon both Bill and I were on the same page and had it all figured out. Personally I can run the team, tune race cars, design them, race them and build the motors that run them, but when it comes to fabrication I turn to Bill to turn my ideas into reality. Everyone at Paul Marston Racing is excited to see how the PT Bruiser turns out. There are not a lot of changes, in fact it might be hard to spot what's been done, but that is exactly the point - if it's done as well as both Bill and I think it will work out, you will not be able to see what's been done as it will flow just right. You will see the Bruiser as a whole, not just the upgrades. This is just the beginning, as virtually nothing is needed on the other race cars, just small improvements which is where Fester Race Cars comes in. Next race car on the list is Pro ET Championship-winning Grumpy's Dodge, again with a number of small upgrades all of which require Bill's magic fingers. All we need now is for it to stop snowing! SPRC, APIRA Perpetual Awards vote 1. 21st December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC and APIRA Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 6th February 2010. For several of the 2009 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The first voting category is SPRC Most Promising Newcomer. Nominees for SPRC Most Promising Newcomer have impressed whilst contesting their first full season or making their on-track début in 2009. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Mark Bailey, Pro ET Vote for Mark Bailey Lucy Matthews, VW Sportsman Vote for Lucy Matthews Jake Mechaell, 9.50 Bike Vote for Jake Mechaell Dave Murdoch, B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator Vote for Dave Murdoch Steve Taylor, Super Pro ET Vote for Steve Taylor Roy Walker, Pro ET Vote for Roy Walker Andy Watson, Supertwin Gas Vote for Andy Watson To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official SPRC / APIRA Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2009 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which votes are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Raceway's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Santa Pod Raceway track announcers John Price and Graham Beckwith. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2009@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Swift snippets. 
21st December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com
came with no words at all. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us
a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
©Eurodragster.com Dates available with PMR. 21st December: Paul Marston tells us that the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School is now taking bookings and enquiries for 2010, with dates available throughout the year from Easter to the UK National Finals: Now is the time to get busy. There are only a precious few select dates available and you only live once, so if you are interested in booking a session then make it now and contact us with your ideas. There is also the opportunity to fully live the dream and race at a National Championship Event in the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Car Rental Scheme. Full back-up is supplied by Paul Marston Racing in each instance. Don't forget we make Champions, want to be one of them and share in our success? It's never too late to join us: be a driver, join the Paul Marston Racing line-up for the 2010 season. Name your poison, classes available range from the incredibly competitive Super Street all the way up to the fastest of them all, Super Pro ET - the premier class in bracket Sportsman racing. ©Eurodragster.com For something a little less serious but nearly as thrilling there is always the infamous Passenger Ride Experience. It makes a great Christmas Present, something that they will never forget! Make this the year that changes your life forever. For further details, or to discuss packages and availability, please contact us either by E-Mail at pmracing@fsmail.net or call Paul Marston on 07831 650230. You owe it to yourself, you have earned this opportunity - take it! Merry Christmas to one and all, especially to everyone at Eurodragster.com: all your hard work never goes unnoticed by the people who care (Oh I say, thanks - Ed). Web site updates. 21st December: Andy Wright of the BA Racing Pro Modified team has alerted us to a seasonal entertainment from four of the UK's Pro Mod racers, which you can find on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3kpW0ZDtog. ©Eurodragster.com December Drags at Mr C. 
19th December: Steve Dudley has been in touch with news of the latest Slot Drags
at Mister C Raceway in Kent, UK:
After missing the November meeting due to family commitments, I was looking forward to the December meeting. I had just finished putting my Pro Stock Bug together and was itching to try it out. As in October the meet was well attended with around twenty racers, including eight members of the Rebel Rousers Hot Rod Club, the remainder being Mr C Club members and friends. 
After everyone mucked in to get the track assembled, tune-ups started. I tried my Pro Stock Bug out and disaster: the car only moved a
foot or so and a shower of sparks indicated a major problem, later inspection revealed a fractured magnet. Paul and Ryan tried out their
new cars, recently acquired from the States - a Corvette, a Camaro and a Nova - with mixed results, the Corvette Stingray being the quicker
of the bunch.
Matt was having problems with traction on his recently-built VW Notchback. In the end we swapped the rear tyres and set it up again with great results, the only trouble being it was so quick and was not slowing down quickly enough after the line, hitting the back wall of the tunnel causing minor bodywork damage. Mark was also trying his recently acquired Nostalgia rail, again running sweetly. Matt and Ric resumed their grudge racing and this time things turned out even. Matt has vowed revenge though, and Ric wants a new motor. We had three elimination races in all, but due to being busy sorting cars etc I didn't get to take in all the results. I'm sure Tony won a couple with his open motored Funny Car, with young Jamie featuring well. In the third race series Tony was beaten by newcomer Faye using my G20 motored Funny Car; she was then beaten by her partner, newcomer Rob with the Model A Delivery. Rob was surprised to make into the final where he would be up against Matt, Matt taking the win in a very close race. All too soon it was time to go home, a very busy meeting which was great fun. Looking forward to January and the return of the Bug! Fastest time of the day was 0.826/45 mph by Tony. Swift snippets. 
19th December: The UK's Team Roar Willys Super Gas team would like to wish their youngest crew member
Francesca Giles a very Happy 1st Birthday for yesterday (Friday). "Francesca received another set of wheels which no doubt will
be seen at the Pod at Easter", says Donna Giles. Hope you had a great day Franki.
©Eurodragster.com The last pre-Christmas news update here on Eurodragster.com will be posted on Christmas Eve. This update will include the traditional and eagerly-awaited Champions' Champions, the equally popular Drag Racing Unplugged - the eleventh in the series - and the Christmas present wishes and New Year resolutions of the Eurodragster.com staff. The deadline for news items and Christmas Card messages to be posted before Christmas is 22:00 Europe / 21:00 UK next Wednesday, 23rd. We will then take a break and will be back on Sunday 27th December. VP extends ADRL fuel deal. 
19th December: The National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) is pleased to announce
a multi-year extension of its partnership with Eurodragster.com sponsor
VP Racing Fuels which makes VP the official fuel through 2014 for the
eighth-mile drag racing series.
"We're thrilled to extend the agreement and the benefits that accompany our relationship with the ADRL", VP Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Steve Scheidker said. "With ADRL racers constrained by relatively few rules they're constantly motivated to push the limits of their combinations, which in turn provides an excellent proving ground for VP’s leading-edge fuels." Additionally, the massive crowds at National Guard ADRL events offer an ideal opportunity for VP to build awareness for its newest fuels which appeal to a broader consumer base. "For example, SEF94 is a specially blended fuel for use in small engines that will appeal to anyone with a chainsaw, lawnmower, generator or any other portable gas-powered equipment, while VP100 is a street-legal, 100-octane unleaded gasoline that will boost the performance of any high-performance vehicle from muscle cars and street rods to sports cars and exotics." National Guard ADRL President and CEO Kenny Nowling said he's especially happy to extend an agreement with such a key partner as VP Racing Fuels. "We couldn't be happier about VP Racing Fuels remaining as our official fuel provider", Nowling stated. "Steve and everyone at VP does a great job and have contributed greatly to the tremendous performances we've seen from our racers on the track." ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 19th December: Dominic Romney has updated his photographic web site with his favourite pictures from the 2009 season. You can check out Dom's pictures at blog.modernpics.co.uk/2009/12/16/2009-the-best-of-drag-acing-images. ©Eurodragster.com SE, SSB added to SPR FIA events. 17th December: Santa Pod Raceway are pleased to announce that B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator will again be campaigning their cars at the FIA European Finals on 9th-12th September 2010. "The class was without doubt a crowd favourite at this year's European Finals putting on an incredible show with some fantastic times and speeds", says Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway. "Seeing all of the Street Eliminator cars parade down the track to a rapturous round of applause from the spectators before setting off on their Cruise was fantastic. Many thanks must go to Colin and Ann-Marie Lazenby for all their help with the class and their organising skills. ©Eurodragster.com "In 2010 Santa Pod will see an additional class, Super Street Bike, at the FIA Main Event on 28th-31st May. With speeds now at 200 mph and times well in to the low sevens, Super Street Bike has stepped up to the plate and is a class which deserves to be showcased at a high-profile event. This will be a full ACU points round and a chance for the class to prove to the fans what they are really made of. As per ACU rules we will require anyone running in any of the ACU classes to register the class in which they intend to run via ACU Representative Ian King. We will also be keeping an eye on the entry at this event and anyone whom the Promoter, Race Director or Santa Pod Racers Club deem ineligible for the class will have their entry refused." We've re-run this story from yesterday as it was added quite late on - Ed Swift snippets. 17th December: Further to Monday's report Speedgroup's presence at the PRI Show in Orlando was a success, with a huge impact on visitors and other participating companies who showed great interest in the European drag racing series. One of the positive aspects is that several companies wanted to negotiate contingency sponsorship deals, which will benefit European racers. Speedgroup also want to thank all their sponsors who made possible the trip to the PRI Show. ©Eurodragster.com 
Sweden's TPM Trailers tell us that they now only use LED
lights on their smart-looking trailers. "It's better for the environment and saves you the hassle of
changing bulbs", they say. You can find out more (på svenska) at
www.tpmtrailer.eu.
Dan Welberry writes that the hardback version of FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter's book King of Europe has sold out and that a paperback version will be available at Autosport International. The paperback will feature a brief update on the 2009 season with some additional images including on the inside back cover. We have two birthdays today. Ian and Holley Marshall have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall. The team at Eurodragster.com News sponsor 3t creative have asked us to wish a very Happy Birthday to Matt Glassup. No sooner said than done, have a very Happy Birthday Paula and Matt. Dave Miller. 16th December: Laurie Andrew writes with great sadness to inform us of the sudden untimely departure of Dave Miller at the still-young age of 64: As some of you will remember Dave constructed and ran a front-engined rail called The Spirit. I worked with Dave for quite a few years at Hamworth Compressors in Gloucester. He always had a smile and a joke for everybody that spoke to him and gave me much-needed help with my efforts at building compressors. Dave passed away on Friday 12th December. He will be sadly missed by his wife June, mother Jean and sister Angela and all his family and friends. Dave's funeral service takes place at Gloucester Crematorium on Tuesday 22nd December at 11.30 am. Flowers may be sent (by 10:00 am) to: SC & BS Cocks Funeral Directors 59 Hucclecote Road Gloucester We would like to add our own deepest sympathies to June, Jean, Angela and Dave's family and friends. Swift snippets. 16th December: Mum, Dad, Collin and Hollie have asked us to say a big Happy 23rd Birthday to Super Comp/Super Gas racer Stuart Morrice. Have a great day Stuart. "I'd like to add a massive Thank You to everyone in Super Gas and Super Comp for the 2009 season", says Collin Morrice, "and Thank You also to Jeff Bull and Geof Hauser." ©Eurodragster.com The last pre-Christmas news update here on Eurodragster.com will be posted on Christmas Eve. This update will include the traditional and eagerly-awaited Champions' Champions, the equally popular Drag Racing Unplugged - the eleventh in the series - and the Christmas present wishes and New Year resolutions of the Eurodragster.com staff. The deadline for news items and Christmas Card messages to be posted before Christmas is 22:00 Europe / 21:00 UK next Wednesday, 23rd. We will then take a break and will be back on Sunday 27th December. Ruined... 
