European Drag Racing News


































Santa Pod Class Title Sponsors - continued.
19th March: Ian Marshall from Santa Pod Racers Club has announced with just over a week to go to before the first round of the National and Club Championships begin in earnest.

Following on from our press release regarding Class Title Sponsors (of which there are 2 spaces left if any company is interested) we have new Sponsors on board for Comp Eliminator, and Super Comp this year, regardless of new or continuing we thank you for your support.

Returning to Comp Eliminator again for 2024 are William Bros Racing, BSI Transport, Engine Data Analysis, Pro Race Engineering and new for 2024 are Marshall Body repair and Restoration based in Mansfield.

Williams Bros Racing.
As many know, William Bros not only build cars, engines, paint, and supply all the race parts you will ever need to keep your race car on track, but also race within Comp Eliminator, with Nic Williams in the Late model COPO Camaro and Dan Williams in the 70 Camaro, Nic being the defending Champion in 2024. Not only are they sponsoring the class financially but also with product support along with VP Lubricants, who recently announced details of their huge racer support programme for 2024. Contact Williams Bros Racing at Williams Bros Speed Shop, Brook Farm, Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire, NN128LQ. Email us by clicking here and by calling us on +44(0)1327 220777.

BSI Transport Ltd.
BSI Transport Ltd is a family run business based near Milton Malsor, Northampton and have been in the transport industry for over 25 years. Barrie Smith started the company as an owner-driver and during these years has grown the company to the position we are in today. We would consider ourselves to be a hard-working, customer driven, successful business full of enthusiasm. Our success has been built upon our reputation for competitive pricing, on time deliveries and a high-quality customer service.

Our work is interesting and varied and ranges from print machinery, construction machinery, exhibitions, concerts, as well as sound, light and stage equipment. To complement our general haulage service, we offer an overnight palletised solution which does provide a geographical option across the UK.

Our fleet consists of various sized Vehicles and trailers differing in specification to accommodate a variety of freight movements. Always looking to strive for excellence our fleet is undergoing a continual cycle of replacement to ensure we comply with the latest LEZ (Low Emission Zone) regulations and industry standards such as CLOCS and FORS.

BSI Transport Ltd, Milton Trading Estate, Gayton Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, NN7 3AB. Email us by clicking here and by calling us on +44(0)1604 859560.

Engine Data Analysis.
Engine builders to the stars of American touring cars, circle track and Drag Racing based in Castleford with complete engine dyno facilities.

Engine Data Analysis, Unit 10 Ashley, Carr Wood Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire WF104 4SR. Email us by clicking here and by calling us on +44(0) 1977 516622.

Pro Race Engineering.
Pro Race Engineering are a race engineering company with many years’ experiences, building high performance race engines and chassis setups. We specialise in custom works and builds. We also have our own line of products from billet steel main caps, pulleys and connecting rods. We have worked together in various industries as multiskilled engineers for eight years. We have taken our passions of cars to start a race team followed by a company called Pro-Race Engineering.

Our first year of testing/developing components has been very successful and the company is growing quickly. We now have four types of rod fitment, two girdle kits and two billet crank pulleys to our portfolio with much more coming soon.

By appointment only: Pro-Race Engineering, Unit 1D, Little London Farm, Wash Lane, Little Totham, Essex, CM9 8LX. Email us by clicking here and by calling us on +44(0)1621 473023.

Marshall Body Repair & Restoration.
Marshall body repair and restoration have been in business since 1980, it's owned and operated by a father and son team, carrying out restoration, paint and bodywork in the Mansfield area on Classic American and more modern vehicles.

Marshall Body Repair & Restoration, Rear of, 79-81 Clip Stone Rd W, Forest Town, Mansfield, Notts, NG19 0ED. Call us +44(0)1623 652067.

W.A. Watts Automotive.
New to Super Comp for 2024 - W.A. Watts Automotive is a reputable provider of vehicle repair services and MOT testing in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Our facility is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to ensure the maintenance and repair of a wide range of vehicles, from classic cars dating back to the 1950s to modern hybrid vehicles. Additionally, we offer a selection of high-quality automotive products, including Millers Oils and Morris Lubricants. Our experienced team at W.A. Watts Automotive can meet the needs of mid-season maintenance for race cars, providing specialized services to ensure optimal performance.

Additionally, Racers in Super Comp are being offered the opportunity to win the following contingency award, a can of oil from the Millers Classic Pistoneeze range for the number one qualifier, along with a £50 cash prize for each event winner, to be eligible you just need to carry a W.A. Watts Automotive decal on each side of your race car, theses will be available through the signing on office at Santa Pod.

W.A. Watts Automotive, Unit 1 Cross Green, Cockfield, Bury St Edmunds, IP30 0IG. Email us by clicking here and by calling us on +44(0)1284 828325.

Should you or any business look to have your name attached to a class with either cash or product sponsorship, please contact Ian Marshall by clicking here or call 01933-313625 as little as £450 will sponsor a class for the whole season, it may not seem a lot, but every little help and all funds or product go to the Racers not to the club, that includes Cars and Bikes.



Straightliners - Melbourne’s Season Opener.
19th March: Thanks for Andrew Flavell for contacting Eurodragster.com to announce that less than a month to go for The XHYPE Spring Nationals at Melbourne Raceway.

Lots of time and money spent over the winter redeveloping the pits making for a cleaner and smoother experience for riders, drivers and spectators. The tower and signing on office have had a major makeover and with the new backing from XHYPE Oils too it should be a great season.

The car classes that were developing last year will continue along with the ever-successful NSCC. NSCC headed by Shaun Wilson is the home of street/strip, street legal drag n’ drive style racing. These guys race, cruise out Saturday night but outside the race events regularly attend NSCC car meets and cruises.

It will be the second round of the Straightliners Championship, the only multi venue national championship in the UK which of course includes the No Mercy Bike ET Bracket series with the Scooters and Junior Bike Championships.

RWYB is always available: £50 including admission and entry for unlimited runs.

New for this year, we also have the Melbourne Heads Up Shootout! Come up to Melbourne and have a go at something a bit different. New elimination 8 car field heads up shoot out open to all cars entered in any of the classes running.

This is an extra class that is FREE to enter to all cars that have already entered NSCC or another Straightliners Class. RWYB Cars can also enter for an extra £20 if they have a NORA LICENCE.

Remember a NORA LICENCE is needed for competitive events at Melbourne but is cheap and easy to apply for. Use this link: click here

How Does the Melbourne Shootout Work:

Each day, drivers make at least 1 run at any point of their choosing up to lunchtime (1pm).

Once you have recorded a time your quickest time will go onto a list and upon the completion of this qualifying cars wishing to participate will be grouped into 8s depending on how quick they have run. The aim is the 8 cars’ ETs will be very close together creating close heads-up racing.

A list of willing competitors will be gathered and with this elimination ladders for the afternoon will he set.

The A FIELD will compromise of the 8 quickest qualified cars. They will compete heads up together with random pairings.

The B FIELD will be made up of #9-#16 qualifiers and if there is enough for a C FIELD, this will be made up of #17-#24 qualifiers depending on the number of cars choosing to enter.

This competition will be heads up with a .400 pro tree and (obviously) run over the 1/8th mile.

B + C FIELD INDEX SYSTEM:

B + C Field Index System: This 'floating' index number will be established as follows: The index number will be set based on the top qualifying elapsed time of each field.

The index will be two tenths below that number. For example, after the final qualifying session and if the 'B' field top qualifier's elapsed time is 6.51 , the 'B' field index for eliminations will be a 6.31 for eliminations. This means they still run heads up but cannot go quicker than this time.

Another example, the 'C’ field top qualifier's elapsed time is 7.14, the index for 'B' field eliminations will be 6.94.

Enter now by: clicking here

Competition Entries: click here



Rouven Dawson's Comp Eliminator COPO.
19th March: The name Rouven Dawson is known mainly in the Classic American car community - until now. You can see some of his cars over the last 10 years including a Camaro and a '68 El Camino which was documented in Classic American Magazine by clicking here.

He has also acquired and entered a '56 Chevrolet 3150 Truck in Street Weekend 2023/4 and run what ya brungs. But his first foray into championship drag racing is with a more modern machine, a 2019 Chevy COPO Camaro 427. Rouven has entered his upgraded COPO Camaro in Competition Eliminator and Pro ET at the Easter Nationals and we can't wait to see it on track.

Rouven explains: "Myself and my good friend Aaron, who is also my crew/engineer/guy who puts up with my cr*p, went over to the States last August and bought the car and trailered it 2000 miles to our shipping guys, stopping at Maple Grove Raceway on the way to give the car its first ever pass.

"Not long after arriving in the UK, we took her to Santa Pod and ran in the low 9s, after which we started looking for ways to improve performance. We reached out to David Barton of Ray Barton Race Engines, and before we knew it the motor was on its way to him.

"Since then it’s been a mad rush to get ready for the first event. The motor is back now and in, and we hope to fire her up very soon. She’s an awesome bit of kit. The first time we line up next to Nic Williams in his COPO will be an awesome moment, especially for bowtie fans!!

"When the car arrived, the first person I reached out to was Nic Williams at Williams Bros as I knew he had the only other COPO in the UK. Nic was super helpful and helped get us on track to race in Comp Eliminator this season.

For those interested in the specs, GM has kindly put the 2019 COPO specs sheet online and you can see them by clicking here.



Gallery from Dakota Raceway.
19th March: Thanks to Kieran for sending a gallery of photos from Saturday's Run What Ya Brung and NSA meeting at Dakota Raceway. Smeatharpe Airfield in Devon supported by John Woolfe Racing. You can see the gallery at this link.

The track was open from 9:30am - 4pm for run what ya bring and NSA sprint action. Notable in the RWYB ranks was a red Buick was imported by Michael Smith from the US, where it had been raced by longtime Buick exponent and Long Island based Bruno di Paola, and was making shakedown runs before running at SPR

Kieran's photos are watermarked and we are fine for them to be downloaded and shared unmodified on social media. This will be our standard policy for photos in the future.



Swift snippets.
19th March: Happy Birthday to Comp Eliminator team boss Nigel Payne, Santa Pod Raceway supporters and marshals Ben Skinner and Jack Skinner, and French team Toxic Drag Racing member Sébastien Lajoux. We hope you all have a great day.




SFI Foundation re-certification tour in The Netherlands.
18th March: Thanks to Remco Scheelings for sending eurodragster.com this article after kicking off the 2024 European SFI re-certification tour at Santa Pod Raceway on the Tuesday, it was time for the Dutch stop on the Thursday morning, March 13. Racers and team members from Germany, The Netherlands and even Italy, travelled to Hotel Ibis, located almost at Schiphol Airport, to re-certify parts to be race ready when the new season kicks off in a few weeks.


The Dutch Hot Rod Association, represented by Jaap Blom and Gerard Roelofsen, were host to the Dutch stop on the European SFI re-certification tour. Jennifer Faye, Luke and Andy Robinson and Lars-Göran (LG) Eriksson once again were on duty to do the re-certification.

Especially in the early hours, it was very busy for the SFI crew as several German racers arrived on the Wednesday evening to be in time. The Scappocin family (Gemelli Racing) had to travel more than 1.000 km from Italy to re-certify some parts. Because everybody was in time, the SFI crew were ready before 12 pm to catch their flight to Helsinki for the third stop on the European tour on Friday.


Bell housings, flex plates and clutches, were the post popular items in The Netherlands to be re-certified. FIA Pro Mod runner up David Vegter made a quick visit to Badhoevedorp, together with Jan Scheppers (Velocity Racing, Velocity Classics). Other racers from The Netherlands were Michel Huis (House Brothers), John Baron and Herman Zijlstra, to mention a few.

From Germany came Michael Winter (Heartbeat Racing), Clarissa Czekalla, Gerd Habermann, Dominik Reinhardt (Fast Damage Racing Corvette) and last but not least Jürgen Nagel, the Top Methanol Funny Car racer who will try to start his FIA season at The Main Event. As mention before, the Scappocin family came all the way from Italy.


Friday, March 15, the SFI re-certification tour continues in Finland where the FHRA are host to the third stop on the tour. Saturday the SFI crew will have a busy day at ME Racing Service AB, Borlänge, Sweden.

Text and photos: Remco Scheelings



Outlaw Street Drag Race Series.
18th March: Outlaw Street celebrates its 16th year in 2024 with a season of eight lifestyle race weekends.

The series already has 80 cars signed on for this season, with a mix of American muscle cars, hot rods, classic British tin and various fast VWs and Japanese cars.

The class is organised by Mark Wallington who keeps all competitors informed via its Facebook page.

Membership is £40 per season, you receive access to the series, vinyl race stickers, OS logos, lanyards and unique membership cards, to race at the track you will need to pay the normal entry and race voucher fees.

The rules for the class are simple: members' cars must have a current MOT & current paid up vehicle tax, (if applicable), a full functioning exhaust system, tyres with road legal tread depth, and adherence to the rules and regulations of the track. Open headers and slicks are not allowed.

Of the eight rounds listed, 6 count towards the final score and decides the series winners.

Points are scored by racers recording their quickest ET & improvement from previous round.

In addition there are trophies & prize money for the Fastest RT from each round, and for the racer who makes the biggest ET improvement from their previous round.

At the end of 2023, Arnie Pamment was awarded the 2023 Outlaw Street Championship crown.

He will return for 2024 and over 80 others will join him for this year's competition. Of these, 24 have also entered into Street Weekend.


Some of the new vehicles to the series include Chris Jenkins' Veeteor LS-Seven, Chris Wrench's 1972 nitrous Chevy Nova, Cody Wallington's 1995 Z28 Camaro and Joe Baxter's tube-framed Mustang to name just a few.


Here are the dates for Outlaw Street this season:

Round 1
Saturday 6th - Sunday 7th April, Santa Pod Raceway (including Straightliners opening round on Sunday) - all years.

Round 2
Saturday 4th - Monday 6th May, Santa Pod Raceway (NSRA Nostalgia Nationals) - pre-73 only.

Round 3
Friday 14th - Sunday 16th June, Melbourne Raceway (incorporating Street Weekend) - all years.

Round 4
Saturday 13th - Sunday 14th July, Santa Pod Raceway - all years.

Round 5
Friday 9th - Sunday 11th August, Santa Pod Raceway (30th Mopar Euro Nationals) - all years.

Round 6
Friday 30th August - Sunday 1st September, Santa Pod Raceway (VW Action) - all years.

Round 7
Friday 13th - Sunday 15th September, Santa Pod Raceway (NSRA Hot Rod Drags) - pre-73 only.

Round 8
Saturday 19th - Sunday 20th October, Santa Pod Raceway including Saturday Night Special) - all years.

Prize Night
9th November at 18:00 - The Crown Lodge Hotel, Outwell, Cambridgeshire.



UK Nostalgia Superstock - 2024 sponsors needed.
18th March: Niamh Smith has announced they already have some brilliant sponsors on board for UK Nostalgia Superstock’s 2024 season, but we are still looking for anyone who may be interested in this brilliant opportunity.

If you or anyone you know may be interested in supporting Europe’s biggest drag racing class please get in touch with a committee member or by emailing Niamh Smith by clicking here or directly on uknostalgiasa@gmail.com.

We have opportunities for both businesses and ‘sportsman’ sponsors meaning everyone has a chance to support the class in different ways if they wish to. This goes towards many different aspects of the class and these are outlined in our sponsorship proposal which is available to you or your business upon request, as well as the benefits you would be receiving.


Swift snippets.
18th March: Happy Birthday for today to Power Race Graphics and RAD Design Lines proprietor Darren West, Nitro Funny Car co-owner Jackie Hawkins, former Shakespeare County Raceway announcer and Wild Bunch crew Barry Bohannon and Pro ET racer Rhiannon Bellenie, have a great day from all of us at Eurodragster.com.




Swift snippets.
17th March: Happy Birthday to British drag racing pioneer John Wright, Swedish Nostalgia Funny Car racer Erik Wallinder and European Drag Racing Videos administrator Pascal Koch. We hope you all have a great day.




Joe Harris's March Meet.
16th March: Many readers will know Joe Harris, crew member for some well known cars including Paul Watson's Grumpy's T altered, Tony Betts' Venom NFC, Mick Taylor's Banshee Outlaw Anglia Fordson and hopefully later in the year, Rob Elsom's Dirty Deeds Big Show Funny Car. In March Joe had the opportunity to visit Famoso Dragstrip and crew on not one, but two quick altereds at the March Meet.

Joe got to know Chris Bates, driver of both the Panic A/Fuel altered and the Boudakian Brothers 7.0 Pro altered. It was the first time the Boudakian Brothers car was run since the sad passing of Jack Boudakian, the last of the three brothers who ran this car back in the day.

The cars both went well, with only small issues and nothing that stopped the team from missing a round. Joe said "It was epic. The crew was top drawer, jumping between both cars sorting everything out in time for the next session. The Crew for Panic was Kin Bates Jr (Crew Chief) Chris Bates, James Shimko, John Pierce and myself.

"The Boudakian crew was run by Brian Boudakian, son of the late Jack Boudakian, with Serg and the rest of the Boudakian family. Brian and the family had a really emotional weekend but came away happy with a undamaged car/motor.

"The Panic car has a 468ci Donovan 417 block with AJPE heads, 5/8 stroke Bryant crank, 4.060 bore JE pistons and GRP rods running on 100% nitro (injected) for the A/Fuel class. It has a manually shifted 2 speed clutch Lenco behind it. Panic's best run is 6.4 at 217mph, and best 60ft is a 1.01. The goal is to be the first unblown altered to run a 5."

"At the March Meet, Chris first ran 7.0 @ 195 in Panic, but hurt a pushrod. After installing a replacement pushrod, it ran 6.67/ 214 and 6.45/217. The plugs still looked brand new, and we agreed we could have got way more aggressive. There's a lot more to come from that little hot rod!"

"The Boudakian 7.0 Pro car runs an AJPE wedge motor with a 14/71 TBS blower with a 3 speed air shifted clutch Lenco behind it. The first run was aborted due to shifter linkage failure (the car couldnt get into reverse after burnout). The second run was a good "banker" with a mid ish 7s to get us in the mix of things but not what we had hoped for. The third run was late in the evening. With no sun and a cold track, the car didnt make it to the 60ft before tyre shake hit hard. The final run was early morning.

"It was very busy getting both cars ready, as 7.0 was only 1 class away from A/Fuel, meaning Chris would finsih his run in the 7.0 car, get out at the top end, run to a waiting golf cart and speed back to the pairing lanes to strap into Panic for A/Fuel witch he did without fault all weekend!

"Huge crowds and sunny skies were the order of the day after Saturday's rain. We ended our 7.0 weekend with a double breakout our competition running 6.98 to our losing 6.95. Our A/Fuel weekend ended, Chris losing out to his dad Kin Sr in the US Airforce A/Fuel dragster, after the Panic decided to do what altereds do, making a big move and going for a wander around just before mid track trying to chase down Kin Snr's FED.



Joe thanks all the guys for having him on the team, Chris Bates and Kin Bates Jnr, John Pierce, James (Shimmy) Shimko, Nicki Bates, Tasha Pierce, Brian Boudakian, Serg, and the whole Boudakian family.

Team picture: Andy Willsheer



Swift snippets.
16th March:Happy Birthday to Supercharged Outlaw racer-in-waiting Purdie Hadfield, Comp Bike racer and Big CC Racing boss Sean Mills, French Gasser Circus racer Laurent Levi, Suzuki Performance Spares boss Nick Pepper, SPR Thrill Ride crew and former SPR startline marshal John Hackney and former Wild Bunch racer and APIRA official Tony Smith. We hope you all have a great day.




The Festival of Power Rescheduled.
15th March: Santa Pod Raceway has announced "The Festival of Power Rescheduled":

Thanks to this winter’s excessive rainfall, Santa Pod Raceway has taken the early decision to postpone its season-opening extravaganza, the Festival of Power, from Easter weekend to late April.

The 2024 Festival of Power Rescheduled will now take place from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th April.

Santa Pod’s grassland public car parks and campgrounds are waterlogged and unlikely to dry in time to accommodate the usual Easter crowds. The venue’s extensive paved areas, including the track and paddock, are unaffected. Hence, a smaller event with minimal spectator following will be brought forward to Easter and renamed the Easter Nationals. The Festival of Power Rescheduled will take its place over the late-April weekend.

Santa Pod is contacting Festival of Power ticketholders to advise them of the change. Meanwhile, details of the revised Festival of Power Rescheduled programme may be found by clicking here or by telephoning +44 (0)1234 782828.



Pioneer Stories: Ken Cooper and Rich Butcher.
15th March: The final story in this season of Pioneer Stories comprises memories of two racers. Ken Cooper's memories going back a long time, and Rich Butcher who met Ken relatively recently and got into racing a slingshot in the Wild Bunch. You can see at this link.

Ken Cooper met and talked to many American visitors over the years including Dean Moon and Roy Gammell who wrenched on the Mooneyes dragster in 1963. Also that year he had a chat with the legendary Mickey Thompson.

10 years later more Americans came over and Ken’s flathead digger got the attention of Tony Nancy who had started out in the ‘50s with a flathead roadster. Tony gave Ken some tips on getting more horses out of the flathead and at the same meeting Ken met Paula Murphy and found her to be an amazing lady.

In 1976 Ken had a chat with Don Garlits thanking him for replying to his letter back in 1963. Rich Butcher first saw a slingshot dragster in the ‘70s and thought “one day, I'll have one of them crazy things” but it wasn’t till 45 years later that he actually got one. Not only that but it was a Ken Cooper slingshot built in the 1970s and originally raced by Andy Swaffield...

Ken and Rich's stories were produced by John Hunt and Nick Pettitt, and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves.

You can read many more stories of pioneers of UK drag racing at our Pioneer Stories page.



Dragrace Union celebrates its 10th anniversary.
15th March: Thanks to Markus Münch for contacting eurodragster.com to announce that D.R.U. celebrates its 10th year and the entry for the Pro and Supro ET Challenge opens at the Weekend, Markus writes:

“After rain comes sun,” an old saying with a lot of truth. When the Grand Nationals in Bechyne were washed away in 2013, a small group of Austrian and German bracket racing friends gathered under the half-dry tent roofs to come up with an idea that, although it was alcoholic in nature, was not a crazy idea is. What is next with our sport, our bracket classes?

The Pro ET class, pushed by Tony Brandes, “Carl” and a few supporters’ years ago, did not really get off the ground; Tony had withdrawn a bit. “We need a challenge” like with Supro ET. No sooner said than done, the “Pro ET Dragracing Europe” association was born in idea and founded in January 2014. The club was then renamed Dragrace Union a year later, and since then it has organised challenges for Pro ET, Supro ET and Extreme Outlaw, hung out at racetracks as helpers and pit marshals... and hey presto, 10 years are over.

"What can you say, the club also tried to provide some starting help for Sportsman ET, but the only thing missing is the person power. People who like to take responsibility in the background, lend a hand and see that our acceleration sport moves forward. We could also imagine offering challenges for the super classes. The only thing missing is the people who will take care of it.

Challenge = Championship. Born in the time when there was no drag racing championship in Germany and Austria, we are still one step ahead of other championships. At the end of each challenge there are trophies, prize money and non-cash prizes for the winners and runners-up. Where does this already exist in our sport (on the continent)?

If you are interested in being a hands-on person and supporting the challenges with your commitment, just get in touch by visiting our website at this link. We will find the right volunteer position for you. 10 years over and not a bit quiet.

The Dragrace Union in the DMV, a living piece of European dragster history.



Phoenix FM to host Paul Marston.
15th March: Nigel Fitzmaurice from Essex-based, but available world-wide, radio station Phoenix FM, has announced a special guest on his show this coming Sunday evening:

"Oh yes, oh yes! Coming on my Phoenix FM Stepping Out show is Fast and Serious Paul Marston Racing. A competitive pro drag racer from Romford, Paul will chat about the 2024 UK drag racing season, and more".

"Plus - if there’s any drag racing people who want to come on my Show, whatever class, please get in touch. You'll hear the best soul, funk and northern soul".

"Thats Phoenix FM, 98FM in South Essex, North Kent, and East London. Plus on www.phoenixfm.com and Mix Cloud.

Catch you Sunday 6pm!"

You can contact Nigel by clicking here.



Swift snippets.
15th March: Happy Birthday for today to Pro Modified racer Michel Tooren, Pro Stock racer Robin Norén, Comp Eliminator racer David Swift, former Super Pro ET champion and colour commentator for the class Chris Parker and Pro ET racer Chris Newsam. We hope you all have a great day.




Wossner Pistons announces sponsorship agreement with Santa Pod Raceway.
14th March: Wossner Pistons, a leading manufacturer of high-performance pistons with a rich history spanning over 40 years, is thrilled to announce its new partnership with Santa Pod Raceway, the renowned home of European drag racing.

With its roots deeply embedded in motorsport and engineering excellence, Wossner Pistons has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation to deliver cutting-edge solutions for automotive enthusiasts and racing professionals alike. From its humble beginnings to its current position as a trusted industry leader, Wossner has remained committed to delivering top-quality products and unparalleled performance.

As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting the motorsport community, Wossner Pistons is proud to join forces with Santa Pod Raceway, a cornerstone of the European racing scene and a hub for adrenalin-fuelled action. With its state-of-the-art facilities and world-class events, Santa Pod provides the perfect platform for Wossner Pistons to showcase its products and engage with the vibrant racing community.

Wossner Pistons is proud to announce its sponsorship of the 4-cylinder class at the 2024 Doorslammers Drag Racing event (17-19 May). This sponsorship further solidifies Wossner’s commitment to supporting the motorsport community and providing opportunities for racers to showcase their skills on the track. As a leading manufacturer of high-performance pistons, Wossner is excited to see how its products will enhance the performance of competitors in the 4-cylinder class and looks forward to witnessing the thrilling action unfold at this prestigious event.

This partnership represents an exciting opportunity for both Wossner Pistons and Santa Pod Raceway to collaborate and drive innovation in the ever-evolving world of motorsport. By combining Wossner’s expertise in piston technology with Santa Pod’s passion for performance, the two organisations are poised to make a significant impact on the racing landscape.

