Carter joins our Blog team. 29th November: We are very pleased to welcome current and three-time FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter to the Blog team here on Eurodragster.com. Andy plans to update his Blog once per month during the off-season and more often when racing gets underway. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out Andy's introductory Blog entry by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Leanders head for Florida. 29th November: FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champions and Eurodragster.com News sponsors Ulf and Jörgen Leanders are headed for the USA to show off their revolutionary and successful Top Methanol and Pro Mod clutches at next week's PRI Show in Orlando. "I think this will be a very good opportunity for us to get the Americans to discover Swedish quality", says Ulf Leanders. "We are very much looking forward to this event." ©Eurodragster.com Lena Perés writes that the Leanders' intention is to convince the American that Swedes are very good at race parts and that they have one of the world's highest-quality products. "If you are going to the show, then make sure that you visit Ulf and Jörgen's stand, #2155, close to the entrance and just beside Manton Engineering. Keep an eye out for the banner designed by Stefan Boman (right, click for large version). Stay tuned for Lena's report from the PRI Show, and for more about Leanders Bros Performance Products check out www.leandersbros.se/mainpages/products.htm or click on the logo at left. Swift snippets. 29th November: Cindy Newbury has been in touch to let us know that the Psycleworkz Pro Stock Bike is on display on the Drag Bike stand at this week's International Motorcycle Show at the NEC in Birmingham. "Having being up there for the last two days, the show is well worth a visit", says Cindy. "There are plenty of new bikes to look at and events going on. The show is open until 7th December." ©Eurodragster.com Photo-journalist and graphic designer Mark Gredzinski has given us a look at his latest work, a depiction of Don 'The Shoe' Schumacher's Stardust Barracuda Funny Car from 1973, in acrylic on canvas. "This is one of four Stardust Cudas which Don ran at the time before progressing through to the Wonder Wagon Vega later in 1973", says Mark. "This car was significant in that one of the yellow Stardust machines made it to Santa Pod for one of our first tastes of proper American Funny Cars, together with Paula Murphy's STP Duster. I've a few more Funny Car paintings to finish in time for Christmas and also a commisioned 1970s Pro Stock." Mopar Euronats DVD review. 27th November: DVD producers Power Point Communications have produced an entertaining disk of the 2008 Mopar Euronats at Santa Pod Raceway, writes Simon: The Mopar Euronats was blessed with glorious sunshine. The line-up includes a heady mix of Mopars in race trim and street legal, other guest Yank cars and a select bunch of drag racing demos. There were three days of RWYB action so plenty of track time. There are other events and the return of the cruise to the Wellingborough KFC was extremely well attended. Founder of the event Jim Wilson said the cruise is a family event. Burnouts now take place at the SPR Action Arena with track crew on hand, enough space for doughnuts and handbrake turns and grandstands for the crowd, a big improvement over previous years. The owner of a '68 Super Bee says the event is his summer holiday having been to it for the last fourteen years. The event attracts cars from France (The French Connection) and Ireland and overall car count is spectacularly high. Simon Barker from primary sponsor and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Nitrous Oxide Supplies explains his distribution network of the power adding gas in the UK and how he is becoming more involved with American muscle cars. Duncan 'Cannonball' Watts attended in his newly imported AMX Javelin, a neat looking imported tube-framed doorslammer. Some of the other rapid non-Mopar runners are included. These either come separately or in groups like Taz Racing and Surrey Muscle. There were also some UK Drag Racing Championship cars such as Jon Giles' Willys which was running well under the Super Gas index, John Sleath's Audi, Wayne Nicholson's Pro Mod, Mick Payne (headed towards Pro Mod with an ex-Gordon Appleton rolling chassis) Paul Manders and Chris Orthodoxou. The UK Muscle Car Power Tour, a larger group featured, is running at all three tracks with open rules such as no power adders but with slicks allowed to a maximum of 10.5 inches. ©Eurodragster.com Saturday runs for twelve hours making for a tremendous atmosphere. There are a variety of camera angles both on and off track, but we were struck with the longer angles from the grandstand - more please! The show and shine was full of immaculate vehicles but, as judge Jim Wilson explained, some cars have been restored from a sorry state to pristine conditions. Jim's contribution on this part of the DVD, commentating on the Show and Shine and interviewing contestants, is educational, entertaining and informative - something the BBC used to claim for itself. Then we have the burnout competition. The soundtrack volume goes up and it's vaguely surreal for a few minutes until the smoke clears. Then it's more RWYB, trophy time (all winners being credited) and right at the end a brief but fascinating interview with Al "The Lawman" Ekstrand. The soundtrack adds to the atmosphere of the lifestyle event and the DVD is a great antidote to the winter. It's also a superb souvenir of a memorable event. The Mopar Euronats is a production of Power Point Communications and can be obtained direct for £14.99 plus £1.50 UK postage and packing from www.quartermilehigh.com or click on the logo at left. Larsen's Stratus arrives. 27th November: Danish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dan Larsen of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Dansk Auto HiFi has taken delivery of his newly-acquired Dodge Stratus Funny Car. Joan Larsen tells us that Dan could hardly wait to start playing with his new toy. "It did not take long to get the car indoors", says Joan, "and it was even less time before Dan was sitting in it. He said that it felt good. Then they put in the bellhousing, so that Dan could also try the clutch pedal, and he was very happy. This car fits him better than the old car. ©Eurodragster.com "While we were waiting for the car to arrive, we were working on a design. Darren from Power Race Graphics has done us a beautiful design, which you can now see on our web site at www.funnycar.dk. I have also updated the site with more pictures of the car's arrival, and I will update it every time we get something done." Three threes out of four. 27th November: UK Sportsman ET racer Nick Gay has achieved a hat-trick of third place finishes in the UK National Championship, taking #3 spot in three of the last four years. Nick has been in touch to let us know how his season went: We started the year well at the snow affected Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway, reaching the semi-final. This was followed by the Big Bang, once again at SPR, where I had my best result ever qualifying first and winning the meeting. This was unfortunately followed by a four-meeting barren spell when the car was fine all weekend then jumped out of gear when it came to racing! But a solution was found for the last race of the year, the UK National finals at SPR, and I progressed to the final where I redlit by a mere 0.008! This was my only reaction time error of the year, as in every other race during the year I was first away from the line. This was the most pleasing thing to come out of the season. Winter modifications are already underway for 2009. A turbo has been added to the supercharger to give more top end boost and once this has been sorted I plan to back half the car to include a tube rear axle and roll cage. This will mean that I can enter Pro ET at international meetings, if I can get the car to run low twelves. Also the car has been resprayed matt black. It looks so much meaner that it will stay that way, although this look will be refined with complimentary body mods. ©Eurodragster.com After testing the car at the Flame and Thunder Show, some more work was needed on the engine set-up to help the motor to use the extra boost. I have added a second radiator and moved the intercooler (left).A home made water injection system will also be added this week ready for a test run on Regal Autosports' new 1000-brake Mustang dyno. If all goes well then I will be out at the first Run What You Brung to nail down the set-up well before Easter. Nick tells us that he is not the only Sportsman ET racer planning to run quicker next season. You can see pictures of Ian Jackson's new ride, and read about John Parker's resurrected Mustang, on the class' official web site at www.sportsman-et.co.uk. Swift snippets. 27th November: Santa Pod Racers Club are holding their Annual General Meeting at 8:00 pm next Tuesday, 2nd December, at the Ibis Hotel in Wellingborough. ©Eurodragster.com We would like to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers in the United States of America. Have a great day guys. Outlaw Flat Four DVD review. 27th November: DVD producers Power Point Communications have changed the line-up of productions now on sale for 2008. Outlaw Flat Four make their DVD début and it is an entertaining one, writes Simon: This is the class' third year, and they compete at both MSA and lifestyle events holding rounds at the Springspeed Festival, Open Sport Nationals, Yanks Weekend, Nostalgia Nationals, Mopar Nats and Hot Rod Drags. Paul Venners introduces the action with his usual good humour and in-depth knowledge of the racers. Much side-by-side heads-up wheels-up action ensues. The DVD starts with the Open Sport Nationals, the last race of the 2008 series but one of the best attended; if you want to watch the races in order then the discs indexing makes this an easy task. One of the stars of the meeting and eventual winner was Richie Webb and many of his wheels-up launches and runs deep as quick as 9.67 are included. Richie and his Beetle Cabriolet have gone to the US and we look forward to hearing about his progress. Pete Shattock also made some wild wheelies although his car is naturally aspirated. Martin Taylor's '52 car is street legal with a wild engine and some of his outings in Street Eliminator are also viewed. The cars of Jim Smith and Dave Dinning have full cages and Jim fabricates cars through his business Cotsweld. Phil West's spin at the Open Sport Nationals is included and he explains coming down from a wheelie with the front wheels not dead straight is not such a good idea but his car control was magnificent and saved the day. Anton Murrell's Karmann Ghia, bought from E-Bay for under five thousand and run unchanged, got to the final in the fifteen-car entry. ©Eurodragster.com The Springspeed Festival includes Bernie Newbury who ran an 11.25 for the floorpan (non full tube chassis) record. There is a class ethos of Personal Bests and a great deal of camaraderie. Several of the cars are driven to the track and still return mpg in the high twenties with the idle jets fitted. A month later, the class met at the Yanks Weekend and some shots of the thirtieth Garys Picnic are included. A couple of German competitors including Udo Becker (who has been racing since 1993) and Ole Endlander were present and closer links with the VW drag racing scene on the Continent are being sought. Bernie Newbury had quite a serious fire on his run which was attended to speedily by the SCR fire and ambulance crew; let's hope we see Bernie racing again next season. The meeting also saw RWYB between the class and some potent-looking Yank machinery many of which were embarrassed on the track. The class made its début at several long-established lifestyle events. At the Nostalgia Nationals, there is some in-car footage in Pete Englezos' Fiat 600 which shows the car moving around a great deal even with a relatively calm launch. That is followed by the Mopar Nats under blue skies and the Hot Rod Drags. Paul Bate in the orange Beetle made some great launches. There is a bonus section from the 2007 Hot Rod Drags where the class ran in RWYB mode. In summary the Outlaw Flat Four DVD is a great insight into this class. It is a close-knit community with members often working on several of their competitors' cars and components. The web site shows the class is well supported and is by the way well worth a look at www.outlawflatfour.co.uk. Production by David Coleman and Helen Todd is excellent. Outlaw Flat Four is a production of Power Point Communications and can be obtained direct for £14.99 plus £1.50 UK postage and packing from www.quartermilehigh.com or click on the logo at left. Our next Power Point Communications DVD review will be the 2008 Mopar Euronats. A Trip well worth making. 