*The Previous entry for this meeting included the following "A disappointing field of only 53 competitors turned up for the 6000 spectators. Bike riders refused to hold a round of their championship at the venue due to the bumpiness of the strip." At a meeting  between riders and officials it was decided that it would be unfair to hold the fourth round of the Castrol Points Championship at this meeting and it was postponed until the Silverstone meeting two weeks later. (Thanks to Jerry Cookson for clearing this up)

Silverstone. Entry List. The NDRC held their second International meeting with the announcement that the strip had the "best adhesion possible for Drag Racing in Europe". In the first half of the year Silverstone Circuits and Clive Lanson Enterprises had spent in the region of £6000 on increased paddock space, double armco barriers the full length of the strip and a graded spectator bank. Four Funny cars were in attendance, but the rear-engined entry of Ed Shaver had been having a chassis rebuild and didn't make it to the track until Sunday for a couple of shakedown runs. The remaining three, Dennis Priddle's Avenger, Leif Dabach's Volvo, The Saint, and Bjorn Anderson's Manta ran a round robin on Sunday. Priddle managed a best of 7.7 on Saturday with the Swedes running low eights. On Sunday he ran 8.05/187 against an 8.8/180 from Dabach. Dabach then beat Anderson with an 8.80/177 to a 9.5/156. In the final round Priddle took the win with a 7.8 to Anderson's 9.9. Dennis had less luck in the Top Fuel ranks, qualifying behind the 7.8 of Roland Pratt, in Revolution III, with an 8.3. Sweden's John Anderson was third with an 8.34 while Clive Skilton broke a shifter cable and coasted to the line. Taking a turn in the Revolution III car also was Roz Prior, putting in some observed runs, under the supervision of Clive Skilton, in preparation for her move up to Pro Fuel with the ex-Priddle Mr Six car which she and husband Dave had purchased earlier in the year. The result of this was that Roz became the first licensed female Pro Fuel driver outside the USA. In the first round Skilton ran 7.04/202 as Anderson shut off early to a 12.3. Then Priddle found himself chasing Pratt who took a massive lead at the start. He managed to hold on until his chute deployed prematurely allowing Dennis to power past and take the win with a 7.3/190 to an 8.0. In the final Skilton took a convincing win with a 6.7/220 to Priddle's 7.5/171. In Top Dragster Gerry Andrews qualified at number one with an 8.4. He made his way to the final with an 8.3s win over Peter Baker, who was making his first runs in Roz Prior's old car. There he met Ray Hoare, who had disposed of Tony Froome with a 9.5 to a 10.3. Andrews took the final win with another 8.3 to Hoare's 9.5. Baker and Froome ran a decider for third and fourth, with Baker taking a 9.5 win over a 10.1. Russ Carpenter took Senior Dragster with a 9.2s win over the Crescent Coupe of Keith Dancy, running for the first time without it's distinctive bodywork. Top Comp saw the Stones Tee Rat out for the first time with an uprated rear axle to cope with the blown injected Chevy engine. It proved a successful combination as Dave Stone put in an 8.1/189 on his first run, a good 20mph faster than the car had run previously. In the first race against Mike Hall's Shutdown Stone clocked a 7.96/194, the first sub-eight second pass for an Altered outside the USA. In the second match a 9.4/165 from Hall was no match for another seven from Tee Rat, this time a 7.98/198. In Senior Comp Dick Sharpe took the win with an 11.1/120 against Us Serviceman Freeman Rodgers. Middle Comp saw mechanic Jim Brett take the driving seat in Stripteaser for the first time, and the final win with a holeshot 11.59 to an 11.44 from John Moreton in Invader. The Pro Stock class saw two Swedish entries, the Camaros of Gunne Backe and Bo Hollstrom, join Colin Mullen, Adrian Yorke and Gary Goggin. But mechanical problems for Goggin and Yorke led to another round robin competition, with Mullen coming out on top with a 9.7 and a 9.8. Dave Lee Travis made number one qualifier and won his first ever Super Street Eliminator in the Stone's 'Tender Trap' Escort against such established racers as Al O'Connor, Mustapha Errol and Dave Rose.