“We are thrilled to partner with Santa Pod Raceway and support the growth of the racing market,” said David Wheeler, Director at Wossner Pistons. “As a company with a long-standing tradition of excellence, we are able to align ourselves with Santa Pod’s commitment to delivering unforgettable experiences for racing enthusiasts. Together, we look forward to pushing the boundaries of performance and taking motorsport to new heights.”

Santa Pod Raceway shares Wossner Pistons’ enthusiasm for the partnership and looks forward to collaborating on exciting initiatives that will benefit both racing fans and participants. With Wossner Pistons on board as a sponsor, Santa Pod Raceway is well-positioned to continue its legacy as Europe’s premier destination for drag racing and high-octane entertainment.

For more information about Wossner Pistons, please visit www.wossnerpistons.co.uk. For details about upcoming events at Santa Pod Raceway, click here.

For further information, please contact: Press Office, Santa Pod Raceway. Tel: (01234) 782828. Email: pr@santapod.com.



The Imperial VForce.
14th March: Top Fuel Bike racer Phil Crossley will be appearing at the rescheduled Festival of Power on 26th-28th April with not one, but two nitro burning machines. Phil explains:


I suppose I best explain what's going on before my entry at the Festival of Power causes too much confusion.

So this is the deal: I've entered the event on Keith Edward's fabulously restored ex-Brian Johnson 'Imperial Wizard' top fuel bike. I've been helping Keith get the bike finished recently, and the next step is to start it on nitro and try and get it running nicely (i.e. angrily).

However - I'm also taking my own Vforce V4 fuel bike (winner of best bike at the Elvington Top Speed show), which is also ready to go, and again it just needs to be started on nitro, and with any luck it also makes the right noise!

Both bikes will be taken for scruitineering and, barring any unforeseen problems, one or the other, or both could make it to the track! With only 2 entries in Top fuel bike it will be demo runs only, but we need the track time more than anything, so it will work out good for us.

Come along and see both bikes in the flesh, plus everything else that's going on - it's always a great event for spectators.



2024 MDRA Haltech Winter Nationals - Round 1 Results.
14th March: Following our news stories and media links published in yesterday's news, here are the results of the first round of the 2024 Malta National Drag Racing Championship, which was organised at the Hal Far track by the Malta Drag Racing Association over the last weekend of 9th and 10th March 2024.

Congratulations to:

Dragster D4: Ruben Scicluna

Dragster D6: Mario Borg

CA6 Class: Anthony Vella

Open 6 Class: Clifton Abdilla

Open 5 Class: Lewis Vella

Front Wheel Drive 10.0: Neil Vella

Front Wheel Drive 9.0: George Cutajar

Escort Class 3: Rosello Cassar

Escort Class 2: Justin Muscat

Extreme 2 Class: Justin Muscat

DTA 6 Class: Alan Muscat

Wild Street Class: John Martin

Bracket 13.00-13.49: Matthew Attard

Bracket11.50-11.99: Neil Caruana

Bracket 11.00-11.49: Paul Pace

Bracket 9.50-9.99: Michael Caruana

Bracket 8.50-8.99: Karl Mifsud

Motorcycle SS1 Class: Simon Giordimaina

Motorcycle All Motor Extreme Class: Luke Farrugia

Motorcycle Top Fuel M/C: Stuart crane

Motorcycle Open Class: Simon Giordimaina

Best Reaction Time: Luke Farrugia


Congratulations to all the winner of the first round of the MDRA Haltech Winter Nationals. Round 2 Of May Mayhem will be on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of May at the Hal Far raceway, Malta.

Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today.



Andy Willsheer's Gatornationals Sunday gallery.
14th March: Many thanks to photojournalist Andy Willsheer for sending a gallery of photos from the final day of the NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals on Sunday. You can see Andy's gallery by clicking here.

Andy's 63 pictures include racing from many classes with an emphasis on nitro, and some winners' circle pictures, including Ulf Leanders's team following his Top Alcohol Funny Car triumph. The Kalitta Motorsports team are also depicted after their clean sweep of Top Fuel, with Shawn Langdon victor, and Funny Car with J.R. Todd the winner. You can see detailed results at www.dragracecentral.com or on the NHRA website.

We're sure all our readers will be glad of Andy's continued efforts to cover European racers over the pond.

Swift Snippets.
14th March: Happy Birthday for today to Dutch photojournalist and pit note reporter Mike Kraaij and 8.50 Bike racer Patrick Rawnsley. Have a great day guys!

Simon Letkey has posted to his VeeDubRacing Youtube channel video of the Top 20 cars he filmed at the first RWYB event of the year at Santa Pod Raceway. Simon comments that there will have been other quicker cars, as he was unable to video all of the runs. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining watch from the sell-out event. You can see Simon's video by clicking here.




Festival of Power - Important update for racers.
13th March: Santa Pod Racway has announced this important update for racers: It is with deep regret and much frustration, that Santa Pod Raceway has made the difficult decision to make necessary changes to both the upcoming Festival of Power and Springspeed Nationals events.

After the very wet start to this year, our region has continued to experience persistent rain during what has become the wettest February on record. This has rendered all of our waterlogged grassland car parks and campsites unusable and therefore unsafe for the expected camping and traffic movement.

All PRO classes will be moved from Friday 29th March – Sunday 31st March to the weekend of the Friday 26th April – Sunday 28th April.

This change of date ONLY applies to: Nitro Funny Car, Nostalgia Funny Car and Round 1 of the Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship.

ALL Sportsman classes and racers entered into the original event on Friday 29th March – Sunday 31st March will remain on that weekend. This championship round will be rebranded ‘Easter Nationals’.

  • Friday 29th March – TEST DAY
  • Saturday 30th March – RACE DAY 1
  • Sunday 31st March – RACE DAY 2

  • Please beware that whilst racers will be able to stay on site as usual, we are no longer able to offer camping to the general public over Friday 29th March – Sunday 31st March. If you have anybody intrinsic to your race operation that would normally camp on site with general admission tickets, please contact the office on the channels listed at the footer of this announcement as campsites will be out of bounds.

    All Sportsman classes and racers entered into the original Springspeed Nationals event on the Friday 26th April – Sunday 28th April will remain on that weekend. This weekend will be rebranded ‘Festival of Power Rescheduled’. At this time, there will not be a test day for this event.

  • Friday 26th April – RACE DAY 1
  • Saturday 27th April – RACE DAY 2
  • Sunday 28th April – RACE DAY 3

  • So, in summary, nothing will change for the Sportsman Racers in terms of events. Just the dates and lengths of the two events.

    Given the fundamental changes to these two weekends, Santa Pod Racers Club will be putting out a press release in due course, with information regarding any changes to entry fees. All questions on this matter should be directed to the SPRC.

    If racers have any other questions, please contact either; Max Frost by clicking here or Chris Schreier by clicking here.



    Malta Winternationals coverage.
    13th March: The British drag racing media was well represented at the MDRA Winter Nationals Presented by Haltech at the weekend, and we present below links to their coverage, plus some racers' highlights.

    Thanks to Kieran Jenkins for providing pictures from the weekend, you can see them by clicking here

    Kieran's video covers all the action from Day 2 of the event from Hal Far, Malta. You can see day 1 by clicking here. Future episodes are promised which you will be able to see at the Mk1Kieran Youtube channel by clicking here.

    You can see photos already posted from the event at the following links:

    Alex Buttigieg - Facebook album click here.

    Samuel Mifsud's photography - Facebook pictures click here.

    Pudgey's Pictures (Callum Pudge) - Facebook album click here.

    MotorsMT - Facebook Streaming video click here.

    There were some outstanding and spectacular performances. Clifton Abdilla ran his grey Anonymous Toyota 2JZ powered dragster to its best times ever of 6.03/228 (0.953 to 60ft and 3.903/187.06 to half track), backed up by an earlier 6.05/225. In all, Clifton ran seven passes between the record 6.03 and 6.14, an awesome achievement, particularly in windy conditions. Congratulations to the whole team for an outstanding series of performances.

    John Martin drove Mario Mifsud’s orange Cosworth small tyre YB Mk1 Escort to a PB 7.31 at 193 mph launching hard to a 1.21 60ft time on 70+psi of boost, and carrying the wheels past 330ft. The car was tuned by Clifford Cassar who had his own spectacular moments.

    Clifford stood his white roadgoing Sierra Cosworth on its rear bumper, necessitating the fabrication of a pair of wheelie bars overnight by Joe Bambinu. The car ended the event with a new PB of 8.5 sec on a very soft setup, Clifford posted.

    There was a big win for Neil Vella of the Boost Brothers team driving a Corsa in the new Open FWD 10.0 Class using a SAAB B204 motor with stock internals.

    Thanks to Cinel Automotive, Kieran Jenkins and Luke Stevenson for posting updates on the event.



    Andy Willsheer's Saturday Gatornationals gallery.
    13th March: Many thanks to photojournalist Andy Willsheer for sending a gallery of images taken on Saturday at the season-opening NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals. You can see Andy's photos by clicking here.

    Included are qualifying action from the Camping World Series, Top Alcohol and Pro Modified. The Top Fuel cars ran their final qualifying at nighttime, giving the fans some spectacular flames.

    Pictured: Tony Stewart in the TSR Dodge/SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster Top Fuel Dragster and Tripp Tatum running side by side 3.7s.



    Swift snippets.
    13th March: Happy Birthday for today to Junior Drag Racing supercrew Andy Fensome to Andy's son and Super Pro ET racer Aaron Fensome, also to Supercharged Outlaws car chief Mark Windridge, Super Pro ET racer and painter extraordinaire Marc Manning, and Comp Bike racer Tony Clark. Have a great day guys!

    The Doorslammers entry list, already filling up with 23 FWD cars, 16 Wössner 4 Cylinder and 17 6 Cylinder, has its first entries in VP Racing Fuels Pro Doorslammer - Eurodragster.com sponsor John 'First of the Fast' Tebenham and Przemyslaw Sochacki from Poland. Keep an eye out for many more entries for the big money race.




    HoF and BenFund announce personnel changes.
    12th March: Personnel changes have taken place at both British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Limited and the BDRHOF Benevolent Fund.

    Simon Groves has relinquished the formal duties he had undertaken on behalf of both organisations and has resigned as a trustee of the Benevolent Fund. The Hall of Fame’s directors and the Benevolent Fund’s trustees are indebted to Simon for the essential services he has rendered. Simon set up the Hall of Fame as a limited company and established the Benevolent Fund as a registered charity and thereafter prepared and presented the accounts of both organisations to their respective official authorities.

    We are delighted to welcome Michael Dowdy who has kindly agreed to serve as the Hall of Fame’s Company Secretary.

    The British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame Benevolent Fund has appointed two new trustees. The Benevolent Fund is registered with the Charities Commission to create a professional fund-raising platform within the drag racing community to support those connected with the sport who have fallen on hard times and to make awards to organisations which provide vital services to the community – ‘From the Drag Racing Community, for the Drag Racing Community’.

    Nikki Marshall is appointed a trustee and has kindly agreed to co-ordinate the Benevolent Fund’s activities to help increase its profile within the community. Nikki may be contacted for Benevolent Fund purposes at this link.

    Nigel Payne has also kindly agreed to serve as a Benevolent Fund trustee.

    Current personnel:

    BRITISH DRAG RACING HALL OF FAME Ltd:
    Directors: Lesley Wright (Hon. Chair), Bev Bradbury, Jerry Cookson, Phil Cottingham, Robin Jackson.
    Company secretary: Michael Dowdy.
    Honorary advisers: Philip Evans, Keith Lee, Nikki Marshall, Ian Messenger, Julian Parsons, Nigel Payne, Nick Pettitt, Tony Thacker, Colin Theobald.
    Selectors: Keith Bartlett, Graham Beckwith, Frank Brachtvogel, Jerry Cookson, Phil Cottingham, Philip Evans, Robin Jackson, Keith Lee, Ian Marshall, Ian Messenger, Darren Prentice, Lesley Wright.

    BDRHOF BENEVOLENT FUND:
    Trustees: Graham Beckwith, Phil Cottingham, Robin Jackson, Ian Marshall, Nikki Marshall, Ian Messenger, Nigel Payne.

    The Hall of Fame’s directors, advisers and selectors and the Benevolent Fund’s trustees all serve in a voluntary capacity, pro bono.



    Mr. Six - A Life Lived For The 1/4 Mile.
    12th March: Videographer Mark Webster has published a documentary by Mark Webster about Paul Harris and his Nostalgia Funny Car 50. Entitled Mr. Six - A Life Lived For The 1/4 Mile, Paul journeys us through his racing and family combined, showing us the community and passion that goes on within UK drag racing.

    Paul's team are credited as Dave Milam, Steph Milam, Phil Pead, Nick Law, Lisa Harris, Nick Seward, Scott Butler, Ben Watson, Toby Dawkins and Ewelina Romanowska. Also helping with the documentary with information and archive footage were Nick Pettitt, Scott Gay and Callum Pudge.

    You can see Mr. Six - A Life Lived For The 1/4 Mile on Youtube by clicking here.

    Andy Willsheer's Friday Gatornationals gallery.
    12th March: Many thanks to photojournalist Andy Willsheer for sending a gallery of images taken on Friday at the season-opening NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals. You can see Andy's photos by clicking here.

    Included are photos around the pits, Camping World Series, Top Alcohol and Pro Modified qualifying and a couple of Kevin Kent hanging out with Thomas Nataas and Megan Smith is with Hartman Smith Racing (daughter of TF and FC racers John Bodie Smith and Rhonda Hartman-Smith).



    Agrinio announces motorcycle track championship.
    12th March: Organisers of drag racing at Agrinio Raceway have announced the Agrinio Raceway Cup 2024 with the approval of Greek motorcycle regulatory body AMOTOE.

    The championship will have seven rounds and be competed in the standard classes for Greek drag racing. The dates are:

    5th-7th April
    26th-28th April
    31st May - 2nd June
    28th-30th June
    11th-13th October
    1st-3rd November
    29th November - 1st December

    Champions will be announced after the seventh race, with the first four places awarded a trophy. All races will be part of the Panhellenic Championship and technical rules from this championship will apply as well.


    Steve Read to return at Winternats.
    12th March: Steve Read will be making his return to the sport at the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals on 6th-9th June. The event will take place at Willowbank Raceway. British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Steve will be racing in the Read McCarthy Top Fuel Dragster which we first reported on last October.

    Various issues have delayed the team's debut, but the team fired the car up for the first time at the end of January. Steve commented "Thrilled to be firing up our Top Fuel Dragster for the first time. Can't thank the crew enough for all their hard work and dedication!"

    Roving superfan Andrew Green who has been to more tracks than most, posted "Just before I left Australia earlier this month myself and Glen Atholwood brightened up the colours on Steve's latest drive.

    "Orange and white vinyl was purchased by Steve and this is the end product, looking forward to seeing it on track at the end of the season."



    Swift snippets.
    12th March: Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway fire crew member Angie Daly, to Super Pro ET racer Mark Turner, and to VW Pro racer Bruce Kopasz. We hope you all have a fantastic day.



    Pioneer Stories - Maurice Takoor.
    11th March: Today's Pioneer Story is the story and history of UK hot rodding and drag racing pioneer Maurice Takoor, told in his own words, which you can see at
    this link.

    Maurice Takoor met John Bennett in 1963 and became a member of the BHRA. He also became photographic editor on Drag Racing & Hot Rod magazine and later worked with John at Spa Engineering.

    From 1968 to 1978 Maurice along with John Hill worked as the tech crew at Santa Pod alongside the RAC Scrutineering Bay.

    In the early ‘90s Maurice organised a 30th anniversary BHRA Meet which was well attended and led to the forming of the BHRA Pioneers Club open to anyone who was involved in drag racing in the 1960s.

    Maurice is still very much involved in drag racing and recently ran the ex-Dave Miller BMC powered Spirit slingshot from the 70s with help from Dave Gibbons and Dick Hogben.

    Maurice's story was produced by John Hunt and Nick Pettitt, and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves. You can read many more stories of pioneers of UK drag racing at our Pioneer Stories page.


    Supercharged Outlaws season and stats from last year.
    11th March: Supercharged Outlaws chairman Andy Hadfield has announced the dates for the popular and spectacular class for 2024. They are:

  • GTI Show: 20th-21st April (racing Saturday and Sunday)
  • Nostalgia Nationals: May 4th-6th (racing Saturday-Monday)
  • No points round: Retro Show/Sportsman Nationals: June 8th - 9th (racing Saturday & Sunday, Test Day Monday)
  • Dragstalgia: July 5th-7th (racing Friday evening-Sunday, RWYB Friday morning/afternoon)
  • Mopar Nationals: August 9th-11th (racing Saturday & Sunday, RWYB Friday)
  • VW Action: August 30th-September 1st (racing Saturday & Sunday)
  • Hot Rod Drags: September 13th-15th (racing Saturday & Sunday, RWYB Friday)

  • Simon has assembled a table analysing the stats for all supercharged racers who ran with the Outlaws last year. Shown are the number of events attended, number of runs in class (excluding test passes), best in 2023 and overall personal best for times and speed. The class goes from strength to strength and will be a major attraction at lifestyle events during 2024. Any queries should go to simon@eurodragster.com.

    The Supercharged Outlaws are sponsored by Good Vibrations Motorsports.


    Leanders wins Gatornationals.
    11th March: Congratulations to Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Ulf Leanders for winning the class at the NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals held last weekend.

    Ulf's third National Event win came after defeats of a broken Wayne Morris in round 1, Sean Bellameur in the semi final and a holeshot over Phil Esz in the final. Ulf's times were ultra consistent 5.494/261.67, 5.439/265.12 (class low ET of the event) and 5.454/263.67.

    As ever, Ulf was supported by crew chief and brother Jörgen as well as his crew. You can see video of Ulf's championship round, posted by Trond Høst, by clicking here.




    Swift snippets.
    11th March: Happy Birthday for today to Wild Bunch co-ordinator Claire Meaddows and Pro ET racer AC Bell, have a great day both!

    Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has added to his website another gallery of pics from Antony Billinton's collection, this time from 1972 - 1973 visiting Crystal Palace, Santa Pod and Brighton. You can see Antony's pictures by clicking here.



    Straightliners Drag N Drift next Saturday.
    10th March: On 16th March Straightliners will be running their first Drag N Drift of the year at Dakota Raceway, sponsored by XHYPE performance lubricants.

    The event features a two lane, 1/4 drag strip for cars & bikes, large drifting circuit. There will be ample seat time with a playpen for beginners. Gates open at 09:00 and racing concludes at 16:00. Dakota Raceway can be found at Upottery, Honiton EX14 9RF.

    You can buy tickets online from the Straightliners website by clicking here. Drifting Entry is sold out, but you can put your name on a reserve list. Drag entry is £50 and passengers can ride in a drag car for £40. You can read Straightliners' rules by clicking here.

    Catering facilities will be available on the day. All spectator tickets are sold at the gate. Cash or card. Under 16’s are free admission. Dogs are allowed if kept on a lead. Tickets can be bought on the day if not available.


    Swift snippets.
    10th March: A big Happy Birthday to Hawaii-based British Drag Racing Hall of Fame international ambassador and nostalgia drag racing legend Bob Muravez aka Floyd Lippencotte. Have a great day Bob. Also Happy Birthday to US-based Premium Motosports Products founder and Top Fuel tuner Mike Domagala, and to two VWDRC racers, Charlie Roberts and Bruce Collins. We hope you all have a fantastic day.

    Good luck and stay safe to Top Alcohol Dragster race Julie Nataas and Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Ulf Leanders. Julie qualified #4 with 5.262/270.27 and improved in round 1 to defeat Mike Coughlin with a 5.248/270.48, then defeated Randy Meyer Racing teammate Hunter Green in round 2 with a 5.231/269.46. Ulf is through to round 2 at the Amalie Oil Gatornationals with a 5.494/261.67 defeat of Wayne Morris in round one of the eight car eliminations yesterday evening. Commiserations to Pro Modified racer Dmitry Samorukov from Russia whose 5.899/241.50 was good for only 22nd out of 26 qualifiers.



    Andy Willsheer's Gatornationals gallery.
    9th March: Many thanks to photojournalist Andy Willsheer who flew from California to Florida during the week to capture images taken on Wednesday and Thursday at the season-opening NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals and the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremony held on Thursday evening. You can see Andy's photos by
    clicking here.

    Included are photos from around the pits and from the first Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying session held on Thursday afternoon. 18 cars made the call for the first TAD qualifier, with expat Norwegian, and 2023 TAD National Champion, Julie Nataas qualifying no.2 with a 5.263/263.51 to Joe Maynard's 5.228/271.02. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Europe was represented by Ulf Leanders who ran a 5.512/261.72 to go no.4 at the end of the first session.

    You can see results from the Gatornationals by clicking here, and full coverage by clicking here.

    On Thursday evening the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held at at the Hilton UF Conference Center in Gainesville, Florida. The 2024 inductees into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame are Pat Austin, Walt Austin, Walt Barbin, Joe Gibbs, Pamela Hardy, Garth Hogan (New Zealand), Scott Kalitta (posthumously), Rickie Smith and Gary Southern (posthumously). The Pat Garlits Memorial Award was presented to Rosalee and Terry Noble while the Founders Award went to former National Dragster editor Bill Holland. Andy attended, as he has for many years, and captured shots of some of the honorees and IDRHoF founder and member Don Garlits.

    We will publish further galleries from Andy as received.

    Swift snippets
    9th March: Happy Birthday for today to Engine Data Analysis head honcho and Outlaw Anglia racer Ben Rushforth, former Roarin' Rat racer Ken Brookes, former Super Twin racer Andy Watson and Top Methanol Funny Car crew and wife Iris Krivan. We hope you all have a great day.


    Festival of Power - Entry closing today.
    8th March:
    Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall has reminded us that the deadline for entry for the first round of the SPRC National and Club championships.

    FESTIVAL OF POWER - Normal Entry now CLOSED!!

    The current entry list for the event is at this link. You can enter by clicking here. Late entry may cost extra, so competitors are urged to sign up today.

    Pioneer Stories - Alf Hagon part 5.
    8th March: Today's Pioneer Story concludes the history of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Alf Hagon, told in his own words, which you can see at this link.

    In the fifth and final part of Alf’s story he concluded our interview with recollections of his retirement from racing in order to concentrate fully on his business commitments. However with the JAP sold to the other side of the world he began to build a new machine that he felt had the capability to run down into the eight second bracket. His business went from strength to strength and his products continued to be world beating. He also told us how, many years later, he and Martin found and bought back the JAP, restoring, displaying and running it once again.

    Many thanks to Trakbytes webmaster Chris Dossett for interviewing Alf and editing his story, also to John Hunt for arranging the interview.

    You can read many more stories of pioneers of UK drag racing at our Pioneer Stories page.



    Trakbytes Website Updates.
    8th March: Chris Dossett from Trakbytes (www.trakbytes.co.uk) has announced that the Trakbytes website has been updated this week. This time there are a total of 42 updates and new entries. At the top of the list for this update is an article telling the story of a remarkable quarter scale model of Alf Hagon’s JAP Drag Bike that was built over fifty years ago, and still survives today. The idea for this piece came about whilst I was researching material for Alf’s tale in the current series of Pioneer Stories on Eurodragster. You can find out all about it in the “Special Features” area of the website.

    The rest of the new material spans 42 years of UK Drag racing History, from 1961 to 2003. Many events that were previously detailed quite sparsely have been updated, and there are plenty of new entries of meetings where I previously had no details at all. I've added quite a lot of new material to the 2003 section, which is as far as the archive goes currently. These events are now an astonishing 20 years ago, something I struggled to comprehend as I researched them. I was working on the crew of the Showtime Funny Car in those days, and it really doesn't seem that long ago.

    There are also several updates to the 1980’s section provided by long-time contributor Clive Rooms. There are updates to the Hall of Fame files for Sydney & Alan Allard, Allan Herridge, Peter Crane, Dennis Priddle, Clive Skilton, The Pages, The Stones and Sammy Miller. All the new material has also been added to the Competitor Index, which contains an alphabetical listing of over 2500 names of racers who have made trips up the quarter mile, with links to their places in the archive. Check out the “What’s New” page on the site for a list of all the new material, and don’t forget I’m always keen to hear of any details you think should be included in the archive. Anything goes, from glaring omissions about landmark events to your Uncle Bert’s one and only run in 1966 on his Scott Flying Squirrel.


    Malta Drag Racing round 1 this weekend.
    8th March: The Enemed MDRA Drag Racing Series season kicks off this weekend at Hal Far Raceway from today, 8th-10th of March with The Winter Nationals, Presented By Haltech Engine Management Systems. Included will be 220mph+ import Dragsters, big horsepower door cars, 6-second side-by-side dragbikes, and much more!

    Many thanks to MDRA committee member Konrad D'Anastasi for sending us the entry list and running order which you can see at our event page by clicking here. Keep an eye on the Facebook MotorsMT page by clicking here for live coverage. A spotters guide for vehicles competing this weekend is in preparation.

    You can see video of 118 runs from the February Hal Far Run What Ya Brung posted by Konrad by clicking here.

    We look forward to posting photo galleries and links to videos from Kieran who is in attendance with other UK drag racing media and quite a few fans.


    Swift snippets.
    8th March: Happy Birthday for today to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair and member Lesley Wright, former UK Top Fuel racer and BDRHoF member Roz Prior, Street Eliminator racer Joe Stevens and former drag bike racer and future Super Comp crew chief Jerry Collier. We hope you all have a great day.

    Readers with access to National Geographic UK (available on Sky and Virgin Media) are urged to catch up with the first episode of the new series of Car S.O.S. broadcast yesterday evening, where hosts Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townsend rebuilt a V8 powered 1955 Ford Pop hot rod. The owner, who in true style was surprised with the reveal of the restored car, is cerebral palsy sufferer Andy.



    The Mighty ‘Hogslayer’ to roar again at Dragstalgia.
    7th March: Thanks to Keith Lee for contacting eurodragster.com with the announcement: The Norton twin-engined machine that dominated motorcycle drag racing back in the 1970's is to feature at this year’s Dragstalgia event at Santa Pod on July 5-7th.

