Dave McKenzieFuneral arrangements.
23rd October 2024
Dave McKenzie son Will has been in touch with Eurodragster.com to announce Dave's funeral arrangements, Will says:
The funeral is on Monday 11th November at 2:15pm, the service will be held at Grimsby Crematorium. We would kindly ask for family flowers only, but if anyone wants to make a donation to Alzheimer's Society in his memory that would be perfect.
It will be on live stream so if anybody wants to see it to just email me at this link and I will forward the log in details. Also if anyone is attending we are asking them to wear a little something purple in honour of the colour of his race cars.
The search for ‘UK Pete’ is over.
23rd October 2024
Thanks to Robin Jackson for sending this story, Robin wrote:The search for ‘UK Pete’ is over, Many Thanks to Clay Millican himself, the mystery British man captured on the NHRA Top Fuel star’s personal YouTube channel attending his first drag race has been identified. He is Pete Berry and he has written a memoir of his visit to NHRA’s recent Texas Fall Nationals as a public thank-you to Clay and NHRA for the welcoming attitude they showed him.
His modest admission of “an interest in Motorsport, mainly circuit racing” masks a 40-year career as a senior marshal at Silverstone, covering everything from clubman events to F1 Grands Prix, a background which must surely colour his perspective.
You read Pete's memior by clicking here.
Jere Rantaniemi at the right moment into the number one position.
22nd October 2024
Thanks toRemco ScheelingsfromDrag Racing Europefor this report on Jere Rantaniemi:
Although being one of the frontrunners all season long, there was not a single moment during the season that Jere Rantaniemi was leading the 2024 FIA European Pro Modified Championship. But at the most decisive and most important moment of the season, the semifinals of the European Finals, Rantaniemi was there. The Finn won his elimination round, took over the number one position in the points standings and claimed his first FIA European Pro Modified title. Timing is everything.
You can view the full article byclicking here.
FIM-E Champions Review – Marcus Christiansen – FIM-E Super Twin Bike.
22nd October 2024
Thanks toRemco ScheelingsfromDrag Racing Europefor this report on the FIM-E Champions Review – Marcus Christiansen – FIM-E Super Twin Bike:
Coming into 2024 the FIM-E Super Twin field was once again trying to knock the dominant father and son pairing of Claus (Speedy) and Marcus Christiansen off their perch, but the season proved to be one of their very best, taking all five event wins. We caught up with Marcus to ask him on his reflections on the year.
You can view the full article by clicking here.
Smax Smith update.
22nd October 2024
Smax Smith sent this report on his racing to Eurodragster.com, Smax writes: Thanksfor all support and well wishes from our UK racing family and friends and fans as always, it has been a while since I updated so firstly what a cracking finals!! Congrats to Patrik Pers and team on Euro Record and Steve Ashdown and team winning!
Lots going on with my racing andgoing back to televised NHRA event in Pennsylvania to raise funds to do the 4 wide in Charlotte and Carolina, we went to New Hampshire with Gary Leverich car freshly wrapped Ant Hill Mob. Set up to run 280 mph to half-track and 315 mph to 1000 feet, total expectation was doable, however in the 1st qualifier we did burnout against Scott Farley.But he couldn't get reverse and therefore, so I had to continue down the track,he didn't turn off the ignition and the track auto system which triggered his chutes.So, we were at the start line burning up nitro waiting for him to clear the track, we almost decided to just switch off, but we didn't and continued to stage and rocketed away at 300 feet. We dropped a cylinder, and they stopped me to save the engine.
We came back out for Q2 with the best conditions ever and it was against Tony Schumacher,to be beat him offline, but around 300 feet mark the car shook badly, causing it to go down on power, we did though manage to run. 855 60ft and resulted in our best. Turns out for the first time ever all valves got stuck for a tenth of a second causing 2 gallons per minute going back into the tank instead of the motor. After the issues on Q2 we took the car back to the pits andlubed it up to get ready for our next run which was perfect. The next day for Q3 it was super-hot and without data like the other teams, we were not sure how to much to back down, the car launched but again around 300 feet we spun tyre Kwik Pedal and had to lift. we decided to sit out for the Q4 as conditions were expected to besame for E1.
Going from having not enough power to too much power, the team and I figured that our sweet spot would be to run a 3.83. I gave everything against Torrence with 066 to his 086 making us ahead, but then the tyres shook causing them to spin so I had to lift. Turns out we had a bad batch of spark plugs causing them to shoot the porcelain out. Torrence only ran 3.88 which is fantastic. Showing 4 runs with no damage, best 60ft and to beat 2 World Champions off the line!
The team and I went next to our local track for Nitro Nationals, we were so organised we thought, everything was serviced and ready to rebuild or swap motors. On Thursday we set up in pits, then Friday the team decided to put rods/pistons in and measured the piston height, to speed up our head gasket selection for Saturday night. Then we pulled them back out and put second set in to measure. We planned to get everything built on Friday and fired up so we could set the timing from the crank triggers!
We went to Torq second head, but discovered a damaged thread deep in block that turns out it got missed when we blew it up at the Grand Bend 2 years ago and had to weld and machine the block etc. Also, we had ripped a stud out on explosion and flat out gotmissed lol! Well although had 9/16-12 Heli-coil kit that wouldn't be a-strong enough to hold 185 ft/lb B- wouldn't be able to drill and tap accurately without drill plates etc so decided to pull motor and put spare in and do the rack measurements all over again lol. Saturday we fired it up and apart from idle issues w injector all seemed great with good oil pressure.
Then the heavens opened, and storm was so bad that the racing had to be called off on Saturday. The owner decided to move the show to Sunday, but many people including most of my crew already had plans so we had to leave (Canada Day is a family holiday). Aidan was part of a wedding event at 6 pm which he couldn't rearrange. I decided the only logical thing to do was to get ready to go and to sit out the first session in the hope Aidan could get back for second session against me in that way I could drive Gary's car in the first session and my remaining crew left could turn his car around for second session!
Being out solo was Amazing! I shot off to our best 60ft again. 853 went to 330 and it quit! I was gutted as it was charging to the top end. I had asked Gary if he shut me off, but he said ‘No, let's check the data’. When we got back it turns out Gary's chief mechanic Dan shut me off as he saw flames come out when we dropped 2 cylinders. It was good call but gutted I never pedaled it. It turns out that I'm still moving around in the car with the G-Force and don't have a proper fitted seat! We had spent time in the shop a week before using an old, poured seat and we all agreed it would be okay but turned out not to be.
I got the old Amazon box and cut out a template and then got 4 pieces of 1-inch foam and stuffed it underneath my body and readjusted the belts so that it felt tighter when launching offline. Thankfully Aidan made it back to the track in time for the next session on time. Therefore, I suited up put my helmet on and jumped in the car, but my helmet was hitting roll cage.
Dan strapped me down to compress the foam so that I was clear from the cage. Then the car before me brushed the wall at top end at 300 mph. I waited patiently in the car until we were called forward infront of a huge crowd!
Finally, we both did our burnouts and in pre-stage one track person started to wave his arms. Aidan continued to pre-staged and did I. Then Aidan and I staged but nothing happened, I decided to launch in total confusion making me look down to see if I red lite or left at the third amber. Seconds later I could hear Aidan launch making me think that I am a total idiot leaving before tree activated, so I decided to lift at 620 feet as felt motor getting ugly and my head was not in it. I managed to run a 240 in 3.2 secs, before half-track the stout header shot flames to make it a good show. In the other lane Aidan kicked a rod at 70 feet causing carnage and fire.
Everyone said it was an amazing show, it transpired that the timing system went down after our burnouts, so track guy took it on himself to try orchestrating the world’s first arm drop top fuel race without telling anyone.A mad weekend and got paid enough to pay for the damage.
A Corvette Story by Rick Goodale.
22nd October 2024
Thanks to Rick Goodale for sending in this article to Eurodrasgter.com which was published in Vette News, Rick writes
A CORVETTE STORY.
It was a sunny day at Santa Pod Raceway in Northants many years ago and, as an early days racer (and very early committee member of the British Hot Rod Association), I had permitted entry to the pit enclosure as a spectator. Although I had mainly owned American cars, my car at the time was an Austin Healey 3000 from which I had removed the straight six and fitted a V8 Corvette engine and I left it parked with the hood open for people to ogle at while I wandered around the pits. On my return a guy was looking at the car and after he introduced himself as John asked ‘would you be interested in a swap - for that’ pointing at a twin headlight Corvette nearby. He followed up with ‘I’ve got a couple of others if you would like to choose’. So a few days later found John Lewis, an American living in London, and myself at a series of lockup garages near Wimbledon Village. He opened the doors to three of the garages and sitting in each one was a Corvette, all 61’s and all apparently ‘California Cars’. I think he may have been influenced by Route 66, a popular TV Series that ran in the 1960’s which prominently featured a ‘61 Corvette. I choose the red one he had at Santa Pod and we both took off in each others cars agreeing to meet at a garage in South Wimbledon at which point we agreed on the swap and I became the owner of a ‘little red Corvette’.
I was living in Hampstead at the time working as a commercial artist and the year must have been soon after the worlds first Hard Rock Cafe opened in Piccadilly in 1971. This is one distinct time stamp I have because although the design group I worked with mainly produced record covers we also produced the graphics for numerous new London restaurants. One of them was the Hard Rock Cafe which was founded by the same two young American guys who had previously founded the very first real American hamburger restaurant in London being ‘The Great American Disaster’ restaurant in the Fulham Road which we produced the now rare and collectable launch poster for. For the opening night of the Hard Rock they wanted American cars and Hot Rods parked nearby and little did we know that this particular restaurant would become a world wide phenomenon. My regular pub at the time was the Olde Bull & Bush in Hampstead, and it was there that I met my future wife to be Ann-Kathrin who was visiting from Sweden.
At this same time I had decided to move to Amsterdam and had already rented a large, canal side apartment on the Brouwersgracht, a canal that ran through the Jordaan, the old part of the city. So mid 1974 saw the Corvette parked by this charming Amsterdam canal, me freelancing for European clients (I had agents in Paris, Milan, Hamburg & Brussels) and AK working at the Swedish Consulate. Amsterdam was a very free and easy city to live in in those days with hippies still in the Vondel Park, the Magic Bus arriving from London on Friday nights and friends growing marijuana on their canal boats and window boxes.
The car got a lot of interest in the city and particularly by a tramp I found asleep in the passenger seat when exiting a bar one evening - a real tramp with flies buzzing round his head. We managed a few trips to Sweden using the then operating Harwich, Amsterdam, Gothenburg ferry (‘Triangle’ in the then TV Series) and on one of these trips I met up for the last time with my drag racing friend Alan Herridge who was sadly killed some years later while driving a jet powered car at Santa Pod. The original black and white photograph accompanying this piece was a takeout from a series I shot in Amsterdam while producing a set of zip cards for Ann-Kathrin’s potential modelling career. It was also around this time I was unfortunately becoming aware that the Corvette’s suspension was not at all happy with the cobbled streets of Amsterdam, and the time had come to find a new owner.