27th November: Guests of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Grandstand Motor Sports' Drag Racing USA tour returned recently from Las Vegas and Pomona. Britain's leading motorsport travel company chose NHRA's final two POWERade Drag Racing Series events to open its account in the sport, writes Robin Jackson: Guests basked in virtually unbroken sunshine throughout their visit, a real delight after the recent miserable summers at home. While the prize draw winners enjoyed their Saturdays sampling Don Schumacher Racing's pitside hospitality, guests were also treated to private tours of Gary Scelzi's Funny Car pit and trailers while the crew prepared for qualifying, and of NHRA Race Control with senior race commentator Bob Frey. ©Eurodragster.com Away from the track, guests went backstage at Shelby Automobiles, John Force Racing and the legendary SO-CAL Speed Shop. An eve-of-the-Finals supper was held at Dalcorp Racing's marvellous 'Area 51' custom/classic car showroom-cum-racer's lounge in the lively company of NHRA Museum Executive Director, Tony Thacker. Guests stayed at the famous Flamingo Hotel situated at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip and at the smart new Ayres Suites adjacent to the giant Ontario Mills shopping centre, just fifteen minutes' drive from Pomona Raceway. Two guests, intending just a holiday, wound up buying a brand new race car for Super Pro ET competition next year. Expect to see more news on Eurodragster.com when the car arrives in Britain. Following the tour's success, an expanded drag racing programme features prominently in Grandstand's first-edition 2009 brochure, starting with a Florida trip in March to NHRA's ACDelco Gatornationals. For a free copy of the brochure telephone 0845 375 0300, check out www.grandstandmotorsports.co.uk, or simply click the Grandstand Motor Sports logo at right. Magazine update. 27th November: The January 2009 issue of Drag Racing Action has a turn of Sportsman action as well as an interview with John Force Racing's Funny Car racer Mike Neff and David Powers Motorsports' Antron Brown, writes Jerry Cookson: You'll need your sunglasses on when you get behind the wheel of the world's quickest 1960 Chevy Bel Air. Owned by Mike Casella, this seven second classic of Outlaw Street packs 707 cubic inches of Donovan power on two stages of nitrous. Staying with the Sportsman theme DRA gets under the skin of Mark Parente's Top Sportsman class Pontiac GTO. With over 1200 horsepower at his finger tips, Parente has been as quick as 7.20s at 190 mph, all without the use of nitrous. Other features include Mopar's Big Block Party in Colorado, chassis safety, Stop Light Drags, the latest from the American Drag Racing League, and much more. Drag Racing Action is now available at £4.95 to order either as a single issue or subscription from American Auto Mags at www.americanautomags.com. Hooked on Gassers? Then the latest two issues of Gasser Wars magazine are right up your street. Features include the classic Stone Woods & Cook Swindler II Willys Coupe, action from this year's Willys Home Run, Holley's Hot Rod Reunion, East Coast Gassers at Beaver Springs and much more, and that's just issue 56. Issue 57 features Skip Coverdale's AA/Gas Anglia, Spiegal Brothers A/GS Willys, Gezzer Gassers at the Grove, and a very Hyper(active) Henry J. Gasser Wars is now available at £4.95 to order either as a single issue or subscription from American Auto Mags at www.americanautomags.com. For Doorslammer fans there's RPM Magazine, dedicated to fast Doorslammer racing. Features here include a look at the Thompson Brothers '97 Firebird The Fugitive driven by JT Thompson, Lee Adkin's dual purpose nitrous Pro Mod and Top Sportsman '57 Chevy Bel Air, and Lambert Racing's '76 Camaro Super Pro bracket racer. There's a ton of reports from the Outlaws at Atco, and round-ups from the PMRA and OTCA. RPM Magazine is now available at £5.50 to order either as a single issue or subscription from American Auto Mags at www.americanautomags.com. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 26th November: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no information but even your mechanically-disadvantaged News Editor was able to recognise it as a wheel, likely a front wheel. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us an E-Mail at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Carrying on the spy theme, a cuddly and much-loved mole who was there at the time got word to us that a European Top Fuel Dragster racer was recently spotted giving their cheque book a pretty good workout in the USA. Tentative enquiries to the the racer concerned resulted in a promise to let us know all about it within a few days, so stay tuned for details (This snippet is going to win me a bet - Ed). If you want your good lady to know just how much you love her, or if you're a girl who loves drag racing, then Eurodragster.com News sponsor Tireshake.com can cater for you with this very fetching new T-Shirt. For more details, or to order your T-Shirt or other drag racing apparel, check out www.tireshake.com or click on the logo at left. ©Eurodragster.com On a similar subject, Eurodragster.com will be running the traditional Christmas Gift Mart news item next week. We already have some very nice present ideas lined up, but if you would like to add a blatant plug for your own goods or services then please send an E-Mail to eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Please keep it brief, a paragraph or two, don't forget web site or other ordering details, and please note that we will only publish one picture per submission. Next week's category in the 2008 Santa Pod Racers Club Perpetual Awards vote will be Best Appearing Car. Please join us in a big Thank You to our Photo Editor Roger who, although still jet-lagged and generally shagged out from his recent USA trip, went above and beyond the call of duty to prepare the pictures in double-quick time. If you have not already voted for Most Promising Newcomer, or if you have not put in a nomination for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, then you can view the official SPRC Perpetual Awards page by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. Apologies to those who have sent E-Mail to our Webmaster or Tog addresses in the last few days only to have it bounced with an apparent Mailbox Full message. The mailboxes were in fact empty despite the bounce message. The problem has been resolved by our ISP Selfnet and we have forgiven them because their service is normally so reliable. If you suffered a bounced E-Mail to Webmaster or Tog then please re-send it as it will get through this time. Web site updates. 26th November: As promised, Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has updated his Nitro Exposure web site with pictures from the recent Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona as well as new shots on the Home and News pages. Roger's Pomona update again features pictures not included on his Feature posted here on Eurodragster.com the other day. Check it out at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Editor's note: Only a brief news update today due to pressure of work in your News Editor's day job. Tune back tomorrow for a season review from UK Sportsman ET racer Nick Gay, an account of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Grandstand Motor Sports' recent Trip to America, the first of several Quartermile High DVD reviews and more, and please keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com. SPRC Perpetual Awards week 1. 24th November: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 7th February 2009. For seven of the eight 2008 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. There are eight awards in all: this week's category is Most Promising Newcomer. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon the winners. Nominees for Most Promising Newcomer have impressed whilst contesting their first full season or making their on-track début in 2008. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Martin Blackwell, Supertwin Fuel Go to vote John Bradshaw, Super Pro ET / HKS Drag Series Pro Go to vote Joe Elliott, Supertwin ET Go to vote Jon Giles, Super Gas Go to vote Gabrielle McDonald, Junior Dragster Go to vote To place your vote, go to the official SPRC Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which votes are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Raceway's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to SPRC Chief Starter Ian Marshall. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprc.awards.2008@btinternet.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. Voting is per category, so if you vote for Most Promising Newcomer today then you will be able to vote for next week's category, and so on. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist. 2009 eXplosion race dates. 24th November: Henriette Selles has been in touch with confirmed 2009 race dates for eXplosion Drag Racing Club events at Drachten Airfield: ©Eurodragster.com 19th-21st June: Drachten Nationals 10th-12th July: Drachten 2 21st-23rd August: Goodridge Dutch Finals You can find the eXplosion Drag Racing Club web site at www.explosiondragracing.com. Feature: Auto Club NHRA Finals. 24th November: The latest in our occasional series of Features in association with John Woolfe Racing is Roger's report and pictures from last week's Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona. Roger's report and pictures cover every class contested at the event. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out Roger's NHRA Finals report and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Captions will be displayed if you place your pointer over any picture. Roger has also sent us an updated report from the AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. You can check out Roger's updated report, which is also presented in association with John Woolfe Racing, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Having sent off Las Vegas, Pomona and SEMA Show reports (our SEMA report will be published within the next couple of days - Ed) to various publications whilst fighting jet lag and acclimatising himself to the UK after enjoying eighty degrees in California, Roger has somehow found time to update his personal web site Nitro Exposure with pictures from the AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. Roger's shots are in the main different to those published here on Eurodragster.com and you can check them out at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. Crazy Horses coming closer. 24th November: Brian Taylor's book Crazy Horses, which documents the history of drag racing in the UK, has taken another big step towards publication as Brian has forwarded final photos and captions to Haynes Publishing. In addition, Amazon in the UK are now taking pre-orders. "Hayned have had the main manuscript for some weeks", Brian told Eurodragster.com. "Their editors are now working on the project, with layout due for completion during February 2009, ready for an April 2009 UK launch followed by a launch in the USA three months later. The first pre-order offer is already up on Amazon.co.uk and the Haynes sales team are selling the title to the trade. It will appear on the Haynes web site as a forthcoming title shortly. ©Eurodragster.com "I would like to thank everyone who has helped me to research the story during the past two and a half years. It would not have been possible without this input and I hope everyone enjoys the read because it is their story. I was just lucky enough to share the excitement during the 1970s and to be in a position to plot the history so that it is down in colour for posterity. "Any specialist book shops who would like to stock the title please let me know so that I can notify the Haynes sales team to make contact. Thanks again to everyone." Swift snippets. 24th November: Malta Drag Racing Association Secretary Jason Camilleri writes that the final event of Malta's drag racing season takes place at Hal Far Raceway next weekend, 29th-30th November. "With lots of categories still to be decided, and lots of drivers very close in Championship points, this should be a grand finale", says Jason. "We should have around one hundred vehicles competing in this final round so we'll hope for the best of Finals." Bike racers can get a sneak preview of the main changes to the rules of the 2009 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships on the Pit Lane Gossip page of the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. Also on two wheels Sören Svensson of Sweden's Team Kendall Top Fuel Bike team has been in touch to enquire whether any Euroragster.com reader would be willing to loan or rent a caravan at Santa Pod Raceway for the 2009 FIA Main Event and FIA European Finals. The team need six berths. We occasionally hear from racers with caravans surplus to requirements, so if you can help then please drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com and we'll put you in touch with Sören. UK Pro ET racer Vic Amato has been in touch to let us know that his crew member Rindy Frost is holding an open day at his premises in Ipswich next Sunday (30th) including cheap time on his rolling road. "I plan to take my Mustang for some tuning", says Vic. All are welcome to Frost Motor Services, Unit 6, 15 Bailey Close, Hadley Road Industrial Estate, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 0UD. For more details call 01473 250996. "A Happy Christmas to my fellow racers, even the Chevy ones" adds Vic. ©Eurodragster.com Congratulations to Santa Pod Raceway's Marketing Manager Caroline Day and husband Paul on the birth of son Zack who pulled something of a red light. "I left work on the Friday, and had Zack on the following Tuesday morning, 4th November, with the quickest delivery this side of Santa Pod!", says Caroline. "I've had my hands full! Daddy Paul is well chuffed and big sister Meera can't stop hugging him!" Graham Motler got in touch on behalf of himself and Lorri, Steve and Naomi to ask us to wish a Happy Birthday for yesterday (Sunday) to UK Super Comp racer Malcolm Motler. Hope you had a great day Malk. Web site updates. 