What is it like to drive a nitro Funny Car? The Alcohol Funny Car was actually a handful, but with a nitro car you have to be prepared for anything.
It can smoke the tyres 800 feet down the track for instance. Also Reaction Time is a big issue because you leave the line from idle. This is down to the
mechanical set-up and also your mind reacting. I have more pressure on myself as a driver, because if I mess up the team will put me under pressure.
My record so far is in terms of round wins, six in eighteen competitive rounds. Of these six round wins, four were down to me pedalling the car, which
I'm proud of.
Sum up your 2018 year? It's been a bit of a struggle to be honest. It started with the crash with John Force at Phoenix. We didn't qualify at Gainesville
due to gremlins with the new car. Then when the change in track prep was initiated (adding 10% methanol to the formula and reducing the amount of glue),
it affected our settings and we were on a learning curve which was easier for multi car teams to surmount. So at Houston on the differing track prep we were
happy with eighth. On the new track prep the car is definitely more touchy and finicky and not so consistent.
What are your plans for 2019? I will still be racing with Jim next year but we will be doing a reduced number of races, sixteen rather than the full season
of twenty four. We will be starting with Gainesville and missing the Western Swing. So I can come to European races more! This season we only went to
Finland, and I was helping Micke Larsson mainly, and also Johnny Oksa and Janne Ahonen. We haven't decided on the dates yet, but it will be tuning help
that I will be doing. I also plan to continue to help US Top Alcohol Funny Car racers. This season I have worked with Jay Payne and Bryan Hough. Also I am
renting out my TAFC – Gary Pritchett, Leah Pritchett's husband, drove it at the US Nationals and I hope to do more of these types of deal next year.
How did your Hot Rod Drag Week entry with Richie Crampton come about? Richie built the car with my help. We then thought about the engine
combination and we thought it would be fun to have a full on-alcohol engine in it. So we contacted Noonan Engineering and they made a special block
and heads that could have coolant going through them. We even had a screw blower on it and all the engine spec at the track was the same as a TAFC.
When we drove it on the street we removed the blower belt and mechanical fuel pump and used EFI throttle bodies that were mounted under the blower
for road use. We were happy with a 6.93/207 as the car weighed 3600 lbs and only the engine hood was fibreglass. We went to Atlanta and then drove
130 miles to Charlotte and then took it back home. We plan to run it next year as Hot Rod Drags is a great event.
Do your family attend your races? My parents have been with me at five races this year, and Johan, who has a young family now, has been able to
get to two races. It's great to have all their support.
Ulf Leanders has been racing in the US since 2013 when he contested both Las Vegas autumn races (National and Divisional). After running eight
races in 2014, the team expanded to ten or eleven races per year since. Ulf said "We do races around the US, including back to back races at the same venue.
This year we did the Winternationals, two at Gainesville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Norwalk, Indianapolis and will finish with both Las Vegas races and the Finals.
Our clutch guys are working in Sweden and are self sufficient while the race team is away.
"We have made good sales of the Leanders Clutch with Pro Stock, blown-alcohol Pro Mod and Top Alcohol Funny Car being our main customer base.
Virtually all the Pro Stock teams have bought the clutch, although they may not be using it. We only know if they use it if they contact us for spares.
"We have now developed an eight-inch, four-disc version of the clutch for blown-alcohol Pro Mod applications, and one of the teams will be testing
it after this event. This is in contrast to the eleven-inch, three-disc clutch which Alcohol Funny Car teams use. Although there is a trend in Pro Mod for
more teams to use convertors, we expect there will be a swing back to clutch use.
"We have a new car this year, based on a McKinney chassis and Camaro body. The Camaro is now used by most teams, and although we are Mopar fans,
the Camaro is superior aerodynamically. We won here last year and so are optimistic. The conditions are also remarkably consistent throughout the event."
Rob Turner, former FIA and UK Top Methanol Dragster Champion, went the Funny Car route in 2010 and raced in the UK FIA rounds until 2013.
The team, with brother Steve as Crew Chief and partners Carmel and Vicky, then made their US TAFC début in 2015 at the Las Vegas autumn
Divisional race. In 2016 and 2017 they ran a five-race programme involving all four Las Vegas races and the Pomona final. In 2018 they are running
just the last three TAFC races of the year, the two Las Vegas events and Pomona.
Rob said "We are running the same car as we did in 2015. This is our first race with our new Leanders clutch as it has become the clutch of choice in
the class. So we are trying to find a baseline. The clutch performance can affect the car's stability down the track so I have had to pedal on each of
our three runs, which hurt our performance. On top of that we had some bugs arising from not racing the spring events – we had fuel leaks as a result
of O-rings drying out, and had to cure those. As a result, we didn't make it for Q1. But it felt good to get back in the driving seat."
With only three qualifying sessions, and missing the first session, Rob carded a 7.01 in the second session which temporarily put him in the field until
he was bumped later in the session, and a subsequent 6.178/235.02 was not quick enough for the 5.915 bump spot for the sixteen-car field. However
the team had a stroke of luck when Hunter Jones couldn't make the call and the team ran in round one, losing to John Lombardo Jr with a 6.759/152.28.
Julie Nataas is racing in Top Alcohol Dragster in a Randy Meyer A/Fuel car and, after licensing in Charlotte in 2017, ran four races last year and
will have run twelve this year when the season is done. Julie said "I like racing at Pomona because my Dad Thomas raced there when he was in Top Fuel
Dragster. The car is great and I have qualified number one at Pomona, Las Vegas and Oklahoma. Next year I plan to run almost a full season now I have
graduated in Marketing and Business Entrepreneurship from Antioch University, Santa Barbara. I am awaiting a work visa to get employment in the USA."
Julie's family is involved in her racing efforts with major sponsorship from dad Thomas' company Oslo Tapet & Gulvbelegg, and she is delighted that
brother and former Junior Dragster racer Kevin will be attending this weekend, the first time he has visited in 2018, and his first time at the track in quite
a few years.
In round one, Julie beat Alan Bradshaw. Then in the first ever all-Norwegian race in NHRA history, she defeated Fred Hanssen with a 5.321/271.02.
In the semis a 5.310/273.94 overcame Jackie Fricke. In the final she was up against 2017 Champion Joey Severance, who had the advantage of a
supercharged engine with the ability to compensate for the 4,400 foot adjusted altitude, unlike Julie's A/Fuel car. Julie ran a 5.369/271.95 but
Joey won the class with a 5.266/275.28.
Fred Hanssen started racing in the US in February 2013 after winning the FIA Championship in 2011 and has run autumn races at Las Vegas
and Pomona since then. In 2017 and 2018 this has expanded into a eight-race schedule. Fred said "We are planning on running more races next year
but need to sort out some car gremlins first". Fred suffered an air leakage from a brand-new bell housing which caused the car to jump into stage
and affected the sixty foot time. "A 5.383 was slower than an expected low 5.3 which is down to a 0.99 sixty foot time", said Fred. His speed was 270.70
mph.
He continued "We also suffered damage at Indy when the back axle came off in the second qualifier. I have had the same team for the last three years.
I am based in Las Vegas when over in the US with thanks to Jean and Erryl Sharron, but go back to Europe between races but have sold my fishing boat
business. I will be involved in racing in Europe in the future as my daughter Celina has bought the Funny Car raced by Birgitte Bremnes. She's going to
start driving it in Super Comp with a suitable engine in 2019. Celina has always been into Funny Cars as she was in a Junior Funny Car in her last year in
Juniors. In the future she hopes to step up through the classes. The car will have a new wrap too which Celina designed and will be produced and applied
by Gatorwrap in California.
In eliminations, Fred beat Chris Demke in round one with a 5.374/269.83 and then a 5.427/269.83 (identical speed to round one) was not enough for Julie
Nataas' 5.321 in round two.
Swedish slingshot racer Stig Olsson whom we saw at the Slingshot Showdown at Dragstalgia in 2018 has bought a Neil & Parks slingshot to drive in
the US. The A/DA dragster is powered by an alcohol-burning twin-carburettor engine. After overcoming a number of new-car bugs, Stig went 6.779
on a 7.16 index to go twentieth but went out in round one with a new best of 6.640/206. Stig is looking to keep the car in the US and run several
meetings in 2019 with his Swedish crew.
Swedish Pro Stock guru and Stock Eliminator racer Markus Svensson ran a 10.394 on a 11.13 index in his A/S '69 Camaro in qualifying and then got the
A/S class win with a 10.343/128.27. He said "I store the car in the US and come over for meetings outside the European season."
You can check out Simon's NHRA Toyota Nationals gallery, which is presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products, by
clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand
side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Swift snippets. 30th October: Thanks to Ian King for letting us know that the final points standings in the
2018 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at
www.kingracing.com.
Many thanks also to our good buddy Andy Marrs for sending us the official timing data from Saturday's
Flame and Thunder Show and Sunday's brief RWYB at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check it out by
clicking here
or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
A big Thank You to the more than five thousand visitors from around the planet who tuned in to our
Webster Race
Engineering/Nimbus Motorsportwebcast of Saturday's Flame and
Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. As things stand that was our last webcast of 2018 so a big Thank You
to Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming supplier Doyousee.me
for another season of excellent and ever-reliable service, to 1320
Online for listing our broadcasts, and to those who shared the link during the season.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Tuesday) to Sandie Gibb. Have a lovely day Sandie.
Thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest issue of Street
Machine magazine, plus bonus material exclusively for Eurodragster.com readers. Click on the images above for the
PDF downloads.
Last Wednesday was a special day in the progress of the book, as Keith went along to see the first pages being printed, after nearly two
years spent working on the project, and came away very happy with the quality of the production. He now has a confirmed delivery date
for the completed books, which will be in good time, ready for the launch date of 17th November at the Bench Racing session to be held
on the day of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame gala.
