A fulfilling season. 31st December: 2013 ACU UK Comp Bike Champion Lizz McCarthy has been in touch to, amongst other things, confirm that Sunday's spy picture was a hint of the new look of her bike for the 2014 season. Firstly, though, Lizz says that 2013 has been an interesting and very amazing year: We won the first meeting of the season, at the Festival of Power at Easter after driving there in a snowstorm and being called for the final in a blizzard! Running my Personal Best on a track temperature of -1, when everyone else was struggling with grip issues. That little Comp Bike just kept skipping up the track, without too much effort at all! The Comp bike engine had gone off to Ken Cooper at Cooperized and came back better than ever. Running 8.7 normally aspirated was very pleasing. We even jokingly thought about more compression, and going 8.50 normally aspirated, but by then I had a 7.7 bracket bike and I was enjoying myself immensely. We had a couple of hiccups, one at Shakespeare County Raceway where I hit the Armco, snapping my brake lever and needing a bit welded back on (To the brake lever - Ed) and bruising myself somewhat, but I still went on to take runner-up at that meeting! Kev had managed to get the parts needed to repair the bike. A big up to Nigel Barker - I still owe you a lever mate! - and to Rick Cooke for the welding. The second hiccup was when we changed the slick and on the first run the bike shot left, I couldn't bring it back and crossed lanes. I was mortified. I have never done that before, have always been told to do everything I could not to. I obviously didn't. One rain-off at the Pod, and runner-up again at Shakey. I won the APIRA Championship, so on to see if we could achieve the same at Santa Pod. We were still leading the ACU Championship by quite a hefty margin and I had to keep myself in check and get on with the job in hand. The next meeting was very disappointing: I didn't qualify. Picking myself up after that, the bike developed an electrical glitch. We changed everything, to try to rectify it. Coils, Schnitz box, battery, the list was endless. We found it eventually, and it was the $1 part! By then I had lost what good lead I had, and we really had to do well to give me any chance of winning. In testing the weekend before the next meeting I ran another PB of 7.61 and then 7.60. Happy that all was well we went to the last meeting of the season, a bit more confident that we had been for a while. Al I had do was qualify well, and get through the first round. No pressure there then! The night before the meeting we had been scrutineered, bike back into the awning, and then walking to the caravan I tripped down a gully and twisted my ankle very badly. Thank goodness for Julie Moxley, a roll of plaster, and ice! After each round, I was bundled off to put my foot in a bucket of ice, and everyone rallied around me. I cannot describe the pain! I qualified number one with another PB of 7.46, and backed that up with a 7.43 in the first round of eliminations. That win gained me the ACU Championship. The team were so happy when I got back, I couldn't believe it – We'd done it! Unfortunately the bike came out in sympathy for me in the next round, with a big bang, a flash, and lots of smoke. I got to the top end unscathed, meanwhile Kev was down the other end being handed pieces of crank case. Thankfully, as we run a diaper, there was no oil on the back tyre nor too much on the track and racing started again quickly. I became ACU Champion, racing with all the parts which Kev kept for spares from when the engine had been refreshed when he raced in Comp in 2006. Those spares were given back to him in a bucket! The twisted ankle turned out to be a broken ankle. I wish it were possible to bottle adrenaline, I would be a very rich lady by now! There is a list a mile long of people who deserve a mention. Kev, I love you lots, fab tuning honey! Jake Charman, you rock! The support I get from you both is amazing. Chris Pyke, the best Crew Chief ever! Stuart Ashton, Mandy Chant, Steve and Julie Moxley and the lovely Sarah Chapman. What an amazing team. I seriously couldn’t do it without you. You are all totally responsible for making me run well enough to win Championships! The most incredible sponsors ever: Tony at Abbey Motorsport, Doug at Ensys, Viz at Vizman Kustom Art, Jeni at Yawning Cat Photography, Ken at Cooperized Dyno and service Centre, Simon at Claron Graphics, and the help and quick parts delivery from Jay Regan at MRE. All the hard work has paid off, and has been noticed too. To be nominated for any of the Perpetual Awards is an honour, but two? APIRA Outstanding Achievement, and APIRA Sportswoman of the Year. There are some amazing people nominated in both catagories, good luck to us all! Thank you too to all at Eurodragster.com. You have said some pretty lovely things about me, and all of us would be lost without you guys in general – you work so very hard, and none of us appreciate it nearly enough – love you guys (Thanks! - Ed). So what happens in 2014? We have been talking with Tony Gillam, the Director of Abbey Motorsport, who showed quite a lot of interest in the bike this year. With that in mind will be collaborating with him next year. We are planning some radical changes to modernise the bike. The bodywork too is being changed and having a facelift, and a new fantastic design, thanks to Darren at Power Race Graphics. Then we will be ready to undertake some extensive testing and development. Big thanks go to Miller Oils who will be supporting our venture with their range of superior lubricants, Jeff at Trackstuff will also be supporting us with fuel, and then Tony himself with his know how and very successful experience with turbo engines (there I said it). This should be a very interesting experience, as well as a learning curve, and all being well aiming for a first competitive outing around August. Exciting times ahead! Swift snippets. 31st December: Former 9.50 Bike, 9.90 Bike and 10.90 bike racer Lee Baxter will be running the Virgin London Marathon in April in aid of St John Ambulance. If you would like to sponsor Lee for this very good cause then you can do so at www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/Lee-Baxter6. SPRC, APIRA Awards vote 9. 30th December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest category is the SPRC James Edgar Memorial Trophy. The James Edgar Memorial Trophy is awarded for outstanding performance by a Crew Chief, tuner or crew member. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Stan Atkin, for Paula Atkin (Comp Eliminator, Super Pro ET) Vote for Stan Atkin Mick Beaumont for Ian King (Top Fuel Bike) Vote for Mick Beaumont Andy Fensome for Saskia Jell, Aaron Fensome and others (Lucas Oil Junior Dragster) Vote for Andy Fensome Richard Gipp for the Gipp Racing stable of bikes (various classes) Vote for Richard Gipp Tony Grayston for Andy Frost (Pro Modified) Vote for Tony Grayston Tim Lane for Doignie and Lane (Super Comp) Vote for Tim Lane Mark Todd for himself (Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator) Vote for Mark Todd Spencer Tramm for Dave Holland (Super Street Bike), Joseph and Samuel Holland Villa (Lucas Oil Junior Dragster) and others Vote for Spencer Tramm Mick Winyard for himself (8.50 Bike) Vote for Mick Winyard To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The penultimate voting category, whose shortlist will be posted this Friday (3rd January), will be the APIRA Endeavour Award. Swift snippets. 30th December: Herb, Kim, Cory, Roo, Brad and Harv asked us to say a big Happy 21st Birthday for today (Monday) to Will Andrews. "Where has the time gone?", says Herb. "I would have sent an embarrassing picture or two which I dug up from the archives but they were centre stage at Will's party yesterday". Don't worry Will, you'll get the last laugh in years to come when Herb keeps wandering off. Have a great day. Web site updates. 30th December: Rob Ashard writes offering more assistance for those finding it difficult to get through the off-season: some excellent video clips taken at October's California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield. Videos include the cacklefest, burnouts and the Top Fuel and Funny Car finals. You can check out Rob's videos at www.youtube.com/user/CorvetteWebblast. Swift snippets. 29th December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with the words "Times are a-changing!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. The Allard Chrysler Dragster is to be featured as Racer of the Week on Racin' and Rockin' with Draglist.com on Racers' Reunion Radio on 24th February. Co-host John Bockelman describes the story of the Allard dragster as one of the most incredible he has ever read and the dragster itself as of equal historical significance as Swamp Rat I. We'll have more about the show nearer the date but in the meantime you can find out more about Racers' Reunion Radio at drag.racersreunion.com. Steve Dudley writes that the fifth slot drags of the 2013-14 season at MrD Raceway will take place at 8:00 pm on Friday 10th January at The Cathedral Primary School, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1PA. "There is a small car park in the school grounds which should be able to accommodate us all", says Steve. "Entry and racing are free, all we ask is that you make a donation of a couple of pounds to help toward the hire of the hall, although it's not obligatory. I have loan cars for anybody wishing to try out this exciting form of slot car racing. We usually run a couple of 16D motor eliminations, for added tension. Come and have a go, it's great fun!" To the guilty parties (plural): if it makes you feel good organising mass votes for yourselves for the Perpetual Awards then pray continue going through your address books, but it's only fair to point out that it took us about three and a half seconds to notice what you were up to. It should similarly take you about three and a half seconds to work out what is happening to those votes. APIRA, SPRC Awards vote 8. 27th December: Avon Park International Racing Association, Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest voting category is the APIRA Shakespeare County Raceway Sportswoman of the Year trophy. The APIRA Shakespeare County Raceway Sportswoman of the Year trophy recognises the efforts of women in 2013 as racers, crew members or track officials. The APIRA Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Liz Malcolm, Pro ET Vote for Liz Malcolm Lizz McCarthy, Comp Bike Vote for Lizz McCarthy Sue Morris, Crew, PBM Racing (9.50 Bike) Vote for Sue Morris Laura Turburville, Super Pro ET Vote for Laura Turburville Dawn Watson, Supertwin Gas Vote for Dawn Watson To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category, whose shortlist will be posted on Monday (30th), will be the SPRC James Edgar Memorial Trophy. Swift snippets. 27th December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no words although we can't help but think that we only got three quarters of it. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Wayne and Janet Schreier asked us to say a big Happy 22nd Birthday to Christopher Schreier. We're very pleased to do so, have a great day Chris. On the subject of birthdays, long-time fan-favourite Leif Helander is holding a 70th birthday party at the Hotel Sodra Berget Sundsvall on 1st March 2014. 500 SEK gets you an evening of music, Norrlands buffet and a starter drink. More details on Leif's Facebook page. SPRC office Christmas closure. 24th December: Ian Marshall has been in touch to ask us to inform racers that the Santa Pod Racers Club office will be closed until Monday 6th January. "If anyone has an emergency then the Club phone number is diverted to my mobile and I will be checking E-Mails from time to time", says Ian. "The entire SPRC Committee would like to wish all of our members, racers and families, track crews, Santa Pod Raceway staff and not forgetting all of the Eurodragster.com staff  a Merry Christmas and safe and successful 2014 whereever you race around the world." Web site updates. 24th December: As a Christmas present to their fans, UK Super Gas racer Jon Giles together with wife Donna and daughters Francesca and Georgiana have launched their new Roar Willys web site at www.dragcity.co.uk. "Many thanks to Pete Walters for all his hard work in getting the web site live for Christmas", says Donna. Webcast replays start tonight. 