16th December: B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts 2009 Street Eliminator Most Improved driver Davie
Murdoch has been in touch from the North Sea oil rigs to tell of the horror which faced him during a recent motor teardown.
"Five out of the eight cylinders had numerous torched components, liners, rods and pistons", said Dave. "I couldn't believe it. I've never seen so much damage but I'm astounded that all eight cylinders weren't trashed given the carnage we found in the other five". Davie believes that fatigue and oiling problems were the root cause of the catastrophic failure. "I was planning to add nitrous next year too", added Davie, "maybe I'll have to have a rethink on that." ©Eurodragster.com Luckily, the damage was actually found on a behemoth eight-cylinder compressor motor on one of the rigs to which Davie provides his invaluable service support and definitely not his trusty 540 ci blown Oddy bullet which is currently sat at Clive Bond's Ultimate Race Cars for a seasonal freshen. Davie's motor is in great shape and Clive's only recommendations are to replace the bearings for 'coated', new rings and an upgraded set of head gaskets (for nitrous use) along with valve springs. For 2010 the crew will look resplendent in their new '33 Willys uniforms, courtesy of Lisa and Paddy at Embroidery Solutions, to whom many thanks. Enter the new VEIDEC PSB team. 
15th December: The new VEIDEC Racing Pro Stock Bike team will be fielding two Pro Stock Bikes in 2010.
Karl Lyrén, new to Pro Stock Bike but runner-up in Super Gas Bike in the 2009 Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series,
and 2006 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike Champion and 2009 FIA European Finals PSB winner Anders Abrahamsson
will ride the pair of Suzuki TL1000s. Karl and Roger Lyrén have built a new Suzuki TL 1000, which Karl will ride, with a 1655 cc
power plant from V&H Motorsport and Sweden's Motospeed, whilst Anders' TL1000 will run the same engine application.
A new bus is under construction together with everything else needed to build up the new team, which will be managed by Karl and Roger Lyrén of Lyrén Motorsport Promotion. The team plan to run the full European Championship tour in 2010 as well as other races and promotional activities within Scandinavia. ©Eurodragster.com 
"We are extremely proud that Rickard Pålsson and Lube Belokozovski of VEIDEC have given us this opportunity
to run the VEIDEC Racing Drag Bike Team in the coming years", say Karl and Roger. "Some other partners have already
joined us such as V&H, MotoSpeed, Shoei, RK Chains, Pro Imp with Tires, Psycle Works, PM, Dynatek, Volvo Din Bil,
Swecomposite and many other companies, and more partners will be announced soon.
"Bo Jensen, absolutely one of the best painter and bike designers in Europe, is designing the bike right now. "There will be more than ten team members in all and they will be announced soon, as well as more riders." If you would like to get in touch with the team then E-Mail info@lyrenmotorsport.com or roger@motospeed.se, or call +46 706245077. Swift snippets. 15th December: German Pro Mod racer Marco Maurischat of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Exhaust-Coating.de has been in touch to offer a special off-season racer discount for ceramic exhaust coatings as well as for thermal barrier piston coatings and Dry Film coatings. "For off-season pricing information please E-Mail us at info@exhaust-coating.de", says Marco. ©Eurodragster.com Getting up to speed. 
15th December: The Netherlands' Zodiac Racing Supertwin team are getting up to speed with their new
bike, says Vincent Pels:
The contrast couldn't be any bigger between the first qualifying round of the 2008 European Finals and the 2009 European Finals. Last year the new supercharged 1680 cc Zodiac Top Fuel Harley exploded in a spectacular way on its maiden voyage during qualifying This year it ran its first six-second pass, a 6.85/198.8 (319.9 kmh) terminal speed in the first qualifier at the European Finals. The team's most important goal for the 2009 season was "Make the bike run with the Big Dogs". The team of Ton, Vincent and Roel had been struggling for the first few races of the season, which again resulted in two more spectacular engine explosions and a lot of damaged parts. Due to all the mechanical problems they encountered, it was decided to skip two of the Championship rounds and do some tests at a local race track instead. Each time the design of one part was improved, the next failed on them. So going to races in Finland and Hungary with this situation was a bit pointless. "All the parts that are failing is stuff we bought", said Ton. "It worked on the injected bike, but it doesn't on the supercharged bike". After last year's explosion the rocker arms were already replaced with Ton's own design, but as always with developments of new supercharged engine fed with nitromethane, the next weak spot was found rather quickly. Now that the rockers could cope with the forces, the push rods were literally folding under pressure and at the FIA Main Event this resulted in an engine hydraulic which lifted the head. Stronger ½" diameter "thick-wall" push rods were installed when the engine was rebuilt, but then during the second run of the test event at Drachten the lifters were failing. This again lifted the head with a loud explosion and by now Roel was wondering whether he should have extra hearing protection under his helmet. With the Finnish UEM round only one week after this test, it made no sense to go there. The team was able to build up the #2 engine for the third round of the Championship at Mantorp Park in Sweden, as this engine was just about to be finished. The lifters were manufactured in-house this time, and the cam follower was fitted with a bronze bushing instead of the conventional needles. This turned out to be the final piece of the puzzle. Now there were no parts in the exhaust valve train to "let go", causing the exhaust valves to stay closed, which in turn caused the engine to hydraulic. They had to redesign the lifters a few times, but the lifters kept operating the valves and the bike made it to the finish line. So for the first time, Ton and Vincent could start tuning the bike instead of picking up pieces. In the end it only took the team five passes to become competitive from that point onwards, making huge progression with each run. They missed qualifying by only one tenth of a second in Mantorp's strong field and in Hockenheim, during the spectacular Night Show with over 50,000 people in the grandstand, Roel ran a 7.23/312 kmh (194 mph). For the first time the bike ran reasonably clean with bright header flames from start to finish line. With the bronze bushing of the new cam followers now seizing and with the UEM Hungary round only one week after Hockenheim, the team had no other option than to head home and hit the drawing board to fix this last "little issue". Based on their own lifters and with the experience of the few passes they made, Ton redesigned the cam follower once again. And after analysing the data from the passes in Hockenheim, the gearing and fuel system were changed and the team headed for England in good spirits, confident a six would be possible this weekend. The weather was excellent with a corrected altitude of twenty five feet under sea level and the Santa Pod crew prepared the track surface to a standard we have not seen for several years. The first run caught Roel by surprise as for the first time the bike got "loose". He quickly shut and opened the throttle to get it back in the groove and get rid of the excess wheelspin and from then on the bike accelerated hard to the top end. 6.857/198.8 mph (319.9 kmh) finally success, everything stayed together! Now they could start tuning the bike. Due to the extensive checking of the engine the team had to skip the second run on the Friday, and continue on the Saturday. With a little extra ignition timing and some more fuel pressure, the bike ran its best increments until the 1000 feet. There Roel had to shut the throttle as his opponent decided to cross the centre line and threw the timing reflectors into Roel's lane. After analysing the data of the run, the fuel pressure was upped again and the engine was given two degrees more ignition timing, for the last qualifying run. But that did not work. The bike slowed down and they had to go the other way. The team qualified number five in the ladder and had to race against Ton's old bike now owned by Dutchman Job Heezen. For the first elimination round on Sunday they put in less fuel with a higher percentage of nitro. When they fired up the bike to heat it up, the engine sounded very strong. They had to do well as Job Heezen on Ton's old bike was capable of doing 6.60 second passes. When it was their turn both bikes fired up, did their burnouts and went to the start line. At the green light Roel left 0.022 second quicker than Job Heezen but with Job's 6.6817/212.9 (342.6 kmh) and Roel's 6.7981/205.2 (330.2 kmh), Job went over the finish line 0.096 second before him. Although Roel lost, the team left the Pod with a very satisfied feeling that they would be very quickly ready for the 2010 season. They just will make some small changes in the valve train and produce new, stronger valve tappets with over-sized needle bearings. See you at the race track! The Zodiac SuperTwin Top Fuel drag racing team is proudly sponsored by Zodiac International BV, Supertrapp Exhaust Systems, ACCEL Motorcycle Products and Spectro Oils of America and Kibblewhite Precision Machining. The Zodiac SuperTwin Top Fuel drag racing team is proud to use products from Zodiac International BV, Supertrapp Exhaust Systems, ACCEL Motorcycle Products, Spectro Oils of America, Performance Machine Disk Brakes and Wheels, Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems and Flexion/Gates Belt Drive Systems. ©Eurodragster.com Juniors win 3t competition. 15th December: Eurodragster.com News sponsor 3t creative are delighted to announce the winners of their competition to win a free web site. Having received a number of entries from a broad spectrum of racers and teams, the site will be built for the Junior Dragster class. "We received a good number of entries including some from very high profile racers", said Dan Welberry of 3t creative. "To be honest, I wish we could support them all! I would like to wish all those who entered the very best of luck in obtaining sponsorship backing and in their continued efforts to spread the word about this great sport of ours. "The Junior Dragster class proposal was superb! We hadn't expected a class to enter but their desire to see the site come their way was very obvious. They really want to raise the profile of Junior drag racing which can only be a good thing! First and foremost though, I just felt it would be great to put something back into the sport at grass roots level. Junior Dragster is the class where so many big names have cut their teeth in America. Closer to home, current drivers such as the Habermanns and Joe Bond also enjoyed success in the class, before moving up to the big league. We're delighted to be able to support the class and will be doing all we can to promote Junior drag racing through other opportunities throughout the year. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Daren Brett who has a huge vision and passion for the class. His enthusiasm really shone through and we're really looking forward to working with him and the other parents and junior drivers on this project. "I'm also delighted to announce that Daren will be arranging for six Junior Dragsters to be at the Xtreme Wheels Motor Show 2010, at the Haynes International Motor Museum on 12th-13th June. This will be a great opportunity for a wider audience to see these great cars, probably for the first time and witness the broader, family appeal of our sport that may not be known to many." ©Eurodragster.com On behalf of the Junior Dragster class, Daren Brett said "I know that the kids and parents will be absolutely thrilled that the site has been awarded to the Junior Dragster class. This is a fantastic opportunity to further promote this exciting class and to give a reference point for kids in the future, so that they have easy access as to how to get into the sport and its history. To be powered by and have the driving force of 3t creative behind us can only be described as a win-win situation! I cannot take all the credit though, Andy Wheeler and Carl Webb have also been heavily involved in pursuing a win on this competition entry. Having looked at loads of website builders over the past, 3t creative can only be described as a cut above the rest. Their portfolio is a clear-cut demonstration of this with a very prestigious clientele and an easy, clear-cut pricing structure you know exactly what you are getting. You wouldn't put sub-standard parts in a race car but it seems some people would let their business suffer with a poorly-built site. Give your company the leading edge and contact 3t creative!" Don't forget, if you need a web site then 3t's starter packages are available from just £250. Full details can be found at www.3tcreative.com. 3t would like to thank Eurodragster.com for running the competition and wish all their friends in the drag racing community a very Merry Christmas and a fast and safe 2010. Feature: 2009 PRI Show. 