I placed an ad. in the International Herald Tribune and received just one reply - from Milan in Italy. I spoke to the enquirer on the phone and he asked me to post him some photographs. A few days later he phoned to say he wanted to buy the car - subject to if I could deliver it to Paris. I agreed to this and received a cheque in the mail made out in pounds sterling drawn on a British bank which I cashed - and being aware that I might be dealing with the Mafia thought it may be prudent to deliver the car as agreed. So a few days later we set off for Paris, and after an overnight stay in Antwerp arrived at the designated multi story parking garage in the centre of Paris, locked and left the car in a numbered parking bay as agreed. After a weekend in the city we caught the train back to Amsterdam and mailed the keys to the buyer in Milan. About a week later I received a letter thanking me for a nice car. I think his chauffeur had collected it from Paris and delivered it to Milan and have reason to believe the buyer may have been an Italian politician who collected Corvettes.
During the next 15 years we moved around a bit and, besides producing a daughter, lived and worked in Sweden, London, Sydney and Los Angeles. At one point we got married and these days are sort of retired and living in Poole, Dorset with our daughter living in San Francisco - so we still get to travel. Sadly my V8 ownership days are over however……this year 2024 I realised that Ann-Kathrin and I had been together for 50 years since the black and white Corvette photo was taken in Amsterdam in 1974. So with the help of the UK Classic Corvette club who put me in touch with Rachel Corke in Rye and her fabulous 1961 cream Corvette, we replicated the photo and so became ‘The Same Three Models - 50 Years Later’.
Swift snippets.
22nd October 2024
A very Happy Birthday to FIM-E Drag Racing Commission member Job Heezen, also to FIM-E Top Fuel Bike champion Rikard Gustafsson, and Competition Eliminator racer Robin Sattler. We hope you all have a wonderful day.
Swift snippets.
21st October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to longtime motorcycle crew member Baz Rathbone, Nostalgia Super Stock racer Richard Granger, VW Sportsman racer Stacey Fenton and World's Fastest Mini racer Stuart Meads. Hope you all had a great day guys!
Who is 'UK Pete'?
20th October 2024
Thanks to Robin Jackson for sending this article into Eurodragster.com last week on "Who is UK Pete?", Robin writes:Viewers of Clay Millican's YouTube video channel may already have seen the NHRA Top Fuel star's Friday and Saturday presentations from the Texas Fallnationals this past weekends. If not, Clay featured a British gentleman who had travelled all the way to Dallas to attend his first-ever drag race inspired by watching the Millican videos. And the gentleman let's call him 'UK Pete' was mightily impressed by what he found.
So who is 'UK Pete'? Does he follow other motorsports? Has he chanced upon Clay's videos purely by luck? And has he heard of Santa Pod, or even Melbourne? It would be interesting to find out more. If his face rings a bell with anyone. Do you know him or know is full name, email Robin at this link.
Watch Clay's YouTube video: scroll to 6.58 minutes to see "UK Pete".
You can also see another video featuring "UK Pete" by clicking here and scrolling to 14.22 minutes.
Beaulieu and Allard Chassis II 1965.
20th October 2024
Thanks to John Woofle Racing and a proud sponsor of Eurodragster.com Dave Riswick for sending this article on Allard Dragster, Dave writes:
THE "ALLARD II" DRAGSTER RESTORATION PROJECT WAS ANNOUNCED TO ALAN ALLARD FAMILY
During the "BURNOUT ! 60th ANNIVERSARY” Exhibition Launch held at the National Motor Museum on the 26th of September.
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Sidney Allard built a second 354 Cu In Chrysler V8 dragster in the mid 60’s and the dragster is now set to be fully restored by John Woolfe Racing with original stainless steel chassis donated to the JWR archives by legendary drag racer Clive Skilton.
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The first hurdle, is to find the RARE Potvin Chrysler inlet manifold and associated intake gear. Once we have managed to locate one we can progress quickly with restoration as most other items are to hand.
Having attended the early Dragfests I was not the only pastsell date drag racer to be gifted with an invite to the Launch. Leading up to this event, earlier in the year I was approached by Carina Taylor, Curator of Library Collections at the National Motor Museum Beaulieu.
John Woolfe Racing Archives Showroom with Ms Taylor visiting from Beaulieu
She was keen to locate original historic related items and made arrangements to visit John Woolfe Racing on the 4th of July and discovered that some of the archives held would be great for their exhibition, resulting in the historic Brian Sparrow photos and other artefacts being loaned for the exhibition which will run through Sunday 2nd February 2025. Ms. Taylor was given a short tour of various features here at the John Woolfe Racing archives and discovered some of the missing links to the early days of British Drag Racing such as the original starter flags used during the first Dragfests in 1964.
This is when the existence of a second Allard Dragster was first revealed.
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STEVE GREEN will be contributing engineering expertise for the restoration of The Allard II dragster. Further updates will follow.
FIA/FIM-E Scandinavian Internationals pictures byKarl Linß.
20th October 2024
Many thanks to guest photographerKarl Linß for covering the FIA/FIM-E Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden on 8th-11th August 2024, you can see all the pictures atthis link, supported byJohn Woolfe Racing.
Swift snippets.
20th October 2024
Happy Birthday to Super Pro ET racer Peter Lane, we hope you had a day Peter.
Topspeed Automotive update.
19th October 2024
Many thanks toBill Macdermid from The CM Frost/Topspeed Automotive Team andEurodragster site sponsor for contacting Eurodragster.com site sponsor, Bill writes:
Just a reminder to all our current and hopefully future customers that CM Frost American Autoparts have been importing parts from the US since 1966 and that our 10,000 SQ FT facility in
Northampton is crammed with American Car Parts, we cater for everything from the 1950”s right through to current day models . We have the largest stock in the UK & we are the only UK Distributor That has their own parts distribution warehouse in the US with our own staff . Adding to this is the Speed Performance range of parts that Topspeed Automotive bring all under one roof.
To name just a few of our dealers in the US :
ALL OF THE HOLLEY PRODUCTS. MSD, B&M, SIMPSON SUITS AND CRASH HELMETS, MR GASKET, BROTHERS TRUCKS, FLOWMASTER EXHAUSTS, HOOKER, EDELBROCK,COMP CAMS, A.F.R, WILWOOD, PROCHARGER, WAGNER BRAKES, SEALED POWER ENGINE PARTS, MOOG SUSPENSION, STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS, TCI, HOOSIER TYRE,FELPRO GASKETS, DORMAN PRODUST ,MONROE SHOCKS, WIX FILTERS, FRAM FILTERS, AMD PANELS, HEIDTS SUSPENSION AND CHASSIS CLIPS, the list goes on and on.
We keep windscreens and have a large stock of early chevy truck parts, also on the shelf are crate engines and transmissions.
We also have a large stock of oils and chemicals, again to name a few: KENDAL OIL, PENZOIL, MAXIMA, LAT, REDLINE, PHILLIPS 66 , QUICKSILVER, MOTORCRAFT, VALVOLINE , & MOTHERS PRODUCTS.
We are UK Dealers for all the Seafoam Products, Permatex and Blaster and our own No Smoke Oil .
We also have direct links with GM, Ford, Dodge & Chrysler for all parts on the newer models.
We have a minimum now of 2 air freights a week from the US and regular sea freight containers loaded by our own staff in our Warehouse, so everything is double checked for mistakes and damage by vendors,
We are always loading containers so give us a call for any of your requirements big or small, from a con rod to a car and everything in between, we can source store/ship cars and trucks, with all the paperwork and duties etc taken care of in house, this is a door-to-door personal service, “loaded by us, unloaded by us” this goes for the parts as well,
We have unrivalled knowledge in the UK with over 150 years’ experience in our sales team ,so give our guys a call 01933 225564 for next day delivery on in stock parts and 1-2 weeks delivery for parts in our US Warehouses depending on the date of order
Jean Dulamon new car for 2025.
19th October 2024
Thanks to Jean Dulamon for sending this update into Eurodragster.com, Jean writes:
Following the accident on August 24, Bad Apple is out of service after 14 years of racing, Jean and the team have decided to have a new car for 2025. Jerrybickel the Witch 2019.
Jean will try it in the US in February with the team and Brad Morgan after a 908cc preparation with Liberty 5 speeds, we will be there in April 2025.
Jean Dulamon and Team Thierry Benoit et David.
(Credit for the pictures to David Gates and Dragzine)
Swift snippets.
19th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway marshal Phil Brown, Paul Marston Racing matriarch Sam Marston, Wild Bunch racer and Top Fuel Dragster crew member Ruaridh Hart, former Pro Stock racer Jonas Dantanus and former Palladin Lotus racer Martyn Potter. We hope you all had a great day!
Final Straightliners Championship 2024 Points and NORA Championship 2024 Points.
18th October 2024
Thanks toMartyn GreatheadandStraightlinersfor publishing this report on Straightliners website on Final Straightliners Championship 2024 Points and NORA Championship 2024 Points, Here is the report:
Rob Kneeshaw is first winner of the NORA British Sprint Championship after making it to the final against Nic Deighton in the final round at Santa Pod. Eric Cope takes second place and Kerry Phillips ended up third after a big breakout in the first round of eliminations.
Jorja Cleall is first winner of the NORA Juniors Sprint Championship despite breaking out in round 1. Jack Taylor scored 40 points on the day to finish in second place on 52 points and it ended up as a tie for third place with Sebastian Wareham and Alfie Barraclough both on 40 points.
Maxine Taylor won the Straightliners 6.00 / 9.10 class with 167 points with Ashley Hodgson in second place on 145 points and Peter Slater came third ending up only 1 point behind.
The top 3 places in No Mercy Shootout ended up unchanged with Peter Slater being the winner, Ashley Hodgson second and Terry Mountford in third place.
Maisie Thornton ended up the season in style by winning the final in Straightliners Juniors and ending up as winner of the championship. Jack Taylor ended up in second place after breaking out in round 1 and Alfie Barraclough finished in third place after making it to the final with Maisie.
It was a close final round decider in the Scooters championship with Amy Wolstenholme and Eric Cope making it to the final and whoever won the race would win the championship. Amy had the head start and Eric Cope overtook her just before the finish line but he broke out so Amy ended up as the winner. Third place in the championship went to Paul Gurney
Dexter Wilson had another win in Junior Sprint Car and ended up as winner of the championship, Bradley Brook was second and Jude Elliott was third.
All 8 rounds counted for the NORA championships.
Best 8 out of 9 rounds counted for the Straightliners championships 2024.
Double points were awarded to NORA and Straightliners competitors at the final round at Santa Pod.
You can view the final championship results which are available byclicking here.
Straightliners Round 9- Final Event results.
18th October 2024
Congratulations to the winners of the2024 Straightliners Championship round 9at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 13th October.
- NORA Eliminations:Nic Deighton (10.09/137mph) def.Rob Kneeshaw (12.80/106mph).
- NORA Junior Eliminations:Jack Taylor (17.32/68mph) def.Alfie Barraclough (19.03/59mph) Breakout.
- Straightliners No Mercy Shootout:Nic Deighton (9.97/138mph) def.Leigh Williams (10.92/135mph).
- Scooters No Mercy Shootout:Amy Wolstenholme (15.07/76mph) def.Eric Cope (12.64/95mph) Breakout.
