1999 Whats New Archive

30/12/99 Firstly let me take this oppourtunity to say that I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and have a happy and prosperous new year. Sorry for the lack of updates recently. As I mentioned before the updates will now be coming fortnightly instead of weekly. Thankfully people are still sending new material in, a big thankyou to all of you and keep it up! I've used the latest update to catch up with the news from this year as a sort of  full stop to the century. There is one other entry included, that being the results from the August Championships at SPR in 1970, details of which were supplied by Steve Collins. Normal service has now been resumed at Trakbytes, next update in a fortnight.

Previous News

5/12/99 It seems that due to lack of time I will now have to post updates to the site fortnightly rather than weekly. I have huge amounts of new stuff coming in from all you people out there for which I am very grateful, keep up the good work folks. Thanks to Gary Goodnight, (ex member of the Goodnight, Keith & Williamson Team that came over here  from the States in '64 & '65 for the Dragfests) for correcting a mistake in the 1964 section. Apparently Danny Ongais and Buddy Cortines were not at the '64 Dragfest, the entry has now been ammended accordingly. Gary has sent some fantastic memories of his time over here with the Americans, I'll be including them in the Anecdotes section soon. After the '64 Dragfest the guys sold their AA/GD 400" dragster  with a Chevy mouse motor to a group of racers from Leeds and subsequently lost track of it. If anybody knows the story of what happened to that car please let me know as both Gary and myself would like to know what became of it.

Plenty of new stuff from the old magazines of Steve Collins; 1970 the points champions for the NDRC, Pegasus goes to the States,  Results from the  following meetings; Inaugral NDRC meet at SPR in April, NDRC meet at Blackbushe in June,NDRC meet at SPR in June, NDRC meet at Elvington in August, the Records Weekend at Elvington in October and some news from the BDR&HRA newsletters to round the year off. Finally I found this in Drag Racing News;1980 details and results from the Big Go meet at SPR. Back for another update in two weeks.

28/11/99 Okay, first things first, Stuart Prior can you please get in touch again. I have tried using the e mail address you wrote to me on last time but it don't work!  Please get back to me asap. A few weeks ago I included an entry in the 1979 section about John Hobbs retirement from bike racing. As I was typing up the results of the 1982 Cannonball what do I find? John Hobbs, runner up in Pro Fuel Bike! Now I can only assume that John returned to racing at some point between '79 and '82 but does anyone know exactly when? If you do drop me a line please.

Lots of new stuff this week with updates across three decades: 1965 all the results from the Blackbushe & Woodvale Dragfests, a big thankyou to Steve Collins for these,1966 there a couple more details added to the first meeting at Santa Pod also from the material supplied by Steve Collins, 1978 Some new vehicles make thier debut at the Crystal Palace show and the results of the BDR & HRA Awards, more debuts a year earlier at the 1977 show,   1982 some more detail and all class results from the Cannonball meeting at Santa Pod  (Steve Collins who contributed the above mentioned Dragfest results is listed in here, he was runner up in Comp Bracket 3) plus two new entries with the exploits of Brit racers in Holland and Sweden. That's enough to be going on with, more next week.

22/11/99 New material this week has been sourced from some Drag Racing News magazines lent to me by Tony Pearson. From now on there will be links in the text here that will take you straight to the new entries year in the history archives. This will save you having to go via the page links and scroll down to find the new stuff. Don't know why I didn't think of it before.

Some additional details and the results from the famous Easter 1976 meet at SPR, plus the elimination ladder for the Pro Fuel class, there are some gaps in the results table so if anyone can supply the missing details I would be most grateful.  The next lot are all bike entries;1977 Brian Chapman wins BDBC 1st round at the Mayday meet, hopes set on a side by side eight second bike race at the June Big Go, a new bike class is introduced at the July International, some Top Bike results from the August Bank Holiday meet, the King Of Europe match race at the September meet and Henk Vink runs a personal best at the October meet. 1981 the first British rider to run under eight seconds (not sure about this one, can anyone confirm it and supply a date and et/speed?)

