European Drag Racing News (2024)

Lot 5 - Brand New 1970s Commuter Dragster Poster (125cm x 47cm)

This poster of BDRHoF member Tony Densham at the wheel of Santa Pod Raceway’s iconic ‘The Commuter’ dragster was first released in the very early 70s by PACE International. The poster is one of two in the series (the other being Bill Weichelt’s Asmodeus/Dos Palmas dragster) which back in the day could be bought at any high street card shop or from Santa Pod’s Dick’s Place. This picture shows a pre-loved poster but we have one on offer which hasn’t been mounted or framed in any shape or form and looks in the same condition as it did when first purchased for just 70p!

Lot 31 – Drag Racing Handbook

Produced by Santa Pod Raceway in 1970 the Drag Racing Handbook was a 48 page A5 glossy booklet featuring British racer, car and bike profiles, facts and figures, a quick history of the NHRA Nationals and American drag racer and land speed record racer Mickey Thompson with period pictures and adverts. A great addition to any fans collection.

Lot 32 – 1976 Drag Racing Calendar by Adsell

Produced by Adsell this large format calendar featured lots of action shots captured at by Simon Adsell, Tony Freeney, BDRHoF member Lawie Gatehouse and Bob Massey while on location at NDRC on-tour meets and at Santa Pod. Swedish photographer Bo Bertilsson also contributed images taken at Mantorp Park. Featuring 8 double sided full colour pages (one of which features picture descriptions) features 2 to 6 images on one page, was ‘back in the day’ a must for any drag racing fans office wall or workshop.

Lot 33 – 1977 Drag Racing Calendar by Adsell

Produced by Adsell this large format calendar featured lots of action shots captured at by Simon Adsell, Tony Freeney, BDRHoF member Lawie Gatehouse and Bob Massey while on location at NDRC on-tour meets and at Santa Pod. Swedish photographer Bo Bertilsson also contributed images taken at Mantorp Park. Featuring 8 double sided full colour pages (one of which features picture descriptions) features 2 to 6 images on one page, was ‘back in the day’ a must for any drag racing fans office wall or workshop.

Lot 34 – Original Kenny Youngblood Cartoon drawing

Kenny Youngblood is one of America’s prolific automotive artists and graphic designers. Kenny’s love for drag racing also led him to building his own slingshot dragsters as well as racing them in the late sixties. Now he does a lot of personal appearance which is where BDRHoF member Roger Gorringe picked up this one-off cartoon of a Top Fuel Dragster racing across London Bridge to the sound of Big Ben at the 2001 SEMA Show.

How does the auction work? See an item at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee that takes your fancy, then write your bid on the bid sheet for the item at any time and raise it as often as you want if you find someone else outbidding you. The Auction runs on Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am, closing at 5pm when successful bidders will be notified by text. Winners can pay for and collect their items up to 6pm that day or on Sunday till 4pm.

There will be no Auction on Sunday but the Sale of memorabilia will continue on all three days. Credit card payments are accepted for Auction and Sale purchases.

As well as the Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia, there will be a unique display of Competitor Protection Gear harking back to the earliest days of British drag racing.

Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for a reminder that the closing entry date for Bug Jam to be held at SPR on 26th-28th July is this coming Friday 5th July.

The Bug Jam entry list is at this linkon the SPRC website, and you can see details of the event at bugjam.co.uk.

Bug Jam '37 entry

closes in 2 Days 11 Hours 14 Mins 58 Secs

The Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award are usually posted at UK National Championship events but sponsors Cath and TigNapier of UK Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing have kindly offered to post £50 for the first 0.000 Reaction Time at Dragstalgia.

The Perfect Light Award will become available at the start of qualifying, currently Gasser Circus Q1which is scheduled for 17:00 on Friday,and from that point will be available to all racers in all classes. As ever, the money will only be awarded for the first PerfectLight of the event. As this is a bonus event, if the Perfect Light Award is not won at Dragstalgia then it will remain at £50 for Bug Jam on on 21st-23rd July at Santa Pod Raceway.

Eurodragster.comdecals are not mandatory to collect the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate if it they are carried, althoughwe do of course understand about decals on period-correct cars and bikes. If you would like to carry Eurodragster.com decals thenthey are available in Signing On.

The next Hayley HadfieldPerfect ET Awardsponsored by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield will be at Bug Jam.

Our event coverage is supported byJohn Woolfe Racing.

Thanks for Nigel Charman for sending this news into Eurodragster.com. Nigel says:

"We will be attending Dragstalgia this weekendwith the Two Much dragster to honour the loss of Norm and his contribution of around 50 years to Drag Racing

We hope to run the car as exhibition only and will have a book of condolence to sign.

Please come and visit us as this will be our only event this year as it has been a difficult year and much still to do".

SCHEDULE (Provisional schedule can be found on the Santa Pod website or by clicking this link.