24th November: Supertwin racer Paul Castle has added a discussion forum to his web site at www.freewebs.com/grandpastoyracing. "It's an experiment", says Paul, "and if it works without too many problems we will keep it going. On another note, we are well on our way to getting the bike ready for next season. We will be out to burn some nitro and see what the Toy will do." ©Eurodragster.com Lucas Oil with Carter for title 4. 22nd November: 2008 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter has announced that Lucas Oil will once again be backing the King of Europe in 2009. Many of Andy's associate sponsors have also already agreed to continue their marketing partnerships in 2009: In addition to the full FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship we also have a busy show schedule lined up to get Lucas Oil and our associate sponsors brands and products in front of the masses. This will kick off at the 2009 Autosport International at the NEC in January, where the Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster will be proudly displayed on the Santa Pod Raceway stand. "No one should be surprised to hear me say that the Lucas Oil / Andersen Racing / Carter Motorsport performance during 2008 was tremendous, because it was!", commented Andy Carter. "Our race strategy was spot on, we showed great pace at every race, went rounds, worked hard and we all kept focused, I'm very proud of the whole team! Racing is all about winning. There are 515 points available in 2009 and I will be fighting for every one of those during the season, it's so important that you make every run count. I'm just as hungry as I always am and my goal is four Championships, it would also be great to be the first to get back to back Championships. I want to win, the team want to win, my sponsors want us to win, this is really important! "We have a great package but I won't take anything or anyone for granted. I must lose some weight, work hard and continue my focus on what I need to achieve for my sponsors and myself in 2009. I can't wait for the first round of the Championship and to race in front of my home crowd again. The support is always fantastic and there is no doubt these fans help to drive me on." Dan Welberry and Andy are still on target to release the book, King of Europe at the Autosport Show. The book will be launched on the Santa Pod Raceway stand at 2:00 pm on the Saturday. It has been a massive project for both Andy and Dan and they are delighted with the results. It looks set to become a must-have drag racing title! As well as Andy, Dan and some of the team, we will also have special guest Barry Sheavills on hand to sign copies. We will also have new posters and fliers to give away so please come over and say hello. Andy would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to Karsten Andersen, Per Andersen and all the team, everyone at Santa Pod Raceway, all my supporters, friends and family, Les D, Stuart, Tom B, Tom F, Forrest and Charlotte and all at Lucas Oil UK and Lucas Oil USA, Landmeco, NGK, Binamic, Pioneer Print, Crane Cams, K&N Filters, Yuasa Batteries Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Sigma Signs, Rainbow Conference Sets, 3t Creative, Norfolk Line, RCS Cables, Teng Tools, CAAR, Extreme Action Cameras, American Auto Club International, Jerrys, everyone who has given help with the book and of course anyone I should have mentioned and haven't. Thank you very much, it really is appreciated! Hopefully see some of you at Autosport. ©Eurodragster.com Grandstand at the Gators. 22nd November: Imagine it's next March. After a wet summer and a long winter, drag race enthusiasts are hankering for some fresh action, but the European season is still several weeks away. Yet, in Florida, NHRA is gearing up for the fortieth edition of its classic Big Go East, the ACDelco Gatornationals. Eurodragster.com News sponsor Grandstand Motor Sports is pleased to announce that it is expanding its drag racing programme in 2009 and that the Gatornationals will be the first event on its calendar. The leading UK motorsport travel company is adding NHRA and FIA drag races to an established tour and holiday portfolio which already embraces Formula One, Le Mans, Historic Car Racing and Classic Motoring Events, and MotoGP and World Superbikes. Assisted by drag racing specialist Blueprints For Travel, Grandstand is presenting trips to NHRA's Gatornationals at Gainesville and its season-ending races at Las Vegas and Pomona, and to the top FIA European events at Mantorp Park and Hockenheim. ©Eurodragster.com The week-long Gatornationals trip departs on Wednesday 11th March and includes flights, car hire, race ticket and a premium hotel location in Gainesville itself. Grandstand is happy to tailor itineraries for guests wanting to sample some more of Florida's myriad holiday attractions along with the racing. And don't forget that there is the superb Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing just down the road at Ocala. Grandstand's first-edition 2009 brochure contains early details and is available now. For a free copy and for further information, telephone 0845 375 0300, check out www.grandstandmotorsports.co.uk,or simply click the Grandstand Motor Sports logo at right. Special coating offer. 21st November: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Exhaust-coating.de is offering a special off-season deal on high-temperature ceramic coating on headers and pipes as well as their special Thermal Barrier coatings for pistons. "We offer polished Chromex as well as four other popular colors such as black, silver, two different metal greys and gold", says Marci Maurischat. "The latest tests on our products have shown that our ceramic coatings on headers will drop outer skin temperature by up to twenty five per cent when coated inside and out. This will increase horsepower, drop under temperature under the hood, and will make between-rounds work easier." ©Eurodragster.com For more information and prices E-Mail Marco at info@pulver-nord.de and ask about special racer offers. Marco adds that Exhaust-coating.de will help with cheap shipping rates. An end to the horror. 21st November: After what can only be described as a character building eighteen months, the Top Fuel Pro team of ex-pat Brit Jay Upton finally broke their horror run with a well deserved win. In front of their very loyal Western Australia fans Jay and the team took out the Goldenstates Top Bike round on the weekend at the Kwinana Motorplex. A faultless performance from the Honda powered machine started with qualifying in second spot and then taking on all comers to reach the final and clinch the round. It's no secret that the team have worked thousands of hours and invested a small fortune over the last year and a half converting to the new powerplant. Lesser operations would have certainly given up however this very tight knit team stuck to the task at hand and have once again proven their superiority in design, innovation and technology in the sport. A very happy Jay Upton praised his long standing sponsors Honda MPE, Gates Belts and Sprintex for having the faith and hanging in there with him. "It's been a very tough eighteen months", he said. "My super hard working crew have sacrificed plenty putting in the hard yards and never giving up. This weekend means that we are well and truly on track and the best is still to come. Special thanks to my never doubting sponsors we could not have done it without your continued support." A situation with lack of full revs from the engine has had the team battling in recent runs, this has now been overcome with not only good speed and power, but its been achieved with reliability to match. "The great part about our progress is that we have been running a very conservative tune to allow us to slowly step through the revs problem", said Jay. "e will now be exploiting our reliability and cranking up the pace considerably, we are very excited about the future now." The weekend's win takes Upton to top of the ANDRA National Championship table overtaking Kiwi Athol Williams. After further testing over the next few weeks the team heads to Queensland for round four of the Series. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 21st November: David Vegter has kindly dropped us this workshop picture of his new Pro Mod under construction at Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars, and coming along very nicely by the look of things. Click on the picture for the large version and check out the windscreen - if that car is on three Weetabix then the rest of European Pro Mod is in trouble. ©Eurodragster.com Voting for the 2008 season Santa Pod Racers Club Perpetual Awards commences here on Eurodragster.com next Monday (24th November). Magazine update. 21st November: UK Drag racing gets another fair shake in the December issue of American Car World magazine with coverage from the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod, all the action and gossip from Round 6 of the B&H Automotive Street Eliminator series from Shakespeare County Raceway, and rounds five and six of the WASP sponsored UK Muscle Car Power Tour again at Santa Pod, writes Jerry Cookson. British Hot Rodding also gets the same amount of coverage from the NSRA Hot Rod Supernationals, NASC Street Rod Nationals from Trinity Park as well as the All Clubs Nationals from Billing. Features include Chris Venn's Hot Wheels-inspired '65 Chevy C10 pick-up, road testing a 2009 Corvette ZR1, a comparison of Shelby's old styling GT350 against a modern day GT500, and George Poteet's 230 mph '69 Plymouth Barracuda Bonneville salt flats racer. The December issue of ACW is now available from all high street outlets priced at £3.75. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 21st November: The official web site of Sweden's Tricky Thörnäs Drag Racing Team has been updated with pictures of the '63 Corvette which is the quickest Small Block-powered doorslammer in Europe. Check it out at www.corvette63.com. ©Eurodragster.com Joon's progress. 19th November: Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon has been in touch from the USA to let us know that his trip to the USA has been quite successful. If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News on 13th November you will have read that Lex is investigating running Top Fuel Dragster in the USA in 2009. "We now have a representative in the USA who will work for us on sponsorship-related issues", Lex told Eurodragster.com. "We have a couple of options to lodge our car and start a workshop, and a truck and trailer are worked out. We have met a lot of people who are more than willing to help us and who think it is a great idea that we continue our racing adventures in their country and on their great tracks. ©Eurodragster.com "There are still a couple of issues which need to be addressed but we have managed to create a firm stepping stone for our racing future in the US. "We would like to congratulate Urs Erbacher and his team for their achievements at the weekend. Urs and the guys have certainly made a good impression." Swift snippets. 19th November: The new organisers of the NitrolympX at Hockenheim have announced that next year's event is to take place on Friday-Sunday 14th-16th August 2009. The initial PR published on the NitrolympX web site makes no mention of the FIA Championship but it's very early days yet. The latest entry on our long "Wish we'd been there" list is UK Supercharged Outlaw racer Lee Gallimore firing up his Red Mist altered inside Hall 4 Birmingham's NEC at the end of last weekend's Classic Car Show, where he had been appearing with the American Vehicle Owners Club. Jerry Cookson has kindly pointed us to a YouTube video which you can find at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEQQuzN9Hcw. Photo-journalist Steve Moxley has asked us to thank the National Association of Supertwins for inviting himself and wife Julie to their AGM where he was awarded the Bernie Hepworth Award. "To say that I was "stunned" is an understatement", says Steve, "but I was absolutely thrilled to receive such a prestigious award following in the footsteps of Ian Carruthers, Les Harris, Don Irvine and Lorna Barter. Julie said that my reaction time was very slow when my name was announced. We thoroughly enjoyed the occasion with a brilliant bunch of people, and look forward to seeing everyone next season. Once again thank you very much - I really appreciate it." ©Eurodragster.com Karen Wheeler has been in touch to ask us to wish a big Happy Birthday to Bob Day of Santa Pod Raceway's track crew (When his brother's not there - Ed). No sooner said than done Karen, have a great day Bob. Supercharged Outlaws 2008 review. 