14/11/99 New this week is the addition of a live chat room on the site provided by those nice people at Bravenet , give it a try, if I'm online I'll be there. Just click on the button marked Chat Now on this page below the menu or on the front page.

 Many thanks to Steve Collins who has provided some details and all the class results for the NDRC meeting at Martlesham Heath in 1970, I have also added the programme cover for this meeting, Steve has also supplied results for Santa Pods first meeting in 1966 which have been added.  Another set of record performances at SPR in October 1969 from the material supplied by brother Bill. Some details from magazines loaned to me by Tony Pearson, ex Top Fuel pilot, whom I now work with on the Showtime team: 1976 SPR begin running RWYB events, 1977 John Hobbs comes the closest yet to a seven at the August Bank Holiday meet, more bike action with a new Pro Street record and Henk Vinks first eight second run at the Easter meet, and Vink & Hobbs run the first ever side by side eight second bike race at the Fireworks meet. More next week.

8/11/99 Welcome to the latest Trakbytes update. I have changed the site address as you will have noticed. It's a bit shorter than the old one and should be easier to remember without the extra bit on the end and the capital 'I' which confused a few people. I did warn you all about this in the last entry below but unfortunately I typed the new url in wrong!(and I thought it would be idiot proof) Sorry 'bout that. Don't forget to re-set your bookmarks. The competition has now closed and I can announce that the winner is regular correspondent Simon Groves who came up with answers to 40 of the 60 dates that are missing in the history archives. Nobody else came close despite some good efforts particularly from Steve Collins who has also supplied some very comprehensive material about the '65 Dragfests and the first meeting at the Pod. These will be added as soon as possible. Thanks to all of you who took part. As a consequence of Simons efforts there are now some large gaps in the questions page but there are still many more that need to be answered so take a look and see what you can do. One other thing, if you're really into nostalgia photos of Top Fuel Slingshots go and take a look at Don Ewalds site Fuel Dragsters We Did It For Love I visit this site regularly and it has grown by an uncalculable amount since I first discovered it and added it to the Draglinks page. I know I've mentioned it before but it's worth mentioning again.

For this update I have added all of the dates that Simon has supplied as well as a new entry on the Anecdotes page, a gem from Mal Hawkins about the rigmarole involved in starting a top fueller in the '60s, and a new profile in the Historic Vehicle files Pete Atkins Slo-Mo-Shun altered.

31/10/99 welcome to the latest update, there's some more record performances from the late sixties from the vast amount of information brother Bill searched out for the site (I'll still be adding this stuff in the new year!) and a couple more scans of programmes from the '80s. Next weeks update may be a bit late as I'll be at the Pod for the weekend for the Flame & Thunder meet. One other thing, the sites URL address will change from next week. The new address will be http://members.aol.com/trakbyte  The old address will still work and will contain a link to the new home page. So remember to re-set your bookmarks from the next update.

1968, 10 new Motorcycle records set at SPRs June meeting, 1969, an incredible 14 new et and speed records are set at the first SPR meet of the year, every one of of these records remained intact until the end of the season. 1976 Gary Goggin announces his retirement from the sport. 1981, added dates and programme cover for SPRs Finals in September (thanks to  Ash Wilkinson for these)1985, addition of some of the NDRCs dates for that year and some detail of the Inaugural Meeting at North Weald taken from a programme given to me by Bob Jarrett (thanks Bob) More next week including a new tale on the Anecdotes page and the results of the competition.

26/10/99 I'm back! Had a great wedding and a fantastic time in Florida, Hurricane Floyd had long gone by the time we got there, thanks to all of you who sent messages of goodwill for Jo and myself, it is much appreciated, thanks also to the Eurodragster guys for the mention as well. We did manage to get over to Don Garlits museum for a look around, if you have never been take it from me you've gotta go, you've just gotta go.

I've just had a look back through the archives and I have noticed that Trakbytes has been up and running for over a year now. Thanks to all the people out there who have contributed material for the site over the past twelve months, and all of those who have taken time to let me know that you enjoy my labour of love, too numerous to mention but you all know who you are. Keep it up folks!  Now to the competition on the Questions page. As I stated before the closing date for entries is the last day of this month so you've got about a week to get them in but, I warn you, regular contributor Simon Groves is going to take some beating!

