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The British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame honours and preserves for all time the achievements of not only some of the greatest legends of British Drag Racing, but also the great contribution of others who are very rarely in the spotlight, but nevertheless have made a lasting impact and significant difference to the development of British drag racing. Four British and one Overseas member per year are eligible by way of having driven/ridden owned, designed, built, maintained, prepared, promoted, officiated, supported or taken part in any capacity within British drag racing. They must have been involved for at least twenty years or have made a significant and recognisable contribution to the sport. Those honoured for the Hall of Fame will receive a 'Bootsie', a trophy encapsulating an image of the late Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge, a man who put so much into British drag racing, together with an exclusive commemorative pin. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame owes no allegiance to any particular Club or track. It is an across-the-board honour for participation in British drag racing throughout its long history. THE BRITISH DRAG RACING HALL OF FAME (Year introduced) Allan Herridge (2006): The legendary Bootsie whose image the Hall of Fame features and after whom the trophy is named. Allan built one of the UK's first dragsters and in a long and glorious career proved that he could turn his hand to everything from managing a race track to driving race cars and building them before his life was tragically cut short in a top end accident. Allan's trophy was the first to be awarded, at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance in February 2006, and was accepted by his then-partner Lesley Wright who read this tribute: In 1962 when Allan built his first dragster there was no rule book, no drawings to follow - just pictures in American Hot Rod magazine. In the early days the dragsters were run at National Sprint Association meetings at various RAF and USAF airfields around the country. If there were barriers they were straw bales, the runways had no grip juice and there were no spectators. In 1966 all that changed when Santa Pod Raceway opened its gates to the public. Allan fully engaged in the development of the sport, helping to form an organising club and writing construction rules for the safety of participants and spectators. Along with John Harrison and Brian Sparrow, Dragster Developments made all their own parts and became renowned for shortening rear axles. When I met Allan in 1976 what struck me was his happy-go-lucky attitude to life. He would say he was "Just lucky" being in the right place at the right time to be offered the drive of the Santa Pod-owned cars: the Gloworm Funny Car, Commuter, Firefly, Asphalt Alleygator, and the Gladiator Funny Car. Bob and Roy Phelps popularised the sport by bringing over the top drivers and riders from the States. During the course of a meeting Allan would be helping out other teams by doing repairs over in Number 6. He moved up to live close to Santa Pod and was its full-time track manager. On Sunday he'd be driving a Fueller, Funny Car, Jet or Rocket and on Monday supervising the litter pickers and emptying the toilets! I like to think that Allan's character - his friendly and helpful nature, his passion to develop the sport - is still stamped right through it today. I know that Allan would be very humbled by the Hall of Fame award being named after him. I can almost hear him laugh and rattle off a dozen names of people he would think were more deserving of it than him, but on his behalf and on behalf ot the magical memory many of us have of him - thank you from the bottom of my heart. The Phelps family (2006): Without any doubt the Phelps family - Bob and his son Roy, along with Santa Pod's administrator Eileen Cattley - had a huge impact on British drag racing. They were involved from its very early days of the Drag Fests but really only became main players with the opening of Santa Pod Raceway in 1966 which they continued to run into the 1990s. They were personally involved in building many of the facilities at the track including the tower, barriers, and the famous Barn. Bob and Roy also ran their own stable of race cars. Roy also drove the Gloworm Capri Funny Car and the Wheelie Stingray, which is still running today. The number of cars Roy Phelps ran over the years is huge and included the famous Top Fuel cars such as Commuter, Firefly, Asphalt Alleygator, along with Funny Cars Gloworm, Gladiator and Cannonball. The Phelps family not only ran their own cars, but helped many other teams with parts, as well as building their engines for them. They were also had a stable of Jet cars as well as the more traditional cars. Most of these cars were built and driven at some point by Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge who had a long association with the Phelps family Most race fans will remember seeing a string of big name USA drivers coming to the Britain to race at Santa Pod Raceway. All these cars and teams were bought over by the Phelps family, usually with the cars staying here to be raced by British drag racers afterwards. The list of these famous names is huge and included Paula Murphy, Don Garlits, Gene Snow, Raymond Beadle, Don Schumacher, Sammy Miller, Tony Nancy, Al Segrini and Darrell Gywnn. Santa Pod was by no means their only interest. They were also involved in organising drag racing shows in Brighton and Milton Keynes, ran events at other tracks such as Snetterton and North Weald. They also signed an agreement with the International Drag Racing Association from the USA to run Santa Pod under the IHRA banner. Santa Pod became the only facility in Europe to be an official IHRA sanctioned track. Sadly Bob Phelps died in 1988. Roy Phelps carried on running Santa Pod until 1990. 1990 was significant for the Phelps family and also for British drag racing as the owner of the land decided to sell. After the sale of the land Roy decided to sell the separate company name of Santa Pod Raceway to the same people buying the land. This ended nearly twenty years of involvement in British drag racing by the Phelps family. They had their critics, as would anyone in their position. Bob and Roy had many frank discussions with organising clubs and administrators over the years as they tried to improve the sport and move it forward in the way they thought was best. They also saw some very tough times financially, but somehow managed to keep the track going until better times arrived. Looking back, you can now see that they had a massive impact on the sport and its growth over many years they were owners of Santa Pod Raceway. Phil Evans (2006): Phil has a long record of service to the sport, starting out as a racer in Sportsman and then becoming a race official serving on the MSA Drag Racing Sub-Committee and the UK Tech Committee, and lately serving as a member of the FIA Drag Racing Commission, as well as sponsoring the sport through his company Oil Control. Dennis Stone (2006): Legendary patriarch of the Stones family. Started racing with the Opus One altered which was developed into Tee Rat, the legendary Fuel Altered of the 1970s, and fielded the Stardust FCs, Hemi Hunter rails, and the Tender Trap Escort. Dennis represented and co-ordinated Pro Comp and Top Methanol, and was a founder member of the European Top Methanol Racers Association, serving the class until his death in 2005. Dennis Priddle (2006): Dennis Priddle is one of the names which immediately springs to mind when you think of British drag racing's past. Not only did he race Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars, he also built race cars and parts for other racers. His involvement with Drag racing started with a visit to the 1964 Drag Fests and by 1966 he was driving a 500cc Rudge-powered car. 1968 saw him driving the front-engined Keith Black-powered Tudor Rose. The next two years were spent driving the Top Competition Reliant GTE called The Whistler before the début of the new Quarter Master Top Fuel car and the start of the famous Dennis Priddle v Clive Skilton battles. 