- Juniors:Maisie Thornton (22.26/49mph) def.Alfie Barraclough (18.87/58mph) Breakout.
- Junior Sprint Car:Dexter Wilson (9.51/60mph) def.Bradley Brook (13.60/40mph) Breakout.
- Race Legends:Colin Fallows takes the win.
- Class 9.10:Simon Havercroft (9.10/155mph) def.Jamie Brooks (9.35/150mph).
- Oldschool USB Stock:Amy Wolstenholme (11.79/119mph) def.Rob Kneeshaw (12.33/114mph).
- Oldschool USB Modified:Mark Taylor (9.94/135mph) def.Alan Seeley (10.96/126mph).
- Nostalgic Pro Stock:Richard Peachey (8.88/145mph) solo run due toAlan Ward no show.
- Euro RWYB:Trevis Merite (8.58/156mph) def.Rupatrick de Lange (9.26/149mph).
Complete lists of ETs and speeds recorded on Sunday, including RWYB bikes, are available by clicking on this link. Thanks toMartyn Greathead and Straightlinersfor supplying Championship results and points, which are available byclicking here. Here is the report from Straightliners website:
“ALL TO PLAY FOR AT SANTA POD FINAL ROUND WITH DOUBLE POINTS ON THE TABLE ”
Nic Deighton and Maisie Thornton made it two final wins in two weekends in no Mercy Shootout Bikes and Juniors with Nic also winning this round of the Nora Championship.
Once again breakouts had their role to play with double breakouts making for some interesting winners.
No Mercy Shootout
Once again Nic Deighton kept his cool against top competition to make it all the way to the final for the 2nd weekend also achieving his ambition to run 9secs.
Leigh Williams, Mr Consistency, made it through to line up against Nic. With near identical dial ins it was going to be the start that made the difference, Nic not phased and steaming to the win with a near perfect time just 0.02secs outside his dial in.
Juniors
t was tight at the top of the points table so the pressure was on. First to succumb was Jack Taylor who red lit against Alfie Barraclough. Meeting Jorja Cleall in the next round he was lucky to breakout by the least amount to make another final. Maisie Thornton beat Toby Jackson then taking a bye to the final. Maisie had her best race head on and crossing the stripe ahead of Alfie who broke out anyway trying to catch her. So three final wins in the season for Maisie and a worthy champion for 2024.
Junior Sprint car
Bradley Brook beat Jude Elliott to meet up with Dexter Wilson in the final Dexter took the win with Bradley breaking out.
Scooter No Mercy
Amy Wolstenholme used her head, literally watching a catching Adie Horrocks who broke out, though Amy had crossed the line first. Eric Cope took a bye to the final. Amy once again made a lightening start and again kept her eye on the other lane, Eric doing the breaking out on this one.
9.10sec
After beating Chris Jacobs Simon Havercroft took a bye to the final. Maxine Taylor red lit so Ashley Hodgson lined up against Jamie Brooks, Jamie making his way to the final. Simon got the final sussed with a perfect 9.10sec run to take the win over Jamie.
Thanks to Eurodragster.com team memberGraham Watkinsonfor covering the event.You can see his gallery from the event by going to our event coverage page atthis linksupported byJohn Woolfe Racing.
Ida Zetterström -Team Captain for Sweden.
18th October 2024
Ida Zetterström post on her Facebook page yesterday at Svensk Bilsport announced that she will have the honor to serve as Team Captain for Sweden in the FIA Motorsport Games 2024, starting next week in Valencia.
Ida mentions she feels very proud and honored to take on this roll and looking forward to seeing the Swedish Team shine.
Drag racing is not one of the disciplines represented in this Motorsport Olympics but Ida is happy to be there as a representative for both the sport of drag racing and as a part of the Swedish National team and this years “Olympic troupe” where we work together across the disciplines
Swift snippets.
17th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel Bike racer and 2023 ACU Champion Neil Midgley, have a great day Neil.
Re-Run -Pioneer Stories - Wally Parks' involvement in British Drag Racing - Part 5.
16th October 2024
The BritishDrag Racing Historiansare proud to presentWally Parks' involvement in British Drag Racingpart five.Originally posted on the2nd February 2024:You can read the fifth and final part of our excerpts from NHRA founder Wally Parks' memoir byclicking here.
This part includes the letters Wally wrote to his wife Barbara with some of his humour and affection finding their way into them. "I’m sure you’ll flip over this place – it’s too much! This coming weekend up at Southport is supposed to be the real cold one. I bought some pyjama’s so I can wear the bottoms under my pants if it’s really that cold. "Last night I had dinner with the Allard’s at their home. Mrs Allard is a really nice person and had cooked us a meal that I expected was typically English. We had roast beef, oven-brown potatoes, carrots, green beans, some sherry, apple pie with cream and coffee in another room. It was delicious and the company was most enjoyable. I seem to be getting a lot of wrinkles over here. Don’t know what it is, but this country must age a person more rapidly. We are really making history over here.." The story was produced by Richard Parks, photos, images chosen by Nick Pettitt and John Hunt and published by editor of Eurodragster.com Simon Groves. We all thank Jim Miller of the American Hot Rod Foundation for scanning the photos and adding captions.
Don Scott steps down from NSS committee:
16th October 2024
Thanks toNiamh Smithfor sending in this news to Eurodragster.com, Niamh writes: Unfortunately UK Nostalgia Superstock are announcing thatDon Scotthas made the tough decision to step down from his place as the Chairman of the Nostalgia Superstock Committee.
We have tried to convince, blackmail, and finagle him to give up his idea of stepping down all year, however after 9 years of being wholly dedicated to this awesome class, Don feels it is the right time, given he also has a lot going on away from the track too.
When Don first stepped into his committee role almost a decade ago, UK Nostalgia Superstock was in its developing stages, having only began in 2011. At this time, there would be a few handfuls of cars, growing steadily in numbers as time went on. However, Don has seen this class go from strength to strength, and spearheaded it as we became THE largest nostalgia drag racing class in Europe. Now, it is regular to have around 60 cars entered into our lifestyle events.
I hope you’ll all agree that Don has always taken a fair, considerate, and good humoured approach to everything he does, from being a sportsman himself when competing, to even some of the tricky moments we have had in the class and big decisions that have needed to be made, and I can tell you there has been a few. But - and here’s a bit of an insider perspective - Don has always acted in good conscience and remained true to himself. He’s done an excellent job of communicating with racers and the Pod, always trying his best to do what’s right by the racers, all without getting a single penny in return.)
In his years in the class, he has also taken a number of lifestyle and SPRC championship and round titles, but always managed to balance both this and his duties to the class.
We would like to thank Don for being so committed and such a great spokesperson for NSS all these years, and you know you won’t have seen the last of him yet!
I’d also like to thank our racers for their patience while the rest of the committee try to navigate the coming seasons without him while we find a good rhythm that works for us. If, in the meantime time, anyone has any questions, please just reach out to a committee member (Andrew Bishop, Bev Tyrell, Chris GoodaleorNiamh Smith)
Drag Racing Paintings Calendar by Paul Whitehouse.
16th October 2024
UK based drag racing artist, Paul Whitehouse, has been in touch with news of next years Drag Racing Paintings Calendar featuring Paul’s paintings from his catalogue of work spanning the last 15 years. The calendar is A3 portrait, printed to a high quality and will be a limited edition.
Each calendar will be signed and numbered. Priced at £25.00 plus £7.95 P+P it makes a great Christmas gift for the drag racing enthusiast.
Paul has had the calendar advertised on his social media pages and already has many advanced orders. Paul plans to put this into print next week and if anyone is interested in one please contact Paul via email at this linkor his social media sites - Paul Whitehouse Art.
The calendar features 12 of Paul’s paintings that, over the past 15 years, have been commissioned by clients worldwide. Paintings featured are:
- Geoff Redgrave. Top Bike Hayabusa
- Allard Chrysler Dragster. 1964 Dragfests
- ‘Rat Trap’ and ‘Havoc’ AA/FA
- ‘Ain’t no Saint’ Volvo Gasser
- Billy Jackson ‘Controlled Chaos’ nitro Harley
- Jon Antonsson ‘Glacier Shaker’ and ‘Sundance’
- Team PBM ‘Satan’s Lady’
- Don Garlits and Tommy Ivo 1964 Dragfests
- Brian Johnson ‘Imperial Wizard II’
- Joe Schubeck Carlsbad Raceway 1964
- Ronald Balderama. Valiant Outlaw Pro-Mod
- Martin Maxwell ‘Color ‘o’ Money’ vega bodied N/FC
Swift snippets.
16th October 2024
Happy Birthday to Top Methanol Dragster crew member Tim Read, hope you have a great day Tim.
Gerald Cookson.
15th October 2024
We are sad to hear the loss of Gerald Cookson, Son Jerry Cookson contacted Eurodragster.com to publish this Obituary. Jerry writes:
It is with very deep regret that we have to inform the drag racing family of the passing of my father Gerald Cookson after a short illness. Thankfully he passed away peacefully in his sleep and without pain in the early hours of Monday 14th October. He was 94 years of age.
After visiting the International Drag Festivals at Blackbushe Gerald started his drag racing career at the third meeting of the newly opened Santa Pod Raceway in a self-built and designed BMC powered slingshot dragster called ‘Minor Leaguer’.
In between his day job as a factory planner and engineer working for Birmingham based Lucas Electrical, he began designing his next dragster with a much more traditional American slingshot look about it called ‘Trouble Shooter’ and still using the dependable BMC engine from a 998cc Mini Cooper.
Dad never wanted anything bigger in cubic capacity or expensive to race. He wanted good old dependable British ingenuity that he could pull off the shelf, modify and develop from race to race.
From this point onwards, race wins started to come in the lower ranks of the dragster classes, but an untimely incident in the Santa Pod fire up lane ended Trouble Shooter’s days when the push bar broke. A year later his most successful dragster appeared in the early seventies called ‘The Joker’. Again, BMC powered but this one had a blower attached that carried him to numerous wins at Santa Pod as well as on tour National Drag Racing Club meets at Blackbushe and of course his home quarter mile at Long Marston.
After the success of the dragster he turned his attention to the Modified class where after acquiring a 1958 Berkeley Sports Car he began constructing his own chassis to take the Berkeley’s framework and a blown Lotus Twin Cam.
This picture on the left was taken by Mike Collins.
By the nineties he’d purchased a part-built circuit racing MG Midget, which in its time had his trusty blown BMC followed by an Imp OHC and finally a factory experimental K-Series engine; all blown and nitrous injected.
A few years later the Midget was put into storage and the Berkeley came into its own with a new set up, consisting of a turbo charged 850cc BMC armed with enough nitrous to launch the car before the turbo kicked in midway down the track. The theory was great but whether it would have worked or not he’ll never know.
Above all, amongst all his racing endeavours he was a devoted husband for 68 years to wife Joan and father to me – his son. Joan never missed a meeting, providing all the food, fetching and carrying, back up lady, you name it she did it.
His biggest accolade was having the family name etched into the annals as inducted members of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2018. He also received two Lifetime Achievement awards: one presented by the Wild Bunch and the other by Jeremy at the 2017 APIRA Championship Awards as well as being presented with the Don Garlits Spirit of Drag Racing Shield in 2000.