OK onto the new stuff for this update (Terri & Gary stop your whining!), I've got a huge pile of stuff to get through and it's in no particular order, so if you've sent me new material ages ago and it doesn't appear here straight away don't worry it will turn up in the archives some time!; This update uses some material that my big brother Bill has found in some old magazines,  1968, 6 new records set at SPRs "Last Chance" car meeting in October. 1969, 6 new records are set at SPRs Spring Match Race meet in May, 1970 details and class results from the Spring Nationals at SPR, 1977 new Funny Car records for Ray Beadle and Dennis Priddle at SPRs Finals in September and Barry Bowles tears it up at Elvington at the October Records Weekend.

9/9/99  Yes I Know, I missed another week. Same old story I'm afraid, work work work. I had intended to spend last weekend at Avon Park for the Super Series meeting but due to a strange twist of fate found myself with no transport to get me there. I did however manage to get there for the Monday and the weather was lovely. Nice to see the return of Top Fuellers at the Park after a break of three years, lets have some more! This will now be the last update until mid October as the European Finals are next weekend at Santa Pod, I will be there with Showtime as usual, then the following week, my better half Jo and I will be preparing for a glorious two week holiday in Florida, with the small detail of getting married on the 18th before we go! Keep sending in the details and anecdotes (I have many of these to include in the future but more are always welcome) and don't forget the competition on the Questions page (details also on last entry below on this page).

New stuff this week; many more programme covers in the 1970s section and the following details; 1979 John Hobbs comes the closest yet to a seven at the July Internationals, a load more stuff for the World Finals and the elimination ladder for Funny Car, more detail on the Winternationals including a record for Cees Van Dongen, a win for Spuff and John Hobbs retirement. 1980 more detail on the Easter International including new cars for Priddle, Dave Stone and Peter Crane, some info on the NDRCs first meet at Long Marston, a new entry the Big Go at SPR and the first appearance of Bootsies new funny car a t the Summernationals.

I'll be back!

21/8/99  Something a bit different this week. There is now a new page on the site which concentrates on in depth looks at some of the famous vehicles that have appeared on UK dragstrips in the last 40 years. The series begins with a look at Harold Bulls Stripduster slingshot, one of the many British dragsters that found success in the late sixties and early seventies using small British engines. I will be adding more vehicles to this page periodically. There has also been a massive update to the Questions page. There are many events listed in the History archives that have no dates attached to them and in an effort to rectify this I need you all to search back through those dusty old piles of programmes and magazines and come up with the answers for me. As a bit of an incentive the correspondent who manages to come up with the most answers will win a prize. Have I gone mad? Yes, probably. The prize on offer is a  limited edition print of T. Parsons drawing of the Showtime Pontiac that set the European record of 5.46 which still stands today. The picture is about 15" x 12" and is number 324 of a run of 500. It is numbered and signed by the artist and if you would like I can get John Spuffard who drove the car to the record to sign it as well. I guess there should be some sort of closing date for entries and, as I'm going to be quite busy for the next 7 weeks or so, the winner will be the person who supplies the most answers before the last day of October. So take a look at the Questions page and get searching! There is a new link on the draglinks page as well, you'll find it towards the bottom of the page, it seems that after fantasy football, we now have fantasy drga racing. It's too late to take part in this season but you could join in on the next one.

14/8/99 I have been away from home for most of the week so there's not much new stuff this week. There is however a new tale on the Ramblings page with some of my memories of Sammy Miller. It seems that the 1984 meetings at Blackbushe were the last ones held at that venue (unless anyone else knows different) as it was sold by its owner Douggie Arnold in that year for development.  This has been added to the archives. Douggie went on to purchase the Bitteswell airfield in Leicestershire and organised a couple of NDRC meetings there in 1985. I'd like the dates  and any details for these if anyone can supply these. Thanks to Stephen Collins for those bits of info.

