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NSA racer John Hobbs had a difficult weekend on the final occasion he ran the Hobbit. During the second run on Saturday, following a great 8.431/161 in the first session, his hand hit the fuel cut-off causing the bike to come to a halt. John has raced the Hobbit for 44 years, after building it in the winter of 1975. John's plans are to continue to race Olympus which he built in 1967 and sold to Sweden in 1971, after the bike took the world standing kilometre record in 1968. It was the first drag bike under 750cc to run quicker than nine seconds. After moving to twin engined bikes he took Alf Hagon's long standing record in 1974 with a 9.2s pass. A spill with Olympus ended John's weekend on a sour note but he wasn't even bruised as he lay the bike down and the only damage was to one peg. John thanks his crew Mark (son), Chris Tare, Pete Holton, Johnny Munn from Australia who rode the Hobbit in 1980-82. John celebrates his 50th wedding anniversary this year. Pit note ©Mike Kraaij	NSA racer Tim Blakemore said 'I really enjoy Dragstalgia, I'm racing Steve Watson's turbocharged Z900 with its 1200cc engine and is running it with soft settings to times in the range that original builder and racer Jack O'Malley ran in the US in the 1970s'. Tim hasn't ridden a drag bike for nine years, and his own Funny Bike is almost ready for FIM-E competition in the Top Fuel class. His crew is Wendy and Liam and he thanks Steve Watson for use of the bike which made him the quickest bike of the weekend. Pit note ©Mike Kraaij
Dragstalgia Cannonball competitor Wendy Baker arrived on Friday with a completely new car, a lighter fibreglass Mustang body made from a mould from the previous car, a new chassis to replace the previous 1970s era ex-Gladiator one, and a fresh engine. The team is exactly the same as before with partner Paul Stubbings leading Denis Bulford, Phil Leamon and Gary Shearman. A tremendous amount of work over the weekend resulted in the car being ready to run on Sunday, and only an oil leak on firing up prevented a test launch. So we wait for the next appearance of these cars, scheduled for the Euro Finals	Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike racer Len Paget, riding a Suzuki GSX 1100 EFE has raced at SPR since 1978, starting with a Honda CBX six cylinder in Street Bike, going 10.90 with the 1190cc engine. He raced in Pro Stock Bike in 1980 and is still racing in the class in FIM-E competition. He won the European series four times, and this event he is riding Tyne Blight's Pro Stock Bike as Tyne cannot race due to a broken foot. Len qualified 1st with a 8.66/153 having built the 1500cc engine which uses 40mm Lectron carbs. The bike has a manual gearbox with airshifter. Len thanks his wife, son, Daniel and Tyne Blight and drag bike legend Jon Morton who is attending this race. Pit note © Mike Kraaij.
Dragstalgia Cannonball competitor Paul Harris ran a 7.663/194 with smoke in the shutdown area as his final pass, after shutting off in the third session. In the second he ran an early shut-off 7.377/144. The aim of the team for the weekend was to get Paul licensed, he ended the event much closer to the target.	Dragstalgia Cannonball competitor Rob Elsom suffered a number of small issues at this event which last year saw the demise of an engine which put him out of contention for the rest of the season. This year, the problems were smaller, including small issues with air intake and valves on the bug catcher making the revs too high and the fuel mixture too rich. So Rob didn't complete a full run but was pleased the engine was undamaged throughout.
Dragstalgia Cannonball competitor Robbie Grabham reached the final as a reward for persistence and not running the machine overly hard, against a field of much more powerful cars. The 511ci alky engined altered (also seen with an Austin A30 body in Supercharged Outlaws earlier in the year) ran 7.315/185, 8.523/129, and 8.670/131 to go no.3 in the standings and meet Tobba Jansson in the final where an eleven second pass was defeated in style by the Swede.	NSA rider Colin Fallows rode Super Cyclops owned by Roy and Julian Webb, and the twin Norton engined machine ran two good passes, 12.20/126 and and 11.36/130. The bike, with twin Norton 500cc engines was originally run by Mick Butler of Team Pegasus in B/CS as his own project.