Nostalgia Super StockProvisional timetable is:

Friday 5th July

1. Q1 - 18:10hrs

Saturday 6th July

1. Q2 - 09:40 hrs
2. Q3 - 12:00hrs
3. Q4 - 14:20hrs
4. E1 - 16:40hrs

Sunday 7th July

1. E2 - 10:10hrs
2. E3 - 12:25hrs
3. E4 - 14:40hrs
4. E5 - 13:30hrs
5. Final-16:30hrs

Thanks to former editor Tog who attended last weekend the MPH Vintage Sprint at Deenethorpe Airfield Corby and has supplied us with two photo galleries, one on-track and the other pits, return road and show field.

You can see Tog's galleries by clicking hereor by going via our Events sponsored by John Woolfe Racing.

Happy Birthday for today to Eurodragster's pit photographer and crew member for Mark Sheridan,Diana MacRae, Hot rodding and drag racing pioneer Maurice Takoor, colleague of John Bennett at Spa Engineering, to Supercharged Outlaws racer-in-waiting Bob Glassup, to former Super Street racer Bob Lees, Comp Bike racer Daniel Bergelin and to Nostalgia Super Stock racer Nick Martin. We hope you all have a fantastic day.

Sportsman ET racer Michelle Walker would liketo say a big thank you to Mark Fairhurst, Mark Munday, Williams Brothers,but mostly my husband Roy Walker, for all their hard work they have done to get me back on the track after 2 years of revamping my car, it's been a lot of money, hoursbut it was worth it. They brought her into the 21^stcentury.

Michelle came out at the Summer Nationals test day on Friday and gained a new PB in both time and speed, She hopes to made them all proud and worth it.

Today's Pioneer Story: This year seesthe60thanniversary of the 1stBritishInternational Drag Festivalandto mark thisoccasiontheBritish Drag Racing Historiansareproducing more storiesto be published onEurodragsterthroughout this yearstarting withthe first BritishDragster.

Phil Watershas putthis story together about theAllard Chrysler Dragster, the brainchild ofSydney Allardwho had been reading Hot Rod Magazinein 1960. It was designed and builtat Allard’sbetween January and June 1961as an attempt to generate interest in Drag Racing in the UK.Sydneyranthe dragsterat sprints and speed trials from 1961 – 1963breaking records andcreating much interest from the motoring press.

The Allard Chrysler Dragsterwill beone of the many historic dragstersatDragstalgiaalongwitha replica of the Mooneyes Dragster whichwasthe first American Dragsterto arriveon British soil afterDante Ducechallenged Sydney Allard to a race in 1963.

You can read the full story byclicking here

Lot 26 – Bob McClurg’s Digger, Funnies, Gassers & Altered book

Dedicated and autographed to friend and trackside colleague Roger Gorringe author Bob McClurg looks at the 60's from its grass roots era to its full-blown professional motorsport. Along the way, it created some of the most exciting racing and race cars ever built. An accomplished magazine writer and photographer, Bob McClurg is best known for his drag racing images of the 60s and 70s. With more than 350 colour and black and white photos, this book is an exciting visual history of the Golden Age of drag racing packed into 204 pages including 248 colour & 128 black and white photos.

Lot 27 – Drag Racing Funny Cars of the 1960s photo archive

In the 1960s funny cars captured the fans with tremendous smoky burnouts and gigantic wheelstands, they were so unpredictable. Photographer Lou Hart has created a photo archive of the finest that has ever graced a drag strip. Many raced for Saturday night bragging rights, but many raced for a living - today they are legends of the sport, several of which have contributed information to this 128 page soft bound book.

Lot 28 – Drag Racing Funny Cars of the 1970s photo archive

See the cars raced by many of the legendary names in drag racing, including Don Prudhomme, Tom McEuen and Jim Dunn. The authors, Lou Hart and Wallace A. Wyss have included action shots, as well as detailed "in the pits" shots. Photographs show various makes and models of cars that have been reconstructed as Funny Cars, plus everything from Stock to Modified Camaros, Mustangs, Javelins, Dodge Chargers, and Firebirds, to oddball exhibition cars. Loads of nostalgia packed into 128 pages of soft bound pleasure.

Lot 29 – Vintage & Historic Drag Racers book

Researched by Robert Genat this soft bound publication features the history making Dragsters, Funny Cars and more of the best vintage drag racers of the late 1950s and 1960s! Genat describes each car's race history and their well-known drivers and tuners of the era. See Don Garlits' Swamp Rat 1, and many others. Super Stock drag racing of the 1960s is covered extensively, most notably the radically altered stock bodied vehicles that would forever change the face of drag racing. 96 pages of colour and black & white will keep you quiet for ages.

Lot 30 – Petersen’s Best of Hot Rod book

HOT ROD – the iconic American magazine. The Best of chronicles some of the publications best photographs and articles from the world of hot rodding, drag racing and speed records since the late 1940s. This 190 page soft back also covers the development of the hot rod with a variety of customized and high-performance cars ever conceived on four wheels. A fantastic and rare collector’s edition that could grace any enthusiast bookshelf!

How does the auction work? See an item at the BDRHoF's pitside marquee that takes your fancy, then write your bid on the bid sheet for the item at any time and raise it as often as you want if you find someone else outbidding you. The Auction runs on Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am, closing at 5pm when successful bidders will be notified by text. Winners can pay for and collect their items up to 6pm that day or on Sunday till 4pm.