Other new stuff this week; an update to the May meet at Santa Pod in 1978 and some more details to the August and September meets in the same year, also some of the programme covers in the 1970s section now have a blue border around them. Click on these to see a larger view. I'll get around to adding some more in the next few weeks.

7/8/99 I'm back! Apologies for the lack of updates over the last couple of weeks. I hope the large amount of new stuff this week will make up for it. First some questions from our readers. Jim Roberts had his memory jogged by the mention of the NDRCs Martlesham Heath meet in 1970, he was eleven years old and watched the meeting from up a tree saving himself the admission price! Jim is currently researching the history of the old airfield at Martlesham  for his employers and both he and myself would like any information on other drag race meetings there, results from the 1970 meet would be nice and any photos. I remember being taken to a motorcycle sprint meet there in 1974 and I believe there were more events of this kind around that time. Any info on this venue would be gratefully received. Another question came to me in an e mail which now seems to disappeared so my apologies to whoever sent it. Does anyone know the date of the last meeting to be held at Blackbushe? I have found some dates from 1984 but where there any others after that?

Now to the new entries across three decades. In 1962 Bootsies first dragster, in 1971 some details on Harold Bulls crash and Priddles record at the October meet from Dave Paddick, in 1973 a fantastic account of Priddle and Skiltons trip to Pomona sent in by Simon Groves, the demise of the ex-Paula Murphy funny car in 1977, some more detail in the 1979 Summer Nationals at the Pod, also in '79 Jim Reads strip record at York Raceway and some meeting details and another record from the same venue later in September. The 1980s section gets some new material at last with details of a new rail for Priddle and some results from Long Marston in 1981, a new Houndog in 1983, some results and detail from SPRs 1984 season opener, changes to funny car prize money in the same year and finally Bob Jarretts Finals win in 1985, a piece of info I have had for a while now but kept forgetting to put in.

16/7/99 Massive sixties update again. The first batch of this weeks new stuff has all been shamelessly stolen from the August edition of  Custom Car. This months edition of the magazine features a three-page article called 'Dragging Up The Past' (which you may have noticed I have stolen for use on this site, sorry guys, I couldn't resist it) which centres on 1966 and the first meetings held at Santa Pod. As well as loads of details there are no less than 16 excellent colour photos, including Bootsies 'Pulsation', the 'Golden Hind', 'The Liquidator' and Houndog II, by Brian Sutton and Ken Robbins and a plug for Nick Pettitts Time Travel Videos. Great stuff, I urge you to go out and get a copy if you have not already done so. Well done CC, you should do it every month! You can find the new entries in the 1966 section (obviously) as well as a mention of a dragster built by the Highwaymen in 1962. I'd love some more details on this one, can anyone help? The second batch of new stuff comes from regular contributor Simon Groves who has supplied most, if not all of Santa Pods dates for 1969 along with some details of some of the meetings. Sorry to hear you missed the Cannonball due to flu Simon. Hope to see you in September. Simon also supplied the correct spelling of Dante Duces name, all entries have been corrected as necessary. And while I'm on the subject of help from contributors there are still many details required for the events listed on the Questions page. Dig out those old programmes and magazines and get hunting. I will be adding some more to this page soon with an  added incentive to get you all searching. Watch this space!

11/7/99 I've been pretty busy over the last week compiling the review of the Cannonball event for the Showtime site, so I haven't had much time to prepare any new "old " stuff for this update. Therefore, in the best tradition of childrens TV, here's some I prepared earlier. As well as a new story on the Anecdotes page, sent to me by Mal Hawkins in Australia (Thanks very much Mal), I have included the first batch of entries from the current season (1999). I have a lot more details to include in this section and, once I catch up with current events, the '99 section will be updated with events as they happen. I know this doesn't exactly come under the heading of History but if I do it now it'll save me a lot of time in years to come! I would like to hear from anyone who has details of Clive Skilton and Dennis Priddles visit to Pomona in January 1973. I know that both drivers competed in qualifying for this event and I believe that rain spoiled their chances of running in eliminations. Can anyone help complete the picture with regards to this event? If so drop me a line.

