Dragstalgia

As events slowly begin to start up again, Blue Miller extols the joys of standing beside a drag strip.

It had been a long time. Of course, two years isn’t a long time in terms of tectonic plates shifting or waiting for your fish ‘n’ chips order to be cooked when you’re really hungry, but it had been that long since I had stood on the start line of a drag strip. And I had missed it. I am not a sentimental person but there might have been a tear in my eye, although it was probably just dust.

Dragstalgia is one of my favourite events; not being old enough to have seen the likes of Olympus and Super Cyclops race back in the day, I relish the opportunity to see legendary drag bikes disappearing down the quarter mile. While I may have seen many famous bikes in displays or museums, there really is nothing quite like watching them in action, doing what they were designed to do and, decades on, still doing it with panache and excitement.

It wasn’t quite the same Dragstalgia as of years before for reasons that I am sure I don’t have to explain. Tickets had to be purchased beforehand and there was a limit on capacity (this, after all, not being a football match or a pop festival, we had to be protected from ourselves). The European contingent which always adds a certain extra element to the event was also missing, not having the time to jump through all the necessary hoops nor quarantine in both this country and on return to their own. Some of the ancillary entertainment for those camping over the weekend had had to be cancelled although people seemed quite happy to make their own entertainment. We’ve got quite used to doing that in the last 16 months!

Last year had also been due to be the 10th Dragstalgia which would, no doubt, in normal times have made it a real humdinger. But, while entries were a little down on those in 2019, there still remained plenty to see in what has become a unique event. The Nostalgia Nationals, also held at Santa Pod, is perhaps the closest in spirit and machines, but, while it has Top Fuel and funny bikes, it doesn’t have the National Sprint Association class which, I must confess, is what I love. Besides, as the Nostalgia Nationals – due to be held in May – had to be cancelled this year, it’s a moot comparison.

The NSA Shootout features bikes that many of you who remember Santa Pod in the 1970s (and even earlier) will recognise, not to mention one or two riders who also will be familiar from those days. John Hobbs and Dave Clee raced at Santa Pod when it first opened and here they were, still squeezing every last drop of power out of machines that some might consider museum pieces. Well, there’s not too many museum pieces that are capable of a 10.143 second quarter mile with a terminal speed of 134.11, which is exactly what

John Hobbs did on the recreated Weslake Olympus, winning the 2021 shootout. He finally retired The Hobbit, one of the truly iconic drag bikes of UK racing history, after the last Dragstalgia in 2019, so this was a little compensation for not being able to see the famous dual-engined beast race again. Now, I don’t want to embarrass John by revealing his age, but I reckon he must have been racing for 56 years now. I believe he was still a teenager when he built Olympus back in the 1960s. That he is still getting such extraordinary runs out of Olympus is almost as impressive as the fact that he can still get into his racing leathers!

Dave Clee was also a contemporary of John Hobbs in those early days, first competing in 1965 on a 500cc Triumph, although he later moved away from the sport, selling his bikes. But once the drag racing bug bites, it hangs on and some years ago, Dave started looking for his old machines. The single-engined Puma Triumph Shotgun was still around, although almost unrecognisable from its early days, and now it’s a regular sight at NSA meets. I’ve always felt Dave has never quite got the recognition he always deserved, so it’s a pleasure to see him racing with verve and passion again.

I had opted to be at Dragstalgia on Saturday, mainly because that was the day which the weather forecast said was more promising. Yes, I know, I took notice of a weather forecast, always a case of hope over reality. I really shouldn’t have been surprised when it was cloudy and a little cold. Keri, the lovely lady who runs the press centre, is famous for her 1950s dresses which are often strapless or held up with spaghetti straps (yes, gentlemen, that is a thing) and was indeed dressed to the nines, which I thought was a little optimistic and I wasn’t sure that even the light cardigan she had draped across her shoulders would keep the chill off the young lass.