14th December: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Stroud Safety and
Andy Robinson Race Cars is our US
Correspondent Ed O'Connell's report and pictures from the weekend's Performance Racing Industry Show
in Orlando, at which Speedgroup had a presence for the first time to promote the European Championships.
©Eurodragster.com As well as talking to Speedgroup about the European Championships Ed managed to find a number of other interesting people to interview, and even though faced with signs banning photography in the show halls he managed to sneak a few pictures from under his coat. We would of course expect no less from a man wanted by the Swedish police. Click here to read Ed's PRI Show report, or click on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. A big Thank You to Ed for getting the report and pictures to us less than twenty four hours after flying home from Florida to New Hampshire. Who will be King of the Street? 
14th December: A brand new street-legal drag race event hits Santa Pod Raceway as part of the PTM
Show in May 2010. The King of the Street event hosts eight car
categories and two bike categories. All categories will battle it out to take their respective crowns, with the top sixteen cars and top
sixteen bikes headlining along side Santa Pod's HKS Japanese car series and the Euro Sports Compact series on the Sunday of the
PTM Show.
Day one of King of the Street takes place on Friday 7th May, with the track open only for King of the Street drivers and riders when all times will count. Saturday will feature the King of the Street sessions. Any driver or rider wishing to run outside of these sessions will have to pay the normal fee to run in Santa Pod's ever-popular Run What You Brung. The whole duration of the King of the Street will see a spectacular range of cars and bikes, with some mind-blowing times and speeds, with plenty of personal bests at one the best European drag racing venues. ©Eurodragster.com If you would like to sponsor or advertise at King of the Street, please contact Lee Child at LA Performance Services on 01803 554308. "We have plenty of options for different budgets and it would be great to have you on board for the King of the Street" said Lee. "A big thank you to David Lloyd-Jones, Darren Prentice, DJ and the Santa Pod Raceway staff who are an absolute pleasure to work with. Keith Bartlett has a great team and a great venue. My thanks to Keith for letting the King of the Street take place at Santa Pod Raceway. " The big question is: who will take the title of the first ever King of the Street? For details on this event please visit www.kingofthestreet.net. Details for the PTM Show can be found at www.ptmshow.co.uk or www.santapod.com. Swift snippets. 
14th December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com
arrived with no words at all. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then
drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
©Eurodragster.com We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Karl Cooper of Santa Pod Raceway's safety crew. Have a great day, Hightower. 2009 Christmas Card opened. 14th December: We have now opened the 2009 Eurodragster.com Christmas Card, which you can read by clicking here or by clicking on the 2009 Christmas Card link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com If you would like to send a Christmas message to your fellow readers, fans, fellow racers, favourite racer or race official or indeed anyone (Even us - Ed) then drop an E-Mail to eurodragster.xmas@btinternet.com and we'll add it to the Christmas Card as soon as we can. We would prefer words to images, but if you do send an image then to save your editing team aggravation please send it as a .JPG or a .GIF attachment rather than embedding it within a Word document or PDF file. Feature: Hot Rods and Hot Boats. 
13th December: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Stroud Safety and
Andy Robinson Race Cars is a pair
of mini-features from the Goodguys Hot Rod Show in Scottsdale, Arizona and the IHBA Final at Firebird in Phoenix,
submitted by Shaun Saunders and Jeff Rainbird respectively.
©Eurodragster.com Click here to read Shaun's and Jeff's hot rod and drag boat reports, or click on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. VWDRC winners honoured. 13th December: The Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Annual General Meeting took place on Sunday 6th December including presentations to the 2009 Champions and special award winners, writes Abi Tether. The Awards went to: 
2009 VW Pro ChampionshipWinner: James Hodson Runner-up: Rich Merriman 2009 VW Sportsman Championship Winner: Lucy Matthews Runner-up: Russ Weir ©Eurodragster.com Sir Brian Burrows Rookie Driver of the Year Lucy Matthews Wagenmaster (Driver of the Year) Lucy Matthews RNJ Motorsport Car of the Year Rich Merriman Becky Sutton Memorial Award (services to VWDRC) Abi Tether Svenssons launch new web site. 13th December: After a great season and a lot of questions and comments from people all around the world regarding their bike and the team, Peter and Sören Svensson of Sweden's Team Kendall Top Fuel Bike team thought that it was time to replace their old web site with a new one, to share some of the great moments from racing the quickest Top Fuel Bike outside the USA: 
Our new web site at www.billetracing.se has been created with a lot of help
from different persons providing us with video sequences and photos from all four races that we attended in 2009.
Special thanks to everyone who made the web site possible and mainly these two guys: Tony Zetterqvist, our good friend who has put down an endless amount of hours to make it look as great as it does. He made the basic lay out and the main parts of the programming work; PiPPi, another good friend who is the well-known commentator at all of the races on the UEM tour in the last four years. He made a fantastic job designing all the bits and pieces both in HMTL and whatever it might be called. Thanks to Ivan Sansom, Rose Hughes, Tony Zetterqvist, Petrana Zetterqvist, Stefan Boman and Elin Svensson who provided us with great photos and videos for the web site. Thanks also to Scott Bathurst at Classic Graphix who let us use and change the artwork of the great looking T-shirt which his company designed and produced for us. This T-shirt will be available once again within a week after we have received the second batch from California. ©Eurodragster.com Manners' 2010 plans need you... 12th December: Ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Cosmo Residences has been in touch with news of his 2010 plans as well as a plea for suggestions from Eurodragster.com readers: First, as we finished ninth in the nation in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragsrer class our car will get to wear a number nine in 2010. We have put together a tentitive 2010 race schedule and are currently looking at a total of twenty four races. This is made up of nine NHRA National events, five NHRA home Division events, two NHRA out of Division events and eight IHRA Pro Fuel events. The Cosmo team has been selected as one of eight teams which will run in Pro Fuel. This is a new new class for IHRA, in which we are are allowed to run 100% nitro and clutch management so we could well get into the fours at 300 mph. The IHRA National events cover two days and are called Nitro Jam. There will be no qualifying, just straight racing with a full race on both days. The IHRA is trying to make the event more exciting for the less than devout drag racing fans. It should be an exciting event. ©Eurodragster.com The promoters are insisting that cars are named (like the Monster Truck programme) so we are trying to come up with a name and theme. We are thinking along the lines of Mad Dogs and an Englishman, but what do we call the car? I have a really nice logo I had done some time ago of a rabid bulldog with a Union Jack tongue which we could use. Another thought is calling the car Dragula - any buxom wenches wanting their necks bitten could be crew members. If anyone has any thoughts on either of these themes or some others I'd love to hear them. If you have any thoughts then please drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com and we'll pass them on to Mike. Swift snippets. 12th December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with no words at all. If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. ©Eurodragster.com 
The ladies and gentlemen of Speedgroup are hard at work promoting European drag racing at the PRI Show in Orlando as this shot sent by our US correspondent Ed O'Connell shows (above right). By all accounts Ed has also been working very hard and managed to find a number of variety of interviewees so stay tuned for his report which we expect to post in the next couple of days. In the meantime you can check out a PRI report on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. UK photo-journalist and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Andy Willsheer starred in the media around the world yesterday as the story of his close encounter with Steve Gasparrelli's Top Alcohol FC at Pomona made the pages of a number of newspapers and on-line news services courtesy of a press agency. Given Willsheer's legendary views on diversity we were not at all to find him in the Daily Mail, whose on-line version of the story you can check out by clicking here, but reports have also come in of appearances in the media in Sweden and the USA. Paul Marston tells us that his office@pmracing.fsnet.co.uk E-Mail address has been lost courtesy of his ISP. If you have sent enquiries to the office address about the PMR Drag Race Driving School, passenger rides, crew experience or any other matter and not had a reply then please re-send your E-Mail to paul@paulmarstonracing.fsnet.co.uk. Supercharged Outlaws presentation. 12th December: Dave McKenzie tells us that following problems securing a venue, the UK Supercharged Outlaws have now arranged their 2009 presentation and AGM. For one year only the presentation and AGM will take place pre-season rather than post-season: The presentation and AGM will be at the Himley Hotel in Dudley at 7:00 om on Saturday 13th March 2010. The AGM will take place at the same venue at 11:00 am that day. ©Eurodragster.com The AGM is open to anyone who has any interest in running with the Supercharged Outlaws so please come along on the day and see what we are going to be doing in 2010. We will then be having an afternoon in the bar to socialise before going into the presentation, but if you only want to come along for the AGM then that is fine by us. Evening entertainment is provided along with food. We are all looking forward to 2010 and this will be a great start to the season without our cars. Tickets are £25 and are strictly limited so please get yours booked from either Lee Gallimore or myself. There are also rooms available at the Himley Hotel priced at £55 per double room including breakfast. These are going fast so reserve yours now. For more information check out our web site at www.supercharged-outlaws.co.uk. The Supercharged Outlaws would like to wish all the staff at Eurodragster.com and all our friends and track people a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year (Thanks - Ed). Modeller seeks Gloworm help. 
12th December: Keen modeller Gareth Robinson is seeking the help of his fellow
Eurodragster.com readers with his latest project.