    A small group of seasoned drag racing motorcyclists wanted to recognise the huge contribution that US rider Tom ‘TC’ Christenson, and engineer and tuner John Gregory, made to the sport of motorcycle drag racing. It is especially relevant following Tom Christenson's passing in 2023.

    Today’s announcement appropriately comes on the day that John Gregory celebrates his 90th birthday. Photojournalist Keith Lee has kept in touch with John for over 50 years and has passed on very useful information from him to help run the bike. John commented: “It is great that you guys are doing this. I just wish I was there to see it run again.”

    From a kernel of an idea, Neil Baskerville, son of Ray, who was a respected builder and rider back in the day, approached Chris Illman to ask what were the chances of approaching the National Motorcycle Museum to see if we could borrow Hogslayer to display at Dragstalgia as a fitting tribute to Christenson and Gregory. Chris, who has a long-standing relationship with the National Motorcycle Museum, approached Museum Director James Hewing, to ask if he would grant permission for Hogslayer to be released for display at Dragstalgia. Not only did he readily agree but suggested: “If you can get it running again and ridden, that would be a real bonus!” That was an offer not to be refused, and hopefully a long-held dream turned into a reality. What more encouragement do we need?

    Having been on static display at the National Motorcycle Museum for some 20 years since coming from the USA in 2004, it was clear that a considerable amount of work would be required. Plans are currently in place to relocate the machine to a secure location, where recommissioning will be carried out. The prospect of seeing and hearing Hogslayer’s mighty roar again at Santa Pod will make this year’s Dragstalgia an event not to be missed. Watch this space!


    Kestrel Beer continues Santa Pod Lane Sponsorship.
    7th March: Many thanks to Santa Pod Raceway for supplying this announcement: Award-winning brand Kestrel Beer has renewed its sponsorship agreement with Santa Pod Raceway, the UK’s most action-packed drag racing venue. The package sees Kestrel continue the high-profile sponsorship as the official Left Lane Sponsor at the north Bedfordshire motorsport venue.

    Kestrel was acquired in 2012 by Nigel McNally, founder and CEO of Brookfield Drinks Ltd., who said: “As a bold brand we continue to develop interesting and exciting properties that communicate the originality and personality of a beer that’s been enjoyed since the 1980s.”

    The brand has undergone a recent design overhaul which is part of the brand’s repositioning strategy. In addition to this, the range has been extended to introduce two other products alongside the iconic Kestrel Super Premium lager. Kestrel continues to be one of the most enjoyed British lager brands and is achieving strong sales performance in the UK off-trade and in international markets.

    Mr. McNally continued: “We at Kestrel Beer are extremely excited to be continuing our partnership with Santa Pod Raceway as part of our ongoing investment in the Kestrel beer brand. Santa Pod is an iconic venue which has constructed the foundation for Kestrel to become a brand linked with the motorsport industry and a continuation of the sponsorship will play a pivotal part in our communications strategy going forward, focussing on driving the awareness of Kestrel beer with a new audience. In addition to the sponsorship agreement, Kestrel has negotiated continuation of the Pourage rights for Kestrel beer as the only draught lager at Santa Pod. The beers have been received extremely well by visitors at Santa Pod. The results from the initial sponsorship and supply duration have been encouraging, so we are looking forward to continuing to build this relationship over the next few years and beyond.”

    Santa Pod’s Commercial Manager, Caroline Holden, said: “We are delighted to announce the continuation of Kestrel Beer as our Left Lane Sponsor. This great-tasting draught beer has proved extremely popular with Santa Pod‘s customers and has outsold all previous brands. Our Lane Sponsorship is one of the highest-profile programmes on offer and we look forward to continuing the relationship throughout 2024 and beyond.”

    Santa Pod Funny Car racer wins March Meet.
    7th March: Thanks to our roving photographer Andy Willsheer for sending in his fourth gallery from the Good Vibrations March Meet from Famoso Dragstrip, Bakersfield last weekend. You can see Andy's photos by clicking here.

    Congratulations to Nostalgia Funny Car racer Cory Lee for winning the March Meet over a highly competitive 16 car qualified field. Those with long memories, or readers of the excellent Trakbytes website, will have noted that Cory, who has enjoyed a 30+ year career in the class, started in 1991 in the UK Cannonball run.

    Rancho Santa Maria, California-based Cory's first opportunity came at the age of 17 when British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Harlan Thompson fielded a second car in the Cannonball that year for Cory to drive in Europe. Australia followed and after a tuning opportunity in the US with Tom Hoover, Cory has remained in the nitro ranks as a driver and tuner to this day. Further outings at the SPR Cannonball in 1992 and 1993 saw Cory get down into the low 6s bracket.

    You can read a 2016 interview with Cory about his history on Competition Plus by clicking here. Last weekend, Cory in Gary Turner's 1979 Challenger, with the unlikely name Pedaler and race number 13, qualified 5th at 5.682/257.68, going on to defeat a red-lighting Matt Melendez, Drew Austin, Cameron Ferre and Jeff Arend in the final round for his first ever Funny Car title. Not only did Cory race his Funny Car, he also made qualifying runs in a fuel altered.

    Complete results from the March meet can be seen on Competition Plus by clicking here.

    You can also see Youtube videos of action and pit shots from the March Meet, camera work by Les Mayhew, on Competition Plus's Youtube channel by clicking here.

    Good Vibration Motorsports renews Supercharged Outlaw UK sponsorship.
    7th March: Supercharged Outlaws UK treasurer Mark Windridge has announced the continued sponsorship of the class from Good Vibrations Motorsport. Also announced is a change in the class's racing format this year, competing for the Good Vibrations Motorsport Cannonball championship, and a new Retro Revival event.

    Mark said "We have sponsored Pro ET again as we have done before. We also continue to sponsor Melbourne Raceway to help our sport survive.

    "With this in mind, we have organised an event at Melbourne Raceway, the Melbourne Retro Revival. The event will be for all Retro Nostalgia vehicles from Supercharged Outlaws, Wild Bunch, Gasser Circus and Nostalgia Stock. It will be held at the 13th-14th July Melbourne Raceway. All classes will run heads up and all retro vehicles are invited to join in.

    "The first round will be drawn from a hat, the winners and losers will race against each other and over two days the winner will be the one with the most wins. A prize fund of £200 will be paid and a Good Vibrations Motorsports trophy awarded.

    "It will be great to see these different classes go head-to-head over the 1/8 which should make for close racing."

    Swift snippets.
    7th March: A very Happy Birthday to honorary Eurodragster.com member, SPRC official and Competition Eliminator racer Spencer Tramm, have a great day Spencer. Happy 80th Birthday to British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member and drag bike engineer Pete Davies, Happy Birthday also to tuner and crew chief extraordinaire Karl Harrison, Danish Super Street Bike racer Mogens Lund, Supercharged Outlaws racer Nigel Rigden and Supercharged Outlaws racer in waiting Lee Merryweather. Have a great day all.

    Those still suffering withdrawal symptoms for UK nostalgia racing are directed to the Pod Wheels Youtube Channel. Terry Robbins has posted footage of Outlaw Anglia from the NSRA Hot Rod Drags last September which you can see by clicking here.


    Santa Pod Class Title Sponsors.
    6th March: Thanks to
    Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall for this announcement:

    The 2024 season is just days away and many of you who have pored over the entry list will note that most classes now have a Class Title Sponsor, there are just 3 classes without at present, Super Comp, VW Sportsman and Outlaw Flat Four, if you feel that you would like to have your company name attached to the title of any of these three classes then please get in contact with me at ir.marshall@btconnect.com it's not as expensive as you might think, and you will be listed on all entry lists, in all of the major event programmes on all of the winner and runner up trophies and of course mentioned regularly over the P.A at Santa Pod Raceway.

    The class titles that are sponsored by a variety of companies are important to us at SPRC and would ask that the next time you need a product or service perhaps look at using those people that support our sport, remember what goes around comes around, the more we support them the more they can support you and so on.

    Comp Eliminator - Track Worx
    Track Worx have been involved in motorsports for over 10 years, and strive to be the best whilst providing a one stop workshop for all Motorsport needs. When it comes to Race cars for Circuit, Drag, Sprint and Professional Drift cars, we can offer all aspects of work, from basic service and event preparation to complete car builds, and it doesn’t stop there. We offer complete tailor made Motorsport aftercare packages from big race team’s right down the owner/driver privateers in your choice of event, anywhere in the world. If you have a need for support at a Race facility anywhere on the planet, we have the facilities to accommodate you and your requirements, contact us at trackworxuk@gmail.com.

    Super Gas - Tony Morrice Carburetors
    Tony Morris and Dave Gibbons are delighted to announce that Tony Morris Carburetors will once again be the headline sponsor of the 2024 Super Gas series! As the sole UK agent for Tony Morris Carburetors, Dave Gibbons’ TMC with RDR Performance Carburetors operation will also offer a 10% discount on parts and labour on servicing, as well as keen pricing on new carburetors for Super Gas race car requirements. Tony Morris Carburetors specialize in performance carbs on the 4150 and 4500 Holley platform, and each carburetor is hand built for its application. Not only do TMC supply traditional four barrel racing carbs, they also supply twin blade carburetors featuring the patented upper jets, which provide superior tunability and offer the advantage of a wider range of flow rating to optimise your combination. Contact Dave via messenger on TMC with RDR Performance Carburetors | Facebook, on Instagram at #thecarbfellas or by e-mail on TMC@roughdiamondracing.com with your requirements.

    Super Pro ET - Peter Nee
    Steve and Babs Saunders write: Pete was a true Hot Rodder at heart, he lived and breathed drag racing, hot rods and American muscle cars. He was with me from the very early hot rods days in the beginning of the 80's and at the very start of my drag racing. He loved NHRA Drag racing, British Drag Racing and going to the states travelling visit as many drag racing meetings as possible. Apart from being my Crew Chief, he himself had many different cars through his life ending up with his much loved Firebird which he was planning on racing himself in 2022.

    Pro ET - Modurstang
    Modurstang is the UK's premier Mustang specialist. Anything from an approved routine oil change for your brand new S550, to a full restoration of your 1960’s Mustang. If you have any ideas or would like to chat about a project, feel free to call us. We can put your mind at ease. For example, S550 supercharger packages are tried and tested to offer you the best possible performance at a competitive price. Modurstang is the one-stop-shop for all your American motor servicing needs. We can make your Mustang dreams a reality. Please take a look at our web site at www.modurstang.co.uk or phone us on 01608 678818, or mobile on 07774 712000.

    Sportsman ET - Hutchinson & Dibley
    Hutchinson and Dibley Ltd is a Buckinghamshire based precision CNC engineering company specialising in the production of 'hard-to-manufacture' parts. They have over 50 years of experience in most industries including defence, oil, gas and marine as well as machining most common metals and plastics but also working with difficult materials such as Titanium, Magnetic Iron and Inconel. Our shop facility includes CNC turning and milling as well as welding and fabrication equipment. Our entire production is ISO9001:2008 approved and accredited.

    Junior Dragster - Lucas Oil
    Lucas Oil have been looking after many Riders and Drivers in Motorsport, with their second to none Oils and Oil based products, Junior Dragster has been fortunate enough to have had Lucas Oil’s backing for more than 10 years, and 2024 is no different, Lucas oil products can be found at Santa Pod Raceway or on the Lucas Oil website at www.lucasoil.co.uk.

    Street Eliminator - Top Speed Automotive
    Although historically trading for nearly 50 years, Topspeed Automotive in its current guise was founded in 2007 by two brothers, who having been key members of the Motor Sport Industry for over 30 years (and still active today), wanted to combine their love and passion for all things automotive and their knowledge of warehousing and corporate finance into an exciting business venture. Initially focused on the on-premise retailing of automotive parts, both standard and performance/racing, this grew rapidly with the introduction of our ecommerce site and later, our acquisition of the UK Automotive distributor, CM Frost. Now based in central England, at our 15,000 square feet distribution centre, with offices in Surrey, England and Dallas, Texas we have focused on combining exceptional automotive application experience with a strong supporting technical infrastructure.

    Contact us at customerservice@topspeedautomotive.com or call us on tel:0044 (0) 1933 225 564 or visit our store local to Santa Pod at. Topspeed Automotive Limited, Unit 6 Everitt Close Dennington Industrial Estate, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 2QE. United Kingdom

    Nostalgia Super Stock - VP Lubricants
    VP Racing Lubricants are proud to be class title sponsor of UK Nostalgia Super Stock. Our range of oils includes Break-in oil, Classic Racing Oil, High Performance Synthetic Blend oils and Professional Grade Fully Synthetic Oils. Please call our sole UK importer and distributor Williams Bros. Racing with any trade, racer or retail enquiries on 01327-220777 or email nwilliams@ocs-group.co.uk.


    VW Pro - Pro Race Engineering
    Pro Race Engineering are a race engineering company with many years experience, building high performance race engines and chassis setups. We specialise in custom works and builds. We also have our own line of products from billet steel main caps, pulleys and connecting rods. We have worked together in various industries as multiskilled engineers for eight years. We have taken our passions of cars to start a race team followed by a company called Pro-Race Engineering. Our first year of testing/developing components has been very successful and the company is growing quickly. We now have four types of rod fitment, two girdle kits and two billet crank pulleys to our portfolio with much more coming in the near future.

    Outlaw Anglia - TMC
    Tony Morris and Dave Gibbons are also delighted to announce that Tony Morris Carburetors will also be the Title Sponsor of the Outlaw Anglia class. As the sole UK agent for Tony Morris Carburetors, Dave Gibbons’ TMC with RDR Performance Carburetors operation will also offer a 10% discount on parts and labour on servicing, as well as keen pricing on new carburetors for Super Gas race car requirements. Tony Morris Carburetors specialize in performance carbs on the 4150 and 4500 Holley platform, and each carburetor is hand built for its application. Not only do TMC supply traditional four barrel racing carbs, they also supply twin blade carburetors featuring the patented upper jets, which provide superior tunability and offer the advantage of a wider range of flow rating to optimise your combination.

    Contact Dave via messenger on TMC with RDR Performance Carburetors | Facebook, on Instagram at #thecarbfellas or by e-mail on TMC@roughdiamondracing.com with your requirements.

    Wild Bunch - Springbridge Direct
    Bob Hawkins of Wild Bunch class title sponsors Springbridge Direct Ltd has been supplying high quality topsoil using the finest constituents for over 25 years. As well as screened and blended topsoil Springbridge also supplies quality turf, barks, composts and a large range of aggregates in either bulk bags or loose loads. A general bulk and grab haulage service is also always available at extremely competitive rates. Springbridge’s own fleet of low-carbon lorries can deliver to your site, anywhere in the south east, including London and to all low-emission zones. Springbridge will help you save time and money on your next outdoor project. You can call them on 0333 456 1919 for full details, or visit the website at www.springbridgedirect.co.uk.

    Top Fuel Bike - Ashdown Bulk Haulage
    We provide a wide range of waste management services and Civils works services across the entire South East of England. No job is too big or too small for Flexiwaste and Flexiwaste Civils- we’re always happy to help. Get in touch today if you need us. Email us: enquiries@flexiwaste.com with your requirements. Call us: 01622 619383, Message/ Whatsapp us: 07494 474504, Flexiwaste Environmental Services LTD, Unit OY21, Elm Court Business Village, Gillingham, ME7 3JQ.

    Funny Bike - Leeks Landscapes
    The Leeks Landscapes Group, is a group of companies catering to all aspects of Landscaping, Waterscapes, ponds, lakes, civil engineering and more delivering projects to the commercial and domestic sector throughout the UK. www.leekslandscapes.co.uk.

    Comp Bike - Suzuki Performance Spares.co.uk
    Suzuki Performance Spares, are your premier source of quality guaranteed new and used parts for major motorcycle brands, they specialise in spare parts for modern, classic motorcycle, racing and Drag Race parts. Contact details: - suzukiperformancespares.co.uk or 07900 362 809

    Super Street Bike - Kathy Taylor
    Kathy Taylor a long-time supporter of all things Drag Bike, on this occasion taking the Super Street Bike Title Sponsorship as her way of puttingsomething back in to the sport.

    8.50 Bike - JKE Race works
    We welcome the return of Jake Mechaell JKE Race Works, who once again is sponsoring the class title for 8.50 bike. Jake says:

    "I’m pleased to be the class sponsor again for the 8.50 bike championship during the 2024 season. The class is perfect for racers to have a stepping stone between 9.50 Bike and Superstreet/Comp Bike. It’s such a competitive class with a great bunch of riders. With the volume of bikes, we have coming through the workshop in preparation for 8.50 bike it’s a class which is only going to continue to grow. "JKE Race Works offer a huge range of services including complete bike builds, bespoke fabrication, engine building, one off turbo kits specifically designed to suit your needs, bike setup, track support, engine tuning, suspension servicing, 1-1 tuition and much more.

    We are located next door to Santa Pod Raceway which gives our customers the convenience of an accessible drop off and collection location. It also allows us to provide support to all racers if they have an unfortunate part failure which can be repaired during the meeting to keep them out there making the most of their race weekend. "Our dealership statuses are growing every month and we can offer great racer prices on the following brands so far: MTC Engineering, Racing lines, Putoline Oil, Antigravity Batteries, HEL Performance and Ramair Filters. Our aim is to give the highest standard of work at a reasonable price and help our customers reach their goals with all the support and advice needed.

    "Please follow JKE Race Works on Facebook and Instagram to see the work we produce and to keep up to date with future projects. Contact details are 07841 389360 and email on jkeraceworks@gmail.com."

    9.50 Bike - Atlantic Fluid Tech
    Atlantic Fluid Tech Ltd has been trading since 2009 and is a major supplier of hydraulic valves to OEM companies in the UK and Ireland. It is the British subsidiary of an Italian Group that is based in Modena. The company has a warehouse in Coventry from where it distributes products to a wide variety of companies, particularly those involved in the manufacture of construction machinery. The Coventry building houses a hydraulic test facility and a CAD function for the design and supply of bespoke valve assemblies. Both UK Directors of the company have a long history of involvement in Motor Sport, and are very pleased to be associated with the Santa Pod Racers Club and sponsorship of 9.50 bike. Atlantic fluid Tech can be contacted at +44 (0)2476 617143 or email uk@atlanticfluidtech.com

    ET Bike - Warpspeed Racing
    At Warpspeed Racing we pride ourselves on a precision engineering and fabrication and machining processes honed on the drag strip. Using a wide range of materials, we are able to produce one off and replacement products for the road and race industry, specialising in billet aluminium, From Funny Bikes to bespoke custom parts. Whether you are chasing a personal best, wanting best in show or just making your mark on what you have, talk to WSR we can do it all from start to finish. We offer the following services, Full or part build for all drag bike classes, Engine tuning and rebuilds, Turbo Systems, Nitrous systems, Bespoke fabrication, One off billet parts, Servicing, dyno work, and MOT's. :For all enquiries: Tel: 01263 821764, or 07782-205021, email stuart@warpspeedracing.co.uk. or to visit our website click here.

    Junior Drag Bike - Eurodragster.com
    Eurodragster.com was created 26 years ago and provides comprehensive and timely reporting of European drag racing news. As always, we are excited about the forthcoming season, are attending over 50 races and will post in-depth live reports on 20 of them, including all FIA/FIM-E and UK National championship rounds. Our news and race report pages are viewed by over 12,000 racers and fans across Europe monthly. We are proud to be supporting Junior Drag Bike which has an increasing field with newly built machines, the riders of which are becoming the championship bike racers of the future.

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

    March Meet Saturday gallery.
    6th March: Many thanks to Andy Willsheer for sending in a gallery of photos from Saturday at the March Meet, Famoso Dragstrip, Bakersfield. You can see Andy's gallery by clicking here.

    You can see full results from Famoso on Competition Plus by clicking here. At the end of qualifying, Shane Westerfield was #1 in Nostalgia Funny Cars of an entry of 23, running a 5.613/258.57. The tight 16 car field was separated by 0.31s.

    In Top Fuel Dragster, 13 cars tried to qualify for the eight car field with Tyler Hilton in #1 on 5.625/257.14, a mere 0.25s ahead of the similarly named #8 qualifier Tyler Hester. Fuel altered saw ten cars trying to get as close as possible to the 6.00 index, with Mathew Leonard on top with a 6.031/228.89. Some noted Funny Car racers are getting into Fuel Altered racing, the qualifiers including Johnny West, Ron Capps and Cory Lee.

    Pictured: Drew Austin in his '79 Mustang ran 5.753/245.00



    Run What Ya Brung video.
    6th March: As well as providing the gallery we posted yesterday, Kieran has posted video of Sunday's Santa Pod Run What Ya Brung to his Mk1Kieran Youtube channel. You can see Kieran's video by clicking here or on the embedded video.

    Kieran reports "The first RWYB of 2024 was a busy one with track time selling out in advance! There was plenty of high power & quick BMWs on site as well as plenty of other racers testing out their winter upgrades."

    Simon Letkey of VeeDubRacing was also in attendance too and his video features a battle of the quickest B58's in the World. Marcus Daley in his 950bhp Serkes Motorworks built RWD BMW 140i was up against Tom Wrigley in his 980bhp Tom Wrigley Performance built X-Drive BMW 140i. You can see the results with driver interviews by clicking here.



    Summit Racing EDRS series requires staff.
    6th March: Do you like speed, fan and drag racing? Now we need more reps/travellers for our competitions in the 2024 season.

    The competition season spans from May-September and our series runs in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Your task will be to inform drivers and the audience, distribute information about the show and our sponsors.

    We are looking for help at awards ceremonies and liaising with the contest organisers.

    The minimum age is 18 years. For questions and more information, send an email to: Helene Rapp, Project Manager for Summit EDRS helene by clicking here.


    Swift snippets.
    6th March: Happy Birthday for today to Super Gas racer Andy Harrison and former Wild Bunch racer Nigel Lane, have a great day guys.


    Santa Pod RWYB gallery.
    5th March: Although freezing temperatures were experienced at the start of Sunday, Santa Pod's quarter mile was in race worthy condition by noon and over 440 timed runs were able to be made. Thanks to Kieran for sending a gallery in which you can see by
    clicking here.

    The sold-out day was dominated by fast road cars, with BMWs being in the majority. There were a number of race vehicles testing as well. In the car ranks, Pete Lane brought out his Firebird with a blown carburettor setup which we hope will be in competition in bracket racing later in the year.

    Wayne Gill in his Mk7.5 Golf R, newly built over the Winter, with help from D.H Automotive and Four Strokes Performance put in two sub 10s runs, which you can see video and more details from VeeDubRacing by clicking here

    On the bike side there was newcomer Rico Patterson on a Kimco 125CC doing licensing passes before his competition debut at the Festival of Power, and Scott Smith who, on a Honda Fireblade, is entered in ET Bike at Easter.



    2024 Dial In Day - 9th March 2024.
    5th March: Thanks for VWDRC for announcing this weekend at Santa Pod is the Dial In Day, places are running out for this years Dial in day at Santa Pod. You can see more details and enter by clicking here.

    Graduates from the previous events have gone on to achieve great things in the National Drag Racing championships in classes such as Sportsman ET, the VWDRC and beyond. There have been multiple event wins, number one qualifiers, perfect ET’s & reaction times and even a couple of championships won by those who started it all by attending the dial in day.

    If you’re thinking about getting involved with drag racing, or just want a little insight into the world of participating, the dial in day will not disappoint. It’s a no obligation day that consists of classroom based sessions before track based mini events allowing you to experience full qualifying and eliminations. You absolutely do not need a race based vehicle; in fact we restrict the day to vehicles completing the ¼ mile in 12 seconds and slower to re-enforce the accessibility of drag racing as a sport. Only the RWYB rules apply so in most standard road cars, that means you need to bring nothing more than yourself, your car and your driving licence.



    Pro Dutch Racing - Cuda out, but what comes in?
    5th March: Shortly after the end of last season, the well-known Pro Dutch Racing '71 Plymouth Barracuda was put up for sale to be replaced by a new weapon for the 2024 season. The Cuda has now found a new home, but what will take its place? Remco Scheelings has penned an article which shows a spy picture and reveals that the debut of the new Pro Dutch Racing Pro Mod will now be at The Doorslammers, and that the new car will be travelling by container across the Atlantic in the next few weeks. You can read Remco's article by clicking here.




    Top Fuellers at Malmö Raceway.
    5th March: Johan Lundberg of Malmö Raceway has announced that at the Raceway's 20 years Jubilee Summer Nationals on 5th-7th July, a special Top Fuel match race will take place between Dennis Nilsson and Stig Neergaard. As announced last year, Dennis's brother Tindra will also be in attendance.

    We believe this is the first time that a pair of the 11,000 horsepower cars will be racing at the eighth mile track.

    In the 20th anniversary season, Malmö Raceway has announced 15 dates, including no-prep events and a night race on 17th August. You can see the details by clicking here.


    Swift snippets.
    5th March: Happy Birthday for today to Box of Frogs Funny Bike racer Roger Moore and to Super Street Bike racer Jonny Hines. We hope you have a great day.

    A belated Happy Birthday for yesterday to Stock Super Stock racer Rick McCann.

    A reminder to racers wanting to enter for the Festival of Power on 29th-31st March, entries close at the regular price this Friday 8th March.

    As a follow up to our well received Pioneer Story posted yesterday, drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has added some scans taken from two recently found Brian Sparrow albums on his website which you can see by clicking here. Nick says "Brian loved all forms of motorsport, both two and four wheeled and these albums cover Sprints, Speed Trials and Speed Hill Climbs from 1961 - 1964. I also found Brian's collection of programmes from the '50s to mid '60s and have scanned these too." They can all be found by this link at the top of the page just after the heading British Drag Racing and Hot Rodding Photo Galleries. Well done to Nick for an excellent job of cataloguing the photos and adding captions.

    US-based journalist and author Tony Thacker has published an article on the Grand National Roadster Show which you can read on the Torq Talk blog by clicking here.




    Pioneer Stories - Brian Sparrow’s story and history.
    4th March: Today's pioneer story is that of one of the founding fathers of British drag racing, the late Brian Sparrow which you can read by
    clicking here.