1972 saw history made at the Santa Pod Big Go when Dennis powered his car to the first six-second pass outside the USA, 6.995 was the time which gave Dennis his now familiar Mr Six title. History was again made in 1973 when Dennis and Clive became the first UK drivers to race on a USA drag strip, at the Winternationals in Pomona. Dennis unfortunately failed to qualify but returned to the UK with a state of the art front-engine Top Fuel car. In October 1973 Dennis débuted an Avenger-bodied Funny Car. Dennis continued to race both Funny Cars and Top Fuel Dragsters including the ex-Garlits King Rat Top Fuel car in which he set a new speed record of 230 at the 1977 Easter Springnationals. The same year saw the début of a new Monza Funny Car which Dennis raced with great success all over Europe, setting records along the way. A new rear-engined Top Fuel car was raced in 1980 and again Dennis continued to be successful across Europe running his first five-second pass at Santa Pod Raceway in 1982. Television fame came Dennis' way in 1983 as the Tomorrow's World programme experimented with a wind tunnel-tested streamliner car without a rear wing. The car did not handle at all well and Dennis reverted to the tried and tested rear wing design. Dennis Priddle, or Mr Six as he will aways be known, is a very worthy member to the Hall of Fame. He will mainly be remembered for the first six-second pass seen outside the USA John Ledster (2006): John started racing in Pro Stock in the 1970s with a Ford Mustang. After racing John moved to the official side of the sport and has spent several years serving on the MSA Drag Racing sub-committee, the UK Tech Committee, the FIA Drag Racing Commission, and in other official roles. Peter Billinton (2006): Another member to have been involved in the sport since its inception. Peter started G-Max Racing Fuels, still run by son Antony, and was the first and at that time sole importer of nitromethane, and designed and built Santa Pod Raceway's timing system, as well as being involved in race cars including Commuter. Tony Densham (2006): Tony Densham was involved in drag racing from the very early days racing in the 1963 Drag Fests in his 1500 ford dragster The Worden. In 1964 in ran a best of 11.32 in the same car at RAF Kemble and he continued to race the car at events on temporary tracks across Britain. With the opening of Santa Pod in 1966 British drag racers had a permanent track to race on and Tony won the Top Eliminator class in his blown 1500 cc dragster with a 12.32/122 at the opening event. At the August event Tony drove a new car, the Golden Hind, a seven-litre Ford powered dragster which was originally the Harvey Aluminium Special which was driven by American Mickey Thompson. In 1963 the car would later evolve into the famous Commuter. In 1967 Tony slowly got to grips with the car's power, and at the Records Weekend at Evington set a new two-way average record of 8.915. He also took the standing 500 metre record with a two-way average of 11.20. At the Santa Pod Easter meeting in 1968 Tony set a new low ET mark with a 9.052, and then ran the first eight second pass at the August event at Santa Pod with an 8.891/173 and later at the same event ran a fantastic 8.459 to become the quickest racer in Europe. Also in the same year at Santa Pod he raced Rex Sluggett in the first side-by-side nine-second race in Britain. In May 1969 Tony lowered the record to 8.228 at Santa Pod. Tony ran a disputed 205 mph pass in Commuter at Santa Pod in September 1970, the first 200 run by a British car. The dragster was set up with bigger tyres and gear ratio for an attempt on the flying kilometre record at Elvington the following weekend. This attempt was successful as he set the record at 207 mph. In 1971 Tony became the second drag racer to be awarded the RAC Malcolm Campbell trophy and in the same year drove the new Firefly front-engined Top Fuel car which was not only stunning to look at but was alleged to be the most powerful car outside the USA. Tony's driving career came to an end in 1972 when he announced his retirement from driving Firefly which was handed over to Allan Herridge. Roz Prior (2006): Roz started racing in the ex-Age Machine after husband Dave could not fit comfortably in the car. Roz raced in Top Fuel in the Fast Lady and Miss Revell slingshots and the Maneater rear-engined car, racing against Don Garlits in the late 1970s. Roz' quickest ET of 6.42 stood as the quickest ET by a UK female racer until the late 1990s. Clive Skilton (2006): Clive began his drag racing career in 1967, and won the Street Eliminator class at the Santa Pod Big Go driving an E Type Jag. In 1968 Clive took over the driving of the Famous Allard dragster setting a new speed record of 163 mph at the Easter meeting. In 1969 Clive débuted a new look car with a top mounted blower in Sweden and also became the first European to run a seven second pass at an NDRC event at Elvington. The Santa Pod Easter meeting in 1971 saw another new car called Second Revolution and Clive became the first person in the UK to run 200 mph, 1972 was the year Clive ran the UK's first rear engined Top Fuel car Revolution 3 and the year also saw the first side by side race in the UK Clive was running alongside? Who else but his arch rival Dennis Priddle. Along with Dennis Priddle, Clive entered the 1973 Winternationals at Pomona, qualified on the bump spot and returned to the UK with the ex-Kuhl and Olson Top Fuel car which was unfortunately badly damaged in a crash at Santa Pod. Like Dennis Priddle, Clive moved into Funny Cars and in 1975 he ran a Vauxhall-bodied car running his first Funny Car six later in the year at Snetterton and again, as in Top Fuel, he had many battles on the track with Dennis Priddle. At the Easter meeting at Santa Pod in 1976 Clive was back in a Top Fuel car and won the event which featured the legendary Don Garlits amongst its entries. Clive moved to the USA at the end 1976 season and raced on the US circuit with some success. He now runs one of the largest Chrysler dealerships in the US. Clive was one of the top racers in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. He also promoted events and raced in the USA and is one of the first people mentioned when you talk about drag racing from this era. Sydney Allard (2007): Sydney Allard was a Ford dealer who in the years before the Second World War produced his own 'Allard Specials' based on the 1930s Ford V8. It