"I have now started on a model of the 1970s Santa Pod Gloworm Capri Funny Car", says Gareth. "I have managed to source a decent Capri model to start with (right), but I need to ask the readers of Eurodragster.com if they can help me with a little more research and information on the car. I have managed to track down a fair few pictures of the car to work with, thanks to the members of UK Drag Racing Nostalgia Forum. The body itself is pretty much complete now and almost ready for the paint job. However I am now stuck on the chassis. ©Eurodragster.com "The original plan was to create a set of drawings to follow by using a Corgi model, but on closer inspection the model is only a simplified version and does not show the chassis correctly. If any reader could supply me with pictures or any information about the car without the body, so that I can work out how the rear end of the chassis looked, I would be most grateful. "I will produce the graphics myself. If anyone as a close up of the 'Gloworm' logo I would be most grateful for that as well. I would like to wish all the staff and readers of Eurodragster.com a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (Thanks - Ed)." If you can help Gareth then please drop him a line at vbocgareth@hotmail.co.uk. Welcome Topspeed Automotive. 
10th December: We are very pleased to welcome Topspeed Automotive as a sponsor of
Eurodragster.com News.
B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer Bill Macdermid and partner Vinnie recently bought Topspeed, a 1200 square foot car accessory shop in New Haw in Surrey, when the previous owner retired. "The shop has been running successfully since 1969", says Bill. "Vinnie and I are really focused on keeping up the excellent service. "We are agents for and deal with companies such as Wynns, Millers Oils, K&N, Kenlowe, NGK Plugs, Silicone Hoses, Draper, TCI, Felpro, Aeromotive, Taylors, Autoglym, Smart Wax, Meguiars, Mr Gasket, Power Pour, Fram Filters, Holley pumps, some MSD, Autometer, dress up kits, line-locks, trans coolers, Lucas Oils and Yuasa car batteries to name but a few of the many brands we deal with. We also have a large stock of Jada muscle and VW car models and service parts for your everyday car. ©Eurodragster.com "The latest CTEK Smart Battery Chargers are now in stock at great prices. These are the only chargers which will fully charge Optima Batteries, and were actually designed for that task! With Pit and Paddock equipment and weekend racing consumables in stock, we're well placed to provide a complete service for race teams in the coming seasons, even bringing pre-orders to the track. "We are main agents for Valvoline Oil and to celebrate the launch of our new web site at www.topspeedparts.co.uk we can offer any Eurodragster.com reader and drag racer fantastic deals on Valvoline Racing VR 1 20/50, from one litre of oil up to a 205-litre drum and we can deliver the drums carriage-free anywhere in mainland UK. Please call the shop on 01932 341700 or visit us at 17-19 The Broadway, New Haw, Surrey KT15 3EU. "We are looking forward to racing in Street Eliminator in 2010 in Topspeed livery." We would like to say a big Thank You to Bill and Vinnie for their support, and we are very pleased that we are adding yet another sponsor which helps to ensures that anything which our readers need from a spark plug to a turn-key race vehicle can be found from our sponsors here on Eurodragster.com. Take a look around the Topspeed Automotive web site via the banner at left and please be sure to consider Topspeed when buying. Swift snippets. 10th December: Having sold his 9.50 Bike to Martin Walker, the UK's Wayne Saunders will be racing in Super Street Bike in 2010 following his purchase of a Seb Domingo NLR Systems bike whilst in the USA. "I hope to have the bike out for some shakedown runs at Easter", Wayne told Eurodragster.com. "I am planning to run the full season including Hockenheim. 2010 will be a steep learning curve but I hope to run in the high sevens." ©Eurodragster.com Stay tuned for an extra treat on Eurodragster.com News this weekend as a couple of Eurodragster.com readers, Shaun Saunders and Jeff Rainbird, have been on their travels and have sent words and pictures from the Goodguys Hot Rod Show in Scottsdale and the IHBA Finals Drag Boat Race in Phoenix. We will be opening the annual Eurodragster.com Christmas Card very shortly so if you would like to send greetings to your fans, fellow racers or indeed the Eurodragster.com staff then drop a line to eurodragster.xmas@btinternet.com. Central Europe update. 10th December: Iced-up car windows and snow on the hilltops mark the coming of winter in Central Europe as does the near total absence of drag racing news. The prizegiving ceremonies have been completed in most of the states and so the shiny awards are already gathering dust in the homes of the winners, writes Paul Fischer of CeDrag.com: Cedrag.com has embarked upon a winter programme of education regarding start-line strategies, this is in response to several people winning break-out races with an ETs at least half a second slower than the index. There's a curious desire to run in a class which is quicker than your car - it seems to be something to do with bragging rights. It's a bit like a Super Gas car with a best of about 9.5 seconds deciding to enter Super Comp. Having attended sixteen events this season in Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Austria and the Czech Republic, it has become clear that staging and dialling in cars has a long way to go. The Czech bikers are the exception with their 10.00 second Street Bike class where they go in for all manner of psychological games and sand-bag like you wouldn't believe. The 2010 race calendar is rapidly filling with thirty four race dates already inked in, maybe a few are more "pencilled", but these are all from Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. We are expecting several more to be added once the Romanian promoters are ready plus the odd additional event from Slovenia and Austria. The so-called "Adria" countries - we are all tired of this "former Yugoslavia" tag - are busy putting dates and venues together but are not yet ready to make an announcement. It is hoped that an new over-arching organisation called "Drag Masters Adria" will be able to pull together some inter-state events to make an Adria championship. We can tell you that, for the first time, this organisation will include bikes into their programme. The Central European drag racing championship looks like being a heads-up affair using the established "Profi" classes which are divided into categories reflecting engine size, induction type and by FWD, RWD and AWD. Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia each plan to hold an event which, together, will form the Central European Championship. Cedrag.com now includes a section we call "Top Guns", in which we are attempting to keep track of the quickest riders and drivers in region. To qualify, the recorded ET must be recent and verifiable as well being run in a competitive situation, we don't include bought-in show cars etc. Currently, Hungarian Chevy Nova Racer Peter Kaldy is the quickest driver with a 9.0 recorded this year, whilst the bikes are led by Czech Super-Street racer Ondřej Klymčiw with a 7.91, also clocked in 2009 with his Hayabusa. There are strong hints that next season Central Europe will start to follow the mainstream racing as seen in the northern states and in the UK. We are aware of several very serious cars being readied for 2010. All are 500 ci and bigger, including two 632 ci powered Chevrolets, and their owners are planning to hit the region with a "G-Force" type show, remember them and Dave Grady? There's high anticipation that some sizeable drag racing shows will be run here next year which will include a real Central European Championship plus a spectacular (by our standards) group of "proper" drag race cars. We live in hope that Peter Kaldy's ET will be knocked clean out of sight - the word is that his own serious upgrade programme may well result in him being the guy to do it. He will have to go some to hold off the blown 632 ci Camaro of Heinz Schenk, and others are knocking on the door. Today's (Thursday's) update on Cedrag.com includes news of yet another hot contender as Austrian Heinz Peter Amerer is waiting for his new Suncoast-built Corvette to arrive from Texas. ©Eurodragster.com Another ACAG Patron. 
10th December: The Allard Chrysler
Action Group is pleased to announce that Project
1320 Chair Traci Hrudka has joined Nick Mason as a Patron of the ACAG. With Linda Vaughn as an Honorary
Member, this makes a powerful formal presence with worldwide influence.
Project 1320 has been created by the Quarter Mile Entertainment Foundation with the aim of producing a series of films documenting the sport's history from the perspective of drag racing's pioneers. Chairman of the Foundation is Traci Hrudka whose father and uncle created the Mr Gasket business. The Project 1320 stand at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas featured the Allard Chrysler project and Traci has been a prime mover in raising awareness of the restoration project and getting parts suppliers and others interested in becoming involved. She and her team have also been working hard to finance a swap between the Allard Chrysler dragster and Mooneyes. "For some time I have been conscious of the need to have a strong international element in this project", said ACAG Chair Brian Taylor. "The USA is the home of drag racing and the involvement of American suppliers is vital for success. Since I first made contact with Traci via legendary track announcer Jon Lundberg, she has been an absolute dynamo of enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve. American drag racing fans have taking 'Ally' to their hearts and much of that is down to Traci Hrudka and her co-directors. Nick and myself are really pleased that Traci has accepted this more formal role that further cements our relationship with the American drag racing world”. On accepting the role, Traci Hrudka said "I would be deeply, deeply honoured to wear that badge for the ACAG and Ally. I adore this relationship we have already formed and I am very committed to seeing it through on this side of the pond. The Project 1320 directors thought it was absolutely terrific and were very excited for the distinguished honour to be bestowed upon me as well as the Project 1320 team. "I already feel very much a part of your family as we have been welcomed must generously, and to have that trust that the family is putting one of their children in our hands is most rewarding. Be very assured that Ally and your organization will be handled with the utmost of care and be embraced as one of our own children." ©Eurodragster.com eXplosion calendar update. 9th December: Jeroen Dondorp has been in touch to confirm the dates of the eXplosion Drag Racing Club's events at Drachten Airfield, The Netherlands, in 2010. "There is no longer a reserve date for the Dutch Finals; it is now definitely taking place on 20th-22nd August", says Jeroen. The 2010 eXplosion calendar is now set: ©Eurodragster.com 18th-20th June: Drachten Nationals 9th-11th July: Drachten Internationals 20th-22nd August: Dutch Finals For more information check out the Club's official web site at www.explosiondragracing.com. Leanders Clutch expanding. 9th December: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Leanders Clutch have announced a new clutch model, to make its début at this weekend's PRI Show, and an agent in Australia. Mark Brew of Pro Force Motorsports is the new name in the Leanders Clutch team. He will sell and service Leanders Clutches for the Australian market. Besides servicing and tuning race cars Mark also races his own Top Alcohol Funny Car in the Australian Drag Racing Championship. Leanders Clutch is to release a brand new 7" four-disc clutch which has been tested with great success in Randy Weatherford's Pro Nitrous car. This clutch will be on display during the PRI show in Orlando from tomorrow until Saturday together with the existing 6 1/8" Pro Stock and 11" Alcohol / Pro Mod / Outlaw clutches. You can visit Leanders Clutch in booth #2143 at PRI. ©Eurodragster.com Leanders Clutch has had a successful first season of racing with their customers finishing in the top three places in the 2009 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Championship and winning the 2009 FIA European Pro Modified Championship. Leanders customers also set European ET and speed records this season. In the USA, Leanders customer Todd Tutterow won the ADRL Pro Extreme Championship whilst Brad Personett clocked the best-ever ET and speed for a turbocharged Pro Mod. For more information contact: Leanders Clutch Europe (Sweden) Web site: www.leandersclutch.com E-Mail: info@leandersclutch.com Telephone: +46 70 594 1776 or +46 70 346 7280 Leanders Clutch USA (Jeff Prock) E-Mail: jeffprock@appliednitroustechnology.com Telephone: +1 423 921 9540 Leanders Clutch Australia (Mark Brew, Pro Force Motorsports) E-Mail: pro.force@optusnet.com.au Telephone: +61 7 3297 7397 Swift snippets. 
