Latest 23/12/01 |
Another year draws to a close and many of you will have some extra time on your hands with days off work. The telly won't be up to much as usual so once you have finished reading all the fascinating new additions to this site (see below) get up in the loft and dig out those old programmes/magazines/photos. You know, the ones you always think about whenever you drop by this place. You know they're still up there somewhere. As I have often emphasised this site continues to grow with the help of you out there and your contributions. Any results, details etc that are missing from the archives will be gratefully received as will programme cover scans and any interesting or amusing annecdotes. The past year has seen the site continue to expand and the gradual facelift has been well received, it looks very different to the way it appeared this time last year. The Photo Of the Week feature has been popular too although a glance at the archive shows that there are only 13 pictures residing there. With a suposed update every two weeks, and 52 of those aforementioned weeks in a year, it doesn't add up does it? Well nobody's perfect, I've been really busy with other stuff too, and I had a virus.....and the computer crashed beyond repair at one point............and me scanners broke....... Anyway this is the last update for the year so I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. See you in 2002. |
This Weeks Updates |
| As promised this week sees a return to the
earlier days of Drag Racing in the UK, 1970 and
a small update to the Elvington records weekend in October with a world record
for a Birmingham diamond merchant. The following can all be found in the
1972 section where the top dogs
were getting into the sixes; details and all results from
a wet NDRC meeting at North Luffenham in May, some updated material
and all class winers from SPRs Big Go a week later, the debut of the Hillbillies
'Transcontinental' at SPR in June, a large update for the '3rd Internationals'
in July, lots of details from the NDRCs Grandnationals at Blackbushe in August,
a small update to SPRs Nationals a week later. September saw the cancellation
of the NDRC meeting at North Luffenham, Skilton in Revolution III at Brighton
and, later in the month, at Elvington where Priddle and Hobbs also made their
marks. There's a big update with loads of detail from SPRs G Max trophy meeting
in October and finally details from SPRs Fireworks meeting in November.
The Hall Of Fame entries for Priddle, Skilton, Herridge and Hobbs have all been updated with the relevant material from these new additions also. |
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Latest 1/12/01 |
A week away from home and come back to find the Badtrans virus has been running rampage on the net! Apologies to anyone who received it from my mailbox. I was as unaware of it as the person that sent it to me. My Norton Antivirus failed to pick it up even though I regularly update the virus definitions. Once I realised what I had I checked for new definitions and downloaded them.I think in future I will be checking for new definitions even more regularly, possibly every time I sign on! It seems you can't be too careful nowadays. What I can't understand is how anybody can get any satisfaction from starting one of these viruses off. It's not even as if they can see me repeatedly banging my head on the desk! A bigger update this time (yes I know it's late again, I didn't think you'd notice!) in order to finish off the pile of 89-95 material I've been concentrating on recently. Now that's out of the way I can get back to concentrating on the older stuff again. The recent aquisition of a mammoth haul of old mags should provide enough new material for quite a while. Exactly how long only time will tell but remember that you are all invited to add your assistance in this exercise. I have always encouraged visitors to the site to send me details/stories/photos/results etc. that can be included on the site, and over the years many of you have risen to the challenge admirably. Just lately the contributions have tailed off and I know that many fans as well as ex-racers, photographers, crew members and the like visit the site so how about it folks! Material for the anecdotes and snippets pages is always welcome and there are plenty of people out there who love reading tales of days gone by. Don't forget that any material contributed by yourselves will take priority and be added first. Without you all this site wouldn't have grown to be the size it is so keep it up! The next update then will see a return to news from the older days, and there should also be a review of this years Hot Rod Drags meeting at Shakey with some of my photos to boot. |
This Weeks Updates |
| Here we go; at the end of the 1989 section you will find a list of all the years points championship winners, 1990 sees the addition of details and results from a windy York in August and on the same weekend some of the Brits exploits at an unfinished Hockenhiem, September sees the addition of some UK Super Gas Championship detail from York and Pro Comp & Super Gas detail from SPRs Finals, as well as Pro Mod details from Avons finals meet, at the end of the 1990 section you will find the final points standings for the UK Drag Bike Championships, the PDRC/IHRA Points Championship and the European Drag Race Series, 1991 sees the addition of another Street racer title for Bill Sherratt at york in June, Pro Mod details from the Cannonball and Super Gas and all class results from Yorks North Star Nationals in August, 1994 full results from the Summer Nationals in August and the World Finals in September 1995 there's all the class results from the first two SPRC Divisional meetings in March and April, a few details from a rained-off Thunderball in April, 1996 some details from SPRs Thunderball meeting in April, 1997 SPR Thunderball details in April |
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Latest 11/11/01 |