was in his specially built cars that he had success in some extremely diverse motor racing events: he won the 1949 British Hillclimb Championship, was placed third at Le Mans in 1950 and won outright the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally. In the later 1950s, Sydney turned to the component business and fitted Shorrocks superchargers to a wide range of engines. At the same time, he noted drag racing fever spreading in the US in the late 1950s, and as early as 1960, he imported a Chrysler Hemi with a GMC 6-71 blower. Thus was born the UK's first Top Dragster. Initially, he could find no-one to race, so he formed the British Drag Racing Association and in 1963 Dante Duce and Mickey Thompson visited the UK to run with Sydney. In 1964 and 1965 he collaborated with Wally Parks to hold the Drag Fest events, which were the birthplace of competitive drag racing in this country. Meanwhile in 1964 he had brought out the Dragon, a four-cylinder engined dragster sold in kit form to help people get started in Drag Racing, driven by son Alan. Sadly, this founding father of British drag racing passed away only a day after Santa Pod had opened its doors for business. John Hobbs (2007): John Hobbs started drag racing bikes with a BSA Bantam in 1965 and first raced at Santa Pod's debut event in April 1966. He gained his first Championship in 1968 with his 500cc Triumph. At the start of the 1970s he ran nitro-fuelled Triumph power in the bikes, calling them Olympus and, later, he built the legendary double Weslake Hobbit. The Hobbit was knocking on the door of the seven-second barrier in the late 1970s - incredible when only a decade earlier the record was in the nines. Among his performance achievements are notably bettering esteemed visitors from America in ET and speed in 1975. He even tore up the hallowed tarmac at Santa Pod in the process of making a static burnout! John raced against more than one generation of bike racer and in the late 1970s ran many memorable duels with the late Henk Vink. During 2002 and 2003 John returned on several occasions to run the Hobbit once again at North Weald and City of London Airport. Nobby Hills (2007): Nobby Hills has been involved in drag racing since the sport started in Europe in the 1960s. He was inspired to build his first car after having witnessed match races between Sydney Allard and Dante Duce in 1963. The first in a line of Houndog cars was introduced at the 1964 Drag Fest meetings. Nobby is primarily interested in the engineering side of the sport and mainly used hired drivers, including Les Hill, Mike Hutcherson, Owen Hayward and Alan Bates. After having run six front-engined dragsters, the opportunity to buy Paula Murphy's STP-sponsored Plymouth Duster Funny Car in 1973 was grabbed and Nobby ran Nitro Funny Cars from this point onwards, following up the Duster with a Vega, Challenger and a Corvette that was the first to record a five in 1986. After a hiatus from active involvement of almost two decades, Nobby Hills Racing have constructed a nitro-burning Camaro Funny Car. Custom Car magazine (2007): Custom Car magazine was first published in March 1970 and to the drag racing deprived fans of the era was a breath of fresh air. With its generally irreverent and rebellious early style, it quickly took the opportunity to cover the recently established drag racing scene, with full reports from both the UK and US. Regular features on cars of the era were included along with news and rumours not to mention the magazine's own cartoon superhero, Super CC. The Custom Car shows at Crystal Palace and Alexandra Palace took place, starting in 1972, for over ten years. Custom Car magazine's support for our sport over the years has remained undiminished and in recent years has expanded to sponsorship of events and class sponsorship. Under current editor Dave Biggadyke it has had a new lease of life with even more drag racing coverage and support promised for 2007. Importantly, Custom Car magazine has been the only UK drag racing-related periodical to appear consistently on the high street for over thirty five years. Ton Pels (2007): The first Overseas member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. The Godfather Ton Pels has been racing since 1970 and started on a variety of 250cc two-stroke bikes, soon changing to a 500cc Triumph on nitro. In 1977 he brought out a double-engined Triumph and this machine received the first-ever set of Puma cylinder heads in 1980, which were designed by Ton. Rebuilt in 1982 and renamed The Double Dutch Puma, in the next six years, this bike won Ton a string of National Championships. Then, having started the Zodiac business selling aftermarket and performance parts for Harley Davidson, Ton went Pro Stock with a Harley and ran this machine until 1991, becoming the first ever Harley Pro Stock bike to run an eight. In 1992, Ton and son and Crew Chief Vincent built their first Godfather Supertwin and won the European Championship in the bike's first season. This bike also became the first European Harley (and third in the world) to break the 200 mph barrier, winning the 1996 European Championship in the process. In 2004 Ton repeated this feat with the current Zodiac bike, which will be ridden by relative youngster Roel Koedam from the start of the 2007 campaign. Brian Johnson (2008): Brian Johnson started competing in 1976 when he and wife Ann bought a 750 cc single cam Honda. They painted it, tuned it, fitted 40DCOE Weber Carbs, and chromed this and that. Then a friend, Jon Morton, said "Why don't you try it at Blackbushe to see how fast it really is?". Brian came third in Street Bike and was hooked. From there Brian moved on to riding a Pro Stock bike. He ran a MTC Kawasaki in Pro Street in the late 1970s with wins at the Whitsun Big Go in 1979 and also at the 1980 August Bank Holiday Supernationals with a series of 9.2s, the quickest ET for a Pro Stock motorcycle in Europe at that stage. With that bike (the first Imperial Wizard) Brian made the first eight-second Pro Stock Bike pass in Europe - 8.98/150.3 - at Easter 1981. Brian went on to win three Championships in Pro Stock before moving on to Top Fuel. With his first Top Fuel machine Brian set records and won races all over Europe. He then took that bike to the USA. Working with Motorcycles Unlimited he won his first US race. He then went to work with constructors Race Visions based in Buffalo NY and with their support he won the 1984 number one plate. After coming back to the UK he modified the bike by turning the head around and making things to suit the Yamaha 16v head. The chassis, by then, was in need of replacement, and Race Visions built a replacement in 1989/90. The début of Brian's new Imperial Wizard Yamaha in 1990 saw the tuning of the nitro burner being aided by Chris McGhee who helped Brian develop the fuel system on the bike with huge gains in performance over a short period. He ran his first seven at the 1990 Cannonball and later in July ran a 7.18 at Avon Park. A month later he took the Imperial Wizard Puma Yamaha to his best ever, and a new European best of 6.67/212. This was the best performance ever outside the USA, and only American Elmer Trett had ever run quicker or faster. In 1991 Brian took the world mark at a 6.61 backed up with a 6.67. In the 1990s, after constant modifications and tuning, the