God speed dad. You’re at peace now. Now go join your other racing buddies who left before you.
Gerald featured in Eurodragster's andBritish Drag Racing Historians Pioneer Stories in 2022, you can read all three parts by clicking these links PART ONE, PART TWO and PART THREE or by visiting the Pioneer Stories page at this link.
We here are eurodragster.com are sadden and send our condolences to his family and friends at this very sad time.
Educational Survey - Safe storage/transport of race helmets.
15th October 2024
Thanks to Santa Pod Raceway's Commercial Manager Caroline Holden for contact Eurodragster to publish this update, Caroline isinvolved in an educational Design & Technology project to design a product to safely store or transport race helmets.
A member of the racing community is carrying out some research regarding the storage and transportation of helmets in Motorsport for a GCSE Design project. We have made a short questionnaire to help with the research. It would be great if you could take part.
Caroline says: "It’s just a quick survey for research and I know our drag racing community are always helpful and willing to support, it will only take a few minutes complete and Thank you for taking the time to complete."
Click here to view and complete the survey.
Swift snippets.
15th October 2024
A very Happy Birthday to Trakbytes webmaster Chris Dossett, Junior Dragster racer Max Taylor and Outlaw Flat Four racer Ian Shorrock. We hope you all had a great day.
Re-Run - Pioneer Stories: Gerry Belton. Part 4.
14th October 2024
The BritishDrag Racing Historiansare proud to presentGerry Belton'sstory part four.Originally posted on the23rdJanuary 2024:This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival. The man responsible for organising the Drag Festivals was Gerry Belton.
Former Eurodragster.com editorSimon Groveshad the opportunity to interview Gerry in April 2015 kindly arranged by Dave Riswick at John Woolfe Racing. You can see the interview atCLICK HERE.
In it, Gerry answers questions about his early background, working at Allards, his involvement with drag racing, organising the Mooneyes/Thompson demos in 1963 and the Drag Festivals in 1964 and 1965, the SEMA Trophy, British Drag Racing Magazine, the Drag Festival LP, the Dos Palmos dragster and life after Allards.
Gerry’s son Simon also adds to the story with some of his own words about his dad.
Jack Gooding - T-Shirt
14th October 2024
Thanks to Gary Gooding for sending this updated posted on Facebook at the weekend, Gary writes: Something that is incredibly important to us is keeping Jack’s memory alive, whilst raising money for St Elizabeth’s Hospice, who with their care and compassion throughout Jacks time as an inpatient right up to the end both for Jack and us his family as well as his friends was nothing short of amazing. We will forever be grateful to all staff.
We have been in talks with Kerryanne Frazier and Peter Walters to have this t-shirt designed, which as I’m sure those who know Jack will say depicts Jack and everything he loved.
Gary will be at the printers tomorrow to go over cost of each t-shirt and hoodies. But for now we are seeing how many would be interested in purchasing one.
Money will be going to St Elizabeth’s hospice and a junior fund to promote youngsters in motorsport.
They will come in a variety of sizes, toddler sizes should also be available.
For now if anyone is interested, please contact here. hope to have a price some time next week.
Please comment below with how many and sizes please.
8 weeks today a massive piece of our lives left us, forever missing you Jack, forever wanting to hold you and feel your warmth again.
Santa Pod Raceway 2025 National dates.
14th October 2024
Santa Pod Racewayhave announced today on Facebook2025 National event dates:
Springspeed Nationals- 29th-30th March 2025
Sportsman Nationals- 7th-8th June 2025
Summer Nationals- 5th-6th July 2025
Greenlight Nationals- 16th-17th August 2025
National FInals- 19th-21st September 2025
More events to be added soon,you can see the full calender for Santa Pod Raceway byclicking here:
Straightliners - Old School Stockers 2024 Final Round report.
14th October 2024
Old School StockerKevin Mellinghas posted this report on their Facebook page yesterday, Kevin writes:
Another ‘war of attrition’, would be an apt summary of the OSS 2024 Championship final round, held at Santa Pod this weekend. We had six entered to this Straightliners organized event… Richard Peachey on his ever improving black GSX, son Adrian on his newly acquired ex Tyne Blight orange EFE, Claire Rule on her trusty EFE, now resplendent in its trick new red paintjob, Alan Ward on his black GSX ET, Pete McGuiness on his diminutive but rapid little green Kawasaki 500 H1 triple stroker, and myself on our usual Kawasaki H2 triple, wearing its latest red metalflake scheme. Originally, OSS regulars Rod and Chris Spry were entered, although unfortunately had to change plans, but as always we look forward to their participation again next year.
We all arrived on the Saturday, and some of us entered the RWYB for a little pre race testing and tweaking, as a few hadn’t thrown a leg over their bikes since Dragstalgia, three months earlier. Unfortunately however, we didn’t get our first runs down the strip until well past 3pm, as some unexpected morning showers plagued proceedings. Still most managed at least a couple of passes, sufficient to get back into the groove. So far six bikes all in fine fettle, or were they?.
Sunday morning arrived and the forecast was much improved, dry throughout the day, a lighter cross/head wind, and some decent cooler air. The morning session followed a RWYB format, with best times being used as qualifiers for the elimination ladder. By lunchtime the qualifying was as follows:
1. Kev Melling - 8.4750 at 147.22mph
2. Alan Ward – 9.9202 at 136.49mph
3. Richard Peachey - 10.4196 at 97.93mph
4. Claire Rule – 10.7955 at 118.88mph
5. Pete McGuiness – 11.3163 at 116.13mph
6 .Adrian Peachey – DNQ
Sadly, Adrian had just started his burnout, when a gearbox breather vent popped out, which obviously necessitated an immediate shut down. Being so close to lunchtime, there was insufficient time to remedy the issue and get another run in. Meanwhile Claire lined for her first pass of the weekend, launched hard as per usual, but immediately encountered some serious shifting issues, which resulted in her coasting to a very off form 10 second pass. Once back at the pits, Claire gave it her all to investigate and sort the gremlins, but after making every possible effort it became clear this was not going to be a trackside fix. Although I had managed our 8.4 pass reasonably early, and decided to park it thereafter, it wasn’t until prepping for the first round that we also encountered an issue with our motor. With insufficient time to sort it there and then, we were also scuppered. So that meant that half of the field now wasn’t even going to make the first round of eliminations!
With just three of the six still standing, this event result was going to be sorted quickly, and the ladder first saw Alan Ward pitted against Pete McGuiness. Pete bravely gave it his all in this David and Goliath match, but Alan cruised to a comfortable 9.7499 at 137.29mph (and a new PB for this steadily improving bike), against Pete’s very respectable and weekends best 11.0263 at 117.47mph run. This just left Richard Peachey to take a bye run, with a much more on form 8.9920 at 146.23mph. So the final was to be Alan against Richard in an all Suzuki 16V head to head. However, just to add to the mayhem of OSS mechanical woes, during his burnout Alan had an oil line sprout a leak, resulting in an immediate motor shutdown. A quick fix was definitely out of the question, and so Richard Peachey took the bye run, and easy win, but with a stout 8.8811 at 145.30mph pass.
And so there endeth another year of OSS shenanigans. Despite the war of attrition (66% broke!), everyone had a great time (albeit bloody cold!), and we all can’t wait for the 2025 season to come around. I will work out the final point standings and announce positions asap, but it’s clear my #1 plate will be coming off, to take up position elsewhere? Watch this space.
Congratulationsto Claire Rule for taking back the #1 Plate in this years OSS Championship. Another very well deserved win for Claire, with a mix of outright performance, reliability, and top notch setup/riding expertise. To be fair, Claire only lost the #1 plate in 2023 due to her RTC, sidelining her for the whole year, and if not for that unfortunate incident, then she'd likely have won it last year as well!
Here's the final points standings for all 15 of this years participants. Thanks to all involved, well done everyone, and see you next year...
Swift snippets.
14th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel Bike racer Shawn Rodman and FWD VW racer Ant Mincher and former Junior Dragster and rumoured future Wild Bunch racer Harley Coulsell. We hope you all have a fantastic day.
Straightliners Round 9- Final Event pictures.
13th October 2024
Eurodragster.com team memberGraham Watkinsonwas atSanta PodRacewayfor the final event forStraightliners. You can see his galleryof the event, plus results by going to our event coverage page atthis linksupported byJohn Woolfe Racing.
Swift snippets.
13th October 2024
Happy Belated Birthday to UK Tech Crew member and Top Methanol team member Tim Read, German Funny Bike racer Stefan Hagenstein, Malta FWD racer Marvic Galea and former Top Fuel racer Tommy Möller. We hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday.
Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET racer and sponsor Mike Lacey, Supercharged Outlaw racer Aaron Windridge, UK Nostalgia Superstock supporter Yvonne O'Rourke, from the US We Did It For Love http://www.wediditforlove.com/ webmaster Don Ewald and Malta Escort racer Steve Pace. hope you all had a great day all.
Clastres Dragway 2024 season recap and 2025 Schedule:
11th October 2024
Thanks toAssociation Trophée Dragster official and Super Comp racerClément Dubois for sending this 2024 report and the schedule for 2025 at Clastres Raceway, France:
We, the Association Trophée Dragster, are very happy how our 2024 season turned out, with three great rounds at Clastres Dragway, the only permanent ¼ mile dragway in France!
Even though the weather did not always cooperate, we consider ourselves lucky regarding how it has been this year in the rest of Europe, as we managed to complete eliminations every round. We are glad that the investments made over the winter allowed for the most track time possible, cleaning and drying the track as fast as any professional racetrack! We are delighted that there was no track-incident this year; we are working closely with the FFSA (Fédération Française du Sport Automobile) to always push for more safety for the racers.
Thank you to our amazing staff the “Yellow People” for their hard work, and thanks to our sponsors, partners and friends for supporting us!
We also want to congratulate our 2024 Championship winners:
- M TECH Junior Dragster — Marie Camilleri
- NITRO Street Run — Nicolas Chevassus
- Super Gas — Oscar Scapocin
- Super Comp — Clément Dubois
- SPEED FLEX Pro ET — Gerd Habermann
- DULAMON RACING Super Pro ET — Michael Mikuscheit
Well done to them all!
We will be happy to welcome racers and fans back in 2025 at Clastres Dragway:
- 17th-18th May
- 21st-22nd June
- 26th-27th July
For more information don’t forget to check out our website:https://association-trophee-dragster.com/and our social media @association trophée dragster!
Dale LeeksXDA andWorld Dragbike Champion.
11th October 2024
Thanks to Dale Leeks for sharing his story, which he posted few days ago on his Facebook page, Dale writes:
Well, I’m back home and what can I say. I’m on top of the world, 2 years ago I sent my bike over toDan Wagneras he had the most horrendous fire wiping out his whole business. Losing nearly everything he lived for.Terry Schweigertlost his bike in that fire along with others and I was busy building my business and needed to take time out. I wanted to send the bike over there to help the man that had helped me so much in the past. Never did I think it would lead me on this journey.