1/7/99 It's the Cannonball weekend again at Santa Pod so I thought I'd better do the update a bit earlier this week as I will be away for the weekend. I'll be crewing with the Showtime team again and hoping that our man John Spuffard can win his 4th Cannonball title. Harlan Thompson has the most wins at this event currently with 5 to his credit since it began in 1981. Looking through the archives for this event I find I have no record of the winners in 1990 & 1996 so if anyone out there knows who they were drop me a line. Next week I'll have more updates and if I get time a new entry on the anecdotes page. I am now in a position to start compiling a photo gallery for this site but as yet I have very few relevant pictures that I can use. If any of you have pictures of any of the drivers or vehicles included in the archives that you could donate I would be most grateful. Thanks to all of you who have sent e mails saying how much you like the site, it is much appreciated.

Most of the new material this week centres around Sydney Allards achievements between 1961 and 1963, his death in 1966, and the Transatlantic challenge of 1963 which saw the first US dragsters to run in the UK. The driver of the Mooneyes dragster was called Dante Duece but I'm not sure wether I have the correct spelling, could anyone confirm/correct me here? At last I have something to enter in the Pre-1960 section although it is not strictly about drag racing. Bob Jarrett has been looking into the history of the Santa Pod site and has supplied a photo of the area from 1945. As you may know the reunion of the 92nd Bombardment Group of the US Air Force takes place this weekend so it seemed fitting to include the picture on this update.

25/6/99 New stuff  aplenty this week, all in the 1970s section. An update and many more details to the BDR&HRA International Series meetings in 1973 with the addition of the second and third round dates,  I'm not sure of the venue for the second round, it was HMS something, does anyone out there have the location details and any details on the racing? The 1978 September International grows ever larger with details of the Funny car class including new e.t. records, more Funny car detail  and another record from the 1979 July Internationals along with a win for DLT, also in '79 farewell to Houndog 9 and hello to Houndog 10.

18/6/99 Can you help? I recently received an E Mail from Noel Tex Blake who wishes to trace some friends from the past. Noel was stationed at Upper Heyford in the late sixties. He became a member of the Hustler team and also helped build the Whistler which was sponsored by John Woolfe. He would like to know the current whereabouts of  his friends Mark Stratton who  lived in Fosters Booth and drove the Hustler to a Championship title in 1967, and Dave Riswick who was with John Woolfe racing. If anyone out there has any information on either of these guys please E Mail me and I will pass the details on to Noel.

New additions for this week; all class results from the "Last Chance" meetings for cars and bikes at Santa pod in 1967, also in '67 details of the Records Weekend at Elvington and Mark Strattons title win in the Hustler. In the 1968 section all the SPR meetings have been added as has the Autospeed 68 exhibition in January.

R.I.P. David Edward Sutch 1940-1999

12/6/99 I'm back! My apologies for the lack of recent updates. This has been due to many things, some of which are the Main Event where I was crewing for Showtime again, a short holiday where I went to visit my Mum back home in Suffolk and the redesigning of the Showtime website which was long overdue. Please go take a look when you get time. (I havn't finished the decorating yet either!). I have made the following request before but no reply as yet so to the guy who sent me the anecdote entitled 'How To Get Embarrassed At The World Finals', I'm sorry. I've lost it. If you still have it could you send it again please and I promise I'll look after it this time. Oh and thanks to Ron for the Commuter picture on the front page, I forgot to mention it before.

New for this update: SPRs record book is scrapped in 1968 and a new surface for the strip, the other new entries for this week are taken shamelessly from Jon Spoards tribute to Allan Herridge on his Nostalgia Website . There are 4 entries included here, you can find them in 1964, '67 and two in 1965.

16/5/99 Been really busy at work just lately. Three nights a week away from home and plenty more decorating to do when I am there means not much spare time at the moment. I found an old copy of the Guiness Book Of Car Facts And Feats in the loft and obtained the following from it; the details of Sammy Millers first 300mph run in 1979 and his record speed in the same year,  and an aside to the Aintree meeting of 1975. One new question has been added to the Questions page to replace some that have gone.I am indebted to Simon Groves who has been busy again and sent me the following; more details on the  1964 & 1965 Dragfests,and from the questions page the dates for Tony Denshams first 200mph run in 1970 and a lot of detail on the 1972 Whitsun meet at Santa Pod.