19th November: This year saw a great leap forward for the UK's Supercharged Outlaws in terms of performance and attendance, says Dave McKenzie: It was excellent to see ten or eleven cars at some meetings this year, and next year promises to be as good as if not better than this year. The standard of the cars throughout was second to none every team looked 100% and the effort has to be applauded. Teams were trying really hard to put on a good show at all three venues and you all were a credit to the Supercharged Outlaws. I believe we won many new friends this year with a lot of folk coming up and saying how they enjoyed our shows. One of the highlights had to be the Cacklefests which started with an impromptu one at the UK Truck Show with five cars including Jon Best's nitro slingshot, followed by the bigger Bulldog Bash cacklefest in front of thousands of impressed bikers, and culminated in the Hot Rod Drags 20th Anniversary Cacklefest with the NFAA ,Wild Bunch and numerous other cars - that one was awesome. The only downside to this year was the weather with rain playing a big part in our season. In saying that we managed to get a run in at all our events so none were a total washout. But it was close! This is where credit must go to the track crews for persevering to give us a track to race on. Well done to all at Santa Pod Raceway, Shakespeare County Raceway and York Raceway. What about the cars then? Well it all started way back in May with the Yanks Weekend/Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway and with ten teams coming through the gates it was a good start to the season. There were casualties from the start with both Paul Watts and Brian Gandy breaking in the pits. Alec Coe was chasing early season gremlins but did manage to get out on the Sunday. Three rounds were run two on Saturday and one on Sunday due to rain. Out of this the winner was Richard Davis (Willys) and runner up Roy Wilding (Hemi Hunter). Low ET of the meet went to Lee Gallimore, 7.83 seconds. Fester Race Cars Romford sponsored this round. Onto Santa Pod for the second meeting at the UK Truck Show, this turned out to be our best meeting of 2008. Again ten cars made it through the gates including the début of Jon Best and his nitro Big Block Slingshot. Although Jon never made it onto the track the car was fired up several times to check it out and Jon also joined in the cacklefest. On track action was just as hot with Personal Bests, Lee Gallimore ran 7.5, 7.4, and 7.4with a top speed of 176 mph. Unlucky Brian Gandy destroyed his second engine in three meetings but not before running a PB against Roy Wilding - Brian carded a 9.336 to smash his PB out of sight so he was happy and sad at the same time. This put Brian out for the rest of the season.The show we put on was excellent with the grandstands full every time we came round from the staging lanes. When the dust had settled it was Steve Goode in Wobble who went home with the winner's trophy and Roy Wilding with the runner up trophy. Who says it is never close with Supercharged Outlaws (not us – Ed), there were on nine thousandths of a second separating the top four. At this event the honour of presenting the trophies went to Tog of Eurodragster.com. This meeting was sponsored by LA Commercials Ltd Then it was onto back-to-back midsummer meetings, starting with the long trek up north for a lot of teams to York Raceway. The furthest travelled was Alec Coe who came all the way from Kent. Alec left home Friday morning not to return home until after the Bulldog Bash the following weekend (more about that later). We only had five cars entered and we were joined by Mark Flavell in his Super Pro ET Funny Car. This was the only event where we managed all four runs over the weekend and the winner was Steve Goode in Wobble, and runner up was Roy Wilding in Hemi Hunter. There seems to be a pattern developing here! Poor Alec Coe had two runs and on his second run thought he had gearbox problems but it turned out he had destroyed his torque converter. A few frantic phone calls to Johnny Hall in London and a new converter was found. John stripped and cleaned the gearbox with Kev Mortimer before meeting up with the team at Shakespeare County Raceway on Monday night to rebuild the car ready for the Bulldog Bash on the Friday. This meeting at York was sponsored by Roy Wilding Race Cars. The following weekend we were back at SCR for the Bulldog Bash as an invited class. We had only one one run due to the horrendous weather over the weekend, but we did manage a cacklefest in the staging lanes, joined by The Mob Fuel Altered and a few Outlaw Anglias and Pro ET cars putting on an awesome show of power to the massed biker crowd. With only one round run the winner was Roy Wilding and runner up was Richard Davis This round was sponsored by BG Multiserve Ltd. The Outlaws then went back to SCR for the NSRA 20th Anniversary celebrations and to join in the big cacklefest on Saturday night. With no points at stake this was a laid back, enjoy ourselves affair. The big event for the Outlaws was the track début of Jon Best in the Bassline Top Fuel slingshot. The first run was aborted after a crisp burnout because the engine diaper was dragging on the floor. The second run started well with a really strong burnout only for Jon to be shut down by the start line marshals so that ended the weekend for the Outlaws. The final round was at the Halloween Bonfire Burn Up again at SCR. With the points close, the top four teams were all in attendance hoping for someone to slip up so they could move up the table, but the weather again played a big part in the proceedings and the Outlaws only managed one run on Saturday. It was enough to give Roy Wilding the #1 plate for next season, and the runner up spot for 2008 went to Steve Goode. The Final Meeting was sponsored by Academy Glass IoW (Paul Watts). I would like to thank all the teams for putting on the show, and all of our wives and girlfriends for putting up with our long race weekends. I would also like to thank all of our sponsors for 2008: LA Commercials, Fester Race Cars, Roy Wilding Race Cars, Academy Glass IoW, BG Multiserve Ltd and Jon Best. I look forward to an even better 2009 and hope to be out in my car next year sharing the driving with Mark Windridge. We are having our Dinner and Dance presentation along with the Wild Bunch at Drayton Manor Tamworth on Saturday 29th November. If any Outlaws have not got their tickets then they need to contact Claire Meaddows as soon as possible. ©Eurodragster.com Two scalps and a semi-final. 17th November: Four-time FIA Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher went from a unique sideshow to a serious contender on the other side of the Atlantic Sunday by racing through a tough field and finishing in the final four at the 44th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. Starting the day as an underdog in the No. 13 position, Erbacher and his Midland Oil team turned back two former Rookie of the Year racers in J.R. Todd and Brandon Bernstein and briefly held the honor of top speed of the meet before falling to "Hot Rod" Fuller in a close semifinal race. "This was a dream day for us," Erbacher said. "We proved we can run with the best Top Fuel drag racers in the world. Every car in this Pomona field was very worthy of being here and to take out two of the biggest teams in the NHRA is really an accomplishment. I am very proud to have represented FIA and European racing this weekend." Erbacher opened Sunday's action with his best pass of the 1,000-foot era when he beat Todd with a 3.887 at 316.67 mph, the fastest speed posted to that point. Todd's 4.041 at 309.77 mph was simply no match for the Swiss racer. In the quarter finals, Erbacher was again on his game, driving around Bernstein's famous Budweiser rail and taking the stripe first with a 3.926 at 309.84 mph to Bernstein's tire-smoking 4.538 at 243.81 mph. "This is the happiest I've ever been at a drag race", team co-owner Oyvind Dahl said at the time. "I keep pinching myself to make sure it's really happening." The determined multi-national team was pumped up for the semifinal and Erbacher delivered a crushing .020-second reaction time to streak away well ahead of Fuller's .079-second launch. But the Midland Oil dragster soon dropped a cylinder and the loss of 1,000 horsepower allowed Fuller to catch and pass Erbacher to take the win, 3.851 at 312.64 mph to 3.991 at 282.36 mph. "We made 'em earn it", said American crew chief Wayne Dupuy. "Urs did a great job today with his driving and I'm proud of the guys on this crew. You can hear about four or five different languages in this pit but the common goal brings us together and we make it work. This was a big day for this team to show everyone we can race here. "Urs and Oyvind want to stay here and race NHRA full-time in 2009. I hope a strong race like this will open some doors for us on this side of the ocean. It would be great to stay here and go for the Full Throttle title." Erbacher tried to compare his best day on American soil to racing for trophies on the FIA Tour. "The things we've done in Europe mean a lot to me," Erbacher said. "It is our home and we want to represent Switzerland as well as we can. But over here, this is the best of the best. It's a whole different level. Today will be a day I remember for a long time and it's something we have thought about for a long time. It wasn't lucky racing today; we fought hard and earned our position. That's very satisfying." ©Eurodragster.com Picture courtesy and ©Ole Bendik Kvisberg, click on links above for Ole's other pictures Swift snippets. 17th November: Congratulations to photo-journalist Steve Moxley who was last week presented with the Bernie Hepworth Trophy for services to the National Association of Supertwins. "Steve has done the NAST proud with all the hard work he has put into the reports for Streetfighters magazine", says Les Harris. "He is the first non NAST member to get this award." ©Eurodragster.com Further to last week's Snippet dexter Price tells us that Team Gridlock's Comp Altered Go Hard or Go Home did a long days shooting at their Essex workshops with the three-girl trio Fresh as Tommi and Mo-Am productions. "The shoot went really well and it was interesting to see how the whole thing was filmed", says Dexter. "It is incredible that a whole day's shooting will just be for a couple of minutes. The video and single will be released in 2009 and will feature Bambi, Juice and Peeks who make up the group. It seems that the girls will be having a tour sponsored by a well know brand and also clothing by a major designer so watch out for a li'l white altered on the music channels". You can see more on YouTube at uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wPApcQ2Ace8. Web site updates. 17th November: Our good buddy Alan Currans has been in touch to let us know that his excellent Acceleration Archive has been updated with Brian Taylor's latest update to his Crazy Horses Author's Blog. You can check out Brian's Blog at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com NHRA Finals updates. 16th November: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher is qualified thirteenth in Top Fuel at this weekend's Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway, eliminations for which take place today. For up-to-the-moment updates over the weekend we recommend the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com, and NHRA's own web site at www.nhra.com which is served by the Drag Race Central crew. ©Eurodragster.com Team member Oliver Moser will also be posting updates live from Urs Erbacher's pit at www.erbacher.biz/Racing-Diary.217.0.html?&L=1. Picture of Urs courtesy and ©Al Platt Erbacher in the mix. 16th November: Four-time FIA Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher successfully qualified his Midland Oil Top Fuel Dragster for the 44th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals Saturday with a 3.904-second pass at 309.20 mph. It was Erbacher's best elapsed time of the 1,000-foot era and places him 13th in the 16-car field. "We're so happy to be in and to have moved up on the grid," Erbacher said. "We've got four rounds of data to work from now and the track seems to be getting better each session. I think we could have some success on race day." Erbacher got a thrill from his final qualifying pass as it occurred opposite six-time American champion Tony Schumacher. The two titlists have become friends during Erbacher's time in the USA and always take a moment for some good natured ribbing before each session. "He calls me fat and I call him a little man," Erbacher said with a laugh. "When we saw we would run each other we decided it was for the bragging rights of the world. It was all in fun but we still wanted to beat each other." In the end, Erbacher left the starting lights first but was soon up in smoke, which allowed Schumacher to take the finish line first, much to Erbacher's consternation. "The little man beat me", Erbacher said. "But no matter how much bigger I am than he is we can all clearly see who is the best off the starting line!" The Midland Oil team must now prepare for a first-round match-up with former Rookie of the Year driver J.R. Todd. Todd's best pass showed a 3.848 at 301.87 mph. He ended up fourth on the ladder. "He is a very good driver," Erbacher said. "His team has struggled this year but he did beat Schumacher in Dallas so he will be a very formidable opponent for us. However, we have the capability of running strong also. Against Schumacher just now we had our best 60-foot time ever. If the car had held the track a moment longer we would have been in line for a great number. "We have nothing to lose Sunday so we're ready for a fight." ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 16th November: Wild Bunch racers Chris and Claire write to wish son Mark Hartnell a very Happy 21st Birthday today (Sunday). "Many congratulations Mark and get them wheels up!", they say. "And best of luck for your fifth year of racing in 2009!". Have a very Happy Birthday Mark. ©Eurodragster.com PSI blower recertification. 14th November: Racers needing their PSI blowers recertified are reminded that blowers can be sent to Peter Schöfer Racing for recertification. Gittli Koller of PSR advises that if racers wish their PSI blowers to be recertified then they should think about sending them as soon as possible. "It takes time to get a blower to us and to certify and return it", says Gittli. "If you leave it until after Christmas then the racing season will come along before you know it." ©Eurodragster.com For more information check out www.p-s-r.com or E-Mail psi@p-s-r.com. Erbacher returns to Pomona. 