Hot Rod Drags

■ Words: Dave Biggadyke Pics: Julian Hunt and (as credited) Dave Biggadyke

There was something in the air at the Hot Rod Drags this year. Actually, in reality was it was more a case of nothing in the air, with the density altitude being significantly lower than at recent events. That could only result in one thing – really quick times. Much to the delight of racers and spectators alike, that proved to be the case at the Hot Rod Drags in mid-September.

Although cold at times, especially overnight on Friday, the weather pretty much played ball. Many PBs were run, one new record was set and the Pod was buzzing all weekend. With plenty of added entertainment away from the track, this really was a great weekend – a fitting finale to a season of street car racing.

As Hod Rod Drags go, this 34th staging was up there with the best of them CC

The Pod was buzzing all weekend

 Simon Devos was getting air under the front tyres on his Frankenstien Chevy throughout the weekend. Simon’s best of a string of 10-second passes was a was a 10.2761 / 127.62 on the Friday uite a few Modi ed 100E drivers showed what they re made of Stuart Flitton ran a PB 9.8762 / 138.13 followed by a PB 9.8337 / 136.13 on the Friday. He upped the ante the following day with a 9.7235 / 138.28  It will come as no surprise that Brian Savidge clocked up a good number of quarter-mile passes in his CC-featured ’32 roadster, 17 to be exact. Brian ran a best of 10.3444 / 128 then switched back to his road tyres for the 170 mile drive home Remember the red, yellow and green stripey Mustang campaigned in recent years by father and son Grahame and Kieron Smith? Well, it’s no longer multi-coloured, and Kieron ran it to a best of 11.6080 / 113.51 on the Friday which Whiff matched the following way

 Running in Gasser Circus, the winner of the NSRA Best Reaction Time award was Lee Pike, in the Honky Tonkin’ II Chevy Nova, with a 0.0072. Car was sporting a for sale sign if you fancy joining the Circus

 The Hayling Garage Duster sports a fresh paint scheme from when it was campaigned by James Forster. A PB 9.4094 / 143.37 on the Friday was followed by a PB 9.3239 / 143.38, then a subsequent string of low to mid 9-second passes  Loz Moules took full advantage of the favourable racing conditions and ran a P 1 919 3 on the Saturday her rst ever 1 -second Another Willys, another PB. John Dalrymple piloted his Full Tilt ’33 coupe to a best of 8.9642 / 154.15

 Despite being on the road for 5 years, the weekend saw the public debut of Ian Dawes’ ’51 Henry J. Power comes from a 750bhp 392 Hemi topped off with a 6.71 blower, but with all those horses the tyres struggled to nd traction an came away with a best of 12.9949 at 115.95mph, along with an NSRA Dirty Dozen trophy

Inset pic: Dave Biggadyke

 A welcome change in the usual sea of ords and Chevys this 3 Pontiac usiness Coupe is a clean and tidy looking car

Pic: Dave Biggadyke  Eight-second Sally Woolner s rst run in the Camaro was an off-par 9.0035 / 152.59. That didn’t faze her though as her next timing ticket read 8.2411 / 166.06. Good as that was, husband Justin’s best in the car was an 23 so that was her target time Sally s nal pass was a storming PB 8.2222 / 166.06, bagging her the bragging rights over the dinner table

 Kevin Baker went home smiling after running a PB 11.8606 / 112.77 in his Austin A40 – and receiving an NSRA Dirty Dozen trophy

 Hot lapping Brian Watson picked up the award for most runs on Friday, a tally of 13 passes – the quickest of which was a PB 13.001. So close to that 12, eh Brian? Brian also passed the magic ton with a fastest terminal speed of 103mph Capping off the weekend was his name being added to the list of NSRA Dirty Dozen winners Eleanor Jones generously helped out dad Lee Johnstone when it came to driving the Aint No Saint Volvo. Eleanor’s best was a 9.9810 / 135.37, Lee’s a PB 9.9253 / 137.74

 A proper family affair, Jon Byng with his Maestro diesel-powered Pop and his son Tom in his Rover K-series-powered100E

It’s hard to believe the Outlaw Anglias have been entertaining the crowds with their heads up racing spectacle for 30 years now. In recent times, a couple of drivers have run 6-second quarters so the big question is, who will be the rst to clock 200mph? That question wasn’t answered at the Hot Rod Drags – but there’s always next year, eh?