Dragstalgia Cannonball competitor Matt Wright is shaking the bugs out of his alcohol fuelled Barracuda. Car builder Bill Felstead of Comanche Race Cars said 'Our sponsor is Oil Leaks R Us! We are going for a couple of launches and will probably return at the Hot Rod Drags to get some more runs on the car before the Finals'. Comanche Race Cars have some interesting projects on the go, including an A/Fuel nostalgia slingshot, a Fuel Altered for Matt and some no-prep high horsepower doorslammers.	Alan Rimell's '37 Willys Sedan looked great on display in the traders' area and ran twice down the track. In all there were 34 cars entered for the Willys Wars and 30 of them got runs in.
Slingshot Showdown racer Christian Frei from Switzerland has an injected 500ci Mopar engine in a chassis originally built by famed US builder Woody Gilmore, with body panels by Tom Hanna. He races usually in Germany and Italy in Super Pro ET. His best runs were in sessions 1 and 2 with 7.916/164 and then 7.876/167. These placed him fifth, but a 8.036/165 was defeated by Joe Bond's quicker time in round one.	Slingshot Showdown racer Joe Bond was adjudged the winner after the unfortunate accident of Sam Freeman and Bob Hawkins (both unhurt fortunately). Joe said 'It's sad the competition has disappeared and I hope Sam and Bob will be back soon. We were happy with the cars particularly the new wheels and tyres which work well, and resulted in the reduction of our 60ft time by a tenth to 1.09. In our first round run I lifted early and the mph was down (6.556/207) so there is real potential there'. The car, which qualified top with a 6.552/222, will next be out at the Hot Rod Drags
Supercharged Outlaws racer Mike Couch has a blown 305ci Hemi engined slingshot which he has named L'il Hemi Hustler. He said 'I've been racing since 2006 and started with a blown '32 Ford with a flathead which was the fastest street driven Flathead. Then I had a flathead slingshot which was the quickest flathead in Europe with a 9.7. I then went to a 283ci SBC on alky blown and ran that for three years. I built this car in partnership with Martyn Hallam of the Gasser Circus. Although I have struggled with tyres on this car it ran ran a best of 9.432/140, and I also ran at the Nostalgia Nats and Retro Show and will go to the Mopars and Hot Rod Drags.	Supercharged Outlaws racer Joel Kerr is running better than ever with a new engine in the 'Stiff Shifter' (named after Joel's profession of undertaker), running a PB of 7.35/185. He said 'I now have an aluminium block as the old iron one had split in two, Bill Mitchell from the US supplied it and EDA rebuilt the engine with a Kobelco 14-71 supercharger. Andy Frost supplied a torque converter and gearbox'. The paint job is by McCallan Automotive and features a laced roof. Handling has been sharpened up by installing an anti-roll bar. Joel concluded 'It's my first meeting with the new setup and each run has been better than the last'.
Wild Bunch co-ordinator Claire Meaddows, as ever, organised the class perfectly to gather around to hear about their induction into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, which she was delighted with. Husband and former WB chair Chris was on hand to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their Backdraft slingshot (Malibu Express when it first appeared 50 years ago), and although the car suffered an oil leak on its only pass, Claire said it was 'awesome' to have it at the track again. The class was 39 strong for the meeting with 35 appearing. The youngest racer is Bobby Wright, aged 17 and just having passed his test. Claire was equally happy for class member Ian Lloyd and Eurodragster.com being inducted.	Wild Bunch racer Alan Lloyd, pictured alongside BDRHoF inductee Ian Lloyd and the iconic Gonzo the Great altered had a great weekend running PBs. Several sevens ensued, with a 7.788/166 the best. He said 'We made more runs in a day at York Raceway as the car was designed to be easy to maintain, and we often ran it about eight times - although not as quick as today. The performance has increased but it's still quite easy to maintain'.