For more information, and to order a copy for UK delivery, visit the Keith Lee Images site
at www.mistersix.co.uk. Payment will be via a secure PayPal button,
which also allows payment by any credit or debit card - a PayPal account is not required. Dispatch of orders will commence on 19th November,
and will be in order of payment receipt.
Swift snippets. 29th October: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend and MSA Drag Racing Championship
PR Robin Jackson. Have a great day Robin.
This weekend was the last of this year's Event Coverage. From Kirstie, Simon, Julian, Tog and off-track photographer Diana a big Thank You to all
of our readers for their support this season, to Dave Riswick at John Woolfe Racing, Jon
Webster at Webster Race Engineering and Steve Clark at
Nimbus Motorsport for their sponsorship, to the racers for giving
us so much to report upon, to the management, staff and race officials at all of the tracks for the ready provision of
facilities, information and other practical help, and to Track Announcers around Europe for putting up with Your Race Reporter's
jokes.
Supertwin world record holder Jaska Salakari and Fuel Express Oy have become the official Racepak dealer in Finland for Eurodragster.com sponsor
Post & Dros Performance Parts BV, the European importer of all Racepak and MSD products
and many other major engine parts and motorsport suppliers. The deal also includes trackside support at major Finnish drag race events. You can read
more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by
clicking
here.
We have quite a long birthday list today (Wednesday). Happy Birthday and hugs to Kirsty Giles, a manly handshake
to Super Pro ET racer Joe Kellett, and back to the hugs for our good friend Deborah Marrs. Finally, Happy
Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer Urs Erbacher. Have a great day all.
Fuelin' Around launches at SEMA. 25th October:Fuelin' Around, the much-anticipated book by motorsports veteran Jim Kelly, will launch
at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas next week.
"People say I've had a really interesting life and wanted to know more" said Jim, whose début Found in Time received five-star
reviews and an unreserved recommendation from the Midwest Book Review. "Fuelin' Around is funny, fast-paced, sad, exciting, and humbling.
We've all had our ups and downs but at least by reading this everyone can rest assured that if a dreamer like me can succeed then there's hope.
Luck has played a very big part in my life so it's only fitting that we're going to launch in Vegas."
Jim, who got his first writing and photography credits in Super Stock, Car Craft, and Hot Rod magazines, drove to Pomona
from San Antonio in 1978 to deliver drums of race fuel for a Texan named Steve Burns to an up-and-coming racer, Warren Johnson. He then
landed his dream job as the PR Director for Darrell Waltrip and the Gatorade 88 NASCAR racing team. From there, when an opportunity opened
at a young Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels, Jim went all in and spent
nearly thirty years helping to build the business.
Fuelin' Around chronicles the many entertaining, thought-provoking, and heart-breaking moments of Jim's personal and professional life
as he reveals a behind-the-scenes look at how VP waged an epic David versus Goliath war against the giants of the industry.
Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog describes Fuelin' Around as "A story of the American Dream of success courtesy of hard work and dedication.
I read the entire book in two sittings and only put it down at the first sitting because it was two in the morning and the alarm was set for five.
Fascinating and enjoyable stories, I laughed out loud more than once". John DiBartolomeo of Drag Racing Edge magazine commented "A page-turner
you're going to attempt to read in one shot and, if not, it's going to keep you coming back."
Fuelin' Around is now available on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and at book signings which will include the UK. For more information
visit www.jkkelly.com and stay tuned to Eurodragster.com News for a
review and more.
7.0 Pro racer Joacim Ljungberg, originally from Helsingborg in Sweden, has been crewing and racing since 1990
and was involved with a Pro Comp dragster team which attended Avon Park when it was managed by Blacktop Racing, with
Pamela Österberg driving. He said "I went to Orlando in 1994 and then crewed in the Nordic Pro Stock Cup. In 2000
I started driving and ran a methanol Funny Car in Comp Eliminator and attended the 2004 FIA Euro Finals; I had set the
Swedish record and wanted the European record but just missed it.
"I sold the funny car to a British racer and then after a few years in Top Doorslammer bought from Jonnie Lindberg the
methanol Funny Car which Urs Erbacher and Freddy Fagerström had won all their Championships with. I raced it in
Pro Comp in Sweden for three years but sadly the class didn't grow like the organisers wanted and I decided to come to
America.
"I shipped the car out in July 2018 and stored it at a friend's house in Gardena and joined the California Independent
Funny Car Association. My first race with the car as a '96 Firebird was the Governors Cup in Sacramento which had a
large field of cars and I qualified fourth out of eleven and went to the semi-finals. I then got an 27T altered body
which I can use for Nostalgia races. Thanks go to Bullet Fabrication and Kent design for the wing and the turtle tail
on the altered.
"The car has a brand new BBC engine with Brodix heads, PRP rods and 14-71 Littlefield blower with Enderle hat and
injection. This should enable me to be competitive in the CIFCA and 7.0 Pro at Famoso Raceway". The new combination
definitely has power as testified by a 6.703/204 that gave him a breakout loss in round one.
Joacim said he has met many people who have helped him in his dream of racing regularly and competitively in the US,
and they have helped him to keep costs down, even if it involved him and wife Anette living in a motor home for a
few weeks. He also thanks his team. "They were with me for a long time in Sweden, and we're all loving being in this
crazy drag racing community."
On Sunday there was a special ceremony including the Drag Cartoons Pete Millar award "In recognition of the spirit
of drag racing's heritage (and what we think is just plain cool!)". This went to Swedish Nostalgia Slingshot racer,
pin striper, and motorsports engineering teacher Tommy Nygaard who has set up international partnership with
the Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead. A group of motorsport engineering students from the school attended
the CHRR and received the award, proudly displaying the Swedish flag.
Pete Millar's widow Orah Mae, pictured alongside daughter Robin, said "It's so great that we have people from all
over the world coming to CHRR, and a nostalgia racer like Tommy Nygaard spreading the word in US schools is very
special to us."
You can check out Simon's CHRR gallery, which is presented in association with Lucas
Oil Products, by clicking here
or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Full CHRR results and reports can be found on the Competition Plus web site at
www.competitionplus.com.
Swift snippets. 23rd October: Thanks to MSA Championship PR Robin Jackson for letting us know that the official Pro Modified
race report and accompanying data from the UK National Finals are now available on the MSA British Drag Racing Championship web site at
www.msadragracing.co.uk.
Our own Simon attended the event and plans to post a gallery and some notes very shortly.
Swift snippets. 22nd October: Remco Scheelings writes that Sweden's Ida Zetterström is the luckiest girl in the world,
or at least in the world of drag racing. Only a few weeks after she finished her second season in Super Street Bike and reset her Personal Best to 7.36
seconds, Ida has announced her ride for the 2019 EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship: Lucky 13, a bike capable of running 6.8 seconds!
And as Ida can't wait until 2019 she will travel to the USA to take part in the Man Cup Finals at Valdosta. You can read more on the Drag Racing Europe
Blog by clicking here.
This very good-looking piece of kit is Graham Sykes' new Force of Nature steam rocket-powered bike. The environmentally-friendly bike is expected
to be able to reach 250 mph in six seconds and recently underwent successful towing and other tests at Elvington. You can stay in touch on the project's
Facebook page.
It arrived over the weekend whilst Your News Editor was otherwise engaged but Ian Hart asked us to wish a very Happy 18th Birthday to his son, former
Junior Dragster racer and soon-to-be Wild Bunch racer Ruaridh Hart. Hope you had a great day Ruaridh. We would like to add a very Happy 70th
Birthday for yesterday (Sunday) to Les Downey of Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil
Products. Hope you had an excellent day Les. On to today and on to two wheels and a very Happy Birthday to FIM Europe
Drag Racing Commission member Job Heezen and to Top Fuel Bike racer Rikard Gustafsson. Have a great day both.
UK Tech Committee meeting. 18th October: Thanks also to Ian Marshall for letting us know that the UK Tech committee will meet on Wednesday 14th
November at the Hilton Hotel at Junction 15 of the M1 in Northampton.
The meeting will commence at 7:00 pm. If you have any items for the agenda, or if you would like to attend the meeting, then please contact Ian at
ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
SPRC office closure. 18th October: Finally Ian Marshall tells us that the Santa Pod Racers Club office will be closed
from tomorrow (Friday 19th), to reopen on Monday week (29th).
"I realise that this is bad timing in the light of the above announcements", says Ian, "but please E-Mail the Club as
detailed above and Affiliation applications and Tech Committee items will be dealt with promptly on 29th."
Flame, Thunder and Outlaws. 18th October: Andy Fadster tells us that the UK's Supercharged Outlaws will be going mob-handed to next week's Flame and
Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway:
Ten teams are entered to provide entertainment at our final meet of the year. In attendance will be our Champion for 2018, Aaron Windridge in The Thing.
This is Aaron's inaugural year with a full season under his belt and not only did he win the Championship but he has numerous seven-second passes under his belt.
All are welcome to come and visit our pits and get to know the friendliest bunch of racers around, chat about the cars or even get involved in a group which goes
from strength to strength.
2019 looks to be an exciting year for the Supercharged Outlaws with several overseas events planned in France, The Netherlands and the Isle of Man.
We are expecting five new teams to join our ranks and the excitement is growing for next season even when this season is barely over.
A massive Thank You to all our teams on continually making the huge effort to attend the events and to support the group, especially those who make regular
trips from overseas. Finally, congratulations again to our 2018 Champs, Team Thing.
UK distributor for VP Racing Fuels. 18th October: Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels
has announced a United Kingdon distribution and marketing partnership with Race Fuel Ltd.
"Our partnership with Race Fuel Ltd is designed to provide fuel services to virtually any UK motorsport programme – land or water, two wheels or four, including
driven and remote control" said Peter Coleman, VP Racing Fuels Business Development Consultant, Europe. "We've worked hard with the Race Fuel Ltd team to
create an infrastructure which will expand our dealer network, as well as increase fuel availability, for our racing customers throughout the UK and Ireland. We're
delighted to have found a professional organisation worthy of VP's stature, to represent us in the UK and Ireland."