The original plan was that Terry would ride the bike, but Terry wanted time out. ThenRob Garciawas going to ride the bike and that fell through. So, with 2 days’ notice Dan made me pack my leathers and head out to Maryland International Raceway and throw my leg over my bike for the first time in the USA.
I turned up to the track before Dan to be greeted byJoe Procopiowho had just got back into racing after many years out and had accommodated me in his trailer and taken my bike with his to the race meeting.
Little did I know how important that man would become in my race career over there and a man who I would say is one of my best friends the most generous guy you could ever meet. Not only has he hauled my bike around the USA he has since brought a whole second set up and laid everything on for us to race. I seriously could not have done any of this without him he is the unsung hero for me and Dan.
The whole Procopio family of which there’s so many of them have taken us in as their own. Fed us, laughed with us cried with us they will forever be my racing family. I have made friends for life. They have made getting on that plane every time worth it. HavingRonald Procopio JRin my corner coaching me along the way has been invaluable the guy was my hero for so many years and to have him in my corner was surreal. They say don’t meet your hero’s well they are wrong on that one I couldn’t have done it with him.
Last season my rookie year we ended up 3rd in the championship I’m forever humble to roll down the shutdown area and park up with my hero’s I’ve followed for years. The whole pro extreme class have been great to me it’s like racing with a bunch of friends. But the fastest friends in the world.
This year we went out there with a different plan my rookie year was over it was time to race. Dan has pushed me to become undefeated throughout the first half of the season bagging a load of number 1 qualifiers and winning 2 meetings back-to-back. But the big milestone was to join the 3 second club I had skimmed so close for a while but finally my first 3 second pass was deep in the 3’s with a 3.930 at Virginia motorsports park. It was great to be joined by Terry Schweigert with me and him being the heavy hitters at the meeting. And Terry going on to take the win, my teammateJohn Collinswas back in the 3’s it was the dream meeting for me.
To be number 1 qualifier on a list of names of heroes from. Over the years was emotional for me to read. I had the likes OfPaul Gast, Jeremy Teasley, Richard Gadson, Tommy Saxon, George Whitaker, John Collins, Terry Sweigart, Chris Cutsinger, Terry Wynn, Chris Theodoris,andRob Garcia. And my name was at the top.
We went into the final round with a points lead and there was a mathematical chance for Rob Garcia to beat me, but I had to be disposed of first round. I went out Friday night and Dan had the tune up on point and we went number 1 qualifier for the weekend with a 3.95 pass Friday night no other bike came near me.
Saturday Q2 I lay down a slower lap which leaves my 3.95 the bar to beatRob goes down swinging for the fence and runs a 3.96 to go into number 2 spot I even thought that was a bad mistake, but he was one step ahead and quite clever skipped the scales to disqualify me from that run. If he wasn’t going to bump me from number one he needed to be dead last to face me first round Sunday morning to be in with a chance to win the championship he was going to have to get rid of me himself.
So, it was all down to e1 where me and Rob faced off for the championship if I won it was done I was champion if Rob won he had to win the meeting which would have left me standing on the start line all day with my fate in other hands. I didn’t have to do that Right when it mattered I laid down the fastest pass of the weekend with a 3.93 to Robs 4.02 both of us hurting our motors in the process.
I went down through the shutdown area soaked from head to toe in oil to become the champion. Rob congratulated me on the top end and the wait was over for both of us it was done. I’m not ashamed to say I was in tears to become the champion. Dan had given me everything I needed to become a champion I just had to use it. He is simply the best tuner there is, and he never loses his composure he is world class he will forever be family to me.
So, I didn’t become champion we became champions everybody mentioned above but finally the man that is always standing by my side the man I drag around the earth to live out my dream. He turns the bike around between every round and he’s always standing there watching me go. My Dad I’m lucky to be able to do this with my dad and in many years to come I’m sure I will look back and smile on the adventures we have had together. Some people don’t get to do that, and I am grateful for his help and his confidence in me. Oh, I’ve frustrated him many times mashing trans on late night runs and having to swap motors through the night because of my bad riding. But he’s always there until the end thanks Dad.
I will never forget the help in motor swaps from the likes ofLowry Callahan,Chris Garner-JonesandCostellothese guys where a given, but one man who would always turn up and helped when we needed it was Wes Hawkins. Well, there’s so many people to thank every single person in the XDA has made us so welcome and I’ve loved every second of it. Thank you for making it so great.
Kathie McGregor you’ve sorted everything in the background from shipping to admin to accommodation etc. we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you
Thank you everyone, from the support ofSteve Nichols at Maxx ECU, Paul Gast at Fast by Gast. Everyone at Grothus Dragbikes,Ehren Litten for all the shop work, Walter Timblin, Warpspeed Racingfor working with Dan to create this package andJason Millerfor giving us the stage to perform on it’s been magic.
That makes me the First European to win anXDA Championshipand the 2nd European to win aWorld Dragbike Championship,40 years later afterBrian Johnsonwith the Fuel Bike the year I was born.
Thanks everyone what a retirement for me from bike racing, its emotional for me to write this but, that’s me done. What a position to finish in hey and I owe it all toDanand the team.
Now let’s see what all the fuss is about with these 4-wheel machines.
Thanks toKelly Marie Seagerfor putting up with me never being here and all the boys atLeeks Landscapesfor holding the fort while I’m away.
Swift snippets.
11th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to AA/FA and landspeed crew member Scott Barnes, presumably-retired Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann and BMW doorslammer racer Harvey Bhogal, we hope you have a great day.
Swift snippets.
10th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to former Super Comp and Comp Eliminator racer George Chiarella, former Street Eliminator racer Ray Tucker and Maltese Dragster racer and Junior Dragster dad Roderick Fenech, we hope you had a great day.
Santa Pod Raceway 2025 Dates.
9th October 2024
Santa Pod Raceway announces major2025 Dates "Save to Date"with more events to be added.
- The Fast Show - 6th April
- Festival of Power - 18th-20th April
- Doorslammers - 16th-18th May
- VW Breakout - 16th-18th May
- FIA/FIM-E Main Event - 23rd-26th May
- Dragstalgia - 27th-29th June
- Bug Jam - 25th-27th July
- USC - 1st-3rd August
- VW Action - 29th-31st August
- FIA/FIM-E Euro Finals - 4th-7th September
You can view the racing calender at www.santapod.co.uk.
Santa Pod Business Directory.
9th October 2024
Thanks to Liam Kimberleyfrom Santa Pod Raceway for sending this announcement, Liam writes:
We would like to start building a business directory of companies owned or managed by people within the sport of Drag Racing. The idea is that the information will be publicly available to everybody within the sport to access and use. We know that there are a huge variety of businesses and business types associated with people from within the sport. We are already know that we have everything from Chassis Shops and engine builders to landscape gardeners, web designers, plumbers and everything in between.
Historically, where possible, everybody within the sport of drag racing supports each other and this is another opportunity to create connections and support your businesses. If somebody is looking for services you offer, this directory will give them the means to contact you. It is going to take time to gather and collate the information but the sooner we start the soon we can all benefit from it.
Please see below a link to a questionnaire which has been created on google forms to gather the information. You can access this form by clicking here.
Straightliners Round 8 - Melbourne results.
9th October 2024
Congratulations to the winners of the2024 Straightliners Championship round 8at Melbourne Raceway last weekend.
Complete lists of ETs and speeds recorded on Saturday and Sunday, including RWYB bikes, are available by clicking on this link. Thanks toMartyn Greatheadfor supplying Straightliners Championship results and points, which are available byclicking here.
Without doubt this was the best weekend of racing at MELBOURNE RACEWAY to date. Large crowds both days witnessed some epic runs and not forgetting the jet cars of Julian Webb and Lee Dennick providing the flame and thunder show prior to the magnificent fireworks display from the FORCE OF NATURE’S rocket man Graham Sykes, who’d put down a brilliant run earlier in the day, and Shaun “dangerous ” Walker. There then followed Blood Sweat and Beers band in the club house plus the celebration of MR STRAIGHTLINERS, Trevor Duckworth’s 80th birthday.
The commentator had his work cut out over the weekend updating his 5 sec list with a whole string of new members plus some new 5sec personal bests added into the mix.
David Swift on his first visit to Melbourne with the AMX ran a 5.42sec straight off the trailer later dropping that to a 5.11sec.
Street Weekend winner, Rob Carter, in the Passat ran a couple of 5s with a 5.88sec best, having one scary lane crossing moment. Luckily the driver in the other lane, who’d left first, saw the incident unfold and thankfully got on the brakes to avert a coming together.
Bob Molden, Mr Consistent, in the White Noise Peugeot, ran a 5.88sec and backed that up with a 5.95sec. Bob usually dials in 6.00sec dead in Pro ET so his 5.88sec was a big breakout but no doubt him and the team were suitable elated.
Jamie Brookes was another running his first 5 on his turbo GSX1400 running a 5.98sec.
Another to get his first 5sec was Allen McSweeney in the wayward Volvo who’d run a couple of 6.00sec deads eventually got a 5.99sec.
Mark Todd improved to a 5.20sec in the Aston Martin.
There were 9 Junior Dragsters along for the weekend plus 3 of our Junior Sprint cars joining in. They put on a great show with our own Jude Elliott making it through to the final against the quickest of the Junior Dragsters, Harley Coulsell just pipping Jude to the line, Harley just 0.04sec outside his dial in and Jude just 0.03sec.
Straightliners No Mercy
We had a new name progressing through to the final demolishing some tough opposition on the way. That man was Nic Deighton who lined up against Ashley Hodgson. Nic got a perfect start only just crossing the line in front of Ash. So nice to see a new name taking the trophy.
6 Second
Chris Hodgson beat Peter Slater, Peter being a little too cautious knowing how easy his bike runs 5’s and Chris getting the jump on the green.
Scooters No Mercy
It was good to see Stuart Donald along on his stock TV 175 Lambretta and making it through to the final against Amy Wolstenholme. With a 2.83sec handicap Amy knew she’d have her work cut out, Stuart has done a lot of winning over the years, but she was too keen and got a red light which was lucky for Stuart who went under his dial in!!!
Juniors
In the eliminations there were a few breakouts along the way so it was that for the 3rd time Maisie Thornton lined up in the final against William Mountford. Maisie cut a good green with William having a stumble away from the line so Maisie was across the stripe for her 3rd Junior win.
Junior Sprint Car
Jake Little got a bye in the semi’s making it his first final lining up against Toby Jackson, the ever improving Jake taking the win.
NSCC SATURDAY
There was a 16 car field for NSCC though Ian Walley was too busy to attend, a few breathed a sigh of relief!! It was good to see Jamie Hughes back but star of the show was Grace Sleath who in only her 2nd meeting made it through to the final against evergreen James Murray. Grace cut a perfect light and was quicker to the 60ft but James hauled past just before the line to take another win.
NSCC SUNDAY
As Nick Gunby had already wrapped up the championship as promised he let daughter Anna run the Mustang so she joined Grace in the line up though both were out in the quarters. Craig Brown once again did a giant killing act in the little Civic all the way to the semi’s beaten by James Murray who lined up against Derek Beck in the final. Derek made his usual lightening start to hold off James who just edged over the stripe by a whisker to do the double. He later said he was convinced Derek would get the win it was that close.