24th December: As an extra-special Christmas present our streaming service provider Doyousee.me will broadcast replays of Eurodragster.com's Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcasts as well as webcasts from other events. Broadcast commences this evening. "We have had a superb year with a lot of nice footage shot by different cameramen from several European tracks", says Maikel Gloudemans of Doyousee.me. "We will re-run this as well as races from previous years. "I'd like to personally thank Gijs, Susanne and Julian for their support in several productions, the Eurodragster.com team for making me feel one of their own (I wear my sun hat with pride), and the track owners and promoters for making racing possible at a high level in Europe." The first replays will be available at 21:00 UK / 22:00 European this evening (Christmas Eve) and will be found at www.didyousee.me/dragrace. Should you encounter any issues please report them to studio@doyousee.me. "A Merry Christmas and a sunny New Year to all drag race fans from the entire Doyousee.me team", adds M@ik. 2013 Champions' Champions. 24th December: Honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Andy Marrs of TSI Timers and our own Simon have again been hard at work to compile lists of European and UK Champions' Champions. The Champions' Champions tables show the all-time highest points earners since the FIA and FIM European Championships began in 1996 and 1992 respectively, and the UK National Championships began in 1999. A particular Thank You to Andy Marrs who went out of his way to get this year's FIA and FIM analyses to us before he went into hospital when one would have thought he had quite enough to think about. The total number of drivers to have contested the FIA European Championships reached 250 in 2013. In the all-time FIA European Championship points, Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson moved up from #4 to #3 and 2013 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund moved up from #8 to #6. Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher passed 4000 career points and Top Methanol FC racer Rob Turner passed 3500 points. Anita Mäkelä moved up from #4 to #3 in the all-time FIA Top Fuel Dragster standings. 2013 European Champion Thomas Nataas moved up from #10 to #5 and Stig Neergaard up from #11 to #9. Thomas Nataas passed 1500 career points and Jari Halinen passed 1000 career points. Paul Ingar Udtian moved up from #11 to #10 in the all-time FIA Top Methanol Dragster standings. In the all-time FIA Top Methanol Funny Car standings Danny Bellio moved up from #9 to #8. Leif Andréasson passed 5000 career points and Ulf Leanders passed 4000 points. Quite a few changes in the all-time FIA Pro Modified standings this year. Mats Eriksson moved up from #3 to #2 whilst 2013 MSA British Drag Racing Champion Bruno Bader moved up up from #4 to #3. Marc Meihuizen moved up from #7 to #5 whilst Robert Joosten moved up from #10 to #9 and Norbert Juno took over Robert's #10 spot from #11. 2013 European Champion Micke Gullqvist passed 3000 career points whilst Mats Eriksson, Bruno Bader and Urban Johansson passed 2000 points, Marc Meihuizen and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson passed 1500 points, and Robert Joosten and Norbert Kuno passed 1000 points. Micke Callin moved up from #13 to #9 in the all-time FIA Pro Stock standings. 2013 European Champion Jimmy Ålund passed 4000 career points whilst Thomas Lindström and Jan Palmqvist both passed 1000 points. Also in Pro Stock, Michael Malmgren became the first driver in any FIA class to win 100 rounds of FIA European Championship eliminations, which he did at the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena in June. Jimmy Ålund then reached 100 FIA European Championship round wins at the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro in July. You can check out the FIA Champions' Champions by clicking here or by clicking on the Champions' Champions link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. In the all-time FIM European Drag Bike Championship points, 2013 European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King moved up from #5 to #4 whilst fellow Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson moved up from #9 to #8. A change at the top in the all-time FIM Top Fuel Bike standings as Ian King overtook Roel Koedam to become #1 all-time European Top Fuel Bike points scorer. Rikard Gustafsson, who contests TFB on a Funny Bike, moved up from #8 to #7 and Peter Andersson-Ström moved up from #11 to #10. Rikard Gustavsson also passed 1000 career points. Job Heezen moved up from #10 to #7 in the all-time FIM Supertwin standings whilst Sven Olav Rolstad moved up from #9 to #8. Job Heezen also passed 1000 career points as did Jaska Salakari. 2013 European Champion Fredrik Fredlund moved up from #4 to #2 in the all-time FIM Pro Stock Bike standings. Ulf Ögge moved up from #7 to #5 and Eurodragster.com Blogger Kalle Lyrén moved up from #9 to #8. Ulf Ögge passed 1500 career points and Kalle Lyrén passed 1000 points. You can check out the FIM Champions' Champions by clicking here or by clicking on the Champions' Champions link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Scoring for the UK National Championships Champions' Champions is based on an event having to be completed for a win to be registered. Race wins are ranked based on the driver or rider. Points however are scored and ranked on a team basis, as they are for Championships. For teams with multiple cars or drivers changing teams during or between seasons, the compiler's decision is final. The much better weather we experienced in 2013 - as wished for in Simon's 2012 Christmas list - meant that all meetings were completed bar the Summernationals and we have had six racers with their first Championships. In MSA Pro Modified, regular visitor Bruno Bader from Switzerland won his first Championship in the class this year. Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson still holds the lead in Championships with three, event wins with twelve, and career points. In Super Pro ET, well done to Scott Hauser on winning the Championship to set alongside his two Junior Dragster titles. Martyn Jones, Steve Green and Ian Tubb have two Super Pro Championships each. Barry Giles leads wins with fifteen in total to Steve Green's eight. Barry Giles leads aggregate points from Steve Johnson with an increased margin of 3350. Congratulations to Keith Herbert for his first Championship in Pro ET. Four racers have two Championships apiece: Rick McCann, Paul Baynton, Team Heaven & Hell and Team Top Banana. Lee Huxley has won nine races over the years under review. Team Heaven & Hell lead the points tally over the Huxleys' Team Top Banana and, latterly, Dark Horse. At the top of the Sportsman ET scores, Geoff Cowley and Team Rainy City Lightning (Al and Linda Platt) both have three Championships, Geoff Cowley and Rick Denny both have seven wins and Team Rainy City Lightning still leads the points aggregate. Well done to Craig Wright who has won back-to-back Championships in 2012 and 2013 amassing five wins and a sizeable points haul in doing so. In Super Comp, Paul Brown won the Championship to add to his 2012 Pro ET title. Brian Pateman has three Championships and twelve wins putting him in the lead on that count and a points margin of 5730 over Tim Adam gives him a clear lead on all three measures. Jon Morton's third Super Gas Championship this year means he is one short of Tim Adam with four, and moves ahead of Brian Pateman, Conrad Stanley and Frank Mason on two each. Frank Mason continues to lead races won with twelve, as well as points won. In Super Street, well done to Harrison Brown on his first ever Championship in 2013. In doing so, Harrison won five Championship events in a single season, the first UK racer to do so since Steve Pateman in Street Eliminator in 2000. In terms of overall tallies, Leigh Morris leads in all three categories with four Championships, fifteen wins, and leading the points aggregate by 1790 points from Bob Lees. Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator was again Brian Payne's Championship, his third in a row. Steve Pateman still dominates the overall listings with five Championships (also having won a hat-trick), seventeen wins and a huge points lead. In Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, Rhiannon Bellenie won her first Championship and well done to her. Joe Kellett, Scott Hauser and Nick Mugridge each have two Championships. Nick Mugridge continues to have the most wins with nine but Joe has now surpassed Nick with his total points tally. In the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association, Rebel T and driver Clayton Round lead Championships won with three over Chaos' and Joe Bond's two apiece. With his win in 2013, Nick Davies has won back to back Championships in Chaos. Joe Bond and Nuthin' Fancy Racing lead the aggregate points and Frank Bennett and Dennis Wratten have the most wins with seven apiece. Mick Winyard has won his third consecutive 8.50 Bike Championship this year and has won four events, with Jake Mechaell having won three. Not unexpectedly, Mick leads the points total with a margin of 2160 over Phil Bloomfield. In 9.50 Bike, Eurodragster.com sponsor Fred Furlong won his fourth Championship in 2013 to Rick Sawatzki's three. Rick's twelve wins head Fred and Jake Mechaell's nine, whereas Fred leads the overall points with a lead of over 1420 over Rick. ACU Top Fuel Bike was not contested in 2013 so Steve Woollatt is still leading Championships, event wins and aggregate points with totals unlikely to be equalled any time soon. The 2013 ACU Funny Bike Championship was won for the first time by Stu Crane to add to his 2011 Comp Bike title. Neil Midgley leads all three categories in Championships with Chris Hall second. Eurodragster.com sponsor Draper Tools' Mark Smith won his first ACU Pro Stock Bike Championship in 2013 and congratulations to him. Dave Beck continues to lead all overall categories and his eight Championships and record thirty five wins to his name in ACU competition are unlikely to be beaten. Lizz McCarthy won her first ACU Competition Bike Championship in memorable style this year, well done Lizz! Phil Leamon and Ivan Birch each have three Championships, both have ten wins and Phil also leads the points with a margin of 11300 over Stu Crane. In ACU Super Street Bike Graham Balchin won his first Championship after many years of coming close. Steve Venables has overall won five and Graham Dance four. Steve has twenty three victories to Graham's nineteen and he leads Graham by 4065 points. Junior Drag Bike became a National Championship class in 2013 but we have included all points awareded since the class was first contested in 2003. Scott Collier who was awarded the 2013 title leads the way with four Championships ten wins to Jordon Bissell's two Championships and five wins. Scott also leads the points tally with a margin of 6630 over second placed Jordon. You can check out the UK Champions' Champions by clicking here or by clicking on the Champions' Champions link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Drag Racing Unplugged XV. 24th December: As has become traditional on our last pre-Christmas update, we have posted a page of the best quotes from this season's Eurodragster.com Event Coverage including Tog's, Simon's, Kirstie's, Ed's and Julian's personal Quotes of the Year, together with other one-liners we didn't publish at the time. In association with Event Coverage sponsor Alamo Rent A Car we are pleased to present Drag Racing Unplugged XV, the 2013 collection. Click here to view Drag Racing Unplugged XV, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Eurodragster.com's Christmas break. 