There will be no Auction on Sunday but the Sale of memorabilia will continue on all three days. Credit card payments are accepted for Auction and Sale purchases.

As well as the Grand Auction and Sale of Drag Racing and Hot Rod memorabilia, there will be a unique display of Competitor Protection Gear harking back to the earliest days of British drag racing.

• Pro Modified : Andy Robinson 5.8200/245.13 def. Bobby Wallace 6.0924/237.77
• Pro ET : Ronnie Mercer (10.35) 10.3265/121.81 def. Amy Watkins (9.63) 9.5561/141.12
• Super Pro ET : Daniel Giles 7.4359/172.34 def. Scott Hauser 7.3037/179.93
• Super Comp : Paul Hudson 15.8083/68.28 def. Warren Watts 9.0025/149.11
• Comp Eliminator : Gary Carr (11.79) 11.0613/112.33 def. Nic Williams (8.45) 8.0107/170.46
• Street Eliminator : Andy Bond 7.339/206.00 def. Alan McSweeney 8.0745/134.42
• Sportsman ET : Peter Walters (12.32) 12.3382/109.63 def. Gary Lake (13.92) 13.9613/96.01
• VW Sportsman : Jon Crawford (16.10) 6.2571/77.47 def. Phil Jones(16.10) 16.6144/79.65
• VW Pro : James Hodson (10.85) 11.1073/114.16 def. Jake Fronda(11.88) 11.7314/111.80
• Super Gas : Stuart Morrice 9.9127/150.56 def. Dave Fulton 9.9064/143.01
• Outlaw Anglia : Ben Kennedy 8.8174/154.76 def. Colin Miller 7.9848/160.16
• Wild Bunch : No Contest (All competitors broke)
• Junior Dragster : Luke Mugridge (8.01) 8.1005/76.81 def. Ted Sullivan(8.33) 8.4904/75.26
• ET Bike : Scott Collier (9.60) 9.7365/120.19 def. Phil Pratt (8.92) 8.9723/147.59
• 8.50 Bike : Craig Wright 8.5945/161.35 def. Carl Thomas 8.4963/164.26
• 9.50 Bike : Dave Hall 9.5518/129.41 def. Joshua McClean 9.9081/138.21
• Super Street Bike : Jake Mechaell 6.8398/212.87 def. Alan Morrison Jnr 7.0875/160.81
• Comp Bike : Jasmine Cordelle 7.4829/171.75 def. Michael Piggott 7.8355/181.42
• Funny Bike : David Peters 7.2031/177.80 def. Thomas Josvog
• Top Fuel Bike : Steve Woollatt 6.2520/203.31 def. Phil Crossley 8.5410/98.84
• Junior Drag Bike : Declan Butt (13.95) 14.1271/48.25 def. Maggie Smallman (9.73) 9.9115/23

Bob's Photo Finish Awardby sponsor and longtime Eurodragster.com supporterBob Robertsfor the closest finish of a green light and non-break out race, winners will be announced once the data has been received and verified.

We look forward to receiving racers reports from the weekend, please email us at[emailprotected].

Markus Münch from DRU (Drag Racing Union) and Dragmag.de has released this update onDRU Pro and Supro ET Challenge Standings. Markus writes:

Pro ET: At Clastres #24, Rene Schindler is in the final against Gerd Habermann. Habermann wins. This puts Rene Schindler in second place in the DRU Pro ET Challenge with 166 points. Ronnie Mercer from England continues to lead with 177 points. Niek De Kruif from the Netherlands, Rene Siefert, Thomas Bublitz and Janine Petzold follow closely behind in terms of points.

Supro ET: At Clastres #24 Alain Dürr is in the final against young gun Lucas Potthoff. The Swiss/Basel located Dürr loses to the young man from Iserlohn Germany. But Alain Dürr collects enough points to move to third place in the DRU Supro ET Challenge. Oliver Petzold from Gera Germany (Team Schumann Motorsport) is busy collecting points and leads the gang with 221 points, ahead of Michael Mikuscheit (219 points) and Alain Dürr with 204 points. Franz Aschenbrenner, Lee Huxley and Christian Schneebeli follow.

There are plenty of opportunitys to collect further points. The NitrolympX, the Hillsrace in Rivanazzano and a few races in Santapod are still on the agenda for various participants. If you are interessted in participating next season, just get in touch with us.

A special Tour will happen during the next two month. The Teams of Thomas Bublitz, Jens Könnecke, Ronnie and Annie Mercer, Billy Gane (in the 7.6 Sec heads up class) „Mr Fraudster“ Jenkins will go on a summer Tour to Mantorp, Gardemoen, Tierp and Hockenheimn to have a blast. And they can collect points for the DRU Challenges as well. That‘s a great thing to happen. Travel, race, make new friends, meet old friends, Dragracing is so much more then just racing.

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all our sponsors who are supporting us this year. Their support is the winners and runner ups prize money.