14th November: Across the Pond, Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher has the kind of following afforded to many of Europe's top celebrities. A four-time FIA drag racing Champion, Erbacher owns and operates Fat Attack Custom Bikes, the European equivalent of Orange County Choppers or West Coast Choppers, and has his own reality TV show, Kings of Nitro, which is shown in 124 different countries on Discovery Channel EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). He's kind of a big deal... But for all the stardom he enjoys on the mainland, Erbacher has been keen on translating his success to the United States and he feels as though he already knows the secret to success. "We want to follow the same plan that works for us in Europe", Erbacher said. "Our bikes got us to a certain level of prominence and that spilled over to the drag strip. The synergy between those two things was perfect and we grew from there." To that end, Erbacher loaded several of his hand-made motorcycles in the same ship that brought his race rig and dragster back to the US and displayed them at the recent NHRA drag race in Las Vegas as well as the SEMA Show. The response was overwhelming and he's already taking orders for more. As for the second half of the equation, Erbacher also finds himself moving in the right direction. Earlier this year, before returning to his home in Switzerland to prepare for the 2008 FIA season, Erbacher became the first European racer to win an NHRA Top Fuel elimination round in more than thirty years (Englishman Clive Skilton was the last in 1977). "This will be the biggest challenge as the racing here is the best in the world", Erbacher admits. "We've been able to qualify for most of our races here and we made some news when we won a round earlier this year, but this is not our goal. Our goal is to get our car in position to win every race we enter. In FIA, we contend at every event. We need to reach that level over here as well. "Once we get our racing to that level, it will also help the bike business. Just as it is in Europe, the two things can work together very well. I think the biggest thing is that people see our passion for racing and for building the coolest bikes in the world. We do things differently and people relate to that. The people that have become our fans here understand what we're all about and it's exciting because we want to do more and more in the USA." Erbacher will take another crack at advancing his NHRA cause at this weekend's 44th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. With American Crew Chief Wayne Dupuy calling the shots, he is dreaming big in the birthplace of drag racing. "Maybe we can surprise some people", Erbacher said. ©Eurodragster.com Upton's advantage. 14th November: Ed-pat Brit and Western Australia's Top Bike drag racing ace Jay Upton is well and truly fired up for a big showing at his home track for this weekend's Round 3 of the National Championship. After recent test session held at the Kwinana Motorplex the team are confident that the revised engine settings are definitely heading in the right direction. The Top Fuel Promotions outfit have been chasing several areas in the machines tune to be able to benefit from the new Honda powerplant. "We have been working hard to get the numbers we believe are achievable with this engine", says Jay Upton. "The recent successful test sessions have put us much closer than we have been to the ideal numbers for the bike." The Kwinana Motorplex is of course well known to the team and local knowledge of the likely weather conditions is always a big advantage. "Well we of course love competing here on our home track in front of our very loyal fans", sys Jay. "It's also true that knowing how the weather can affect the racing conditions can be a good advantage, so we will be putting all our experience to full use on Friday and Saturday." A full field of Top Bike competitors have entered for this round so the action is guaranteed from the outset. This is a very important round for the team with bonus points also up for grabs. The action kicks off at the Kwinana Motorplex with qualifying on Friday night and finals held on Saturday night. ©Eurodragster.com 2008 Powerpoint DVDs available. 14th November: Our good friends at Powerpoint Communications have released their eagerly-awaited 2008 season DVDs including Hardcore Street featuring B&H Automotive Street Eliminator, Nitro Warriors featuring the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association, the Mopar EuroNats, the NSRA Hot Rod Drags, Open Sport Nationals, the HKS Drag Series and, new for 2008, Outlaw Flat Four. ©Eurodragster.com You can find out more, or order DVDs at www.quartermilehigh.com or click on the logo at left. Dave and Helen will also be on the NSRA stand at this weekend's Classic Car Show at the NEC in Birmingham and will have some DVDs with them should you wish to purchase your copies there. Swift snippets. 14th November: With the weather getting colder by the day and Christmas getting closer by the day, Eurodragster.com News sponsor Tireshake.com have released a great range of ten knit caps. Black or navy knit caps come with first class embroidery including Nitro Army, Need Nitro, Hemi, Fastest Motorsport and CH3NO2. More caps will arrive in December. For more details or to order your cap, check out the New! link at www.tireshake.com or click on the logo at left. ©Eurodragster.com Pictures sought for Crazy Horses. 14th November: Brian Taylor has been in touch to ask if any Eurodragster.com reader can help with pictures for his forthcoming book Crazy Horses which charts the history of drag racing in the UK. Brian is after shots from specific years and sometimes specific events: 1989: Krister Johansson at the Mayday Meet, Clive Mechaell, Phil Brachtvogel, Phil Baimbridge, Robin Read's six-second Daimler, Paul Willis, Graham Nash, John Messenger 1990: Dave Mingay, Anita Mäkelä v Björn Ardin in August, Tony Bryntesson at the World Finals, Rico Anthes at the Word Finals, Paul Willis' Pro Stock Bike 1991: Peter Lantz' Pro Comp, Tony Rose's pink and white '37 Ford Coupe ©Eurodragster.com 1993: Rico Anthes' back-over wheelie at the World Finals 1994: Risto Poutiainen at the World Finals, Barry Sheavills' first Top Alcohol five second run at the World Finals 1995: Viveca Averstedt's early shut off run which could have been the first four at the Main Event, Chris Hampson, Anita Mäkelä at the Summernationals, John Tebenham's Cosworth "I'll keep trawling through web sites but hopefully your regulars can give me some short cuts", says Brian. "The vehicles and the meetings don't have to be an exact match, but the paintwork and body need to be right". If you can help then please drop Brian a line at brian@petrolhead.vianw.co.uk. Wild Bunch Dinner Dance booking. 14th November: Wild Bunch Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows writes that tickets are still available for the Annual Wild Bunch Dinner Dance and Prize Presentation which takes place on Saturday 29th November in the Tower Ballroom of Drayton Manor Park, near Tamworth, Staffordshire. The Supercharged Outlaws are also joining in the celebrations with their trophy presentations. The evening opens with a three-course meal, then the presentations, disco and raffle. The cost per person is £25 or £12.50 for children. ©Eurodragster.com Ticket order forms have been sent out to all Wild Bunch members, Supercharged Outlaw teams, guests who have previously attended, and others who have expressed an interest in attending. If you did not receive details but would like to attend, please E-Mail Claire at claire@backdraftdragracing.co.uk or call 01454 773350. The ticket deadline is Friday of next week, 21st November, but please order earlier if you can. If you need details on nearby hotels and taxis, or have any other queries please also E-Mail Claire. Web site updates. 14th November: Julian Hunt has updated his web site with pictures from the recent Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Julian's shots, which include some great firework pictures, at www.julianhunt.net. ©Eurodragster.com 2009 FIA rules released. 13th November: The FIA Sporting, Technical and SFI rules for 2009 have now been released and are available on the FIA web site. You can check out the 2009 FIA rules, which are in PDF format, under Sport at www.fia.com or individually: Sporting Regulations SFI Specifications Technical Regulations and Race Procedures Drawings Changes to SFI Specifications and Technical and Race Procedure regulations are highlighted in red within the documents. Joon looks to the USA. 13th November: Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon has decided to investigate his opportunities for racing in the USA in 2009. Lex announced here on Eurodragster.com News on 17th October that without more backing he would not be racing in 2009, but after a couple of weeks' reflection he has decided to look across the Pond. "After the news item on Eurodragster regarding my plans for the 2009 season I recieved a lot of reactions from my loyal fans", says Lex. "I want to thank all of you for the kind and warm messages you sent me. "A couple of weeks later and it has become clear that retirement is not an option. I think it is time to make the next and, for me, the most exciting step. This is to move our racing business to the USA. It will be a challenge, especially with the difficult economic situation which is having its effect on major parts of the world's industry. Nevertheless I believe that we have a good program which can be sold in America. So now it is time to start the work and do the business to achieve our new targets. ©Eurodragster.com "Gerda and I are visiting the race at Pomona. We have made several appointments with people who can help to make our mission successful. "Our truck and trailer are for sale; details can be found on the Eurodragster.com Swap Meet. When we have something of interest to share I will update my Blog." Thoughts of Bootsie. 13th November: We have now as promised posted our special page for Eurodragster.com readers' thoughts on the twenty fifth anniversary of the death of Allan Herridge. ©Eurodragster.com You can view the tribute page by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page, and if you would like to send your own thoughts of Bootsie then please drop us an E-Mail at tributes@eurodragster.com. Swift snippets. 13th November: A Happy Birthday for yesterday (Wednesday) to Andrew Gibb who we understand called up Eurodragster.com yesterday to be presented with a picture of his newly-restored Stripteaser by the Home Page picture randomiser. All part of the service, Andrew; hope you had a good birthday. ©Eurodragster.com Rico Anthes Quartermile. 13th November: Many thanks to our good friends Gittli Koller and Andrea Kloss who simultaneously sent English translations of Monday's news item about the Rico Anthes Quartermile at Hockenheim: The legendary dragstrip at the Hockenheimring in Germany is being renamed. After twenty three succesful years as a promoter and organiser of drag racing's well known NitrOlympX, which since 1986 has become Europe's biggest drag racing event and is one of the annual highlights at the Hockenheimring. Now Rico Anthes is handing over his life's work into the hands of the Hockenheim-Ring GmbH who in future will promote the event together with the Badischer Motorsport Club (BMC) who will operate the sporting side. ©Eurodragster.com As a going-away present, and as a mark of his achievements in drag racing and with the NitrOlympX, the management of the Hockenheimring have done something very special for Rico Anthes. That part of the traditional track which was rebuilt in 1989 for the NitrOlympX, the well known quarter mile, is now named after the 1997 FIA Top Fuel Champion. Therefore the dragstrip at the Hockenheimring is, as of now, officially known as the Rico Anthes Quartermile. No later than August 2009, the new name will resound throughout the drag racing scene when at the 24th NitrOlympX you will once again be invited to the Hockenheimring with the words "Welcome to the Home of Speed". Leanders' new clutch delivers. 