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Nostalgia Superstock racer Mike Lacey broke into the eights with a 8.976. He said 'We had a new engine at the Euro Finals and replaced the torque converter over the winter. I've also done some work or got replacements parts on the fuel system, wheelie bars, crank trigger, vacuum pump, wheels amd rear axle. The aim was to run close to 9.00 in Pro ET.'	Nostalgia Superstock racer James Oliver, pictured with Eurodragster.com sponsor Dan Williams, plans to continue to run NSS and Pro ET this season. But during next winter he plans to put a Stock eliminator engine in the Firebird and run in that class in either Sweden, or the US, where the Williams brothers will be headed this August. The car is now running 9.7s and lifting the front wheels after work on chassis setup and engine dyno time.
Nostalgia Superstock racer Brian Huxley suffered damage on his first launch. He said 'The welds on the diff broke and it spun which broke the diff and pinion. Lee's roadgoing Mustang has a similar diff and so we went home and my son Darren helped get it installed. We haven't tested it and are on a learning curve with the car, but think we have got it right'. The Falcon has provisionally been named 'White Dark Horse'.	Gasser Circus racer Sean Milsom has done work on the body of his Morris Z Van over the winter. 'I talked to Project Heaven' over making a new wooden interior roof for the car and they repainted the exterior as well'. Work on the engine has been carried out by John Wright and headers and trans by Tony Pearson.
Gasser Circus racer and class organiser Nervous Nick qualified no.1 with a 11.5051 on a 11.50 dial. He said 'We have five rounds this year, all at Santa Pod, are attending the Speedfest at Brands Hatch in June and the Classic & Sports Car event at Bicester and are planning on racing on the Isle of Man again.' New cars awaited include Mick Allen's new C2 Corvette to replace his Henry J, a '41 Plymouth, and a '68 'Vette.	Nostalgia Superstock racer Jim Chandler, who is crewed by brother and Andy Robinson crew member Nick, has a new engine and gearbox in his Dodge Coronet which has produced a new PB of 10.26. Jim has had the car for seven years and it has a Robinson Race Cars frame. The engine is 540ci with a 1250 Dominator carb and compression ratio of 12:1, and a Torqueflite trans.
Outlaw Anglia racer Jed Guy qualified no.1 with a 8.010/166 and then got to the final by defeating Gary Bird and Mick Taylor after a bye in round one. His team said 'We're not here to set records, we just want to try to get good performance on the new track'. With previoius champion Cliff Griffin taking a break from racing, perhaps Jed could be looking for a run at the championship?	Outlaw Anglia racer Ronnie Mercer did a lot of work on the engine over the winter. He said 'I have new exhaust headers, cylinder heads and a plate nitrous system. The car is doing the same speed as before but the ET has fallen by more than half a second. The nitrous is putting out an extra 120hp playing it safe but I could have 150hp out of it'. Ronnie has entered the Doorslammers as well. 'I did well at the NitrOlympx and think the car can be consistent in the Big Bracket.
Outlaw Anglia racers Simon Barlow and Jason Yates were observing the 16 strong field of cars and plan to be out at the Summer Nationals with both their cars. Simon said 'We have a new SBC in the Pop which will be driven by Michelle Mockford and my Fordson which has a 540ci engine with 14-71 blower should be very entertaining'.	Outlaw Anglia racer Scott Crookston brought his brand new car here for its track debut and ran a best of 8.54 without nitrous. He said 'I'm really pleased that the car ran straight and quick. We will run without nitrous for the next meeting and then use it at the Summer Nationals. I'll be running Super Pro ET at meetings without Outlaw Anglia and am also entered for the Doorslammers Big Bracket'. The new car's chassis is by Jed Guy and Scott, aided by Colin Millar, did everything else on the car. The body is out of the same mould that produced the Flyin' Fyfer and the car runs a similar setup including the same wheels. Scott will be crewed by Craig Wright who plans to drive Conrad Stanley's dragster at the Main Event.
Outlaw Anglia racer Danny Wilson has a new small block Ford engine of 413ci with a 830cfm double pumper carb and nitrous system which will be used to get the times below the current PB of 10.3.	Supercharged Outlaws racer Jim Usher made his first run in Hemi Hunter, a historic race car which goes back to the early 1970s and was partly constructed by the late Allan Herridge. The engine is a BBC of 555ci with 8-71 blower running on methanol. A lot of the setup goes back to the early days and the body panels were painted to a Peter Walters design. Jim's 6th pass on the new engine produced a 8.288 with more to come.
Supercharged Outlaws racer Lee Merryweather from the Isle of Man made passes with the blown Hemi engined alky altered and produced a best of 8.908.	Wild Bunch Flathead dragster racers Bradley and Ken Cooper (BDRHoF member) have the car running low elevens (the PB at SCR was 11.22 and at SPR is 11.46). But the car is suffering from too tall gearing. Ken said 'A Ford nine inch would be too big for the car so we have gone for a Volvo estate axle, but have had to import a new crown and pinion from Florida as the ratio needs to be greater than 3.7:1. The car launches at 4500rpm and whilst 6000 at the top end would be high for a flathead engine, we should be going faster than 122mph, but we're not getting the engine revs high enough at the top end'.