9/5/99 Had a great day at Avon Park on Bank holiday Monday. Unfortunately domestic pressure (decorating) meant that we could only go for one day, so Saturday and Sunday I was keeping up to speed by checking the live updates on Eurodragster. Well done to all concerned for some top class coverage. The weather was hot hot hot and the racing was great. Good to see the Top Alcohol boys back at the Park and crowd favorites the Pro Mods put on a good show as usual. I knew it was going to be a good day as only five minutes after parking the car I had purchased four copies of  Drag Racing & Hot Rod Magazine from 1967/68 from a chap with a little stall by the pit entrance. 50p each. Bargain. Don't know who he was but thanks mate. Also got myself another of Nick Pettitts Time Travel Videos before we left so I was happy. Sad eh? Living in the past, always looking backwards, no future in the past. I couldn't care less, I'm happy. Leave me to wallow in nostalgia and I won't be bothering any of the normal people.

Now an apology. To the guy who sent me the anecdote entitled 'How To Get Embarrassed At The World Finals', I'm sorry. I've lost it. If you still have it could you send it again please and I promise I'll look after it this time. In the meantime there is a new anecdote this month from Doug Harler. Thanks Doug.

All the new entries this week centre around the Dragfests of 1964 & 1965. Thanks to Simon Groves who found all the dates for the meetings and some of the details to go with them.

30/4/99 As you have no doubt noticed the site looks a little different. I decided that a bit of a change might be good and had a re-think on the format of the front page . Then I got carried away. Hope you like it. Some of the questions I put up a few weeks ago have been answered thanks to my brother Bill who has been trawling through some old copies of Custom Car. Thanks mate. This means that the following now have dates attached, Dennis Priddles 6.04 world record, Bootsies 6.66 F/C record and the Stones first seven second altered run, all in 1975. Also new this week, 1976 the last UK Pro Stockers run at Santa Pod, does anybody have any results for these? there are some more meeting dates in the 1977 section  along with the first appearance of the Blue Max and the announcement of Garlits return, 1978 the July Internationals at SPR. Oh, one other thing, I promised a new anecdote this week but I didn't have time to sort it out. Sorry. Next week. Possibly. Off to Avon Park some time this weekend for the first Super Series '99 meeting. Really nice sunny day today, hope it holds out.

24/4/99As you may have seen this week on the Eurodragster site Bob Jarrett, Showtime crew chief, is trying to track down what is possibly one of the most fondly remembered Competition Altereds of the 70s/80s. The Stripteaser minivan with its Jaguar motor was a real crowd favorite for many years. Bob sold it in 1985 to a Frenchman called Pascal Sarrazin but now would like to locate its whereabouts with the intention of  purchasing it and restoring it to its original condition. Once this is done we may even see Bob back out on the strip for a few runs! If anyone out there has any ideas as to the location of "The Van", or any parts of it, drop us a line using this E Mail link or any other on this site, the Showtime site or, if you fancy winning a Thrust SSC pen, go via Eurodragster

Next week I'll have some answers to some of the questions on the Questions page and a new anecdote as well.

New stuff this week; 1973 Priddle at Pomona, 1975 some more meeting dates, Priddles new F/C, an update to the September Internationals and the introduction of the Pro Comp class, 1976 some more meeting dates, a fire at Snetterton for Roland Pratt and in 1981 an update to the first Cannonball.

17/4/99 The majority of this weeks new entries are in the early part of the 1970s section. A lot of these are not marked as being new entries as they are only meeting dates with no specific details on events that occurred on that date. Hopefully as I continue hunting for more material it will all fall into place and coincide with the  dates I already have. Don't forget I need dates for many events that are listed on the 'Questions' page. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

New this week; 1964 Don Garlits speed record, 1973 some more meeting dates, 1974 some more meeting dates track improvements at Silverstone and un update to the first Snetterton meet, some new dates, the formation of European Dragways, developments at Snetterton and the first British funny Car 'Grand Prix'.

