1983 Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway
Photos © original photographer, and reports © Chris Hampson (DRN), Jerry Cookson (Motoring News) and Santa Pod Raceway
Santa Pod Raceway and organising club BDRA staged the third Cannonball on the weekend of 2nd-3rd July 1983. The event was sponsored by Budweiser and featured eight of Europe's top Funny Cars. The weather was scorching hot. Whilst the field overall was smaller than it had been for the previous two events, the quality of the entry was great and there were several outstanding performances. Jerry Cookson described it for Motoring News, "The roughest and toughest mile long Funny Car classic ever seen outside the United States".
Funny Car Cannonball
The Funny Cars comprised US visitor Harlan Thompson and Norwegian Rune Fjeld. These two made practice runs on Saturday prior to the competition on Sunday. Harlan's Dodge Omni sponsored by Dodge and titled 'Protector' ran 6.99/168 but damaged the block on the run. Rune had recently imported Al Bergler's Motown Shaker '82 Trans Am and in his third meeting with it ran a 7.49/161 in practice. Bootsie Herridge broke in a new pair of slicks with a spectacular 250 yard burnout and Bill Sherratt experienced an out of shape launch on Saturday.
In round one, Bill Sherratt's Cannonball suffered a blown engine in the lights and was sidelined for the day after recording low ET and top speed. In round 2, Owen Hayward suffered a spun main bearing which led Houndog to retire from the contest. Other racers had much between rounds work to do.
The Cannonball contest had the usual mixture of excitement, drama, and controversy, especially in the final round.
The Cannonball was run alongside a normal event with the usual sportsman classes. Here is a summary of what happened: Round One
Bill Sherratt (Cannonball Plymouth Arrow KB 481ci) 6.49/220 def. Rune Fjeld (Motown Shaker '82 Trans Am) 6.65/206 Round Two
Gary Page 6.60/215 bye Round Three
Harlan Thompson 8.09/174 def. Chris Filsell 7.83/137 Final
Gary Page 6.63/210 bye
Gary Page, who in the ex-Priddle 'Panic' Monza had the lowest accumulated ET of 19.76s should have faced Tony Boden (with an aggregate of 22.14) in the final, however Tony had his total penalised to 24.24 for being excessively late for the third round call, which meant Harlan Thompson had the second lowest overall ET of 23.28. Nevertheless, Tony Boden and Hit Man stood by in case either Gary or Harlan had trouble – which Harlan did, a blower belt shearing after reversing back following the burnout. However when Tony fired up he was unable to select forward gear, leaving Gary to solo for the well-deserved win.
Top Fuel/Top Alcohol match race Gerry Andrews (Hemi Hunter Pro Comp dragster Rodeck 481ci) def. Dennis Priddle (Top Fuel dragster KB 484ci) (DQ crossed centre line) Gerry Andrews 6.91/187 def. Dennis Priddle 6.80/230 Yes, this was the infamous Tomorrow's World event where Dennis Priddle had rebodied his TF dragster with a computer aided designed and wind tunnel tested streamliner bodywork – without a rear wing. The car was impressive looking and made the front cover of the Radio Times. Dennis suffered tyre shake in the first race but 300ft out the car shot across the track, tipping on to two wheels and narrowly missing the rear of Gerry Andews. A superb piece of driving by Dennis had the car straightened up just before impact with the barrier. Whilst pundits declared the lack of a rear wing to be the cause, the team put it down to clutch settings and poorly fitted body panels. Tomorrow's World presenter Maggie Philbin was due to drive the car next but her turn was postponed until Dennis had checked the car out with another full pass. His run, with tyre shake once again was narrowly defeated by Gerry Andrews, however Dennis's ET despite the traction issues was a 6.80/230.