Wild Bunch racer Callum Swinchatt was the nearest to dial in in the class, and found that the installation of a transbrake has helped both the reaction times and the consistency. He said 'The car outputs 580hp and weighs only 1500lb so it's lively off the line but more controlled. There is less load on the torque converter with the transbrake and the launch at 2800 suits the 3000rpm stall speed converter. It's also slowed the wheelies'. Callum is keen to market the Przym Racing tee-shirts which almost eclipse the car in the picture.	Wild Bunch racer Philippa Turton has a display of the team's history which includes a definition of Bitchcraft, her comp coupe's name: The art of p***ing people off whilst smiling sweetly or telling the truth. Philippa took over the driving of the Rover 3.5 powered car full time in 2017, a year after she and husband Mark purchased it. There were issues with the gearbox in 2018 but this year has seen better consistency with a new set of gears, and times here in the 13.3-13.6 zone at 90+mph.
Tim Blakemore made some great passes on Orient Express, built by Jack O�Malley and imported into the UK by the late Steve Tong who won the championship with it in 1982 and restored by Steve Watson. Tim's best runs were 8.229/160 and 8.197/163 for his first time on the bike.	Dragstalgia Cannonball competitor Tim Garlick in Apache suffered some dings to the bodywork when the car ran into the timing reflectors in the second half of the course. Crew chief Rob Loaring said 'We'll get the body to Neil Melliard who will work his magic on it, the engine is making lots of power but the car doesn't have the aerodynamics in the second half of the track'. Tim had his second pass disallowed which placed him down the order, and the third pass was out of shape to the extent it was up on the left wheels (see photo gallery).
Jan Honee from Holland has a record setting single cylinder Jawa based bike. He started racing in Uden, Holland, in 1981 having built his first drag bike in 1980 which was based on a Jawa 500cc speedway engine. He has built around seven bikes, but the one he rides at Dragstalgia was built in 1985, and on this he recorded a best time of 8.18 which still holds a record for single cylinder bikes. The record was set in 1996 with drag bike legend Gerard Willemse. The engine revs to an amazing 13500rpm so keeping it in one piece is a major challenge. After the first run yesterday the cylinder head was damaged and repaired with the help of Jan's brother Robert, Gulf Oil team member Marius van der Zijden and former fuel bike legend Roel Koedam. Jan thanks his crew and sponsors. Pit note © Mike Kraaij.	Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike racer Stefan Axelsson started racing 5 years ago at Kjula in Sweden and bought a stock Suzuki GSX1100 originally manufactured in 1980. He raced in Street Bike for five years and then in the winter of 2018 he transformed it into a Nostalgia Pro Stock Bike and is racing here for the first time. The engine is 1500cc and the cylinder head is modified stock. His goal is to run a low nine, and he will be returning next year. Pit note © Mike Kraaij.
Elena Scherr, writing for Automobile Magazine, had the opportunity to ride in Santa Pod's two seater dragster and declared that it was a huge thrill, "more than I even expected". Elana's CV includes writing for Hot Rod Magazine regularly for a number of years, editing Roadkill's magazine and web site, and reviewing cars for consumer web site Edmunds.	Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar is hoping to improve his ETs by launching with nitrous and to this end has installed a MSD Power Grid ignition system to aid tuneability. He said 'We have taken ignition out as the car was shaking the tyres. We are testing an on this fifth run we are still adjusting the shocks and tyre pressures'. The next run showed the first positive results with the new system and the car ran a 7.533/190.59, 0.01mph off the class speed record.
Outlaw Anglia racer Scotty Crookston ran three PBs in qualifying, 7.489 in Q2, 7.450 in Q3 and 7.419/179.95 in E1. He was feeling unwell on the long journey down from Kinross but the performance has been a real cure, with the car running in a sweet spot.	Outlaw Anglia racer Jeff Meads has returned to the track with a fresh set up and the availability of nitrous and is knocking on the door of the seven second barrier. His best times were 8.041/171 in qualifying and 8.166 in E1 to defeat Andy Cunningham.
Outlaw Anglia racer Peter Jones improved to a 10.854/123 in E1 however an out of shape Steve Wells (with support from former champion Cliff Griffin) was ahead with 8.8425.	Supercharged Outlaw racer Simon Boot runs high nines at 145mph, with wheels-up launches following big burnouts.