With a passion for motorsport and logistics expertise, Race Fuel Ltd is uniquely positioned to cater for just-in-time fuel deliveries with immediate next-day,
pre-race transfers and flexible delivery options. Race Fuel will provide a complete end-to-end solution for VP Racing Fuels, encompassing fuel import and
storage, as well as promotions and marketing support.
"VP Racing Fuels is well known as the world leader in race fuel technology, with winning formulations in every series" added Race Fuel Ltd.
"The brand's portfolio is huge and the VP team has already provided us with brilliant technical support to help us provide the best possible fuel to racers. We
will be working together to further develop the VP Racing Fuels' presence in racing, rallying, sprint, endurance, motorcycle, indeed, all areas of motorsport."
In addition to the new relationship with Race Fuel Ltd, VP Racing Fuels also has products available for purchase at major race venues, including Santa Pod
Raeway and Mallory Park. VP Consumer Products are also available from Oldhall
Performance.
Day one of the UK National Finals was completely washed out by persistent rain, however this did not mean that the Anger Management
team were quiet. Whilst preparing to warm up the engine, a problem was found with the engine block which resulted in an engine change
to the spare, a job which kept the crew working until late in the evening.
Sunday looked to be a busy day to complete the event as one-shot qualifying would set the ladder for the three rounds of eliminations.
Nine Pro Mods were entered which would result in one team not making eliminations. The conditions were tricky, and with no data for
the track that weekend, the wrong set up could easily result in a DNQ. Luckily Andy kept his Championship hopes alive and nipped
into the number one position by two thousandths of a second with a 6.225 over Bobby Wallace's 6.227.
In eliminations the Anger Management Camaro progressed through round one with an improved 6.12 win, which tied up Andy's seventh
Championship, also overtaking Rob Turner for the most MSA Championships held, a big achievement upon which Andy has had his
eyes for a while.
Now concentrating on winning the meeting, Andy progressed through the semi-final to meet Chris Issacs in the final round. By this time
the evening was closing in causing cold and dark conditions. Unfortunately, whilst pedalling through tyre shake Andy's Camaro hit the
right barrier, which in turn caused a dramatic high-speed top end crash. Andy exited the car himself and walked to the ambulance, and was
released by the medical centre shortly afterwards.
Crew Chief Luke Robinson said "Firstly we'd like to say a huge thank you to the Santa Pod safety crew, the medical team and all
members of staff for all they did following the accident on Sunday night. We would also like to say thank you for all the messages,
calls and E-Mails of genuine care and concern which we have received from the drag racing community. It is heart-warming to say
the least and makes us proud to be part of such a tight-knit family!
"The Anger Management team will be back soon as time allows. We're figuring out a plan at the moment and we'll release more
details soon. Despite this setback the 2018 season has been a very successful year for us, and now we're even more determined
to come back out with a better and faster car. We're not done yet!
"We would like to thank our sponsors and performance partners NGK Spark Plugs UK, Torco Oils, Nimbus Motorsport, PAC
Racing Springs, Aurora Rod Ends, Weld Racing, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Victory 1 Valves, Mike Janis Superchargers,
Noonan Race Engineering, EZ Motorsports, Hoosier Tyre UK, PRS and Manton Rocker Arms. A huge thanks to the Anger
Management crew without whom none of this would be possible!"
For more information on the Anger Management Pro Mod Drag Racing Team, please visit our
Facebook page, and for more on the MSA Pro
Modified Championship please visit www.msadragracing.co.uk.
Classic Anglias. 17th October: Further to yesterday's
news item from Santa Pod Raceway, UK Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar writes that his class will
also be exhibiting at November's Lancaster
Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham:
This will be our second year exhibiting. Last year we had lots of interest in the class and we found that a lot of people who had never actually
seen a drag racer were drawn in and asked lots of questions. Rob Stone and Barry Woodford put in the effort with an Outlaw Anglia gazebo
and the 25th Anniversary DVD playing in the background which certainly drew crowds watching from start to the finish, again with lots of questions
afterwards.
If you are in the area then the Outlaw Anglias would be really pleased to see you on stand 5-130.
We have over sixteen riders signed up for the day with five twin-cylinder bike racers in with a chance of collecting the £500 winner or £250
runner-up and trophies.
After a wet Round 2 Andy Ball is currently leading on his 250cc Yamaha, despite split fuel hoses on his qualifying run, with Ian Chrichlow (leaving the
Hayabusa in the garage) a very close second on a Honda 250! Chris Mott is forsaking his Busa for Yvonne's street Harley, Peter Harrison on his
Ducati after a frustrating season and myself on the Honda SP1 will be keeping them busy on the day. Ian Turburville should also be making an
appearance on his old Harley, recently bought from NAST racer Terry Green.
More details about the Challenge Cup can be found on our web site at
www.supertwins.co.uk of search for ET Bike
on Facebook.
We would like to send best wishes for the future to Colin Felstead (S/Street 165) who has just got married in Ohio; his SuperTwin member dad is hoping
to ride this Saturday if not too jet-lagged. Finaly we wholeheartedly wish a full recovery to Giselle Moor who is making slow progress in Sheffield following
an operation after her tumble at the Redline Rumble in August.
Help offered, sought. 16th October: Michael McDonald is looking for a crew place on a race team, preferably a Fuel, Top Methanol or Pro Mod team.
If you are looking for crew then you can contact Michael on 07706 616961 or at
mcdonald_m3@hotmail.com.
Eugene Smith, who will be racing a new car in 2019, is seeking storage space for a race car trailer/transporter in Grays, Essex, or the
surrounding area."The trailer/transporter is used for the moving of race car only, not for business use", says Eugene. "We are novice racers so any help is welcome".
If you can help then you can contact Eugene on 07507 844967 or at eugene.gearhead@googlemail.com.
Another Classic for Santa Pod. 16th October: Donna Finnegan writes that Santa Pod Raceway will be exhibiting at next month's
Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC in
Birmingham:
Santa Pod Raceway will again be co-sharing the stand with Lucas Oil Products UK.
The Lucas Oil team will be available to answer all your motoring lubricant, additive and car care questions as well as having an array of motoring
products for sale on the stand.
Santa Pod Raceway will unveil the latest addition to its roster of historic drag racing hardware with Roarin' Rat on static display. Originally
a Small Block 1957 Chevy, it was transformed into a high-riding, supercharged, rat-motored drag strip demon in 1978. Roarin' Rat will join
the line-up of key acquisitions for Santa Pod's forthcoming museum project. Martin Hill's FireForce 5 Jet Dragster will also be on static
display for the first time. Visitors to the stand will be able to get up close to the Pratt & Whitney J60 jet engine which has powered FireForce 5
to eight 300+ mph passes this yeat alone, and to chat with Martin, Richard and Julian from the FireForce team.
The Santa Pod team will also be on hand with fresh-off-the-printer 2019 calendars and key event flyers.
The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show takes place from 9th-11th November and you will be able to find Santa Pod Raceway's stand
at 2-660 in Hall 2.
AHRF Director attends HoF Gala. 16th October:British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury writes that American Hot Rod Foundation Director David Steele is to attend the BDRHoF Gala
in Weybridge on Saturday 17th November:
David grew up in Buffalo, New York, the son of a factory worker at Chevrolet's Tonawanda plant who restored, raced, and collected classic
US Automobiles. While working as a professional musician during the 1990s and 2000s, David began to seek out and interview early hot rodders
and racers in the cities and towns which he toured. A chance 1996 encounter with early rodder, racer, and engine builder Tommy Sparks
introduced David to fellow pioneers and the American Hot Rod Foundation. Tommy mentored him on high-level restoration and maintenance.
David is also a freelance automotive journalist, has judged national-concours-level shows, and as a musician has made many appearances on
prime-time TV.
Stu tells us that the Gala Dinner is now fully-booked but that if you wish to be placed on a waiting list for cancellations then please E-Mail him at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk. The lunchtime Bench Race is turn-up-on-the-day.
Junior racers honoured. 15th October: Eire's own Junior Dragster team McDonald Motorsport organised a trophy presentation
for the class at last weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. As well as trophies, money, vouchers and prizes were donated
by Halfscale Dragsters Inc, McDonald Motorsport, Kevin Howlett, DJM Construction, Limited Funz Racing, Banshee Racing and Sticky Situation Racing.
The new Halfscale Dragsters Incorporated Cup was presented to Caitlin Wilson (right) to honour the whole family of herself,
Morgan, Rachel and Duncan. This season the Eurodragster.com staff were asked to select the winner and we chose the Wilsons as a
perfect example of what a family operation is about. They visibly enjoy their racing, are always smiling and set a good example to others, for example showing respect
to the team in the other lane - we have seen Duncan rushing to help with a remote starter when an opponent's car has problems. Caitlin and Morgan are what us oldies
would call well-brought-up and they make perfect role models for other girls thinking of getting into racing. In addition we never met anyone who doesn't like Rachel
and Duncan. An example of the team's dedication to the sport is that they attended the Dare 2 Be Different day to help to introduce the sport to a new audience.