At this meeting 3000 spectators saw Clive Skilton run 4.92/161 over the eighth mile course as Roz Prior in her new fueler, smoked the whole distance. Ed Shaver in the Castrol rear engined FC ran 5.90/139. (Clive Rooms)

Supernationals SPR. In Pro Fuel qualifying, Clive Skilton crossed the finish line at 210 mph as a front tyre blew sending him into the guardrail in the shutdown area. Clive was OK but the car wasn’t. In the eliminations, Mike Hutcherson had a bye due to the non-appearance of Skilton, and the Houndog car ran 6.96/194.53, the first six second pass by any Houndog car. In the other semi, Dennis Priddle ran 6.61/196.46 as Pete Crane in Stormbringer slowed to a 7.23/168 due to a blown head gasket. It was Priddle all the way in the final with a 6.60/209.21 run as Houndog trailed with 7.50/146.84. In Funny Car, Allan Herridge in Stardust soloed to a 7.09/199.2. In the other semi, Dennis Priddle took an easy 8.21/171.82 win as Owen Hayward in Houndog went in to an almost vertical wheelstand off the line and had to click it off. Herridge took the final round win in a new track FC ET record of 6.81/195.69 as Priddle slowed to a losing 8.02/155.72. Top Dragster winner was Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter with a solo semi win and a final round victory over Alan Blount. Malcolm Olley in the Pink Panther took the final of Senior Dragster as Martin Rowatt lost fire. John Whitmore took the Middle title defeating Keith Elliott in the final, and Steve Martyn was the Junior winner. Due to breakages, there were just two cars in Top Comp. Tee Rat ran a solo best ever 7.71/187, and in the final, Dave Stone’s sideways 9.38/180 clocking was too strong for Mike Hall’s 9.90/139. Senior Comp winner was Dave Page in Panic, and Pete Skinner in Midas Mist won Middle as Bob Messent fouled in Stripteaser. Pat Hart took the Junior title beating John Annear. Pro Stock was a best of three between Colin Mullan and Gary Goggin, and it was the Heavy car of Mullan that took it 2-1. In Top bike first round, John Hobbs 9.47 beat Bob Webster 9.54, Tony Weedon 9.76 overcame John Clift 9.86, Mick Butler 9.41 downed Keith Parnell 9.65 and Brian Smith lost fire as Jeff Byne sheared a rear wheel spindle at 120 mph locking the wheel completely but coming to a safe halt. In the semis, Byne beat a chain breaking Hobbs, and Butler ran a PB 9.24/151 to down Weedon. Byne pulled a holeshot to take the final with 9.50 to Butler’s quicker but losing 9.47. Pete Smith defeated Mick Warne to take the Senior win. Middle winner was Ray Law and Pete Molloy took the Junior title. Terry Revill ran 11.95/112 to defeat Dave Rawlins in the final of Street bike. (Clive Rooms)

Re. the writing off of Clive Skiltons Castrol sponsored rear engined fuel dragster when he hit the barrier, it emerged that another racer, Ollie Burn, had paid Skilton £3000 for the car just hours before. It was repaired and re-appeared in 1975 as the Liz & Ollie car. SPR published a notice in their programme asking weekend campers not to go into the woods behind the camping area for firewood as this was private property. Strange that they should want to do this as SPR supplied the campers with free wood to burn!