Supercharged Outlaw racer Luke Watts is driving the '57 Chevy of Dad Paul and named 'Young Guns' on the programme. This is Luke's first season and he handled the 565ci car to best times of 8.276/162 and 8.264/163.	Supercharged Outlaw racer Kirsten van Croonenborgh is driving the Watts '68 C10 Step Side pickup, as her Suzy Q entry has engine damage. Paul Watts said 'She stole it!' Her times were 9.972/130 and 9.707/138.
Supercharged Outlaw racer Andy Hadfield ran PB times of 7.666/175 and 7.564/177 with new tyres, the latter after adding a couple of degrees extra timing. But before the second pass, team member John Turner had an accident when the slick ran over his foot and brought him down. John was taken to the Medical Centre and Bedford Hospital with ligament damage and suspect knee fracture. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.	Supercharged Outlaw racer Des Taylor is having a great time driving the ex Phil Toppin altered now named Thundergod and owned by Duncan Beard with Ian Loasby as crew chief. The team reported some issues with the PG gearbox before the event and Des's time of 9.676/107 indicate that the altered still has some bugs in it.
Supercharged Outlaw racer Jim Usher (crew member pictured in Hemi Hunter) had a massive wheelie in the third session yesterday afternoon, after the wheelie bar broke off the line. The landing damaged the front wheels and the chassis in front of the engine is also bent. Jim reported the team will be out for the rest of the year getting the car fixed and thanks the fire crew and medical team for their work in getting him out of the car safely. The car's original owner and driver Dave Stone and Gerry Andrews were present with Gerry's partner and Roz Prior, all three having raced fuel cars back in the day, and visited Jim during the day. Jim's best times were 7.971/169 and 7.873/171 on Friday, the car running rich, and with a new starter motor.	Custom Car Invitational racer Paul Lorne is one of several racers with 100Es which have grouped into a Modified 100E Challenge, also running at the Retro Show, Nostalgia Nationals and Fast Show. Paul's saloon is now race ready after what he calls 'An 18 year build. The only thing I didn't make is the half shafts which I had machined. The engine is a 400M Ford with C6 auto box and 9" Ford axle. I ran a 13.266/99 earlier and in the last session had a new PB of 12.250/106'. Paul has an all-family crew with wife Lucy and kids Logan, Evan and Jubilee.
Supercharged Outlaw and Willys Wars racer Tony Underhill, who is a team member for Pro Modified racer Kev Slyfield, is running Kev's previous Pro Mod car which he bought as a roller five years ago and fitted a ex-Havoc blown methanol engine to it. With a soft tune-up and entered into two classes for good measure, Tony's best passes this weekend were 8.019/161 on Saturday and a fantastic 7.239/189 on Sunday, Tony taking 3/4 second off his personal best!	Supercharged Outlaw racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor (through Topspeed Automotive) Bill MacDermid is running the car in the same trim as he used for Street Eliminator (which he last ran in 2012), with a Procharger and intercooler in the rear, which was being fed ice as we passed, and new wheelie bars and modern drag radials added for this event. Bill's best times were 8.839/160.
Supercharged Outlaw racer Chris Pattison had the distinction in the early years of the sport in the UK to be the winner of an Allard Dragon dragster in a competition ran by British Drag Racing Magazine and competed at Santa Pod's very first event in 1966 as a youngster. Moving forward to the 21st Century, he now has a blown methanol altered with 508ci engine called Grim Reaper which he ran at Shakey a few years ago and went a mid-11 at 119mph after a move to the left mid-track.	Dragstalgia Cannonball racer Erik Wallinder is the part owner of Tre Kronor with Anders Molund, having bought it from previous owner Johnny Nilsson in 2015 (Johnny remains on the team). Erik said 'We have run it just a few times and the combination is still not sorted, we are behind on both ET and speed. We are developing it slowly and are taking pride in not oiling the track, having banged it only once with a few spots of oil. Now we want to put more power in, with small steps'. He ran 6.82/179 in Q1 to go third and a 6.791 was DQ'd in Q2 after Apache took out the top end reflectors. A re-run of 7.400/180 still placed him in second at the end of Saturday. However Erik reported problems with the cam on the run, which necessitated a 3am session to rebuild and two hours' sleep afterwards. The car went on to run a