Late again! Another small update this week as I am still suffering with computer woes. My main PC is still behaving itself but the Laptop, on which I usually compile all the update material while away from home, has now crashed and refuses to co-operate with me on any level. Big news on the nostalgia front reported on Eurodragster this week. It seems that Nobby Hills is starting on a rebuild of the Houndog 11 Corvette, with plans to put ex-Houndog driver Owen Hayward behind the wheel again. I last saw Owen and Nobby at Santa Pod in July where they were watching the action at the Cannonball event. Read all the details on Eurodragster . While you're there you might also notice news of a return to Drag Racing at Elvington, scene of NDRC meets in years gone by as well as numerous world record attempts. I'm pleased to say that the Photo Of The Week feature has returned. As the scanner has been out of action I have stolen this weeks picture from the archives of Bill Slys Bad Boys Imagin website. I have got to know Bill over the past season and if you have not seen it already his site is well worth a look. As well as a large selection of excellent trackside pictures from recent meetings there are two archives of pictures from days gone by. Also on the nostalgia front don't forget to check out Togs pictures from the Goodguys Fall Classic at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Tog was trackside for some great shots of the action and I'm jealous as hell! Finally can anybody out there tell me how I can get in touch with Mick Hillier who until a few years back ran an enclosed cockpit Altered called Pony Express at SPR? |
This Weeks Updates |
| 1994, May saw
Carter and Cockerill battle it out at Avon, there's details and results from
Avon Parks Shootout #5 in July, Rob Turners progress at the Nitro Olympics
in August, and also from AP details and class results from the 'Night Of
Fire' in October. The rest of this weeks updates can be found in the
2000 and beyond section where I have finally caught
up with this seasons noteable achivements in the UK and those of the Brits
abroad.
Also this week the Draglinks page has undergone a tidy-up with hopefully all the broken links removed and a few new ones in there too. The links are now grouped into categories also. |
Latest 7/10/01 |
Three years old and still going strong! Last year I celebrated the birthday of the site with a mammoth update but on this occasion I have not had too much spare time to prepare new stuff. Yes I know I say this quite often but you have to understand that I do have a life away from my computer. Those of you that know me personally may dispute this all you like but it's true! The amount of material I now have awaiting my attention has grown to a daunting task with the recent acquisition of a huge amount of British Drag Racing mags that I have just purchased (much to my wifes dismay!). They span 1973 through to the early nineties and contain a lot of info that is not yet covered in the archives. But before I start delving into these I will continue with the batch of Fire Up and European Dragster mags that have been providing the most recent updates. And of course any info that is sent in by yourselves goes straight to the top of the pile and is regarded as priority! Sorry to say that the photo of the week feature has gone on hold until I can sort out some problems with my scanner which is giving me serious grief at the moment! In the mailbox this week was this from Nick Brooks; I started watching drag racing in '69 and have rather a soft spot for the old days when a lot of interesting and innovative machines were put together for relatively small amounts of money. I have decided it is time to build a small front engined dragster along similar lines to Stripduster and its many copies. Could anyone supply me with the plans for the chassis and front axle assembly for such a machine, or do they know of a rolling chassis languishing in a garage somewhere? Can anyone out there help Nick with his quest? If so mail me here at Trakbytes and I'll pass the info on. I'm pleased to say that the appeal on the last update for information on the Stripper produced the following from regular contributor Darren West. Perhaps it will jog some memories into providing a bit more on the car; The car was run by Ricky Brooke from South Shields Tyne & Wear The first time I saw the first 'Stripper' was at my first ever meeting.....June 78 at York Raceway. At the time the car was running a Jag straight six motor on a home built chassis, and had a roofless mini body with nice muralled paint! The car can be seen in this guise on some of the Pod footage from 77/78 of time travel. The Reliant body appeared later on following a total rebuild and debuted in that guise in 1980. The car was a regular in that guise at York raceway and also appeared at the Pod as you mention, I know there is a shot of the car in one of the 82 Hot Rod and Custom Uk mags featuring a York event, the Stripper won middle car at the meeting running consistent 11.2's all day. The car was out in 83 as well, before disappearing for a couple of years whilst Ricky and a guy called Tom Grout built a V12 Jag motor for it. The car reappeared with the big motor but was rarely off the trailer, I don't think they ever really got their heads around running the new motor combination. Then the car disappeared again and the next time I saw it was in a 94/95 ish report in Custom Car from the Hot Rod drags or similar, where the car is seen with candy green paint but what looks to be the big jag motor still there So can anyone else fill in some more info on the car, and does anyone have any photos? One other plea for help. Can anybody out there tell me how I can get in touch with Mick Hillier who until a few years back ran an enclosed cockpit Altered called Pony Express at SPR? |
This Weeks Updates |
| As I mentioned not much this time, just
some odds and ends that have needed tidying up for a while;
1985 saw the debut of a very strange exhibition
vehicle at SPR in May, 1994; SPRs Main Event
was cancelled on raceday, but not due to rain on this occasion! Adam Hewitt
managed to get a new PB first though, Andy Carter was into the
sevens in Outlaw Anglia at SPRs Summer Nationals, at the Cannonball
Slammin Sammy managed to set fire to Vanishing Point.........twice!