24th December: We will now be taking our Christmas break. We plan to return on Friday (27th). Keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com and we will post them on Friday together with the next APIRA Perpetual Award shortlist. In the meantime we have compiled our usual requests to Father Christmas, together with our New Year resolutions: Top of Tog's Christmas list: Knighthoods for Steve Rawlings and Rob Elsom, for Services to Keeping Promises. Top of Simon's Christmas list: Tierp Arena to hold races in 2014. Top of Kirstie's Christmas list: My iPad to magically appear in front of me on Christmas day and a lump of coal to land in the lap of the thief! Top of Ed's Christmas list: Many bright, sunny, dry, F11, 1/1000 second, ISO 320 days of safe, exciting drag racing. Top of Julian's Christmas list: A special device which will prevent me from jumping out of my skin when standing ten feet from a launching Fuel car. Tog's New Year resolution: To find a cure for that amnesia which often strikes between "Of course I'll send it to you" and posting it on bloody Facebook. Simon's New Year resolution: Not to get a day job. Kirstie's New Year resolution: To catalogue photos online! Gulp. Ed's New Year resolution: To get to many European drag races this season. Julian's New Year resolution: To do my absolute best to stop jumping out of my skin when standing ten feet from a launching Fuel car. Tog, Simon, Kirstie, Ed and Julian would like to wish all Eurodragster.com readers and their families the very Happiest of Christmases, and to thank everyone who has sent us personal Christmas wishes and cards. See you on Friday. Elsoms reveal Nostalgia FC. 23rd December: The UK's Rob and Sharon Elsom have revealed to Eurodragster.com the colour scheme and details of their Nostalgia Funny Car which they hope to take to Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway in July. Rob takes up the story: It seems to be a habit of mine of late that I like to be involved in classes which people such as Rob Loaring work to put in place. After a pile of work running the Oldsmobile in Super Modified for one season the class went into its own bracket within Comp, which I fully supported until my plans changed quite drastically. In January of this year I Dave Bryant and Co at Shockwave Racing offered me some work on their Funny Cars. Within a few weeks I'd been bitten by the Nitro bug and, even after what was a hard start to the season, I'd made the decision to sell the Olds and purchase the ex-Shockwave Mustang 10.1 chassis. The original plan was to put together something for fun between rounds of the European Funny Car Series, so that I could dedicate my time to the team. It was going to be a Willys altered but somehow, and I'm not quite sure how, it turned into a Nostalgia Funny Car project and we purchased Tim Garlick and Perry Antoniou's original Firebird body which had been damaged in transit from the States. Although it's not a route many would want to take, I would like to think that with the help and support of those who know how these things tick, and having had some time around the Funny Cars this year, we can join in and be part of what we think will be pretty exciting times ahead. I've always loved Funny Cars from the first time I saw one at the track and would never have thought that this could ever be a possibility for me. It's purely a matter of opportunity that this has come about. Dave has been a great help in buying the right parts and has taught me a great deal over the last twelve months about what makes them tick. Without Dave's support, and that of Jason and Roy Phelps who have the unenviable job of repairing and mounting the body, it's probably not a route we would have even considered, and for that we're truly grateful. The plan at present is to continue buying up parts as they become available and to put together one complete and one short motor. Hopefully the body and chassis should come together over the coming months and we can look at finishing the rest of the package. Darren West of Power Race Graphics has done a few different renderings for us and he went to great care to put together something which we really think looks cool. We had an idea of what we liked and that we wanted to keep the colours the same as on the Olds... other than that I wouldn't have known where to start. Darren did a great job! I'd like to think that we could get the car ready for Dragstalgia 2014; whether or not it turns a wheel remains to be seen but that's our goal. It has been a difficult year for us on various levels but rest assured that next year will hopefully be so much better. Being involved with this project is a great start for the future and I'm excited, but also quite nervous, about it. We hope that everyone has a great Christmas and New Year and we'll see you all at the track in a few months. SPRC, APIRA Awards vote 7. 23rd December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest category is SPRC Most Professional Appearing Team. The SPRC Most Professional-Appearing Team trophy recognises not just the presentation of a race vehicle but the team's overall approach to racing. As well as a well-turned-out car or bike, the Committee have considered such aspects as the appearance and attitude of team personnel, the organisation and appearance of their pit area and support equipment, and their readiness when their class is called. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order of team name, is as follows: Martyn Jones, Crunch and the Another $mall Fortune team, Super Pro ET Vote for Another $mall Fortune Colin Millar and the Flyin' Fifer team, Outlaw Anglia Vote for Flyin' Fifer Dave Russell, Joe Williams and the Van with No Name team, Super Pro ET Vote for The Van With No Name Martin and Matt Smith and Team Extreme, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Vote for Team Extreme Steve and Jemma Venables and the Ven Racing team, Super Street Bike and Comp Bike Vote for Ven Racing Warpspeed Racing, various bikes Vote for Warpspeed Racing To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category, whose shortlist will be posted this Friday (27th), will be APIRA Shakespeare County Raceway Sportswoman of the Year. Swift snippets. 23rd December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "I have been a very good boy this year and Santa has come early". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Shakespeare County Raceway PR and drag racing historian Jerry Cookson. Have a great day Jerry. 2014 FIA regulations. 22nd December: Thanks very much to Geoff Martin for letting us know that the 2014 regulations for the FIA European Drag Racing Championships are now available on the FIA web site. Geoff says that as expected there are changes to the regulations in all Pro classes. Changes to the regulations are clearly highlighted. You can check out the 2014 FIA rules, which are available in PDF format, at www.fia.com/sport/regulations?f[0]=field_regulation_category%3A77. On behalf of the UK Tech Crew Geoff asked us to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. Swift snippets. 22nd December: Her Majesty Queen Carole Ismail of Race Control tells us that the St John's Hotel in Solihull, the venue for the 2014 joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation on Saturday 8th February, is down to its last twenty rooms so booking soon is recommended. For more details about the Dinner Dance including hotel bookings check out our news item of 8th October. Sharron, Jerry and Skye Collier asked us to wish the best birthday ever to Junior Drag Bike Champion Scott Collier. "2014 will be Scott's first season in adult racing, in Top Gas", says Sharron Collier. "His achievements are great but we are more proud of the person he is: a brilliant, kind and thoughtful young man". Have a very Happy Birthday Scott. Robin Jackson writes with a reminder to Wellingorough-area drag racing enthusiasts that there is a treat in store at the town's Castle Theatre and Arts Centre: an exhibition of high-quality Santa Pod photographs by Nigel Holland continues to the end of January in The Castle's dress circle gallery. "Mounting the exhibition was one of the things-to-do on Nigel's 'The 50 List', the story recounted in the book of the same name" says Robin. Admission is free - just walk in - and it is well worth a view. For anyone taking the family to Wellingborough Pantomime Society's production of Aladdin (14th to 19th January), it's the perfect way to spend the interval break. For more information visit www.thecastle.org.uk/nigel-holland." Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor tells us that the future of the Brighton Speed Trials is in doubt. A petition to the Local Authority has been set up and can be signed by clicking here, and a Save The Brighton Speed Trials Facebook page has been set up, which will hopefully be more effective than your average FB campaign. The last Eurodragster.com News update before Christmas will be posted on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, and will include the traditional Champions' Champions for both European and UK Championships and Drag Racing Unplugged XV. We will then take a break and the plan is to return on Friday (27th). The deadline for news items for inclusion in the Christmas Eve update is 21:00 UK / 22:00 European tomorrow, Monday 23rd. Rawlings reveals Pro Mod. 20th December: The UK's Steve Rawlings has revealed that the car featured in this week's spy pictures is his Corvette Pro Mod fresh out of the workshops of Richard Walters Custom Paint. "Rich has gone way way beyond my expectations, which were pretty high as he has painted previous projects to me to a very high standard", Steve told Eurodragster.com. "Not just the paint but the huge amount of work he has put into the car in general, such as tinwork, brackets and mountings etc. Richard's work is always on budget and on time and I cannot recommend he and his work highly enough. Give him a call at 01278 664363. That may sound like an advert but I am really impressed with how the car has turned out. "I would also like to thank Peter Walters Race Designfor the design work - as ever Pete has come with a visually striking design. I must say a big thank you to Matt Wright for collecting the car, his company is wemoveyourcar.com and you can call Matt on 01277 366584. "Anyway that's the chassis, body and paint completed. Now for the engine and when that's ready we'll show you Andy Robinson's chassis which is also a work of art!" APIRA, SPRC Awards vote 6. 20th December: Avon Park International Racing Association, Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest voting category is the APIRA Shakespeare County Raceway Award for Outstanding Achievement. The APIRA Shakespeare County Raceway Award for Outstanding Achievement will be awarded to a racer who has achieved outstanding performance at Shakespeare County Raceway during the 2013 season. The APIRA Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Mike Couch, Wild Bunch Vote for Mike Couch Bob Hawkins, Wild Bunch Vote for Bob Hawkins Lizz McCarthy, Comp Bike Vote for Lizz McCarthy Frank Schack, European Top Gas Vote for Frank Schack Dawn Watson, Supertwin Gas Vote for Dawn Watson To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category, whose shortlist will be posted next Monday (23rd), will be SPRC Most Professional Appearing Team. Lucas, SPR Autosport hook-up. 19th December: Santa Pod Raceway and Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil are extending their track and off track relationship with a joint appearance at AutoSport International 2014 at Birmingham's NEC on 9th-12th January (public days 11th-12th). Headline news is the official launch of the Santa Pod Events 2014 Calendar which details every event at the track from 19th January - 26th October 2014. Star of the show will be FIA Top Fuel Dragster driver Chris Andrews and his Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster. The 10,000 horsepower machine will be campaigned in the FIA European Championships where Chris will be blistering down Europe's finest drag strips at 300 mph+ in under four seconds. The competition starts when the Top Fuel cars take to the track at the first round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway between 23rd-26th May. Two young stars of the future from the Junior Dragster class will share the limelight and help Chris to hand out Santa Pod and Lucas Oil goodie bags to visitors and dragster fans. Paige and Belle Wheeler, who received Santa Pod Racers Club's Most Professional Appearing Team award on behalf of their Alamo Rent A Car team, will be very special guests alongside the Half Scale Prestige Alamo Junior Dragster The Lucas Oil Slick Mist Car Care KIt gets its European launch at the show. This marks the first move into the gift pack market by the US oil, additives and car care products manufacturer. Slick Mist Instant Shine, Slick Mist Interior Detailer and Slick Mist Tire Shine are the featured car care products in a kit which also includes an applicator and a polishing cloth. Each 710 ml bottle is ideal for a showroom shine and each product has been tried, tested and used extensively by the best looking dragsters at Santa Pod Raceway. Lucas Oil, a long-standing supporter and partner with Santa Pod, will also be exhibiting products from its Racing Only Oils range, its premium range for production cars plus samples from its extensive range of additives and lubricants. We (almost) never close. 