    After seeing George Brown’s ‘Nero’ sprint bike at the 1960 Motorcycle Show Brian joined the National Sprint Association, soon becoming Competitions Secretary running the Sprint Meetings. He met Allan Bootsie Herridge and Brian Witty early in 1962 and joined them on a trip to Long Marston with their home-built Chrysler hemi Dragster with plans to take on Sydney Allard in his Chrysler Dragster. Brian then teamed up with Bootsie, John Harrison and Robin Evemy to form Dragster Developments building and running a straight 8 Buick Dragster followed by a state-of-the-art Cadillac slingshot and a smaller Austin powered slingshot.

    Brian also joined the British Hot Rod Association and the British Drag Racing Association soon working on the committees of all three associations and was told he would not get away with it, but Brian was able to get along with anybody by simply playing along. As Brian said... “By playing along you would get things done, that was the main thing. Whether you had to prostitute yourself to do it, it got done.”

    When Santa Pod opened Brian became a roving reporter in the pits, taking pictures and making notes of every detail and modification to each machine for his regular ‘Scene in the Pits’ writeup in Drag Racing & Hot Rod magazine and as Brian said... “I am in fact obsessive with detail, to the point of being a pain in the ass.”

    Brian was always fascinated by Jet and Rocket powered cars and in the 1970s he got involved with Barry Bowles and the two Blonde Bombshell Rocket cars. Brian continued to attend drag races up to his passing in 2023 and was inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2011.

    This story, told by Brian, was produced by John Hunt and Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves.


    Spy picture IX - solved.
    4th March: Thanks to Mat Cooper for this follow up on Spy picture IX posted on 23rd February.

    Mat writes: "2015 and a memorable trip to March Meet in Bakersfield had my mind made up, watching the legendry Mike Sullivan run in his Topo in the 6.0 fuel altered class had us in awe! I knew at some point we had to build a car with a similar look as in my eyes it was perfection!."



    "Back then we were running in Outlaw Anglia with our little 350ci Blown Alcohol Pop, as the class started to get quicker it became apparent our little pop was not really competitive (along with my slow reaction times), basically meant we were 2nd round fodder at best – only so many times you can get beat by a certain Mr Colin Millar and keep smiling."

    "The car was sold on to a fellow OA member and the motor and trans sold to Arron Bird.

    "2020 construction started on the new car, I’m not going to lie, we found the prospect of trying to build a car ground up in my garage a bit daunting! However, with a lot of advice from friends in the states progress was made when funds allowed, and we now find ourselves really turning a corner with the billed as the finishing line draws closer! The car is running a KB 526ci alcohol motor, 3 speed pedal clutch and full floater rear end."

    "The whole car has been built in house ground up – Something we are very proud of! We would like to say a special thanks to Chassis Guru Ron Austin for his time answering my questions, Martyn Hannis for my constant badgering for the odd part for the motor, All round good guy Wayne Allman again for answering my questions and Barry Woodford for the paint job and John “The Brush” for the artwork. Also, everyone for the messages of encouragement from the offset."



    "Despite the car looking pretty much complete in the photos, the is still a fair amount of cash to spend, so at the moment I’m not sure when the car will be out to play, we are getting their slowly."

    "Anyone who’s interested can follow our progress and car build up here on Facebook Cooper Bros Racing."


    Swift snippets.
    4th March: Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted an hour of video of the NSRA Southern Swap Meet held yesterday at North Weald Airfield. Nick says, "Plenty of Classic Cars turned up and the Swap Meet was busy". You can see Nick's video at this link.

    Footage of action from the Straightliners speed show at Elvington Airfield last weekend has been posted by no less than the Yorkshire Post which you can see by clicking here. Also you can see the marquee exhibits with two videos from veteran bike drag racer Pete Williams clicking here, and burnouts from Mark Flavell which you can see by clicking here.



    After a tough World Series of Pro Mod where expat Swedish racer had to substitute his '58 Corvette with Russian teammate Dmitry Samorukov driving his own Camaro, following an engine swap. Dmitry ran a great 3.76 eighth mile time - but with the 32-car field's bump spot an incredible 3.67, he joined thirty-three other non-qualifiers. Dmitry and Adam's next race is the NHRA season-opening Gatornationals next weekend.

    Gerda Joon, wife of expat Dutch racer Lex, has been named as the crew chief for second-generation nitro racer Travis Shumake’s Top Fuel dragster. You can read the full story by clicking here.



    Bob Beck – Confirmed Dragstalgia visit.
    3rd March: Bob Beck has confirmed he will be coming to Dragstalgia in July, Bob is a lifelong automotive enthusiast who has built vehicles that gained prominence in automotive magazines, shows, and books. His career after college started as a High School auto shop instructor. Later he worked for major vehicle manufacturers at the corporate level including BMW, Nissan, Isuzu, GM, and most recently as the Collector Car Representative for AAA in Southern California.

    Bob has been an NHRA drag racing announcer at multiple tracks over the last 40 years and he has been an announcer for the California Hot Rod Reunion and Holley National Hot Rod Reunion for the past 20 plus years. He is a regular contributing personality at Speed Scene Live TV and he does guest spots on the nationally syndicated Horsepower for an hour radio show and on Talking About Cars with Randy Kerdoon. Bob is also the host of the Great American Auto Scene show.



    March Meet Friday gallery.
    3rd March: Thanks to photojournalist Andy Willsheer for sending pictures from Friday’s qualifying and first round of Nostalgia Funny Car and Nostalgia Top Fuel at the Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet at Famoso Raceway, California. You can see Andy's shots at this link, supported by Lucas Oil Products.


    Swift snippets.
    3rd March: Happy Birthday for today to Competition Eliminator racer Kevin Jenkins, Gasser Circus racer Lee Pike, German Super Pro ET racer Jens Könnecke and German Super Twin Top Fuel Racer Christian Jäger. We hope you all have a great day.

    Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster posted on his Facebook page about his Morris Minor Old School Fuel Altered: The guys came over and stripped the Outlaw Anglia down. The motor from the Anglia is now residing in the Altered so that we can get it running and shake it down at ‘Dragstalgia 2024’. The budget just isn’t available to build the Nitro motor this year, so the decision was made to move the project forward.

    Adam Flamholc announces big change of plans during testing at Bradenton for the World Series of ProMod the last couple of days. Unfortunately found a problem on the Corvette that won’t be able to fix here at the track. Last 10 hours they converted Dmitry Samorukov NHRA car to an outlaw Pro Mod Car! Screwblower etc from the Corvette is on it and will make the first ever run with this setup in Q1. Follow Adam on his Facebook page by clicking here



    Santa Pod Raceway Renews Partnership with DFDS for 2024!
    2nd March: Thanks to Santa Pod Raceway's Neale Saunders for letting us know Santa Pod Raceway and DFDS have joined forces once again, renewing their long standing partnership for the 2024 season. This partnership has proven to be a game-changer for racers, providing discounted travel across the channel.

    Continuing for 2024, racers can enjoy exclusive benefits on cross-channel ferry bookings through DFDS, thanks to this renewed deal. We understand the importance of a smooth and cost-effective travel experience, and with DFDS, you're not just getting a ferry ride – you're getting a racer-friendly discount that'll save racers money before they hit the track.

    Whether you're coming from the continent or planning a journey to a continental track, DFDS are committed to ensuring your voyage is as seamless as your quarter-mile run. Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to save on ferry costs and focus more on what you do best – racing!

    We appreciate the continued support of our racing community, and this partnership renewal with DFDS is our way of saying thank you. Details on how to access these discounts and book your travel for the coming season, Bookings can be made by downloading the new
    2024 Booking Form. This form will also be available on the SPRC website.

    Booking requests must be sent to dover.fbookings@dfds.com and the DFDS team with take care of the reservations.


    March Meet Test and Tune - Qualifying plus gallery.
    2nd March: The 2024 Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meeting got underway on Thursday with a test and tune session for Nostalgia Top Fuel, Nostalgia Funny Car and Fuel Altered, photojournalist Andy Willsheer was there to capture those that were making test hits. With the support of Lucas Oil Products, we have posted Andy's photos in a gallery which you can see by clicking here or going via News, then Features in the main menu.

    Test sheets are posted on Competition Plus via this link. after testing Nostalgia Funny Car Geoff Monise with 254.09 / 5.632 and Fuel Altered Mathew Leonard 224.66 / 6.208. Q1 and Q2 results are available now on CompetitionPlus by clicking here. Thanks to Andy for sending in pictures. You can see live action today from Famoso Dragstrip via the video stream provided once again by Frankie Larrabee, and Mark McCalla (Funny Car only).

    Pictured: Geoff Monsie driving the '70 Firebird.
    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for generating the gallery on today's update.


    Ida Zetterström – Selected for Swedish National Motorsport Team.
    2nd March: Thanks to The Maynard Family Racing for announcing that JCM Racing’s Ida Zetterström has been selected to join the Swedish National Motorsport Team, the Swedish Automobile Sports Federation announced today. The three-time series champion on the European drag racing circuit is the first straight-line racer to be selected into the prestigious program, which aims to develop Swedish auto racing drivers by providing access to various resources intended to help racers reach their full potential.

    The Swedish National Motorsport Team, which is supported by the country’s National Sports Confederation, offers its participants access to top-notch physical training, nutrition plans, data logging, networking, and on-track and simulator testing, among other resources. As part of the program, Zetterström will receive a custom-tailored development plan, which will help ensure that she is at the top of her game, both physically and mentally, when she makes her NHRA Drag Racing debut later this summer competing alongside teammate Tony Schumacher aboard JCM Racing’s second Top Fuel entry.

    “This is the first time that the Swedish National Motorsport Team has selected a drag racer to be represented in their line-up of drivers, so this is a big deal for me, and for the Swedish drag racing community in general,” said Zetterström, who originally hails from Stockholm, Sweden, but relocated to the Indianapolis area in January to be close to the JCM Racing shop in Brownsburg. “Being invited into this group is something we have been working toward for a while now. It’s an honour to be included and break some new ground as the team’s first drag racer. I would love to see drag racing have a permanent place on the National team, and that is something Swedish National team captain Pier Steffansson and I will be working on together. Their goal is to produce more Swedish drivers who will compete in various forms of auto racing at the highest level. For us drag racers, NHRA is the pinnacle, and I look forward to opening doors for other Swedish racers interested in pursuing a career in professional drag racing”.

    “My goal right now is to put myself in the best possible position to compete for NHRA’s Rookie of the Year, and ultimately, one day become an NHRA champion. Having the support of the Swedish National team will be a huge asset as I work towards these goals. I look forward to making the team proud as I represent our country over here in the U.S., competing with JCM Racing on the NHRA circuit.”

    With the invitation, Zetterström joins an elite group of her fellow countrymen and women, including Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, Linus Lundqvist, and Felix Rosenqvist. Other standouts include Oliver Solberg, Johan Kristoffersson, Kevin Hansen, and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, who represent the Swedish National Motorsport Team in the Rallycross arena, and Formula 3 star Dino Beganovic, among others.

    “Ida Zetterström is a new addition to the Swedish National team and with that, we have a new discipline represented with drag racing,” explained Steffansson. “If you look back many years, you will find that the National team has focused on five disciplines and drag racing has not been one of them. Last year, the National team worked a lot on exchanging experiences and knowledge, and through that, we’ve been able to see a valuable development between the disciplines. This is a part of that work. With Ida serving as an ambassador for drag racing, she will be able to provide valuable input to the National team for further development of up-and-coming drag racers.”

    Like her Swedish National Motorsport Team peers, Zetterström boasts a lengthy list of accomplishments, including becoming the first woman and youngest competitor to win a Super Street Bike title when she won her first of two championships in the category in 2019. In 2023, she reset the FIA Top Fuel records for both E.T. and speed en-route to winning the FIA series championship. Other accolades include becoming the first female to post a sub-seven-second run in the FIM Super Street Bike class and clocking the first 3.8-second FIA Top Fuel pass in 1,000-foot competition.

    "We are incredibly proud to start working with Ida,” Steffansson added. “Her experience and the way she has made it to the absolute elite level is an inspiration for the Swedish motorsports industry. We look forward to a multilateral partnership, both for Ida’s career and to start building the foundation of how we can help develop aspiring young racers that are aiming to compete at an elite level of drag racing."

    For more information about the Swedish National Motorsport Team, please visit: this link.


    Swift snippets.
    2nd March: Happy 80th Birthday to Swedish Funny Car legend Leif Helander of Starkotter Racing, thanks to Magnus Larsson for notifying us! We wish a Happy Birthday to Santa Pod Racers Club official and awards evening organiser extraordinaire Yvonne Tramm, also to former Funny Bike rider and drag bike engineer Bob Brooks. We hope you all have a great day.




    Pioneer Stories - Alf Hagon part 4.
    1st March: Today's Pioneer Story continues the history of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Alf Hagon, told in his own words, which you can see at this link.

    Part four of Alf’s story sees him continuing with sprinting and building his JAP powered machine for the Dragfests. He recalls the help given to him by Don Garlits and the American bike racers. He began to ride at the newly opened Santa Pod and began his domination of the strip where he held the track record for an incredible eight years. As the times continued to fall development of the bike continued to evolve and he became the first rider into the nines and the first to top 200mph.

    Thanks to Alf for the loan of items from his collection, many of which are shown in the article.

    You can read many more stories of pioneers of UK drag racing at our Pioneer Stories page.


    Southern Swap Meet this Sunday.
    1st March: The NSRA Southern Swap Meet takes place this Sunday 3rd March at North Weald Airfield starting at 9:30am until 16:30. Access to the Swap Meet area is from Merlin Way, Epping CM16 6HR. Follow this link.

    The event has traditionally been a mart for hot rodding cars and parts. The event this year comes after an announcement in January that 52 acres of land the airfield was sold to Google for development for a new data centre, with no confirmed timeline for development.

    Whilst drag racing at North Weald taking place from the mid-1980, the only automotive activity on the site in recent years has been the swap meet. The North Weald Airfield Strategic Masterplan which you can download from this link shows the airfield will remain intact after the new development.


    Flamholc racing at World Series of Pro Mod.
    1st March: Expat Sweded Adam Flamholc will be racing at the World Series of Pro Mod at Bradenton Motorsports Park this weekend from 1st-3rd March. Adam has been sorting out the setup of his '58 Corvette (pictured).

    Adam said last weekend "We have changed 4-link setup, shocks, changed rods, did a valve job, went through the Tydrive and the Liberty gearbox. I feel Im missing something on the setup and will head up to Bradenton Sunday or early Monday, gonna keep at it, until we figure this car out! Thanks to the guys in my team that worked hard over the weekend to get the car done! We will give it all we have!"

    You can see the event live on FloRacing by clicking here. Various Youtube videos of testing are available by searching World Series of Pro Mod, and NC ProModer is posting live streaming of testing.

    On the grudge racing Rivals Night on Friday, Adam will be up against Puerto Rican Raymond Matos, who races a turbo 1970 Camaro and has gone as quick as 3.620/208 with it.
    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

    Spy picture VII - solved.
    1st March: Thanks to Adam Gleadow for this follow up on Spy picture VII posted on 17th February.

    Adam writes: “The spy picture was my freshly painted helmet, to match our recently finished paint on Motor Psycho. I'd like to say a massive thank you to Steve Kenny for the stunning paint job, photos don't do it justice".



    "We're currently awaiting a new camshaft to get the engine back together, along with a few fuel system changes and general upgrades we're looking forward to testing before Dragstalgia".

    "As always a huge thank you to Titan Speed Engineering for their support, good luck to Shawn & Krista at the March Meet this weekend in Nostalgia Top Fuel".




    Swift snippets.
    1st March: Happy Birthday for today to Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator competitor and Santa Pod Raceway marshal Antony Wilkins and superfan Kerry McCartney Jeyes, we hope you have a wonderful day.



    SPRC Announcement - Used Drag Slicks.
    29th February: Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall has annouced 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 HERE with 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 Slick tyres, as street type tyres don’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.


    Funny Car Cup - West Ten Motorsport.
    29th February: Santa Pod Raceway have annouced this Funny Car Cup latest news, thank you to Chris Hobson for allowing eurodragster.com to share this.

    Buckle up, race fans, because Kevin Kent, the reigning champion, is back in the driver's seat for the 2024 Funny Car Cup! After a hard fought victory in 2023, Kev is ready to defend his title with his usual focus and determination.

    Known as one of the best runners in the UK, Kev blazed a trail at Bug Jam last season, clocking in the fastest time in Europe with an astonishing 4.18 seconds over the 1000ft mark. That's not just breaking records; it's leaving them in the dust. With tuning responsibilities taken care of by American, John “Bodie” Smith, Kev will again be trying to break his own record.

    But the road to glory is never without its bumps, and Kev faced a wild ride at the Euro Finals. A broken axle and a wheel doing its own thing didn't stop the fearless driver. Instead, it fuelled his determination. Kev is upgrading his car to unleash even more power, showing that setbacks are just challenges to overcome on the way to victory.

    Behind the scenes, Kev's crew are the unsung heroes of drag racing. Widely regarded as the hardest working in the business, they're the gears turning behind the scenes, ensuring every bolt is tight and every engine roar is deafening.

    Get ready for a season of speed, spectacle, and sheer determination as Kevin Kent and his powerhouse crew fire up up for the Funny Car Cup at the first round (Festival of Power). With Kev at the wheel, you can expect nothing less than high-horsepower adrenaline and a dash of steel to keep the competition in the rearview mirror. The road to victory just got a lot more entertaining!





    Spy picture X.
    29th February: Eurodragster.com has been provided with this spy picture attached with comment: "No major running gear changes for 2024, but new paint means you won't miss me!"

    If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.




    Andy Willsheer at March Meet.
    28th February: Bon Voyage and good luck to photo journalist Andy Willsheer as he heads to Famoso Drag Strip, California for the historic March Meet. Andy will be sending photos from the event taking place from 29th February to 3rd March and from the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals taking place at Gainesville Raceway from 7th-10th March.

    The March Meet features plenty of Nostalgia Nitro action, around 13 Top Fuelers qualifying for an 8 car field, a full 16 car field of Nostalgia Funny Cars, and 10 Fuel Altereds. We're not sure there will be streaming video on any of the usual channels, but check out the Facebook page of former Fuel Altered team member Frank Larrabee who has posted on Facebook Live from the stands.


    UK Nostalgia Superstock Awards Dinner.
    28th February: Many thanks to Niamh Smith for the first UK Nostalgia Superstock Awards Night at the Kettering Park Hotel and Spa, Niamh writes:

    Racers, crew, family and extended racing family came together for a three course meal, followed by the awards presentation and a disco.

    Colin Theobald kindly agreed to be our MC for the evening and he did an excellent job, kicking the presentation off with a roundup of our 2023 season, some of the highlights including Chris Goodale’s latest car ‘Russo’s Rat’ joining the class and first-time racer Holly Butcher bagging the number one qualifier spot at the Nostalgia Nationals.

    "Then we got into awards, which we wanted to present to not just racers, but crew and those who make life in the pits fun and enjoyable!"

    Above and Beyond Award, which was awarded to Lorraine Brazier, Paul Singer’s Crew Chief, for always keeping the racer’s energy up in the pits with her delicious cakes.

    Another Above and Beyond Trophy went to Zoe Thompson and Adrian Stone who always do a great job organising our little bonus number one qualifier pot at events.

    The Chief Instigator Trophy was something to recognise Peter Walton who was one of the founding members of the class and the driving force behind it in the early days.

    Best Appearing Team - the Bossa Nova Team, headed by Simon Rickwood, who are always excellently decked out in their purple garb.

    Best Appearing Pits - The Watts Shop, Duncan Watts being the patriarch, who always have an impressive array of cars on display in the pits that are always turned out well.

    Most Promising Newcomer - Andrew Bishop who took over the reigns of the Bishops’ Barracuda last year and had a great season.

    The Spirit of the Class Award was voted on by ALL of our members, who submitted their votes to Don Scott. The overwhelming response was that Chris Goodale was the worthy winner of this, as someone who’s always supporting the class in any way he can, always happy to help with parts or advice, promoting the class wherever he can.
    Then of course to our magnificent valve cover trophies signwritten by Craig Ainge Traditional Signwriter…

    This year we had joint runners up in a weird twist of fate… in no particular order Lee Chiles and Ash Rawson both had great seasons and managed to bag the same amount of posts to become our runners up in the Lifestyle championship.

    2024 Lifestyle Championship Award - Elaine and Dan Williams who did consistently well all year managing to come first out of over 70 very competitive racers!

    "We have to thank all of our sponsors for allowing us to do these fab things for our little (big) racing family, and Chris Goodale of Goodale American Speedshop again for hiring the Photo Booth so we could document the night in style."

    "The response from those who attended has been great, and we will for sure be doing it all over again next year… I’ve even checked with the hotel that they’ll have us back after the copious amounts of Tequila Rose and Baby Guinness shots we ordered!


    Swift snippets.
    28th February: Happy Birthday to SPR commentator, VWDRC chair and racer, and European FWD promoter Luke Stevenson, Nitro FM producer and IT/audio technical wizard Julian Parsons, ACU bike scrutineer Les Harris and FWD racer Terry Newton. We hope you all have a great day.

    Fuel Funny Car team Speedghost Motorsport have announced that British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Peter Lantz has joined the team to be tuner to the Patrik Pers-driven car in 2024. You can read about Pete's storied career by clicking here.

    Expat Norwegian Top Alcohol Dragster racer Julie Nataas has competed in her first race of the season at No Problem Raceway ParkBelle Rose, LA, where in the Lucas Oil regional round, she went out in the semi final round to class newcomer and Pro Stock Bike legend Angelle Sampey. You can see Julie's 2024 schedule by clicking here on her web site.

    Nick Pettitt has added another 280 scans in two more galleries of Antony Billinton's photos to his website. click here. Both feature the year 1971, one from Santa Pod and the other visiting Blackbushe, Brighton and North Luffenham. Thanks go to Antony and also members of the Facebook groups 'British Drag Bike History' and 'UK & European Drag Racing Photos' for help with some of the captions.




    Rob Turner: Funeral Arrangements.
    27th February: Thanks to Steve Turner for announcing the funeral arrangements for Rob Turner, European and eight time British Top Methanol Champion:

    The funeral service will take place at St Mary’s Church, Church Walk, Higham Ferrers, NN10 8BT On Wednesday 6th March at 12 noon. Followed by a burial at Higham Ferrers Cemetery. Map view can be found by following this link.

    Then on to The Carriage House, 13 Market Square, Higham Ferrers, NN10 8DJ.

    Family flowers only but donations if desired for the British Lung Foundation may be sent to A. Abbott & Sons, Bedford Rd, Rushden, NN10 0LZ or given on the day.



    Overview of SFI Re-certification Periods.
    27th February: Many thanks to Andrea Kloss & Constance Metzner from DMSB Drag Racing for announcing an overview of the different re-certification periods for SFI-certified components and equipment in Europe. But first a little excursion as to why this overview is unfortunately necessary:

    The page called “Tech Talk” on the German drag racing website for which our Chief Scrutineer Conny Metzner provides drivers and teams with valuable technical information. This article includes a list of SFI recertification periods within Europe, to view the list please Click Here.

    Since 2022, there has also been FIA regulations for sportsman classes, which are intended to serve as a guideline for all European countries and to make it easier for all drivers to comply with each countries specific regulations in drag racing. The idea was that all European countries would gradually adopt these regulations and that we would come closer to the goal of having uniform regulations for drag racing in all European countries.

    The German ASN (DMSB) adopted the FIA Sportsman regulations 100% from the get go, however the rest of Europe has not. In the FIA regulations for 2024, the re-certification periods for SFI-certified components or equipment have in some cases been extended or in other cases even suspended. For example the re-certification interval for SFI suits with the SFI 3.2A/15 and 3.2A/20 specification, which was previously 5 years is now no longer required. Every suit is subjected to a visual inspection during scrutineering and in the event that it is damaged and could no longer fulfill its protective function, the technical scrutineer would declare it as no longer permissible.

    The new SFI specification list was received positively by drivers in Germany, as it also reduced the cost of re-certification. Since not all European countries have incorporated these FIA requirements into their national regulations, there are now significant deviations in the applicable SFI recertification periods within Europe. For this reason, I have compiled an overview for you, of the regulations in this regard in Germany, Sweden, Norway, UK and France.

    Please make sure to familiarise yourself with the respective national regulations if you take part in any foreign events.

    For more information, please contact Andrea by Clicking Here.


    Swift snippets.
    27th February: Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel Bike guru Frank Brachtvogel and former Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jonas Staflund, we hope you have a great day guys.




    Pioneer stories: Four short stories.
    26th February: Today's pioneer story is of four men who, although they were not racers, had a crucial part in the development of the sport in the UK. You can read their stories by
    clicking here.

    Brian Holmes, David Kipling, John Greenwood and John Hill were all fascinated by drag racing and had skills to apply in various aspects of the organisation and facilities in the mid 1960s. All gave their stories to John Hunt, which were edited by Nick Pettitt who also supplied images from his British Drag Racing & Hot Rodding Archive for publishing on Eurodragster.com

    You can read many more stories of pioneers of UK drag racing at our Pioneer Stories page.

    British Drag Racing Historians is open to anyone who writes about the history of British Drag Racing and has been published through the internet or print media. John Hunt founded the group by contacting those in the group and others in early 2020 asking if it was a good idea to operate under one banner as a group of like minded individuals who are dedicated to the History of British Drag Racing.

    The group aims to discuss and share information on a mutual basis and meets occasionally and informally. Our most recent meeting was at Allard Sports Cars on. The Group aims to promote the history of our sport through websites, Facebook, books and magazines. The group operates as an association and is not formally registered as an organisation.