The Snippets page gets some new additions, Nick brooks memories of Ed Shaver, Frighten Chicken and.......yes, "That Swedish Jeep"! |
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Latest 7/10/01 |
Gary Goodnight I have today received an e mail from Maurice Williamson of the Goodnight Keith and Williamson partnership that brought the Dos Palmos gas dragster to these shores for the 1964 DragFests. He wrote with the sad news that his partner from those days, Gary Goodnight, passed away earlier this year at the age of 62. Gary was resident in Leeds, UK, and had suffered a massive stroke. I had a lot of e mail communication with Gary after he sent me his memories of those DragFest days to include on the site. It was he that came up with the original question about what happened to that car after they sold it to a UK consortium and as I found more and more details on its success in the UK, first as Dos Palmos and then as Asmodeus, I passed them on to him. He received them with enthusiasm and interest and was always friendly and helpful when I asked questions. I was planning to write a profile of the car for the Historic Vehicle Files with Garys help and hoped to meet with him one day. I'm sure you will all join me in sending my sincere condolences to his family and friends. You can still read Garys Dragfest memories by going to the Anecdotes page and clicking on the "Dragfest Memories" link. As yet I have been unable to catch up with the results and details from this years racing but these will be added over the next few months. I also have a huge pile of photos from Shakespeare County Raceway that I have taken over the last few weeks and the best of these will be added to the site in due course. Now then, over the past couple of years visitors to the site have been very helpful in supplying details of old cars, and racers, for people who are trying to trace them. Here's the latest. A few years ago you may remember watching a Reliant bodied Altered called Firecracker running in the Wild Bunch at Avon Park. This car is now owned by a friend of mine and you may have seen it make an appearance at York Raceway on a couple of occasions. I spotted a short cine film clip of the car running at Santa Pod in 1980 (the Prudhomme meeting) on one of the Time Travel Videos. Then it was known as the Stripper and was driven by Richard Brooke. The car is listed in old SPR programmes back to mid 1977 when it had a 3.5 litre Jag motor. Can anybody out there help with any info on the history of this car? If so e mail me here at Trakbytes and I'll pass the details on. One other plea for help. Can anybody out there tell me how I can get in touch with Mick Hillier who until a few years back ran an enclosed cockpit Altered called Pony Express at SPR? |
This Weeks Updates |
| I'm glad to say that Tim claxton
has been back in touch, read his latest addition to the Pro Comp Wars section
of the Snippets page where he confirms one of
the rumours about that 1979 World Finals victory!
Details from the NDRCs first meeting at North Weald in August 1985 where Priddle ran the top numbers and the flying Dutchman set a world record, 1992 sees the addition of details and full class results from SPRs Easter Thunderball in April where there was a different driver in the Showtime seat and Micke Kagered was running 6.0s in his TAFC. In the 1993 section the Main Event entry in May has been updated with lots more detail and all class results. There's some more details from the 1994 season, August at the Pod saw some great action in Top Alcohol with Sheavills pulling a red light in the final against Anita Makela, at the same meeting the Showtime team debuted their latest car. In September the Finals entry grows with details on the Top Fuel Bikes and the Funny Cars where there were problems for Thompson with a blown motor and Gary Page experienced a fire in Knuts Dodge. I'm very grateful to Mick Tickner who has kindly sent some details of the second Annual Anderstorp trip in the summer of 1969. I'm not entirely sure I have the right date for this one so if anyone knows please let me know. These details come from a tape that Mick has of the whole trip which was made by a Geronimo crew member. |
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Latest 22/9/01 |
| Back at last!