19th December: Jamie and Bill of Eurodragster.com sponsor Topspeed Automotive have been in touch to wish everyone a great Christmas and Happy New Year, and with a suggestion to prevent Holiday boredom: Why not keep an eye on our E-Bay shop at stores.ebay.co.uk/Topspeed-Automotive-Ltd as we will be doing quite a few specials over the holiday period. Also we will be working and contactable throughout the Holidays excluding 25th-26th December and 1st January in case you get stuck for should you be spending Christmas in the garage. Also keep an eye out for some updates regarding Team Topspeed's plans for the 2014 season. We have lots of really exciting activity going on down at Race HQ at the moment and who knows how many cars will roll out in the 2014 team line up... Dieter Steinhilp. 18th December: We were sorry to hear from German Pro Modified racer Norbert Kuno of the death of team member Dieter "The Grandpa" Steinhilp. Dieter died on 7th December at the age of 77 after fighting cancer for two years. "Dieter was a great guy and we all feel bad that we were not be able to help him", says Norbert. "He made a big improvement to the team with the straight and businesslike way in which he did things. My team and I will race the 2014 season in Dieter's memory. "Dieter, thank you for everything we we will never forget you." Our own deepest sympathies to Dieter's family and friends. 2014 Straightliners calendar. 18th December: Organiser Trevor Duckworth has released the 2014 calendar for the UK's Straightliners bike series: 30th March: Santa Pod Raceway 3rd-4th May: York Raceway 11th May: East Kirkby 14th-15th June: Santa Pod Raceway 29th June: East Kirkby 13th July: York Raceway 30th-31st August: Jurby, Isle of Man 14th September: East Kirkby 18th-19th October: Santa Pod Raceway For more information including class rules check out the Straightliners web site at www.straightliners.co.uk. Swift snippets. 18th December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with no words at all save the promise of a revelation later in the week. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Brian Taylor writes that the winter work schedule on the Allard Chrysler dragster starts on Sunday 29th December. "Work will be carried out in the workshops of the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and there will be further dates during January and February 2014", says Brian. "If anyone out there wants to join the team working on Europe's first dragster contact me at brian@allardchrysler.org. "New members always welcome; main qualifications are enthusiasm and a sense of humour, plus the ability to carry off white period overalls, flat cap and a pipe with aplomb." Wayne Schreier tells us that as a result of the respose to his posting in our Christmas Gift Mart he only has four Portatree Pocket Pal practice trees left in stock. "First come first served", says Wayne, "and thanks to everyone who has already ordered". For more information or to order your practice tree get in touch with Wayne at wayne.schreier@virgin.net. No news update yesterday so we were unable to wish a Happy Birthday to Jacqui Vye of the UK's Just Mustard Super Pro ET team. Hope you had a great day Jacqui. Just another brief reminder that we are well-versed in identifying organised voting campaigns for the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards. You know the rest. Goodridge renew with Red Victor. 18th December: The UK's Red Victor Racing Pro Modified team are very proud to announce that Goodridge are committed to supporting the team again in 2014. Team Principal Andy Frost "After our record breaking year in 2013, we are very happy to have Goodridge on the team again for 2014. We rely exclusively on their 910 lightweight hose and fittings, and have been very happy with the way they performed under the incredible pressure and heat which Red Victor 3 produces on the track. Their products also performed admirably on the road too! We thank Martin and the team at Goodridge for their awesome products and support." Martin Taylor, Product Marketing Manager from Goodridge is happily supporting the Red Victor Racing Team for its second year running not only for its obvious quarter mile achievements, but also due to the fact it shows what top quality engineering can do with top quality products. "May I wish Andy and the team all the best for 2014!", he says. The Red Victor Racing team thank Goodridge for their support, and look forward to another record breaking year in 2014 with Goodridge fluid transfer products on board. And if, like the RV Racing Team, you'd like to get with the lightweight revolution, or just see how they could help your programme, just visit the Goodridge web site at www.goodridge.net. SPRC, APIRA Awards vote 5. 16th December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest category is SPRC Best Appearing Bike. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows. You can see larger pictures on the official Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Jasmine Cordelle, Junior Drag Bike Vote for Jasmine Cordelle Terry Green, Supertwin Comp Vote for Terry Green Richard Hann, Super Street Bike Vote for Richard Hann Alex Hope, 9.50 Bike Vote for Alex Hope Mark Hope, 9.50 Bike Vote for Mark Hope Josh Stubbins, 9.50 Bike Vote for Josh Stubbins To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category, whose shortlist will be posted this Friday (20th), will be the APIRA Shakespeare County Raceway Award for Special Achievement. Nostalgia FC series on the horizon. 16th December: Rob Loaring of ICE Automotive has welcomed the agreement of rules for a Nostalgia Funny Class which is slated to commence in the UK in 2016. Rob says that no one person or team claim the credit for this but that it was the product of people and projects coming together at the right time: Nick Davies and I picked up on the growing Nostalgia Funny Car movement in the US and looked to build one. We'd already been down the road of bespoke regulations with Super Modified and had no desire to repeat the process; the Funny Car regulations available from the VRA looked perfect. During this time, Wendy Baker and Paul Stubbings had done their thing and we started talking. Two of the teams who were looking to move on from Super Modified, Tim Garlick and Perry Antoniou and Andy Kirk, also fancied it. Santa Pod Raceway were prepared to extend some rope. These things tend to take longer than expected and the Apache car was no different. I talked with James Forster of Santa Pod after the car's début and tried to make a plan to move it forward. James understood that the teams need time to get up to speed so the programme is set to start in 2016. Between now and then I don't care whom we race, we just need track time. If someone wants to do it but their stuff isn't legal then they can run what they've got for and they can buy the right stuff in two years' time. The current NHRA Heritage regulations are perfect. The cars are fast enough, the technology is simple and it’s booming in the USA. We're starting at a disadvantage because nitro was kicked out of Sportsman racing a lifetime ago and there's precious little data available. There seemed little point in finishing our own Vega and leaving Tim and Perry to sort their own stuff out, it would have been a disaster. I'll run their car with them for at least the next two years, by which time they should be up to speed. We've been extremely transparent about Tim and Perry's combination from the start. We've been very open about our approach and tried to throw some data into the collective pot. It's not meant to be a blueprint for glory, merely a point of reference. This trend will continue throughout 2014 via Eurodragster.com. No element of the car will be off limits. For those who believe that Nostalgia Funny Cars are a gimmick and that we should focus on the new stuff, ask yourself where Pro Mod would be without nostalgia body styles. It'll be a long haul, but the prospect of racing nitro Funny Cars is a pretty good motivator. Nick and I both agree that if we're blessed with old age then we'll grow beards and run nitro. As hinted above, Rob will shortly be commencing a Nostalgia Funny Car Blog here on Eurodragster.com; stay tuned for more details. In the meantime if you are interested in running Nostalgia Funny Car then you can check out the rules via the NFC page on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/drNostalgiaFunnyCar.php. Swift snippets. 16th December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no words at all. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Mum, dad, Collin and Megan have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Super Comp and Super Gas racer Stuart Morrice. Our pleasure guys, have a great day Stuart. A year in preparation. 16th December: Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts has had an amazing year travelling the globe to take care of track preparation at different venues. Lee got in touch with his season diary: At all of the tracks which I prep, I use VP Racing Fuels Lane Choice 7 which is an excellent product, and combined with VP's start line resin it exceeds what it describes on the tin. Turning the clock back to last November 2012 after an amazing Winternationals at Malmo Raceway in Sweden, at which I was really happy with the performances and track records, the next stop was Hal Far Raceway in Malta but this time with a twist: Top Fuel Dragsters, Top Fuel Bike, Top Methanol Dragster and Super Street Bike alongside the MDRA categories. The MDRA are non profit-making, so track prep equipment doesn't include everything that they wish for but that is what you have to do the job with. With so many different types of cars and bikes race in Malta the start line suffers a bit with bald spots. Duncan Micallef stood proud in front of his Maltese fans, friends and family with a weekend best of a 4.13-second 1000 foot pass with an awesome 0.888 sixty foot time with the long overdue return of Top Fuel to Malta. This confirmed his previous pass of a 4.17 which showed how consistent the track was. Duncan never gave Jari Halinen the chance to take the win light in their match ups. One of the rewards I get while doing the track prep is the reactions of the Crew Chiefs and tuners. After Duncan's first run straight off the trailer, tuner and car owner Rune Fjeld commented "Hmm, that can take some more". Ian King made some excellent demo runs with his Top Fuel Bike. Ian got his eighth-mile PB of 4.01 and ran consistent 6.2s with early shut offs. The whole weekend was full of PBs and track records which put some thoughts out there - wouldn't it be awesome to have a FIA event in Malta? After another great weekend I thought it couldn't end any better for the 2012 season until I got a phone call from my buddy in Bahrain. "Lee, we need you to come and prep the track at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi". The track is all concrete and they have every bit of equipment you would expect a world class venue to have. Yas Marina have a tyre rotater like the NHRA use and it really saved a lot of time getting rubber on the track. This being a Pro Drag Racing Championship round, it hosted teams from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and from the home country of the UAE. This series consisted of six entry categories including Pro 6, Pro Modified, 4.8 Index, Pro Bike, Super Street Bike, and Super Street 8 run over the eighth. The Pro Mod final session was awesome! US tuner and Pro Mod driver Joe Lepone Jr was tuning Rashid Bin Tamin's beautiful nitrous '68 Firebird. The run before Rashid's pass was a 10.5 tube nitrous car which unloaded the suspension and smoked the tyres. Joe came over to me and said "Can you drag the track? I didn't like the look of that". I replied "Don't worry it doesn't need dragging". Rashid carried the front wheels out to about 180 feet and then stopped the clocks at a Personal Best 3.85. Joe came over to me after and said "I was looking for a 84 with 9 on that tune up". This was followed by some good celebrations for the team. Next up was Sultan Al Zaabi in the Al Anabi 68 nitrous Camaro. The number one just got lowered a bit more with a 3.84 to take the thunder from Rashid. The event win went to Khalil Al Ansari also in a '68 nitrous Firebird with consistent 3.9s all weekend. The