3 June
Well finally both the site
and forum are up. Again I can’t thank Pete Walters enough for his help
and diligence, I am sure you’d agree the site looks great. Hopefully
you will start to use the forum soon too! It’s a great place to keep
in touch and will grow! Looking forward, the Grudge Series will be coming
to the next even at Shakespeare County Raceway. I am ordering Ts and decals
and all sorts of stuff tomorrow all along with club Ts so if you’d
like one, let me know.
Since April, loads have
happened; Mike has blown up and replaced the motor in his Camaro, returning
to Santa Pod to run a new PB of 9.42. Also, I have managed to drop my PB to
13.07; Tony North also is getting to grips with his Sierra and is hooked!
Hopefully his 350/350 Herald will be out to play next year and really
running the numbers! Also, John Parker has been racing in
Christmas came early for me today!
Santa UPS delivered a ZEX NOS kit, alloy prop shaft, billet motor mounts
and a line lock! All to be fitted in time for The Mopars; this will be
great this year. Outside of the NSCC 9 second cars, there is a rumour about
a 1000bhp Cuda, and a 10 second NA Super Bee! Definitely one to get along
to at the end of this month. My car will stand out in support of the club,
hopefully to attract a few new members and forum users too.
So Ill be keeping the forum
going and any and all club news will be posted here again! Loads of good
stuff to come. Get involved!
The most recent club meet had
15 cars too! ranging from a 55 Chevy to an 06 Mustang including a loverly
Pro Street 70 Mustang fastback and an all too nice black Charger!
31st March
Urs
Erbacher is the first European to win an NHRA Top Fuel event since Englands
Clive Skilton in 1978. Urs ran his top fuel dragster in the colours of
local company, 'Century Ashphalt', for this event. He beat Allan Bradshaw
in the opening round of the event and went on to face Doug Kalitta in the
quarter finals. Urs gave a great account of his team losing by under two
tenths. Urs is running in the NHRA to allow him to prepare for the defence
of his top fuel FIA crown this year Though he was quoted as saying that he
was going to
Full results for the main classes can be found here.
13th
March
Andy Robinson will be providing tech tips for the club newsletter from now
on which is great news for us, no-one can deny his extraordinary knowledge
and experience with making cars go fast, we are really gratefull. The club
will have a new web site and forum soon built by Pete Walters of Peter Walters Race Design
____________
The season
is a week away! With the Easter Thunderball happening at the Pod and this
weekend, the Pod is open for a pre booked Test and Tune day on Saturday and
a public RWYB on the Sunday.
____________
The next club newsletter will be out after the Thunderball with the first
report on the event and how the members got on.
____________
Other bits, well the club is in talks with Shakespeare County Raceway
regards the club doing some promotional intiatives at the RWYB events this
year - more to follow AND, FINALLY,
____________
Dragraces
Drachten: It’s on!
Tuesday, 4th of March 2008
Today, in the city-hall of Smallingerland, a Declaration of Intent has been
signed by Dragrace club eXplosion and Stichting Vliegveld Drachten, which
means for the next five years, dragracing can be held again on the airstrip
in Drachten.
On wednesday the 5th, contractor Joost
Visser will start work on the tracksurface so dragracers can make their
runs again on the 21st and 22nd of June this year.
The current airstrip will be lengthened by 92 meters at the starting-area.
The following 220 meters will be milled and new asphalt will be layed down
aswell. The first 310 meters of the track won’t be used by airplanes,
they will use the remaining 710 meters for landing and take off. Track-work
will have to be completed by the 15th of march, because of the upcoming bird
breedingseason. During the breedingseason no activity is allowed on the
field of the airport.
The signing of this Declaration of Intent marks an end of a long period of
negotiations between Dragrace club eXplosion, the county of Smallingerland
and Stichting Vliegveld Drachten.
During the summer of 2006, 30+ years of Dutch Dragracing came to a sudden
halt because of an excessive track clean-up. Things got rolling again in
the summer of 2007, after an initiative by small group of concerned
citizens, who liked to see dragracing come back to their local airstrip.