Dragstalgia Cannonball racer Tobba Jansson in Nitrocalypse was in no.1 position after Saturday with times of 6.736/195 and 6.478/197. He said 'It's my first time racing in England, and I love the atmosphere. We've done better than we expected, we thought we would be mid-pack. We've made no changes from the setup which we use over 1000ft in Sweden, the car is losing cylinders at the top end which is why the speed is down but overall we are really pleased. It's an old car with a 1984 body used previously by Anders Lian, a 1996 Al Hoffman engine and a chassis from US TAFC racer Dal Denton (who visited in 1989 and 1991). We bought the car as a rolling chassis in 2010 and acquired the engine in 2018. Previously I had crewed on Rimfrost and Tre Kronor.' The Swedes' next race is the Tierp Scandinavian Internationals at the end of August.	Outlaw Anglia racer Al O'Connor's return to the track two years after a top end spill was the most joyous moment of the event as the team had kept the comeback as a closely guarded secret. He said 'It's great to be back, I thank Ginner (Phil Middleton) who put so much effort in, Wayne Allman who did work on the chassis and Dave Eady. The car still needs work to get the geometry straight and get the shake out, but it looks fantastic and will go well. I oversaw the rebuild and found we didn't need to replace anything mechanically, even the transmission case was intact and the engine only needed one new spark plug and a new air filter'. Ginner added 'We salvaged at least 95% of the old car, the doors are half from the original car, and the only part that is not genuine is the roof panel which took the full impact of the crash'. What better birthday present for BDRHoF member Al, whose special day falls today?
Outlaw Anglia racer Simon Barlow suffered head damage on a 7.275/191 run when his high speed leanout came in too early resulting in detonation and holes in both heads, pictured above. 'There was fire but it went out before I came to a halt. The fire crew were amazing with the situation. We have no spare heads but will get some new ones sorted on Monday for the next race (Bug Jam, in two weeks' time). Fortunately the block is undamaged'.	Willys Wars racer John Dalrymple ran his new pickup which he rebuilt after buying it. He said 'A new engine is on the way, a methanol burning 457ci which will output 800hp naturally aspirated. I will keep the TH350 gearbox. Although the car is lumpy and running 11s at the moment, the new engine should see it go much quicker and I am looking to return to Pro ET or start in Super Pro ET next year'.
Outlaw Anglia racer Barry Crookston, brother of Scotty, is the new owner of David Cummins' car which was bought over the winter and stripped, the chassis being tagged to 9.50. Barry (aged 25) said 'I was crewing for Scotty and loved the cars and being on the start line. We bought the car in the pub over a pint, and kept the engine the same but next year will start on the nitrous.' Barry ran a best of 10.066/132 in qualifying and lost to Adam Cuthbert in a close race in round one with a 10.060/134.	Dragstalgia Cannonball racer Rob Elsom was upbeat during the event. He said 'We've got a good combination with new block, crank, rods and pistons. The team is as before with John Wright as crew chief and a couple of new lads. I've had a great time with Maja Udtian's TF car this year and two finals and a semi final in three events is a great start to the season, she will be visiting tomorrow'. After a 7.59/168 in session two, he said 'With the engine we are really on to something, however it was my first time behind the wheel in a year and I have to admit I left in high gear and the clutch was too soft. In the first session we had an air leak on the hat and couldn't get the rpms down. We plan two runs tomorrow and will tune to get it quicker'. Happy Birthday to John Wright for yesterday.
Dragstalgia Cannonball racer Robin Read is out of competition after the engine went bang at three quarter track. He said 'This is what you get running nitro, you race them, break them, fix them and race them again'. Sadly he didn't have the spares here but he will be back soon. He added 'There are several possible culprits, but we found the lead from the crank trigger to the magneto was disconnected and that meant there was nothing to control the firing point of the magneto'. His best pass of the event was a 6.884/197.06, close to the team's sole objective of the double ton.	Dragstalgia Cannonball racer Paul Harris improved on each run for his licensing procedure and finished with a 7.377/144 half pass. The team, headed up by Herb Andrews had made changes to the fuel system, installing a K style metering valve in place of the slider valve inherited from the previous owner which resulted in the car not performing on the pass with its revised setup for nostalgia FC competition.