Congratulations to all of the trophy winners (in order of presentation):
Leaver's Cup: Ruaridh Hart
Best Newcomer: Lara Bartlett
Best Junior Stock: Archie Wray
Best Junior Modified: Harley Coulsell
Best Junior Modified Advanced: Lottie Bradford
Improved Junior Stock: Jacqueline Callin Bartlett
Improved Junior Modified: Daniel Weir and Freddie Taylor
Improved Junior Modified Advanced: Tom Kay and Frankie Taylor
Most Motivated Junior Stock: Meka Jo Gadney and Richard Willcox
Most Motivated Junior Modified: Harry Redshaw and Harley Jay Darby
Most Motivated Junior Modified Advanced: Holley Marshall and Skye Collier
Most Consistent Junior Modified: Luke Mugridge
Most Consistent Junior Modified Advanced: Matthew Dowdy and Jordan Payne
Most Enthusiastic Junior Stock: Kimmy Willcox
Most Enthusiastic Junior Modified: Sam Fairhurst
Most Enthusiastic Junior Modified Advanced: Frankie Fordham, Thaliah Gibb and Katie Ellis
Best Reaction Time Junior Stock: Liam McDonald
Best Reaction Time Junior Modified Advanced: Jack Gooding
Future Star of Tomorrow: Kaitlan Deevey and Thomas Cook-Abbott
Junior Dragster Cup in memory of Anita Board: Joe Holland-Villa
Best Junior Dragster Crew: Graham McDonald
Halfscale Dragsters Incorporated Cup: Caitlin Wilson for the whole team
The Best Crew trophy, which was won by Graham McDonald, was voted for by his fellow Junior Dragster racers and families.
Junior Dragster racers and parents please note that the official presentation pictures are available for free download from a private gallery
whose link is available by E-Mailing tog@eurodragster.com.
The venue is the Oatlands Park Hotel, 146 Oatlands Drive, Weybridge KT13 9HB. Thanks to sponsorship from US Automotive,
and also Custom Car magazine publisher Kelsey Media, the Bench Racing session will take place at 12:00 noon on a first-come,
first-seated basis. It will feature well-known names from the European drag racing scene who all have some connection
with Dennis Priddle, which will ensure it develops into a memorable session.
The current line-up for the Bench Racing session, to be chaired by Graham Beckwith, is:
Dennis Priddle, former Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car Champion
Barry Sheavills, Top Methanol and Top Fuel Dragster Champion
Roy Phelps, former owner and promoter of Santa Pod Raceway
Stuart Bradbury, former Santa Pod Chief Starter and Chair of the BDRHoF
Andy Craddock, former Top Fuel Dragster racer and Dennis' competitor from the 1980s
Geof Hauser, crewman for Dennis' main 1970s competitor Clive Skilton
Pelle Lindelöw, former Top Fuel Dragster Champion, and regular visitor from Sweden to the UK between 1982-2001
Gary Page, former Pro Comp Champion and Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car racer from 1970s to 2010s
Steve Read, Top Methanol Champion and, following emigration to Australia, Top Fuel Champion
Brian 'Star' Savidge, longtime crew member with Dennis.
Copies of Mister Six: The Story of Drag Racing Legend Dennis Priddle will be available at that time, and following
the bench race there will be a legends' book-signing session with the subject of the book, who will be joined by the assembled
drag racing personalities. It will provide a unique opportunity to personalise copies of the book on this special occasion.
Books sales otherwise will be via mail order only, and will be £30 including post and packing, which will currently only
be available to UK addresses. No books will be delivered prior to the official launch, due to time-sensitive information contained
within it. The ordering procedure will be in place to accept orders by Monday 29th October; information on ordering will be available
by that date on my Keith Lee Images web site via the very appropriate web link
www.mistersix.co.uk. Alternately, you can E-Mail me direct on
sales@keithleeimages.co.uk with your name, plus current delivery
address, and I will send an invoice back to you. Payment will be via a secure Paypal link, which also allows payment by any credit
or debit card - a Paypal account is not required. Dispatch will be in order of confirmed payment receipt.
Keith has just posted the latest Mister Six book Blog update over on the Acceleration Archive web site containting more detail on
the book launch plans and updated details on how the book can be purchased when it becomes available in the near future. The Blog
can be found at
www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
When the dream became reality. 14th October: The UK's newest Super Pro ET racer, former UK National Junior Dragster
Champion Nick Mugridge, has been in touch with the story of his entry to the class:
The year had been going really well. I purchased Luke a new 8.90 engine from our longtime engine partners
Craws Racing who supplied all of my engines in Junior Dragster, whilst Dad was finally making positive steps
with our Camaro in Comp Eliminator, which is the first time we've entered the Camaro in official competition
since Super Mod had been merged into Comp. As we were running both cars for the whole season my duties
this year were split between making sure that both cars were ready for every round, in the case of the Junior
Dragster I was now in full control of its maintenance.
The summer break rolled in and nothing in particular was going on for us since neither car needed any major
work during the break. I was scrolling through the classifieds on my pad one morning when I stopped on an
ad I'd seen before but had been changed. Ian Powell was selling his dragster turnkey but had now changed it
to include a rolling price. It was in my budget so I dropped Ian a message. After a phone call to talk about the
Dad and I made the trek down to Cornwall to visit and view the car. Obviously we had seen the car before at
the track but not in any detail, as you're usually working on your own car all weekend. A deal was done and
I finally had my own dragster, complete less engine but we did a deal on the Powerglide and converter as well.
At the end of August we were at the Junior Fun Day having a great time and also displaying my dragster. The
day got even better when our friend Matt Wright came by. He had brought Stevie's Junior Dragster and I was
involved in helping her gain her licence. Matt said he had a proposition for me, that if I helped him to build
up the 580ci engine which used to be in the Rolls Royce then I could use it to gain my licence this year!
Knowing that the National Finals was the only race left which would allow me enough time to pull it off I
agreed. This led up to incredibly long days for about five weeks, in the garage 'til past midnight every day.
Parts which I needed to install the engine were ordered and we went through the entire car. We also made the
decision to swap out the Hurst shifter, install my new Biondo shifter and wire in its auto shift function to
it easier to drive for my licencing runs.
The weekend before National Finals was D-Day. We arrived at Matt's with one of my best buddies Ricky,
who also crews on the Camaro, and we spent two incredibly long days building the engine. It fought us all
weekend, trying to scupper our chances of making the event. Matt was back and forth to Jeff Bull Race Engines
that week having the rotating assembly rebalanced to getting crank bearings whilst Ricky and I made a journey
to meet up with Steve Large who very kindly loaned us a couple of rockers to replace those which were damaged
a few years ago.
Much of our relief, on the Tuesday night before the Finals the engine was in the chassis and the dragster breathed
life once more. We loaded up all three race cars which was a challenge in itself and we were off.
We arrived at the track Thursday and set everything up for Friday's test day. We made adjustments on the Friday
morning and towed down for the first hit. I wasn't nearly as nervous as I thought I'd be, getting suited up and
climbing into the dragster brought back fond memories of my Junior days. Being strapped in I had zero doubts;
I was feeling extremely comfortable.
The first run was the a burnout and sixty foot. I pulled into the water box and on the signal lit the tyres up and
drove out once I felt the tires grow. It was amazing! I'd been dreaming of doing that for eleven years before this
the event and it was all worth it. I bought the revs up on the foot brake, into stage and launched to sixty feet then
lifted. I looked at the board and I had pulled a 0.038 light, not bad for a first try! We came back and serviced the
engine, changing the oil to check that the new pistons and rings were okay then went back up for the second run
which would be a half pass.
I'd been given the OK to use the transbrake this time, which was fun for me. Burnout completed, a bit better this
time. The second amber lit up and I stood on the gas , the engine didn't like that and took a bit to stall the converter
so instead of trying to cut a light, I waited a bit to allow the car to stall but I ended up letting go of the button before
it was fully stalled anyway. I accelerated on and I then heard the auto-shift bang seconnd gear when my shift light
flashed so I knew that the system worked great. I lifted just past the eighth mile, 5.42/128 which was great!
I had to abort my third run as when I went into the burnout the engine died and wouldn't re-fire. Back in the pits
we found the distributor drive belt had moved which meant I couldn't start up as it was out of phase, a simple fix
which was a relief.
Due to the weather on Saturday I couldn't qualify for eliminations as I missed my final licence run on Friday. A
quick visit to Race Control and Carole kindly allowed me to tag on the back of E1 to finish my licence, so thank
you Carole for that opportunity.
I pulled round after everyone had run their races and completed the burnout, pulled it into pre-stage, this time I
stalled the converter on the brake before nudging into stage and hit the throttle on the second bulb. The engine
stalled perfectly this time and I went for the light, but as the transbrake button is faster than using my foot I went
-0.060 red. Flying down the track I felt the front end moving a little in the back half but nothing out of control.
Through the top end I pulled the chute and drove into it which I will work on next time; as soon as it opened
up the rear end lifted up which caused me to go into a fair bounce for quite a way. I hung on until it settled
down which gave me so much elation, I knew I'd done enough and I got really excited in the shutdown area
ending my weekend with an 8.35/159. It was the best feeling in the world.
There are a lot of people whom I need to thank for their help and hours put in to making this deal happen, without
them I would never have made it. Firstly Matt, Danielle, Stevie, Summer and Jenson Wright, without them this would
never have happened. I can't thank you enough for putting your trust in me with one of your engines, it means the
world. And congratulations Stevie on the Junior Dragster licence! The other person who showed faith in me was
John Tebenham. JT has been a family friend since before I can remember. Even as a kid in Junior Dragster I would
always run to the fences to catch JT run in his Probe, sometimes made easier when I could hear the Thunderbirds
theme tune playing throughout the track. Through JT's sponsorship I was able to bring the dragster to the track and
he will be backing me in the dragster at Easter next year as well, I couldn't be more thankful and of course I'll be
around if he needs help with the Pop or his new Pro Modified Vette.
And of course thank you to Mum and Dad, who have supported my efforts to get back out, and to Dad for working
all those hours to get my dragster to the track, we were all tired by the time we got there but then got a second wind.
Thank you also to Jeff Bull, Steve Large, Andy Hone, Ferrea Racing Components, Steve Clark at Nimbus Motorsport,
Eurodragster.com for excellent coverage (Thanks! You're welcone - Ed) and the Super Pro ET Club who have
all made me feel very welcome already.
I am very much looking forward to 2019.