weekend had new Personal Mests in all categories and the icing on the cake was the Track Manager who came up to me and said "Thank you for making me look good". Enter the 2013 season and it was back to Hal Far Raceway in April for the first round of the MDRA Championship. Friday practice day was awesome with many PBs, national and track records to start the 2013 season. Super Street Bike's Shawn Buttigieg went 7.44 and took the national record. After Rodney Williford's visit back in November, while taking the riding duties from Simon Giordmania, the joint plans got even better for the 2013 season opener with the Maltese rider back in the seat. On Saturday morning Shawn Buttigieg and Simon Giordmania made history with the quickest side by side Super Street Bike pass 7.51 and 7.64, PB in Malta. Come the afternoon we got some gusting side winds which caused an issue so it was game over for Saturday. Sunday the weather went all British and it started to rain about 7.00 am. After I did an hour of prep the rain continued on and off for the rest of the day. The next stop was Malmö Raceway and the start of my Summer Swede tour with track prep for the Cramo Nationals. Work started on the Wednesday daytime before the midweek evening Test and Tune. We didn't spray the track because of the strong winds and gusts causing a problem with dust so it was just rubber. Wednesday nights at Malmo Raceway are no stranger to Pro Mod, Top Doorslammer, Pro Extreme and Pro Stock testing along with street racers and competition vehicles. Attending the Test and Tune was FIA Pro Stock driver Michael Malmgren. Having explained to Michael that we didn't spray the track and expressed our concerns on engine damage because of wheel speed, the former Champion looked at the track and took a walk back to the pits. Within minutes one Pro Stock Pontiac was in the staging lanes with a suited and booted driver. Michael took a look at the track and said "I think it's OK". The Pontiac hooked up both times on 120-foot launches. After a further day and a half of prep we were ready to rock with two days of qualifying. The wind never lost its strength causing a problem with dust, and every so often we had to brush the track. When the track is aggressive you have to be careful running tractor dirt tyres on the track. Twenty two Top Doorslammers came to do battle with the Lindahl brothers taking the number one spot with their new combination with a 4.01/284 kmh, 0.984 sixty foot with plenty left. Making the track aggressive can reduce wheel speed but once tuners know what the deal is it's happy days. Martin Lundkvist's twin turbo Camaro was still carrying the front wheels 250ft out. Saturday finished with more PBs in different categories, all ready for Sunday's eliminations. Once again the rain came and ruined the day and the event had to be called. So a quick journey to Malmö airport and it was off to Sundsvall Raceway. Sundsvall is an excellent place. If you are a lover of American cars it's the city to be, and it has its own drag strip. Sundsvall Raceway only has ten days a year to operate drag racing and SHRA Sundsvall run an excellent venue in a beautiful setting. In 2012, SHRA Sundsvall made a decision to resurface up to 330 feet at the end of the season. This was a very good decision so that the new surface could take everything that Mother Nature could throw at it until May. Having left Malmö I then had two weeks to dodge the showers and get the track ready with H˚kan, Patrick and Tommy. I was not satisfied with the amount of rubber we got down on the virgin surface but we made it as good as possible. After qualifying the track showed consistency. Funny Bike in the sevens , Pro ET number one was 0.0047 followed by 0.0056, 0.0076, 0.0082, 0.0115 and the bump 0.0410. Pro Street Car number one was 7.76, Pro Twin Bike 9.17, 10.5 Car 7.89 . The top three in Super Gas were super close 9.9020, 9.9023 and 9.9028. Super Gas Bike was also close - 9.5009,9.5093 and 9.5168 for the top three. Super Street Car cannot be left out on this 10.9020, 10.9077 and 10.9315 for the class heading trio. Even with the new surface Super Street Bike were in the sevens with 1.3 sixty foot times. Top Doorslammer were in the mid to low fours after the last session. Sunday dawned and guess what? Rain! But this time we got to race after using the Sundsvall track dryer and the latest brand new high tech city road sweeper. Top Doorslammer winner Per Granqvist's blown Coupe took the event win and all three runs were separated by just 0.03. Super Gas Bike was breakout and double breakout in the opening round and all settled down in the following rounds. Matilda Sjöström-Andersson was so consistent in Super Comp with an 8.92 in qualifying, 8.92 in round one, the semis 8.905 and in the final 8.904 to lose out to Angelica Backman's start-line advantage winning 8.92. Comp Eliminator driver Odd Erik Fossum and his 632 nitrous ANA 68 Camaro got everyone's attention. The green Camaro went 6.67 and won the event with a 6.70, the 6.67 made Top Doorslammer / Pro Mod driver Benny Strand comment "This place is gonna be fast". As said above I wasn't satisfied with the rubber content, which leads me to say that there is no excuse for a bad track, you just have to know what you're doing and how to make it work. After a few weeks off, it was off to Chimay in Belgium to turn a public road into a drag strip for the Euroepean Bug In air-cooled event. Once again I got to prep a newly laid surface. Closer to the event we started to suffer from rain but John Hackney and I worked hard to get rubber down on the track before the wet stuff came down. The method we used to drag rubber was a heavy plant tyre from a local quarry on its side dragging it along with a tractor. The track did black up very well for only a day and half of prep and then we sprayed it. The weekend's quickest run was from the Hot Rod Drag Race Team. This awesome VW from Holland went 9.47/229 kmh and some of the UK's Outlaw Flat Fours had Personal Bests also. The PBs continued throughout the event for other cars running and that was with not a lot of track prep equipment and using your brain. After a quick visit to the VIP party it was an overnight drive back to England, then straight to Heathrow to get on a plane heading for Pite Dragway for the 39th Midnight Sun Internationals with some more prep. Pite Dragway is just south of the Arctic Circle and only gets five days a year use. After my first visit back in 2012 it was great to get rebooked so I could make it even quicker. My sidekicks for three days of prep were Arvid, new to track prep and very keen to learn, plus from last year my buddy Johan, a young guy who will make a name for himself in drag racing because he is getting to learn all aspects of the sport. After removing last years twenty kilogrammes of rubber off the startline, the track was in good shape having weathered the sub- zero temperatures of the winter. SHRA Luleå, the club which runs the whole event, invested in a new glue sprayer, with only a couple of options on the nozzles it was a glue fogger. Arvid's Audi, the tow vehicle for the sprayer, did a great job of keeping up the speed. This being a Friday / Saturday event and the bonus of having twenty four hours of daylight gave us more time to prep. Erik Andersonn, Top Doorslammer / Pro Modified driver and SHRA Luleå board member, commented "The track has never been this good at the beginning of an event". The Super Stock teams loved the track prep, claiming the traction was better than full time venues. Not only was the performance there but the effort and lengths I go to keeps the track consistent. Super Comp's Christer Häglund and his route to the event win, semi's 8.896 on a double breakout and the glory run 8.902 and eliminations were in the evening also with changeable temperatures. Trying to outdo Top Doorslammer, Street 10.5 was an awesome show, heavy muscle cars kicking ass over the quarter mile. Big Rolf Berglund ran a personal best of 8.10 in his Monte Carlo. Sundsvall's choir singer and full time teacher Birgitta Lindström took the fast lady honours with 7.95 in her blown Impala. Lars Berglund's '69 Camaro got close to his quickest ever run from Tierp Arena, 7.69 at Pite Dragway just 0.02 off his PB, but it was Lars' weekend he took the honours in the final over Anders Edh's breakout 7.53 on a 7.60 index. Top Doorslammer is an excellent class and the PBs fell again. Per Granqvist broke his Tierp Arena best ET in the blown coupe. Benny Strand was only 0.03 off his PB at Malmö in the nitrous Cobalt. The procharger Pontiac of Åke Eliasson went 4.06 at Malmö Raceway last year. 4.07 at Tierp Arena this year and matched the 4.07 at Pite Dragway in the first round of competition. But Benny took the glory in the final over Åke. SHRA Luleå were more than happy with the track and it was time for me to take a day off before flying down to Sundsvall Raceway. With a week and half to prep, the weather was not the best it could be but we needed to get more rubber on the track at Sundsvall Raceway. The first day of qualifying was going OK but track time was reduced when a beautiful seven-second late 1990s Camaro made its début pass. One of the worst things that could happen as it went past the finish line, the throttle got stuck wide open right down the shutdown area. The car was totally destroyed but luckily the driver was OK. Saturday was a cold wet day. The track would dry then it rained and drizzled some more. The NHK Nationals at Sundsvall Raceway was hosting a round of the Swedish Pro Modified Championship and this was its first visit to the track. Our biggest issue, like I said before, was rubber content. But with the wet conditions and the lack of track time, the teams didn't get enough passes for a good tune up for Sunday... or did they? A window of hope came along and we got two hours of qualifying from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Saturday evening. The Sportsman categories were really tight with the track being consistent. Super Gas was just mega tough. Top five times were 9.9029, 9.9031, 9.9050, 9.9059 and 9.9102. Street 10.5 top four were in the sevens and the same could be said for Pro Street. Competition Eliminator's Pär Eriksson was just 0.09 off his qualifying time at Tierp Arena with 7.09 at Sundsvall Raceway, likewise for Jens Eklund, very close to his Summernational times. Supertwin Top Fuel bike number one belonged to Samu Kemppainen with a 6.86, a very respectable time even in FIM competition. Sunday dawned and we were ready to rock with dry conditions. Samu Kemppainen stayed consistent in eliminations, just like a bracket racer taking the win with a 6.87. Anders Blanck made a string of seven passes in Super Street Bike. Håkan Mattsson took four rounds of Super Gas competition in true Champion style, with an oops 9.873 followed by 9.904, 9.909 and a trophy winning 9.935. Super Comp's Christer Häglund made an awesome journey to the final with times of 8.903, 8.898, 8.933. Matilda Sjöström-Andersson made an impressive way to the final also, 8.864, 8.920, 8.910 and an event winning 8.909 to Christer's 8.905. Street 10.5 was sevens all the way to the final for Anders Edh's RS Camaro. I can't wait for the opening ceremony when he opens up to the public his collection of trophies.There are lots and lots of them! Pro Street was like a bracket race for Lars Sjoholm in his early 1970s Chevelle running a nitrous big block qualified 7.789, round one 7.782, semis 7.738 and event winning 7.791. Pro Modified did suffer with the lack of track time because of weather and this being their first visit to Sundvall Raceway. Michael Gullqvist and Fredrik 'Turbo' Westerlind were even inspecting the track in Saturday's bad weather to get an advantage over the competition. Micke's red Camaro went all the way to the final and ran within 0.04 in all elimination runs taking the event win with a 6.111, resetting the Pro Mod track record. Michael commented later "I just wanted the win lights and played it safe". Turbo was also happy. The track stayed consistent even after a Super Gas car unloaded the diff and contents just before Michael was going to run. Once again, it was great to get the track record and PBs again. Just over a month later Sundsvall Raceway hosted their Street Car event. The weather had got to the track with rain and dust. The crew gave the track a brush and then dragged rubber, no traction compound. Emil Eriksson's PB in his Comp Eliminator Volvo is a 7.25,but at this event the team rolled the car off the trailer