10/4/99 Skipped an update last week due to spending the weekend  with the rest of the Showtime team at Santa Pod for the Thunderball. You can read all about that elsewhere. Thank god the weather was a big improvement over last year. While there I obtained some of Nick Pettitts 'Time Travel Videos'. If, like me, you have an unhealthy obsession for things nostalgic, I can recommend these collections of cine films and still shots from the early days of  Drag Racing in the UK. Great for research purposes for this site too! You can find details of the videos and how to order them on Jon Spoards Nostalgia Website or see Nick at selected events at Santa pod and Avon Park. Thats another plug and link to your site Jon, this is becoming a habit! Have added a link to the excellent new European Drag Racing Database on the Draglinks page. This site has all the details of current and past European records, best times, championship winners and much more info for all you drag anoraks (yes, me included) on one great looking site. While looking through the archives on this site I noticed that many of the earlier entries have no exact dates with them. In the hope of rectifying this I have added a list of some of them on the Questions page, so hopefully somebody, or bodies, out there in internetland, can supply dates to some, or all, of them.

New stuff for this update; Mighty Mouse is Top Bike in 1975, 1976 some updated material for Easter at the Pod and Europes first Rocket car, 1978 update to August Supernationals, 1979 update to Eastern Nationals at Snetterton and Vanishing Point appears in Brighton, 1980 some more Brighton entries.

28/3/99 I am pleased to say that Jon Spoards excellent Nostalgia Website now features an in depth look at the career of my hero Allan Herridge. This contains some significant dates which I will be including in the history archives over the next few weeks. I have also added a link to Northern Thunder, a great site with many things going for it, not least a section called 'Aussie Drag Babes'!

This update 1963, the first of some dates 'lifted' from Jon Spoards excellent tribute to Allan Herridge, 1970 NDRC at Martlesham Heath, 1973 Castrol step in as sponsors, and some more details to the July International at SPR.

20/3/99 Continuing the small weekly updates with a few details from the early '90s. Remember I am keen to receive any details of important events, meeting results, programme covers and the like for inclusion in the History archives. I am working on making some room for some photos in the future. This is not easy due to the restrictions on the web space I have available to me but there will be a photo gallery on this site soon. Also there are still a number of unanswered questions on the Questions page. Somebody out there must know the answers, take a look.

This update; some more details from the 1993 Thunderball, Cannonball, Summer Nationals and World Finals.

14/3/99 Not much to add this week I'm afraid. One new link in the Draglinks section, Andy Carters new website. Andy has contributed to Trakbytes in the past and his website looks great, I recommend you take a look.

As I mentioned last week the bike results for the 1977 SPR International have now been added, Fay Fischer becomes the UKs quickest lady in 1998, incidentely does anyone have the details of Roz Priors 6.42 quickest run in the 1970s?

5/3/99  My apologies for the break in updates recently. Very busy at work and home over the last month. My job takes me all over the country and I am regularly away from home for two/three or sometimes four nights of the week so there's not a lot of spare time for Trakbytes at the moment. I will however endeavor to keep the regular updates coming even if they continue to be small and often. Don't forget I am always on the look out for new material to enter into the archives so if you have details of any events you feel should be included drop me a line and I'll put them in. Try to include as many details as possible. If you take a look at the 1970s section of the archives you will see that I have added some programme covers from the period to make it all a little bit more interesting. (Well, I thought so anyway) If any of you out there have any scans of relevant covers, particularly from the 1960s, you could send me for addition to the archives I would be very grateful.

This update, added car class results from the 1977 International meeting at santa Pod, thanks to David Dibley for the info (Check out the winner of the Roadster class), I will add the bike results next week. Also added the first entry for 1999.   In the anecdotes section you will find Al Eierdams account of his match races in 1981 with Sammy Miller, an item I promised you ages ago. My thanks to Bill Pratt of the excellent Drag Racing List Online for allowing me to reproduce this article here on Trakbytes and thanks also for the nice words he said about this site on his links pages.