bike evolved into one of the world's fastest Top Fuel bikes. Brian returned to Gainesville in 1999 and won Top Fuel Bike at the AMA/Prostar World Finals, running a 6.292/227 against America's Tony Lang. Brian retired from racing at the end of 2001 but is still an enthusiastic follower of the sport. With personal bests of 6.101 seconds and 234.11 mph he still stands as the eighth quickest and fastest Top Fuel Bike racer on the planet. The Page family (2008): The Page Brothers Clive, David and Gary began their drag racing career as crew members on Wild Bill Weichelt's DosPalmos / Asmodeus dragster in the late 1960s. Having decided shortly afterwards to buy their own car they were narrowly beaten in a bid to purchase Freddie Whittles first Shutdown altered. Instead they ended up with the ex-Mark Stratton Hustler BSA pickup (for £250) which they re-christened Panic after the famous Stateside Fuel Altered. It ran a best of 11.78/120. Although Clive, Dave and Gary formed the nucleus of the team it was very much a family affair with mother Iris and sisters Janice and Carol all playing an active part, Iris also helping in the administration of the National Drag Racing Club. In early 1972 they decided to build a completely new car. The new Panic altered featured a Roland Pratt chassis with a JWR 427 ci Rat motor and Fibreglass Applications Topolino body. Dave won several Senior Altered titles and took the car to its first nine-second clocking in October 1973. After switching to a Model T Body Dave won the first event in the new Pro Comp class in 1975 and after a switch to injectors that year the car ran a new Senior Comp record of 9.17. Clive drove in a few meetings in 1975 and younger brother Gary started racing in 1976 having instant success by winning the Senior Comp title on both days' eliminations at the legendary 10th Anniversary Spring Nationals. In 1978 a blower was fitted and the wins became regular. The first seven-second run came in August 1978 and by Spring 1979 the altered was running 7.1s. Panic was now officially the quickest ever British Pro Comp car and the quickest British Altered; it was also only three tenths of a second off the long standing American record. All three Page brothers drove the altered at various times. In 1980-1 the brothers stepped up by purchasing Dennis Priddle's Monza Funny Car complete minus the motor, intending to buy a new motor from the USA. But the period between buying the Funny Car (as the T still hadn't been sold), plus the astronomical cost of all the transatlantic phone calls and shipping trying to get a new motor together, slowed the project down considerably. The team decided that to get the car back on the track at all, a motor was going to have to be sought in the UK. The team returned to Dennis Priddle, and another deal was done for Dennis to put together a motor together. The team had hoped to début the car during 1981, but the woes with the motor and cashflow meant the Monza finally made it back out in its good looking Panic colours at the Easter 1982 meeting at Santa Pod. Dave Page commenced the driving duties and Gary won his first trophy as a Funny Car driver in August and ran as quick as 6.61 during the remainder of the brothers' début season in Funny Car. The Panic Funny Car was run for the next six years and in 1985 Bob Jarrett sold his Stripteaser Altered to buy a share in Panic and joined Dave and Clive in the hot seat. September 12th 1986 was a dark day for the Page family: Dave Page was tragically killed in a road traffic accident at the age of 34. In 1987 Gary ran the best time of 6.34/214, the best time the car had run in the Page's hands. It was also to be the final meeting for the car in its current guise as Panic as it was sold soon afterwards. In 1988 Gary drove for Bob Jarrett in the Showtime Trans Am and ran down into the fives in his first year in the car. In the last two decades Gary has been one of the most experienced Funny Car and Top Fuel drivers in Europe, driving cars owned by Mark Newby, Stuart Vallance, Knut Söderquist, Rune Fjeld, Mark and Jackie Hawkins and Kenneth Lorentzon, as well as Lawrie Gatehouse's Chaos Fuel Altered. In his role as driver he has endured his fair share of wins, records, fires and plain bad luck. He has also crewed on the Top Fuel teams of Knut Söderquist and Micke Kågered and is one of the most trusted pairs of hands for anything to do with nitro burning race cars. Gary also has a wicked sense of humour and a laid-back attitude at the track which is an example to all. The next generation of the Page family arrived on the scene in 2007 when Gary's nephew and Dave's son Dan Page achieved fourth place out of fifty points scorers in the extremely competitive Pro ET Championship in his first full season, and Dan's sister Heide also has taken to the quarter mile. The Read family (2008): Team Readspeed started in 1972 with Jim Read's first foray into the world of drag racing, in a slingshot dragster called Auto Frog. Jim used to live on Frog Island, hence the name of the car. It wasn't really an island, but the site of the family sawmill, Jim being a tree surgeon. Many of the visiting racers from Scandinavia used to stay or leave their trailers there between meetings and spend time chilling out with Jim and his family. Glen Read's Production class Volvo from 1972 became a 1780cc Volvo powered slingshot dragster The Graduate in the next year. But in 1975 the team stepped up into the new Pro Comp class by acquiring the former Priddle-Riswick-Gane-Stanford slingshot and renaming it Le Patron, reflecting his funding of the team. He broke into the sevens in Easter 1976 and raced at Mantorp Parkfor the first time in May 1977. Meanwhile son Steve Read had got a taste for driving and made his debut in Le Patron at the Silver Jubilee 1977 Big Go event, winning the event. A new rear-engined car built by Dennis Priddle made its first unpainted appearance at the 1978 Spring Bank Holiday Big Go and got into the sevens at its début meeting, raced at Mantorp Park the following May and won the 1979 Big Go and October Winternationals as well as making racing appearances at Snetterton and York. The start of 1980 saw the Le Patron car run into the 7.1s and at the Firework meeting ran its first six, a 6.86/202. In 1981 Steve Read had another chance to race at the Easter Meeting - and lost in the first round to Jim. Later that season the team travelled to the Circuit Paul Ricard in France and in 1982 made a return to York. Steve took the cockpit at the Sko Uno Drag Festival in 1982 and was runner-up. In 1984 Robin brought out Bad Habit, a 2.5 litre blown Daimler mini-fueller which started in the nines in Comp but which got down into the six second bracket by 1989 and which still holds the quickest-ever ET by a Daimler Hemi engine. Robin did move up into the world of Top Fuel in one year and ran 5.0s. Steve's first big win came later in 1984 over a thirteen-car Pro Comp field. Steve continued to race Pro Comp during the remainder of the 1980s. A new car in 1988 put even more pressure on the competition. But in 1989 the family sadly lost its father figure when Jim died just four days short of his sixty fourth birthday. After Jim handed over driving duties to Steve, he had concentrated his attention on the BDRA where he held the positions of Chairman for both the Executive and Competition Committees and was their International Liaison Officer. With his passing the sport lost one of its pivotal figures. 