As some of you are aware I have had real problems with my PC and ended up
having to format my hard drive to get my system up and running again. The
problems originated from the accidental download of the W32/Sircam worm,
my own fault as my virus protection was in need of updating. Once I was up
and running again the priority was to get the
Showtime site
up to date before re-loading all the Trakbytes stuff and getting this
update ready. So apologies for the delay but we're back on track
now!
During that downtime a lot of things have happened, the Showtime team won the (truncated) Funny Car Championship, I had a great day out at Shakespeare County Raceway for the Hot Rod Drags, there will be a report and photos soon, and Santa Pod held its European Finals meeting which for the first time in its history was devoid of Fuel Funny Cars! As is usual at this time of year I am a little behind in keeping this years entries up to date but I will catch up over the next few weeks. Unfortunately I have lost just a couple of items that people sent me in the formatting process, one was an e mail from a guy asking about Geronimo, please write back again, and secondly Tim Claxton had sent a short follow up to the Pro Comp Wars section of the Snippets page, please re-sent it Tim I have also lost your e mail address. Here goes with the update then; On the last update (Seems so long ago) I printed a question from Steve Wallace. Ace trackside photographer Tog has come up with the following reply; "re that Priddle/Maggie Philbin Tomorrow's World Special. If I remember rightly, it was the other way round. The computer recommended an additional diagonal upright between the bottom and top framerails, just behind the cockpit. This was, the computer said, because the car was flexing and wasting power. Of course, as we all know, it's actually better if the car does flex. This is however the same computer which recommended the removal of the rear wing..." On the subject of the Pro Comp wars in the Snippets section there is a new contributions from Jim Broome that should provoke some reaction! Don't forget to check out the photo of the week (link below) and see if your memory stretches back far enough to answer the question that goes with it. |
This Weeks Updates |
| 1969 saw some
of the best British Drag racing machinery travel to the Channel Islands to
take part in the St Helier show, 1974
sees the addition of some info from the Silverstone International
in June including the first title win for that hairy
bloke, and in November of the same year there are some
details from SPRs Fireworks meet where Bootsie had a
mishap with some advertising hoardings,
1994 saw the sad death of Paul Giddings
at SPR in August, while in September theres World Finals
Top Fuel detail and Sammy Miller was back with a new car which
he took to Elvington two weeks later for an attempt
at the British land speed record,
Tim Heath has kindly lent me some videos from which I have gleaned some extra detail from the 1986 World Finals. There's more to come. Tim has also lent me some of his personal photos which I am currently scanning so that I can include them on the site. Finally, if you haven't checked it out recently, have a look at the Where Are They Now? page and see if you can help anyone with their searches for people and information. |
Latest 5/8/01 |
| This week I'm
starting off with a question for you, not from myself but from
contributor Steve Wallace. He has a question about the experiment that Dennis
Priddle did with the Tomorrows World programme on the BBC. He writes
"Just read the piece in snippets about the Tomorrow's world program.
Can anyone out there confirm or deny that they deliberately left a gap in
the top frame rail at the side of the engine to allow the rear to flex more?.
I know this sounds strange but I am sure I remember seeing some computer
modelling that they did which showed this to be an advantage, or maybe it's
just a figment of my imagination, it was a long time ago."
Anyone have any memories of
this?
One of the racers that I missed out on seeing during the eighties was Tony Boden. Some time ago I received an e mail which mentioned that there was not much info on Tony in the archives. Shortly afterwards regular contributor Darren West supplied an excellent tribute to Tony which I have added as a complete entry in the Hall Of Fame section. As well as this there are a few new entries in the archives relating to some of 'Super Bodes' achievements. It is pure coincidence that this update comes almost fifteen years to the day since his untimely death at Hockenhiem. |
This Weeks Updates |
| After a slight re-think on the site design
for the last update I went mad and have changed the appearance of many of
the main pages. The new style looks a lot better, to me at least, and should
make for easier reading.