A Get Well. 14th October: Jim Broome writes that race fan Richard (TopNitro) Stirling has been admitted to hospital
following a breakdown in his health, eight years after a similar episode: This came about following the organisation of a secret party for his wife
who has just celebrated a significant birthday to be followed by a get-together for many of his acquaintances which both had to be shelved at
the last moment.
Richard is due to be in hospital for at least another week and is channelling his energies into writing a book to include many of his drag racing
anecdotes and pictures. He believes that this could be a mammoth task but is also potentially therapeutic. Richard would be pleased to hear
from any of his acquaintances to relieve some of his boredom and can be contacted on his usual mobile phone number. Alternatively he can
be visited at Ward 35, The Radbourne Unit, Royal Derby Hospital DE22 3WQ. Visiting hours are 14:30-16:30 and 18:30-20:30.
As usual for Richard he was more concerned for Andy Robinson's health than he was for his own and he wishes to send Andy his best wishes.
After what was a dismal day of rain which curtailed racing on Saturday, everything was put into place for the darts match in Fuelers
Bar. True to her word, Donna's guest turned up and we were graced to have the presence of PDC's James Richardson along with his agent
Mark Wastell. We couldn't believe our luck when we realised we had the James Richardson, who is one of the top fifty ranked
players in the world. James joined the PDC tour in 2011 then in 2012 caused one of the biggest upsets in the PDC history by defeating
the world number one Raymond Van Barneveld 3-0 in the first round of the 2012 Championship. James started the night with a great talk
and then went over the dart board and threw throw some arrows to kick the whole evening off. He then very generously donated a set of
his personal darts for the winning team.
The format on the night was sixteen names drawn out of a hat to decided who was going to be paired with whom (Remember, Andy Thetford
was number two - Ed). We then played a knock out game in the elimination-style ladder which we all know so well. In between rounds
we had grudge-style call-outs with the loser putting money into the Bloodwise collection pot.
When we got down to the sharp end of things we had Darren Law and Ethan Lisle taking on Andy Thetford and our very own Angie (Top End) Daly.
It looked as if Darren and Ethan were going to walk away with it at one point, with Darren hitting a very impressive 140. However they
stumbled when trying to hit the doubles to finish the game, which let Angie and Andy back in. Andy then probably produced the best three
darts of the evening to kill off the game and claim the victory spoils.
A big Thank You to all the players who took the time out to come down and play darts and give over their hard-earned money.
We had many people say how great the darts set-up looked and this is down to the Woodpecker Pub in Raunds for the back boards, to Lloyd
Grey for the trussing and lighting rig and Stuart Curtis for helping with set up. A big thank you as well to Paul Savage and his team
from Fuelers Bar for looking after us so well.
We had loads of help on the night but it just could not have happened without the drive and help of Craig Wright and Sam Innes - thank
you boys, you were great as ever. Every now and then we get a shining star coming through in our sport and Colin Theobald you were as
ever you where a true star on the night and your commentary made the whole evening. Thank Yous must also go to Santa Pod Raceway for
allowing us to take over Fuelers Bar on Saturday night, to Funny Car pilot Steve Ashdown for donating a canvas print of the Undertaker
Funny Car which raised £130, to John Tebenham for your generous donation and we all look forward to seeing him back on the track next
season.
We also ran the Name the Ale Contest in conjunction with Pot Belly Breweries: the winner gets to name an ale and design the pump badge
to be launched at Dragstalgia next season. The winner will be announced soon.
£2000 is a great effort so thank you very much to everyone who donated.
UK National Finals snippets. 12th October: Many thanks to our good buddy and timing guru Andy Marrs for passing us the official UK National
Finals timing data, which you can check out by clicking here
or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Thanks also to Marrs for forwarding an updated table of European Bests, now containing Steve Woollatt's ACU UK Top Fuel Bike ET
record set at the UK National Finals. You can check it out by clicking here or
by clicking on the European and UK Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Congratulations to Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racers Thomas Cook-Abbott and Luke Mugridge who have now officially won the
Bob's Photo Finish Award, posted by longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts, for their finish line margin of 0.0005 seconds or
0.69 inches in E1 on Sunday. Thomas and Luke will each receive £50 from Bob to whom many thanks for his continued support.
Lucky, good, and lucky. 12th October: They sometimes say that it's better to be lucky than good, and whilst the UK's Isaacs and Tramm
Pro Mod team has shown flashes of good now and again they certainly haven't been lucky – but that all changed at the National Finals,
writes driver and Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Isaacs:
After life getting in the way of running before the European Finals we made significant progress at the race in Comp Eliminator,
seemingly getting to the bottom of the tyre shake issues which have haunted us for what seems like eternity! As such we came
into the National Finals with a degree of confidence we hadn't felt for some time.
One-shot qualifying was always likely to make things interesting though it didn't mix things up as much as I thought it might,
but in any case we qualified and were to face Kev Slyfield in the first round. Come the time and, as Jimmy Young might have said,
orft we jolly well went, and lo and behold we were just about keeping up with one of the top British Pro Mod runners – I could
just see the nose of Kev's T-Bird in the corner of my eye all the way down through the eighth mile and it was looking to be quite
a tight finish. Then we began to drift towards the centre line, I tried to stay with it but eventually decided to be kind to the
SPRC timing crew and not take out their thousand foot reflectors. The pedal job cost us around three or four car lengths and that's
how we stayed through the finish.
"Well that was OK", I thought, "we gave it a reasonable shot". I congratulated Kev and we chatted about the run and whom he would
race in the next round. Then our respective crews arrived and told us that Kev had redlit. Neither of us had noticed! Kev had
left first by nine hundredths but had suffered some shake so we were eight hundredts quicker to sixty feet, and both of us just
thought it was a good, tight race. Unlucky for Kev who had missed the tree by a measly hundredth of a second but – hurrah and
huzzah – some good luck for us at last. So it was Bobby Wallace we faced in the semi-finals, fresh from him clinching number two
in the MSA Championship.
Well, I don't know where I was looking when the lights ran, or maybe an ice cream truck sounded its bell as I went into
stage – anyway Bobby, one of the best leavers in the class, welded me to the Tree and proceeded to pull away at a puzzlingly
vast rate of knots. Then suddenly he wasn't pulling away, we were catching him, and we had enough track left to go in front
and take the win light. At the top end Bobby revealed that he had broken the Lenco transmission as he had had no drive when
he shifted into third gear, leaving him coasting. Unlucky for Bobby but, would you believe it, two lucky breaks in a row for
us.
However all was not well with the Duster and it was running, in Spencer's words, "Like a sack of s**t". A look at the data
back ain the pits showed that for some reason we were running the world's first five-cylinder Pro Mod, and that clearly wasn't
going to be enough for Andy Robinson in the final. Two of the dead cylinders turned out to be just duff spark plugs but we
had broken number five intake rocker arm, and time was running out to beat the dew point of the track. Fortunately the rocker
had sheared cleanly into two pieces, and both the rocker arm pieces and the valve lash cap were still lying in the cylinder head.
Equally luckily, when we fitted to two halves of rocker arm together they lined up perfectly with no missing bits that may
otherwise have been floating somewhere, and we had all the spares to fix it. So we all set to and got the work done.
So to the final and the first time I'd run Pro Mod in the dark. The Duster left the line nicely, and all the way past the
eighth mile mark I could hear Andy's engine but couldn't see him, so I knew it was close. Somewhere around a thousand feet
I couldn't hear Andy's engine any more, and after legging it through the finish line saw my win light come on. A small
celebration ensued inside the car. It was only when I stopped at the top end and the safety crew came rushing over to
check if I was OK that I learned of Andy's huge accident just behind me. It seemed an age but in what was actually quite a
short time word came through that Andy was A-OK and we all breathed a sigh of relief. He had escaped a big crash without
injury and we hadn't collided in a two-car accident... and so maybe this was the luckiest round of all.
At this point Spencer and I would like to do the Oscar thing and thank a whole bunch of people. Our crew of Vince Pinhorn and
Rachel and George Georgiou for all their work; Andy, John and Paul Przybyl for their help; Jeff Bull for building our engine
and pitching in to help us make the final; all the rest of the Tramm family for their support; and last but not least my wife
Rosie who has made a welcome return to the track this year and looked after us all in fine style – thank you honey!
We managed to accomplish quite a lot in the two meetings we did this year – eight straight passes without tyre shake, consistent
and fairly decent sixty foot times, and some round wins. Perhaps most significantly, for us at least, the Duster became the
first turbo car to win an MSA Pro Mod event, and it always will be. I don't really do pride, but I admit to being a little bit
proud of that!
Électrique Stephan. 12th October: After a successful start to the 2017 UK National Sportsman ET Championship season with victory at
the Festival of Power, the UK's Steve West was all set to run his electric Nissan Leaf again in 2018 until excluded by a new rule banning
electric cars. Steve didn't give in, though, and found not just a welcome but a title across the English Channel:
I was shown that I could take part in the French equivalent class of Street Run, so this year I went to France for three events in ATD Street Run.
There were thirty nine cars at the first event at Rivanazzano in Italy but I didn't attend this one as at that point I hadn't decided whether to race in France.
The second event was at Clastres, quite a large motorsport park with all sorts of car and bike events taking place . The weekend was also an American car
weekend - American cars are really quite big in France. The people there were really welcoming even though I turned up with a car that is decidedly not
American or V8!
The weather was hot and dry all weekend but with quite a strong headwind. The night time temperatures were really low compared to what we get in the
UK - I needed to remember more blankets for the next visit! There were fifteen entrants and another two drivers from the UK, Clive Dandridge with his Mustang
and Chris Redshaw with his MGF. As it was only my second event and my first outside the UK I was rather nervous but happy to qualify second by a very narrow
margin: there was hardly anything between first and second. After seven qualifying runs Saturday and then two on Sunday I did well in eliminations and progressed
to the final where I met the top qualifier and won as my opponent was off his dial-in. I was quite surprised to win what was only my second event.