1990 saw more wins with Steve running the Readspeed Top Alcohol car into the mid-sixes. He also had a number of forays into nitro with Stu Vallance's Top Fuel dragster but kept loyal to Top Alcohol for the meantime. In February 1992 Steve visited Australia where he drove Adrian Pozzebon's Bob Meyer-built Top Alcohol dragster. He won the title and re-set the Australian ET record at 6.02. Back in the UK, using some of the tricks he had seen in Australia, Steve got the Readspeed car down into the six-teens immediately. Then in July 1992 at Avon Park Steve ran a historic 5.97 to become the first UK Top Alcohol driver, and the first in Europe, to break the six-second barrier. Racing in Europe from 1982-92, Steve won the UK Championship six times and the European Championship five times in the Readspeed Top Alcohol Dragster. But in 1993 Steve emigrated to Australia taking the Readspeed car where he won two further Championships in Top Alcohol. He then moved to Top Fuel where in June 1995 he became the first European to run a four second pass in a Top Fuel Dragster when he ran 4.966/280.72 at Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW Australia and raced with success in the Australian Top Fuel Championship, winning the Top Fuel Championship in 2001 and 2002 and achieving runner-up spot no fewer than seven times before becoming a team owner. Tim Read serves on the UK Tech Crew travelling the country to inspect race cars and attending SFI Days. He is also a member of Krister Johansson's crew, and helped tune his A/Fuel Dragster to a best of 5.45 at 261 mph. Alan Wigmore (2008): To talk about Alan Wigmore is to talk about the National Drag Racing Club. In the late 1960s, a year or two after the formation of the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association, the original club at Santa Pod, a group of racers and marshals began to worry about the direction which the club seemed to be taking at the time. The sort of thing desired was not radical – better marshalling facilities, more transparency about club finances, a shorter period of office for officials and better PR for the sport. They formed a club within the BDR&HRA called the Drag Control & Timing Association. Following a series of meetings of the fifty-strong group at unusual locations such as the Jones Paper Mill in St Neots the group had made a tentative approach to the RAC to ask to gain racing recognition. While this was being granted, the group tried to air their grievances at the 1969 BDR & HRA Annual General Meeting but failed to elicit change and on 24 October 1969 the NDRC was formed with Alan Wigmore as Chairman. It became an independent organisation after the hundred members braved heavy snows and a flu epidemic to attend a meeting at the Matrix works in Coventry. The first big challenge to the NDRC came when the RAC as governing body of British motorsport announced they were no longer allowing the word National in club titles. This came just as the NDRC had taken delivery of its letterhead and signage at a cost of £200. Although the Club appealed and won a dispensation to call itself National it had to commit itself to be a truly national club and run meetings at as many venues around the country as possible. After a couple of meetings at Santa Pod in 1970 an inaugural meeting at Blackbushe was run with help from the Santa Pod crew. The first truly independent meeting was at Martlesham Heath in Suffolk where on a summer's day virtually every mobile Suffolk Police Unit was called out to police the 8,000 strong crowd along the country lanes. In the early 1970s venues included Fulbeck near Newark in Nottingham; Dunkefwell in Devon; North Luffenham near Leicester and Elvington in the North Riding as it was called then. The Club co-promoted events at RAF Wroughton near Swindon and successful on-tour meets to venues like Silverstone, Snetterton, and, of course Blackbushe. As well as leading the NDRC, Alan was the voice of drag racing at NDRC events in the 1970s and 1980s and, at the start of his career, a driver. His career as a racer was quite short but colourful. He drove the Itzaviva altered which was based on a Vauxhall Viva powered by a 288 cubic inch Chevy engine and ran in the elevens at 120 mph. This car was unfortunately written off in a racing accident at the 1971 August Bank Holiday International meeting, rolling five times at 120 mph, shearing off a wheel, shifting the motor in its mounts, and after getting out merely bruised Alan confined his energies to NDRC organisation. The Viva was painted by Alan's father who ran Pop's Paints in Stanmore, N. London. In an early instance of a passenger ride Alan once took Geof Hauser for a ride in this car at RAF North Luffenham. In the late 1970s Alan spearheaded the NDRC's hunt for a permanent track for its racing activities. Many of the on-tour venues were unsuitable for regular drag racing events, with other uses potentially clashing with racing; a new venue at Radlett near Watford ran into planning difficulties. At this stage Long Marston came into play having been used for eighth-mile races by the NDRC Midlands division since 1975. Alan entered into negotiations with the owners and by late 1979 an agreement was reached to refurbish the track and open it for quarter-mile action, which happened in May 1980 after months of hard work. He died in November 1998 five months short of his sixtieth birthday having devoted his life to the sport he loved. Sammy Miller (2008 overseas member): The legendary rocket drag racer Sammy Miller raced Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars before switching to rockets in 1974. Tony Fox, the owner of Pollution Packer asked Sammy to test in the winter of 1974-75. On only his second pass he hit 348 mph which officials refused to announce. After driving others' rockets in 1975 he built the Spirit of '76 Mustang, which was the first Rocket Funny Car and which ran quickly enough to cause consternation to the NHRA establishment following previous fatalities. At that time rocket cars were given strict elapsed time and speed limits, which the drivers routinely ignored. Track announcers would always announce the allowed times and speeds, not the actual times on the scoreboard. By the late 1970s Sammy was looking for other places to run. Sammy's second Rocket FC was the first Vanishing Point, a Vega-bodied car. It was with this car that he made his UK début in 1978 where he quickly made his mark running 4.40/290. Sammy recorded the first ever three-second pass in Florida in 1979, a 3.94, and his first 300 mph plus run in Europe was at Santa Pod in July 1979 at 307.6 mph. Europe became the beneficiary of the NHRA clampdown on rocket-propelled vehicles and Santa Pod in particular took him to their collective heart. Following an incident at the 1979 Fireworks meet resulting in Vanishing Point flipping in the dark at 234 mph, Sammy rebuilt it to run in 1980. In 1981 the Oxygen Rocket Dragster made its début and Sammy arranged the first ever rocket races, which were against Al Eierdam and which were also contested at Santa Pod. Sammy's quickest time was in 1984 when he recorded a pass of 3.58 at Santa Pod Raceway which still stands as the absolute drag strip ET record anywhere on the