The city council unanimously agreed the citizen’s motion. After the
mayor of Drachten, Bert Middel also agreed with eXplosions plans,
negotiations could start which finally resulted in today’s signing of
the Declaration of Intent by both parties.
Dragrace club eXplosion now has the right to organize 3 dragrace-events per
year, for the next 5 years. This right was very important for eXplosion
because of the investments needed to alter the airstrip netted a total of
€150.000,-. This money will be primarily funded by investors and
sponsors. The 3 race-weekends for 2008 are planned on 20-22 of june, 11-13
of july and 29-31 of august.
Chairman of eXplosion, Theo Willemse, was very pleased with the result and
signing of the agreement. “We can make runs again and we’ll now
get a dragrace-track of European quality.” Without the help of
contractor Joost Visser things
might have been a lot harder to accomplish in time. Theo also wants to
thank the VVD and SP-fractions, and others, for their political support.
Great thanks also go to the citizen’s who filed the initiative so it
became an item on the local goverments meeting-agenda. Also thanks to the
people who cooperated with us during this time. Bert Middel was pleased to
be able announce on local radio today the return of dragracing to Drachten
and the (economical) importance for the area.
27th Febuary
The Checker
Schucks Kragen Nats at Phoenix despite suffering early rain causing
stoppages completed with Larry Dixon taking top fuel honours. Jack Beckman
fired up in Funny Car and took the first win of the season for him keeping
Robert Hight off the top step of the podium. A great weekend for V Gaines
as he posts his first win in 7 years!
Get the results here...
Top Fuel
Funny Car
Pro Stock
13th Febuary
Christine
For sale!
Not the
original 58 Movie Car but this 'original' Christine Pro Mod. Minus the
motor and transmission, the Buy It Now price is a cool 89k US. Any and all
bids here pelase!
Click
Here!
_____________
Santa Pod
and Sportsman ET
Santa Pod
does 'BOUNCE' sportsman and Junior Dragster around the calendar a bit
afterall. Two of the Sportsman ET events that traditionally run in line
with the FIA or Main Event titled weekends are being pushed out onto other
vents on the calendar such as Bug Jam. Junior Drags is moving too due to
Santa Pods concerns of kids being taken out of school and new events are
organised. The web site for Bug Jam does not show Sportsman but does show
Super Mod which has been their for sometime of course. So, if you are
planning to run Sportsman ET this year check on where you are to be and
when -coz it aint obvious! Our 08 Class/Event is up
to date and as reliable as anywhere else!
_____________
'DOG Gate'
Update
With the
enforcement of no dogs at Shakey came an understandable wave of criticism
from dog owners -most all of whom I know to be responsible and keep their
dogs out of the way at race meetings. It appears that its been illegal to
have dogs at Motor Racing events for sometime but with Shakey being one of
the last to actually enforce the rule, many dog owners are aggrieved they
have. However, aside from those responsible owners as always there are
prats, on occasion last year, people were escorted from the stands with
small dogs hidden up their jackets! Why? What sort of fool would think a
dog wants to watch a drag race up close? Its that stupidity that
contributes greatest to the ban too, behavior like that also
attracts the RSPCAs interest.
_____________
NSCC Dates
The dates
for this year Challenge are finally posted on the HRG web site and are
now on this site too! No major changes except of course the inclusion of
the last race weekend which now takes place at both Santa Pod and Shakespeare
County Raceway in one weekend. Should be fun!
11th Febuary
Hight,
Anderson and Schumacher take top honors in NHRA season opener...
Tony Schumacher beat his Don Schumacher team mate Cory McClenathan in the
Top Fuel final posting a 4.49 to Mc Clenathans 4.53. Robert Hight starts
his season with a win posting 4.86 with Cruise Pedregon trailing with a
4.87. In Pro Stock, Jeg Coughlin posted a final pass of 6.63 failing to
keep pace with the Mustang of Greg Anderson posting 6.61 in his first win
of the season.