The organisation at Clastres was first rate! There was some really good racing and the event ran smoothly after a major oil down from the first car on track Saturday.
The third event was again at Clastres and this time there were bikes there as well. We had a storm on the Friday night so the organisers had their work cut out to
prepare the track, repair the timing gear and get everything ready. Many of the competitors also had a lot to do due to smashed awnings and water in engines.
Fortunately nearly everyone managed to get to the start line. The weather cleared up on the Saturday, a few cloudy bits made us worry but the weather ended
up hot all weekend and the extra blankets were not needed. This time there were only two UK entrants, myself and Chris Redshaw, also crewing for his son Harry
in Junior Dragster. We again had seven qualifying runs on the Saturday, I managed to qualify first and Chris was an incredibly close second: 0.00012 of a second!
We had some really close racing and I got to race another electric car, a full rally-prepared Renault Zoe capable of running sub-fourteen quarter mile. The Zoe was
running a slower ET, catching the other driver up fast and then hopping past at the finish to try and take the win. Unfortunately for him when we raced I was right
on my dial-in so he broke out! I managed to get to the final again and beat my opponent when he broke out.
I was unsure about going to the third event, at Vichy Airport, but when I saw I was doing so well in the Championship - second at that point - I had to go and try to win.
Vichy is a way south of Paris so a long way for me... others have a longer drive but I was using my 1989 Landrover to tow my car and it feels much further when you
are stuck at lower speeds! The weather for the weekend was fantastic and the evening entertainment was a lot of fun with a mostly-impromptu band being put together.
This time I was the only UK entrant in my class but met more great people from all over.
Vichy is a working airport. They close Thursday night through to Monday for the event so the track has to be prepped and then the prep removed after. Quite a few
cars had issues with grip, and very changeable winds made it very hard for me. This time I had a really hard time, I only managed to qualify fourth and progressed to
the semi-finals where I somehow managed a 0.3 reaction time which was enough to knock me out.
I was pleased to find that I had done enough with the place to take the overall Street Run Championship. I was really pleased to win a Championship in my first season,
I think quite a few people were disappointed as I won it using my Nissan Leaf Electric, but the ATD Street Run Champion for 2018 is a 2011 Japanese electric car.
All the events at which I raced were amazingly well-run. The ATD Staff were amazing, looking after everyone from when they arrived to when they left.
They are very welcoming to new drivers and do their best to include you even with language barriers. I found some things they do a little difficult, such as signing
for your ET twenty minutes or more before you run, but you get used to it. They also don't do any heads-up classes, all events are ET. It's a shame that there are so
few events in France but they do not have the purpose-built venues like Santa Pod and even though Clastres is a motorsport park, they don't get to put on drag races
very often. But it's definitely worth going to race in France just for the experience!
Web site updates. 12th October: Our good friend Chris Eyre has updated his web site with a small gallery from the weekend's
UK National Finals, which you can check out by clicking
here or by clicking on the picture at right.
The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from No Prep 3 at Rockingham Drag Strip and VW Action at Santa Pod Raceway.
You can take a look at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
2019 SPRC Dinner Dance. 10th October:Santa Pod Racers Club are pleased to
announce that their 2019 Dinner Dance Trophy Evening will take place on Saturday 2nd February 2019 at the De Vere Staverton Park
Hotel, Daventry Road, Staverton, Daventry, NN11 6JT (map).
The event will present Champions and runners-up in the 2018 UK
National Drag Racing Championship, MSA British Drag Racing Championship, Santa Pod Racers Club Championship (for Pro Modified,
Comp Eliminator and the bike classes not covered in the UK National Championship) and SPRC Perpetual Award winners.
The arrangements are as follow:
Proceedings will start prompt at 6:00 pm; please be seated by 5.45 pm. There will be trophy presentations to the 2018 SPRC
Champions and runners-up followed by a charity game with proceeds going to Bloodwise. Any latecomers will be able to collect
their trophies after the first set of presentations.
Dinner will be served at 6.45 pm.
After dinner, the 2018 UK National Champions and runners-up will be presented with their trophies, followed by the 2018 MSA
British Drag Racing Championship, and finally the 2018 SPRC Perpetual Award winners.
Tickets for the Dinner Dance are £37.50 per adult and £20 for under-twelves, which includes a three course meal
plus tea/coffee and mints. The main meal for children will be chicken nuggets and chips followed by ice cream; please choose
a starter for your child and please also specify on the booking form that it is for a child.
If you have any special dietary requirements then please inform Yvonne at
trammyd5@gmail.com and she will include them on the
menu selection list for the hotel. Please do not approach the hotel yourself regarding special dietary requests.
You can download the booking form (PDF) by clicking here.
If you wish to pay direct to the SPRC bank account please contact Yvonne Tramm for bank details at
trammyd5@gmail.com. Please note that SPRC are unable to
take payments using American Express cards. Booking forms should be sent to Yvonne Tramm at the address specified
on the form and not to the SPRC office.
SPRC have negotiated a preferential rate for rooms in the hotel. These are £79 for a single room and £89 for a
double or a twin room, including breakfast on Sunday morning. To book your room, please call the hotel on 01327 220676
quoting reference SANT020219. Please do not try to book your room on-line as the electronic reservations system has
been told that the entire hotel is booked for that evening, so your attempt at reservation will fail. Please note that
SPRC have block-booked a number of rooms which will be available until 31st December after which date any rooms not
taken up will be put into general availability and the preferential rate will cease.
If you have any queries about the Dinner Dance then please contact Yvonne Tramm, not the SPRC office, at
trammyd5@gmail.com.
UK National, SPRC points posted. 10th October: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the final points standings in
the UK National Drag Racing and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships.
You can check out the UK and SPRC points on our OCS Paint-sponsored
Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here
or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Swift snippets. 10th October: Big Bruv Bob Tucker asked us to say a big Happy 60th Birthday to Ray Tucker and congratulations on his
new sponsorship from the Department of Work and Pensions. Have a great day Ray.
SPR's calendar expands. 10th October: Further to last Friday's snippet, Santa Pod Raceway's
2019 calendar adds exciting new events to its roster of
familiar favourites. More than fifty events are featured in 2019's February-to-November season.
Two new fixtures join the Championship drag racing schedule, the Springspeed Nationals in May and August's Green Light Nationals. These raise the number of
Santa Pod's National and International Championship races to seven, with individual Championship classes also competing at other events. The Festival of Power
launches the Championship season as usual over 2019's late-April Easter weekend and Santa Pod's two FIA/FIM European Championship races take place on their
traditional May and September dates. Historic drag racing will be highlighted by a quartet of events headed by Dragstalgia in July and accompanied by the VHRA
Vintage Nationals (April) and the National Street Rod Association's Nostalgia Nationals (May) and Hot Rod Drags (September).
On the festival and enthusiast front, the 2019 calendar features a brand-new event in June for fans of all German car brands, Das Auto Show, which will complement
Santa Pod's regular array of Volkswagen and BMW events headed by July's Bug Jam 33. Other freshly-minted enthusiast events include May's Vauxhall Show and July's
Ford Show, while there'll be a second opportunity to enjoy the spirit of April's Fast Show with the launch of The Fast Show Reloaded in late June.
Santa Pod's complete 2019 calendar is now available on-line at www.santapod.co.uk/calendar2019.php
and includes full event and ticketing information. Ticket sales open on 1st November. The print edition of the 2019 calendar will be launched from Santa Pod's stand
2-660 at the Classic Motor Show on 9th-11th November.
The MSA Pro Modified final was marred by a hideous crash involving Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson whose
Camaro got airborne after hitting the guardrail. To everyone's relief Andy got himself out of the car and walked
to the ambulance, testament to the construction skills and standards of Andy Robinson Race Cars and, of course,
to SFI specs. 9.50 Bike racer Dave Bowe was taken to hospital with a dislocated shoulder after a top end crash
and Funny Bike racer Dave Buttery took a spill after getting into a huge tankslapper, however we understand that
his injuries were minor.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored reports,
results and galleries by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page.
Please join Tog in a big Thank You to Simon for working out Championship standings in real time under
considerable pressure yesterday, and to Julian and Diana for their hard work on the galleries.
Swift snippets. 5th October: As we went to post Santa Pod Raceway published their 2019 calendar. We are
expecting more details from SPR about the new calendar but in the meantime you can take a look at
www.santapod.com.
Thanks to Lena Perés for letting us know that this year's EDRS Banquet
takes place at 19:00 on Saturday 24th November at the Sunlight Hotel and Conference Centre in Nyköping. Bookings
must be made by 30th October. For more information click here or click on
the image below left.
First with the 2019 calendars is photographer Matt Woods. Matt's calendar, which will be a limited edition, is
A4 and features twelve of his favourite images - "It was really hard to choose just twelve!", says Matt. "The calendar
would make a great Christmas present for the drag racing fan in your life. The calendar is £10 plus £1.99
for UK postage or £4.75 p+p air mail to the USA". To order yours contact Matt via his web site at
www.mattwoodsphotography.com.
The best of weekends. 5th October: The NSRA Hot Rod Drags has always been a favourite for UK Wild Bunch team Limited Funz
Racing whether racing themselves or just soaking up the atmosphere, but Lynne Coulsell writes that the 2018 edition turned
out to be one which the team won't forget for a long time:
BallBreaker had been put to bed for the season after Dragstalgia as we had gone through three fuel pumps this year
and we weren't sure why. Someone came up with the bright idea of trying a belt-driven fuel pump so we woke her back up and
fitted it. We had some good runs with this new set-up at the Redline Rumble and Steve tried a number of things to see what
would work best for us. We even managed a cheeky little PB of 8.38, over our best of 8.39 from earlier in the year at the
Nostalgia Nationals. All happy, we packed up and waited for our favourite event of the year, Hot Rod Drags.