Important News About Nobby Hills Click Here

30/1/99 Firstly an apology to anyone out there who has mailed me since this site began and not received an answer. I do answer/respond to all e mails sent to me, there appears to have been a problem at my end however. This week I upgraded to AOL 4.0i, (What does the 'i' mean?) and when I signed on and went to the mail room it magically produced 8 items of mail I had never seen before!! I don't know how much more stuff is floating around out there but if you have mailed me and not received a reply please try again. Whether it ever gets to me is another question. One other thing Don Ewalds site 'Fuel Dragsters We Did It For Love' has undergone a major reconstruction recently and now is looking better than ever, it has a new url also. You can find a new link to it at the bottom of the Draglinks page.

From the 'lost e mails' of Ron Clark, an update on the Harold Bull crash in 1974, seems the date was incorrect on the original entry, there are two debuts at a Santa Pod practice session in the same year, 1991 the departure of Pro Comp from UK drag racing, 1978 the last top fuel slingshot in the UK departs. There is also a new question from Ron which I have added to the 'Questions' page.

23/1/99 More new material needed! I am running out of new material to add to the history archives. If you have details of any events that have in some way contributed to the history of UK Drag Racing please send them here. I am very keen to fill out the pre-1960 section with any relevant material. Does anyone have any info on the Highwaymen?

If you read the first entry on the Anecdotes page (Picardo Pandemonium) you will be interested to see the sequel which I have added to the page this week. It comes from Ron Clark of the MDRA who has supplied plenty of new material recently. I've used all the stuff you sent now Ron so how about some more? Ron has also provided the answer to mystery photo number 4 on the 'Questions' page, so take a look at number 5.

From Mark Coles; 1990, Steve Read archives something no other UK driver has managed to date & 1986, another entry for the UKs first funny car five, one that pre-dates the Showtime entry but I'm not sure how it fits in with the Alan Bates run in the same year. Does anyone have the date for Alans 1986 5.99sec run? From Tog an update on the Sammy Miller Fireworks meeting crash which has now moved to 1979! and an update on Sammys first UK appearance in 1978.

15/1/99  As you may or may not know my new website is now open, it's the new Showtime Racing UK site. For those of you who don't already know I am now a crew member of the Showtime team, (an ambition of mine fulfilled) and Bob Jarrett asked me to set up a new site for him after seeing this one. I could rabbit on here about what's on the site but I would prefer it if you visited and took a look. The site will be updated regularly with new photos and news about the teams progress as it happens. The site url is; http://members.aol.com/sruk/showtime.html  or use the link on the front page of this site or on the 'Draglinks' page. Two more additions to the Draglinks page for all you nostalgia Funny Car fans, they are both US sites featuring pictures from the 60's & 70's and I love 'em! You can find the links towards the bottom of the Draglinks page.

But before you all disappear off to look at those this weeks new material has new entries across four decades. The last of the info supplied by Ron  Clark of the MDRA, I had these ready for this update before the article on Eurodragster about the MDRAs involvement with Long  Marston so my apologies if some of them are identical to those you may have seen earlier this week. 1975 & 1977 the moving of Long Marstons start line site, 1968 speed record for Commuter, and the first of some new stuff from Mark Coles, 1986 the death of Mark Woodley, 1995 Europes first four second Top Fuel driver! By the way nobody has come up with the identity of the car in mystery photo number four yet. Take a look at it on the Questions page.

8/1/99  The first update for '99. Remember the other site I mentioned a few weeks ago? Well it should be up and running (fingers crossed) by the end of next week so watch this space for details. I still have plenty more info from Ron  and some new stuff from Mark Coles in Australia, plus some more annecdotes to add soon so visit again. I have been able to keep updates coming at one a week for the past few weeks and will continue to do so as long as you folks keep sending in the info, so keep it up, and a big thanks to all of you who have contributed so far.

New Additions;  1994 the last of the entries sent to me by Andy Carter, 1993 some results from the Main Event, some more entries from Ron (Show Associates); 1973 an update to the Bank Holiday meet, 1974 the birth of the MDRA, their first race event & first show, 1979 MDRA cease organising events at Long Marston,

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