At last a chance to get over to Santa Pod Raceway the home of European drag racing since 1966. Built on what was the former USAAF base, home of the 92nd bomb group, the track has improved immensely but still retains the charm. To re-live the ‘old days’ for the last ten years the Pod has held a meeting called ‘Dragstalgia’ where the vehicles racing are either originals from the time or modern reproductions.
Why ‘ish’? Well due to this pandemic things are not yet back to normal. The tickets had to be booked in advance as the crowd capacity is very restricted. Sadly as things stand we can no longer be treated to seeing competitors from across Europe who would have made the event even more memorable. Enough waffle, let me show you a variety of the classic machines that gave us a great day out. I guess this post will not be eveybody’s thing but hey I have been spoiling you with the wildlife and there is a clue in the blogs name!
Cannonball. The fastest cars on show. Nitromethane or methanol, three rounds of racing over two days the two cars with the lowest combined times contest the final.
Supercharged Outlaws A real mixture of dragsters, altereds even street legal cars. They must run quicker than 9.90 seconds over the quarter mile.
The Wild Bunch Again dragsters, altereds and funny cars. These are a real taste of the early days. They race on a handicap basis so the slower vehicle has a head start.
Outlaw Anglia Ford Pop, Anglia, Prefect or Fordson vans fitted with big v8 powerplants.
Nostalgia Super Stock Pre 1980 American v8s raced on a handicap (what we call dial in). There were 45 entries!
Willys Wars 1933 to 42 Willys coupes, sedans or pickups race for fun and ‘bragging rights’.
Gasser Circus Nose high throwbacks to a popular class in ’60s America. They run on ordinary pump fuel.
Old School Stockers Classic Pro Stock bikes of the ’70’s based on wickedly fast Japanese machines of the time.
NSA Bike Shootout Famous bikes brought out to play! Not quite as quick as they once were but a joy to see.