In April 1982 Bootsie took a drive in Slammin' Sammys car and became the quickest ever European Drag racer. Darren West, has contributed the following, all feature Tony Boden, October 1981 a team of British racers, including Tony, travel to the Paul Ricard circuit to take on the Scandinavians, April 1982 and Tony debuts his first Funny Car, in May he was back in the Fueler at Long Marston, August 1983 saw him match racing Bootsie at Santa Pod, 1986 May saw a dubious time ticket for Boden, interestingly at the same meeting where Alan Bates was credited with a five, and August saw his untimely death at Hockenhiem. The Hall Of Fame has been bereft of new entries just lately so you can also now find new entries for Tony Densham, John Hobbs and the Allards, Sydney & Alan. Finally, if you haven't checked it out recently, have a look at the Where Are They Now? page and see if you can help anyone with their searches for people and information. |
Latest 22/7/01 |
| Late again. |
This Weeks Updates |
| All the archive pages have undergone a minor
transformation which should hopefully make them easier to read. The
landmarks page is now operational, this contains
links straight to all the landmark events in the archives. The
Snippets page has undergone a slight transformation
also. As the main topics seemed to be falling into definate categories I
have divided them up accordingly. There is a new addition to the Pro Comp
section from Julian Backhouse in which he casts a shadow of doubt over the
accuracy of the first 200mph Pro Comp runner. What do you think? The
Anecdotes page contains a new offering, this
time from Maurice Takoor, the man responsible for the running of the
BHRA Pioneers. Finally the
2000 and beyond section has been updated with the
latest results from the UK scene. Don't forget the new photo of the
week.
Finally, if you haven't checked it out recently, have a look at the Where Are They Now? page and see if you can help anyone with their searches for people and information. |
Latest 24/6/01 |
| Some sad news in British drag racing this
week with the loss of Santa Pods Chief Marshall Alex Brachtvogel. Our condolences
go out to his family and friends. If you have not already seen it there is
a page of messages from racers and fans on the
Santa Pod Racers
Club website.
Interesting to read this week that some of the original parts of the Stones Tee Rat Fuel Altered have turned up in advance of the construction of a replica of the famed car by Nick Davies. You can get the details on Eurodragster Finally if you're into nostalgia race cars and hot rods don't forget that this weekend Shakespeare County Raceway holds the Nostalgia Nationals. Alternatively it's the Cannonball meeting at SPR, this year taking on a different format from the usual with separate nitro and methanol eliminations (the nitro competition being round two of the UK Championship) with the winners from each elimination running off for the Cannonball title. For a brief summary of the history of the Cannonball up to the present day, and some statistics on the merits of nitro versus alcohol, click here. R.I.P. Alex Brachtvogel John Lee Hooker |
This Weeks Updates |
| The addition of a brief history of the
Cannonball, a unique event in Drag Racing.
1960 sees Sydney Allard importing some interesting goodies and the result appears in an updated 1961 entry,There's details of Clive Skiltons best NHRA result in the States in the June 1977 section, 1991 sees some more Top Fuel and Funny car detail from the Main Event in May and a meeting cancelled at Avon Park in June. Finally I've finished adding the records that were included in the material Jim & Janet Smith sent me with the following entries in 1966, new Street Altered , Sports & GT and Production records in March although I am unsure of the venue for this, a small update to the first meeting at the Pod in April with a new H class Dragster record, and a new Sports & GT record in October. The Photo Archive has a new set of pictures from the lens of Brother Mike. Finally, if you haven't checked it out recently, have a look at the Where Are They Now? page and see if you can help anyone with their searches for people and information. |
Latest 9/6/01 |
| Late with an update for the first time this year! Sorry it's been so long folks, plenty off stuff has been happening here, some of which you can see and read about at http://www.showtimeracing.co.uk/, and there hasn't been much in the way of spare time for Trakbytes. I'm back on the case now though and thankfully you folks out there have still been contributing stuff for the site. On with the news, first a few website updates that you are probably already aware of; The aforementioned Showtime site has been updated with a race report from Super Series One at Shakespeare County Raceway, and there is now a section of the site devoted to providing info on the UK Nitro Funny Car Championship. Check it out. Since the unexplained and sad demise of www.houndog-racing.co.uk I have been informed of a new tribute site to Nobby Hills and his various 'Dawgs'. Webmaster and ex-Houndog crew member Chris has compiled an informative and comprehensive site with some great unseen photos. You can find 'Walkin' the Dog' at www.geocities.com/houndog_dragracing. The Wild Bunch website at http://www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk/ has been re-vamped recently and features more team profiles and photos of those tasty old racecars (I want one!). Another site that is well worth a look I found linked from the Wild Bunch site and will be of interest to those of you who remember the UKs first build-your-own-dragster. The Allard Dragon Dragster is a really neat site devoted to the Allard Dragon with pictures from the past and present, some history and info on the Allard Motor Company. You can find all these links on the Draglinks page along with some other new links including my mate Dave Potters Pro ET site and check out also the Blown Alcohol Association and The Prospector where you can see Canadas only 57 Chevy Funny Car. |
This Weeks Updates |
| First off a big chunk out of the class
records supplied by Jim & Janet Smith 1966
no less than six new class records at Santa Pod in July, nine in August,
seven in September and one in October, onto 1967
and two new records at SPR in March one in early April and seven more
at Easter just two weeks later.