The full weekend for Top Fuel here
The fuill weekend for Funny Car here
The full weekend for Pro Stock here
Of importance is of course the Fantasy League set up by Dave Sidaway and
here it is as of now...
1 alzfrontrunners 640
2 AlcoPop 611
3 Lazy
Aces 606
4 Rollin
Stones 602
5 Flamin'
Anglia 559
6 elliesid
558
7 Dogbite
Racing 541
8 Team
Keef 528
9 swiny
492
10 City
Racing Team 474
11 Flyin
Fordson 327
12 brit
1 0
13 seantoole5
0
8th
Febuary
Its all starting to
get started in NHRA over in Pomona, reports are that the track is fast, a
bit too fast for Scott Kalitta when he put his Toyota in the sand (arguably
a good place to leave it) due to only one chute opening. Other cars of
interest are the new Pontiac GXP's. All are quick with Greg Andersons
currently fastest at 6.63 208 MPH. My nod for the season is these GXPs. The
road going jobbie is a tad kickass too, I digress.
In Top Fuel, Schumacher is running 4.51 at 3 gazillion MPH and that pass is
under the new 90% nitro rule, all in all not bad for his first pass!...Urs
Erbacher runs 5.92 shutting down early. Antron Browns first run ever in Top
Fuel is a very respectable 4.56/326
Funny Car Rookie Mike Neff is quickest of the Force/Ford cars, not sure but
I think he has the new BOSS motor in that car and Force him self is way off
the pace and I think he's running last years motor. But, the car apparently
struggled to get down the track with J Force lifting a few times then
giving up. Im guessing the crew chief has been made aware of the cars
shortcomings by John (!) and working on them a tad fast. Interesting to see
how that goes.
Ashley Force is running 4.86 to Mike Neff 4.85. Interesting terminals 321.x
to Forces 278.x.
Funny Car Results Table
Top Fuel Results Table
Pro Stock Results Table
Ill get a final update after the event closes!
7th Febuary
New mopar euronats power
tour
This new
series from the Guys and Gals that bring us the fantastic Mopar Euronats
looks like fun. Based around consistency, positions are decided by average
lowest ET's, Ill let them explain!
THE POWER TOUR
THE MOPAREURONATS TEAM ARE
DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THIS NEW SERIES
The basic rules are:- Must be an American Built Car any year,
A MAXIMUM tyre width of 10.5 inches and must be stamped on the tyre itself
There will be FOUR actual events with each heat winner having the LOWEST et
as an average over TWO runs, a time penalty will apply if there is a missed
run. The series winner will have the LOWEST average et over the eight runs,
with a time penalty for any missed runs, so CONSISTANCEY is the key!
THE CONFIRMED DATES ARE THUS
ROUND 1 race 1 and 2 Sunday 4th May York Raceway
ROUND 2 race 3 and 4 Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st
June Shakespeare County Raceway, YANKS Weekend
ROUND 3 race 5 and 6 Saturday EVENING 26th July Santa Pod Raceway
MoparEuroNats Weekend
ROUND 4 race 7 and 8 Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th October Shakespeare
County Raceway Bonfire Burn Up Spectacular hosted by the MoparEuroNats
The dates will not change but times may alter owing to weather conditions.
This is the first time in years that all three tracks have been involved in
a nationwide series bringing them together. The MoparEuroNats committee are
proud to instigate this initiative and we look forward to some close heads
up racing in what will be a very exciting series. Please support the Power
Tour!
Taking it to the Tracks!
Questions/info etc contact Tim Holmes at timholmes426@hotmail.co.uk
The
calendar of events is already on the 08-Class/Event page for easy planning.
5th Febuary
The NSCC is
to score two cruises/pub meets in the South, Stevenage Cruise and the
Street and Strip pub meet. Also the Victory Wheelers event is a scorer too.
Good news as the series becomes a bit more National.
_____________
The Dodge Charger is now officially officially for sale and those that
fancy one can get some more looks here . The interior is not as nice as I envisaged but is in keeping with
modern Dodge vehicles. The more interesting car to see will be the 392 race
only car and this is still a few months away. This link gives you an idea of how nice this car will be.