and did a good strong burnout, then went 7.61 with no traction compound proving that all the track needs is the work to get results. SHRA Sundsvall were happy with the results. So after being away from home for over a month it was time to have a rest. The next event for track prep was at Malmö Raceway for the Winternationals. With Championships still undecided. Pro Xtreme / Top Doorslammer was something else. Åke Eliasson and his Procharger Pontiac Firebird left Tierp Arena with a PB of 3.958. That time became an old PB at Malmo: Åke made the last session on Friday around 20:50, the track lights were on and the sun gone for over an hour. The track was last sprayed at 9:00 am in the morning, so some thought the track wouldn't be there. Wrong! I know how to keep the track going into the night. Åke took the number one spot with a 3.9309 and held that until Sunday's Eliminations. The sixty foot was 0.967. Niclas Andersson and the Old 51 went 3.9360 during the day on Saturday followed by Ola Dahlblöm in the split window Vette, tuned by Thomas to a 3.9642. The Pat Musi-powered Mustang of Roger Johansson left it to the last session to improve on Saturday night and went 3.98, just 0.03 off his PB. After massive changes to the car, Pierre Rydberg was not having the best of seasons, which is harder to take when the car has been winning events and Championships. Crew member Christer Nilsson commented on the 57 'Chevy “We turn it down, it shakes, we turn it up, it shakes”. Relief and celebrations Saturday day time when the Shoebox went 3.99, taking the number five spot. Benny Strand improved on his Tierp Arena PB and went 4.02 on Saturday night. Famed Pro Mod hero Patrick Wilstorm also ran a PB of 4.07. Considering this is an asphalt track other teams were only 0.04 off their times at Tierp Arena, which is all concrete. Come race day the top three qualifiers all delivered the same performances. Åke Eliasson lost out to Stefan Holmberg who had also run a PB at this event and the Firebird went 3.98 in round two. Niclas Andersson went 3.92 in eliminations but redlit in the semis. It was all Ola Dahlblöm taking the event win in fine style. On route to the final the Corvette went 3.918, 3.892 and the trophy run 3.917. With track conditions as they were, every category had Personal Bests. Konrad Bayer travels up from Germany to Malmö and races a big inch late model Mustang which is a 10.5 tyre car. Konrad's previous best was a 5.2 before this event. By the end of qualifying the white Pony had run consistent 5.0' and finished off qualifying 5.06. The German drag racer was close to the fours and wanted one. The wish came true with 4.898 in the first round of competition on Sunday morning. Peter Thornas finished the team's weekend in style by winning the event in Competition Eliminator and running a 4.08. If you don't know what Peter drives, it is a '63 split window with a twin turbo Small Block Vhevy. Pretty awesome wouldn't you say? Once again everyone was happy with the track. It has been another excellent season for me. Personal Bests, class records, track records, national records, European records and world records. I will make any track quick and fast and can be hired for track prep, consultancy and equipment sourcing. I am also pleased to announce a new service: I am available for hire by race teams to advise on track conditions at events, provided that I am not prepping the track at that event. The service involves monitoring the track for the whole event and working closely with the tuner to get the car or bike down the track. For all track prep and consultancy enquiries please call me on 07771 590176 (outside the UK +44 7771 590176). Freezing at PRI. 15th December: Lena Perés has been in touch from the PRI Show at a chilly Indianapolis where she, Gittli Koller, Micke Gullqvist and Roger Lyrén are promoting the Speedgroup contingency programme: There has been big interest from current and new companies in participating in European drag racing, and that feels very good. The new SSAB Docol Tubes R8 are a success over here. There has been massive interest in this new product which is now in the SFI specs for doorslammers and Top Fuel Dragsters. There have been two seminars which were fill. Lars Göran Eriksson made a Top Fuel cockpit for the show and that was a real eye-catcher. There are a lot of European companies on site and many of them are Swedish such as SKF, Ovako, Öhlins, Leanders Clutch, CTEC Power Inc, Custom Parts Service AB and Auto Verdi. This was the first year as a full show in Indianapolis after being located in Orlando, Florida for about ten years. it now seems that the PRI has come home, over 1200 companies and massive interest from the visitors from all over the world. The only negative thing, compared to Florida, is the cold weather up here otherwise it's a great show! Tommy Johnson Jr was on site and says hello to all his friends in Europe. He likes to come over and hang out with us and that's not a problem at all. Swift snippets. 15th December: We flatter ourselves that our English is pretty good but still it appears necessary to post a reminder that trying to organise voting campaigns for the SPRC and APIRA Perpetual Awards is against the rules, and indeed the spirit, and can result in disqualification of the 'beneficiary' even if they had nothing to do with it. Swift snippets. 14th December: Today we show you the second of the two spy pictures which arrived on Wednesday. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Crunch, Martyn Jones and the UK's Another $mall Fortune Super Pro ET team have asked us to say a big Happy 18th Birthday and thanks for all the help to team member Harry Gibson. No problem guys, have a great day Harry. One of our more sharp-eyed readers has been in touch to point out that in this year's SPRC and APIRA Perpetual Award news items we have not been saying which Award will be next up. Our apologies and we'll be sure to do so starting with the next shortlist, which will be SPRC Best Appearing Bike and which will be posted on Monday's news update. Web site updates. 14th December: Our good buddy Alan Currans has asked for help with fleshing out information on the seventh page of historical Doorslammer pictures now showing on his excellent Acceleration Archive. "I am appealing to any Scandinavian readers (or very knowledgeable Brits) to help out with missing information concerning the drivers and the cars on this update", says Alan. "All of these racers put a huge amount of effort into their cars and it would be a shame if they cannot receive a proper credit for their work". If you would like to help, or if you would just like to check out some excellent Doorslammer shots, then you can access the latest gallery via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. APIRA, SPRC Awards vote 4. 13th December: Avon Park International Racing Association, Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest voting category is the APIRA Alan Wigmore Memorial Trophy. The founder of the National Drag Racing Club, Alan Wigmore was dedicated to every aspect of the sport at home as well as in America. As Chairman of the NDRC Alan got to do just about every job there was to organise as well as run race events. This Award is presented in Alan's memory to the chosen individual who has shown the same dedication, spirit and enthusiasm for the sport which Alan showed in his years in drag racing. The APIRA Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Simon Barlow, Outlaw Anglia Vote for Simon Barlow Nick Brooke-Langham, Gasser Circus Vote for Nick Brooke-Langham Dave Massam and Phil Steele, National Sprint Association Vote for Dave Massam and Phil Steele Bruno Sanderson-Brown, Shakespeare County Raceway fire crew Vote for Bruno Sanderson-Brown Tony Smith, ACU and Shakespeare County Raceway official Vote for Tony Smith To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. Swift snippets. 13th December: Johnny Nilsson writes that his youngest son Teddy will be attending the next race in South Africa with big brother Dennis. "Autoart have built two new Junior Dragsters for the promoters at Tarlton Raceway", says Johnny. "Teddy is driving one, and the promoter's daughter will drive the other. Dennis is going to drive the family's Top Fuel Dragster for three race events next year and Teddy will drive the Junior at those events. Crew will be my wife Jessika and I, Stig, Kenny and Gitte Neergaard, Bo Harryshoy and Stephan Lombard." Harry Vogiatzis tells us that Telematica, in association with AEM Electronics USA, are organising Europe's first training course covering the new Infinity EMS ACU and the installation of AEM Water / Methanol injection kit. The two courses, totalling three days, will be carried out in English by AEM professionals Devin Pearce and Paul St Clair of AEM Technical Sales and Race Support. The courses take place in Athens between Monday 13th January and Wednesday 15th January. Click here for more details including how to book (PDF format). The latest edition of the ever-superb Custom Car magazine includes a five-page feature on the Allard Chrysler dragster. Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor tells us that the feature includes words by Keith Lee and pictures by Matt Woods (both of which guarantee quality - Ed) and is something special. The January 2014 issue of CC is out now. Having just built a new large batch of pulsoids, Trevor Langfield of Eurodragster.com sponsor The Wizards of NOS offers an assortment of colour to the dim winter by sending this artistic arrangement of a small selection. "If you want to add some colour, quality and superior performance to your vehicle this Christmas you'd better get in touch soon, as most of this batch are already earmarked for our growing US market customers", says Trevor. You can get in touch via Trevor's web site at www.noswizard.com. The last Eurodragster.com News update before Christmas will be posted on Christmas Eve and will include the traditional Champions' Champions for both European and UK Championships and Drag Racing Unplugged XV. We will then take a break and the plan is to return on Friday 27th. The deadline for news items for inclusion in the Christmas Eve update is 21:00 UK / 22:00 European on Monday 23rd. Fireforce 3 wows Malta. 11th December: Donna Finnegan writes that Martin Hill and the UK's Fireforce Jet Funny Car team put on a good show and had a good time on Malta. "The car performed well for the Maltese crowd", says Donna. "Paqpaqli Ghall-Istrina, held at Malta International Airport, is a charity run event and proceeds go to the Malta Community Chest Fund. "We had three shows with tight turn around times so there wasn't much time to look around the rest of the event. We were asked to do a prolonged vapour and flame show ending with a launch so the crowds all had the chance to see the car in action. All the shows seemed to be popular and well-received and the pit area was always busy with people asking about the car. "The weather held out and although it was a chilly start to the day, by the afternoon the sun was shining and blue skies were overhead. The only downside to the day was a distinct lack of decent tea, so if we come again we'll remember to pack the kettle and Tetley! "The only job left now is load the car ready for its return trip and grab a few days' sightseeing." Swift snippets. 11th December: The first of a pair of spy pictures to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com was sent to us after our mole had made a workshop visit. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Oiling the way to success. 11th December: Les Downey of Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil Products writes that Lucas' Racing Oil is a recipe for success: Two out of the top three Top Alcohol Funny Cars in the NHRA National points used Lucas Oil 60wt Racing Only oil in 2013. Frank Manzo took the number one spot using Lucas Oil as well; he uses 20w50 Racing Only and 50wt mix. John Lombardo took number two and Shane Westerfield number three, it was great seeing Lucas Oil in the top three of the National points this year. We also had another Championship in Australia courtesy of Gary Phillips who also uses 60wt. Lucas Oil 60 wt Racing Only conventional oil is the oil of choice for the Alcohol Funny Car field. It also works exceptionally well in the Pro Mod classes with their engine combinations very similar to the Alcohol Funny Cars, all supercharged and high revving engines exceeding 10,000 rpm and all using aluminum rods. TB Tech Tip of the week: I do not recommend using too much stabilizer with the oil unless the oil is pre-heated prior to start-up, to a temperature of around 140F. You can find out more at www.lucasoil.co.uk. SPRC, APIRA Awards vote 3. 