We were all set up on Friday night ready to see what BallBreaker would do for us on Saturday. Steve and Mark had
fitted a high-speed lean-out the weekend before so we weren't sure what would happen. First run out on the Saturday, after
a rather long wait in the usual HRDs queue, and we saw 8.2/157 come up on the boards as BallBreaker went through the
finish line! Apologies to anyone whom Steve, Anna and I may have deafened as we left the start line, but we were a little
bit excited!
We couldn't poker face our excitement to Mark when we went to collect him from the bottom end and we arrived with hazard
lights flashing and horns hooting! He knew that it was a good run but was stunned when we told him what it was. Finally
he'd beaten Steve's previous best speed of 157.22 mph with a 157.39, about which he was equally as chuffed as the 8.23!
No more teasing Mark about that one now, Colin Theobald! Back to the pits and our fab Wild Bunch racers had lined up to
welcome us back clapping and cheering and even had a silver blow-up crown for Mark – it made the whole experience extra
special.
We made another run later in the day, which was an 8.41 as the car decided to go a little sideways and we all looked
ridiculously disappointed. Final run of the day and we bagged another PB of 8.22. Another great reception from the Bunch
back in the pits and it was time to get ready to Crackle. Harley was excited too as Marras Rob and Hayley had offered him
their Tot Rod to join in the Cracklefest, thanks to them for putting a smile on his face and to Phillipa Turton for the
loan of a firesuit and helmet as we realised he didn't have his with him. Sadly Ian Coulsell couldn't make it with his
beautiful 1949 Chevy truck in matching BallBreaker livery so no push start down the old fire up road for us but
Mark wasn't going to be outdone by anyone and his was the last engine to shut off at the end of the Cracklefest before
the fantastic fireworks began.
The girls went down to watch the band in the marquee and Steve and Mark milled around in the pits with a couple of beers,
still smiling from ear to ear about what a great day it had been. Steve's final question before we turned in for the night
was "Are we going for points or a PB in the morning?". Mark looked at me, I looked at Mark, we both looked at Steve and
collectively decided that as we never go for points, and as it was our last meeting of the year, another PB would be nice.
Sunday morning arrived and we gave the lovely Claire Meaddows a dial-in of 8.22 as we thought "Why not!". BallBreaker,
usually fairly inconsistent bless her, decided to play ball and although we didn't hit another 8.22 we didn't think we'd done
too badly. Everyone was still smiling and we started to pack up and reflect on a great HRD's. We all gathered round where
Claire was going to deliver the WB prize presentation ready to congratulate the winners. Spot prizes first and Mark was delighted
to receive the Drivers' Choice award for the weekend, which is voted by the other WB racers. Claire started to read out the top
four in the traditional reverse order:
4. Pete Huckle in the Jagster – at this point Steve, Mark, Anna and I usually switch off a little bit as fourth is the highest
we've ever managed!
3. Phil James in Rampage
2. James Auld in Little Fauss - everyone was delighted for James as it was the highest he'd ever achieved...
...First place, and with a weekend of PB's too... Mark Coulsell in BallBreaker!
Mark Coulsell speechless, now that doesn't happen very often, as those who know him well will vouch! Steve and Anna
remained sitting on the floor and were applauding like someone else had just won and I stood there in total disbelief
at what had just happened! We were absolutely gobsmacked but obviously over the moon! Eight years of blood, sweat,
tears, far too many ££££ to mention, more laughs than a comedy club and we'd finally bagged ourselves a first place, and
to do it at Hot Rod Drags was the icing on the cake.
Thank you Santa Pod for giving us a Hot Rod Drags which we thought we wouldn't feel again after Shakey, to everyone there
for giving us an amazing track to race on and keeping us all safe, Colin Theobald for the great commentary (how did you have
a voice left after this one flying solo for most of the weekend) and Eurodragster.com, as always, for the great coverage and
galleries for us all to look back on (Thanks! You're welcome - Ed). We're all still buzzin'!
Finally Mark would like to say to Steve Cassisi "A massive thank you for tuning a race car which has achieved times which I
thought I would only even dream of. Marra Chief you are the best and I'm so proud of what you have achieved since we all decided
to build BallBreaker back in 2006."
The writing and layout stages have just hit completion point - almost simultaneously, as it has turned out, due to the addition
of some late news. It is now a case of getting proofs approved, prior to actually initiating the final act of having the books
printed.
With regard to availability, the limited-edition hardback book will be available to purchase on-line, for shipping following
the launch date. I will be taking books along to the launch event, and these will be available to purchase on the day. It will
be on sale at a price of £25, but please note that I will not be able to accept credit card payments. It will be a great
opportunity to get it signed by a number of racing greats who will be at the Bench Race at that time.
The web site is currently being worked upon. Fittingly, in the circumstances, the web site can be accessed via the very
appropriate link www.mistersix.co.uk.
I plan to start accepting orders for the book on-line by the end of October. Price will be £30 including signed
delivery, and I will be able to accept Paypal and major credit card payments. Please note that currently I will only be
able to accept and ship orders to UK addresses.
There will be an exclusive preview of the book in the upcoming November issue of Custom Car magazine,
which is due out this Friday. The magazine's owner Kelsey Media have joined US Automotive in sponsoring the
Bench Race session, which will feature well-known drag racing personalities from the UK, Sweden and Australia
who all have a connection with Dennis Priddle. It promises to be an entertaining session!
The finalised book details are: Large format, sewn binding hardcover book, with an 11 inch x 8.5 inch silk finish
page size. Page count is 208 (a significant number in the Priddle story), and it is filled with well over 300 colour
and black and white pictures. More important than the pictures, this is the story of a very memorable drag racer,
and the word total in this account runs to some 100,000 words in recounting the life and times of Dennis Priddle.
Currently there are just a few tickets still available for the evening's Hall of Fame Gala. To book a seat, contact
Stu Bradbury by E-Mail at stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk.
There is a Facebook group, Mr. Six - the Dennis Priddle story at
www.facebook.com/groups/398554693879332,
and I will be updating the Mister Six Blog over on the Acceleration Archive shortly.
Arrows for Bloodwise. 3rd October: Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway writes that the
usual football match will not be the focus of fundraising for
Bloodwise at this weekend's UK
National Finals due to a rutted playing area. However, the alternative will allow you to
get to the point of raising funds for this very worthy cause in memory of Paula Marshall:
We think that we have come up with a good alternative with which everyone can get involved, and that is darts in the
area of Fuelers bar. There will be plenty of activities to keep you amused including a live band in the main bar area.
We will have three dart boards to amuse everyone on the night and to get through the activities.
We have two main games in mind. The first is 501 in the lowest number of darts, which will be £5 a go and we
will offer a good prize to the winner.
The second is a pairs knock-out tournament style 301, normal dart rules at £10 per team. Again the winning pair
will pick up a nice prize and if we get chance a few grudge matches can be thrown together. I mean who wouldn't want
to see Steve Ashdown v Liam Jones throwing down at the oche or David Left lane Warren taking on Ian Right lane
Marshall - let's make them happen, money talks.
There will be other activities for you to have a go at such as table tennis and air hockey if you fancy challenging one of
your crew. Also we will again be doing Name the Ale again to win the right to have an ale in your name and to design
the pump badge which will go on sale at Dragstalgia in 2019.
If you're interested then just come down to Fuelers bar on Saturday night, or if you have a team to enter then get hold
of Craig Wright or Sam Innes on Facebook.
Two of the dart boards are already sponsored but if you are interested in sponsoring the third then please E-Mail me
an offer at darren@santapod.com. You can also write
for any other information.
TwoEurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Awards, each of £50, will be on offer after the Award was won by
Gearhead Garage Super Pro ET racer Paul Brown at the FIA/FIM European Finals. The money will be paid in cash to the first two racers to
record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds during qualifying or eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first two Perfect Lights of
the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com
decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs
only).
The Eurodragster.com/Vitesse Labelling Products Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Gearhead Garage
Super Pro ET racer Joe Kellett at the FIA/FIM European Finals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer to run +0.000 on index
or dial-in during qualifying or eliminations. The Perfect ET Award will be available this weekend in Gearhead Garage Super Pro ET,
Modurstang Pro ET, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster
(eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch, Nostalgia Super Stock, 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, Junior Drag Bike and ET Bike,
but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event.
To be eligible to win the Award, decals (right)must be carried, clearly visible, one on each side of the vehicle.
If a Perfect ET is recorded without decals then there will be no argument, we will not pay out and the money will be awarded to the
next racer to record a Perfect ET. Decals will be available in Signing On from this Friday.
For more information about the services which Vitesse Labelling Products can provide please see Al Platt in the Modurstang Pro ET pits or visit
www.vitesse-labelling.co.uk.
Bob's Photo Finish Award, which is presented in association with longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts, will award
£50 each to the racers involved in the closest race of eliminations at this weekend's event. The first Bob's Photo Finish Award
was posted at the SPRC Summernationals and was won by FIM Europe Junior Drag Bike Cup Champion Meggie Talbot and Blade Dummer in a
semi-final race which was decided in Meggie's favour by 0.26 inches (0.0002 seconds).
The closest race will be decided upon distance rather than time since, for example, 0.001 seconds at 230 mph is further than 0.002
seconds at 110 mph. For this reason the official timing data will need to be consulted so the winners will be announced here on Eurodragster.com
as soon as possible after the event and the winners will then be contacted for their preferred method of payment.
Bob's Photo Finish Award is open to all classes during eliminations only and although Eurodragster.com decals are not mandatory we would
appreciate if it they are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On.
Sunday 7th October
07:30 Signing On office opens
07:30 Car scrutineering opens
07:30 Bike scrutineering opens
09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations
The provisional running orders are now available and can be checked out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other
reason deemed necessary by race officials.