11th November: In 2008 four cars tested the new clutch produced by Eurodragster.com News sponsor Leanders Brothers Performance Products, and 2008 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champions Ulf and Jörgen Leanders say that they are very happy with the results: so much so that they will be exhibiting their products at December's PRI Show in the USA. Our Top Methanol Funny Car ran a season best in Finland, hitting the same number as the European record of 5.69. We crowned the season with a Championship title using the same engine set-up as in the previous season. Three Pro Mod cars tested our clutch. Mats Eriksson set a new Personal Best of 6.12, only one hundredth of a second from the European record after a period of struggling before the clutch swap. Freddy Fagerström also put down a new Personal Best of 6.25 while the third car, Micke Gullqvist, had some other tuning problems and unfortunately did not have the opportunity to really race the clutch. Notable in this performance review is that all three cars have less than ten rounds of tuning with the Leanders clutch before running new Personal Bests. Of course the clutch alone does not make the race car perform but it is a great tool to get the horsepower to the track. "We had good faith in our product when the season started", says Ulf Leanders. "It has been exciting for us to see that all the advantages we anticipated have proven to work under actual racing conditions. In fact, in some areas it has even been beyond our expectations." The biggest improvement compared to other tested clutches is the rigid flex-free construction. Even the smallest flex will reduce the contact area in the clutch and drop performance. The choice of Uddeholm high-quality materials even in places like the facing is part of the success. The only problem we have found is a little wear on the lever axles and they will be replaced with tooled steel axles from our supplier Uddeholm Steel. "The rigid unit will give the Crew Chief a clutch which is more consistent and the driver more control during staging even at high starting RPM", says Crew Chief Jörgen Leanders. The clutch will be updated with holes in the top covers for setting ring height the old-fashioned way, as our own measuring tool was found complicated by some mechanics. Or, as Jörgen Leanders puts it with a big laugh, "We did not really think the change was necessary but it is worth the effort to stop all the whining from Peter 'Strumpan' Ström in Fast Freddy's team. He isn't too into our new thinking." Leanders Bros Racing are also in the process of filling the requirement for a bronze-coated floater for mainly Pro Mod applications. We have had a lot of questions lately and have been asked to provide quotes for several racers in Europe. ©Eurodragster.com The Leanders clutch fabrication operation is now working in co-operation with Markus Svensson at Clutch Service for technical support and service. Markus brings in tons of experience and a beautiful Van Norman grinding machine. Some more projects are now underway and details will be posted when they are ready. We will be at the PRI Show on 11th-13th December in Booth 1204, and we are looking forward to seeing the interest from drag racers. Stefan Boman has some great pictures of the European cars which have used our clutch and he is now in the process of making three roll-ups and product sheets for our booth. A project like this is something which needs co-operation with the best companies in every area, and in this case we would like to acknowledge our CNC machine tool supplier HAAS Europe, drill and mill supplier Walter Nordic, material suppliers Uddeholm and ATI Europe, and software suppliers IronCAD and Feature Cam. A big Thank You also to Kjell Sjöblom at Pritona, Martin Fredin at MF Precision, Martin Lundqvist at Autocut, and anyone we have forgotten to mention. Swift snippets. 11th November: Tog would like to say a big Happy 16th Birthday to his niece Jennipher. You have a great day, Jenn, and I'll be in touch with the mermaid joke after you get home from school. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 11th November: Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Fotopic gallery with shots from the UK National Finals and the Flame and Thunder Show, both at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Colin's pictures at colindonisthorpe.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Andréasson out west. 10th November: Careful readers of the entry list for this weekend's Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona will have noticed not just Urs Erbacher's name in Top Fuel Dragster but Leif Andréassson's name in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Team member Anders Magnusson tells us that Leif's Dodge Stratus FC just happened to be in the area. "The basic idea with taking the car over in a sponsored container was to get the car prepared and the parts SFI tagged on-site", says Anders. "While there, loading the race car and stuff in the team's USA-based trailer and taking it to nearby race tracks isn't too much of a step to take. ©Eurodragster.com "Hopefully the car will be delivered and cleared through customs on time to compete at Pomona. Unfortunately only half of the team can make it to the race due to work duties home in Sweden - we have already spent quite a lot of time at US and European tracks this year - but some native reinforcements and some on-line tuning from Sweden should get the job done. "We are considering racing in the USA next spring, but that depends upon sponsorship deals which have not yet been secured. But Leif wants to race there and something will surely come off with all the gear on site, parked in California over the winter." Swift snippets. 10th November: The UK's Team Gridlock Wild Bunch team, or more properly their Mopar-powered altered Go Hard or Go Home, are to appear in a music video. "The video is for MTV and was shot by Mo-Am productions, for a new group called Fresh as Tommi who are Peeks, Juice and Bambi", says Dexter Price. "Still shots were taken yesterday. The single "Oh-No" and video will be released in the New Year" (OK, hands up all those who clicked on the picture at right for larger version - Ed). Congratulations to Swedish Funny Bike racer Rikard Gustafsson on his runner-up place at the weekend's AMA World Finals at Valdosta. You can find out more at www.amadragbike.com. Andy Kirk tells us that this year's Super Modified Annual General Meeting takes place at 10:00 am on Sunday 30th November at Tewin Memorial Hall in Tewin, Hertfordshire. Interested parties are welcome to attend. More information from Andy at kirk.family@btconnect.com. Our good friend Erik Arneson has been in touch from the USA to announce the publication of his latest biography Mickey Thompson: The Fast Life And Tragic Death Of A Racing Legend. The 304-page book comes in at $25 and is available from www.motorbooks.com. We will be publishing a review of the book in the run-up to Christmas but given the quality of Erik's biographies on Darrell Gwynn and John Force there is no real need to wait to see what we think. No Championship for Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon this year, but luckily his wife and Team Manager Gerda Joon took a title for the Joons by winning her Club Championship in dressage with her horse Okido. "There is a slight difference between a 8000 hp dragster and a 1 hp horse, but it's a huge accomplishment", says Lex. "The Championship was held over three rounds in three months with two contests each day. Gerda managed to win five of the six events, and you can understand that I am pretty proud of her." Tough start, but title won. 10th November: After a dismal start to the season, in which his the bike didn't turn a wheel at the first two rounds, 2008 NAST Supertwin Fuel Champion Martin Blackwell and the Northants Nitro team finished licencing at Santa Pod Raceway in time for the SPRC Summernationals only to hit problems. "Our first event was highlighted by a 'reconditioned' gearbox which wouldn't change, a problem we would suffer for the remaining four rounds", says Martin. "Despite this we qualified #1 and went on to win the event. Good start. The team arrived at the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway knowing one piston had damage to the ring lands, but with spares still on their way from the States the decision was made to run and see what happened. Very scientific! The result was to qualify #1, and a torched piston. The post-race examination revealed that three of the cams were timed incorrectly in the 'ready to go' bottom end; this explained the damage and why the bike fell on its face before the eighth. ©Eurodragster.com "With new pistons and cylinders, and a properly assembled engine, we qualified #1 at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend and the National Finals, set Low ET, high speed and took the win at both events, and won the Championship! The outstanding commitment and hard work by team members Carl, Chris, Dave, Dukes and Sam had paid off and given us a perfect end to our first season in NAST Top Fuel. "The season was made possible by the generosity of our sponsors Skillnet Automotive Academy, Creative Beast Design Consultants, Skin Graffiti Tattoo Studio, Pjm Engineering, Hamc Northants, The Pitstop Restaurant, Tattoo Inc, Security Dog Handling Services, Paint Application Technologies, Bikes Trikes N Stuff, Turboville.Com, Abbott Fabrications, Sprint Dampers, Red Line Oil, Gates Belt Drives, Mthr, Apollo, The Sinners and V Twin Engineering. Thanks also to Pete Davies, Tim Roberts and Ian Whiteside for technical assistance." Rico Anthes Quartermile. 10th November: Die legendäre Dragster-Strecke des Hockenheimrings bekommt einen neuen Namen. Nach 23 erfolgreichen Jahren als Veranstalter und Organisator der Dragster NitrOlympX, die sich seit 1986 zur größten Dragster-Veranstaltung Europas entwickelt haben und zu den jährlichen Event-Highlights auf dem Hockenheimring gehören, übergibt Rico Anthes „sein Lebenswerk“ jetzt vollständig in die Hände der Hockenheim-Ring GmbH. Diese wird künftig als Promoter, zusammen mit dem Badischen Motorsport Club (BMC) als sportlichem Ausrichter, agieren. Als Abschiedsgeschenk und Würdigung seiner Verdienste im Drag Racing und bei den NitrOlympX, haben sich die Verantwortlichen des Hockenheimrings etwas ganz Besonderes für Rico Anthes einfallen lassen. Man benannte die 1989 eigens für die NitrOlympX gebaute Teilstrecke des Traditionskurses, die berühmte Viertelmeile, jetzt offiziell nach dem FIA Top Fuel Europameister von 1997. Somit heißt der Dragstrip des Hockenheimrings ab sofort „Rico Anthes Quartermile“. Spätestens im August 2009 wird der neue Name in aller Munde sein, wenn es bei den 24. NitrOlympX auf dem Hockenheimring wieder heißt: „Welcome to the Home of Speed“. ©Eurodragster.com Claim and Blunder Nationals gallery. 9th November: We have now posted our pictures from yesterday's Claim and Blunder Nationals at Brainless Raceway Park in the badlands of Essex. As expected both the electric and rocket-powered track records fell again with Nick Griffin setting bests of 1.359 seconds and 45.45 mph over the fifty five-foot, 1/24-scale strip and Bob Doyle's rocket car clocking 0.484/165.3 although its chassis is at the time of writing still missing. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out our Claim and Blunder Nationals pictures, which are presented in association with American Car Imports, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Claim and Blunder Nationals. Editor's note: Many thanks to all those who phoned, sent E-Mails or text messages, or left messages on Facebook on my birthday on Friday...Tog Feature: Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. 7th November: The latest in our occasional series of Features in association with John Woolfe Racing is a gallery of Roger's pictures from the weekend's AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. Roger's pictures cover all the Pro classes and more besides. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out Roger's Las Vegas shots by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Captions will be displayed if you place your pointer over any picture. Claim and Blunder running order. 7th November: Brainless Raceway Park Race Secretary Tracy Doyle has been in touch with the running order and other information for those racers contesting this Saturday's Claim and Blunder Nationals: Classes are: ET Bracket (for all electric vehicles), Super Gas 1.90, Slot Eliminator (heads-up) and Pro Rocket (ror any rocket-powered vehicles). Scrutineering opens at 11:30 am and carries on until the track closes. The running order is as follows: 12:00 pm-4:00 pm: Open practice 4.00 pm-6.30 pm: Qualifying for all classes 7.00 pm: ET Bracket eliminations 8.00 pm: Firework display 9.00 pm: Super Gas 1.90 / Slot Eliminator eliminations ©Eurodragster.com Trophies will be presented for ET Bracket winner, Super Gas 1.90 winner, fastest rocket vehicle, Slot Eliminator winner, and the Pyromaniacs Special Award for the most outrageous run. As ever please note that the running order is provisional and is subject to change due to track or weather conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. In another exclusive for Eurodragster.com we can bring you the first picture of the latest addition to the UK's Heaven & Hell team, a 1970 Camaro (right, click on picture for large version). The new car is fresh from the world-famous Doyle workshop in Braintree and totes a Doyle-built Parma engine. The 'Bath Bloke' built the chassis and assembled the body panels, applied paint and installed the Parma engine to complete the team's ET Bracket entry well in time for the Claim and Blunder Nationals. The Chevrolet joins the already-proven team cars, a '41 Hot Rod which was awarded Prettiest Proper Street Car in 2007, a red Pro Stock Firebird which won the Eliminator at the 2007 Claim and Blunder Nationals, and a brand new red '69 Camaro newly delivered by Napier Dream Cars of Bad Habit fame. The team have high hopes for the new entry. "If all else fails", says the team's PR Manager, "we can all get drunk instead." You can find out more about Brainless Raceway Park on the track's official web site at www.spanglefish.com/brainlessracewaypark. We plan to broadcast the Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam from Brainless Raceway Park on Saturday, and on Sunday we will post a photo gallery in association with American Car Imports. Swift snippets. 