9th December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest category is SPRC Best Appearing Car. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows. You can see larger pictures on the official Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Stuart Doignie and Tim Lane, Super Comp / Super Gas Vote for Doignie and Lane Tim Garlick and Perry Antoniou, Nostalgia Funny Car Vote for Garlick and Antoniou Rick Garrett, Pro Modified Vote for Rick Garrett Steve Hall, Pro Modified Vote for Steve Hall David James, Comp Eliminator Vote for David James Martin Smith, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Vote for Martin Smith Nic Williams, Pro ET Vote for Nic Williams To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. Swift snippets. 9th December: If you fancy driving a Pro Mod then Norbert Kuno and Germany's Lucas Oil Pro Mod team are looking for a driver for their second car in 2014. "The driver gets the full support of the team and everything they need to go racing", says Norbert. "We will help with licencing, practice and fun. You can rent or buy the Pro Mod for the season. For information contact us at info@kuno-racing.de or for information on buying a car see the Jeff Bull Swap Meet. After being let down for their original booking at the event, a UK team is offering the free use of a Super Pro ET dragster for display at Autosport International at Birmingham's NEC on 9th-12th January. If you would like a Super Pro ET car on your stand at Autosport then please contact us at editor@eurodragster.com and we will put you in touch with the team. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good buddy, Track Announcer and unfired Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Christer Abrahamson. Have a great day Christer. Happy Birthday also to Top Fuel Dragster owner and tuner and Eurodragster.com photo kit sponsor Karsten Andersen. Hope you have a great day too Karsten. Web site updates. 9th December: Jim Kelly of Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels has been in touch to invite readers to Like the VP Racing Fuels Facebook page at www.facebook.com/VPRacingFuel. Chris Dossett has been in touch with news of another update to his excellent Trakbytes UK Drag Racing History. "I've finally managed to get through all of the material sent to me by Clive Rooms which has resulted in no less than thirty nine new entries this time", says Chris. "These range from 1966 to 1977 and include a number of new dates for sprint and drag meetings at Santa Pod and plenty of previously missing dates. There's a new European record for Dennis Priddle, a car from 1966 winning eliminators in 1974, John Hobbs finally beating a six year old record, the demise of a couple of Top Fuellers, the first six for a Houndog, a Pro Stock versus Funny Car match race and of course much much more". You can check it all out at www.trakbytes.co.uk. 2014 Christmas Gift Mart. 8th December: If you are looking for a Christmas gift for the drag racer or drag racing fan in your life, or indeed if you fancy treating yourself, then Eurodragster.com's sponsors and contributors have several ideas for you. In the interests of fairness we are presenting these suggestions in the order in which we received them. Our good friends Helen and Dave at Zeon TV are now selling their 2013 season review DVDs including the ever-popular Hardcore Street Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator review, MSA Pro Modified season review, the Springspeed Nationals, the UK National Finals, Direct Plastics Top Sportsman, the Mopar EuroNats and the NSRA Hot Rod Drags. All sorts of deals are available if you want to buy more than one DVD. The covers feature some fine photography to boot. For a review see yesterday's news update, or to check out what's available and for how much visit www.quartermilehigh.com. The Portatree Pocket Pal practice tree is available from Wayne Schreier for £60. The practice tree runs off two AA batteries and features Full, Pro, and Blocker Tree, 0.400 or 0.500 countdown, 0.000 Perfect Tree, adjustable delay box, Bump Down, adjustable rollout, adjustable Auto Start, auto or manual reset, average / best RT stats and more. For more information or to order your practice tree get in touch with Wayne at wayne.schreier@virgin.net. The Allard Chrysler Action Group has a full range of goodies available. All profits go towards the restoration and operation of Europe's first dragster, Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler owned by the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. The latest issue of ACAG Update has several pages listing these gift ideas so take a look at www.drceurope.co.uk/acag/dec2013. Tell Granny it doesn't have to be socks this year! Thank goodness that the other great Santa - Pod rather than Claus - has a few great ideas to fill the hearts and stocking of true petrolheads this Yuletide. The easy-to-use 'Pod Shop site has a bunch of seasonally cheering ticket offers and superbly stocked online 'Pod Shop. The models and collectibles section offers something for kids of all ages, whether you're looking for a perfectly scaled model Top-Fueller for Dad, or a robust Monster truck for junior. Bikes, hot rods and VW models and miniatures are all here, for the avid hardcore collector, right down to 'three-and-up' toy cars. From 7th-13thh December prices are being slashed on die cast Funny cars and Dragsters. With big savings to be had it's well worth a look to grab the perfect Christmas present at a bargain price! If you still can't decide what to get, why not give them something that they'll really enjoy? Advance tickets to any of Santa Pod's 2014 shows or a gift voucher. With all of the Pod's show content aimed squarely at a good old-fashioned family day out, why not get a few and take the whole clan out for the day? Better still, get a weekend ticket, (where appropriate) and avail yourselves of the inclusive camping and superb atmosphere on site. Better still, if you have forgotten to get a present and can't face a last-minute shopping spree, all Pod tickets can be printed out in an instant online and popped in a Christmas card – so you can pretend you had remembered all along! So take it from us, don't settle for your relatives idea of present perfection this year. Drop decidedly unsubtle hints and get something that you actually want to open instead! For more information visit www.santapod.com or call the shop on 01234 782828. David Downes writes that Northrace Speedshop have been steadily building up work with several racers and teams over that past few years from machine work to chassis work and aluminium panelling, and have recently made a few these clocks for racers and Hot Rodders. "Any shape size and design is available to order your imagination being the limit", says David. "An ideal Christmas present for the workshop or garage! As an example, an eighteen-inch diameter clock, depending on design, is approximately £50 plus p+p". For more information contact David at northracemotorsport@yahoo.co.uk or call 07816 522263. You can be part of the Bloodlines nostalgia drag racing team by buying one of their genuine team work shirts. These are heavy duty cotton, retro styled, embroidered with 50,000 stitches. They will last a lifetime. Just £49.99 plus £6 shipping to the UK - will post anywhere in the world for cost, just ask - and available in all sizes from SM to XXL. Baseball caps also available for £9.99 plus postage. All shirts will include a signed, collectable Kenny Youngblood-designed hero card. Perfect Christmas gifts! Paypal accepted. Contact Turbo on topfuelturbo@ntlworld.com. Eurodragster.com sponsor Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts is the sole UK distributor of LSM Racing Products and can offer the following. 1T-100 Universal Valve Lash Adjusting Tool £58.00. Includes four bushings to accept the following T Handles: 1T-1/8 T Handle 1/8" £5, 1T-5/32 T Handle 5/32" £5, 1T-3/16 T Handle 3/16" £5, 1T-7/32 T Handle 7/32" £5. TQ 100-3 Valve Lash Adjusting Torque Wrench comes with 1/8, 5/32 and 3/16 hex keys £168. FH-500 Feeler Gauge Holder holds two sets of feeler gauges on the same handle. Will accept various styles of 1/2" wide feeler gauges depending on your application (gauges not included) £36. PC100 Adjustable on-head Valve Seat Pressure Tester for various shaft and stud mount roller rocker systems. Comes equipped with 0-600lbs liquid filled gauge £230. Order now for Christmas - limited stock. Also available from Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts: Jerry Bickel Screw Countersink Tool with Bit, adjustable depth setting makes it easy and fast to precisely countersink window screws to proper flush mounting depth £68. Jerry Bickel Coil Over Shock C Spanner, makes adjusting coil over shocks much easier than the hammer and screwdriver methods £20. Jerry Bickel Window Border Spray Paint, covers easily, is scratch resistant and dries fast to a hard finish £12. Dial-In Window Marker, dries bright white. Stain free on Lexan, wipes off fast! £8. Burnout Guard, water soluble layer protection between rubber and panel. Wet with water and wipe off £12. Call Jeff on 07834 381804 for availablity and pricing or contact Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts via their web site at www.jeffbullraceengines.co.uk. Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars are always trying to help their customers and this festive season have a special offer based on their increasing production of carbon fibre components. "We have door handles and chute release handles for the bargain price of £12.50 + VAT + postage. These can go some way to compensating for any extra driver weight caused by excess turkey and pudding. Also as a December special we are offering 10% discount on all harnesses ordered and paid for this month. The harness will be shipped next year with a 2014 tag to maximise its useful life. Call 01256 880589 or E-Mail robinson_racecar@yahoo.co.uk if you want to take advantage of these offers." Zeon TV DVDs review. 7th December: Zeon TV's DVDs for 2013 have recently been issued and the line-up reflects the variety of the sport in the UK. Helen Todd and David Coleman kindly sent us a set of DVDs and Simon has taken a look: First up is Open Sport Nationals and Springspeed Nationals highlights, a recording of eliminations for these two MSA events at Shakespeare County Raceway. All classes involved are covered with several camera angles including replays at the top end. For each class, footage from both events is shown in sequence which means you can see all the racing for a particular class with one click or a single touch of the remote control. Multiple camera angles show the racing to the best effect, captions are accurate and Paul Venners' commentary adds additional insight. Hardcore Street, featuring Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator, is the tenth produced and is a must for fans of the class. As well as qualifying and eliminations from all eight rounds of the Championship there are interviews with all the racers showing how much thought and development takes place on their combinations between and during the season. Coverage of the Cruise is included and there is also footage of testing of Al Williamson's vehicle after a radical rebuild. This DVD provides unparalled insight into running race cars. The Top Sportsman DVD includes the racing of this doorslammer competition at the Mopar Euronats with qualifying, the bracket race and heads-up race all covered. The racing is fast-paced and a particularly interesting feature is the on-screen display of the top qualifying and bump spot positions. There are considerable bonuses on this DVD of all finals and Super Street Bike eliminations from the Festival of Power, from the SPRC Summernationals the ET, Super and VW Classes and from Bug Jam the Outlaw Flat Four competition. This is a veritable smorgasbord of action with commentary from Paul Marston, Colin Theobald, Darryl Bradford and presentation by Dave Gibbons. The DVD covering the 2013 MSA British Championship for Pro Modified includes not only all five Championship rounds but also footage from the Mopar Euronats which was a test session attended by many of the class' regular runners. In the FIA races you can see qualifying footage not shown anywhere