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■ Words and Pics: Keith Lee

This month, Keith looks at the exploits of the Stones team – newly indicted to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame

This year’s British Drag Racing Hall of Fame gala will be taking place just a few days after this issue of Custom Car is sent out. The event will be overshadowed by the sad loss of Jon Morton, who was just so joyous at being selected for induction into the HoF but tragically succumbed to a heart attack at the Euro Finals.

Now, Jon would be the last person to want those present to be downbeat, as his prescription would be to raise a glass or two – and enjoy the food, with gusto! There will no doubt be many stories about Mort shared during the evening. Also being honoured are the National Street Rod Association, Mark Flavell, the Stones team and overseas inductee, the late Dutch bike racer Henk Vink.

It is the Stones team who I wanted to look back at, as they were such a prominent part of UK and European drag racing – especially in the hectic days of the seventies. Dave Stone was out on track in a Lotus Cortina back in 1969, and by 1970 he and his father Dennis were racing together as a two car team.

Dennis had bought a Chevy-powered Opus from Cliff Jones, which was running in the Competition Altered division. This wild little car might have been handled by Dennis originally, but his lanky son was soon to be found having a run in the aptly named Opus One. A distinctive Crower injection system and other goodies were fitted to provide more performance, as the little blue car became a crowd pleaser.

Not standing still, a more substantial T-bodied car was procured from the team of Benbow and Fullerton for 1972 – with the injected Chevy motor replacing the car’s original Pontiac power unit. This car would become well known in drag racing circles as Tee Rat, as it would become THE most memorable altered of the era – both for its performance and the manner it achieved it!

A Pro Stock class was introduced in 1973, which was the domain of Chevrolet power, with Camaro being the car of choice. The Stones came from the Ford stronghold of Dagenham, but Chevy was their preference for power also. However the body for their entry was the humble Ford Escort, with a 302 motor shoe horned into the engine bay. Gerry Andrews was the main driver of this little pocket rocket, which they named Tender Trap.

By 1974, the Stones were competing with no less than three entries. A real master stroke was the inclusion of the Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis as part of the team. DLT loved his cars and proved to be an excellent advocate for the sport – and no mean driver. He was now driving the team’s Escort when he was available over a couple of seasons, before the car was initially retired.

The other big news for the team was the inclusion of a dragster for Gerry Andrews to drive. This Allan Herridge built car was fitted with the injected motor from Tee Rat, which itself was now sporting a blown lump, for even quicker times. A notable success came at Silverstone, where DLT won his class in the Escort and Gerry clinched the Top Dragster victory. That left Dave Stone, who became the first 7-second altered runner, as he defeated Mike Hall with a best of 7.96 / 198 to make it a clean sweep for the team!

A new Roland Pratt built chassis formed the basis for a revised Tee Rat, which ended up taking on the funny cars of the day – and winning – as it propelled Dave to 7.5s times in what was a very short life

he hevy powered scort fi rst appeared in ’ . ender rap resurfaced in the late s, resplendent in tardust inspired livery

Left: Some of the Stones team behind Don Garlits in 1976. From left: Gerry Andrews, Dave Stone, David Davies, with Dennis Stone on the right. n the fi resuit is live kilton bove he e eadle funny car came to a fi ery end, when Dave Stone was lucky to escape from the inferno ot one of my fi nest shots but it is well over 50 years old! It shows Opus One charging away from the line. Looks like Dennis driving Dave Stone in the always spectacular Tee Rat, which is shown at lackbushe after being fi tted with a blower. First UK altered in the sevens

for that particular ride. Hemi Hunter was sporting a blower in ’75, and it turned in even quicker times during that year. It would prove to be a very tough car to beat in the newly introduced Pro Comp class.

While Gerry Andrews was enjoying the extra power, Dave would find himself in 1976 sat in the funny car that had set the strip and fans alight in 1973. The ex Don Schumacher Stardust Cuda was purchased from Santa Pod, to start another new direction for this dynamic team, as they geared up by putting their Chevy motor into the well loved car. The yellow and blue car did taste victory during that first season, against more favoured rivals, as they settled into the class.

Dave competed in the machine for another couple of seasons before moving up another notch. The team took on another ex-American race car in the shape of the Mustang II in which Raymond Beadle had wowed fans on his visits to the UK.

When unable to race in the funny car, Dave amused himself by dusting off Tender Trap for some outings. After an initial outing for the new funny at the end of 1979, in an unexpected colour, it emerged in 1980 in similar paint scheme to Stardust, which is not so surprising, as this car would continue the naming into the new decade.

The year 1983 would be a bad year for this great bunch of racers. At the May Big Go event, Dave suffered a major fireball at the top end at Santa Pod. He was lucky to escape with just a number of burns, as it needed opponent Owen Hayward and a marshal to free him – while the Mustang was totally destroyed in the fierce fire! This would prove to be the last race for Dave Stone.

If that wasn’t bad enough for the team, Gerry Andrews rolled Hemi Hunter in a big way at the September event. He quickly emerged unscathed from the wreckage, to the relief of everyone.

Although the Stones would successfully continue with Gerry, and later on by Dick Kruse in a new Pro Comp entry, as always under the guidance of ‘Daddy’ Dennis Stone, those events of 1983 drew a close to an eventful chapter for these well loved stars of the strip.

Above left: Gerry Andrews popping the chute in Hemi Hunter at Snetterton. The name, and some of the original car, still lives on today Above: The original Stardust lauching against Owen Hayward in Houndog, as the Stones made progress in the fl opper division Right: The replacement rear-engined Hemi Hunter entry. Gerry Andrews taking on the Le Patron dragster of Jim Read. These two teams would be a dominant force in Pro Comp over many years Left: Parked in front of the old barn at anta Pod is the fi nal drive for Dave Stone