planet. His biggest worry was whether he'd ever get the car stopped. Sammy's career had two hiatuses, between 1986 and 1994, and again for another seven years from 1995. The main reason was that the hydrogen peroxide fuel for rockets had become almost unobtainable. His last on-track appearance was at the Speedfreaks Ball at Santa Pod Raceway in May 2002. Following a low five-second pass Sammy put Vanishing Point into the field, as he had done previously when stopping became an issue. Ever the showman, he worked overnight to make sure he could run again on the Sunday. Sammy was hugely popular with the fans, thousands of whom turned out to see his return in 2002. Off the track he was always friendly and approachable to fans and media alike and had a wonderful sense of humour. Stories abound of him running a rocket car on the street, waving at NHRA officials at 300 mph, and talking in a spookily accurate Donald Duck voice. But he was also a consummate engineer, building his own motors and helping budding rocket pilots such as Henk Vink. What was Sammy Miller like at the track? He was one of the nicest guys you could meet and always had time to chat to the fans many of whom would stand wide-eyed in reverence at this living legend. He was also incredibly brave and knew only too well the risks he was taking with his body as the extreme G-Forces caused internal bleeding during his runs as a matter of routine. Those who witnessed his performances talk of the car moving as if fired from a gun. Sammy was killed in an incident unrelated to any of his own work on Tuesday 29th October 2002 whilst working in the Texas oilfields for his company Applied Force. He was survived by his wife Edith and his five children. His death left a massive gap in the sport and in the hearts of his thousands of fans. Sammy still holds quarter mile records in Canada, Denmark, England, Sweden and Mexico and eighth mile records in Belgium, Holland, England, Germany and Corsica. He also set a world ice speed record when he put skis on the Oxygen dragster and recorded 247 mph at Lake George. He was also the first man into the fives, fours and threes in the USA and the first into the fours and threes in Europe. John Bennett (2009): John Bennett joined the British Hot Rod Association in August 1962 and the following month turned up at the BHRA's first get together with the most radically customised vehicle of the meet, a 1954 Austin A70 pick-up fitted with a Ford Zephyr grille, twin headlamps and reshaped metalwork all carried out at his Spa Engineering workshops in South Norwood. John was interested in the organisational side from the start and at the end of 1962 joined a group of voluntary members to form the first comittee of the BHRA with John as chairman. Discussions began on the possibilities of organizing a custom show and a drag race in the UK. John offered his Spa Engineering workshops as an ideal location for a custom show and the first British Custom Car Show was held there in Easter 1963. John also began writing regular articles in the BHRA magazine Kool Kams about the more interesting goings on at Spa Engineering from fitting tail fins to Studebakers to chopping the roof on a Model Y Ford. May 1964 saw the first drag race in the UK organized by the BHRA at Duxford Airfield and John entered his '58 Pontiac Chieftain. Sharing the driving was John's soon to be wife Ann Palmer who ran quicker times than John and from then onwards became the driver while John tuned the car and between them they got the times down from 17 seconds to 15 seconds. The Thames Estuary Automobile Club held a sprint at Graveley in August 1964 which wasn't a drag race but they were timing two cars at a time and John came out as starter complete with Mooneyes stetson and flags to try and coax the die hard sprinters to race each other. John soon realized that the growth of British drag racing was being held back by the lack of a permanent venue and it gave him great pleasure to announce at the 1965 BHRA AGM that five members including himself had been able to obtain a ninety acre site in Bedfordshire suitable for a permanent drag strip. John had formed a company known as National Dragways to develope the site which was to become Santa Pod Raceway and ambitious plans were laid out for a full season's drag racing in 1966. In February 1966 John took over the running of Drag Racing Magazine. He incorporated the BHRA publication Kool Kams and renamed it Drag Racing and Hot Rod Magazine making it more attractive to the show crowd as well as the go crowd. Increasing fields of competitors, TV coverage and American visitors made for a very successful first season at Santa Pod and by the end of the year the BHRA membership had reached 1000. At the 1967 AGM it was decided to change the name of the BHRA to the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association, the chief reason being that drag racing was now the largest of the club activities and an executive board was elected with John remaining as Chairman. Santa Pod received a facelift and was resurfaced before the 1968 season which saw more new competitors and faster machinery and by the end of 1969 at the BDR & HRA AGM several members had conflicting ideas about how drag racing should move forward in the UK and John decided it was time to stand down as Chairman having achieved so much to get drag racing off the ground in the UK Dave Grady (2009): There can have been few people who have generated so much enthusiasm, or given the opportunity to so many to involve themselves in drag racing during his time in the sport. Dave Grady had such an infectious enthusiasm for participating in, organising and promoting drag racing that it was impossible not to be swept along with his ventures and plans. These were the driven visions of a man whose inner passion for all things drag racing were to make Dave Grady one of the most innovative operators in the sport. Dave started his early strip career campaigning a Holden in Street Eliminator at Santa Pod and Blackbushe as early as 1973, and at Pennine's first events at Crosland Moor near Huddersfield in 1974. His leadership qualities through heavy involvement with the cruising clubs of the late seventies - the Yorkshire Street Freaks and the Northern Street Confederacy - soon came to the fore. As a direct example, the number of converts dragged to Melbourne for the inaugural meeting for PDRC in 1977 was testament to Dave's promotional capabilities. Dave's friendship and work with the late Glenn Jarvis to provide American style outlets for the emerging hot rodders and racers in the North of England led him to establish what became Superpower USA at Swillington near Leeds, and a more drag strip focused outlook. Racing took over from cruising, and Dave's trusty black '57 Ford took on the mantle of High Spirits for Senior Competition racing at Melbourne. There followed some spells of intense hard work as PDRC Chairman and Publicity Manager, lifting the profile of Pennine to new heights and giving Dave the opportunity to communicate his enthusiasm for the drag racing lifestyle and its possibilities to a wider audience, from big money sponsors to the youngster walking the pits at Melbourne with their parents. A new unique race vehicle followed, the famed Thundertruck designed to compete in the intended Super Gas class. Super Gas had