7th November: Good luck to Swedish Funny Bike racer Rikard Gustafsson who is racing Stateside at the AMA World Finals at Valdosta this weekend. You can find out more at www.amadragbike.com. The 2008 NDRS Banquet and prizegiving has now been rearranged and will take place from 17:30 on Saturday 6th December at the Arlandia Hotel (SAS Radission) at Stockholm Arlanda. For more information check out the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se or call Sussy Hofbauer on +46 857 031 884. ©Eurodragster.com The UK's B&H Automotive Street Eliminator racers are holding their AGM and Awards Evening on Saturday 22nd November at the Brandon Hall Hotel in Coventry. Prospective competitors or fans are welcome to rub shoulders with the UK's quickest and fastest street-legal racers. Dinner and disco are yours for £32.50, £8 for kids, and we are told by Colin Lazenby (that's Colin Lazenby - Ed) that "Paul Venners has been released from the local asylum for the evening" to MC. Places are limited, so to book or for more information check out www.streeteliminator.co.uk. We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Supertwin racer Carl Wadkin Snaith of Team Fang. Hope you have a great day Carl. Ian Turburville tells us that his consignment of crew shoes has finally arrived. "It has been so long that I have forgotten just who asked for what at the track, so you will have to jog my memory!", says Turbo. You can contact Turbo via his web site at www.turboville.com. ...and another birthday today that should definitely not go unnoticed is that of Eurodragster.com news editor Tog. A very Happy Birthday to you, buddy, from Kirstie, Simon and Roger, and we're sure that all our readers will join us in wishing you many happy returns. Web site updates. 7th November: The web site of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars has been updated with video of Andy's Pro Mod crash at Shakespeare County Raceway in 1999. "Thanks to the many people who offered me tapes in response to my plea on Eurodragster.com", says Bob Roberts. "Thanks to Tina Gibbs and Brian Taylor who supplied tapes and again to Tina for agreeing that I could put the clips up on the site. Having watched the accident quite a few times as I was preparing the clips I'm struck by the speed with which the safety crew responded; you can see the top end crew move almost before you realise what's happening and the ambulances from the start line must have been rolling just as quickly because they pass into shot soon after. The good news was that they weren't needed, Andy only suffered two black eyes and some bruising. The car suffered extensive body damage but the frame was intact". You can check out the video under Racing - History at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk. Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon web site with shots from last week's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can find Paul's pictures at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway's official web site has been updated with pictures of their last event of the year, Wednesday's Fireworks Frenzy which attracted a big crowd even though it was, would you believe, raining. You can see DJ's pictures at www.santapod.co.uk/e_frenzy.php. Remembering Bootsie. 6th November: 6th November 1983 was a significant day in the history of British Drag Racing, writes Stu Bradbury, Chair of the Board of Selectors of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame: ©Eurodragster.com Twenty five years ago, on a cold November day, Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge made his last ever run on the famed Santa Pod quarter mile. Allan was débuting the brand new Jet Funny Car Midnight Cowboy which he had built himself. For reasons which have still have not been fully explained, the car did a hard left turn at the top end of the strip and headed straight into the crash barrier. As Chief Starter at the time, I will never forget looking up the strip and seeing the outline of Allan's car encapsulated in a massive ball of flame. Allan was killed instantly. Bootsie was an original, an innovator, a hero to all of us, and a very sad loss to the world of drag racing. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame pays tribute to Allan by having his image forever engraved inside the BDRHoF award trophy. We all miss his humour, his cameraderie, his willingness to help anyone and everyone and, most of all, his smile. God Bless Al. If you would like to send your own thoughts on the anniversary of Bootsie's death then please write to us at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com and we will post them on a tribute page. There are also tributes to Bootsie on the General Nostalgia Talk section of the discussion forum on the excellent UK Drag Racing Nostalgia web site at www.ukdrn.co.uk. Two runners-up? Can do. 6th November: Brian Huxley writes from an Autumn break in Australia to say how happy Team Top Banana and Cando Racing were with their runner-up spots in the 2008 UK National Pro ET and Sportsman ET Championships. "It would have been better to be first", says Brian, "but having said that congratulations to the Champions Geoff Cowley and Paul Baynton. Wel done. Also just found out Huxley Minor Minor (as John Price calls him), Marc Huxley, has won the Old Skool Ford class in his Mk1 Ford Escort Estate, running a super 14.42 run. That's my boy. ©Eurodragster.com "I still don't know for sure about 2009. If Top Banana is sold we will be looking for another car for Pro ET, a great class. We're looking forward to the Pro ET bash and the National Dinner Dance, and next season. Hope it's dry, as the write-up in Dragster Australia said "How much rain can the Poms take"! All the best to all UK racers and an early Happy Christmas to you all from Lee, Brian, Neil and Marc." Another model racer. 6th November: Having seen Mark Gredzinski's excellent modelling work here on Eurodragster.com recently, Björn Sundström writes from Sweden to treat us to a look at a couple of his own stunning and incredibly detailed models. ©Eurodragster.com "I have built model cars for about forty years", says Björn. "Mostly drag racing cars and hot rods. I have always liked altereds - I can't forget Anders Lantz and Kjell Johansson competing at Mantorp. The altered (right, click on picture for large version) is based on a shortened Revell Funny Car chassis. The body is resin. I built the model with fuel lines, electric and computer details. "I built a Pro Stock Firebird in 1992. Renate Rosen and the Skinne Brothers were the inspiration. Again a Revell kit, and our son Andreas was the driver." If any other Eurodragster.com reader would like to share their models with us, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com, and stay tuned to Eurodragster.com for pictures from this weekend's Claim and Blunder Nationals at the 1/24 scale Brainless Raceway Park. Swift snippets. 6th November: Les Harris has been in touch to let us know that the National Association of Supertwins are holding their AGM and end-season party this Saturday (8th) at Shifnal War Memorial Club, Five Ways, Shifnal, Shropshire TF11 8AD. Festivities start at 7:30 pm and entertainment includes live band Teaser. All are welcome whether racers, officials, crew, fans, whatever. More details including accommodation at www.supertwins.co.uk and www.lesharrisracing.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com News sponsor Tireshake.com is currently holding a Super Sale on hoods and T-shirts. Prices are reduced between €5 and €15 euro on different products. This year's multi-coloured hood is reduced from €49.95 to only €34.95 and T-shirts are reduced from €19.95 to €14.95. Caps are also reduced to €9.95. Get your Christmas presents early from www.tireshake.com. A very Happy Birthday for yesterday (Wednesday) to Sharkman, our good buddy and Eurodragster.com sponsor through Supercharged Images. Hope you had a good day Shark and that you are feeling perky, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Puma Engineering press release. 6th November: After a season of uncertainty in 2007 about the future of the class, the AMA Dragbike Heroes of Top Fuel made a stunning statement this season as to the health of their class now and in the future - and how! Leading in to the final race of the season the class has so far been one of superlative performances from both the veterans and rookies of the class and class they certainly were! Firstly we want to mention Tom Perry, who showed that he had not lost any of his undoubted abilities proven as a former Funny Bike champion as he became only the third rider in the world into the five second zone with a best of 5.98 in Bristol, TN. We must give very special mention to Chris Hand, one of the stalwarts of Top Fuel Bike for many years. After the many trials of returning from his horrendous crash with a pretty much all new bike Chris showed his class once again with a stunning 6.04 using one of the innovative new Puma gear-driven camshaft engines. Canadian Geoff Pollard made a very welcome return to the class with a fantastic debut in competition on his new bike with a world standard 6.175 pass at Norwalk, OH. This, his first full pass on the new machine shows he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. Then, what can we say about the Dryden, Alwine & Hogan team with rider Korry Hogan on board. Not only the fourth rider into the five second zone with a 5.95 best in Norwalk, he also has the accolade of being the first rider in history to surpass 250 mph, and the team's faith in the new Puma Engineering HPS 2.1 RC supercharger has been rewarded. Team owner Mike Dryden said "Your HPS superchargers rock! We are turning the blower slow for cool air and it works with low nitro percentage - very nice on parts!" And last but very definitely not least, First in the Fives Larry McBride. Whilst helping Tom Perry and Geoff Pollard with their set-ups and tune to achieve the aforementioned superlative performances the McBride team still managed to win an unprecedented ninth Top Fuel Championship and an almost surreal string of consistent five second passes to prove they are still the team to beat! We'd like to thank all of the AMA Heroes of Top Fuel, and all other Top Fuel Bike and New Age Funny Bike riders across the globe who have put their faith in Puma Engineering engines, carbon fibre injectors hats, superchargers, chassis or know how over the many years we have been privileged to be the supplier of choice to the quickest and fastest class in drag bike racing. We'd also like to thank the great team behind AMA Dragbike who continue their support of Top Fuel Bike, the quickest and fastest motorcycle class in the world. Ian King of Puma Engineering will be attending the XXX Racing Fuels National Finals in Valdosta, GA for anyone who would like to discuss their parts and services. ©Eurodragster.com Drag bikes on TV. 6th November: With the erratic scheduling of NHRA Drag Racing on the UK's Channel 5 at the moment, AMA ProStar Motorcycle Drag Racing is now receiving a regular UK transmission slot on Sky channels 197, 204 and 207 from 8.00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays writes Jerry Cookson. So far, the channel has screened AMA ProStar's Bikeweek Nationals from South Georgia Motorsports Park, Atlanta Dragway's Elmer Trett Nationals, and Spring Nationals from Memphis Motorsports Park. This week's coverage should feature the Summer Nationals from Bristol Dragway's Thunder Valley. Although the coverage and commentary provided by Maz TV isn't to ESPN standards, it's better than no coverage at all. This is the second year in a row that Pulse (formerly called X-League TV) has screened motorcycle drag racing. Be sure to check out your Electronic Programme Guide for last-minute schedule changes. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 6th November: Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated his Fotopic gallery with his shots from Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Peter's pictures at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com The official web site of the UK's Nobby Hills Racing Fuel Funny Car team has been updated with a report and pictures from the Houndog's recent outing at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can find out what caused the thud at SCR at www.nhracing.com. A spin, but did we win? 4th November: HKS Drag Series racer Steve Whittaker has been in touch to let us know that he is quite OK after his very rapid Supra crashed at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday, and to tell us how it was from his point of view: We had the car wound up tight. We were running high boost and trying the water injection for the first time. The car launched really hard, got up on the wheelie bar, and unloaded the rear giving us some fairly heavy tyre shake. Once I pulled second it settled and it looked like we were up for the win. We clearly wanted to win, as did John Bradshaw - whilst we are very good friends off the track, on the line business is business. We are not really sure what happened to the motor but looks like it let go in some way and emptied the sump under the back wheels at about 140 mph just after the eighth mile. No amount of rally opposite lock was going to keep it off the wall. It looks as if the steering broke after the first impact and I was a passenger from that point. l must admit it got a bit hairy. Going round for the third time I thought I would actually make it over the finish line first, at one point I remember thinking that if I could steer we could make it! Anything for the win eh? ©Eurodragster.com Jon slowed down to check I was OK and the marshals and ambulance were there very quickly, as professional as ever so many thanks to those guys and girls. I did feel sorry for the paramedic who set off the fire extinguisher and got soaked. The car is a bit of a mess and we will be pulling off the body to check that the chassis is all good. We may well rebody with a Mark 4 shell for next year and I have already spoken to Jon Webster about that. The HKS Drag series has been great for us with second place in 2006, the win in 2007, and a second in 2008 - John deserved the win after his unfortunate third round. We are glad to have been part of pushing the boundaries for Japanese cars in Europe, and to be the first Japanese car into the sevens in Europe. We want to come back stronger faster and quicker than ever next year so any potential sponsorship for 2009 would be gratefully received. Many thanks to Jason at XS, Phil and Franky Four Fingers at AMD Sussex, and Dan at Advanced for their help and support over the year. Help us nail the culprit. 