NDRCs first meeting at Snetterton circuit, Norfolk. The final round of the Castrol/RAC National championship, and a round of the STP/Custom Car Championship for Pro Stock and Super Street. Many of the unfinished eliminations from the rained off Silverstone meeting two weeks earlier were completed. Four Top Fuel cars were entered but this was reduced to three when Dennis Priddle broke the rear axle on a qualifier. So, it was decided to run a round robin. Clive Skilton in the newly repaired Castrol GTX car beat Malcolm Quick in the Revolution 3 car, 7.20/192 to 17.38/141. Roz Prior then ran 7.30/200 to inflict a second defeat on Quick. The final race caused confusion as Skilton’s engine died before he had staged, and then Prior red lit on her way to 7.28/208. There was a match race between the floppers of Dennis Priddle and Bootsie Herridge in Stardust. In the first race, Herridge drew the lane with the bad bump in it. Priddle took the race in 7.26/190 as the Stardust car got wildly out of shape. In the second race, unknown to the two drivers as they tried to stage, somebody had tripped over a battery lead to the Christmas tree and the lights never came on. Somebody then ran into the middle with a couple of flags. Priddle went a few yards and cut the motor, but Herridge in the good lane made a full bore run at 202 mph with a highly dubious ET of 6.48. In the Top Comp/Funny Car eliminator, Roland Pratt hit the bump, crossed into the other lane and was disqualified giving the win to Ed Shaver who had already clicked it off. In the other semi, Dave Stone soloed to an 8.53/143. In the final, Tee Rat went up in smoke and fishtailed off the line to an 8.34/180. Shaver in the Castrol FC meanwhile put in one of his very few straight passes to win in a PB 8.12/161. In the held over Silverstone Top bike elimination, T C Christenson blew away Norman Hyde in 9.05/155 and then defeated Keith Parnell in the final with 8.84/146. He continued his winning ways by overcoming Keith Parnell again in 8.81/156, and then he beat Mick Butler in the final 9.02/155 to a losing 9.69/144. (Clive Rooms)

This meeting drew the circuits biggest crowd of the year, larger than all the roundy roundy meetings! Re. Bootsies appearance with the Stardust Funny Car, this was the first and only time Roy Phelps sent one of his major cars to an NDRC event. The disputed 6.48 was far in excess of what any other funny car had run in the UK at this time. The "somebody" who ran into the track with the flags turns out to have been long-time Trakbytes contributor Steve Collins who had been the NDRC starter for two years at that point.

SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. Rain and mist played havoc with the racing and times and speed were affected by the slick track conditions. Many finals were not held and some classes didn't progress beyond the first round. Saturday saw most vehicles get at least one run in, but the track conditions meant that nobody was able to run anywhere near their full potential. Allan Herridge twice reversed Stardust into the startline advertising boards after his burnouts. John Hobbs managed to post a 148mph terminal speed on the Morgo Triumph, and John Clift ran a 9.96/131 on his Co-Respondent Triumph. Racing on the Sunday didn't begin until after lunch due to more rain. Dave Stone put in an early run in Tee Rat, which resulted in crossing from the left lane to the right, and hitting the barrier causing some front end damage. Allan Herridge put down the best Funny Car time of the day with a 7.64/166.39 practise run against Houndog. His next pass, the first round of competition, saw Stardust come to the line for a solo pass as the Hillbillies team failed to show. The car launched violently sideways before Bootsie wrestled it straight to clock an 8.27/159.49. In the other pairing, Owen Hayward's Houndog got out of shape at the hit leaving Dennis Priddle's STP Avenger to take the win with an 8.64/169.49. Hayward tried hard to catch him though, recording an 8.47/200. In the first round of Pro Fuel Mike Hutchinson ran a solo 8.18/160.77. The remaining two cars of Dennis Priddle and Peter Crane lined up for the next race. Priddle pulled a red light and then had to wrestle an out of shape Mr Revell to a 9.99/150.83 as Crane blasted through to win with a 7.46/196. The final took place in darkness. Both cars left hard but Hutchinson shut off early while Crane drove to half track before lifting and taking the win. Classes that did make it to the final round were, D & G Production - Steve Stevens 2 litre Cortina taking the win, P. Evans won the H-I Production final in his Singer Vogue, Junior Street - D. Edwards Lil Streaker Austin, Middle Street - D. Ward's Blue Max and in Super Street Al O'Connor took a win in Al's Gasser with a personal best 12.49/116.55 win over Gerry Andrews in Tender Trap. Top Street was a best out of three between M. Morice's Orange E Type and Ivan Fryers Mustang. Fryer won 2/3 with a best time of 14.48/93.63. Senior Street went to S. Winterberg with a 15.36/83.26 to a 15.35/81.83 from Bill Marshall. A planned best of three between Phil Elson and Keith Harvie's Altereds saw only one round take place. Both cars struggled for grip before Harvie took the win with an 11.04/126.58 to a quicker 10.84/150 from Elson. The only Altered class to make it to a final pairing was Junior where Barry Sheavills' Stagecoach would have met  Jim Spencer's 2-Ton Carmen. No other classes made it past Round One. In Top Bike the field was depleted due to breakages with Jeff Byne suffering a major engine failure on the Saturday. John Hobbs fouled on a bye run, and Mick Butler red lit on a solo. Brian Chapman ran the quickest two wheel time of the day with a 9.91/139.08.