    Straightliners The Speed Show Gallery and Report.
    26th February: Thanks to ADImages for sending a report and gallery of photos from the Straightliners The Speed Show at Elvington Airport at the weekend:

    It was a cold and foggy start to the Straightliners Speed Show at Elvington airfield near York, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the visitors, exhibitors or racers, who turned out in force after what has felt like a long winter! There were four marquees filled with cars, bikes, sidecars, karts and more. Outside there were flame shows from Julian Webb’s ‘Spiderman’ jet dragster, fire ups and a couple of burnouts from Mark Flavell in the Mustang funny car, huge burnouts from the ‘Burnout King’ Dodge Charger, a Merlin engine fire up and passenger rides available in the ‘Blade’ monster truck, as well as the “dash for the cash” 100m drag sprint. It’s hard to pick out any favourites from the show, as the quality of everything on display was exceptional, but the four below really grabbed my attention.

    Becci Ellis’ turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa ‘Odyssey’ has achieved a very impressive top speed of 252mph from a standing start on runway 26 at Elvington. Helped on its way by a Garrett GT35 turbo, Motec M400 ECU, low compression Wiseco pistons and Carrillo conrods, Upperton lock-up clutch, Airtech fairings and two years of build and development. Becci tells me there is a new charge cooler being fitted in the next few weeks, to help lower the air intake temperatures and generate more power. She is aiming to set new records for both fully-faired and naked bike categories for a woman over the standing half mile, mile and mile and a quarter distances in 2024.


    Graham Sykes’ ‘Force of Nature’ steam rocket bike is always popular, whether on static display or on track and that was no different here. It was great to catch up with Graham and hear his plans for 2024 as he continues to chase 200mph over the 1/8 and is looking to find an estimated 50% power increase with more efficient thrust nozzles and pressure vessel amongst other upgrades.

    Another standout was the blown VW Corrado of Stuart Hodgson, which was originally built by Chris Isaac for Spencer Tramm in 2004. It was later sold and ended up in Germany where it raced with an NA motor, running down into the low 8s. Stuart's wife, Kim, has always loved the look of the car, so when it came up for sale, they made the trip to Germany and bought it minus its engine. It now has a blown 468ci, with 730bhp at 6lbs of boost, and a 2-speed Reid power glide. There are still some jobs to finish on the car, but Stuart hopes to have the car at Santa Pod in August 2024. Initial plans are to get used to the car, before turning it up to 900bhp and running in VW Pro and Super Gas. Stuart would also like to thank Kim for her continued support, Ben at EDA, Graham Rawlings and Luke Stevenson.


    Finally, a car I haven’t seen before, in the form of the 4th Dimension dragster which was built in the early 70s by Ken Cooper for Andy Swaffield. It is reported to be the last of the original cars built by Ken Cooper and is thought to be the only original car still racing. It currently runs a 283ci small block, but future plans are to fit a blown methanol flathead. It also features a sit-over LDV rear axle, rubber exhaust bobbin/fibreglass disc damper front suspension and a handbrake only. Its best so far is 12.01 @ 120mph.

    The Speed Show is fast becoming a regular calendar fixture and is a great way to get excited for the upcoming season.

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.


    Malta: track developments, new committee and new classes.
    26th February: On Thursday, the Malta Planning Authority gave the green light to the Malta Motorsport Federation to upgrade the Malta Drag Racing Association Raceway in Hal Far.

    This means that the control tower and the start will be moving 60m back to achieve the full length as per international standards, upgrading the safety walls along both sides of the track to increase the safety of drivers and introducing safety fencing and better seating for spectators.

    A new modern, fully equipped tower, with an international standard motorsport control room including a media room and other facilities, a fully equipped area for scrutineering, club facilities, areas for drivers briefing, proper storage for equipment and materials, and new timing equipment and displays.

    The project includes showers, sanitation facilities, and proper water and electricity supplies in the paddock.
    The facility will have all the necessities to organise events at the FIA level, be homologated, and be the best drag racing facility in the Mediterranean.

    Jonathan Bruno, Secretary of the Malta Motorsport Federation, said that today, the Hal Far Motorsport Hub, which will incorporate The Drag Racing Strip, the Karting track, and the circuit, started a new phase. Preparatory work on the Karting track and the new circuit is also progressing with good momentum.

    We send our congratulations to Duncan Micallef, President of the Malta Motorsport Federation for this significant step forward.

    New Committee

    The committee of the MDRA have been confirmed for 2024 as:
    • President: Gabriel Briffa
    • General Secretary: Clint D'Amato
    • Treasurer: Jean Paul Cauchi
    • Events Organiser: Konrad D'Anastasi
    • Maintenance/Safety Officer: Horatius Caruana
    • Members: Charlie Camilleri, Frankie Ellul, Conrad Busuttil, Nicola Schembri

    New classes

    The MDRA have announced a new doorslammer class, plus the division of the popular Open FWD category into two brackets for 2024, 10.00 ET and 9.00 ET.

    The new class, for six cylinder/20B rotary or four cylinder/13B rotary will be called The Wild Class and features tyre size maximum 28"x10.5", maximum turbo 88.9mm and all fuels permitted.

    The factory shell and stock wheelbase must be retained, with modifications for a 10.5" tyre and lightening of body panels allowed. AWD will be permitted, and wheelie bars only permitted on 26"x10" or smaller tyres. The minimum weight for six cylinder/20B rotary is 1300kg and for four cylinder/13B rotary combinations 800kg.


    Swift snippets.
    26th February: Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway Race Track Manager Darren Prentice, fuel Funny Car racer Kevin Kent, UK & European drag racing photos administrator Dave Turner, Super Twin Top Fuel racer Willem Been, Outlaw Street racer Rob Leyman, and Sportsman ET racer Connor Holt. We hope you all have a great day.

    Happy Birthday to Eurodragster.com - 26 years old
    today and still going strong!

    A reminder for those who intend to race in Street Weekend Sweden that Registration opens on 27/2 at: 10.00 at nitroz.se. The event, which regularly sells out to Drag N Drive racers, takes place from 7th-13th July commencing at Mantorp Park on Sunday 7th,with runs at Dala-Järna airport on Monday 8th, Sundsvall Raceway on Tuesday 9th, Söderhamn Airport on Wednesday 10th, a travel day on Thursday 11th, Salmon on Friday 12th and back to Mantorp on Saturday 13th July. Full details can be seen at the new website by clicking here, with a list of the 55 priority entries already received.

    We fear the reports on Facebook that Holley is closing the long-established Hilborn fuel injection division of its business are true. For a full report on this sad news, read an article by Caleb Jacobs on The Drive website.



    New sponsor: JaysonD Designs Custom Paint & Airbrush.
    25th February: We welcome JaysonD Designs Custom Paint & Airbrush as home and news page sponsor from March 2024. Jayson writes:

    "JaysonD Designs is based in Hampton, London and by appointment in Farnham Surrey. With over 25 years experience in auto custom painting and airbrushing, I'm a perfectionist, I get creative, with attention to detail and take pride in my work.

    "Although my main love is motorcycles and scooters, I have also painted and airbrushed Helmets, Car Parts, X Box Cases, Laptops and lately, Chrome projects. I also would like to carry out custom paintwork on Dragsters and Hot Rods. Basically if it stands still long enough I can paint it! If you want a one off bespoke custom paint scheme then JaysonD Designs can meet all your requirements and turn your dream artwork into reality.

    "I use only the highest quality paints, materials and tools. For the paints it's either House of Kolor, Inspire or Auto Air Colors for the custom work or Lechler for OEM colours. Airbrushes are Iwata and paint guns, Sata".

    "I take pride in every piece of work and all my work is guaranteed. Whether it be a one off bespoke design, full custom paint scheme or new artwork to your car or motorcycle. Take a look at the full Custom Work and Airbrushing services on my website.

    "Call me now to discuss your next project on 07426 209071 or email jaysonddesigns@gmail.com JaysonD Designs can be found on Facebook by clicking here and Instagram by clicking here.



    Swift snippets.
    25th February: Happy Birthday for today to twin Super Pro ET racers Elodie Dubois and Fabien Dubois, Kieran's mum Ali Jenkins, longtime fan of the site and Tierp Arena crew member Carl Zettervall, and Clastres photographer Stéphane Cousin. We hope you all have a wonderful day.



    Martijn de Haas retires.
    24th February: FIM-E Super Twin racer and 2015-17 Champion Martijn de Haas has announced his retirement from the sport. He said:

    "30 years of drag racing, what a ride! However now I feel it’s time to retire from the greatest sport on earth. Still in good health, just older, I want to enjoy other stuff in life".

    "I can’t thank my team enough for all the effort and sacrifices they made, so I could compete in Nitro Harleys, which I still think are the greatest bikes there are. Brother Joeri de Haas, who dragged me to the strip when is was in my late teens. Brother from another mother Ronald Van de Werken, not just for being a team member but also a great friend. And off course love of my life Colinda Lugten for supporting me in every stupid and crazy idea I have!

    "Thanks colleague racers an drag racing enthusiasts in Europe for making this sport what it is!"

    Martijn will be sorely missed as he was a regular competitor at the Main Event and Euro Finals from 2009 onwards, winning seven events, four runners up, and 6 no.1 qualifying positions. His PB of 6.505 and 209.94 came in the 2022 FIA/FIM-E European Finals.

    Thanks to Kirstie for the 2022 NitrOlympX photo, Andy Marrs for supplying the statistics, and www.drdb.eu for the best times.


    Andy Willsheer at Lions Automobilia Foundation & Museum.
    24th February: During his visit to California and Las Vegas last November, photojournalist Andy Willsheer managed to squeeze in a visit to the Lions Automobilia Foundation & Museum at 2790 E Del Amo Blvd, West Rancho Dominguez, CA. You can see a gallery of 220 of Andy's pictures in a gallery at this link.

    Included are shots of iconic drag racing vehicles, the legendary recreated startline, many hot rods and description boards for most of what he saw. So grab a coffee and enjoy Andy's photos. If you wish to visit Lions Automobilia Foundation & Museum, follow this link, where you can find all information including details of special events.



    Swift snippets.
    24th February: Happy Birthday for today to UK Nostalgia Superstock organiser and SPRC class champion Don Scott, Super Gas racer Tim Moore, Scarlett & Sons team member Mark Scarlett and Irwindale Raceway announcer and Great American Auto Scene host Bob Beck, we hope you all have a great day.



    Pioneer Stories - Alf Hagon part 3.
    23rd February: Today's Pioneer Story continues the history of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Alf Hagon, told in his own words, which you can see at
    this link.

    Part three of Alf’s story sees his Speedway career continue as his business expanded and he began to specialise in developing shock absorbers with the acquisition of stock and machinery from Girling.

    He continued to compete in various differing motorcycle events and, with the encouragement of Len Cole, built his first sprint bike using one of his speedway frames. This Triumph powered machine was soon setting records. The photos in this part were taken at Hagon Products by Dave Dick during our recording of the interview.

    All Pioneer stories can be seen by clicking here.


    VP Racing Joins Ida Zetterström for 2024.
    23rd February: Thanks to The Maynard Family Racing for announcing when 2023 FIA Top Fuel champion Ida Zetterström begins her campaign for NHRA’s 2024 Rookie of the Year, she will have the support of VP Racing, one of the motorsports industry’s most recognizable brands of race gas, additives, and lubricants, in her corner as she embarks on her inaugural season competing on U.S. soil.

    Prior to relocating to Brownsburg, Indiana from the Åland Islands of Finland last month, Zetterström enjoyed tremendous success competing on the FIA and FIM series circuits in Europe. In addition to her 2023 title, Zetterström is also a two-time champion in the Super Street Bike category. She won her first Super Street Bike crown in 2019, becoming the youngest competitor and first female in the category to do so. Her accomplishments caught the attention of VP Racing, prompting the market leader in high-performance racing fuels to present her with the organization’s ‘Special Award,’ which recognizes a racer who had an exceptionally standout season. With the rising young upstart on their radar, it was simply a matter of time before Zetterström and VP would come together to partner in an official capacity.

    “I’m so excited to now officially be working with VP Racing as I begin my NHRA journey,” said Zetterström, who is slated to compete in a minimum of six NHRA Mission Foods Series events in 2024 before running a full-season campaign alongside her JCM Racing teammate Tony Schumacher in 2025. “I’ve had a relationship with VP since 2019 and we’ve worked together on various projects while I was racing in Europe, so it’s incredibly gratifying that it has developed into now hitting the track this year with an official partnership in place.

    “VP Racing’s product line is superior, and the VP Racing brand is synonymous with drag racing, so it’s truly an honor to be aligned with them as I begin this next chapter in my racing career,” she added. “We’ve got our sights set on a major goal this year – putting ourselves in the best possible position to compete for the Rookie of the Year award – and even loftier goals for 2025 and beyond. It’s a major feather in my cap to know that I will be pursuing Wally trophies and championships with the support of such a well-respected brand.”

    VP Racing joins Zetterström and JCM Racing as an associate partner. VP Racing branding will appear on Zetterström’s 12,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster, firesuit, and team crew shirts, and she will wear a custom-designed VP Racing-branded helmet during all events on her 2024 schedule. Additionally, the VP logo will be featured on Schumacher’s Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel dragster throughout the entirety of the 21-race NHRA Mission Foods Series season.

    “We’re excited to be part of Ida Zetterström’s historic quest in the 2024 NHRA season,” said Bruce Hendel, Senior Vice President - Global Sales for VP. “Ida has impressed us for several years, winning VP’s Special Award 2019 for her outstanding performance racing Super Street Bikes in Europe. Joining her as she enters the NHRA’s premier professional series is fitting for the global leader in performance racing fuels, motor oils, and additives.”

    The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season kicks off with the NHRA Gatornationals, March 8-10, at historic Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla. Zetterström’s debut NHRA event will be announced at a later date.

    About JCM Racing:
    Established in 2022, the Maynard family’s JCM Racing organization is a multi-car NHRA team founded by Joe Maynard and his late wife Cathi. JCM Racing takes pride in operating as a family unit with Joe Maynard serving as the head of the organization while Maynard’s son, Joe C. Maynard, and daughter-in-law, Andrea Maynard, also have executive roles at JCM. The executive staff operates out of Clarksville, Tennessee, while the team’s racing headquarters is located in Brownsburg, Indiana. JCM Racing owns seven national event wins to date.

    Tony Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history, drives the organization’s full-time entry in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Piloting JCM Racing’s second Top Fuel dragster is Swedish transplant Ida Zetterström, the 2023 European FIA Top Fuel champion. In 2024, Schumacher will compete for his ninth Top Fuel championship title, while Zetterström will battle for the honors of NHRA’s Rookie of the Year during her inaugural season racing on U.S. soil. Zetterström is scheduled to run a full season campaign alongside Schumacher in 2025.

    Also competing under the JCM Racing banner are Joe C. Maynard and Helby Maynard. The father/son duo will make their NHRA debut in 2024 with Joe C. racing an A/Fuel Dragster in the Top Alcohol Dragster category, while Shelby will compete in the Jr. Dragster ranks.

    In an effort to support future generations of drag racers, JCM Racing operates a Driver Development program, which currently lends support to Sportsman racers, and one Jr. Drag Racer from each of NHRA’s seven divisions.


    Spy pictures IX.
    23rd February: Eurodragster has been provided with this spy picture devoid of comments.

    If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

    Swift snippets.
    23rd February: Happy Birthday for today to rocket bike legend Eric Teboul, Super Pro ET racer Billy Gane, Sportsman ET racer Georgina Smith, Vegas Hustler slingshot racer Mark Bishop, and Outlaw Street racer Rod Atkinson, have a fantastic day all.

    Qualifying results for Light Out 15 at South Georgina Motorsports Park can be see by clicking here.



    SFI Inspection 2024 Dates.
    22nd February: Many thanks to SFI President Jennifer Faye for announcing the 2024 schedule, slight change making the first stop in Santa Pod on the calendar due to the Festival of Power falling on an early date this year. Hopefully this helps racers have as much time as possible to prepare for their first event after having their parts inspected.

    "We trust that most racers will be able to utilize the location that is closest to them and this will be much more convenient than shipping parts long distances for recertification".

    The SFI inspection process is an important procedure for ensuring that certified parts are in safe working condition for the upcoming season. As a reminder, we are unable to inspect Weld wheels due to the special equipment that is not portable, however, we have added ME Racing Service in Sweden as an inspection site for Weld wheels. Details may be found in the list of inspection items. For each stop listed below, the host name can be contacted for pricing in local currency and to arrange parts delivery or attendance at each inspection day. ME Racing requires pre-registration, which may be found on their website.


    Stop 1
    England (Santa Pod, SPRC)
    Tuesday, 12 March, 10:00am-4:00pm
    Santa Pod Raceway
    Hospitality Suite
    Airfield Road, Podington, NN29 7XA.

    Stop 2
    Netherlands (DHRA)
    Thursday, 14 March, 8:00am-12:00pm
    Hotel Ibis Amsterdam Schiphol
    Schipholweg 181
    Bedhoevedorp 1171PK.

    Stop 3
    Finland (FHRA)
    Friday, 15 March, 8:00am-12:00pm
    FHRA Office
    Teollisuustie 2
    01800 Klaukkala.

    Stop 4
    Sweden (ME Racing Service AB)
    Saturday, 16 March, 11:00am-5:00pm
    ME Racing Service AB
    Svetsgränd 10
    781 72 Borlänge.


    USAutomotive.co.uk to Support U.S. Drag Team.
    22nd February: Many thanks to Tony Thacker for contacting eurodrasgter.com with this news article. USAutomotive has announced that they will be supporting the 2024 U.S. Drag Team and the return of the Dos Palmas Machine Spl. and the Mooneyes.

    USAutomotive chairman Stewart Bassett said, “USAutomotive has been involved with American autos and racing since our inception in 1997. As the UK’s leading importer of American auto parts, it seemed only natural to get on board with logistical help for the 2024 U.S. Drag Team.

    “In 1964, the first U.S. Drag Team was organized by Bob Keith, driver of the Dos Palmas Machine Spl., a leading Gas Dragster out of San Jose, California. After being lost for 40 years, the dragster was found and restored by NASCAR/TV personality Ray Evernham. Thankfully, the car was acquired by a consortium of Brits including myself, Nick Davies of ICE Automotive, Mick Jenkins of Mick’s Paint, Geoff Stilwell and Tony Thacker. “Tony, along with Scott Campbell, has been instrumental in resurrecting the car and getting it running at Mick’s Paint in California.” Stewart went on to say: “Now with the support of Keith Bartlett and Santa Pod Raceway, we’re shipping the car to England for the 60th Anniversary of the 1st British International Drag Festival in 1964. Dos Palmas was the first American car to run at that event.”

    Joining Dos Palmas will be the Mooneyes dragster that was the first American dragster ever to race in the U.K. in 1963. It was the car that really ignited British drag racing. Both iconic dragsters will be on display at Santa Pod’s Dragstalgia event on July 5-7.

    Also on the team will be American Randy Bradford and his nitro-burning Fiat Fuel Altered. Randy runs one of the last but fastest classic Fuel Altereds in the U.S. and he will be racing Nick Davies in Havoc at Dragstalgia.

    “This is fantastic news,” said Nick Davies of ICE Automotive, “Havoc has been parked for some time as we really don’t have any similar cars to race but having Randy come over means we’ll load some nitro in the old Bantam and hopefully put that Fiat on the trailer.”

    “USAutomotive ships all types of American auto parts with regular air freight shipments from our US base in Atlanta, Georgia,” said Tony Thacker, “and having them give the 2024 U.S. Drag Team logistical support is a huge help.”

    About USAutomotive.co.uk:
    USAutomotive.co.uk stocks over 20,000 product lines covering the most popular applications from the classics of the fifties up to current models and they update their inventory regularly to follow market trends. They supply parts from the most respected American manufacturers including: Fel-Pro gaskets, Clevite Engine Bearings, Sealed Power and Speed Pro engine components and provide full technical support not only for their product range but also for American vehicles in general. For more information, please visit: www.USAutomotive.co.uk or, see us on Facebook by clicking here.

    About Dragstalgia Santa Pod Raceway, Northamptonshire, UK, July 5-7, 2024.
    A vintage lifestyle weekend dedicated to race cars, bikes and hot rods from a bygone era. See vehicles from Santa Pod’s illustrious history return to the strip whilst enjoying Championship racing, live music, Jet Car, Show & Shine with the NSRA, Cracklefest, beer festival and much more. Camping available onsite so come for the weekend.

    For more information and to book, please CLICK HERE.


    Huxley Motorsport hiring.
    22nd February: At HUXLEY MOTORSPORT a position has become available. We are a small but growing business that’s been going 15 years. we specialise in V8’s, American and historic race cars. We cover a wide range of services: General race car maintenance, chassis building, axle building, bespoke exhaust, intercooler and radiator systems, trackside support, motorsport parts sales, restoration and much more.

    Applicants do not need to have all knowledge on everything listed, as some duties can be taught in-house, most importantly passion for what we do and everything motorsport-related is key.



    Main Job Role Duties:

    • Steel fabrication: Mig and Tig welding (alloy not required but would be good)
    • Bespoke panel work and fabrication
    • Bespoke exhaust fabrication
    • Race car and American car maintenance work
    • Opportunity to come to race meetings and give track support and race preparation.

    The ideal candidate should:

    • Have experience with some of the duties listed
    • Have big attention to detail
    • Be self-motivated and organised
    • Have good communication skills
    • Most importantly must have a love for American/ Japanese and classic cars.

    If you would like to join our small but expanding enthusiastic team please email all your information, including social media contacts, and CV to huxmk1@hotmail.com

    You can see the Huxley Motorsport team on their Youtube channel by clicking here.



    Swift snippets.
    22nd February: Happy Birthday for today to Nitro FM presenter Paul 'Oz' Wright, former Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dez Krivan, Outlaw Flat Four Racer Nigel Hull and Willys Wars racer Guy Davenport. We hope you all have a fantastic day.




    Reis Race Retro 2024 - Cancelled.
    21st February: It is with great sadness Clarion Events Ltd and Stoneleigh Park announces the cancellation of this year`s highly anticipated Reis Race Retro event. Following extensive discussions and in consultation with the Warwickshire District Council Safety Advisory Group and Warwickshire Police, it has been determined that adverse weather conditions, particularly extensive flooding, rain forecast through to the weekend and road closures render it unsafe to proceed with the event as scheduled.

    Show Director Lee Masters said: “As a team, we are devastated to be forced to cancel Reis Race Retro 2024. While this decision was unavoidable, the safety and well-being of our attendees, participants, staff, and local residents remain our top priority. We understand the disappointment this may cause, and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience.

    “We are committed to delivering an exceptional experience for motorsport enthusiasts and will focus efforts on making Reis Race Retro, 21-23 February 2025 a huge success. We extend our gratitude to all involved parties for their understanding and cooperation during this exceptionally challenging time.”

    The Iconic Auction will still be running an auction – please visit their website for further details. Visitor tickets already purchased will automatically be carried over to Reis Race Retro, 21-23 February 2025. However, full refunds are available if visitors would prefer. Information on how to request a refund can be found on the event website by
    clicking here.

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.


    Outlaw Anglia Award Winners.
    21st February: Many thanks to site sponsor Outlaw Anglia co-ordinator Colin Millar for sending in an account of another successful 2023 Outlaw Anglia awards and party last Saturday.

    The Kettering Park Hotel and Spa was yet again the venue for this year’s Outlaw Anglia Awards Presentation and Party just Saturday past, a great turn out by all with some making it a long weekend so they could use all the facilities at the pool and the wonderful Spa treatments on offer, perfect venue with friendly staff and a wonderful location within the Rutland suite.

    Colin states it was "Fab night with everyone!! 🍾🏆", The Outlaw Anglia party was a huge success and please see below all the wonderful winners of the various categories:

  • Participants Choice - Voted by teams and crew members of Outlaw Anglia, Winner - Wayne Power.
  • Average Reaction Time - Over the three non-events, Thanks to Mark and Racheal, Winner - Douglas Waltermitty.
  • TMC / RDR Unexpected Outcome - Thanks to Dave and Ali Gibbons, Winner - Dalton Scarlett.
  • TMC / RDR Special Achievement - Thanks to Dave and Ali Gibbons, Winner - Mick Taylor.
  • Outlaw Anglia Championship - 1st Place - Colin Millar.
  • Outlaw Anglia Championship - 2nd Place - Dalton Scarlett.
  • Outlaw Anglia Championship - 3rd Place - Wayne Power.


  • A huge thanks to everyone who made the effort to come along and all the people in the background who help to make it what it is, thanks to all the supporters, fans Marshalls and tracks who allow Outlaw Anglia to do what they do best.

    We also raised essential funds for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, total amount raised will be announced soon.

    Thanks again and see you all soon




    Swift snippets.
    21st February: Happy Birthday for today to Super Pro ET racer and team manager Nick Good, Nostalgia Funny Car crew member Joseph Harris and Norwegian Super Gas racer Christer Uhlin, we hope you all have a great day.

    Juan Wolf of Malta Drag Racing Association has announced that due to low entry, with great regret the Open Street Challenge planned for Hal Far Raceway this Sunday 24th February has been cancelled. However, the Test & Tune in preparation for the March Winternationals (scheduled for 8th-10th March) will still be taking place this Sunday.

    The Spotted Motors Youtube duo of Michael Castle and Dale Ackworth have produced a video about the entry list for Street Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway and Melbourne Raceway on the weekend of 14th-16th June. They say "In this video we pick some of our favourite cars that have entered...Street Weekend 2024 looks to be a fantastic event and every car that has entered will make it special." You can see the video by clicking here.

    Hi and a belated Happy Birthday to former Shakespeare County Raceway RWYB photographer Peter Donaldson whose big day was on Monday. Back in the day, Peter took and posted many photos from Shakey. You can see the best of his shots by going to his Facebook photo albums page by clicking here.

    Photographer Richard Smith has updated his Zenfolio page with no less than 300 photos from the FIA/FIM European Finals 2023. You can see Richard's European Finals gallery by clicking here. Richard's galleries of pics go back to 2010, and in the interest of cost, some of the earlier galleries, although archived, can be applied by one viewer click to be restored.

    Fans of Flo Drag Racing online subscription streaming service are reminded that one of the biggest radial tyre events, Lights Out 15 will be taking place from today to Sunday 25th February at its usual venue of South Georgia Motorsports Park. As well as full streaming from 19:00 GMT today keep an eye out on Floracing's Youtube channel by clicking here for some teaser coverage. On a more downbeat note, it has emerged that Floracing will not be a streaming partner with Funny Car Chaos for 2024 and we look forward to an alternative streaming provider being announced soon.