_____________
NHRA is just 2 days away from the off and the first round is at
Pomona, Jeg Coughlin set out his stall by winning the Pontiac test
weekend at Pomona, John Force is apparently fit and Ford will be running
their new BOSS motor in at least one of his cars and no doubt Mr Schumacher
will come ready to compete too. Im looking forward to a great season.
_____________
All Grandstand tickets for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 are gone and
only in-field spots remain, doubt that will bother too many people reading
this but, should be a hell of a show.
_____________
Shakespeare County raceway has added a bit more focus to its calendar with
the mid September RWYB with its Ford Weekender and also later in the year
its Jaguar Wild Cat Day, another one for Nigel parker to win Id guess as
his 9 second XJS must be the fastest Jag on the planet!
27th January
Pretty much
everyone I have spoke to is flat out trying to get cars fuinished and
organised for the season. This has kind of kicked me into gear and so I am
rushing around trying to get bits in the UK on time and fitted! Mr Lacey
meanwhile takes a week out to hit Florida, nice!
__________
The NSCC drivers meet/piss up is this coming weekend and so I expect this
time next week I shall be praying for mercy.
__________
Its 11 days until the NHRA kicks off and so I hope its only 18 days until
the misery of Mondays is lessened somewhat when the highlight shows return.
John Force is testing this weekend and also, Pontiac is bringing a new G8
to the track. It looks up for it!
__________
Drachten is on and I have emailed everyone with some details regards
ferries and anything else that might be helpful at the moment.
_________
Dont forget the pub night this coming wednesday!!
18th
January
6 Second
Toyota - 3.2l 6cyl!
____________
A Camry that
can blast down the straight at an astounding 354 km/h made its Australian
drag race debut at Queensland's Willowbank Raceway during the Castrol EDGE
Jamboree on November 2-3.
Tony Wedlock, former Australian National Drag Racing Association Group One Pro
Stock champion, was behind the wheel.
Wedlock's new Toyota Camry is the quickest Pro Factory Extreme class
vehicle in Australia - and one of the quickest in the world.
The Camry is scheduled to make six runs at the drag racing event.
"Pro Factory Extreme is an exciting new class," he said.
"There will be four entries at Willowbank, and next year we are hoping
to have eight.
"The Camry will do zero to 100 kilometres per hour in less than one
second. It pulls 3Gs of force during acceleration. When you tell people
that, they really sit up and take notice."
In full flight the Camry can cover the quarter mile in less than 6.5
seconds due to its impressive six-cylinder, 3.2-litre, 1800hp Toyota 2JZ
turbocharged engine.
The full carbon-fibre body dragster is still easily identifiable as a
Camry, complete with Toyota grille badge and TRD insignia, and uses a
number of production parts throughout the car.
Minimum weight for the class is approximately 1115 kilograms.
Vehicles in this class must have an engine that matches the badge on the
bonnet. That means a Toyota body shape must have a Toyota engine, and the
engine must be less than four-litre capacity.
The car was built by RJ Race Cars in the United States and is now the
property of Wedlock's Ultimate Motorsports Team in Toowoomba, Queensland.
Even a seasoned drag racer like Tony Wedlock admits he is overawed by the
performance of the Camry.
He describes it as an 'absolute animal of a car' and like nothing he has
ever driven before.
The team is expecting delivery of a further Camry, which will take to the
tracks in 2008.
Drachten
desicion delayed untill the 21st january, and.....
Drag Racing
Doomed in Canada?
Quite a few fast
street cars from the UKs Street Eliminator class have or are planning to go
to Canada to race. This season may be their last chance. The Winnipeg Sun
has this story today...could the tracks survive commercially on the lower
octane classes?...
Manitoba's
drag-racing industry could stall out at the end of this year if the federal
government follows through with a plan to clamp a leaded-fuel ban on the
sport.