No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event including Friday's
Alltorque Test Day. Before 09:00 vehicles should be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven or ridden.
Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.
Junior Dragster and Junior Drag Bike racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside
Scrutineering.
Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish
to raise any matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see the Race Secretary
who is based in Signing On.
Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes,
to vacate Commentary as soon as their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.
At the request of SPR management the Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly
out of bounds during racing except to Eurodragster.com staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting
Eurodragster.com Perfect Award money.
2018 UK Championship outcomes. 1st October: This weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway is the final round of all
UK National Championship car and ACU Drag Bike classes, as well as MSA British Drag Racing Championship (Pro Modified)
and other classes. Simon, who with Yvonne Tramm co-ordinates the UK National Championship points, has
provided the following analysis of Championship outcomes:
In MSA Pro Modified, Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson has a lead of 34 points over Jimmy Ålund, and a lead of 52 points over Michel
Tooren, neither of whom are attending. Andy's closest rival is therefore Kev Slyfield whom he leads by 61 points. Kev would have to win the event and
Andy qualify poorly to win the Championship, but if Kev wins one round he will achieve runner-up spot. Bobby Wallace is just three points behind
Kev and could also, mathematically, overtake Andy if he suffers a nightmare weekend.
Andy Hone leads the SPRC Competition Eliminator Championship by 470 points over Robin Orthodoxou, with 590 points available. Andy
needs only to qualify fourth or better to secure the Championship.
In Super Comp Stuart Doignie, who is going for his unprecedented fourth and a consecutive, Championship, leads Leah Kellett by 240 points.
480 points are available so Stuart will need to qualify top and go one round, or simply go two rounds, to secure the Championship. Leah needs to qualify
top and win the event to get the title. Running a perfect ET could affect the outcome too, as this is awarded 50 points.
The Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout 2018 is a three-way battle (can a shootout ever be three-way?) with Simon Gough ahead of three-time
Champ Stuart Doignie by 40 points, which is less than one round of racing. Team Morrice Boys Racing are another 200 points back. Of Simon and Stuart,
whoever goes two rounds more than the other in the race, regardless of qualifying, will secure the title. Team Morrice Boys Racing will have to win
the race and rely on the others going out in round one to win the Championship.
In Super Street, congratulations to Dave Cherrett who has won the Championship with a 450 points margin over Leigh Morris.
Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET is between Brad Jackson, who is 160 points ahead of Team Pryzm, who are in turn 80 points ahead of Scott
Hauser. Brad will need to qualify well and go two rounds further than Team Przym - Paul Przybyl being the driver at this event - to secure the title,
whereas Paul will need to qualify better than Brad and win the event. Scott will need to go three rounds ahead of Brad and Paul and qualify better
than either. So it will be another fascinating three-way battle.
Modurstang Pro ET is led by Paul Brown who is 310 points ahead of Team Dark Horse - Lee Huxley driving at this event - who are 30 points ahead
of Bob Molden, with Team Thatadoo a further 80 points back. With a field of twenty six cars, qualifying will be important. If Paul qualifies better than the
others then he will only need to win two rounds of racing to secure the title. But if Lee qualifies top and Paul qualifies worse than ninth, then the race
could go down to the wire.
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET is led by Felicity Gibbs who has a 550 point advantage over our Eurodragster.com colleague Kirstie Tramm.
Kirstie's team-mate and class sponsor Andy Dibley is 230 points further back. Felicity needs 400 points to secure the Championship so qualifying top
and winning one round of racing, or qualifying last and winning three rounds of racing, would suffice. To achieve the Championship Kirstie would
need to qualify at the top and go to the final round, with Felicity going out round one and qualifying thirteenth or lower. Andy could get runner-up
spot if he goes a couple of rounds further than Kirstie and qualifies more than three places higher.
In Lucas Oil Junior Dragster Caitlin Wilson attained the points lead by virtue of winning the European Finals and is 400 points ahead of Matthew
Dowdy. Previous Champion Jordan Payne is another 60 points further back. Caitlin can secure the Championship by qualifying first and going two rounds,
or going four rounds with a qualifying position in the top sixteen. To win the Championship Matthew would have to win the event and qualify near the
top with Caitlin going out early.
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator is led by Joe Stevens, who is 80 points ahead of Andy Bond. Martin Smith in third place 220 points further
back is out of the running and we hope to see him back soon. Whoever qualifies ahead of the other and goes furthest will win the title.
UK Nostalgia Super Stock (MSA events) is led by Amy Watkins who has a margin of 140 over her brother Tom and Guy King who are in joint second
place. With a healthy entry of sixteen, any of these three could win. Thanks to Ethan Lisle for sharing the points, and for passing on the below
news item.
VW Pro is led by Paul Bargate who has a 290 point advantage over Sam Chisholm Brown with Adrian Solly another 60 points further back. Paul
will have to go two rounds further and ten qualifying positions higher than Sam to secure the title. Adrian would need to qualify better and go one round
further than Sam to gain second position, however Sam is part of the three-car Team Mulisha - will team strategy aid his cause?
In VW Sportsman Polly Judge leads Jon Crawford by 330 points with Paul Day another 280 points further back in third. Polly will need to win
three rounds of racing if she qualifies in the top half of the field to secure the Championship, whereas Jon will need to win the race, qualify in the
top half of the field and have Polly go out in round one to take the title.
The Wild Bunch run several Championships, however the one relevant for the UK National Finals is the Springbridge MSA Points Challenge.
Phil James has a margin of 250 points over second-placed Darryl Howells, and qualifying second and taking runner-up will secure him the title. Darryl
would need to qualify at the top, win the event and have Phil go out in round two to take the Championship.
The Outlaw Anglia title has been won by Colin Millar for the second season in succession and congratulations to him.
ACU Top Fuel Bike is led by Steve Woollatt with a margin of 160 points over Allan Davies. Steve will need to qualify in the top two and win
one round of racing (with points for low ET and top speed) to secure the Championship. Allan will need to qualify well, win the event and set points
for Low ET and top speed with Steve losing in round one to take the title.
In ACU Funny Bike, Lorcan Parnell has an unassailable lead of 970 points over Dave Peters and congratulations to Lorcan and Team Storm on
winning their first Championship. Dale Leeks is 90 points behind Dave and will therefore need to qualify better and go one round further to take runner-up.
ACU Comp Bike has a bumper entry of eighteen for the UK National Finals including eight from the Netherlands. Double Redline Rumble winner
Erik Jennes has a 100 point advantage over Margot Schmidt (both from the Netherlands) and Sean Mills is a further 95 points back. Erik will need to qualify
better and go one round further than Margot to secure his Championship. Margot will need to qualify better and go two rounds further than Erik, and Sean
will need to win the event and have Erik and Margot go out in round one to take the title.
ACU Super Street Bike is led by Steve Venables over team-mate Graham Balchin by 210 points, with Rick Stubbins a further 90 points back. The title
has only had one competitive round so far, the SPRC Summernationals. So with fifteen bikes entered and four rounds of elimination in prospect, if one of
the leaders has a problem and loses in the first round, the potential is there for any of these three to win the title.
In 8.50 Bike Jake Mechaell has a 550 point lead over Ian Chrichlow and will need only to qualify well or get a round further than Ian to secure the
Championship.
In 9.50 Bike David Bowe has a 320 point lead over Rick Sawatzki who in turn has a 520 point advantage over Brett Cordelle. David will need to
qualify better than tenth and go three rounds to secure the title, whereas Rick will need to win the event and have David qualify poorly and go out
before the final round to take the Championship.
The SPRC Supertwin Top Gas title has gone to Michael Gooding; congratulations to him.
The ET Bike title has again gone to Phil Pratt; congratulations to him. Runner-up spot is a tight battle between Dave Grundy, Jasmine Cordelle,
Paul Adams and Gary Hester all of whom are within a points margin of 120.
ACU Junior Drag Bike is led by Liam Holgate who is 110 points ahead of Meggie Talbot with Casey Holgate a further 110 points behind. Liam will
need to qualify better and go a round ahead of Meggie to secure the title - but the converse is also true.
The post-FIA/FIM European Finals UK National and SPRC Championship standings are now available on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points
Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint
Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ACU UK Drag Bike Championship points are available on
the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com.
Eurodragster.com will be covering the UK National Finals, as well as Friday's All Torque Test Day, in association with
John Woolfe Racing, with Webster
Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast on all
three days. You can check out our UK National Finals Event Index, which includes a link to the updated final official entry list, by
clicking here or by clicking
on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
A season of growth. 1st October: UK Nostalgia Superstock Chair Don Scott has plenty of reasons to feel good about the class as
it approaches this year's final round:
We have seen numbers building meeting by meeting over this year, and many of the Lifestyle event cars have been made MSA-legal, so we are very happy to announce
that the UK National Finals has a sixteen-car field of leaf-sprung muscle battling it out for the 2018 Championship.
With the Big Bang round earlier in the year being missed, the MSA UK Nostalgia Superstock Championship was cut down to just two rounds. The first round of the two
was the SPRC Summernationals at which we saw some really close racing. The event win was taken by Amy Watkins in her Pontiac Firebird, racing brother Tom Watkins in the
semi-final and going on the take the win against Guy King in the final.
All eleven cars from the first round are back with the addition of another five cars, for some of whom this will be their first time running MSA regulations.
This is very promising for the growth of the class. We cannot wait to see how the Championship pans out and how the numbers increase further for the
2019 Championship.
18th October: Andy Fadster tells us that the UK's Supercharged Outlaws will be going mob-handed to next week's Flame and
Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway:
Two Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Awards, each of £50, will be on offer after the Award was won by
Gearhead Garage Super Pro ET racer Paul Brown at the FIA/FIM European Finals. The money will be paid in cash to the first two racers to
record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds during qualifying or eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first two Perfect Lights of
the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.