    Franklyn Borg.
    20th February: We were shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Franklyn Borg in Malta on Saturday; he was aged only 41.

    A seasoned motorcycle drag racer in Malta for many years, Franklyn first came to the attention of an international audience in 2017 by competing in FIM-E Super Street Bike on a bike owned and tuned by Simon Giordmaina with build advice coming from US Pro Street Bike legend Rodney Williford. In his first race in Kunmadaras, Hungary, Franklyn qualified #1 and winning the event. Competing in all four rounds that year, he ran a new European quick ET of 6.916 at 204.21mph again qualifying #1 but was unable to back it up for a record.

    In 2018 the team was only able to compete at Kunmadaras and the main event, as Franklyn was by then getting a taste for Funny Bike racing in his native Malta. He ran his machine to 7.565 at the opening event and developed the machine so that he broke into the sixes in 2020 and ran a 6.862 in 2021.

    The Malta Drag Racing Association said "Franklyn Borg was a fearless dragbike rider who made Malta proud all over Europe... Godspeed Frank, you will never be forgotten. Condolences to all his family especially to our President Gabriel Briffa, Franklyn's cousin, and to Franklyn's uncle Joe."

    We would like to add our deepest condolences to Franklyn's family, team members and all his friends.

    Photo courtesy Alex Buttigieg

    Two Much at Dragstalgia.
    20th February: We would like to thank Nigel Charman for contacting eurodragster.com with this update:

    "With the sudden passing of Norm there has been so much to sort out, firstly, Norm is to be cremated tomorrow, but there will be no service as he requested. I will however go to Dragstalgia with at least the Two Much Dragster and have a Book of Condolences for anyone to sign, there will be casual get together at our pits in his honour."

    "Norm and I had discussed should this day come that either of us would continue drag racing. This was our passion and we believed that this enthusiasm should be passed on to future generations to continue our sport at whatever level."

    "Two Much will be at Dragstalgia, once I have rebuilt the clutch and box. Gotavit is ready with its tired old engine as I am awaiting parts for Mike Lewis Racing to continue Machining the new Santos/Rocket block."

    Norms partner Mary and I would also like to thank each and everyone of you for the calls, messages and offers of help from all over the world. It's been amazing and what a community we are all part of.

    We at eurodragster.com send our condolences once again and wish Norm's family and friends all the best.



    Stilwell wins Land Speed Racers award.
    20th February: Congratulations to landspeed racer and Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell who has won the Gary Brauer award for his 223.362, the first Brit to be awarded the trophy (pictured). Geoff said:

    "News of the award from club vice-president Charlie Davis came as a total surprise; unfortunately, I couldn’t make the LSR Awards Banquet last night in Los Angeles. I would like to thank the “Land Speed Racers” for adopting this English guy who wanted and continues to want to set land speed records. The club has been amazing and I’m so honoured to represent them in our sport, which drives us all crazy from time to time. Gary Brauer was a member who died of cancer at age 62; he was crew chief for the Brauer & Sons Fuel Roadster which set several records.

    "Huge thanks go out to my team, especially Nick Davies, Rob Loaring, Scotty Barnes, Scott Campbell and Marc Greenall, to Mick Jenkins and all the guys at Micks Paint for building me a fantastic Hot Rod and Tony Thacker for doing all the running around plus all the work he puts in behind the scenes to help make this happen.

    "As you know my son passed away last March aged 26 from cancer. Some of his last words to me were “Just get the job done dad”. Well, Matty, I’m trying. Hopefully, in 2024 I will get the job done.

    "Finally, I need to thank the LSR club and everyone there especially Charlie Davis and Kiwi Steve for their support and for letting me be part of the family. It is truly appreciated.

    "Let’s hope for dry salt and sunny skies in 2024."


    SPRC Festival of Power - entry reminder.
    20th February: Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall has contacted eurodragster.com to reminder ALL racers that the closing date to enter the Festival of Power is Friday 8th March.

    Current entry list can be seen by clicking here.

    Please follow this link to enter.

    The system has had a revamp and there are a few changes. For 2024 you are required to add a vehicle and fill in your SFI details (car only) before entering events. You only need to do this once, and the system will prefill your information on future event entries, where you can amend any information as appropriate.

    Please remember as of 2024, Entry fees must be paid 3 days prior to commencement of the race event entered. There will be a small fine applied to late payments (late being asked for your payment in the signing on office) this will be £25 for the first offence and £100 for future failings within the race year, to help we are looking at emailing all those that chose BACS payment 1 week prior to the event as a gentle nudge to pay the entry fee, this will be a blanket email, so please don't be upset if you have already paid.


    Swift snippets.
    20th February: Happy Birthday for today to Super Twin Top Fuel Bike racer Jaska Salakari, German Top Methanol Dragster racer Silvio Strauch, Junior Dragster dad Stuart Fagg, Pro Modified racer still-in-waiting Steve Rawlings, Top Doorslammer racer Anne Britt Nilssen and Netherlands based Comp Bike racer Thurtny Martina. We hope you all have a great day.

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Supercharged Outlaws racer and crew chief Dave "Fuzzie" McKenzie who is very poorly in hospital. We send our best wishes to the whole McKenzie family for Dave’s speedy recovery.



    Pioneer Stories - Denis Jenkinson.
    19th February: Today's pioneer story features the legendary motorsport journalist Denis Jenkinson or 'Jenks' as he was affectionately known. You can read the story at
    this link.

    Denis Sargent Jenkinson was a motorsport enthusiast and journalist who, amongst many other achievements, gained fame as navigator for Stirling Moss in the 1955 Mille Miglia 1000-mile race. He was known as DSJ or “Jenks” to the readers of Motor Sport magazine where he was Continental Correspondent for more than forty years.

    When the 1964 Dragfests arrived Jenks, already a fan of Sydney Allard’s pioneering efforts to introduce the sport to the UK, not only wrote enthusiastically about the events, but competed himself on his home built NorBSA motorcycle, and driving an Allard Dragon.

    This article was written by Tony Madgwick of the VMCC Sprint Section who became custodian of two of Jenks' motorcycles, including his 1965 Dragfest bike which he restored himself. Editing, further research and compilation was carried out by Chris Dossett of Trakbytes.

    All Pioneer stories can be seen by clicking here.


    Barrie Potter.
    19th February: We were sad to hear of the death last Wednesday of Barrie Potter who was well known for racing a Lotus Elan from the 1970s and 1980s. Barrie's son Martyn wrote about Barrie's drag racing story:

    Barrie first bought the Elan from Keith in the guise of ‘Hey Jude’, named after the Beatles, hit of the same name. It was not road legal and was green without a roof.

    In 1976, it was sprayed black and then in 1978, gold. The new body with a roof was rolled out in 1979 and the name was changed to Palladin. In 1980, Berrie won the RAC, BDRA and PDRC modified championships, beating legends such as Jim Read and Syvia Hauser in the process. Many posts have been published about Sylvia winning the best burn out at the 1980 world finals – it was Berrie that won that meeting and sealed the overall win with an 11.49 @111mph. The only British winner at that meeting (credit ‘Drive it! By D. Hardcastle and P. Jones Page 158 / 159). Throughout our careers, we were giant killers.

    The car was further modified and sprayed yellow. Additional Modified titles were added in 1985 and 1986. In 1988 the whole car was altered, widened, lowered and nitrous added, the colour scheme remained yellow, but bold stripes were added.

    Martyn took over driving in 1990, the final black and white colour scheme was added, and under Barrie’s guidance, Martyn managed to compete in the Euro Challenge Pro Class and took the car to a best of 10.61 @ 132mph and the title in 1993.

    Unfortunately, the car was sold the following season and was never on the drag strip again.

    Credits to Dick Parnham, Roger Gorringe and Graham Beckwith for supplying some of the pictures.

    We at Eurodragster.com send our deepest condolences to Martyn, their family and friends.


    Bishopscourt drag racing - VP Racing Fuels dealer.
    19th February: Thanks to Lee Child for contacting eurodragster.com that Bishopscourt Drag Racing Northern Ireland are proud to announce that they are an authorised VP Racing Fuels dealer for Northern Ireland. Supplying all VP Racing Fuels, leaded fuels, unleaded fuels, methanol fuel, ethanol’s, additives, and VP utility jugs. For technical information, quotes and pre ordering fuel, contact Bishopscourt Drag Racing Northern Ireland Facebook page by clicking here

    Bishopscourt drag racing Northern Ireland would like to thank Tom Bacon of Oldhall performance the UK distributor for VP Racing Fuels. Tom presented this proposal to VP Racing Fuels James McVey, International Sales & International Business Development Manager, James gave Bishopscourt the green light.

    Lee Child commented ‘‘It's awesome to have VP Racing Fuels here at ground zero for Ireland's first permanent drag racing venue, we thank and appreciate Tom’s work and VP Racing Fuels effort from James’’.


    Swift snippets.
    19th February: Happy Birthday for today to Junior Dragster racer Mackenzie Love, Audi exponent Audrius Bagdonavicius and former Super Pro ET racer Rick Cooke and Swedish photographer Cenneth Schiller. We hope you all have a great day.

    Phil Baimbridge has announced that that Jiri Lukes, who has competed in Funny Bike over the last decade, will pilot the Rocket Top Fuel Bike this year. Pete Chamberlain also joins the PBR team.

    Eurodragster.com sponsor Pete Walters has announced that, following house moves in the Walters Family, he will be competing in Sportsman ET rather than bringing his supercharged BBC dragster out at the start of the season. To do so, Pete has acquired Jack Petley's Gen 4 Camaro. Pete said "I needed something to scratch my Sportsman ET UK itch. And this is it!", adding he will be running the whole season in the class this year. No doubt, bracket racing in Sportsman ET will be as competitive as ever in 2024.



    Perfect and Photo Finish Awards renewed.
    18th February: Eurodragster.com is pleased to announce the renewal of its popular Perfect Light, Perfect ET and Bob's Photo Finish Awards scheme for 2024.

    The Perfect Light Award has been running since 2000 and Perfect ET since 2004. Bob's Photo Finish Award started in 2018. The Perfect Light and Perfect ET award operate at UK Championship events for a reaction time of 0.000 and 0.000 to dial-in ET. Bob's Photo Finish Award operates in eliminations only at UK Championship events.

    The big news for 2024 is that the Perfect ET Award will be renamed the Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award in memory of Supercharged Outlaws racer and Chairman Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield's much missed wife who passed away with pancreatic cancer in 2022. Team Twister also plan to run two cars in Supercharged Outlaws, Andy's wild Twister 23T street-legal hot rod which has provided some of the most exciting passenger rides ever, with daughter Purdie making her class debut in a new altered which we featured last October. We are grateful to Andy Hadfield who has sponsored the Perfect ET award since 2019.

    We would like to give a big Thank You to Bad Habit Racing, the team of Cath and Tig Napier, who have been mainstays of UK Sportsman racing for over 20 years, running their distinctive purple Dodge Challenger in Pro ET, with a Plymouth Barracuda as back-up in Sportsman ET and occasionally UK Nostalgia Super Stock. Cath and Tig have supported the Perfect Light award since 2013.


    The cash awards will be £50 for each award winner, with a rollover of the Perfect Light and Perfect ET Awards respectively if there is no winner at an event. Full details will be announced before and after each event, with the winner of Bob's Photo Finish Award confirmed after the official timing data from the event is available.

    Bob's Photo Finish Award is generously supported by long time Eurodragster.com and drag racing fan Bob Roberts who has kindly supplied material for several features during the last year. The Award will pay £50 each to the racers involved in the closest race of eliminations at this weekend's event. The closest race will be decided upon distance rather than time since, for example, 0.001 seconds at 230 mph is further than 0.002 seconds at 110 mph. For this reason the official timing data will need to be consulted so the winners will be announced here on Eurodragster.com as soon as possible after the event and the winners will then be contacted for their preferred method of payment. Bob's Photo Finish Award is open to all classes during eliminations only.

    Although Eurodragster.com decals are not mandatory we would appreciate if it they are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On. The Perfect Awards and Bob's Photo Finish Award will operate from the first championship event of the year, the Festival of Power on 29th-31st March.



    Swift snippets.
    18th February: Happy Birthday for today to Daimler dragster exponent and BDRHoF member Russ Carpenter, photographer Dick Parnham, Funny Car champion and constructor Johan Lindberg FWD racer Lisette de Koning and Modified 100e racer Robert White, we hope you all have a great day.


    Russo's Rat stars in Custom Car.
    17th February: The newly published March issue of Custom Car includes much drag racing coverage. The feature car is Russo's Rat owned and campaigned by Eurodragster sponsor Chris Goodale in Nostalgia Super Stock. In the eight-page article, Mike Pye describes the restoration of this historic '69 Chevelle, first seen in the UK in 1973 and its history.

    There are several build-up pictures from editor Alan Kidd and action shots from our Julian.

    Also in the issue are articles on the STP National Finals, a review of the Las Vegas SEMA Show by Jimmy Hibberd and pictures and words from Pomona's Grand National Roadster Show by Tony Thacker.

    You can buy Custom Car from your local newsagent, have the latest copy delivered for £5.99, plus delivery, by clicking here or get a subscription by clicking here.


    Super Comp Team - Crew Wanted.
    17th February: Jordan Wilson of Paul Hudson's Super Comp team has contacted eurodragster.com to announce the team are looking for 1 or 2 people to join the team crewing on his super comp dragster from this season and beyond. Firstly, it’s not a paid position, but free entry to every event is included. We like to have a laugh and don't take things too seriously, so if you can bring a good sense of humour that won’t go amiss!

    Don't worry if you have no previous experience as we can teach you everything you'd need to know, but of course if you have some previous experience then that's perfectly okay too! We ask that you are available for all the events, which are list below, and in an ideal situation the day before also to help set up for the race weekends.

  • Festival of Power - 29th-31st March (Easter weekend)
  • Springspeed Nationals - 27th-28th April
  • The Main Event - 24th - 27th May
  • Summer Nationals - 29th-30th June
  • European Finals - 5th-8th September
  • National Finals - 20th-22nd September

  • The car is located with Paul in Chesterfield, so if you're local to that area then that's handy, but again not essential.

    If you're interested, or know someone that would be, please contact Jordon via his Facebook page by clicking here.

    Spy picture VIII.
    17th February: The offices of Eurodragster.com received this spy picture which has a comment: "A taster of the car's new paint job"

    If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

    Swift snippets.
    17th February: Happy Birthday for today to Pro ET racer Amy Watkins, former Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström and former Top Methanol Funny Car racer Trace Froome. We hope you all have a fantastic day.

    Chief Santa Pod Raceway Timekeeper David Anniwell has written in with his reaction on being awarded the John Ledster Memorial Trophy at the recent Santa Pod Racers Club Trophy Evening: "This was most unexpected. I had a great deal of respect for John growing up and to get an award in his name is an honour. I'd like to dedicate this to my incredible team for their tireless work (and for putting up with me), previous recipient Steve Horn for his many years of mentorship, all of my colleagues at Santa Pod, and to the wider drag racing family, not least of all my dad Nigel whose 40-odd years of service has been a template for my own."

    Long-time photographer Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Flickr page with a large number of photos from Santa Pod's 2023 events which you can see here. Colin's Photos include pairing lane and spectator banking shots. Colin's collection, organised mainly by event, goes back over 40 years and is well worth a look.


    Pioneer Stories - Alf Hagon part 2.
    16th February: Today's Pioneer Story continues the history of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Alf Hagon, told in his own words, which you can see at
    this link.

    Part two of Alf’s story covers his time as an established star of international Speedway and Grass track, riding at meetings in the UK and abroad as far as Australia, including a memorable trip behind the Iron Curtain.

    He continued to put his engineering skills to use, providing products and bikes for many of the sports leading competitors. He began working at Ford in Dagenham but his skill in engineering and frame building was becoming more widely known, and this led to him opening his first shop to cater for the growing demand for his products.

    Thanks to Karl Fiala for supplying images from speedway media of Alf during the 50s and early 60s.

    You can read all the pioneer stories by looking at their index page by CLICKING HERE.


    Outlaw Anglia Party and Awards Ceremony.
    16th February: Many thanks to site sponsor Outlaw Anglia co-ordinator Colin Millar for contacting eurodragster.com to announce The Annual Outlaw Anglia Party and Awards Ceremony this coming Saturday at Kettering Park Hotel and Spa, its always a great night especially now everyone's hopefully been paid in January and finally have some pennies in their pockets to let their hair down. I’m pretty sure they will manage a few tipples before, during and after the event.

    Colin say's "A good turnout this year with a quite a few arriving on the Friday evening, where we will all meet up and get ourselves in the mood for Saturday night, the Spa is being well used on the Saturday during the day (one of the main reasons Lynn always looks forward to the trip) even if it’s an 8 hour drive, hopefully during our “couples massage” I can actually stay awake this time and refrain from snoring!"

    The championship may well have already been decided but there are another four trophy categories still to be won, good luck on these participants.

    This year we continue to raise funds for our nominated cause which is Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, hopefully this will help in a small way to ensure they continually give a great service and God forbid if us racers ever need them, they are there for all of us.

    Time is moving on and for the group our first event which is Springspeed Nationals sounds scary if you put it in this context, let’s hope there is lots of background activity and everyone can be ready to race. We need this rain and wind to disappear and some of that lovely sun to appear ready to make the track nice and sticky.

    Take care everyone and see you at the track.


    Time Warp Racing - Crew Needed.
    16th February: Thanks to Chris Eyre to announce the Time Warp Racing Team are looking for additional crew people to join the team.

    Experience is great, but the willingness to learn and be a team player is just as important. Being local to Santa Pod Raceway is key, to be able to help service the car between rounds. You should also be available for all the rounds of the NFC championship (other dates may be added).

    In return you will get entry to the attended events, team t shirts, food, and drinks.

    Please email timewarpracing@hotmail.com to express your interest. Thank you!

    Swift snippets.
    16th February: Happy Birthday for today to crew member for Micke Gullvist Motorsports Fredrik Westerlind, 9.50 Bike racer Dion Hartley, Lithuanian Topolino racer Giedrius Jurevicius and former Wild Bunch racer Pete "Eddie" Yates. We hope you all have a great day.



    Rob Turner.
    15th February: We were shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of European and eight time British Top Methanol Champion Rob Turner on 13th February. Jerry Cookson writes:

    Rob, with brother Steve and girlfriend at the time Carmel, raced quite often at Long Marston with the Jaguar powered 'Straight Shooter' altered, starting in 1980s and running a fuel altered of the same name in the late 80s.

    Shortly afterwards in 1990 Rob and Steve imported the ex Cory McClenathan 'Mac Attack' chassis to contest the British and European Top Methanol Championships racing at Avon Park, Santa Pod and many European and Scandinavian race tracks on the European tour to become the quickest and fastest team to beat in the Top methanol Dragster class. In the late nineties the team acquired a new Bob Meyer chassis which led them to competing in some of the NHRA tour races.

    Rob went the Funny Car route in 2010 and raced in the UK FIA rounds until 2013 with a car previously owned and campaigned by US racer Jeff Carroll. The team, with brother Steve again as Crew Chief and Carmel and Vicky Reid as crew, then made their US TAFC debut in 2015 at the Las Vegas autumn Divisional race. In 2016 and 2017 they ran a five-race programme involving all four Las Vegas races and the Pomona final. In 2018 they ran the last three TAFC races of the year, the two Las Vegas events and Pomona, and continued competing occasionally until Rob's final race at Las Vegas in November 2022. A clip of Rob's superb car control at Las Vegas in 2018 can be seen by clicking here.

    Whereever the brothers raced Turner Racing was a force to be reckoned with as their impressive list of championship achievements echo that testimony: the 2001 FIA Top Methanol Dragster championship and ten British Drag Racing Top Methanol Championships (1993, 1997-2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008), plus numerous event wins and records along the way. Rob was in the top 10 of the FIA Championship from 1991 through to 2013.

    We send our heartfelt condolences to Carmel, Steve, family and friends.

    Photos courtesy Alan Currans and Greg van den Bosch


    Greece: 2024 dates and 2023 motorcycle champions.
    15th February: AMOTOE, the Greek motorcycle drag racing regulator, has announced its provisional competition calendar which you can see by CLICKING HERE.

    Panhellenic Dragster Championship:
  • 5th-7th April - Agrinio Raceway
  • 17th-19th May - Serres Racing Circuit
  • 28th-30th June - Agrinio Raceway
  • 13th-15th September - Serres Racing Circuit
  • 11th-13th October - Agrinio Raceway
  • 15th-17th November - Serres Racing Circuit

  • Congratulations to the confirmed 2023 Greek Motorcycle Drag Racing Champions, information kindly supplied by Diakakis Nikos.

  • Super Pro: Pavlos Sidiropoulos (pictured, courtesy Remco Scheelings):

  • Super Street: Gianni Lampropoulos
  • Pro Street 2: Eleni Reveltzi
  • Pro Street 1: Simeon Light
  • Real Street: Giannis Paschalis
  • True Street 9: Ioannis Tzimas
  • Street 2: Christos Pappas
  • Pro Z: Ioannis Jeivaridis

  • You can see the full final order of the 2023 Greek Motorcycle Drag Racing Championships by clicking here (results in reverse class order).

    Diakakis, better known as Diak Nick, is keen to hear from any racers from other countries who want to compete at Agrinio or Serres - you can contact him at diakakisnick@yahoo.com


    Exciting News from Funny Car Cup.
    15th February: Thanks to Chris Hobson from the Funny Car Cup Facebook page for letting us share their news.

    Get ready for an adrenaline-packed season at Santa Pod Raceway. We are thrilled to announce that five phenomenal Funny Car racers are set to light up the track at the 1st round of the series during the Festival of Power event over the Easter weekend in 2024.

    Meet the lineup:

  • Steve Ashdown in the Undertaker car
  • Kevin Kent, 2023 Winner
  • Jason Phelps in the Gladiator car
  • Patrik Pers from Sweden who’s committed to all 4 rounds
  • Kevin Chapman, making a comeback after a serious crash in 2022s Main Event

  • Mark your calendars for the round dates:

  • Festival of Power: March 29th - 31st
  • Main Event: May 24th - 27th
  • Bug Jam: July 26th - 28th
  • European Finals: September 5th - 8th



  • These incredible racers are gearing up for the 2024 title, having made significant upgrades during the closed season. Don't miss out on the nitro fuelled, tire-smoking action, and the pursuit of glory! Get your tickets now and join us for a weekend filled with speed, power, and unforgettable moments!

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.


    Licence Fees for ACU and FIM E Riders.
    14th February:
    Santa Pod Racers Club secretary Ian Marshall has announced the licence fees for FIM E competitors in the UK have been released after many months of negotiations with the FIM E and ACU are as follows:

    Top Fuel Bike, Super Twin Bike, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike licences for the season will be £246.00, and for one event £136.00.

    Junior Drag Bike licences for the season will be £164.00 and for one event £113.00

    This includes insurance and start permission as per normal.

    Call out for Junior Dragsters to N.I.
    14th February: Edel McDonald, administrator of the British Junior Dragster Club Facebook page has issued a call out to Junior Dragster racers, and other sportsman racers willing to make the trip to Northern Ireland to make demo runs in 2024:

    "How many of the juniors would be interested in racing at Bishopscourt Airfield on 8th June 2024? We are trying to organise an event similar to what was run at the Melbourne Straightliners event in 2022, where we had prize money and trophies on offer.

    "Even if junior drag racers are not definite on being able to attend, if you would just give us an idea of how many are interested in the idea. We would try to obtain cut price ferries from Holyhead to Dublin and from there, it's about two to three hours drive to Bishopscourt drag strip and there will be camping allowed on the weekend of the event.

    "Additionally, the promoter is trying to arrange ferry deals from Liverpool to Belfast which would be 27 miles to the track from Belfast port. Racers would have no need to submit carnet papers as they remain within the UK.

    "The idea is to bring junior dragsters to the kids in Ireland, both North and South, by having a good few juniors running and showing the public what we do, and encouraging the locals to get involved. This would hopefully increase the overall junior dragster numbers that would eventually come to race at Santa Pod and Melbourne raceway. Our ultimate aim is to have a round of the British Junior Dragster championship in the North of Ireland and to bring some European juniors over to make a big event in the junior calendar.

    "So if you could help kickstart Dragracing in the north of Ireland it would also help the sport in the South of Ireland as well!"

    Edel can be contacted by Facebook messenger or via the British Junior Dragster Club Facebook page by CLICKING HERE.

    Picture: Liam McDonald at Bishopscourt courtesy Lee Child.

    American dragsters and personalities for Dragstalgia.
    14th February: Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell has revealed that two of the most iconic dragsters will shortly be on their way to the UK to be displayed at Dragstalgia on 5th-7th July 2024. Also attending will be well known personalities and legends of US drag racing.

    As well as the already announced Dos Palmas, owned by Tony Thacker, will be joined by the reproduction of the Mooneyes Dragster which in its original form took part in one of the first UK drag racing events at Silverstone on 10th September 1963.

    Beforehand, Dos Palmas will be on display at the Lucsas Oil NHRA Winternationals at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip on 21st-24th March. We are yet to find out whether other historic cars will be with Dos Palmas, but expect the event to be stunning, following the racing in Florida preceding the event.

    Dragstalgia will also be graced by personalities closely involved in the history of the sport in the US, also keeping the nostalgia drag racing movement alive. Nitro Revival co-organiser Cindy Gibbs will be attending along with former Freight Train AA/GS racer Bob and Sharon Muravez. Bob, also known as Floyd Lippencotte Jr., won over 600 sanctioned drag racing events before his retirement in 1971 and is now a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

    Santa Pod have announced that US Fuel Altered legend Randy Bradford will be making a return to Santa Pod Raceway in his Fuel Altered to take on Nick Davies in 'Havoc'. And we understand there may be other legends and Fuel Altered racers on hand, to be announced in due course.