Dragstalgia is primarily a fourwheeled event although these are the sort of vehicles you want to see drag racing – altereds, funny cars, slingshot dragsters, gassers, none of your modern hot hatchback nonsense here. However, on Saturday morning, we did have a reminder that motorsport is dangerous and it’s not always on the track. I turned around from the start line just in time to see Andy Stones’ Jag 12-engined Topolino Frantic accelerate from its place in the queue and career at speed into a solid steel beam supporting the barn behind the start line. The result of a throttle malfunction, it was a horrible and shocking moment, but hats off to the Santa Pod emergency crew who were on the scene immediately with impressive calm and efficiency. It took a while to get Andy, who’d been briefly knocked out, out of the wreckage of Frantic, but there was a huge round of applause from everyone as he waved while being stretchered to the ambulance. He was allowed home later, just a little battered and bruised and probably really annoyed about the damage to the altered…

But back to two wheels and, in addition to the NSA Shootout, the Old School Stockers were also running a class. Now, while many might not think of these bikes as particularly old, that’s just another sign of how quickly time passes, for these are the bikes you would have seen racing at Santa Pod and other places in the 1980s and even earlier. It all started when several owners were at the same RWYB and decided to put together a class for old-school bikes and that now features some bikes built specifically to race in this class, along with some true original survivors. There’s no superchargers, turbos or nitrous involved and this is a class which depends upon rider skill and courage. This year’s Dragstalgia Nostalgia Pro Stock final was won by Rod Spry, racing like his brother Chris, a Kawasaki H2.

As the day went on, there was a constant procession of interesting vehicles to watch sprinting down the track and the sun even deigned to shine for a while (Sunday was, by all accounts, sunnier and warmer – damn that weather forecast!). At one point, as I started to swelter in my coat, Keri passed me in her summer dress without the cardigan so she clearly has access to far better weather predictions than I do! While there were also the added attractions of a vintage hub with stalls and a beer garden, not to mention the NSRA Show and Shine Show, there was, as ever, more than enough to keep you entertained if you decided to stay trackside all day. And so that is exactly what I did.

When Mick Butler struck out on his own from the legendary Team Pegasus, one of his first builds was the double Norton-engined Super Cyclops 1980s, Super Cyclops was subsequently recommissioned and, since 2014, has been owned and ridden by Colin Fallows. which debuted here at Santa Pod in 1973. Retired in the

A relaxed Chris Spry waiting to race – he later ran a nine-second pass side by side with his brother Rod, both on Kawasaki H2s.

The Kawasaki H2 of Rod Spry, the Old School Stockers final winner.

Lee Gilmore on his Nostalgia ProStock Suzuki GS1000. He did change his hat before racing.

Looking as good if not better than it did in 1965 when Dennis ‘Stormin’ Norman put two Triumph 650cc engines together and added a supercharger, fuel injection and a single-speed gearbox and called it Conquest. It was the first double-engined bike outside the US to run under 10 seconds.

Two old comrades together; Dave Clee’s Shotgun and John Hobbs’ Olympus.

Ray Law’s double-engined Triumph was racing at Santa Pod some 50 years ago – and that’s still Ray himself aboard.

Nic Williams launching in style in his 1969 Williams Brothers Racing Chevrolet Camaro.

Tim Howell’s supercharged BSA A65.

For some years, Chris Manning’s The Villain period slingshot dragster has been one of the most popular cars on the track – look at it and the years just fall away. Sadly, Dragstalgia was its swansong. Chris hit the sidewall in the shutdown area and the damage to the dragster turned out to be unrepairable.

Following the success of Conquest, Dennis Norman was approached by Norton to build a bike using two of its 850cc Commando engines. Conquest 2 was the eventual result and, following a rebuild a few years ago, is now ridden by Dennis’s son, Gary.

After Chris Illman had to pull out of the meeting (I believe he was due to be riding the Pegasus Long Rod Panther), Graham Sykes was a late entry, riding the blown Black Cat Triumph.

Andy Lambert launching on Comfortably Numb, his Kawasaki Z900 Pro Stock machine.