Of late, the class has introduced bracket eliminations for those drivers who get knocked out in the early rounds. Rather than load your car on the trailer, you pick a dial in and have another go. Beats getting home in time to mow the grass on Sunday afternoon.

 Colin Millar purged ets of nitrous and ran a P 9 0 190 9 much to the delight of his crew especially Aaron Springford Colin later overcame oug McClure in E1 to take the championship then having dispensed with Mark racking ran a 2 3 1 against Rob Stone to book his passage into the nal he Flyin’ Fyfer wasn t uite so ying on that last run though and en Rushforth took the win although Colin did pick up trophies for the NSRA irty o en and for being the uickest Outlaw

 en Rushforth proved dominant in the elimination rounds A 9 91 1 9 saw off Spencer idswell an 0 1 9 bid farewell to Wayne Power and with Simon arlow being a no show an 02 1 1 put him through to the nal en then took the laurels with an 232 1 1 13 against Colin Millar

 Wayne Power came into eliminations in place of edd uy and went through E1 with a 10 021 12 1 over red lit ary ill A 10 0 9 12 in the next round was no match for en Rushwort though  Similarly Mark racking played sub for ary ird and was victorious in the rst elimination round with a 10 3030 131 0 against Rob rindle p against Colin Millar Mark then ran his best of the weekend a 10 2120 131 0 but pulled a red  hat man Millar also got to Rob Stone Rob had already despatched avid Pearce and Phil Middleton, 8.5435 / 150.56 and 3 99 1 9 39 but an 3 99 1 9 39 was no match for the lyin yfer

 Phil inner Middleton s rst ualifying run was an 3 0 1 1 3 momentarily putting him in top spot e couldn t improve on that though and uali ed th pairing him against en ennedy in the rst elimination round (pictured here) inner went through with an 0 2 1 9 but he lost out to Rob Stone in the next round  Andy Agent Orange Cunningham ran a P 11 0 11 0 but was ultimately eliminated so went bracket racing instead e made it through round 1 against en ennedy but lost out in E2 to Pete utler pictured here

 Rob rindle ( 90 dial in) and Pete utler (11 10 dial in) faced up in the Outlaw Anglia racket Elimination nal Pete was too uick and ran an 11 00 119 9 breakout allowing Rob to take the win with a measured 9 23 12 2

 edd uy s rst ualifying run was a lifted 10 339 9 09 owever he was back on form in round 2 with a storming 9 19 3 A split cam belt resulted in enforced retirement however

 Simon arlow came out in the second ualifying session and ran 191 1 1 which he improved with a 12 1 0 in the next round A 0 0 1 9 92 on Sunday morning waved goodbye to Rob Nixon as did a 10 1 3 1 to Mick aylor in E2 hat was as far as it went though as Simon was a no show for the next round Save of the weekend goes to Gary Bird. In session 2 of Outlaw Anglia his Lucky Penny Pop went across the track at the nish line. Gary corrected it, although the car had all four wheels o the ground at one point. Great driving job Gary.

 A good few Nostalgia Superstock racers were participating in RW sessions throughout the weekend including Phil obson who wrung a 10 2 10 2 out of his odge Coronet Ol’ Scatter Bolts running against ave Simcock

 ave Simcock pipped Ol’ Scatter Bolts on a couple of occasions the best from his Challenger being a 10 2 2 129 9

With a mix of Altereds, dragsters, slingshots and Funny Cars, the Wild Bunch pro ered a eld of 32 cars for the class’ nal RWYB-type event of the season. As always, the racing was close and exciting and PBs abounded. Great job guys.