Thanks to Former Eurodragster.com editorAndy (Tog) Rogers. You can see his galleries of on-track and off-track pictures from the event, plus results by going to our event coverage page atthis linksupported byJohn Woolfe Racing.
DRU Challenges are decided at Zerbst, Germany
9th October 2024
Thanks to MarkusMünch from Drag Racing Unionfor sending in this report fromChallenge Showdown in Zerbstat the weekend. Markus reports:
Zerbst, a showdown with highs and lows. The first race on Thursday and Friday was heavily influenced by the wet weather. There was only one qualifying round, first it rained on Thursday after a few classes, then on Friday morning a motorcyclist spilled oil on the track. Qualifying ended, on to the elimination rounds. It started around midday. Pro ET was able to complete two laps, Supro ET not a single one. Frustration.
Saturday morning the second race continued. Hardly anyone thought it was possible, but it happened. No rain, no oil, four qualifying rounds for each class. The organization delivered. Then we printed out flowcharts in the evening and on Sunday we went into the elimination part two. Everything was completed, up to the final rounds. Yes, some classes had already completed the finals when a major engine failure ended the event, 300 Meters oil on the left lane. No chance to remove it. Pro ET and Supro ET had gathered for the final, but then had to be pushed back after two hours. The left track simply could not be put in a safe condition. In Pro ET, Challenge champion Ronnie Mercer and the guarantee of good races, Martin Weikum, were in the final. Katja Krull in the grey Beetle was in the small final for third place with Til Schöninger in the Honda (last time with a small block). Thomas Bublitz in the orange Nova was already out in qualifying for race two. Technical defect. But he had picked up so many points in race one that he overtook Janine Petzold (then second place), as did Niek de Kruif in the orange Firebird. He ultimately secured third place ahead of Janine Petzold, who unfortunately had to say goodbye to race two a little early with a red light. So only the much-travelled Ronnie Mercer from northern England is the first English DRU champion, followed by the man from north Germany, Thomas Bublitz. Third place went to Niek de Kruif from the Netherlands in the (for sale) Firebird. Behind him were Janine Petzold and Til Schöninger.
In Supro ET, first 9, then 10 participants were registered for the races. In the first race there was only qualifying, then rainout. In the second race there were 10 participants, male and female. In the race there were only 8. Then the decisive run was in the semi-final. Römer against Gassner. Robert Gassner in the yellow Camaro could even have overtaken Angel Romero and would then have become champion. In a very close run he lost by a -0.028 seconds Breakout. This meant that Frank Römer from Witten/Germany pushed past him into second place in the overall ranking. Romero ahead of Römer and Gassner, those are the first three. Behind them were Alain Dürr and Alex Halter. As I said, after that came the oil, and the rollercoaster ride of rain, oil, rain, oil came to an inglorious end. But that doesn't detract from the idea, the effort and the overall work of the weekend that the 1st AMC Dessau offered us. 180 plus participants in a variety of classes proved the idea right. It will probably take a while before an event like this is repeated.
Thanks to all challenge participants and sponsors. We'll meet on Saturday, October 19, 2024 in Bad Kissingen at the Knight Riders for the championship celebration. We're looking forward to it. Register now, we're looking forward to seeing you.
Ous sponsors fort he 2005 Challenges are: Camion Ferry, Diener AG, Hoosier-Rennreifen, Dragmag, Pats Postkarten, Schwefel Garage, Schöninger Glas, Ehrismann Garage, Stefan Eisenhauer KFZ-Service & Racing, Schumann International Spedition, SaCo Tec Pulverbesichtigung, Nold Kunstoff-Technik, Bonnie Blue Racing, Quick Performance, Zollshop, Lex-Power, Smeagol Racing, VINTECH Performance Autobedrijf den Das und Vos, Race Point, CUBERAS, Färber & Steiger, Knight Riders MC, Centauros Drag Team, JK Fahrzeugtechnik, Rechsteiner Bauspenglerei.
Swift snippets.
9th October 2024
Happy Birthday to Sue Hunter, we won't be forgetting the much-missed Neil, and we hope your day is full of happy memories.
Kieran (MK1Kieran) Jenkins has release this video from the final Yam Yam Racing Drag Club test day which took place on Monday 7th October, with a handful of big power GTRs from the JM-Imports clan putting ona show. you can view this video by clicking here.
Swift snippets.
8th October 2024
Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster Susanne Callin, hope you have a great day Susanne.David Vegter team member and Santa Pod marshal Holley Marshall, Street Eliminator racer Al Williamson, Wild Bunch and future Super Pro racer Allan Schofield, Pro ET racers Sean Law and Roy Walker, and Malta doorslammer racers Mario Muscat and Joe Galea. We hope you all have a great day.
SPRC Announcement - Used Drag Slicks.
7th October 2024
Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall has announced it's that time of year again, Santa Pod Raceway are looking for any used Drag slicks out there that Racers may want to get rid of, we are happy to pop and collect them, all you need to do is email by CLICKING HEREwith what you have and some contact details, we will take care of the rest once we have a suitable number, a date will be set and we will come and collect them from you.
Please note we can only use Drag Race Slicks, as street typedon’t work with our equipment, as ever thank you in advance, they all go to a good home on the back of our sled for track prep use.
Re-Run -Pioneer Stories: Derek Metcalf, Part 2.
7th October 2024
The BritishDrag Racing Historiansare proud to presentthe secord part in ourPioneers of UK drag racingseries, told in the original words of the racers, and accompanied by photos and images from their collections, covers the period 1964 to 1967 for Surrey dragster racerDerek Metcalf.
The story covers the 1964 Drag Fest event at Blackbushe on 4th October, when Derek's Wombat dragster made its debut, and goes to the car's final year of competition in 1967. You can see the second part of Derek's story by going tothis link, or via the newindex pagefor the pioneers' stories, which shows links to the UK drag racing history web sites that provide the wider story and context for the story of the sport.
Eurodragster.com thanks racers for providing their stories, and John Hunt and drag racing historian Nick Pettitt for help with editing and proof reading the feature and making archive images available.
Re-Run -Pioneer Stories: Chris Pattison, Part 1.
7th October 2024
The BritishDrag Racing Historiansare proud to presentChris Pattisonstory part one.Originally posted on the6th January 2023:The latest in our third series of Pioneer Stories is of UK drag racing pioneer and enthusiastChris Pattison.
Brought up in a RAF family, Chris Pattison lived in Hornchurch and was introduced to motor racing by his father who, after retiring from the RAF, ran a country garage. Chris attended the 1964 International Drag Festival at Blackbushe. A major event for him was winning an Allard Dragon dragster in a competition in the British Drag Racing magazine. The car was initially driven by its designer John Hume and Allard works driver Rob Mackie, however Chris first had the opportunity to drive it in Spring 1966. In the first year of Santa Pod, Chris shared the driving with his father, gaining 13 awards from 11 meetings. His entrance to college resulted in the Allard Dragon being exchanged for Alan Ing's roadgoing Turner Climax.
Part one is atthis link. You can see our list of pioneer stories atthis linkor by clicking on the link under News in the main menu.
Eurodragster.com would like to thank John Hunt, Nick Pettitt and Mick Gleadow for recording, transcribing, editing and providing illustrations for our stories.
Straightliners Round 8 - Melbourne Day 2 pictures.
7th October 2024
Former Eurodragster.com editorAndy (Tog) Rogersis atMelbourne Racewayfor this weekend'sStraightliners Round 8. You can see his galleries of on-track and off-track pictures from day 2 of the event, plus results by going to our event coverage page atthis linksupported byJohn Woolfe Racing.
Melbourne Saturday off- and on-track galleries and best times (courtesy Martyn Greathead) now showing onEurodragster.com.
Swift snippets.
7th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to Top Methanol Funny Car racer Urs Embacher and former Super Street Bike racer Dave Holland. We hope you both have a great day.
Dave McKenzie.
6th October 2024
We are sad to report Dave “Fuzzie” McKenzie, long serving Chair of the Supercharged Outlaws passed away on Saturday 5th October. Thanks to Andy Fadster for sending in this news to Eurodragster.com, Andy says:
The group have known Dave to be poorly for quite some time but nevertheless, the loss is a shock. As a founding member and such a huge supporter of S/O, Dave went out of his way to introduce people to the group and encourage them to join.
He was a key member of Team Thing, later to become Team Tiki, and piloted the car on several occasions.
His stoic manner was a thin veil over the gentle and caring man he was and he was adored by anyone who knew him. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to his son Will McKenzie and the whole of the McKenzie family.
Rest peacefully Dave, your legacy speaks for itself and you will be very much missed.
We here are eurodragster.com are sadden and send our condolences to his family and friends at this very sad time.
Straightliners Round 8 - Melbourne Day 1 pictures.
6th October 2024
Former Eurodragster.com editorAndy (Tog) Rogersis atMelbourne Racewayfor this weekend'sStraightliners Round 8. You can see his galleries of on-track and off-track pictures from day 1 of the event, plus results by going to our event coverage page atthis linksupported byJohn Woolfe Racing.
Melbourne Saturday off- and on-track galleries and best times (courtesy Martyn Greathead) now showing onEurodragster.com.
The BritishDrag Racing Historians -Burnout! 60thAnniversary of British International Drag Racing Festival.
6th October 2024
The BritishDrag Racing HistoriansJohn HuntandNick Pettitexplains how they got to do the exhibition at National Motor Musuem,Burnout! 60thAnniversary of British International Drag Racing Festival. John writes:
It all started the afternoon before the Surrey Pioneers Reunion at Blackbushe Airport, 28th July 2021. The BDRH had their firstget together and what came out of our chat was the question 'what would happen to our collections after wepass away?’. Five or six members in the group have substantial amounts of memorabiliafrom the start of Drag Racing in England and from Sprinting before that. The National Motor Museum Trust at Beaulieu was suggested as a place that might be interested in receiving these collections.
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I knew Doug Hill, Museum Manager, and got in touch with him which led to my pre-visit with Simon Groves, meeting Doug and Patrick Collins, Curator of Vehicles & Research, together in September 2021 to discuss the possibilities of the Museum being bequeathedany or all of the collections for their archives. We both had a tour of their Collections Centre archive building which was very interesting and we discovered themuseum had very little if any material covering the sport of Drag Racing.
This led to the BDRH group being invited to the Museum November 29th 2022 of which seven members attendedand all were given a Collections Centre tour and afterwards discussed their individual collections with three Curators. Each Curator introduced themselves, talkedabout theirroles andthe Collections they cared for. The BDRH material could be bequeathed to their archivesgiving a one-off comprehensive collection to represent the Motor Sport of Drag Racing in England and Europe.
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Andrea Bishop, Director of Collections and Engagement, asked if there was an important event coming up in Drag Racing to celebrate. I very quickly said yes and passedher a folder and said the '60th Anniversaryof the first British Drag Racing Festival' September 19th 2024. Andrea also said if the Exhibition can happen it would be a great platform to showcase the sport and also illustrate the excellence of the BDRH holdings, in support of the case for a comprehensive one-off collection to represent Drag Racing. We were then introduced to Carina Taylor, Curator of Library Collections, who closely worked with us in collating suitable and engaging content material for the exhibition.
