CLASSICS
Dragstalgia: quarter-milers from the golden age of drag racing.
ON THE FACE of it 2018 has been a diabolic year for UK drag racing. Avon Park (first drag race 1973) finally succumbed to the clutches of house builders, while Epping Forest District Council banned drag racing at North Weald, after 25 years. However, all is not lost. Santa Pod have invested heavily in a new 1320 and the Bedfordshire track’s future seems to be rock solid, with one event particularly standing out – Dragstalgia. Dragstalgia is an unashamed celebration of the good old bad old days of drag racing when little ran straight and the entertainment was all the better for it. The pits bulge with gassers, altereds, front engined rails and of course there is a stout entry of bikes… Stormin’ Dennis Norman’s Conquest 1 and 2 are there accompanied by son Gary: Dennis is now 93 and raced until he was 87. Opposite the Conquest pit is John Hobbs with the Hobbit and next to him is Super Cyclops, under the stewardship of Colin Fallows – long time ’Pod jet car driver. But the regeneration of Santa Pod and the growing success of Dragstalgia is not the only good news for UK drag race fans with a taste for the good old days. The Straightliners have been quietly growing their calendar of sprint events which now runs to 12 venues and 42 events this year. New venues include East Kirby, Lincolnshire aka Lancaster Raceway and Ouston Airfield, near Newcastle aka Hurricane Raceway: Lancaster Raceway because sprinting takes place on the runway used by Lancaster bombers and Hurricane Raceway because Ouston was where no.317 Polish fighter squadron was based in WWII. UK drag racing arguably started with sprinting and the Straightliners are reporting increased interest following the closure of Avon Park with their mix of historic venues and grass roots racing. Not such a gloomy year after all.
‘The good old bad old days of drag racing’