    To get up to date information keep your eyes on Eurodragster or visit the Santa Pod website by CLICKING HERE.

    Photo courtesy USAutomotive

    Swift snippets.
    14th February: Happy Birthday for today to the Marras, Wild Bunch racers Pete and Rob Brown, FWD racer Scott Nobby Lewry, Santa Pod Raceway marshal John O'Shae and German Pro ET racer and photographer Clarissa Czekalla. We hope you all have a lovely day.


    Roger Gorringe funeral arrangements.
    13th February: Thanks to Robin Jackson for announcing the funeral arrangements for Roger Gorringe, distinguished drag racing photo journalist and honoured Member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

    Roger’s funeral will be held at 2.30pm on Thursday 29th February at Huntingdon Crematorium, Sapley Road, Kings Ripton, Huntingdon PE28 2NX, telephone 01480 410388.

    The service will be followed by a wake at 3.30pm at the Black Bull Pub (next to the memorial), 32 Post Street, Godmanchester, Huntingdon PE29 2AQ, telephone 01480 433074. Parking at the pub is limited. Anyone wishing to attend the wake is asked to inform Hall of Fame chair Lesley Wright at
    lesley@britishdragracinghof.co.uk by Thursday 22nd February so that buffet numbers can be arranged.

    Roger’s family has requested that no flowers be sent. Instead, donations in Roger’s memory will be welcomed to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and/or to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Benevolent Fund. Donations may be made via This Link.

    Roger Gorringe RIP.

    Spy picture VI - solved.
    13th February: Jack Petley has contacted eurodragster.com regarding the Spy picture VI posted on 7th February. Jack mentions they have just picked up the 68 Chevelle from Jedd Guys (Shortys fab shop) with thanks to Dave Gane of Billy Gane Racing for providing the transport. The car was bought by Jack and his dad Gary Petley just before COVID lockdown, with the aim to get back into street eliminator after dad’s nearly 30 year absence! The car was owned by David James and Peter Thompson ownership and it is an ex super modified car.

    The plan is to install an all-steel twin turbo LS with power plant coming from Stefan Rossi of Ace Racing engines in California and gearbox is a Th400 by Hughes. The car has undergone work from Jedd since October last year and now the car is back at our garage for stripping down. It is planned for the Chevelle to be sent to Darren Scannell’s for paint. Then back for final prep by John Atkinson. Hopefully it might make a late season appearance in street eliminator.



    Swift snippets.
    13th February: Happy Birthday for today to Old School Stocker racer Dan Blight and former slingshot racer Mike Oates. We hope you have a great day.


    Pioneer Stories - Movin' Mike Hutcherson, part 2.
    12th February: Today's Pioneer Story is the second part of the history of Top Fuel Dragster racer Mike Hutcherson which you can read by
    CLICKING HERE.

    1969 saw the debut of Houndog 4 and the Cadillac motor was getting quicker and faster. Mike had a thrilling race with Wild Bill Weichelt in Dos Palmos through the Piccadilly underpass then sadly in 1971 he had a top end crash, writing the dragster off.

    A new dragster was built for 1972 and Roy Phelps gave the Houndog team a 354 Dodgehemi which they managed to break. The following year Roy gave them the 392 Chryslerhemi from Firefly. A longer chassis was built and with bigger boots fitted and Mike got theslingshot into the sevens.

    The beautiful new rear engined dragster Houndog 8 debuted in July 1974 and Mike wassoon into the sixes. He also surprised everyone after its first burnout when he reversed backto the line. This was the first fueller in the UK to be fitted with a reverse gear.

    Mike's story was produced by John Hunt and Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves.
    You can read all the pioneer stories by looking at their index page by CLICKING HERE.

    Over 1000 attending Spitfire race day.
    12th February: Spitfire Raceway promoter Lee Child says that over 1000 people attended the first race day of the year at Spitfire Raceway, Perranporth, Cornwall despite wet conditions. Lee said "We can’t believe how supportive everyone is to Spitfire Raceway. We appreciate everyone who couldn’t care less about the weather conditions. Thank you so much to everyone who attended today."

    You can see video of the pits pairing lanes by CLICKING HERE. A wide variety of quick street cars were present.

    Remaining dates for 2024 at Spitfire, with featured races, are:

  • Saturday 20th April - 28/275 RWD Small Tyre Car Eliminator

  • Saturday 29th June - Big Tyre RWD 16 Car Eliminator

  • Saturday 7th September - FWD 16 Car Eliminator

  • Saturday 16th November - Stick Shift 16 Car Eliminator


  • Spy picture - solved.
    12th February: The engine photo in Spy picture VII on 8th February came courtesy of Pro Modified and Super Pro ET racer and sponsor John Tebenham.

    JT says "So we now have the great I.C.E. doing both my motors. We are ready for Easter with the Super Pro ET Pop - another new pair of slicks, one pair a meeting. I am absolutely trying to win the door slammers with the blue car. I ran a 5.99 with a.01 light against the Voodoo Hemi".

    "If you ever think racing is tough, come and play at the Doorslammers. A massive thanks to Keith who has the passion to race. We are going to put a video up of Keith starting my baby".


    Swift snippets.
    12th February: Happy Birthday for today to Junior Drag Bike mum Kerryanne Frazier, Comp Eliminator crew Dave Hancock, supporter and former Alky FC racer Tom van der Wijden, former Top Doorslammer racer from Sweden Thomas Dahlblom. We hope you all have a great day.


    Swift snippets.
    11th February: Happy Birthday for today to Santa Pod Raceway Events Coordinator Max Frost, Super Comp crew and wife Angela Hudson, Nostalgia Super Stock wife Bev Tyrell, Nostalgia FC crew Stuart Bradley and '55 Chevy racer Iain Shurey. We hope you all have a great time.


    SPR's Dial In Day in four weeks' time.
    10th February:
    Santa Pod Raceway have announced that the hugely successful Dial In Day returns for 2024 on Saturday 9th March. Graduates from the previous events have gone on to achieve great things in the National Drag Racing championships in classes such as Sportsman ET, the VWDRC and beyond. There have been multiple event wins, number one qualifiers, perfect ET’s & reaction times and even a couple of championships won by those who started it all by attending the dial in day.

    If you’re thinking about getting involved with drag racing, or just want a little insight into the world of participating, the dial in day will not disappoint. Starting at 8am when the SPR gates open, it’s a no obligation day that consists of classroom-based sessions before track-based mini events allowing you to experience full qualifying and eliminations. You do not need a race-based vehicle; in fact, we restrict the day to vehicles completing the ¼ mile in 12 seconds and slower (9.00 for bikes) to reinforce the accessibility of drag racing as a sport. Only the RWYB rules apply so in most standard road cars, that means you need to bring nothing more than yourself, your car and your driving licence. The reason that the extremely popular ET Bike classes are busy means that the SPR also welcomes bikes to the dial in day! The classroom-based sessions will be applicable for both riders & drivers and there will be a separate bike class on track.

    You can book your Dial In Day participation found by CLICKING HERE.

    Adult participant entry is £83 (inc £3 booking fee), adult spectators £20 (inc £3 booking fee), kids 5-15 £6 (inc £1 booking fee) and kids under 5 are free. All tickets and sign-on procedures are Pre-Booking Only – No tickets will be available on the gate.

    Full T&Cs can be found by CLICKING HERE.

    The Dial In Day follows SPR's first RWYB on Sunday 3rd March which will be covered by Eurodragster.com with a gallery and video from Kieran.

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.


    FIM Europe 2024 bike rules announced.
    10th February: The page of the FIM Europe website relating to drag bike racing information has been updated. Included are a list of dates from all classes which we published on 2nd February (link), FIM Europe Drag Bike General Rules, FIM Europe Drag Bike European Championship And Cup Rules, FIM Europe Standards For Drag Racing Tracks, FIM Europe Technical Rules For Drag Bikes. Changes to last year's rules are marked in red.

    The page also displays a list of FIM-Europe records as compiled by Andy Marrs and a link to ACU Drag Bike championship rounds. An entry form link will be arriving soon.

    You can see all the detail by clicking here. As ever, comments should be directed to FIM-E Drag Racing Commission member Job Heezen.


    Swift snippets.
    10th February: Happy Birthday for today to Pro Stock Bike crew chief and wife Cindy Newbury, Junior dad Andrew Willcox, FWD racer Matt Davison, and later owner of Twin Jynx Dave "Twolanes" Armstrong. We hope you all have a great day.

    Looking back to Sick Week, the Youtube Channel DragDriveRepeat interviewed Supercharged Outlaws racer Joel Kerr about his adventures in the event, and you can see the entertaining result by clicking here. Joel Kerr, known for his Stiff Shifter Pontiac Starchief teamed up with US racer Lonnie Tibbs to make a deal that he would co-pilot if Joel got in to Sick Week. Well, Joel got the call to participate days before the event started! You can hear the interview involving the guys purchasing a car sight unseen before the event and running it without tools or trailer.

    "Congratulations to US Funny Car racer Bob Tasca and his team for an amazing barrier breaking run of 341.68 in 3.840s at Bradenton Motorsports Park. The run was made during the final qualifying session in the PRO Superstar Shootout. Eliminations being held today can be seen on Floracing live by clicking here. The link includes a video of the record breaking run."



    Pioneer Stories - Alf Hagon part 1.
    9th February: We start a five part story of the history of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Alf Hagon today which you can see at
    this link. Alfred Joseph Hagon will be best known to readers of these pages as the dominant force in motorcycle Sprint and Drag Racing in the 1960s. Many will also be aware that his prowess in designing, building, riding and racing bikes in many different areas of motorcycle sport was equally prolific. Add to this his success as a frame, engine and bike builder and his accomplishments as a business man catering for the two-wheeled market, and it’s no surprise that his name is still known and revered throughout the motorcycling world today. Our five part interview and review of Alf's long career includes archive media. Thanks to Alf for taking part, and to Chris Dossett for his research and transcribing Alf's story.

    Part one of Alf’s story covers his early life and his first experiences with motorcycles and their modification. His first jobs began with carpentry and glass work before finding his place in engineering, which led to him constructing his own bike frames in his lunch breaks.

    He recalls his first competition outings in trials, scrambling, motocross and grass track racing before becoming involved in Speedway, a sport where he would gain a highly regarded reputation as a top competitor and bike builder during a relentless and punishing schedule where he was very much in demand.

    Alf’s first impressions of the idea of Drag Racing were less than favourable but he soon became involved in sprinting, appearing at meetings alongside the master of the sport George Brown, before accepting a ride on Gordon Calquhoun & Charlie Rous’ Vincent that caught the attention of the established sprint fraternity.


    VP Racing Announce contingency scheme.
    9th February: William Bros Racing Nic Williams has announced that VP Racing Lubricants are delighted to offer all UK. drag racers a fantastic opportunity to join their new contingency scheme. This scheme is available to car and bike racers and applies to National Championship classes and also to SPRC club classes or lifestyle championships that do not have a National Championship class.

    Buying a case of 12 quarts of oil automatically qualifies you for the scheme with proof of purchase and if you are the highest placed contingency participant at any event in your class throughout the year will win the same case of oil as purchased along with a £25 VP Racing voucher redeemable through Williams Bros Racing who are the official importer and distributor of VP Racing Lubricants. In the event of a tie at the race meeting the prize will be awarded to the higher placed racer in qualifying. For the scheme to be activated at each event a minimum of 3 participants are required to compete in that class. At the end of the season the highest placed rider/driver in each class will win an additional £50 VP Racing voucher and any racer in the scheme that goes on to win their respective championship will receive a £100 voucher and a case of oil. With regards to racers double classing at any event you will only be eligible to win the contingency prize in one class unless 2 cases of oil are purchased to cover double classing.

    The sooner you join the scheme the sooner you can start winning, you will be required to carry VP Racing decals on your car or bike without any overlapping of any other decals and share your success on your social media platforms and would require images of you and your team with the logos for our Facebook, Twitter and other marketing outlets.

    VP Racing Lubricants are available from Webster Race Engineering, Topspeed Automotive, Opie Oils, Demon Tweakes and more or contact Williams Bros Racing for your nearest retailer.

    For further information and to register for the scheme contact Nic Williams at nwilliams@ocs-group.co.uk or call on UK mobile number 07572096920.

    Spitfire Raceway drag racing this Saturday.
    9th February: Spitfire Raceway have annouced the first 2024 drag and drift event in the UK this coming Saturday 10th February.

    Spectate or take part at Spitfire Raceway. Spectators £10 per person under 16s go free. Drag race from £15 after admission. Crash helmet and full driving licence required. Show & shine no charge after admission. All vehicles are welcome at Spitfire raceway Perranporth, Cornwall. Gates open at 8am. Track action 11am to 3pm.

    All 2024 drag and drift events online bookings are now open. No more waiting book away. Don’t forget to you can camp on site. Enjoy the events and the local area.

    Drag & Drift book here.
    Camping book here.

    All vehicles have a safety check for drag racing and drifting. Drag strip riders and drivers meeting at race control 10.45am

    Please respect the surrounding areas and speed limits when travelling to and from this event.

    Swift snippets.
    9th February: Happy Birthday for today to Outlaw Anglia racer Phil Drewitt, Pro ET and UK Nostalgia Superstock racer Guy King and Swiss Super Street Bike racer Sandro Haldimann. We hope you all have a great day!

    Although not featuring European racers, one amazing event is taking place this weekend, the PRO Superstar Shootout organised by the Professional Racers Organisation, from 8th-10th February, exactly a month before the NHRA season commences at Gainesville. Test runs at Bradenton yielded Top Fuel ETs in the 3.6s and speeds in the high 330s. One example can be seen by clicking here. If you want to watch the race live you can do so by signing up to Flo Racing. Alternatively we can recommend the Youtube channels of Flo Drag Racing, PFI Speed, Straight Line Media or The Limo Guy at Large.

    PRO Superstar Shootout Results are being published on the Facebook account of Drag Illustrated Click Here.


    Race Bike push pegs.
    8th February: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has contacted eurodragster.com Following a couple of incidents where push pegs on Race bikes have been left in place during a run. It is now mandatory that all push pegs have some form of identification attached to the push peg, as seen in the image. bright coloured tape etc is also acceptable.

    It's your responsibility as a Rider to make sure they are removed prior to entering the water boxes etc. however, if they are tagged or brightly coloured it also alerts the startline team to their presence.


    Spy picture VII.
    8th February: The offices of Eurodragster.com received this spy picture devoid of comment.

    If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

    Swift snippets.
    8th February: Happy Birthday for today to Unusual Car Sales UK admin Nigel Taylor, hope you have a great day!


    Nitro Revival honours Driver.
    7th February: Merek Chertkow to be honoured at Nitro Revival - Nitro Revival organiser Steve Gibbs has announced the honorees for Nitro Revival 2024 to be held on 8th-9th November at Irwindale Dragstrip, California. Included is Merek Chertkow, who has a special link to drag racing in the UK. Steve writes: “Merek Chertkow’s name may not be as widely recognized as others, but the Michigan native was a teenage sensation in 1965 when, after moving to California to work at Dean Moon’s shop, he was tabbed to drive the Mooneyes-yellow `Moonshot` Top Fuel dragster as a member of the U.S. Drag Team during the second International Dragfest in England.”

    He so impressed with his performance, which included a quarter mile run of 10.44 seconds at 128 miles per hour in the rain at Blackbushe Airport with water flying off the rear slicks, that he subsequently was tabbed to drive the fabled “Ramchargers” dragster during the 1966 season. Afterward, he began building racing engines in California, contributed to the making of the movie “Bikini Beach” and briefly drove an SOHC Ford-powered Pinto Funny Car.

    Pictured at Woodvale in 1965 by Ronald Barker, Technical Editor of Autocar magazine at the time, Merek Chertkow qualified with a 9.80/174. Merek Cherkow had sustained injuries in a road accident but at the last minute he decided to get back in the hot seat over substitute Ben Griffin.

    Other honorees for Nitro Revival are the late Steve Evans, Brad Anderson, Gary Densham (cousin of Commuter driver Tony Densham), the “Groundshakers” team who campaigned both Top Fuel dragsters and Fuel altereds at San Gabriel Drag Strip, and the old Irwindale Raceway, and the Top Fuel Dragster team of Warren, Coburn and Miller, known as the “Ridge Route Terrors”.

    You can read more by CLICKING HERE.

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

    Spanish Drag Racing Dates for 2024.
    7th February: Spanish drag racing organisers Fuerza Libre Competición have announced their 2024 dates at four tracks:


  • Round One: Circuito Ricardo Tormo, Cheste 11th-12th May
  • Round Two: Matilla, Valladolid 1st-2nd June
  • Round Three: Matilla, Valladolid 23rd-25th August
  • Round Four: Circuito Navarra 27th-29th September
  • Round Five Circuito de Jarama, Madrid 30th November - 1st December

  • More details and rules for the well-organised competition are at the FLC website and can be found by CLICKING HERE.

    Reviewing 2023, the champions and records established for each class were, by class:

  • Pro 4x2: Champion Domingo Boya (Fiat Uno Turbo)
  • Pro 4x4: Champion Vitalii Boiko (Porsche 992 Turbo S)
  • Street 4x2: Champion Jaime Ibarra (Fiat Punto Gt)
  • Street 4x4: Champion Rafa Amutio (BMW M240i)

  • Full details of results of each round and championship points are posted on the FLC website.

    Records established for each category are:

  • Pro 4x2: 8.861 Ángel Romero (Chevrolet Camaro)
  • Pro 4x4: 9.191 Vitalii Boiko (Porsche 992 Turbo S)
  • Street: 10.059 Marcelino Murillo (Audi RS3)

  • Fuerza Libre Competición commented "We are making sure that both spectators and participants enjoy every second. Our events take place at both professional motorsport circuits and national airports. Since, 2010 FLC has proclaimed itself as the best organization of Drag Racing in the country, taking a type of motorsport that was almost non-existent in our country to having a National Championship today with hundreds of participants from all over Europe, a unique modality that both the public and the participants enjoy for several days at each championship event.

    In Fuerza Libre Competición the driver is the protagonist, as shown by the best media equipment, professional videos, direct monitoring, interviews with pilots before, during and after each test, live broadcasts and prizes. There are two categories dedicated to direct competition, one category dedicated to beginners and a category dedicated to the show, where the pilot will have his unique moment to give his best. For the first time a driver will be able to officially participate in two categories in the same championship!"

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

    Spy picture VI.
    7th February: We have a new spy picture with the comment "The project has been in development for a couple of years, good to see it coming on! Hopefully it might make a late season appearance in street eliminator.

    If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.

    Swift snippets.
    7th February: Happy Birthday for today to Nitro Funny Car racer Rob Elsom, Willys Wars racer Mark Puddick, Swedish Top Fuel Bike racer Thomas Pettersson, Pro Modified wife and crew member Belinda Nicholson expat Pro ET racer Colin Felstead, now based in Ohio. We hope you all have a great day.


    KB's speech at SPRC Trophy Presentation evening.
    6th February: We are grateful to Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett (pictured) for sending a copy of his speech given at Saturday's SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation:

    A very good evening, ladies and gentlemen and might say fellow racers.

    I am always happy to be able to have the opportunity at this dinner dance say a few words to you and hopefully be able to outline some key points and issues regarding Santa Pod and the forthcoming year and our calendar of events.

    I will try my best to keep it shorter than normal – if not, I know I am in trouble with a few people – not least my family.

    At last year’s dinner dance, I spoke about how Santa Pod had survived the covid crisis and the then current downturn in the economy because of the pandemic and of course the various international conflicts affecting the supply train and other various economic impacts such as bank interest rates, and the cost of living etc. In 2023 things did not get any easier which I am sure many if not most of you are fully aware. The economy is still difficult and business across all sectors has been hit as hard in 2023 if not harder than in 2022. I am of the view It is not likely to be any easier in 2024.

    Just the governments increase in the minimum national wage in April by around 10% will have a huge impact across all business sectors. Santa Pod will also be affected when you take into consideration how many seasonal staff we employ throughout the year - it’s in the hundreds.

    But a rise in the minimum national wage is only part of the story. Once that raise is implemented then other staff, will quite naturally look for similar reward. So, if you have a wage bill of nearly 2 million pounds a year (which Santa Pod certainly does) you are looking at £200k+ increase for no extra output or profit on turnover. That is without mentioning the skilled labour shortages that seem to affect everyone currently.

    Staffing is the biggest issue we face today and not just in our business that is across all business sectors. Today getting the right staff is one of the biggest challenges to face. My own view is that today you should prioritise character over resume. Qualifications are not everything in today’s world, despite the general approach to recruiting. I often think that you should not hire anyone who you would not give a lift to at 2am in the morning… judgement of character!

    For Santa Pod, the real issue is that we are not like a retail store selling goods that can have price increases added at any time or as the cost of their raw goods increases– such as a food store or household goods store and car dealerships, plus many more. We set our ticket prices in or around November of the preceding year.

    So, if the costs of running your business and things like inflation, salaries, interest rates, materials, fuel oil & diesel all increase at the beginning of the beginning of the year (as they have done for 2024) we have already published our ticket prices and are selling tickets for the year ahead and cannot like so many other businesses change our pricing structure so simply as in other business sectors. With that said the whole leisure industry and sector is going to have to re-think this structure and method of pricing its offering – and that includes Santa Pod Raceway.

    In summarising on this particular topic, I will add that it is a fine balance between a competitive pricing structure that helps fill your venue up and create a brilliant atmosphere, or an increased income based on a lower attendance whereby you risk not having that atmosphere which in my opinion is vital to people having a great day out – and that is the reputation that Santa Pods has today - it’s a great day out at a reasonable price for the whole family….and the drag racing not bad either! Most of you in this room have witnessed that. We pride ourselves that Santa Pod is seen as the best venue across the whole of Europe to go drag racing - be it as a spectator or a racer and we have worked very hard to achieve that over many years.

    Turning to the 2024 drag racing season I must start with making a few comments about our chief starter Ian Marshall. As you will all know by now, Ian is intending to step down at the end of the season as our chief starter. Ian is not leaving the SPRC and or Santa Pod but will take a wider role over track prep and maintenance and the overall SPRC marshal at events.

    I would like to take this opportunity of saying a few words about Ian as a Chief starter. I have been fortunate enough to regularly travel the world and attend or be involved in International and national drag racing event across the globe.

    I can safely say that Ian Marshall is probably in the top 5 chief starters in the world and that includes the USA, Australia, and the ME to name a few countries. In Europe Ian is the No1 chief starter by a long way - and that is no mean feat!

    We have been very lucky at Santa Pod to have had Ian on the start line for so many years gaining so much experience and helping Santa Pod to have such high level drag racing events. I would like to say that Ian can be an awkward sod at times, always wanting reasons as to why on anything he is not sure off or needs proving - that’s why Ian is always looking to improve things - that goes for most things where Ian is involved.

    But on behalf of TBR and Santa Pod thank you so much Ian for what you have done for Santa Pod in that role of chief starter over so many years – you will be an almost impossible act to follow! Which talking of we look forward to David Warren trying to do just that fill Ian Marshall’s huge boots. I am sure that David will shine in that role too as he has had a good teacher….

    The 2024 season is as action packed with so many great events at Santa Pod Raceway.

    My little baby the ‘Door Slammers’ continues to grow, and I am still talking to US teams (in fact seeing some next week in the USA) to try and persuade them to come and race at the Door Slammers where I might add they are not likely to have it all their own way.

    We are delighted with the Street Weekend going into its second year where we have seen the entries go from 80 last year to 200 this year. We sold out on entries in less than 2 hours. I know my team have some great things in store for this year’s Street Weekend plus we have the interest of FORD UK in this event. In 2024 we will be looking to begin developing the new 7.60 heads up class which Jeff Bull got of the ground in 2023. I will add that in conversations that I have had with 3-4 of the Swedish Pro Street teams (who also run on a 7.60 index) they are keen to run in our 7.60 class this season at least some of the rounds.

    Following on from 2023 it seems that in 2024 the cost of going racing is for ever getting more and more expensive and when you then look at the FIA and FIM European Championships and all the travel involved it sure isn’t a cheap hobby! Together we all need to keep abreast of our own inflation within the sport of drag racing.

    Just taking the TF class in the FIA Championship the current teams and car owners are struggling to continue racing – mainly because of the increased costs today to go TF racing. When I ran the ETFA and the ‘European Top Fuel Series’ between 1991 and 1995, we had around 10-12 TF cars competing with regular 8-car fields at each round – those days are gone. Today it is not only the increased costs that have reduced us to under half that number of TF cars competing, but what worries and concerns me far more is where are the skilled crew chiefs and crew persons coming from, where are they today and how are we going to attract young people to take up such roles on our sport.

    The current people involved in TF racing today are mostly from my generation the ‘older ones’ – I’ve been racing with most of them for over 30 years and in some cases far more. That cannot continue we need young blood into our sport of drag racing and by that I do mean just drivers.

    Motor sports will always find drivers (I have a few of my own indoors), especially those with money to buy their drives – but skilled crew chiefs and mechanics and other crew persons - do not grow on trees, especially when you consider that most of the crews are not paid any salary for working on the cars, have to take their holidays to work the events and basically are amateur crew people with a hobby called drag racing.

    We are still a long way off from the USA and the NHRA National Championship (which they like to call the World Championship, which it is not), where the crew chief’s and crews in the Pro classes are full time and paid a salary to go racing. In 2024 Ida Zetterstrom will be working full time on a paid salary with a US Top Fuel team, driving at selected events, and her partner Kim Hilander will be working full time as a crew person. Full time for 20 races and a lot of testing to boot and, with just two weeks holiday – welcome to the real world of professional drag racing in the USA folks….

    We must start to find a structure whereby we can bring young people - or at least not as old as me and my lot - into our sport to keep out sport growing at least with the pro classes. The national and sportsman classes are as healthy as ever, in fact you are all contributing to that growth and its fantastic. But I am sure you all agree it’s the pro classes that bring in the big spectator attendances and those people are the ones who pay the bills and help the sport and Santa Pod I might add survive – that is of course along with the bank of KB!