4th November: UK Nostalgia Slingshot racer Sid Slattery has drawn gasps of admiration for his beautifully-turned-out slingshot and trailer which made an appearance at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday. Not so admirable was the behaviour of the person who damaged the trailer whilst Sid and his crew were on the start line. Understandably annoyed, Sid has asked if any Eurodragster.com reader can help with information: When we got back from the start line we discovered some thoughtless bastard had dented the mudguard and went off on their way without leaving a note with a phone number, or an apology. I'd like to let the person responsible know that despite the obvious damage to the trailer's mudguards we managed to get our car home, yes the two tyres weren't too badly damaged! To jog your memory I have sent a couple of pictures to remind you what the trailer looks like (click on picture for large shot). Yes, the white mudguards that are that colour so that they can be seen! ©Eurodragster.com The thing that gets me is that most people in drag racing are genuine honest folk, but there is always one. I hope this person's butt seals up and he rots from the inside out. Anyone who has any information about the trailer incident can contact me at sidsheena@hotmail.com, I am offering a reward for information. I don't expect the person who did this to admit it, but I want to know who it is so that when they need any help at the track, as we all do at times, I can deal with it then. That aside we had a fantastic time on Saturday despite the weather and would like to thank the staff at Santa Pod and everyone involved. All the best to racers and fans...well, most of them. Sunday Street Wars done. 4th November: The team running the Sunday Street Wars events at Dakota Drag Strip on Smeatharpe Airfield, in the UK's West Country, have decided not to continue promoting their popular street-legal RWYBs which had the support of the local police and which succeeded in taking racing off the streets. "This was a hard decision which took a lot of soul-searching" says Lee Child of Sunday Street Wars, who sponsors Eurodragster.com's Links pages through his company LA Racing Parts. "We have lost count of the many hours, weeks and months spent on arranging and running events at Smeatharpe Airfield. But with no outcome so far to the noise abatement action, it is very hard trying to promote Dakota Drag Strip for 2009. The biggest mountain to climb is getting sponsorship and advertisers without a confirmed venue. "Another setback we had was with RAF Portreath. The event was moved to September but then had to be cancelled because the runway surface was we understand damaged by a number of demo runs at another event." ©Eurodragster.com Because of their decision, the Sunday Street Wars team have for sale a full Portatree timing system which can be used for either the quarter mile or the eighth mile, as well as track equipment such as a Berrymans spreader and glue sprayer. Details can be found under the Rigs, Trailers and Tools section of our Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts-sponsored Swap Meet. Luckily, Lee tells us that he does not plan to give up his involvement in drag racing. "I am still available for track prep and consultancy for running a safe event", he says. Lee has also announced a Warehouse Distribution deal for LA Racing Parts about which you can read more below. Swift snippets. 4th November: Sweden's Bilsport magazine is currently running a vote for Driver of the Year and Junior Driver of the Year. On the shortlists are FIA European Top Methanol FC Champion and Eurodragster.com sponsor Ulf Leanders and NDRS Junior Dragster Champion Ludvig Perés, to whom many congratulations on being listed. If you would like to vote then go to www.bilsport.se/bilsportaward.php, register your choices, and supply your name, address, postcode, town and phone number. Paging Eurodragster.com Honorary Staff Member Spencer Tramm: can you please get in touch with Kirstie to let her know the location of the slot car? Thank you! Rampage goes close. 4th November: With all the weather disruption in 2008, the UK National Finals came all too quickly for Dave Ward and the UK's Team Rampage Super Pro ET team writes Crew Chief Ian Gibbs: The Rampage team had decided to step up the nitrous for this meeting, but the first qualifier did not go well. Dave could not hold the car in stage, pulling through the lights resulting in a slow time. We had a run in the bag but we were well down the qualifying ladder. The second qualifier was not until about 5:00 pm. We needed to improve our qualifying position so we reverted to the usual nitrous setting and dialled in 8.79. The car hooked up great this time running 8.745 seconds but breaking out and therefore no improvement in our qualifying place. At the start of this meeting we were eighth in the National Championships, some 540 points behind Simon Rowland. Dave knew we were in with a chance of the Championship, but qualifying had all but seen this chance disappear. In round 1 of eliminations we were up against Bob Doyle in the Datsun 260Z. Although Bob had a good reaction time, Dave caught him and took the win with an ET of 8.889 seconds on a 8.74 dial in. In round 2 -we were paired with Jack Brewster in the Just Mustard Pontiac Firebird. This time Dave had a great reaction of 0.0746 of a second to the Firebird's 0.616, and ran 8.92 on a 8.79 dial in giving us the Rd 2 win. In the quarter final the Rampage Funny Car was up against the dragster of Martyn Jones from Belgium. Dave had almost a second start on the dragster, another great reaction 0.0534 of a second, and Martyn red lit handing us the win. Barry Giles progressed to the semi final by defeating Rick Cooke, Championship contender; if Barry won the semi final he would be Champion, but if he lost then Rick would be still in the hunt. Dave knew this would be a tough round, Rampage dialled in 8.83 against Barry's 7.55. Dave left first with a reaction of 0.1093 and Barry redlit by -0.0135, leaving the Championship open between Dave and Rick who was already out of competition and anxiously awaiting the final round. ©Eurodragster.com The Super Pro ET Championship had been a closely fought contest and the decider went down to the last race of the event. Rampage was paired against number one qualifier Chris Isaacs in the VW Corrado. Dave would leave first by twelve hundredths of a second. Both cars were side by side at about sixty feet and most of the way up the track. Rampage ran 8.866 seconds against a dial-in time of 8.85 whilst Chris dialled in 8.73 seconds and ran 8.77, winning by 0.0688. So Rick Cooke became the 2008 Super Pro ET Champion. It was such a close-run Championship that three people finished second only forty points behind Rick: Dave Ward, Barry Giles and Nigel Turner. See LA Racing Parts for Reid. 4th November: Lee Child of Eurodragster.com Links sponsor LA Racing Parts is proud to announce that the company is a warehouse distributor for California-based Reid Racing transmission cases and tailshaft housings. "We have been supplying complete transmissions and quality parts since LA Racing Parts started", says Lee. "Reid Racing have taken over the transmission side of Dedenbear with Autometer purchasing the electronics side of the company. No company can match the quality and precision of the Reid Racing transmission cases. The most popular is the Powerglide one piece super case, but Reid racing are now offering a two piece product with different bellhousings for a range of applications. ©Eurodragster.com "The most popular is the Chevy application that can be supplied with a neutral balance flexplate. Reid racing extended the range of GM by adding a bellhousing for Buick, Olds and Pontiac. Big and Small Block Fords are both catered for with the extra option of the neutral balanced flexplate. Last and by no means least is the bellhousing for the big block Mopar. This also comes with the option of the neutral balanced flexplate for six or eight bolt hole applications. All products have SFI certification and do not require extra shields. "Right now LA Racing Parts are researching the demand for Toyota, Nissan and Mazda bellhousings. It is possible that Reid Racing could develop a product for these applications. "For more information on pricing and purchasing from other appointed transmission service dealers recommended by LA Racing Parts, call 01803 554308 (outside the UK +44 1803 554308) or contact us via www.laracingparts.com." Family Fun this Saturday. 4th November: Mark Ashman of the National Association of Street Clubs has been in touch to let us know about this Saturday's (8th November) NASC Charity Family Fun Day in aid of the BBC's Children in Need at Complete Autocare, Wellingborough. "There are some fantastic raffle prizes on offer including a car, a weekend cruise to Barcelona or Amsterdam, or a weekend at the NASC's Springnationals at Drayton Manor", says Mark. "We have auctions for signed framed prints from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole plus a boxing glove signed by Frank Bruno. There will be live entertainment courtesy of Connect FM and live band High Mileage plus a huge Hot Rod and Yank display. "Last year we raised over £1,000 for Children in Need so make sure you come along and join in the fun and make a difference." The fun starts at 12:00 midday and goes on until 6:00 pm at Complete Autocare, Bradfield Road, Finedon Industrial Estate, Wellingborough NN8 4HB. For further information call 07867 694163 or check out www.rodandcustom.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 4th November: The first of today's Flame and Thunder Show updates comes from DJ and Rick Cuthbert of Santa Pod Raceway who have posted a short report and photographs on SPR's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/e_flame.php. ©Eurodragster.com Also updating from Flame and Thunder Show weekend is photographer Ian Blackett whose shots you can find at www.blackettphotography.com. Editor's note: We still have a small backlog of news items which we shall clear on the next update. Tune back to see some more incredible scale models, word from a Brit in Australia, and more, and please keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com. Flame and Thunder Show gallery. 2nd November: Yesterday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway was a very difficult day for all concerned with the track crew, race officials and racers as usual all giving their all to put on a good show in far from ideal conditions, but in the end the weather won out after a number of stoppages. Gary Page and Steve Whittaker both emerged unscathed from pirouettes in their rides, Gary suffering a stuck throttle during the burnout in Kenneth Lorentzon's Mongoose Performance Exhausts/Pennzoil Fuel FC which left him with one hand to try to hold on to the car whilst shutting off the motor and pulling the brake with the other. Gary did a great job to keep the car off the guardrail. Steve Whittaker was not so lucky as the motor of his ex-Steve Rawlings Supra blew and put oil under the tyres, pitching the car into the guardrail and then into several spins. The rain which caused a delayed start came back with a vengeance in the afternoon washing out the remaining demonstrations. ©Eurodragster.com In association with American Car Imports we have now posted our Flame and Thunder Show gallery, which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Flame and Thunder Show. Sixty of yesterday's seventy five pictures were provided by Peter in his last appearance for Eurodragster.com for 2008; we're sure that everyone will join Tog, Simon, Roger and Kirstie in thanking Peter both for the quality and the speed of his work for us this season. We have one more event to cover this season which is next week's Claim and Blunder Nationals at Brainless Raceway Park. Swift snippets. 2nd November: Denise Comer has been in touch to ask us to wish a big Happy 50th Birthday to her husband, B&H Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ray Comer. "Absolutely everyone in the family wants to wish Ray a very Happy Birthday!", says Denise. Have a great day Ray. ©Eurodragster.com Jo Carter writes on behalf of the Freddy's Revenge team to congratulate Europe's quickest blown-alcohol altered racer Paul Wratten and wife Sonya on the birth of their son, a brother for Isabel, who arrived early this morning (Sunday). No name as yet but we would venture to suggest Dennis. Las Vegas NHRA Nationals coverage. 1st November: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher is contesting this weekend's AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. For up-to-the-moment updates over the weekend we recommend the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com, and NHRA's own web site at www.nhra.com which is served by the Drag Race Central crew. ©Eurodragster.com Team member Oliver Moser is also posting updates live from Urs' pit at http://www.erbacher.biz/Racing-Diary.217.0.html?&L=1. Earlier news