"It could eliminate drag racing in Canada. Most of the high-end cars
use leaded fuel," Rick Kosowan, media co-ordinator for the Drag Racers
Association of Manitoba, said of Environment Canada's plan to remove a ban
exemption for competitions following the coming racing season. "That
would affect Gimli. And there are 165 tracks in Canada."
The feds have held off for several years on applying the lead-fuel
prohibition to auto racing. Since word emerged the government will end that
exemption in 2009, many in the racing industry have argued their sports
account for less than 2% of Canada's use of leaded fuel while aviation
consumes the lion's share of the rest.
"How much fuel is used in one day, just on takeoffs and landings at
Winnipeg's international airport and at St. Andrews and the other airports
that cater to these planes?" asked Kosowan.
Tim Richards of Gimli Dragway agrees.
"I don't know why they're getting excited over 1% of the leaded fuel
in the country," said Richards, co-owner of the track facility an
hour's drive north of Winnipeg. "What's that leaded fuel going to
do?"
11th
january
This is going to be a great year for both Street and Strip and Lazy Racing;
some great guys have joined and the Members Cars page shows off some
serious metal. Later in the year we will hopefully be off to Holland as a
club and it would be great to see some of the 'non - racing' guys there
too. Its gonna be a kickass season and summer, I cant wait to get going...
More modern muscle
rumour in the form of spy shots of the new Camaro. Its a stinker! The
interior looks pretty bad; to be honest its a dog, more akin to Korea than
Detroit - I'm sure you'll agree...
...but, the exterior
will get bowtie fans going and does look really cool. Thanks to
autoblog for these shots which, are believed to be pretty much production
ready images. I can believe that as Chevy has received some negative press
over the Camaro and with the Challenger and Mustang on sale, it needs to
start to show its colours...
...Because the
Challenger just looks better and better; this is reported to be a production
car and I can imagine that. Its about the right ride height for the road
and has lost those stupid 20" plus wheels
The seriously exciting 'race only' 392HEMI reported here recently is just
gorgeous. The 392 HEMI crate motor, to be used in the Challenger Super
Stock puts out 525 hp and 510 ft-lbs of torque, a 'A999' automatic
transmission and DANA 60 rear end with a solid rear axle rolling 15"
Goodyear Eagle racing slicks will definately get the pulse and testosterone
pumping.
According to reports,
this setup replaces the independent rear suspension to "reduce wheel
hop and improve straight line performance"... OK, I get that, so, does
that mean the stock Challenger will struggle at the track against the
Mustangs? Camaros more so with their IRS...there are going to be some great
grudge matches ahead. My money is still on the Mustangs! Bias, maybe but I
think the Mustang is the better car when worked over, time will tell. Its
been said I'd sell my wife for a seat at a decent game of poker, not sure
about that but for one of these...
19th December
Dodge is now
'officially' selling the new Challenger. The photos released dont give too
much away to be frank they are not much use at all! That said, I am certain
the car will sell as well as I imagine it will go; The 2008 Challenger SRT8
only at this time will arrive at dealerships this spring, packing specs
like:
• Limited Edition, numbered dash plaque -
not sure why its a limited edition, I imagine they will sell thousands!
• 6.1-liter HEMI® V8
engine rated to 425bhp
• Five-speed automatic transmission with
AutoStick®
• HEMI® Orange Pearl, Brilliant Black
Crystal Pearl or Bright Silver Metallic exterior color options
• Dual carbon fiber hood stripes
The SRT8
will sell for a stonking $40,095.00 - why the $95??
SPRC
and APIRA UK Drivers meeting
SPRC and APIRA Meeting date is the 19th January, starting at 11.00 sharp.
All agenda items should be submitted to paula.marshall@btconnect.com by Friday 11th January. If you do submit an item you must attend for it to be
considered. Prizes, Electricity and ratification of event/race dates will
be agreed.
Thanks to Eurodragster for this and SPRC, full details of the location are here.
Drachten Airstrip
Im really keen to go over to Holland to race next year, the decision as to whether the racing will go ahead on the track there will be made on January 7th. If so, the most obvious dates for a club trip will be the 11th -13th of July.