ignited a new flame in Dave's heart following a trip to the states. Not content with just racing in the new class, Dave set to work co-ordinating the G-Force. A totally new idea for a single class of vehicles to offer themselves to show and race promoters as a complete demonstration or race class with sixteen Northern Super Gas cars available to run under the G-Force banner for a championship spanning the three existing tracks. In the following year the class had expanded to more than twenty five vehicles fighting the gasser wars at National events around the country. Super Gas was an established class. In the meantime Dave had forged links with an enthused sponsor to take on some of the financial burden of promoting events at Melbourne and providing much needed sponsorship for racers. Further Dave coups were to see Ken and Bev Coleman's Blown Police Rover sponsored by South Yorkshire Police. Dave treating the Chief Constable to some memorable trips down his motorway at slightly over the National Limit. It was only unfortunate timing that saw Dave's planned step up to Top Fuel promoting and racing stopped in mid flow, but never for the lack of drive and enthusiasm. Dave maintained his promotional powers with his own brand of people based commentary at various shows, and for a while the racing at Santa Pod and York. Finest hours though surely came at the two Pennine Promotions Aintree events, and the spectacular Powersports Festival on the entire sea-front at Blackpool in 1991. A new Thundertruck nestled in the Superpower workshop, sadly never to turn a wheel on the strip, as Dave's resources of time and cash were stretched to the full. You could always be sure that Dave would help anyone with their car, their racing or their life, and many racers owe so much to the man at the Superpower Coffee and Talking Shop. Sadly missed, Dave was killed in a tragic accident in 2000 which robbed us of one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet: one of drag racing's true racers and enthusiasts. Alf Hagon (2009): Alf Hagon began his racing career on grasstrack bikes winning eleven National Grasstrack Championships. His first Sprint was at Trent Park in 1949 on a 350c c Rudge but it was not until August 1958 that the Sprinting bug bit when he was offered a ride on Gordon Colquhuon's Moto-Vincent at Witchford where he recorded fastest time of the day at 11.28 secs. Alf went on to build and run a 650 cc Triumph-engined sprint bike and broke the National 750cc quarter mile record with an 11.79. Next he decided to compete with the big boys but instead of using the then popular Vincent twin went instead for the lighter JAP twin. Alf had an obsession about weight: he hated it and dispensed with anything superfluous on his machines, even sacrificing comfort for lightness. At the 1964 International Dragfests Alf got his lightweight JAP down to a 10.57 at 139 mph and began his quest to get into nines. In 1967 he became the first rider into the nines with a 9.93 blast at Duxford and by the following year had set a long standing record at Santa Pod of 9.432 at 153 mph. Alf was also the first British rider over 200 mph that year with a 206.54 run over the flying mile at Honington in 1967. The Murty family (2009): Stephen Murty was one of a band of keen motorcycle sprinters from the Calder Valley area of Yorkshire. Early drag racing ventures saw Steve progress to a crazy Hillman Imp engined two-wheeler contesting Competition Bike at Santa Pod in the very early seventies. The drag racing bug had bitten deep, but that brought about a realisation that drag racing was a Southern based sport, and Northerners had far to travel to compete. Steve and several associates formed the Pennine Drag Racing Club, to promote and bring drag racing to Yorkshire. Negotiations with the landowner followed by much hard work from the new club, brought eighth-mile drag racing to Crosland Moor Airfield near Huddersfield, the former private aerodrome of Sir David Brown of tractor fame. In 1974 the club held two race meetings at this venue, featuring Clive Skilton, Dennis Priddle, Roz Prior and Ed Shaver in a great show of support for this new drag racing venue, until complaints from distant householders forced the venue closed by the ruling of Kirklees Council. The closure saw Steve embark on a long legal battle with Kirklees, which he was to win eleven years down the road. Undaunted, drag racing was promoted and staged at Liverpool's Aintree Racecourse by Steve and the PDRC during 1975, though Yorkshire still beckoned. Steve had long been in negotiation to find a permanent venue, which in 1977 was finally unveiled as the main runway at Melbourne near York, on farming land which had been a World War 2 RAF Halifax Bomber base, the home of Number 10 Squadron. Those inaugural meetings had seen the emphasis on bracket racing, and were contested enthusiastically by American motor sport starved locals, with guest appearances by some of the most famous racers in the UK on two and four wheels. Big crowds and television company visits were the order of the day. It soon became apparent that Steve's organisation was very much family-oriented, with wife Leone running things in Race Control, and Leone's mum Iris and dad Amos attending to the gate. Leone's sister Liz and her hubby Steve were willing workers too, whilst Michael was just a small boy. Stunt driving arrived at York with the purchase of the wheelie Vauxhall, campaigned by Steve initially, but latterly by Leone, to the delight of the lady racers and spectators. Truck racing was a Steve Murty innovation at Melbourne and the early eighties saw the familiar Grand Prix racing trucks of the day racing in brackets at York. Trucking led to drag racing's first purpose built drag racing truck, the Bandag Bullet, built and raced by Steve and his team, inevitably giving rise to another Murt first. The Rolls Royce Avon jet-powered Pirelli Pro Jet, a record-breaking truck built by Fred Whittle and demonstrated by Steve all over Europe. Steve attended to PDRC business with a passion, and quickly established himself as a keen negotiator when involved with inter-club meetings, and the forming of a National Drag Racing Championship, and often locked horns with the ruling RAC MSA. Steve was heavily involved in the inter-club meetings with the BDRA and NDRC to ensure that safety aspects of drag racing were being overhauled and improved through the combined efforts of the promoters and clubs in the UK. Of course the racers were still getting full attention, along with upgrades to the Raceway, which was the subject of an ambitious campaign to re-surface the runway under the banner of Mac the Track. No-one can have worked harder than Steve during that period in the late eighties. The track re-opened as the New York Raceway in an era when National Drag Racing was at all venues in the UK, and the number of racers who were cutting their teeth at Melbourne was booming. Promotional vehicles continued to accumulate, and the Leyland Skytrain was unveiled as another top quality exhibition vehicle added to the Murty fleet - sixteen tons of wheelie Leyland Landtrain truck. The exhibition vehicles were kept busy helping provide the funds to keep drag racing alive at Melbourne as well as providing the perfect promotional opportunity for drag racing at the track. A return to Aintree