SPR. Winternationals. Billed as The Race Of The Champions entries for this meeting were restricted to the 1974 seasons winners and runners up, making a field of entries about half the size of a regular meeting. The theory was that it would be easier to fit in a days racing in the reduced daylight hours available with a smaller field. The reality was that most classes had as few as three entries and there were large gaps in the racing as crews got the vehicles turned around in time to run again. Many classes were amalgamated to provide competiton. Rain on Saturday limited the racing, and spectator count, and there were a couple of noteable early losses. John Ledster's Mustang suffered a breakage in his newly fitted gearbox, and the Pro Stock Camaro of Gary Goggin was enveloped in smoke of the wrong kind during a burnout and had to be towed off the track with at least one of the eight cylinders full of oil. Gary had run a 10.5second pass earlier in the day. The evening was given over to demos and fire burnouts from the fuel cars in front of the few brave spectators that remained in the darkness. Sunday was more promising, but the track was damp. A novel solution was employed to dry out the startline area. Twenty gallons of methanol were emptied over the track and set alight. This appears to have had some success and traction in that area at least was improved. Dennis Priddle was the first to put in a full-bore run in the STP Avenger Funny Car. An 8.2/186 pass was followed by a parachute failure with Dennis only just managing to stop the car before running out of track. Owen Hayward followed in Houndog and put in one of the most remarkable driving jobs, keeping the slicks boiling all the way as the car snaked wildly left and right from lock to lock. An 8.3/202 timing ticket was the impressive result of what was recorded as the most entertaining run of the weekend. Allan Herridge was doing double duties, taking the driving seat in Stardust and Firefly. The dragster was withdrawn after an out of shape pass and subsequent inspection which revealed some bearings beginning to break up. The decision was made to run Stardust in the Top Fuel class, leaving just Priddle and Hayward to battle it out in the floppers. Herridge then put in a 7.26/198 qualifying pass which was the quickest run of the weekend. Peter Crane ran the fastest speed (a personal best) with a 7.4/207 in Stormbringer against Mike Hutcherson in Houndog in the first round. This wasn't without it's drama either as the car grounded in a shower of sparks in the shutdown area necessitating a change of sump before the final against Stardust. Priddle and Hayward ran their match first, but, with fading light, and limited track illumination, this was limited to multiple burnouts before the cars returned to the paddock. This format was repeated by Crane and Herridge with Stormbringer putting in a fire burnout for good measure. Cranes final burnout took him over the finish line much to the appreciation of the crowd. Tony Anderson managed a 9.3/147 win over a 10.3/134 from Dave Page in Panic, and Rob Messent won his group with an 11.57 against John Williamson's Jag-Falcon. In the bike ranks on Saturday Mick Warne took the Senior Bike final win with a 10.37/132.3 in the darkness, with a bicycle light on his back, against Ted Dunmow's 18.26 on the Paper Tiger Triumph. Top Bike went to John Clift, finding traction whilst John Hobbs struggled to acheive the same, his 10.78/155.5 not being enough to overcome a 10.46/130.6 from Clift. In Middle Bike Terry Revill took his Honda to a 12.61/110.5 win over a 14.61/91.3 from the Fourunner Honda of B. Sewell. On Sunday,  Mick Butler on his 1000cc double Norton Super Cyclops ran a new personal best of 9.23/147.3. He beat Brian Chapman and John Clift to reach the final of Top Bike, where he was due to meet John Hobbs. Hobbs Olympus Two had problems and couldn't make the call so Tony Weedon took his place but was unable to match a 9.82/147.8 from Butler. Terry Revill made his second final appearance of the weekend in a depleted Middle Bike class, but lost out to an 11.64/115.6 from Chris Russell with a 12.06/114.6.