    Last year at this dinner I briefly (that is if I can do anything briefly) outlined the role of DRE (Drag racing Europe AB), and the role it plays in the FIA and FIM Championship. We now have a new contract with the FIA and FIM after much negotiation over the past 24 months. As the Chairman of DRE, we are determined to develop DRE and the FIA and FIM Championship over the coming 3 years to be a high brand championships that will attract the right investment and sponsorship to help the sport of drag racing in the UK and Europe go to the next level.

    Today that product the FIA and FIM Championships are not good enough to attract such investment but with the plans that we have maybe, just maybe, that will change in the next few years. If we are successful, all of you in this room will benefit….

    And it’s not just DRE that is looking forwards either, at Santa Pod we are expanding and looking to develop the business over the coming 3-years. What we see as our main priority is to future proof the business going forwards. That means recruiting more staff training them into our specialist world of drag racing promotions and management.

    We are also improving our product as we always try to do. But one must always be prepared for the unexpected to happen and curve balls to be thrown at you all the time – which they are. Santa Pod must improve as we go forwards and that means the actual site and facilities along with the management of our business day to day. If we stand still and do not adopt change, we too will slowly wither away, which would affect us all.

    By the FOP at Easter, you will see some subtle improvements to the site. New fencing all along the staging and pairing lanes, some new units, a café that has had improvements to how we serve you. What will not be seen is the drainage improvement we have done to some of the parking fields – costly but vital for our customer experience. We are resurfacing the Live Action arena – not cheap but essential to maintain the show…and there will be hopefully more works as we progress on through the year – that is if we manage to make any money in these difficult times….

    Also, we will be having large screens at the two FIA & FIM Championship events (ME and EF) for a better TV and live stream production but mainly again to improve the customer experience. On the racing side we may even have 4/5 AAFC racing at 4 rounds this year – could even be that we have more FC than TF – theirs a first!

    I have many people over the last year ask me are you going to stop doing this and what will happen to Santa Pod and the FIA/FIM Championships when you and if you stop. Let me say this as I have explained tonight, we are putting things in place to future proof the business for both Santa Pod and the FIA & FIM Championships.

    We are looking to plan for life without KB. When Bernie Ecclestone ran F1, and I have always had a good relationship with Bernie he riled as the individual ring master and controlled or was involved in all aspects of the F1. He had built F1 since the early 1970’s into what it became. When he stepped down it took over 6 people to carry out all his duties. I see my situation as quite similar other than he had zillions more noughts in his bank account – I will be replaced with more than one person….

    As to me personally I have been involved in this sport for over 50 years and full time for the last 33 years – I am too long in the tooth and too committed to stop now or in the future. As long as I have my health I will be doing what I do now an have been doing for so many years – when I am far to old (some say that is already now), and dribbling, unable to walk properly, can’t see the finish line, I will still be saying get me to the start line I want to see the racing – that is me and I am not about to change anytime soon….I will be in drag racing till I drop, because I love our sport and the adrenalin rush that it gives me and the people within the sport – well at least most of them!

    Thank you for all for the support that I get from you all.

    Brad Head to race SSB in ACU and FIM-E.
    6th February: UK 8.50 Bike Championship runner up in 2023 Brad Head has announced he will be moving to Super Street Bike in 2024, and competing in both the FIM-E and UK ACU Drag Bike Championships. Brad wrote:

    "I’m so excited to get going in my first season in SSB! It will be a challenge, but one I’m really excited to get going with!"

    "I would like to thank Jake Mechaell at. JKE Race Works for continuing to sponsor me for another year his help, knowledge and work is second to none and I’m so lucky to have him on board! Thank you also to Kathy Taylor, Robin Read, Colin Millar and Lyn Purvis from Flyin Fyfer Racing for coming on board to help this year. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it, I’ll do my best to make you proud!

    If anyone else would like to help with sponsorship please PM me on Facebook or Instagram, so we can have a chat about how you can help. Anything small or large is appreciated fully and I’ll do my best to give you the best exposure possible.

    Brad's full schedule is:

  • Festival of Power Santa Pod - 28th-31st March
  • Springspeed Nationals Santa Pod - 26th-28th April
  • Main Event Santa Pod - 23rd-27th May
  • Tierp Internationals Tierp - 13th-16th June
  • Summer Nationals Santa Pod - 29th-30th June
  • Summit internationals Tierp - 8th-11th August
  • 37th Nitrolympx Hockenhiem - 23rd-25th August
  • European Finals Santa Pod - 5th-8th September
  • National Finals Santa Pod - 20th-22nd September

  • Photo credit: Jan Sunek at Hockenheim

    Swift snippets.
    6th February: Happy Birthday wishes for today to NSS racer Claire Johnson, Wild Bunch racer Wayne Colliver, former Junior Dragster race Skye Collier, and long time drag bike racers Turbo Tim Boutle and Pete Le Gros, we hope all of you have a great day.


    Pioneer Stories - Movin' Mike Hutcherson, part 1.
    5th February: Our latest pioneer story is from driver of the Houndog dragsters in the 1960s and 1970s, Movin' Mike Hutcherson which you can read by
    clicking here.

    Mike Hutcherson started out working for Lotus Cars in the early 60s testing brand new Lotus Elans, lapping the Mira test track at 135mph. He then got a job at Jack Oldings in 1965 where he met Nobby Hills and saw the unfinished Cadillac powered dragster Houndog 3 with front mounted blower. Nobby was looking for a new driver and after hearing about Mike’s experiences at Lotus asked him if he’d like to drive it? Mike wasted no time saying yes.

    They ran the dragster at Santa Pod when it opened in 1966, constantly developing it getting quicker times and faster speeds. Mike enjoyed the engine development side of it and helped with making parts for the car, machining blower pulleys, splining driveshafts etc.

    Mike also recalls memories of other racers at the time including Alan Blount, Ken Cooper and Walt Ithell...Mike's story was produced by John Hunt, Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves.

    Grand National Roadster Show gallery.
    5th February: Many thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell for sending a gallery of photos from the weekend's Grand National Roadster Show held at Pomona County Fairgrounds, California. You can see Geoff's gallery by clicking here.

    Following torrential rain on Thursday, Geoff's 7707 Land Speed roadster and the Dos Palmas dragster were set up in Hall 4, one of seven halls of 100,000 square feet, accommodating approximately 600 hot rods on display. Geoff thanks Mick's Paint, Tony Thacker and other friends.

    Pictured at the foot of the gallery are some visitors from the worlds of Hot Rodding, Drag Racing and Land Speed Racing who were eager to visit and have a seat in either 7707, Dos Palmas or both. Drag racers Bob and Sharon Muravez visited for photos with Wes Tomakashi, one of the late Bill Schultz's "Over the Hill Gang" (pic 102), bearded pinstriper Johnny Martinez and his similarly attired son were also on the stand (pic 109 and 110). Harry Hibler can also be seen in pic 85/88 and Gregg Plahy, part of the "Flashpoint" Landspeed car team in pics 104-105.

    On Sunday Geoff attended the 85th SCTA Awards Banquet, for which 7707 was the poster car, at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel, Pomona.

    Geoff commented "We meet so friends from far and wide, New Zealand to the U.K. and even Sweden. Thank you for travelling so far".

    Huge thanks go to everyone at Mick’s Paint for making my race car look so good to Tony Thacker for all the hard work behind the scenes to make this work. Massive thanks also to our video guru Nestor for putting together our videos we are running on the booth.

    "The 7707 Team are very proud to support and promote the SCTA as well. Thank you to Ron Main, JoAnn Carlson, Jill Iverson and everyone else there for their support".

    "Finally, I hope everyone we managed to get a sit in the race cars enjoyed their time."

    Drag racing returns to Bishopscourt, N.I.
    5th February: Thanks to Lee Child who has announced a new drag racing event in Northern Ireland at Bishopscourt airfield: Drag racing returns to Bishopscourt airfield Northern Ireland, one of the longest established venues for ¼ mile racing for Northern Ireland and Ireland under different promoters. The new land owners reached out to Lee Child after a recommendation from the previous promoter, as they want to run their own events now.After a successful two day meeting at the venue, Lee Child is now working for the enthusiastic but feet firmly on the ground, Land owner consortium team.

    The role for Lee is drag racing operations, race director, promotions, track development and advertising. With 14 days of planning for motorsport, this is the beginning of the only permanent drag racing venue for Northern Ireland and Ireland.

    The first drag race event will be Saturday 8th June and will be a no prep timed run what you brung. Camping will be available before, during and after the event so everyone can have an enjoyable time. For racers that want to join the extreme hardcore Irish racers on this day, we are reaching out to Stenaline Ferries for discounted crossing prices. Bishopscourt is located just ½ mile from the beach and 27 miles from the Belfast ferry port.

    A small amount of work needs to be done to the surface (repairs and leveling) to make it race ready. The ex bomber runway has really stood the test of time allowing it to run ¼ mile with a 700 metre shutdown area, that can be extended in the future. The first event as mentioned is a no prep event but traction compound will be allowed. There is a plan when funds are available to invest in track preparation equipment.

    With the venue just 9 metres above sea level, with track prep, it can be a super fast venue. To get to that moment Bishopscourt needs to be supported by racers attending the events that would be really appreciated. The response from companies to support the venue has been really good. Keep updated with facebook. Bishopscourt Drag Racing Northern Ireland for the time being while websites, instagram, twitter, tik tok and youtube channels are being worked on.

    Swift snippets.
    5th February: Happy Birthday to Super Gas racer, Sportsman ET class sponsor and SPRC Committee Member Andy Dibley, to UK Funny Car legend Gordon Smith, to Eurodragster.com sponsor and Top Methanol Funny Car owner Danny Bellio, and to Funny Bike racer Nick 'Shaggy' Daniels, have a great day all!


    SPRC Perpetual Awards winners and gallery.
    4th February: Congratulations to the the winners and runners-up in the 2023 Motorsport UK at a packed Dinner Dance Trophy Presentation Evening last night.

    British Drag Racing Championship, SPRC National Drag Racing Championships, ACU UK Dragbike Championships and SPRC Club Championships were presented with their trophies at the Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation in Milton Keynes last night (Saturday). Each National Champion was presented with a Victory Trophy incorporating a picture of their respective vehicle. The winners of SPRC's Perpetual Awards, for whom Eurodragster.com readers had the chance to vote, were also presented with their trophies.

    Congratulations to the SPRC Perpetual Award winners:

  • Obsession Sportsman of the Year: The Kellett Family
  • Most Promising Newcomer: Terry Newton
  • Best Appearing Bike: Gary Malone
  • Best Appearing Car: Mark Coulsell
  • James Edgar Trophy – Outstanding Crew Chief: Gordon Darby
  • Most Professional Appearing Team: Colin Millar
  • John Ledster Memorial Trophy: David Anniwell, for his work on SPR timekeeping
  • Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy: VW Drag Racing Club, for support to the late Laurence Clark
  • John C Bennett Foundation Award (supported by Supercharged Outlaws UK): Richard Willcox
  • Spirit of Santa Pod Award: Suze Morris, for recognition of members of 92nd Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force stationed in WWII at what would become Santa Pod Raceway.

    Thank you to everyone who submitted votes for the SPRC Perpetual Awards.

    In his traditional speech in support of racers and workers at Santa Pod Raceway, Keith Bartlett kept his speech to a limited size and struck an upbeat note on the financial times over the last few years and his optimism for the coming year. Keith also spoke about the opportunities available at Santa Pod Raceway for sport and entertainment in the coming year. We will be reporting Keith's speech in the next update.

    The Trophy Presentation gallery has now been posted. Photos are watermarked, meaning it is ok to copy and post them on social media; if you want to obtain free-of-charge originals please contact editor@eurodragster.com or via Facebook messenger.


    Memories of Norm Wheeldon.
    4th February: Norm Wheeldon, who sadly passed away on Thursday, was known for running the first UK 6 second/200mph pass in Pro Comp in May 1980, and a consummate constructor of dragsters in a career that spanned 50 years.

    Norm's first car in 1974 was a competition altered, named "The Wheel Thing" using Stripteaser as inspiration, using a Minivan and Chevy powerplant. This was replaced by a 3.8 Jaguar powered Model T with the same name, an Allan Herridge-made billet flywheel and American cluctch used to get the car into the 11s by the end of 1976, Norm winning the RAC Junior Comp altered class championship that year.

    Norm then had the first of a long line of Chevy small blocks, using one in a lengthened Model T chassis for a few meetings in Super Comp. But the heads up Pro Comp class was where Norm's ambitions lay, and teaming up with Tim Claxton in 1979, Norm constructed his first dragster, rear engined, which made its debut at Blackbushe in August. The car, with an engine built by US SBC expert Dale Hall, went quick immediately and Norm came out the winner against a 16 car international field at the 1979 World Finals at Santa Pod.

    In 1980, the car, with new transmission and sponsorship from Rifle Jeans, became the first UK Pro Comp car to run a six at over 200mph at the Main Event with a 6.98/201mph, however engine breakage resulted in the partnership with Tim Claxton coming to an end and Norm sitting on the sidelines for a couple of years. His brief return in 1983 was with a new slingshot named Plan-X. This ran 6.94/201mph at the SPR Summer Nationals and set a NDRC record in October. However after that Norm had a break from participation in the sport when he worked for F1 teams March Engineering and Benetton, however he kept an eye on the sport and even ran a second, rear engine Plan-X in the early 1990s.

    Norm's twin engined slingshot "Two Much" made its debut in 2009 and ran at both Shakey and Santa Pod. The car, powered by blown small block Chevys on Methanol has made an enormous impact for its sheer noise and spectacle. His other builds include the Bond, Hannis and Osborne Nuthin' 2 Fancy slingshot, the Pro ET Just 4 Fun dragster run by Liz and Iain Malcolm and team mate Nigel and James Charman's Gotavit blown small block Chevy slingshot.

    Norm's larger than life personality and machines will be missed at the strip - but his engineering creations will hopefully live on to entertain UK drag racing fans in the future.

    With acknowledgments to Keith Lee from Custom Car's Auto Focus article - available in print at this link or online via issuu.com.


    European class winners at Sick Week.
    4th February: Congratulations to Swede Stefan Gustafsson and the UK's Richie Webb for winning their classes at Sick Week taking place Monday to Friday at Orlando, Bradenton, Gainesville, South Georgia Motorsports Park and back to Orlando for the final day on Friday.

    Stefan's Brillko Engineering Corvette won the Unlimited class in a field of nine cars of which only five were able to complete the course. After a best of 6.498/220.69 at Bradenton, Stefan ran consistently and scored an average of 6.74540/ 210.1060 over the five days of competition.

    Stefan's average was third quickest in the entire competition, because American Brett LaSala's radial-shod 2012 Ford Mustang running in Modified was average quickest of all at 6.3402/227.230. The quickest time on a single pass was Jeff Lutz's 6.155/247.38 in his '69 Camaro at Orlando, but Jeff suffered mechanical issues, making a rebuild on day 3 but withdrawing after further problems at SGMP.

    Also withdrawing from the Unlimited Class, but after an awesome 6.288/238.81 pass on day 1 at Orlando was Swede Magnus Frost who again ran his '73 Opel Ascona.

    Richie Webb was the winner in the interestingly named Gassers vs Hot Rods class which included nine aircooled VWs. Richies strategy was to run the turbo'd 2600cc turned down and this paid dividends with an average of 10.20940 134.4740 and best of 9.758 138.70 at Bradenton. You can see Richie's pass and an interview courtesy 1320video on Youtube.

    Not so luck was Supercharged Outlaw racer Joel Kerr who ran a Corvette in DYO. Joel did manage to run all five days for an average of 13.19140 111.2940, but his average was hurt by first day problems, with his best time of 11.591/127.17 coming on day 4 at SGMP.


    2023 Pro ET Bash.
    3rd February: Thank you to Debbie Clarke and Brett Featherstone for their write up from the Pro ET Awards Night on Saturday 27th January 2024

    Thank you to everyone who attended the 2023 Season PRO ET awards bash, so many kind words of thanks and support for our first attempt at organising this event, 136 guests made the effort worthwhile. Thank you to the following sponsors whose generous contributions made it possible to put on this event for PRO ET: Maverick Diagnostics, Nemesis UK, B & H Construction, SG Commercial Vehicle Repairs Ltd, Bean & Ballantyne Properties, SIB Plumbing, Buddy’s Paint Shack, Supercharged Outlaws, CSK Building Ltd, Team Nova Scotia, RMC with RDR Carburettors, Three Brothers Brewery Limited, Hauser Racing, Tig & Cath Napier, Independent Scaffolding, UK Scaffolding (SE) Ltd, Jon Turner Upholstery.


    The evening kicked off with my usual pit ramblings only this time a very nervous speech in front of way more than the usual bunch of racers who exchange words of friendly abuse! If I forgot to mention anyone, sorry my pages of speech became a blur. So, the nominated awards voted for by anybody who read our Facebook post and racers WhatsApp group were up first:

  • Rookie of the Year - Jess Bishop
  • Best Appearing Car - Harley Jay Darby
  • Best Appearing Team - John Bean – Team Shotgun
  • Crew Chief of the Year - Freddie Thompson
  • Wheelie of Year - Tom Watkins
  • Hard Luck Award - Pete Dodd
  • Spirit of PRO ET - Debbie Clarke and Brett Featherstone
  • Comical Moment - Laura Baynton
  • Neil Hunter “Just Do It” Award - Pete Dodd & Warren Watts


  • So best rehearsed plans by John & Kim Bean and Debs and I went straight out the window as we planned to kick off the raffle by asking each winner to pull a ticket out of the box as they were presented a trophy, Whoops!! I forgot that almost immediately, sorry team. Anyway, we got sort of back on track after a small oil down and random members of the audience started receiving their prizes as kindly donated by Pete Dodd, Warren Watts, Belinda Bull, Team Nova Scotia and the PRO ET Sponsorship Scheme. We then went into the buffet before the second round of awards.

    Over the years of watching and now participating in PRO ET with such large numbers of regular entries I decided that it was a massive achievement to make it into the top ten final standings. This year was no exception 63 teams listed as getting points and 50 plus gaining points from more than two events. Extra trophies were needed and once again Elaine Southworth at “Cool Art and Engineering” was contacted and her imagination was put to the test 18 bespoke trophies all handmade coated and posted within the time frame and as a side addition to the trophy a framed photo handpicked by ourselves from julianhunt.net, big thank you Julian & Claire for the picture tweaking to make the pictures more personal to PRO ET. So, stand up Colin Theobald and show me how it’s done as each racer 10-1 walks up to a nominated song played by the DJ and Colin tells it how it is and pulls no punches. I think he knows us better than we do, a familiar face greets each racer with a smile and hug as opposed to the usual “get into the pairing lanes now.” Thank you, Caroline, for agreeing to hand out the top ten trophies.

  • Leigh Morris
  • Jess Bishop
  • Brett Featherstone
  • Amy Watkins
  • Dave Rudd
  • Neil Watkins
  • Marc Huxley
  • Mason Griffiths
  • Warren Watts
  • John Bean


  • Then more organised chaos as the remaining raffle prizes are handed out with Colin doing his best trying to keep us rabble in line. Thank you, Colin. So, it was time for the party and everyone to talk some shit and before we knew it the event had finished. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed their evening, all tips for improvement would be gratefully appreciated before next year.

    Can I please congratulate Sammie & Tom Watkins new addition to the family, Ernest-Eric Walter Watkins born 05.26am on Sunday 28th January weighing 6lbs 15oz I guess he was just a bit shy to arriving in front of 134 people! May we wish you all the best from PRO ET.

    See you all at Easter! Brett & Debs Team Nova Scotia

    Thanks to Graham Watkinson for his help in coding today's update.

    Swift snippets.
    3rd February: Happy Birthday for today to Super Pro ET racer Daniel Giles, 8.50 Bike racer Stacey Reed, Sportsman ET racer Steve Mellors, former 9.50 Bike racer Dave Bowe and Outlaw Street racer Paul Knifton. We hope you all have a great day.


    Norm Wheeldon.
    2nd February: Nigel Charman has written to eurodragster.com with much sadness of the sudden loss of Norm. He was taken ill in the early hours yesterday and passed on later in the afternoon.

    This has been a great shock to us all and our thoughts are with his partner Mary at this very difficult time.

    Norm was involved from the 70s to the present day in drag racing at a high level with a very high standard of fabricating, constructing as well as driving the cars. In the past few years, we built the cars under the Wheeldon and Charman name which we intend to continue in the long term, I know this is his wish. However, at this present time as you can imagine this has come as a great shock to us all, so can I please ask you to respect Mary's privacy. Rest in Peace.

    We at Eurodragster.com send our deepest condolences to Norm's partner Mary, teammates and friends Nigel and James Charman, and to Norm's many racing friends and colleagues.

    Pioneer Stories - Wally Parks' involvement in British Drag Racing - Part 5.
    2nd February: You can read the fifth and final part of our excerpts from NHRA founder Wally Parks' memoir by clicking 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.



    Unusual Car Sale UK sponsor Street Weekend 2024.
    2nd February: Unusual Car Sales UK admin Nigel Taylor has announced that Unusual Car Cales UK are the proud sponsor of this year's Street Weekend 2024, with some members clubbing together and donating £20 each into the prize pot, which is looking like a fair bit already.

    Nigel explains we understand people and companies would like to get involved but can’t afford to offer big prize money. So as Unusual Car Sales UK is a big follower of British drag racing, we have come up with this idea where those people and companies will get a mention on our site. The site has a following of 37,000 and over people for contributions of £20 into the prize pot.

    Unusual Car Sales UK Kenzie Taylor will be following the Street weekend antics and no doubt he will have his camera with him (Kenzie has had some good teaching from Santa Pods own Callum Pudge) so will represent Unusual Car Sales UK and will witness who wins what and where.

    If you would like to get involved in the contributions, please head over to the Unusual Car Sales UK Facebook page click here. New members will need to answer all the application questions to join the site, if you are already a member then look out for the Street Weekend 2024 posts.

    If you need any information, please contact Nigel via the Unusual Car Sales UK Facebook page.


    Samu Kemmpainen’s new Top Fuel bike.
    2nd February: FIM-E racer Samu Kemmpainen has contacted eurodragster to confirm a new Top Fuel bike which is on display at the MP-24 Motorcycle Show, Helsinki being held from 2nd-4th February. elements of the powerplant on the new bike will be displayed on the Honda 6P48 stand.

    “This year we will test at local tracks as the bike is new and different to what we have used before. Maybe Tierp if all goes well, we still have the twin bike if needed. We will race FIM soon when the bike is fast enough and we have more spare parts. the bike was made here in Finland by our team, good friends and sponsors”.



    “The bikes engine is 4.cyl, 1660cc made in Special Motors Engineering, clutch is Harsh/Jaska Salakari 7 inc, 3 plates. it has a Datalogger, ignition and Fuel injection which is Fueltech FT600. The frame was made at Tami Brander Performance, Fairings and paint has been done by Kele Design. It has a Honda CB1300 cylinder head bolt pattern and crank main bearings”.

    Samu has been working 22 years at Honda and it was easy to a pick name for this project.


    FIM-E Junior Drag Bike.
    2nd February: Job Heezen has announced the confirmed dates for the FIM-E Championship. Junior Drag Bike will run at rounds 1,4 and 5. Top Fuel Bike, Super Twin, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike will run at all 5 rounds.

  • Round 1 – Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway. UK.
  • Round 2 - Tierp International, Tierp Arena, Sweden.
  • Round 3 - Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden.
  • Round 4 – 37th NitroOlympX, Hochenheim, Germany.
  • Round 5 - Euro Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, UK.


  • Swift snippets.
    2nd February: Happy Birthday for today to Supercharged Outlaws racer Jake Clayton, Comp Bike racer Dave Thomas and US Funny Car legend Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch. We hope you all have a great day.


    SPRC 2024 Entries Open.
    1st February: SPRC Webmaster and committee member, Peter Walters has been in touch to announce the entry system for 2024 is now open. Festival of Power is available to enter now, with the other events being added over the next few weeks.
    www.santapodracersclub.com.

    The system has had a revamp and there are a few changes. For 2024 you are required to add a vehicle and fill in your SFI details (car only) before entering events. You only need to do this once, and the system will prefill your information on future event entries, where you can amend any information as appropriate.

    We have also added a notification and notice board service to the website. So all members we'll be alerted by email when a new notice is added. Notices will include entry announcements, running orders, final instructions and more.

    Please remember as of 2024, Entry fees must be paid 3 days prior to commencement of the race event entered. There will be a small fine applied to late payments (late being asked for your payment in the signing on office) this will be £25 for the first offence and £100 for future failings within the race year, to help we are looking at emailing all those that chose BACS payment 1 week prior to the event as a gentle nudge to pay the entry fee, this will be a blanket email, so please don't be upset if you have already paid.

    Entry for the Festival of Power closes on Friday 8th March 2024.

    Eurodragster.com event coverage 2024.
    1st February: We have posted our event coverage plan for 2024 which you can see at this link or by clicking on 'Event Coverage' in the main menu at the top of the page. As ever, the usual caveats apply: event coverage is dependent on weather and track conditions and team availability.

    The event list has increased from previous years and we are thankful to our team for setting aside their time to make in some cases lengthy journeys to attend events. We are again scheduling events at Dakota Raceway, Smeatharpe, Devon, also, as a sponsor of Melbourne Raceway, we are pleased to announce coverage of all events at the track this year, with former editor Tog attending all but one. For the first time we will be carrying galleries of events from Clastres, France and Rivanazzano, Italy thanks to Kieran.

    At Santa Pod Raceway we are covering all championship events, both SPRC National and FIA/FIM-E as well as several lifestyle events and RWYBs. We will carry coverage of events at Tierp and Hockenheim, although it is likely to be at the end of day rather than live. Thanks to Julian and Kieran for giving their time for overseas trips and to Kieran for allowing us to embed video footage into the galleries.

    Swift snippets.
    1st February: Happy Birthday for today to Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones, former Sportsman ET racer Ian Jackson, Straightliners administrator Helen Greathead, Estonian administrator Kristjan Veedler and photographer Jon Spoard. We hope you all have a great day

    Sick Week results can be seen by following these links: Day Two. / Day Three.


    Earlier news