After an exhaustive and frustrating process forNick Pettitt and I supplying endless amounts of information and a large selection of photographs and original items available for display, there followed muchtoing and froingof emails and phonecalls as the items and information were whittled down to a usable quantity with a large amount not being used. This is a necessaryediting process when making a museum exhibition. The result is an exhibition called 'Burnout! 60thAnniversary of British International Drag Racing Festival' andis now open at the National Motor Museum’s In Focus temporary exhibition gallery.
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I believe I speak for all of the BDRH members in saying we are all very proudand gratefulfor this opportunity to have the 60th Anniversaryof the 1964 Drag Festivalcelebratedat the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu running for over five months. The Drag Festival was such an important occasion at the time for the growth of British Drag Racing. What this Exhibition means to the BDRH, is that it will be seen by many thousands of visitors and give them an understanding of how the Motor Sport of Drag Racing started in England and then in Europe.
Nick's video includes a quick look at the exhibition, then he films Dave Riswick talking to Derek Metcalf and the opening speeches, firing up the Allard Chrysler dragster, Chris Pattison taking a seat in the Allard Chrysler, Alan Allard talking to Rob Mackie and then Nick climbs into the Allard Chrysler dragster. You can view Nick's video by clicking here.
(Pictures are credited to National Motor Museum)
NationalMotor Museum, Beaulieu -Report for the Private Viewing visit.
6th October 2024
Thanks to Andrea Bishop, Director of Collections and Engagement at National Motor Musuem for letting BDRH and Eurodragster.com to publish this report: Andrea reports: Thursday26th September2024 was the Private viewing of The Exhibition called 'Burnout! 60thAnniversary of British International Drag Racing Festival'. Ithas openedat the NationalMotor Museum, Beaulieuin the 'In Focus' temporary exhibition gallery situated in the museum's main building, and includes a wall display of photos and original material, cabinets with original items and TV screen constantly showing original footage from the festival. The Exhibition continues for over five months ending February 2nd 2025.
The event was attended by members of the British Drag Racing Historians who contributed much information for the exhibition and a host of differentpeople from within DragRacing. Alan Allard, (son of Sydney), Alan's wife and two son's Gavin and Lloyd. Alan drove the Allard Chrysler dragster and the Works Allard Dragon dragster at all six rounds of the 1964 Drag Festival. The Allard Chrysler is permanentlyon display at the museum and we were treated to the firing up of the dragster justoutside the main museum building within view of the Exhibition.
Other invited guests included Derek and Pam Metcalf who built their own dragster 'Wombat' and raced it at the final round of the festival at Blackbushe. Ian Bartlett son of Peter and Erica. Peter won an award at the festival which is on display. Chris Pattison who won the Works Allard Dragon in a magazine competition and raced it in 1966, Bob Mackie and his son, Bob drove the Works Allard Dragon at the 1965 Drag Festival. Dave Riswick from John Woolfe Racing who supplied photos from his archives, Lesley and John Wright who represented the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and Darren Prentice, Max Frost and Cullum Pudge from Santa Pod Raceway.
Anger Management Camaro - National Finals 2024 Recap:
6th October 2024
Anger Management Pro Modified team published this recap of the National Fianls on their Facebook page earlier this week:
National Finals 2024 Recap: A tough test from the weather...
After our final round finish at the Euro Finals, spirits were high leading up to the National Finals. Despite only 2 weeks between events, our usual schedule of maintenance was followed, this means blower, intake, cylinder heads removed, pistons and rods removed for measuring, transmission out, clutch out for flywheel and pressure plate resurfacing, gear ratios changed (more on that later), the list goes on. We were glad to see that we had no signs of detonation when measuring the rod bearings after the 4 runs we made on the Sunday, so our tuneup was relatively safe.
Leading up to the event we saw the barometric pressure was up over 30, this is extremely high for our UK racing season, to give you some context, in relation to the English system of measurement, one atmosphere (atm) equals 29.9213 inches of mercury (inHg), or 14.6959 psi. A swing of 1 inHg of mercury therefore is around 0.5 psi, combined with a lower ambient temperature can mean around 1 psi extra boost, doesn’t sound like much but we are only working with 37-38 psi overall. The reason for all this claptrap is we were gearing up for some potentially record setting weather.
Q1 we went with our usual (tall) 1st gear ratio, which in theory is the ideal setup for the prevailing conditions. The barometer had dropped quite significantly by Friday however, and with a constant threat of rain the humidity % was fairly high. We still expected a low 5.90 or even a very high 5.80. We were quite disappointed when a 5.96 showed on the boards, when you see us on the startline looking disappointed and kicking rocks it’s not always because the performance was bad, more so there is a feeling of missed opportunity.
The track conditions were absolutely stellar and we had clearly underestimated the grip levels available, that much was obvious once we saw the low wheelspeed numbers and high clutch slippage from the on board datalogger. We use laser ride height sensors on the front of the chassis, rear (next to the 4 link) and on the axle, we also use 4 travel sensors on each corner of the car. We could see the car porpoising on launch on the slow motion video, our data showed this wasn’t a function of suspension movement, it was all rear tyre compression, then rebound, compression and rebound. A sure sign of not enough wheelspeed, for a smooth launch we need to spin the tyres a certain amount to get them nice and round, otherwise we risk suffering tyre shake.
To combat this we installed a shorter 1st gear ratio, just like we did at the Euro Finals. A side note from Q1, we had increased our port nozzle sizes significantly to change the balance between fuel going through the blower and injector hat and the ports themselves in an effort to give us a bigger window on the tuneup (smaller nozzle sizes mean a small step in size is a larger % change in fuel flow when compared to larger nozzles, as the nozzles are measured in orifice size). Usual conduct would be to do a short run but with the constant threat of the weather we didn’t have that luxury, so some calculations were made and the tuneup was deemed to be ‘safe’ for a ¼ mile pull.
With that being said, some small cylinder to cylinder changes were made to even up the cylinders based on spark plug readings and to a lesser extent EGT values. We also made a minor change to the timing curve, and headed to the pairing lanes.
Unfortunately when we got there the motor would not fire. Thank you to the Wallace Motorsports team for waiting for us, they are true sportsmen, however no matter what we tried it was no bueno. We could see the problem lied within the circuit for the emergency shut off device, this piece of equipment has the ability to kill ignition, throw the parachutes and shut off the fuel depending on it’s input parameters. Perhaps we will go into more detail in another post. Either way, the system is a welcome lifeline when things go wrong. Sometimes it will cause you a problem, although 99% of the time it’s a user error rather than an inherent problem with the system. In our case once we got back to the pits, with the use of a torch we could see that the ‘burst plug’ that sits in front of the burst panel of the inlet manifold had come loose, which is an instant ignition cut. We use a burst panel ‘chinmey’ to direct the pressure out of the bodywork so it is not possible to access this plug without disassembly of the chimney. On the bright side it was a quick fix so we had a nice evening meal and an early night.
On Saturday morning a riders and drivers meeting was held, the SPRC, aware of the weather front that was due to hit us on Sunday elected to hold eliminations on the Saturday instead. This was absolutely the right decision, championships were yet to be decided and packing away in the rain sucks. E1 we kept the same tuneup in the car, running against an ever improving Mick Payne in the Plymouth Duster. Mick unfortunately left before the tree was activated, Andy streaked on to the win, but again only a 5.96. We had again underestimated the track, the grip levels causing a huge amount of clutch slippage. Despite no increase in performance we at least knew the short 1st gear worked okay, we had a bye run in the 2nd round so it was time to swing some counterweight at the clutch.
Sadly Mother Nature had other plans, a biblical storm ensued, haildrops the size of marbles fell from the sky and some parts of the pits were subject to flash flooding. This went on for nearly an hour, at that point we figured we were done for the day. However the Santa Pod team did not give up, in a monumental effort they cleared the standing water, dried the entire track and shutdown area, prepped the track and started running again! This kind of dedication is the norm at Santa Pod however we must not underestimate the amount of hard work the team there put in, they are true heroes of the sport and without each and every one of them we would not be able to compete at the level that we do safely or otherwise.
Well done guys! We were due to be called but we could see we were very close to dew point, this is not always an issue if the track has some heat in it, but unfortunately the temperature dropped and it was no longer viable to run cars down the track as the dew was coming in very fast. Again, thank you to the Santa Pod team for their hard work, and also for knowing exactly when to call it a day. These decisions are not easily made.
Sunday was a complete washout sadly, so with that was the conclusion to the 2024 season. We amassed enough points to win the MSUK Drag Racing Championship for the 9th time which we are ecstatic about! We also were greeted with the news that Wayne Nicholson and the Lucky Devil Drag Racing team are retiring from competition. A great shame, we will miss them at the track, not many teams have the tenacity those guys have, they proved themselves to be top
Thank you to Diana Macrae, Julian Hunt and Katie Higgs of the Eurodragster.com team for these pictures.
NGK Spark Plugs (UK),Torco USA,Mike Janis Racing, Starracerbelts.com, Noonan Race Engineering, PAC Racing Springs, EZ Motorsports, Precision Racing Suspension, Carbon Collective, Vivid Vinyl
Swift snippets.
6th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to turbocharged Rat Rod exponent Graham Butler. Have a great day Graham.
Happy 20th Birthday Kenzie Taylor.
5th October 2024
Thanks to Nigel Taylor for sending this to Eurodragster.com, Nigel would like towish Kenzie Taylor a very Happy 20th Birthday. Nigel writes:
Kenzie has been bought up around drag racing and hot rodsever since being born and it staid in his blood , at the age of 16n and he obtained an MSA Licenseand was driving his dads 100e up the famous Santa Pod Drag strip. As soon as he was 17, he purchased his rare 1959 Hillman Minx Wagon (that he wanted from the age of 13) and 3 months later he passed his test and the Hillman went absolutely everywhere.
You may of seen Kenzie at the track taking photos with good friend Callum Pudge (when these 2 are together beware of the banta and mis-behavior )
Kenzie has been lucky to do photos trackside For the NSRA, Feature & Drive.
Colin woods amazing Husky,as well as the Nostalgia Super Stock class, Willys Wars, Goodales private track days and the recent Street Weekend for Drag Seen Magazine along with thousands of more great photos.
Kenzie works at the excellent Old bones Fabrications workshops in Andover, Hampshire where the work quality speaks for itself (check out the recent Best in Britain competition 56 Chevy build).
The camera hobby hasn’t had so much of a look in this year due to crewing on his friend Dougie Hills 6 second slingshot dragster which has meant even more time at the track , so much that after wrecking so many tents has now treated himself to a Bedford Bambi Camper(luxury -compared to a tent).
This year has been a massive learning curve on the dragster & Kenzie hopes to spend more time getting to know more over the next year as well as an already planned trip to America. A diff repair on the Hillman teaching his girlfriend Erin how to drive the 100e and he hopes to drive the 600bhp MK2 Cortina for Julie Simmonds as she starts to learn the ropes of drag racing.
Thank you for all your enthusiasm, encouragement and support not only for myself and Unusual Car Sales U.K. and for every single drag racer, hot rodder etc. you have spoke too .