9th December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of
Eurodragster.com came with the words "Who is sitting in this brand new Pro Mod?". If you know more,
or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Tickets are still available for the UK National Championships Dinner Dance which takes place at the Park Inn Hotel in Northampton on Saturday 6th February 2010. Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall tells us that, strange as it sounds, she has had instances of hotel rooms being booked but then attendees actually forgetting to book their Dinner Dance tickets. So to make sure that is not you, check out full details about the Dinner Dance on our news update of 28th September. We have two birthdays for you today. First up is a very Happy Birthday to honorary Eurodragster.com staff member, track announcer, raconteur, epicure, legend in his own downtime and sub-trouser tights-wearing all-round good guy Christer Abrahamson. Happy Birthday, too, to UK Sportsman ET racer and trackside photographer Nigel Holland. Lost somewhere in our Spam folder were Happy Birthdays for 7th (Monday) to Eurodragster.com Swap Meet sponsor Jeff Bull and for 3rd (Thursday) to David Anniwell of Santa Pod Raceway's Tech Crew. Hope you had great days guys. Our good friend, bike photo-journalist Steve Moxley attended the recent National Motorcycle Show at the NEC, Birmingham, and kindly sent us pictures of the bikes representing drag racing, namely the Eastman and Hand Comp Bike The Storm which is ridden by Lorcan Parnell, Brian Udall's Supertwin Gas bike, Phil Wood's Super Street Bike, and Steve Carey's Purple Princess Top Fuel Bike. ©Eurodragster.com 
Can you write race reports? Can you take or have access to decent photographs? Bill Pratt's excellent and world-famous web site Draglist.com is looking for a correspondent to supply coverage of the 2010 UK and possibly European seasons. The two European events at Santa Pod are the priority, but other events will also be of interest to the readers of Draglist. You don't need to be a professional nor to have trackside access (So don't see it as a means just to obtain that - Ed), just the ability to write interesting and informative reports. For more information contact Phil Cottingham at phil.cottingham@googlemail.com. A new Tree for Christmas. 9th December: Eurodragster.com News sponsor RaceAmerica Corporation has announced details of several new products which will launch at this week's Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show in Orlando, Florida, including a new state-of-the-art Christmas Tree. The new generation timing tree will incorporate over 1300 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of incandescent filaments, providing an environmentally cleaner and Lower Energy Demand product. The new Tree was purposely designed for the latest technology. Instead of just replacing the current system with retrofitted bulbs, the new tree was designed from the ground up in order to take advantage of the positive characteristics of LEDs, including a 98% reduction in energy consumption. "RaceAmerica could have taken the easy road and just offered retrofitted LED bulbs for the current tree, however as an industry leader our customers expect more from us", said Dennis Laczny, President and co-owner of RaceAmerica. "We also know the current LED retrofit bulbs are expensive for customers to replace and use more energy than our DTSS Tree. Additionally, the power requirements for Trees made for standard bulbs cause the benefit of extended lamp life of LED floodlights to be lost, therefore we needed to move the drag tree technology forward." ©Eurodragster.com The new Christmas Tree will be the first of its kind planned to operate totally with solid-state materials. The modern design provides the finished product with a sleek look which naturally shields the driver from the opposing lane's signals. The well thought out construction provides for a lightweight tree that is easily transported. The tree operates on a twelve-volt DC power system with converters to adapt to 110 and 220 volt power supplies. Unlike traditional Trees, the DTSS also contains a microprocessor that helps the tree communicate with RaceAmerica's industry leading race management software and the industry's most advanced sensors / emitters, the Race America Quick-Lock High-Speed Sensors, through a wired or wireless (T-Link) connection. The microprocessor will also allow operators the choice to slow down the LED's illumination to match the lighting profile of traditional incandescent bulbs. The DTSS specifications anticipate changes in government standards and set the benchmark for the industry. The new Tree will make its first public appearance at PRI tomorrow (Thursday) along with RaceAmerica's new corner safety lights and black flag LED displays. The new and current RaceAmerica products will be on display in booth #1514 at the PRI Show. Product will be in available the first quarter of 2010 and pricing programmes will be announced in the coming weeks. More information will be available on the RaceAmerica web site at www.raceamerica.com from tomorrow, or call +1 408 988 6188. The heart is closer to beating... 
8th December: Stu Bradbury of Eurodragster.com News sponsor
US Automotive says that the
Allard Chrysler Action Group have commissioned
Denny Hummel at Booth-Arons Race Engines, the USA's best Hemi builder, to take charge of rebuilding
the dragster's engine.
"I have been in communication with Booth-Arons over the last two weeks putting together the specification of the new power plant so that it is as near as possible to the original", says Stu. "Obviously the Allard had many changes made over its life. As Sydney Allard and his crew gained experience of running this type of dragster, she ended with an engine look and configuration not dissimilar to most of the the Stateside dragsters of the day. It has been decided that the engine should be rebuilt as it was in those final days. ©Eurodragster.com "We have been fortunate still to have some of the original parts actually used on the car such as the Potvin intake manifold, new GMC 6/71 blower, Potvin blower adapter complete with front cover, crank and cam drive gears, blast valve, chrome intake blower tubes, various rubber connection tubes and clips. All these have been collected together and packed at US Automotive and are ready to be shipped to Booth-Arons in Michigan. These parts will be checked, refurbished where necessary, and fitted to the dragster's new engine. "Running 85% methanol and 15% nitro with a special-grind Cacklefest cam, she should be quite a spectacular sight. Our old lady of drag racing will no longer be just a museum exhibit - she is about to burst back into life after forty three years." The Allard Chrysler Action Group web site at www.allardchrysler.org has been updated with Chair Brian Taylor's latest update, two press releases, and links to two video clips. Nosferatu: body needs attention. 
8th December: The UK's Nosferatu Racing
Super Pro ET are pleased to announce and welcome a new sponsor for the 2010 season: Nick Bolton, who owns an excellent body repair shop
near Banbury and who also owns Banbury Auto Colour Match who supply paint, consumables and tools to the auto industries in the area.
"We would also like to welcome Nick's son Dan Bolton who is setting up a new business to supply vinyl graphics for any application to the public
and local businesses", says driver Vince Gibbs. "Dan is also looking to train to become an airbrush artist with an ambition to work on race cars and
also on the human body.
©Eurodragster.com "Nosferatu has been delivered to Nick's workshop where all body repairs will be carried out after our brush with the wall at the European Finals. Once the repairs are completed Nick will also re-apply our satin black basecoat. Following this, the Fearless Count and Dan Bolton will set to work re-applying all of the airbrush graphics for which Nosferatu has become famous, but this time with some ddditions (watch our web site as this unfolds). Dan will then produce and apply new vinyls for the whole car. "Nick's and Dan's businesses can deliver a complete body service for any racer or vehicle owner. So if you need repairs, complete or partial paintwork, paints, consumables, tools or vinyl graphics then Nick and Dan can help. Banbury Auto Colour match have a web site under construction at the moment but can be contacted on 01295 256873. Nick Bolton Body Repairs and Dan Bolton Graphics can be contacted on 01295 711233. "We would also like to once again thank our 2009 sponsors for their support, and and look forward to their continuing sponsorship for the coming season: Hauser Race Cars, Torco Racing Oils, The Gothic Shop, The Dark Cult, and Wipac." Swift snippets. 
8th December: Many thanks to Top Alcohol tuner and Eurodragster.com Will Hanna
for sending us this picture of himself with his wife Kelly Hanna. Here's hoping that you enjoy
someone else calling the shots Will, and again our very best wishes to Will and Kelly for a long and
happy life.
©Eurodragster.com We will be opening the annual Eurodragster.com Christmas Card very shortly so if you would like to send greetings to your fans, fellow racers or indeed the Eurodragster.com staff then drop a line to eurodragster.xmas@btinternet.com. Web site updates. 8th December: In the latest update in his exclusive Racer Blog, Luke Bennett of the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol altered team confirms that race teams do take ten or so minutes off for Christmas, and offers still more Christmas present ideas. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. 
Our good friend Julian Hunt has updated his photographic web site with updates from two events. The first gallery is from
September's VW Action at Santa Pod Raceway and includes pictures of Brian Burrows' outing in the Shockwave
Fuel FC at which Julian thinks Brian "Did bloody well". The second gallery is from the 3rd European Bug In held at the Chimay
'street circuit' in Belgium. "This was a great meeting with the best Nostagia race VWs which Europe has to offer", says Julian.
"A race car was even shipped over from Japan especially for the event. Add to that perfect weather and you've got yourself a
winner". You can take a look at www.julianhunt.net.
B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett has updated the News page of his web site at www.insanecreations.net with an update about a chassis upgrade to his wild Cortina. Ron's update is well worth a read and is accompanied by several pictures of the chassis work. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks to Aidan Smith for letting us know that a broadcast video is now showing on YouTube of ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith's unfortunate stuck-throttle incident at the IHRA event at Rockingham. Check it out at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaEIe0Zl6P8. Thanks also to Christine Calwer for getting in touch to point us to a video update on the NitrOlympX web site. Two clips of the 2009 NitrOlympX are now available at www.nitrolympx.com/gallery?album=nitro-movies-2010. European Championships presentation. 
6th December: Arrangements have been finalised by Speedgroup for the 2009
European Drag Racing Champions to be presented on Saturday 23rd January 2010 at the Conventum Congress Centre
in Örebro, Sweden. The award presentation has been arranged by Speedgroup in connection with the annual Bilsportgalan
and in co-operation with the Swedish Automobile Sports Federation and Bilsport magazine.