Some odds and ends I've come accross recently, 1990 Brian Johnson goes into the sevens at SPRs Cannonball meeting in July along with some Pro Mod details, Wayne Saunders sets a new ACU/UK Pro Stock record at SPR at the end of August, and another Pro Stock record at Avon Park in October, this time for Paul Willis. The Snippets page has a new addition with yet more memories of that Swedish Jeep, this time contributed by Jon Crawford. Thanks Jon, sorry it took so long to post it! Another apology, I have not sorted out a new photo of the week (month?) for this update. There will be one on the next update, with hopefully some more photos in the archives too. Finally, if you haven't checked it out recently, have a look at the Where Are They Now? page and see if you can help anyone with their searches for people and information. |
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Latest 22/4/01 |
| Another small update this week. Part of the reason for this is that the new season has started and last weekend was spent at SPR with the team and subsequently the Showtime website has been updated with the race report from that event. If you haven't had a look yet check it out to see how we got on. One of the problems with running a site like this is that finding information, particularly from many years ago, can be difficult. Gathering information from once source only, such as notes in an old programme, a magazine article or such like, can sometimes cause more problems than it solves in that you have to rely on that sources accuracy 100%, in the absence of any collaborating evidence. I have never claimed that all the material in Trakbytes is 100% accurate and it is the nature of the internet that interested parties will read these pages and correct any mistakes. Such was the case with the very early entries regarding Allan Herridge on this site. Many of the 'facts' I had were gathered from an article in Custom Car that included an interview with Allan. Despite the fact that the info had come straight from the horses mouth so to speak it didn't really seem to fit in with other events of the time. Now I have spoken to the author of that piece and it seems that although Allan seemed quite certain of the dates at the time of the interview they were infact slightly inaccurate. So the info has been shuffled about a bit in the Pre 1960 and 1960-1964 sections to correct this with reference to Jon Spoards UK Drag Racing Nostalgia Website which features an excellent article on Allan. In case you have not checked out Jons site recently it has been given quite a facelift with a new look to the photo pages and a stunning new front page. On the subject of photos don't forget to check out this weeks Photo Of The Week (see link below), it's a famous shot and I am indebted to Chris Dawson for providing it. |
This Weeks Updates |
| The Where Are They Now? section has now
been moved to its own page which you can find by clicking this link;
Where Are They Now? . There are a number of as yet
unsolved names to find and it made sense to move these to their own page
rather than taking up space here on every update.
The 1967 section sees the addition of more material from Jim & Janet Smith (I did say there was a lot of it!) with the addition of all the results from the 1967 Drag Racing Championship meeting at SPR in August. 1966 A new Dragster class B E.T. record for Bootsie at SPRs Commandos meeting in June and in August he got the speed record to go with it, there were also eleven other records in other classes. The Snippets page has a couple of new entries, former Pod commentator Mike Cazalet has been in touch and there's more correspondence about that Swedish hemi powred Jeep from Brian Nixon. Also, now that the new season has started, the 2000 and beyond section has been updated with the latest news. Just to remind you this section will not contain as much detail as the rest of the archives, there is a ton of info elsewhere on the internet about the current season and to reproduce it all here would be a waste of time and space. For all the latest news on Drag racing in the UK I recommend you start here; http://www.eurodragster.com/ |
Latest 1/4/01 |
| Sorry to say that the new material in the archives this week is very sparse, but there's a good reason for this. I'm pleased to say that the beginnings of the Trakbytes Photo Archive are now up and running. It's quite basic at the moment but I will be adding more pictures and tidying it up gradually on an irregular basis, because it can be quite time consuming. In the meantime I hope you enjoy what we have here so far. I am indebted to contributors David Forward, Kelvin Fagan, Cliff Watts and my brother Mike whose pictures I have used to launch this new part of the site. Another of Davids pictures arrived in my postbox this week and is this weeks photo of the week (see below). You can find links to David and Kelvins own websites on the photo archive pages and in the draglinks section. When you get a spare few moments check out their collections, there are some real jems there. Don't forget to check out the 'Where Are They Now' section below and let me know if you can help with any of the appeals that you find there. The next update will not be for three weeks now as the new season kicks off with the Thunderball at Santa Pod in a fortnights time. See you there! |
This Weeks Updates |
| The 1967 section
continues to grow thanks to Jim & Janet Smith. This update sees the addition
of details of the Drag Racing Championship meeting in August , where Alan
Ing took the top Eliminator title with a borrowed block and Tony Densham
ran the quickest yet for a Brit-built car, and there's also all class results
from the 'Last Chance' car meeting in October.