 Steve Garlant ran the Sonic Attack 2 dragster to a PB 10.6626 / 119.97 on the Friday

 Having run a PB 7.6985 / 171.08 on the Friday, Alan Lloyd got progressively quicker in Gonzo the Great during Saturday’s qualifying rounds. His second run was an improvement to 7.6412 / 171.11 and the day ended with yet another PB, a 7.6063 / 171.76 earning him the NSRA Quickest Wild Bunch trophy  Allan Scho eld piloted the Rough Diamond ‘23T back in the 8s, the best of which was an 9 1 9 1 in the rst elimination round

 An ET PB of 12.0621 at 115.66mph proved too quick to better for Ian Wild in the Wilds’ Cat Jag straight six-powered Competition Altered  Gavin Meanley was driving the Charles Bang Special a dragster that rst ran in Cincinnati in the mid-60s and is now owned by Dean Butler. Gavin made a number of side-by-side passes alongside another Flathead-powered car, Back From The Past driven by Bradley Cooper. Who notched up the most wins is somewhat of an irrelevance against the sight of the two cars lining up against each other. We will, however, tell you that Bradley ran a 10.886 / 121.56 PB speed, bagging him the NSRA trophy for Quickest Flathead. Meanwhile, Gavin featured in the NSRA Dirty Dozen  Ruaridh Hart was making shakedown passes in his BraveHart Opel GT Funny Car. His best was a 12.1869 / 95.64 with the car in checkout mode Gary Atkinson ran a PB 9.6147 / 132.95 on the Saturday in his Time Lock 2 Altered  Paul Brown took time off from giving taxi rides and made a few passes in his BBQ Roadster, netting his best-ever timing slip in the car, an 8.3902 / 150.57

 Saturday evening saw the now familiar on-track Cacklefest (not a ‘Cracklefest’, as the event programme called it

 Clinton Wildish s bagged 3 MC pick-up has a lot of custom touches which combine to make it that bit different to the norm on these shores

Pic: Dave Biggadyke  Plymouth elvedere runs 0ci mated to a 2 or ue ite transmission and wears its original Corporate lue paint Could be yours for 2 large

Pic: Dave Biggadyke  Custom vans were thin on the ground this time round but this odge A10 caught my eye wo-tone paint bullet hubcaps and white band tyres are all you need for added cool

Pic: Dave Biggadyke

 I didn’t manage to get up close to Marc Lamude’s ’68 Camaro so I can t con rm if it s been painted or wrapped since being featured or that matter can t con rm if Marc still owns it either as heard no mention of the driver s name he twin-turbo 00ci Chevy-powered car ran 312 1  Crewman Aaron Springford put in a few RWYB passes in the Flyin’ Fyfer under the watchful eye of Colin Millar he best of those carded Aaron s rst ever a 9 1 at 1 3 0 mph  On the riday Robin Read ran his aimler-powered dragster to a 91 192 0 the NSRA uickest riday E but damaged its rear axle gears in the process e returned to base and rebuilt the axle with another set of gears offering a different ratio and on the Sunday ran a s uirrelly 3 1 swapping lanes at the end of the track

 ancy getting some strip action for yourself he Assassin 3 ord coupe comes without engine transmission or rear axle for 12 00 t does come with a though

• Wayne Colliver, Mis t slingshot • Jack Hagan, ’28 Model A • Andrew Jackson, Triumph Herald • Brian Watson, ’33 coupe • Brian Daly, ’33 coupe • Jim Usher, Hemi Hunter • Nick Wait, ’39 Ford • Sharon Carver, Ford Prefect • Colin Millar, the Flyin’ Fyfer • Ian Dawes, ’51 Henry J • Kev Baker, Austin A40 • Gavin Meanley and Pete Ayres, Charles Bang Special