Awards will be presented by Speedgroup to the FIA and UEM European Champions as well as to the runners-up and third placed in the five car and three bike classes. If all invited attend then twenty four award winners will be on stage at the same time. The event includes gala dinner, award presentations and entertainment. The 2009 European Champions are all invited: ©Eurodragster.com FIA Top Fuel Dragster - Andy Carter (UK) FIA Top Methanol Dragster - Timo Habermann (D) FIA Top Methanol Funny Car - Ulf Leanders (S) FIA Pro Modified - Mats Eriksson (S) FIA Pro Stock - Jimmy Ålund (S) UEM Top Fuel Bike - Ian King (UK) UEM Super Twin Bike - Per Bengtsson (S) UEM Pro Stock Bike - Ulf Ögge (S) "I have personally been a guest at the annual Bilsportgala several times", says Speedgroup Co-ordinator Åsa Kinnemar. "The awards to Swedish drivers are always presented there. I feel that the Bilsportgala provides the fine setting which our European Championship award winners truly deserve. It is the first time ever we have gathered and awarded the FIA and UEM bike winners at the same gala, and they also get a chance to chat with prominent award winners from other motorsport categories such as rally and touring car. It will be an event of high dignity and we are happy to be included as part of this event by SBF and Bilsport magazine. We will make sure to get back with a report and photos for you to enjoy afterwards!" Swift snippets. 6th December: Earlier on the same day, 23rd January 2010, Speedgroup will also host a conference on site at the Conventum Congress Centre in Örebro. Matters of importance for the 2010 Championship season will be discussed with invited representatives from governing bodies, organisers and teams. An invitation and agenda will shortly be sent to all concerned by CEO Michael Gullqvist. Another note for racers and sponsors: if you are attending the PRI Show this weekend then please drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com. Our US Correspondent Ed O'Connell will be covering PRI for Eurodragster.com and will be pleased to meet you for an interview. ©Eurodragster.com 
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Race track". It could of course be anywhere
so if you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then please drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Xtreme Wheels Motor Show joint organiser and Eurodragster.com sponsor Dan Welberry has been in touch to let us know that a problem with E-Mail addresses appears to have prevented E-Mails getting through from racers volunteering their vehicles for next June's Show. If you wrote to volunteer to appear at Xtreme Wheels and have not heard back from Dan or Bob Glassup then please write again to dan@xtremewheelsshow.co.uk or bob@xtremewheelsshow.co.uk. "We've got an awesome collection coming together", says Dan. "But if there's something sat in a barn or garage which needs to see the light of day again, this is the show to bring it out for! But we will be pleased to hear from any racer." Updated Christmas Gift Mart. 
5th December: If you are looking for a Christmas gift for the drag racer or drag racing
fan in your life, or indeed if you fancy treating yourself, then Eurodragster.com's sponsors and contributors
have the following ideas for you. For fairness we are listing items strictly in the order in which we
received them:
Eurodragster.com News sponsor Simpson Shop Sweden can help your race suit to look and smell better then ever before. Molecule cleans, protects and refreshes your racing suit. Molecule Labs' technical fabric care products protect and care for Nomex fire suits, which must be carefully maintained in order to be fully effective. Molecule Labs has also developed a complete line of products to clean and refresh racing suits, protect them from absorbing fuel, and remove potentially flammable stains and contaminants, all without degrading the suit's protective qualities. There is now no need to send your suit for expensive dry cleaning; you can now clean it yourself with much better results. A Test Package (2 x 0.12L) with Wash and Spot Cleaner is €10, or 100 SEK; a Wash Kit (2 x 0.48L) with Wash and Spot Cleaner is €35, or 350 SEK, or the full Nomex Care kit with Spot Cleaner, Wash, Protector and Refresher is €95, or 950 SEK, all plus shipping. For enquiries or orders check out the Simpson Shop weden web site at www.Simpsonshop.se or call Jan Phersson on +46 706 62 74 00. 
Available from Colin Stevens of C&P UK Nitro is this very fetching range of Gasser T-Shirts. The shirts come in all sizes and are available for £15 plus £2 P+P from Colin at colinhotrodts@btinternet.com or call 07903 313384. ©Eurodragster.com Looking for the perfect gift for the smaller drag racer in the family? Either your resident Junior Dragster racer, fan or girlfriend? Then Ian Turburville has put together a great gift bag which will make their day. You will get a small size Simpson Racing sweatshirt, a small size Simpson Racing T-Shirt and a pair of small Simpson Wrenchers gloves, together with a signed hero card, for just £29.99. "These packs are half price!", says Turbo. "Please don't ask me for these gift packs in larger sizes, these are for the kids only!". To order or for more gift ideas check out www.turboville.co.uk/turbo-7/classifieds.htm. At Christmas or at any time, a photo is a valuable memory. Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe offers photographs of almost any class from the 1970s to date, available from postcard to poster sizes at competitive prices (Less than he charges us - Ed). For details see Roger's web site at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. 
With the season finished and Christmas fast approaching, it's time to really start getting all your presents together, and look no further than Bennett Racing's fantastic ranch of Relentless Fuel Altered merchandise, says Luke Bennett. "We have available key rings, T-shirts, a range of mugs including Ceramic white mug with the same image on each side, a Magic Mug where images are revealed when the mug is filled with hot liquid!, a 15oz ceramic white mug with the one image, and a frosted glass stein which has a single image, mounted photos of the car in a professional black photo holder, a set of coasters, mouse mats, place mats, a huge variety of printed box canvases - these look superb on any bedroom wall! - fridge magnets, massive range of posters, notebooks and of course all feature the NFAA Championship winning Relentless altered. We accept cheques/postal orders and of course PayPal, the easiest and safest way to pay for items. You can of course pay with cash but we advise sending it via special delivery. Then leave it to us, postage is charged at a very sensible rate, but for any questions or queries, please email us at info@bennettracing.co.uk. To see the full range and for details and prices on each please visit www.bennettracing.co.uk/#/merchandise/4533991887. Thanks and have a Merry Christmas from all at Bennett Racing!" For all the wives and girlfriends who don't know what to buy their old man for Christmas, why not get a gift voucher from Eurodragster.com Site Search sponsor Hauser Racing? Available in any value and redeemable against any product sold by HRC, it eliminates the worry of getting the wrong part. Alternatively, HRC still have time to get that perfect gift here as they have an airfreight shipment leaving on Friday 11th, so they should be able to take care of everyone. As usual at Christmas Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars are promoting Ringer's gloves as a great gift. Bob Roberts says "I realise that in the past week I have worn mine while planting a new hedge behind Andy's workshop; while heaving boxes and pallets in a warehouse; while erecting scaffolding and while building stage scenery. The point is they are really good for any kind of job and this year's bargain price is £15.98 including postage. Unfortunately I can't persuade Kate to stock anything except basic black but we do have a wide range of sizes in stock. They might not be the most exciting present but I guarantee they will get some use. Just go to the ARRC web site at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk and you'll find them in our PayPal shop together with our Christmas special broken engine bits." 
Don’t forget to look at the Merchandise page of the Allard Chrysler Action Group web site at www.allardchrysler.org for shirts, prints and copies of Crazy Horses. All profits go towards the restoration fund and are equally matched by sponsor Performance Direct Insurance. Bill McDermid's Topspeed Automotive is now stocking the awesome Jada models ranging from muscle cars, hot rods and VWs to pick-ups to minis. "They make ideal little Christmas pressies, all at £20 plus shipping", says Bill. "We also have the latest CTEK battery chargers in stock especially designed to properly charge up your Optima batteries at 14.7 volts. You can buy over the phone on 01932 341700." 
Paul Marston Racing have packages available for 2010 to compete on an arrive and drive basis in one of their awesome doorslammers or dragster. You can compete at one event or for the whole UK Championship Series. Paul Marston Racing provides a prepared, competitive proven race car to compete in Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Pro ET, Super Pro ET, or other classes upon application. Costs for a fully inclusive package including entry and fuel are from £1395. The PMR Drag Race Driving School, based at Santa Pod Raceway, is in its eighth year and has seen its share of successful drivers including three UK National Champions. Weather it's just a taster, or the start of a promising career in drag racing, this is where you should start. Day courses to competition licence standard are available from £795 inclusive. All vouchers are valid until used and the course completed, no time limit. PMR also offers the fastest doorslammer rides in the country! Not for the faint-hearted, this is the real deal - the chance to experience what it's really like to feel the relentless acceleration of a 700 bhp fire-breathing monster. Nothing hooks harder, nothing goes faster than a drag race doorslammer. You have been warned, this really is a once in a lifetime experience, not to be missed. If you are an adrenaline junkie stand by for your ultimate fix. Prices from £199 plus gate entry on the day and are purchased as a gift certificate which is valid until used. New for 2010, due to overwhelming demand a chance to join the PMR Crew Experience for a day at a UK National Event. An opportunity to get involved and see what it's really like which would suit an avid drag race fan who thirsts for more technical knowledge and to be where the action is. The person would be supervised at all times and would be on light duties, but has the opportunity to see what it takes from the inside of a National Championship-winning team. Priced at £49 per day the experience includes a commemorative certificate including a picture with the crew. It comes in the form of a gift certificate which it valid until used. For details of all of the above please contact Paul Marston Racing on 07831 650230 or E-Mail paul@paulmarstonracing.fsnet.co.uk. Eclipsephotos are taking orders for Christmas delivery from this year's events. "I can take orders for canvas prints up to seven days before Christmas and guarantee delivery if the postmen don't let me down", says Stephen Wexler. "If you can't see your file or images on the web site at www.eclipsephotos.co.uk and let me know which events you attended and the dates and I will put up your photos in their own file for you to have a look and make a choice. We can have canvases printed at most common sizes and some others, canvas montages need a little longer time but I can get them done. Please phone me on 07894 550032 or E-Mail stephen@eclipsephotos.co.uk for more details and pricing." Web site updates. 5th December: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, UK Top Methanol Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn recounts his racing experiences driving Larry Miersch's injected-nitro dragster at the NHRA Finals at Pomona. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Obsession returns to Xtreme Wheels. 
4th December: UK Super Modified racer Craig Gibbs has confirmed that the Gibbs family's
Obsession Camaro will be on display at the Xtreme Wheels Motor Show at the Haynes Museum in June 2010.
"As many will remember, Obsession as she is now recognised made her début at the very first Xtreme Wheels show at Alexandra Palace in 2004" (right), says Craig. "It is a great honour to be able to display her once again at what will without doubt be one of if not the most prestigious showings of horsepower and engineering genius. As you know we are sitting out next year, but we still wanted something on which to focus and to look forward to, and I am absolutely thrilled that we have been given this opportunity. ©Eurodragster.com "I have absolutely no doubt that the team of Bob Glassup, Dan Welberry and everyone else involved in next year's show will do us all proud and put on what is already shaping up to be the show of all shows at a fantastic venue. I wish Bob and Dan all the very best with the Show, and would like to thank them for keeping the vision alive." Congratulations are in order to Craig and Louise on the birth of their son Bradley Mark Gibbs on Tuesday morning. "I would like to thank everyone for all of their kind words and support", says Craig. "Mum and Bradley are absolutely fine, and it's great to have them home." Swift snippets. 