The 1980 Summer Internationals at Santa Pod had all the makings of a classic meet before the rain called a halt to the proceedings, but not before Russ Carpenter had gone into the sevens in Super Comp and the Red Baron had taken on the Blue Max. |
Where are they now? |
| I recently received
an e mail from Maurice Takoor of the BHRA Pioneers asking if I had any idea
of what happened to Harold
Bull. By coincidence I had been asking
myself the same question earlier that day while reading through some of the
sixties material I have yet to add to the site. We know that Harold never
made an appearance on the drag strip after his unfortunate accident in the
ex-Houndog slingshot dragster in 1974 but what did he do after that and where
is he now? If anyone knows please e mail me here at
Trakbytes.
Following on from Doug Harlers request for any information on the old Pony Express altered (see previous entry below) I have been contacted by Cliff Watts who owned the car after its Pony Express days when it was re-named Uncle Scrumble. Cliff ran the car between 1972 and 1976. With Cliffs help and a large number of photos that he has supplied we intend to cover the history of the car in the Historic Vehicle Profiles section of the site. We would really like to know what happened to the car post-1976. Does anyone know what became of it or maybe if it is still around now in some form. Any info to me here at Trakbytes please. Paul Lingard has been in touch with a request to find information on another old racecar. You may have seen this on Eurodragster but it's worth mentioning here as well in case you missed it. Paul writes; "I am after tracing any info relating to a car called "heavy Breathin" that last ran in the UK in 1986 we think. Based on a 70's Austin A40 painted in red originally running a Jag set up a friend of mine has bought the car and is at present having it re-worked for strip & street. Any info you could find, or if you know of any one who remembers this car would be very much appreciated." If you can help Paul you can e mail him here mailto:linny@lingardp.fsnet.co.uk Finally another one you may have noticed on Eurodragster, James Ditty is searching for info on Ed Shavers AMX that he ran in the UK in the early seventies before it returned to the States. I have provided him with as much info as I could find but he would like more and hopes to trace the cars whereabouts today. He will also be compiling material for an article on Ed and the car for AMC clubs in the States, so any info you can give him would be put to good use. You can contact James here mailto:DITDIT@aol.com |
Latest 17/3/01 |
| Running a site like this is a bit of a rollercoaster. There are times when enthusiasm for sorting out new material is lower than a snakes belly, to coin a phrase, and other times when the keyboard is rattling away long into the night, when logical thought is telling you that sleeping is what normal people are doing and it would be a good idea to follow their example. Likewise the amount of new material coming in from contributors rises and falls for no apparent reason. Sometimes a new entry will jog many collective memories and a flood of related Emails rush in, or an appeal on the 'Where Are They Now' section of this page prompts a flurry of activity. But then sometimes there's nothing new for days on end. Over the last few weeks though a steady flow of new material has been arriving here at Trakbytes HQ and it seems that this will continue as more and more people get online and discover the site. Of course there are no more hours in the day for me to sort through the new stuff and post it onto the site, and updates after fortnights that have contained an unusually high number of 'can't be bothered' days will continue to be small, but I'm still on the case folks, and those of you who share my slightly worrying obsession with delving far too deeply into the past will be glad to know that I have no intention of stopping just yet. The stack unused material grows higher, and long may it continue, because when there is another lull in contributor activity I can start to reduce it. So keep sending in the new stuff folks, details for the archives, memories of days gone by for the Snippets or Anecdotes pages, photos, dates, programme cover scans, results, all will be gratefully received. Hopefully next week will see the start of the photo archive and that will grow over the following weeks. There are some other new features coming to the site soon which I hope you will like and of course I'm always open to suggestions of things you would like to see here. Don't forget to check the Where Are They Now update below and see if you can help, and check out the latest Photo Of The Week. |
This Weeks Updates |
| Tim Claxton has been in touch, he spotted
Togs memories of the Wheeldon & Claxton Pro Comp win at the World Finals
in 1979, check out the Snippets section for his
response. Thanks Tim. The profile of Nobby Hills Houndog 9 Funny Car
in the Historic Vehicle Files has been updated.
I have added some more details to the original text and now the
story has been completed with details of the cars post-Houndog exploits from
the keyboard of regular contributor Darren West. Darren has been working
hard of late and has supplied some great material for future updates
so stay tuned.