 One of the NSRA Dirty Dozen trophies went to Brian Daly, simply for driving his coupe down from Scotland then going for broke on the track, while another went to Jim Usher and the Hemi Hunter team for keeping part of UK drag racing heritage alive and kicking

 Rod Harrison debuted his blown alky 540ci big block Chevy ’23 T Altered. He put in 3 passes culminating in a 9.0120 / 136.15  James Barry was getting to grips with the ex-Street Eliminator Willys coupe built and raced by the late Gerry Treit, and ran a best of 10.0087 / 136.57. We understand James plans to run in Outlaw Street next season  The Merv Barnett built roadster is not only back on track after a 20 plus year break, it’s also back in the family. The man now behind the wheel is Merv’s son Nick, who ran a best of 13.7 seconds at 103mph

 On three occasions on both the Saturday and Sunday the same pairing pulled round for match races – four times on the Saturday actually as both drivers pulled red lights in the same race. Those drivers were Trakbak Racing CEO Keith Bartlett, the man with the home advantage, and 2022 Street Eliminator champion Andy Bond. Keith was driving Roarin’ Rat and to keep things on a more even keel Andy left his race car at home and came along in its Not So Ugly Sister ’55 Chevy.

Keith ran a best of 10.1321 / 130.93, and Andy a 10.0680 / 132.49. As for who won overall? Saturday went the way of Keith 2-1, whilst Andy took Sunday 2-1. Pretty even then

The Supercharged Outlaws elded a pack of 14 cars competing in 3 scheduled sessions on both the Saturday and Sunday. Wheelstands, PBs and even a new record were the order of the day. There was also an instance of body switching, then switching back again. As always, the racing was close and exciting with a few edge-ofseat moments thrown in for good measure.

 Simon oot kicked off with a 9 1 9 in the Bootlegger Camaro is last run produced a wheelstanding launch despite which he ran a P 9 0 1 Maybe an beckons for 2023 that and wheelie bars  Roy Wilding put in a stonking P 0 2 193 on the Saturday but at the expense of broken rocker arms Roy wouldn t let that stop his racing though so he nipped home to fetch replacements he following day he ran 23 19 9 against Aaron Windridge and then alongside Wayne Allman s -second pass a P 0 02 19 1 so close to side-by-side -second runs  im reeman proved to be Mr Consistent in his El Loco euce coupe A 9 339 1 12 straight off the trailer proved the uickest of his succession of 9-second passes throughout the weekend  Wayne Allman was preparing for his rst run on the Saturday when he discovered Mental Breakdown had a distinct lack of oil pressure his was traced to a defunct oil pump and Wayne didn t have a spare a problem exacerbated by him already having stashed the ashes of former Super Comp racer Andy Williams in his chute oe ond came to the rescue with a loan pump and the following day Mental Breakdown bounced down the track to a 3 32 1 9 9 with Andy s ashes being released in the shutdown area

Wayne then paired up alongside Roy Wilding and despite knowing the run was uick wasn t uite expecting his wife elen to tell him he d run his rst We caught up with Wayne in his underpants later when he told us the 990 199 9 timing ticket is dedicated to all those who doubted he would ever do it

 Robbie rabham pulled up to the line in the Freddy’s Revenge Altered on the riday and then ran a P 9 12 19 0 his rst ever t was a case of altered images when Robbie next pulled round as the team had switched to the West Country Shaker unny Car body his is actually the illbillies Avenger body raced in 19 - until suffering re damage at Snetterton t made a brief comeback in the 0s with the body having then been restored over the last couple of years Running in this guise

Robbie ran a best of 1012 19 03 but then reverted to the more familar opolino on the Sunday due to a latching problem with the

Avenger body  Joe Bond ran Nuthing II Fancy to a trio of 2-second passes the rst a 2 19 219 0 and the last a 2 2 22 Sandwiched in between was something that bit special a 20 220 09 Not ust a P for oe but a new European record to boot