4th December: Gordon Northway tells us that his Cavalier The Edge has been
wrapped and is ready for its motor, which has been completed by John Sleath and which will be picked up
next week. "We should have the car ready for testing by the end of January", says Gordon.
Our best wishes to UK Super Pro ET racer Martyn 'Syd' Jones whom Crew Chief Crunch tells us is in hospital in Brussels after suffering a pulmonary embolism possibly caused by a deep vein thrombosis on his flight home from Pomona. "All best wishes to Syd from Scott, Dom and I, and we hope he gets well soon", says Crunch. "We have got a lot of work to do mending his dragster so we need him back to crack the whip." ©Eurodragster.com 
When Racepak introduced their new Sportsman datalogger earlier in the year it was offered at a special reduced price. Bob
Roberts of Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars
tells us that the offer comes to an end on 31st December. "If racers are planning to install a new logger for next season then now is the
time to buy", says Bob. "E-Mail robinson-racecar@yahoo.co.uk
or call 01256 880589."Puma in the press. 
4th December: Puma Engineering, manufacturers of the quickest and fastest motorcycle engines in the world,
are the subject of a great ten-page article in the current edition of Race Engine Technology.
Puma Engineering is owned by former European Supertwin Champion Gerard Willemse and current European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King and has been expanding rapidly over the last two years. Puma now offers complete bespoke nitro-powered Top Fuel Bikes and nitro twins alongside its traditional engine and components portfolio. Published eight times a year, Race Engine Technology is a unique, high-quality review of contemporary racing powertrain technology. It is widely read by design and development engineers and others involved professionally in this worldwide industry and just as avidly by those interested in a subject that has a huge enthusiast following. It reaches the majority of all competition engine builders right across the globe with forty per cent of its readership in the US. Single issues are available for purchase at www.highpowermedia.com. ©Eurodragster.com Christmas updates. 4th December: Due to a couple of tardily-arriving E-Mails we will be running Christmas Gift Mart Part 2 on tomorrow's (Saturday's) update. This will be the last Gift Mart before Christmas so if you would like to advertise your wares then send brief details and, optionally, a picture to eurodragster.com@btinternet.com by midnight UK today. Any piece which arrives late will be held until the next Christmas Gift Mart in December 2010. ©Eurodragster.com We will be opening the annual Eurodragster.com Christmas Card very shortly so if you would like to send greetings to your fans, fellow racers or indeed the Eurodragster.com staff then drop a line to eurodragster.xmas@btinternet.com. Web site updates. 4th December: The 200 mph Bike Forum hosts two very popular internet radio shows, on Thursday and Friday evenings, and the shows now have their own web site at www.200mphradio.weebly.com. As well as a link to the broadcast stream (on the Links page) the site features information about the shows, gallery, blog and more. DJ Flappy hosts his weekly show at 8:00 pm UK this evening so give it a go. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks to Brian Taylor for letting us know that the Allard Chrysler Action Group is the subject of an excellent feature on the US' MoparMax web site at www.moparmax.com/features/2009/iv_12-allard-1.html. Paranoia goes home. 3rd December: The more eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that Martin Holgate had put the Jag-powered nostalgia altered Paranoia up for sale on our Jeff Bull Swap Meet. Martin also owns a Harley-powered drag bike and wants to spend more time running it but decided that it wasn't possible with the car as well so, after fourteen years of ownership, he decided to sell Paranoia. Martin has had quite a lot of interest in the car, including a well-known motoring museum, but it can now be announced that Martin has sold the car to a new owner - although it will still only have had three different owners in all the years. The new owner of the car is Alan Loten, one of its original builders back in 1980. Alan has maintained an interest in the car since he retired from racing some twenty five years ago and when it came up for sale just before its thirtieth anniversary year he decided it would be a good time to buy it back. ©Eurodragster.com "I always felt I had unfinished business with the car", says Alan. "Unfortunately prior commitments mean that opportunities to run the car next year may be limited. I may do some of the Wild Bunch rounds but probably won't decide till after completing some test runs. I have also to try and catch up on twenty five years of technology, as the car is a vastly more complicated beast now than it was back in the 1980s. I will also need to find out whether or not I can still cut a good light! "I look forward to seeing you all at the strip and perhaps hooking up again with some old friends." Speedgroup launch FIA/UEM DVD. 
3rd December: Speedgroup have announced that the 2009 European Championships Season
Review DVD is now ready for mail order from Santa Pod Raceway and Summer on Wheels.
The DVD covers every Championship round of every class in both FIA and FIM/UEM Championships and comes in at just over four hours. Orders are now being accepted by Santa Pod Raceway at www.santapod.com or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828) and in Sweden by Summer on Wheels at www.summeronwheels.com (also shipping to other countries). ©Eurodragster.com "Speedgroup does not plan to handle orders, we would rather leave that to the pros", says Speedgroup Co-ordinator Åsa Kinnemar. "That is why we have chosen two well-known distributors to handle sales of the European Drag Racing Championship DVDs. Both are fast and eager to serve customers, therefore delivery in time for Christmas is still an option." The deadline for ordering DVDs and other merchandise from Santa Pod Raceway is 9:00 am next Wednesday, 9th December. Santa Pod will endeavour to dispatch DVDs in time for Christmas but cannot make any guarantees until stock arrives. 
Huxleys' new ride progressing.3rd December: Brian Huxley tells us that the Huxley's newly-acquired 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback is coming along nicely: The chassis work has nearly been finished by Marc of Huxley Motorsport, specialist in chassis fabrications and custom work (07821 295969). The chassis had to be modified because the guy who drove it the States was only 5' 6" tall and Lee and I are 6' 2" plus, so the Funny Car cage had to be redone and the driver's seat taken back so that we could fit in the car comfortably. ©Eurodragster.com The 514 ci Big Block is being put together by ex-Pro Mod racer Tim Hines. The body is all fibreglass built by US Body Source in the USA. We are having a family discussion on what colour the car should be, and then it will be resprayed by Wayne of Mustang Restorations UK in Weston Super Mare (01934 525456). It's a case of getting all the parts of the jigsaw together, but we're getting there. Hopefully we'll be ready for Easter 2010 - fingers crossed. Venom into 2010. 3rd December: It's a hectic off-season in the Snake Pit after the unfortunate incident with the Venom Fuel Altered at the FIA European Finals, writes Tony Betts: Venom was stripped naked and taken to FGR Motorsport (07515 656801) for an evaluation for 2010. With advice from alcohol Guru Charlie Draper it was decided that due to the high roll cage we would be limited if the opportunity came to put a Funny Car body on it. It was decided to front-end Venom, replace the front roll bar and put her up for sale with or without the Mark Williams aluminum axle. Anyone interested please call me on 07768 106795 or Jason at FGR Motorsport. With the above in mind it was decided to build a 10.5 SFI nitro Funny Car chassis which would meet any requirements which funds would allow. Jason Phelps is well underway on the chassis and it's looking awesome. There is a new Strange top loader on its way over which will handle the power to the rear tyres. There are also a few trick details being included in the chassis. The fibreglass master that is Roy Phelps is taking care of the bodywork for FGR Motorsport. This includes putting the arches back to their original position and losing the skirts off the side. This should give Venom a much better look. Between Jason, Roy and Dave Bryant I have every confidence that Venom will come back better and faster than before. To add to the show that is Venom Racing, a 1955 Chevy pick-up is being built by Ian Tucker (07782 305891). This includes a laser cut trick chassis, stainless front and rear suspension from Tim at Tim's Hot Rods and a Viper V10 courtesy of Peter at Peter's Garage who can supply any American cars or parts you require. The interior will be tricked out by Pete Malmsjo (01371 850502) and the paint, which will be bright with ghost snake skin flames, will also be done by Ian Tucker. This will serve as our support vehicle at all races and shows in 2010. ©Eurodragster.com All of the above will give the Venom crew a first class car to go with their first class approach to drag racing and spectators. Even when the chips have been down this awesome crew have taken the time to chat with spectators and answer any questions they may have. Over the last three years the crew has built up a rapport with the spectators, or should I say extended crew, which will last forever. 2010 will be our tenth year in partnership with Teng Tools and they will be making a Venom toolbox to mark the occasion. Anyone interested please contact Teng Tools on 01525 711500. Already confirmed for 2010 are Signorama (vinyl wraps), NGK Spark Plugs, Super Power Unlimited (superchargers and engine builds), JA Mackenzie Haulage, MHD Group Ltd (abseil and sealant works). If anyone has considered forming a partnership within drag racing then Venom Racing can offer a great deal at a fraction of the cost of other motorsport. If you would like your company logo on all of the Venom vehicles as well as a link from our web site to yours then please contact either myself on 07768 106795 or Ken Macritchie on 07877 475849. Linda Vaughn joins ACAG. 
3rd December: In 1961, just as Sydney Allard was testing the Allard Chrysler Dragster,
a young American girl had just won the Miss Atlanta Raceway title. She went on to win many more titles
and is probably most well known as Miss Golden Hurst Shifter, a position she first gained in 1966. She
has become one of the sport's most enduring and endearing personalities, promoting drag racing and
the companies she worked for with great enthusiasm and professionalism. In the late 1980s she became
Vice President, Public Relations for the Mr Gasket Performance Group who then owned Hurst Industries.