Super Comp Final from Big Go
Dave Gibbons (Rough Diamond D/CA 23T Chevy 331ci) 9.70/142 def. Russ Carpenter (Glacier Grenade C/D, Daimler 142ci) 8.62/143
Eliminations
Round one
Herb Andrews (Magnum Force D/CA '27T Chevy 331ci) 9.03/144 def. Geoff Martin (Oxford Builder E/CA Reliant Jaguar 231ci) 10.78/124 Semi finals
Steve Johnson 8.31/165 def. Alan Loten 10.34/128 Final
Steve Johnson 8.45/164.2 def. Herb Andrews 8.95/143
Comp 1
Eliminations
Semi finals
Richard Dawson (Slingshot Jag) 10.37/128 def. Colin Banks (Vendetta C/CA Imp Chevy 427ci) 9.79/145 Final
Roy Jaggar 12.21/90 def. Richard Dawson 10.38/130
Comp II Eliminations
Semi finals
Bob Barr (Pandemonium C/CA Ford 429ci) def. Nick Lewin (Solex Power dragster Chevy 305ci) no-show. Final
Bob Barr 11.37/119 def. Phil Norris broke, did not start
Top Modified
Saturday Match Race
Round one
Al O'Connor (Al's Gasser C/M '48 Anglia Chevy 305ci) 9.72/133 def. Sylvia Hauser (Gabriel Red Ryder D/M Dodge Challenger 440ci) 10.26/129 Round two
Al O'Connor 10.01/134 def. Tom Laffey 9.87/133 Sunday Eliminations
Round one
Sylvia Hauser 10.28/129 def. Tom Laffey 10.28/131 Semi-finals
Sylvia Hauser 10.30/130 def. Al O'Connor 9.78/134 red Final
Sylvia Hauser 10.27/130.3 def. Graham Barrs 10.06/136.2
Modified 1 Eliminations
Semi-finals
Keith Rogers (Pogas P/M Anglia 105E 95ci) 15.89/84 Final
John Wood 13.18/101 def. Keith Rogers 15.35/86
Production
Eliminations
Semi-finals
Richard Eaton (Plymouth Roadrunner) 12.73/104 bye Final
Richard Eaton 12.64/109 def. Paul Martinek 14.73.92
Roadster Eliminations Semi-finals Les Szabo (Barracuda 340ci) 13.47/97 def. Graham Arno (Dodge 440ci) 13.23/101 Final Pete White 14.28/88 def. Les Szabo 13.58/102
Bikes
Pro Fuel Bike Eliminations Semi finals Brian Johnson (Imperial Wizard, MCV 1198cc) 7.45/180.1 def. John Clift (The Co-Respondent Puma 920cc) 8.75/153 Final Brian Johnson 7.44/176.3 def. Graham Nash 8.62/135
Top Bike Eliminations Round 1 Phil Brachtvogel (Quarter Scorcher Kawasaki 1200cc) 9.15/149 def. Eamon Holmes (Concorde II Kawasaki 1200cc) 10.13/89 Semi-finals Phil Brachtvogel 8.91/152 def. Dave Branch no-show Final Dave Cross 9.27/145 def. Phil Brachtvogel no-show
Senior Bike Eliminations - final
Allan Nash (Grandad's Piece 1325cc Suzuki) 9.65/137 def. Brian Simpson (Enginuity Kawasaki 1105cc) 10.66/119
Middle Bike
Eliminations - final
Brian Simpson (Enginuity Kawasaki 1015cc) 10.95/118 Gordon Diggens (Queezyrider Kawasaki 1200cc) broke on line
Pro Stock Bike
Eliminations
Round one
Mick Carter 9.12/142 bye Semi final
Andy Capper 9.14/143 def. Geoff Stilwell 9.36/141 Final
Paul Andrews 9.21/144 def. Andy Capper 9.64/141
Street Bike Eliminations
Semi final
Mick Beaumont (Nuthin' Fancy Suzuki GS1000 1176cc) def. Bob Durkin (Animal Kawasaki 1105cc) Final
Mick Beaumont 10.73/127 def. Dave Alexander 10.91/123
Event programme (4 Mb pdf file)
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