with big promotional events in 1988 and 1989 was a forerunner to the huge 1991 National Power Sports Festival which lasted a week at Blackpool and featured drag racing demonstrations along the Golden Mile, in the biggest showcase ever organised for the sport. In 1992 Steve founded the International Organisation of Professional Drivers, the IOPD, when new legislation threatened the existence of motor sport on private land through the rulings of the Road Traffic Act. In effect many events were saved from extinction, or indeed prosecution, by the new authorising body which ensured that properly organised and permitted events were not under threat. Steve remains passionate that all such events should continue without fear of falling foul of the law. Today the Murty Family are still actively running events at York Raceway; Steve as the promoter and champion of the grass roots racers whilst Leone continues to be the steadying influence keeping the Race Control staff contented and keeping Steve in line, whilst Michael has established himself as a superstar in Monster Trucks amongst the other machines that are part of the Murty stable. Latest addition to the team, younger brother Christopher at twenty one, has taken the reins of track preparation, and the general race events organisation, ensuring that York Raceway is in safe hands for the foreseeable future. This means of course, that PDRC will continue to generate the enthusiasm that has led to some of Europe's fastest and best racers having a local track to learn their trade, thanks to the dedication of the Murty family. Rune Fjeld (2009 overseas member): Norwegian Rune Fjeld first raced in England in September 1978 running his Donovan powered, Pinto bodied Pro Comp Funny Car to at Snetterton and the following weekend entering the International Meeting at Santa Pod where he qualified #2 in an eight car field. He made it to the final during eliminations but had to sit and watch Martin Hopp take the win after losing fire on the line. 1980 saw Rune in Fuel Funny Car and back at Santa Pod in September for the World Finals. Rune took top speed of the meet with a 239 mph charge in his Landlubber Mustang during qualifying then pulled the holeshot of the meet in the first round when he shutdown Allan Herridge with a 6.58 to Bootsie's 6.28. In 1983 Rune imported the beautiful ex-Al Bergler Motown Shaker '82 Trans Am and brought it to Santa Pod for the Cannonball in July and the World Finals in September where he qualified #2 and reached the final against Tom Hoover but tyre shake cost him the win. The 1986 Cannonball had drama in the semi finals. Bill Sherratt was to race Rune but the Motown Shaker hadn't appeared so Bill was signalled to fire up for a bye run. Then Rune and crew came hurtling down the fire-up road, the crew still fitting the spark plugs and strapping Rune into his car. They somehow managed to get it fired up and nearly hit the tow car as Rune bounced it round into his lane, burned out, raced and won with a 6.64 to Bill's 6.9. Rune then met Tom Hoover again in the final and in a close race this time took the win. The 1988 August Supernationals at Santa Pod featured the début of another imported car, the ex-Joe Amato Top Fuel Dragster, and in the driving seat this time was the gorgeous Liv Berstad who ran a stunning 5.72 on her first full pass at Santa Pod then the following year at the World Finals clicked off a record shattering 5.37 at 260 mph. Liv became a huge attraction in European drag racing and with the combination of her driving skills and Rune's tuning skills set a new European ET record of 5.13 which stood for many years after being set in 1990. In 1990 Rune went to America to buy Tom Hoover's Trans Am Funny Car and whilst there qualified #14 at the Gatornationals, then back home set a new European ET record of 5.57 which stood for eight years. In 1991 Rune bought another ex-Joe Amato Top Fueller as the goal was now a four-second run but the European tracks could not handle the new American combination resulting in many frustration tyre smoking runs. In 1996 Rune became Crew Chief for Rico Anthes' Top Fuel Team and helped take them to the ETFA European Championship win that year. 1997 saw an end of an era as Rune sold his Funny Car after nearly twenty years of Funny Car racing but this year, but the year also saw the start of Rune's association with Barry Sheavills who became the driver of the Top Fueller and in 1998 gave RF Motorsports its first FIA European Championship win with consistent four-second runs through out the year. Rune bought another Top Fueller from Joe Amato in 1999 for Barry to drive while veteran Gordie Bonin drove the old car to another FIA European Championship for the RF Motorsports team. In 2001 Andy Carter drove the 'old' car to its third FIA European Championship win for the team and in 2002 history was made at Ssanta Pod as RF Motorsports drivers Barry Sheavills and Andy Carter recorded the first side-by-side four-second 300 mph run in Europe. In 2004 Andy Carter took a fourth FIA European Championship win for the RF Motorsports team in a new Spitzer chassis car bought from Doug Herbert. In 2009 RF Motorsport enters its thirty second year in European drag racing with a three-car stable of Top Fuel Dragsters. Rune Fjeld, head of RF Motorsport, is truly one of Europe's top racers and team owners, and a worthy member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. THE SELECTION PROCEDURE The Board of Selectors of ten - made up of Club and track officials, promoters, former racers, journalists and fans with a long background in the sport - convenes annually to nominate candidates for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. The four British and one overseas nominee with the most votes are informed by letter and invited to the Presentation Ceremony which takes place at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation. Presentations are also held at race events or an an alternative venue of the member's choice. The Board of Selectors, in alphabetical order, is: Keith Bartlett -- Santa Pod Raceway CEO and FIA European Championship Promoter Graham Beckwith -- Former commentator, York Dragway and Santa Pod Raceway Stu Bradbury -- Former Santa Pod Raceway Chief Starter and Hall of Fame Co-ordinator Jeremy Cookson -- Shakespeare County Raceway Marketing Manager and UK nostalgia enthusiast Phil Cottingham -- Fan representative Phil Evans -- Member of FIA Drag Racing Commission and Chair of MSA Drag Racing Committee Ian Marshall -- Santa Pod Racers Club Chief Starter Ian Messenger -- Former bike racer, now commercial photographer Nick Pettitt -- Drag racing historian Darren Prentice -- Santa Pod Racers Club International Race Director Andy Rogers (Tog) -- Eurodragster.com News Editor Brian Taylor -- Former BDR&HRA Chairman and Santa Pod Raceway Commentator, now journalist The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is sponsored by: USAutomotive Santa Pod Raceway Shakespeare County Raceway Pennine Drag Racing Club/York Raceway Avon Park International Racers Association Santa Pod Racers Club Power Race Graphics Eurodragster.com KJ Partnership Drag, Rod and Classic Review British Drag Racing Hall of Fame logo by Darren West. This page ©British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Ian Messenger, Roger Gorringe, and Eurodragster.com.