Pro ET racer John Dalrymple is testing his altered which he bought to replace his '33 Willys. He said 'The car never raced before I had it but has gone through a number of hands. I rebuilt the front end and straightened it and plan to run in Pro ET at the Main Event and I'm here to get some track time'. The altered has a SBC of 383ci, Powerglide gearbox and 9" Ford axle.	Tri Chevy Shootout racer Rob Smallworth was no.1 qualifier with 9.549 after a correction. With the car capable of running mid sevens, to say he had a massive performance advantage would be something of an understatement. In round one he defeated Steve Murphy and ran a bye in round two. Round three saw him hooking up to a more representative time of 7.72 and in the final he meets Graham Smith of Serck Motorsport in Snow White.
Wild Bunch racer Andy Stones has a slingshot powered by a Yamaha bike engine which sounds incredible on a bye run. He ran as quick as 11.188 which compares to his PB of 10.359.	Wild Bunch racer Didier Canicave from France is racing at SPR for his third consecutive year, the previous appearances having been at Dragstalgia. THe Model T altered is powered by a 2.3ltr four cylinder engine from a Ford Galaxy with double overhead camshafts and Yamaha motorcycle carburettors. The car has gone 12.6/100 here compared to 12.11/102 PBs.
New racer Ray Hamilton has bought the Ansen Automotive Engineering-signed Anglia from Merv Barnett. One feature on this beautifully finished car is the adaptation of a Bakersfield road sign to become the interior roof of the car. Ray has had a blower overhaul on the 4-71 atop the 327ci SBC engine, the gearbox being a Powerglide.	Blown Hemi powered slingshot racer Mick Hanna came to do launch practices but suffered a number of problems with the off-board starter. He said 'I have had new body panels made up and freshened the engine which is an iron 392ci with 8-71 blower'. The car's chassis was fabricated by Roy Wilding.
RWYB racer Andy Park has been running his Ford Model Y for several years. The performance of 9.79/137 comes from a John Sleath-built 347ci SBF with a small blower and nitrous, the rest of the work being done by Andy himself including the cage and axle, as he is an engineer by trade. Andy does 840 miles every time he attends at SPR as he lives in Scotland. Best this weekend so far is 9.95/134.	Future Outlaw Anglia racer Shane Bird is son of Gary 'Luck Penny' Bird and has built his car himself after buying it as a rolling chassis. 'The engine is a SBC of 355ci with a single 670cfm carb. My ambition is to get to the other end of the track - it's only my second time in the car'. At this event, Shane is crewed by Dave Sidaway.
Outlaw Anglia racer Gary Hill, based in Rugby, has been in the class for three years and runs a steel road car. He said 'I adjust the wheelie bars to be six inches off the ground and ignore any comments I get when I run it on the street'. The car has a 350 SBC with a 175hp shot of nitrous to a best of 10.07. 'I want to run a nine while the car is still road legal and then get a pint of milk after the run'. Partner and crew chief Kelly, who is building up a 1951 Prefect, said 'Gary has a set of cut slicks but I won't let him use them until he runs a nine'.	RWYB racer Ian Fraggle has a real street sleeper, a Rover 105 which you would be hard pressed to tell that it wasn't stock. But under the bonnet is a 532ci stroker BBF engine. 'I got the car eight years ago and fitted a six speed gearbox and SBC but then I fancied a BBF'. The engine has 13:1 compression and Proform single carb on a Edelbrock inlet manifold. Ian drives the car to the track from his home town of Nottingham and has run a best of 11.2/122 with it.
Super Street and Pro ET racer Leigh Morris is testing here and entered for the Doorslammers in the Big Bracket and for the Main Event in Pro ET and the double-header Super Street. 'You have to go to as many events as you can, and this one's fun', he said.	Super Street and Pro ET racer Dave Cherrett is pictured with Dave's partner Kerry Parker and Sportsman ET racer Stephen Cherrett. He said 'We are testing for the Main Event. We didn't do a lot over the winter apart from some freshening up, we just want to save money and keep it reliable'.
RWYB and former Junior Dragster racer Ross Norris is making his initial runs in a three window '32 Ford coupe which Ross's dad Kev has owned for 25 years and has been built up during the course of that time with help from Richard Walters. 'The engine is a BBF of 410ci with a 6-71 blower, Edelbrock 600cfm carbs and Ford C6 transmission.	RWYB racer Patrick Shears has a replica of the '55 Chevy shown in the classic film Two Lane Blacktop. It has a 402 BBC and is road legal. Patrick does aluminium and stainless steel fabrication out of his base in Hull and can be contacted through www.mtgg.co.uk.
RWYB racer Lee Johnstone has his high riding Volvo P1800 with daughter Sarah driving this weekend. 'I built it with Steve Wright who runs Apple County Muscle Cars and stores the car for Lee. The engine is a BBC 454ci with a 6-71 supercharger and TH400 trans and the car's best is 11.01/124'. Lee said his other daughters Eleanor and Victoria also drive the car.	The historic Oblivion Hillman Avenger funny car of Matt Fuller ran a best of 10.519 compared with a PB of 9.987/136. The car is for sale and it's a great way of owning a piece of drag racing history from 45 years ago in near-original condition and economical to run to boot.7 A big thanks to David Anniwell of SPR for supplying a replacement laptop when your pit reporter's laptop power supply decided unexpectedly to depart this mortal coil.