Sports Compact Shootouts.
5th October 2024
The fourth round of Santa Pod Raceway’s Sports Compact Shootouts for 2024 took place last Sunday 29th September. Congratulations to Lewis Simpson for winning the hard fought event.
The win came on a frenetic day with three rounds of qualifying taking place in the morning and then four rounds of racing in the afternoon.
Results, thanks to etslips.co.uk, were as follows:
Qualifying:
- Dave Henderson (Audi RS3 saloon) 8.9499/154.16
- Lewis Simpson (Civic EG 2000cc) 9.5738/159.68
- Dannie Highman (Golf 2000cc) 9.8592/118.27
- Ian Pepper (Nova 2000cc) 10.0170/148.12
- Ant Mincher (Mk1 Golf 2000cc) 10.0684/137.75
- Paul Jordan (Polo 1800cc) 10.1648/138.26
- Grant Moore (Corsa 2000cc) 10.3383/136.04
- Brian Askew (Corsa 2000cc) 10.5447/147.60
- Simon Fogg (Corsa 2300cc) 10.6960/133.62
- George Baker (Civic 2400cc) 10.7390/129.14
- Andrew Crank (Corsa 2300cc) 10.8172/137.38
- Darren Dewhurst (Corsa 2000cc) 10.9813/136.57
- Billy Bamber (Nissan Micra 1800cc) 11.2018/123.07
- Scott Linacre (Chevette 1809cc) 13.2148/81.38
- Peter Cole (Renault 5 2000cc) 16.6521/88.73
- Alan Kenyon (Focus 2000cc) 17.2146/73.21
Eliminations
Round 1
- Andrew Crank 11.5054 /137.37 def. Paul Jordan 13.1433/103.37
- Brian Askew 10.9525/112.1 def. Simon Fogg 10.5345/135.32
- Ian Pepper 10.5238/144.31def. Billy Bamber 11.2446/119.63
- Alan Kenyon 11.2952/129.91 def. Dave Henderson, broke
- Dannie Highman 10.8034/118.37 def. Scott Linacre , broke
- Ant Mincher 10.410/137.70 def. Darren Dewhurst, broke
- Lewis Simpson 11.8109/120.15 def. Peter Cole 14.7877/94.25
- Grant Moore 10.4149 137.41 def. George Baker 10.7147/137.28
Round 2
- Ian Pepper 9.9163/145.31 def. Ant Mincher 9.8427/141.58
- Alan Kenyon 15.474/107.31 def. Brian Askewbroke
- Andrew Crank 10.0431/142.11 def. Dannie Highmanbroke
- Lewis Simpson 9.8118/151.57 def. Grant Moore 10.4048/138.21
Semi Finals
Ian Pepper 10.5259/126.66 def. Alan Kenyon 11.1428/130.16
Lewis Simpson 9.7309/153.64 def. Andrew Crank 10.1794/134.9
Final
Lewis Simpson 9.274/157.99 def. Ian Pepper 9.7413/148.09
Well done to Alan Kenyon on a new PB in the semi finals and winner Lewis Simpson’s new PB of[emailprotected]
You can see footage of the Sports Compact Shootout at das GTI Show on the Mk1 Youtube channel atthis linkor click on the image at the top of the article.
The final Sports Compact Shootout of the year takes place at theJapShow Finaleat Santa Pod Raceway this Sunday 6thOctober with action starting from 9:30am. A 16 car ladder will be contested once again. Other attractions of the event including Show & Shine Competition, Japanese Run What Ya Brung public track time open to cars & bikes, Drift Rides, Club Stands, Stunt Shows, Jet Dragster, Trade area and more. A limited quantity of JapShow Finale day tickets are available byclicking here.
David Vegter runner-up in FIA European Pro Modified Championship.
5th October 2024
Thanks toRemco ScheelingsfromDrag Racing Europefor this news update aboutDavid Vegter:
David Vegter finished the 2024 season with a more than excellent second position in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship. With around twenty participants per race, participants from ten different countries and 36 drivers who scored points this year, Pro Modified is the most competitive and most international class of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. But still, there were mixed feelings for Vegter and his team Vegter Pro Mod Racing. In almost all races, the Dutchman was the quickest driver on the track, led the championship for a long time, but missed the title by a minimal margin because bad luck struck at the most decisive moment of the season.
You can read the full article by visitingthis link.
Swift snippets.
5th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to Straightliners bossTrevor Duckworth, 9.50 Bike FB group administratorDebbie Sawatzki,photographerKenzie Taylor, Dutch Pro ET racerHans van der Spekand NHRA Top Fuel great and B.R.A.K.E.S. Teen Pro-Active Driving School ownerDoug Herbert. We hope you all are having a great day
Swift snippets.
4th October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET racer Kieran Turner, expat racer and carburetor guru Tony Morris, Nostalgia Superstock racer Jason Dodd, and German Super Pro ET racer Oliver Petzold. We hope you all have a great day.
Robin Jackson updates eurodragster.com with this news: The August/September issue of Race Engine Technology magazine (issue 154) contains no fewer than 25 pages devoted to drag racing.
There is a detailed 15-page analysis of the engines used in Kalitta Motorsports' Top Fuelers and Funny Car ("9850 ft.lb. of torque... 12,800bhp" -- Alan Johnson, crew chief) and another 10 pages on the Texan racer Mark Griffin and the compressed air system he uses to supercharge his Top Sportsman Camaro.
Race Engine Technology can sometimes be found on newsagents' shelves. If not, it can be obtained from the publisher by contacting[emailprotected]
Liam Churchill.
3rd October 2024
We are sad to hear and report thatLiam Churchill, passed away on 30th September 2024.
All of his family, friends, neighbours and colleagues will find it hard to believe that such a huge hearted, extra-ordinary human being is no longer here.
Liam's family will post on Facebook soon regarding the funeral arrangements, but if you would like to contact them please send a message byclicking hereor via Liam's Facebook page here.
We here are eurodragster.com are sadden and send our condolences toLiam’s daughters - Sarah, Vee, Carly and Lauraat this very sad time.
Pioneer Stories - 1964 Drag Festival Report Part 3.
3rd October 2024
The BritishDrag Racing Historiansare proud to present part three of the 1964 Drag Festival Reports:
This is the last part in a series of three race reports from the ‘1st British International Drag Festival’ which happened 60 years ago today. This part covers the third weekend which happened on the 3rd and 4th October 1964 visiting RAF Kemble on the Saturday and back to Blackbushe Airport on the Sunday.
The Drag Festival was probably the most reported event in drag racing history such was the importance of this historic venture, bringing the American sport to the UK and beyond. Reports appeared in countless magazines and newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Story produced by Nick Pettittand published by editor of Eurodragster.com Chris Winn.
You can view this story by clicking here.
Julie Willcox -Streaming Service.
3rd October 2024
Andrew Willcox has posted on his Facebook page today with a quick update on his mum's (Julie Willcox) funeral, Andrew writes: For anyone who is unable to attend the service in person and would like to feel present, here is the link and login details for the livestream.
Streaming details for the service of Julie Willcox at 12:00 noon on
Wednesday 9th October,at South Oxfordshire - Chapel, run by Edward Carter Funeral Directors are as below.
Watching Live & On Demand -https://watch.obitus.com
Username -dixi3803
Password -875248
Family flowers only please, mum would rather you made a donation to one of the animal charities she supported (details will be on the service card) If people would like to raise a quick glass to mum after the service please feel free to join us at the Boundry House pub in Abingdon.
Stuart Doignie to compete at Bakersfield:
3rd October 2024
Stuart Doignie posted on his Facebook page a few days agao with this update on him competing at Bakersfield, Stuart writes: Really happy to be confirmed 2024 Super Gas Champions! It’s been a tough year on and off the track with the house fire and having to miss a round of racing but we did it recording just one round loss to Andy Dibley. Congratsto Collin MorriceandStuart Morrice on second place and also Dave Fulton a very close third.
It was a big season for us as it now takes to the top of all time wins and championships in the class.
We start our next adventure where we fly out to the USA and compete in my new NHRA Stock Eliminator car. We are racing at the divisional event double header in Bakersfield California. This is a dream come true and special thanks to our good friend Mark Kirby for making it happen and sharing his valuable knowledge on the car and class. Can’t wait to meet you in person!
As always special thanks to my crew Dad, Tim, Dave and Tom as well as my understanding and supportive wife Jody Doignie. I couldn’t do it without you. I have attached some pictures of the new ride as well as a few of this seasons roadster
Blame goes to the Williams Bros. Racing crew for convincing me this is the way forward.
(Pictures taken from Stuarts Facebook post)
Swift snippets.
3rd October 2024
Happy Birthday today to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and drag bike pioneer Alf Hagon 93 years young, 8.50 Bike racer Andy Haley and Super Pro ET racer Saskia Jell. We hope you all have a wonderful day.
Melbourne Raceway round 8 coming up.
2nd October 2024
Straightlinershosts its 2024 Championship Round 8 this weeked 5th-6th October atMelbourne Raceway.
Melbourne Raceway's E.T bracket classes this year will be racing, Sportsman ET (up to 7.90), (Pro ET (6.90-7.89) and Pro Extreme (5.90-6.89) with dial-ins used on the Sportsman tree. There's also the NSCC final round will take place. And for quicker cars that want to run a heads up pro tree, we have Pro Comp running a Cannonball style format with the two quickest running a shootout in the final.
Julian Webb with the Spiderman and Split Second Jet Dragsters and Lee Dennick with the Reign of Fire Jet Funny Car will both be there. Graham Sykes with The Force of Nature Rocket Bike too! Don’t forget the end of season fireworks display!
To celebrate Trevor’s 80th birthday we will be having his late son Andy Duckworth’s old band, Blood Sweat and Beers playing in the clubhouse to close the evening off.
If racers don't have a Motorsport UK or ACU licence for bike racers, a Nora licence is needed but can be purchased easily and cheaply atthis link.
For more details on the car rules, click onthis link. The No Mercy Bike series offers bracket racing opportunities to bikers, jnr bikes, scooters, Ultimate Street bikes for modified bikes, stock and 2 strokes, racing legends for the over 70s among others. For more details on the bike rules, click onthis link..
Specatator entry, available on the gate, is £15 a day, or £27 per weekend with camping available free from 17:00 on Friday 12th July. Bar and catering facilities are open with Statis Quo are playing Saturday night.
Run what ya brung is now exclusively pay on the gate, so no pre booking is required for RWYB. Racer and spectator tickets can be purchased atstraightliners.events.
Class racers should be quick to secure their place in the weekend's activities.
Eurodragster.com will be covering pictures by photographer and former editorAndy (Tog) Rogers.which you will be able to see via ourcoverage pagesupported byJohn Woolfe Racing.
Swift snippets.
2nd October 2024
Happy Birthday for today to Street Eliminator racer Mark Sheridan, former Nitro FM DJ Nigel Fitzmaurice, Billy Gane team member Jak Hylton, and former Junior Dragster racer Joe Holland-Villa. We hope you all had a great day.
Swift snippets.
1st October 2024
Happy Birthday to Wild Bunch racer Dan Wilson, have a great day Dan!