That woman is SEMA Hall of Fame member Linda Vaughn. Today Linda makes appearances at many car shows and automotive races, no longer as a race queen but as a guest of honour, signing autographs and greeting legions of her fans. And in recent years she has been elected into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame. ©Eurodragster.com Linda has graciously accepted Honorary Membership of the Allard Chrysler Action Group who have been approved by the car's owners, the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, to manage the restoration project. She is already actively involved with ACAG approved engine builders Booth Arons, persuading parts manufacturers to donate products as the engine is being built. Along with Traci Hrudka and the Project 1320 team she is also raising awareness in the prospect of bringing together the two cars which kick-started European drag racing in 1963: the Allard Chrysler and the Dean Moon's Mooneyes dragster. "Things have been happening very quickly during the last few weeks but when I heard that Linda was taking a personal interest in our project I was really excited", said ACAG Chair Brian Taylor. "This lady is not only a very nice person, she has huge horsepower in the industry. It really is an honour to welcome her to our group." "I'm so pleased to be able to help out with this important project, said Linda Vaughn. "Until now I didn't realise that Sydney's first dragster was born just as I was starting out on my career in drag racing, so that makes it extra special. I'm so looking forward to seeing and hearing the Allard Chrysler and Mooneyes side by side with flames coming from the headers. That's real nostalgia." Swift snippets. 3rd December: We know that we have keen fishermen amongst the Eurodragster.com readership and Marc Fossey has been in touch to offer Eurodragster.com readers a £50 discount on fishing holidays on John Clift and Marc's fishing lake at La Petite Martiniere in France. The one and a half acre lake is stocked with carp, tench, catfish and roach amongst others and accommodation is available on site. For more information or to book on-line check out the Carp Fishing Mayenne web site at www.carpfishingmayenne.com. To get your £50 discount please mention Eurodragster.com when booking. ©Eurodragster.com SE stars honoured. 
3rd December: The B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator
awards party was a resounding success
with almost a hundred racers, members, crew and families in attendance, writes 2009 Champion Colin Lazenby. Paul Venners and glamorous
guest played host for the evening and following a sumptuous three-course meal the presentations themselves began.
First up was the Mark O'Hanlon Spirit of Street Eliminator Award. This is a members-only vote and votes are adjudicated by MSA Tech Inspector Mark Norton. Jeff Meads was the very deserving recipient - well done Jeff. This year's Hardest Launching award went to Ian 'Fatty' Hook with his FB Racing '34 F*rd having found very quick form with his new all aluminium 598 ci motor recording a staggering 1.24 sixty foot time. A themed Christmas Tree staging light trophy (sponsored by the SE) will take up pride of place in his trophy cabinet. On to the top five Championship finishers: number five, and taking a share in the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts prize money was Scotland's Davie Murdoch, Davie also won the Most Improved award having run through the season with continuing Personal Bests, culminating in an astounding 8.89. Davie also won an SE-sponsored staging light trophy and four embroidered crew shirts, courtesy of Embroidery Solutions. Many thanks to Lisa and Paddy for all their hard work. In fourth place was Alex McIntosh, who finally returned to his previous eight-second form late on in the year with his always beautifully turned out ProChargered Mustang. He too took a share in the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts funds. ©Eurodragster.com In third place was Mats Andersson with his pretty little Opel GT. Mats took home a Wright Guards Security trophy, courtesy of Matthew Wright, and a share of the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts cash. Mats also took home a framed picture courtesy of Eurodragster.com. Runner-up was Jeff Meads, a very worthy opponent to this year's Champion. Jeff ran a Personal Best of 8.25 with his wheelstanding F*rd Pop and for his second place position he took home a trophy, courtesy of Wright Guards Security, the Spirit award - his return following big valvetrain damage at the European Finals took tremendous dedication to come back and this makes for worthy future champions. Jeff also took home a great framed picture from Eurodragster.com, and a share in the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts prize fund - well done to Jeff Meads and team. And the winner in the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Championship was Colin 'CJ' Lazenby. The team had had their troubles, missing out on at least two Cruises but obviously not enough trouble to deter them from their focused efforts on this year's Championship. Colin is now a three-time SE Champion and he parks his big '56 having secured a long-time-coming Personal Best of 7.708. He won himself a fantastic trophy courtesy of Wright Guards Security, which he tells us this will take pride of place in his cluttered trophy cabinet. Colin also won himself the Perfect Light award, sponsored by SE, for his average 0.042 lights together with a framed picture courtesy of Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell and a share in the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts prize fund. Dave and Helen from Powerpoint Communications were on hand to offering the SE racers some very special deals on their DVDs on the night. Ann-Marie Lazenby has asked that we personally thank both Helen and Dave for all their support and for hard work throughout the season. The SE would like to thank all sponsors for this year, what they provide in support and prizes is part of what makes the SE class so great. For the racers, and their supporters in the stands, and with another load of new cars for 2010 already rumoured, roll on SE 2010. Pictures courtesy and ©Matt Woods, M Woods Photography 2009 Powerpoint DVDs review. 2nd December: For over ten years now, David Coleman and Helen Todd of Powerpoint Communications in association with Zeon TV have produced high quality DVDs of UK Drag Racing. This year's crop of six DVDs shows that the guys of Quartermile High are not content to rest on their laurels and have set a higher than ever standard. If you buy any of the Quartermile High DVDs you will see top-quality pictures, perfect editing and consistently accurate captions. Entertaining commentary and interviews on all DVDs are from Paul Venners. Each DVD runs for an hour and thirty five minutes and is filmed in 16:9 widescreen using state of the art equipment. The Nitro Warriors DVD features the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association. The Quartermile High eye for detail shows each start line drama in vivid detail. Multiple camera angles down the track and copious replays enable each wayward pass to be viewed closer than ever. Sound is a key feature of blown nitro and methanol racing and this DVD reproduces the cackle and roar faithfully. There are workshop visits to the Venom, Relentless, Felstead, Best and Lotsabeera and Motor Psycho teams which show the efforts the teams have to make away from the track. Super slo-mo shots courtesy of Olympus cameras show the tyre distortion on the launch as never before but the highlight has to be the on-board footage with Bob Glassup looking both forward and backward on a guardrail-kissing pass. Hardcore Street features B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator which has been one of the most popular classes for over a decade. There were eight rounds in 2009 and this DVD covers all of them at both Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways. The number of new cars in the class is up for 2009 with the standard of engineering high, but the mechanical cost of running cars this hard is evident as the season progresses. Quartermile High's excellent in-car footage brings a completely new perspective on the sport. One of the highlights is in-car footage with the camera showing eventual champion Colin Lazenby's facial expression in a run, concluding with wife Ann-Marie informing him that not all the car completed the run (a panel had fallen off). The workshop visit is to Raceshack showing the company's range of tuning equipment specially designed for drag cars and used to great effect on Mats Andersson's Opel. Add the footage of the cruise, including in-car shots and a name-check for Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell, and this is a great portrait of the top class in UK drag racing for street cars. The Outlaw Flat Four DVD is for fans of wheelies, heads-up racing and VWs as well as other cars with this particular type of engine. All race rounds are included and there are plenty of interviews and in car footage to tell the story behind the racing. The best of qualifying is included along with all eliminations. A workshop visit to Bernie Newbury's is included, with the story of his rebuild following a 2008 fire. The OFF were a guest feature at the Yanks Event and several European competitors joined the fray. This DVD may be bought from the Outlaw Flat Four web site at www.offdrc.co.uk as well as from the Quartermile High web site. ©Eurodragster.com In Mopar Euronats 2009, Quartermile High have exceeded their own high standards from previous years in choosing new camera angles and zoom effects to create atmosphere with plenty of shots around Santa Pod's jam-packed pits. Showers and wind as runners turn out on Friday, accompanied by 'Ramblin' Man', set the scene with the musclecars strutting their stuff in the Live Action Arena. On track RWYB action took place for almost twelve hours on Saturday. The NSRA also appear, taking time out from their Old Worden event and the DVD has a section on the Power Tour UK, the championship for muscle cars held at all three UK strips. With interviews, coverage of the Show'n'Shine and the burnout competition, this DVD is for muscle car enthusiasts everywhere. Hot Rod Drags includes lots of shots of classic tin and punters around the environs of SCR, making for greater variety than if only on-track footage was included. Track action includes shots from the stands, behind and on board vehicles from several angles. Very few of the huge field of RWYB rods are in the mainstream drag racing DVDs. As well as rwyb action, classes involved include Outlaw Anglia, Outlaw Flat Four, Gasser Circus, Flathead Meltdown and Supercharged Outlaws. Commentary on this DVD is kept to a minimum with a soundtrack that adds to the atmosphere. The standard of construction of machinery is superb. Footage from the July's Nostalgia Nationals, without commentary, and of Supercharged Outlaws from the Yanks Event in May are also included. This is a DVD which creates a great atmosphere of a famous UK hot rodding event. The Open Sport Nationals DVD filmed at Shakespeare County Raceway in August is indexed by class, which makes it easy to dip into. Eliminations are followed right through from round one through to the finals and the DVD starts with highlights of qualification rounds. The racing action on the DVD is intense and you can see all of the UK National Sportsman Champions in action. Sadly the commitment of covering three classes in depth at this event for other DVDs precluded interviews. There are however excellent quality graphics showing the ladders and ETs for each race. In summary this DVD is an faithful document of a Championship race event, with footage from the rain-affected Springspeed Nationals as a bonus. The DVDs can be obtained for £14.95 each plus postage and packing of £1.50 per order regardless of quantity from the Quartermile High web site at www.quartermilehigh.com. Web site updates. 2nd December: 2009 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King has asked us to explain that the current unavailability of the News and Gossip page at www.kingracing.com is due to one of those ISP-imposed software upgrades which subsequently downgrade the service. Longtime readers of Eurodragster.com will recall that we have been there more than once and so we can sympathise with Ian. "We are assured that normal service will be resumed in the near future", he says. The official web site of the Allard Chrysler Action Group at www.allardchrysler.org has been updated with a gallery of the reception held at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, on 25th November. You can check out the pictures by selecting the Galleries menu item then Reception 25/11/09. Webmaster Alan Currans also advises that the Downloads section has been re-named Press Centre to more accurately reflect its content. All future press releases will be available for downloading from this page. ©Eurodragster.com Our good buddy Alan Currans has also been busy on his excellent Acceleration Archive web site, posting a new page pictures by Keith Lee, whose name longtime fans will recognise as a professional photographer, photo-journalist for Motor Cycle Weekly for many years, commentator at Santa Pod Raceway, and author of a book-in-progress about the history of drag bike racing. "Keith has an encyclopaedic knowledge of drag racing and I am very pleased that he has agreed to show some of his work on the Acceleration Archive", says Alan. "The first page contains no less than thirty of Keith's shots from yesteryear". You can take a look at Keith's superb pictures via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Editor's note. 2nd December: Your News Editor is currently very busy in his day job, as a long-term computer project is on the verge of going live. This is why there was no news update yesterday. We now have a sizeable backlog of news which we hope to clear on the next update. Tune back for news of the Venom Fuel Altered team's plans for 2010, a look at the Huxleys' new ride, another famous name supporting the Allard Chrysler Action Group, the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator Awards Evening, fishing holidays with a racing link, more web site updates and more, and please keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com. ©Eurodragster.com Earlier news |
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