else. There are also extensive interviews with drivers, footage from all qualifying sessions and commentary by Darryl Bradford. The Mopar Euronats DVD shows the event from start to finish including Graham Beckwith's opening remarks and presentation. The event has built up over twenty years to become one of Europe's largest gatherings of muscle cars including a huge amount of track action. Interviews emphasise the diversity of vehicles beyond the title marque and the coverage includes all aspects of the event, from the cruise to the show to Ken's Diner and shine and the burnout competition. Highlights of the Pro Mod testing and Top Sportsman competition are shown; you can see the full coverage on their respective DVDs. 2013 was the 25th Anniversary of the Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway and as with previous coverage of this event this DVD is highly atmospheric. Paul Venners presents and there is a great variety in action including Outlaw Anglias, Supercharged Outlaws and Gasser Circus. There is also a huge variety of vehicles with UK based hot rods as well as US. There is also a section commemorating the 40th anniversary of drag racing at Long Marston with a look at a vehicle which competed at the first event and interviews with current track PR Jerry Cookson and race and constructor Roy Wilding, both of whom have been involved throughout the twenty five years of the event. The cacklefest was great fun for both racers and the packed grandstands, followed by fire burnout action. The last DVD, appropriately, is the UK National Finals, a record of highlights from Saturday qualifying and eliminations in every class taking place on Sunday. As this race is the one where the car Championships are all decided, the level of excitement in those classes is high but the bikes are also prominent with records and close racing. Commentary is by Colin Theobald. On all DVDs Helen and David's camerawork is excellent and the editing well-judged and precise. The sport can be proud of the way in which is presented in these DVDs which can be purchased from www.quartermilehigh.com at £14.95 each plus £1.50 postage and packing per order. Deals are available if buying more than one DVD and previous years' season reviews are still available. APIRA, SPRC Awards vote 2. 6th December: Avon Park International Racing Association, Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest voting category is the APIRA Iris Page Memorial Trophy. The Iris Page Memorial Trophy is presented to a racer, team, official, marshal or other individual who has either contributed to the sport over the last twelve months, or who has achieved their own personal goals against all the odds thrown at them. The APIRA Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: The Allard Chrysler Action Group Vote for the Allard Chrysler Action Group Alan Davis, Shakespeare County Raceway track prep Vote for Alan Davis Simon Gough, Super Pro ET Vote for Simon Gough Jed Guy, Outlaw Anglia Vote for Jed Guy Andrew Willcox, Shakespeare County Raceway fire marshal / Junior Dragster Experience Vote for Andrew Willcox To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. SCR confirm 2014 calendar. 6th December: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson of Shakespeare County Raceway for forwarding us the track's confirmed calendar for 2014: 29th-30th March: Season Opener Public Track Weekend and ET Bracket Gamblers Sunday 12th-13th April: Public Track Weekend and ET Bracket Gamblers Sunday 3rd-5th May: 8th Annual MSA/ACU APIRA Springspeed Nationals 24th-26th May: Yanks/Public Track Weekend and NASC Gary's Picnic 7th-8th June: Summer Showdown Public Track Weekend and Cal Look VW Drag Day 21st-22nd June: 21st Annual NSRA Nostalgia Nationals 5th-6th July: 27th Annual GTI International 19th-20th July: 5th Anniversary Ladies That Launch Public Track Weekend and ET Bracket Gamblers Sunday 7th-10th August: 27th Bulldog Bash 23rd-25th August: 9th Annual MSA/ACU APIRA Open Sport Nationals 12th-14th September: 26th Annual NSRA Hot Rod Drags 27th-28th September: Public Track Weekend, Frantic Ford Sunday and ET Bracket Gamblers Sunday 11th-12th October: Public Track Weekend and ET Bracket Gamblers Sunday 25th-26th October: Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up and ET Bracket Gamblers Sunday Full details of all of these events can be found at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Swift snippets. 6th December: Donna Finnegan and the Fireforce Jet Funny Car team have been in touch to ask us to say a big Happy Birthday to 2013 UK Super Pro ET Champion Scott Hauser, who is currently on Malta working with the Fireforce guys. Have a great day Scott. A last call for items for our traditional Christmas Gift Mart news item which will be posted tomorrow (Saturday). If you are offering products or services which would make good Christmas presents for Eurodragster.com readers be they racers or fans then please send a paragraph with details and, if you like, a single picture to eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. SPR confirm 2014 calendar. 5th December: Nicola Hart of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to confirm the track's calendar for 2014: 14th January: Drift What You Brung 19th January: Run What You Brung 26th January: Run What You Brung 2nd February: Run What You Brung 5th February: Drift What You Brung 22nd February: Stunt Fest 23rd February: Run What You Brung 26th February: Drift What You Brung 9th March: Run What You Brung 22nd March: Saturday Night Special 29th March: Dial-In Day and Alternative Energy Racing 30th March: Straightliners 5th April: Run What You Brung 6th April: GTI Spring Festival 9th April: Drift What You Brung 11th-13th April: Big Bang 17th April: Pro Peak Performance Day 18th-20th April: Festival of Power 26th April: Run What You Brung 27th April: Central Ford RS Owners Club Day 3rd May: Saturday Night Special 4th May: Run What You Brung 14th May: Drift What You Brung 17th May: Run What You Brung 18th May: Peak Performance Day 22nd May: Pro Peak Performance Day 23rd-26th May: FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1 31st May: Run What You Brung 1st June: Classic Ford Show 7th June: Run What You Brung 8th June: Performance Vauxhall Show 13th-15th June: BWM Skooter Ska Rally 18th June: Drift What You Brung 21st June: Run What You Brung 22nd June: Retro Show 27th June: Peak Performance Day 28th-29th June: SPRC Summernationals 2nd July: Drift What You Brung 5th July: Run What You Brung 6th July: Jap Show 11th-13th July: Dragstalgia 18th-20th July: Bug Jam 28 25th-27th July: Mopar Euro Nationals 1st-3rd August: Ultimate Street Car 9th August: Run What You Brung 10th August: Mini in the Park 16th August: Run What You Brung 17th August: Monster Truck Nationals 20th August: Junior Drag Racing Fun Day in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car 27th August: Drift What You Brung 29th-31st August: VW Action 3rd September: Pro Peak Performance Day 4th-7th September: FIA / FIM European Championship Finals 14th September: Run What You Brung 19th September: Peak Performance day 20th-21st September: UK National Finals 24th September: Drift What You Brung 27th September: Saturday Night Special 28th September: BMW Show 4th October: Run What You Brung 5th October: GTI Festival 11th October: Run What You Brung 12th October: Jap Show Finale 15th October: Drift What You Brung 18th-19th October: Extreme Performance Bike Weekend 25th October: Flame and Thunder Show 26th October: Run What You Brung 1st November: Firework Frenzy 12th November: Drift What You Brung 26th November: Drift What You Brung 10th December: Drift What You Brung Full details of all of these events can be found at www.santapod.com. Web site updates. 5th December: In the latest instalment of his nostalgia Blog brought to you in association with Alamo Rent A Car, Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor brings us up to date with events in the ACAG workshop as well as elsewhere on the nostalgia scene. As ever you can check out the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 3rd December: Ken Sherrock writes of a large unit for rent just outside Milton Keynes, twenty minutes from Santa Pod Raceway. "The unit is secure and dry and will hold six or eight cars", says Ken. "The rent was £450 per month for the last tenants who only moved out for larger unit. If anyone is interested then please drop me an E-Mail at kfsherrock@btinternet.com and I will pass your details on to the landowner." SPRC, APIRA Awards vote 1. 2nd December: Santa Pod Racers Club, Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The first voting category is SPRC Most Promising Newcomer. Nominees for SPRC Most Promising Newcomer have impressed whilst contesting their first full season or making their on-track début in 2013. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Mark Adams, Super Pro ET Vote for Mark Adams Jason Anslow, VW Sportsman Vote for Jason Anslow Stephen Cherrett, Sportsman ET Vote for Stephen Cherrett Gareth Ellis, Top Methanol Funny Car Vote for Gareth Ellis Glenn Pallant, Pro ET Vote for Glenn Pallant Jay Roe, 9.50 Bike Vote for Jay Roe Martin Smith, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Vote for Martin Smith To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards2013@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. Swift snippets. 2nd December: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with no words at all. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc and team are headed to the USA this week to finish, fire up then test his newly-acquired blown-alcohol Dodge Daytona (above right). "Kent, Patrick, and I Johan meet up with Pete Farber and Malcolm on Wednesday", says Adam. "We are also meeting Camp Stanley who is driving down with the toterhome we bought from him. If everything works out then we will race the Daytona at the Snowbird Nationals next weekend. On Sunday Dan Nickelson arrives with the Viper and the trailer we bought. Next Monday we have rented the track together with a couple of other teams. We will make some changes to the Viper, to get it ready for eighth-mile racing. A lot going on, and a lot which needs to fall into place." An Orange weekend. 1st December: Shakespeare County Raceway race official Martin has been in touch with a belated Thank You to Simon Barlow, Michelle and the Orange Pop team for an enjoyable weekend at the Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up: Simon and the gang very kindly allowed me to drive Orange Pop, the most famous of Pops, on the Saturday. It was a busy day indeed, with my daughter Shannon charged with driving the methanol-powered Orange Junior Dragster, courtesy of owner Mark Walker who had arrived with the dragster atop his Transit van, much to the amazement of other vehicles on its journey to the track! Jerry Cookson allowed me to take the day off track duties and both Shannon and I took full advantage of this opportunity by driving the quarter mile, with grins on both faces stretching from ear to ear. In between runs I also performed crew duties for the team, joining in the effort to get Simon down the track in his new van. Unfortunately, despite a stirling effort and frantic activity before close of play, the van would not fire up for the final run of the day. This failure was initially blamed on poor Simon, with a claim of a mistake on his part of the cockpit controls. However weeks down the line, when time allowed, inspection revealed that the distributor had worked loose and the timing had slipped following an earlier burnout that day and it was this that had prevented the van firing up for what was to be its first full pass since it was built. Better luck next season guys. Swift snippets. 1st December: Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars have confirmed that Andy's Camaro Pro Mod will be appearing on the Aurora Bearings stand at January's Autosport International courtesy of John McCrory. "We plan to display it unwrapped with no bodywork, so this is a golden opportunity to see under the skin of a state-of-the-art Pro Mod", says Bob Roberts of ARRC. Autosport International takes place at the NEC in Birmingham on 9th-12th January. The latest spy pictures to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no words. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Jeanette and Jon Webster have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to daughter Shelby Webster. Our pleasure; have a lovely day Shelby. Earlier news