Yet more sixties stuff from Jim & Janet Smith. 1965 the Vickers Gala Day meeting in July now has all class results as does the 1967 Records Meet at SPR in September and also in '67 there are details of the 'Last Chance' meeting for cars in October where Alan Ing finished the season he had dominated with another win, John Woolfe had a successful day on the strip and Ian Demaine set fire to his Mustang powered Zodiac. Regular visitors to the site will be aware of the large quantity of material that Steve Collins has provided for the site in the past. I've just found some material that Steve gave me that I have not used yet so in the 1983 section you will now find details from the NDRCs August meeting at Long Marston where Ronnie Picardo wrecked a motor, Bob West wrecked his car and Malcolm Beken took the Super Comp points championship lead from Bob Jarrett. 1984 a few more details to the Cannonball at SPR in July, featuring the rather unremarkable Funny Car debut of a future Cannonball winner (sorry John!) 1988 sees the debut of the 'Quarter Scorcher at SPRs World Finals in September, September 1990 sees the return to Drag Racing of Ollie Burn at Avon park and another one of those aircraft landing on a drag strip incidents, 1991 saw the merger of the two main organising bodies of Drag Racing in the UK at the beginning of the year, and in March the APIRA is formed, at the end of March there is an update to the Easter Thunderball at SPR with all class results, |
Where are they now? |
| I recently received
an e mail from Maurice Takoor of the BHRA Pioneers asking if I had any idea
of what happened to Harold
Bull. By coincidence I had been asking
myself the same question earlier that day while reading through some of the
sixties material I have yet to add to the site. We know that Harold never
made an appearance on the drag strip after his unfortunate accident in the
ex-Houndog slingshot dragster in 1974 but what did he do after that and where
is he now? If anyone knows please e mail me here at
Trakbytes.
Following on from Doug Harlers request for any information on the old Pony Express altered (see previous entry below) I have been contacted by Cliff Watts who owned the car after its Pony Express days when it was re-named Uncle Scrumble. Cliff ran the car between 1972 and 1976. With Cliffs help and a large number of photos that he has supplied we intend to cover the history of the car in the Historic Vehicle Profiles section of the site. We would really like to know what happened to the car post-1976. Does anyone know what became of it or maybe if it is still around now in some form. Any info to me here at Trakbytes please. Paul Lingard has been in touch with a request to find information on another old racecar. You may have seen this on Eurodragster but it's worth mentioning here as well in case you missed it. Paul writes; "I am after tracing any info relating to a car called "heavy Breathin" that last ran in the UK in 1986 we think. Based on a 70's Austin A40 painted in red originally running a Jag set up a friend of mine has bought the car and is at present having it re-worked for strip & street. Any info you could find, or if you know of any one who remembers this car would be very much appreciated." If you can help Paul you can e mail him here mailto:linny@lingardp.fsnet.co.uk Finally another one you may have noticed on Eurodragster, James Ditty is searching for info on Ed Shavers AMX that he ran in the UK in the early seventies before it returned to the States. I have provided him with as much info as I could find but he would like more and hopes to trace the cars whereabouts today. He will also be compiling material for an article on Ed and the car for AMC clubs in the States, so any info you can give him would be put to good use. You can contact James here mailto:DITDIT@aol.com |
Latest 3/3/01 |
| Sorry to say that this weeks update is a little on the small side and the photo gallery will have to wait a little longer. The company (Photoloft) that was going to provide the space for storage of the bulk of the photos has now decided to discontinue their photo storage programme and end their partnership with Bravenet. This means that I have to find another soloution as to where to store all the pictures. Bravenet will be starting their own photo storage programme in April so it may have to wait until then. I may however begin by putting up a selection of photos on the next update. In the meanwhile this update has material from the sixties, eighties and nineties. The photo of the week features the moment when we lost one of the most popular cars ever seen on a British drag strip. |
This Weeks Updates |
| More sixties stuff from Jim & Janet Smith as promised.
This time details and results from SPRs Records Meet in September
1967. This meet was disrupted by rain but was
completed and featured a demo by an unusual Go-Kart that I would love to
have some more details about. Anyone remember Jack Dalys Turbonique?
1989 details of the Rover V8 Championship finals at SPRs Finals in September, 1990 June sees details from Yorks Street Racer Championship as well as the first European Pro Stock Biker into the sevens at Hockenheim and more Brit PSB sucess at Drachten a week later, in August it was Top Fuel versus Formula One at Avon Park.....with predictable results. |
Where are they now? |
| Second call on this one. Doug Harler (1969 Top Street
Champion!) has been in touch with the following;
"I am looking for information on a friend of mine who ran an Altered called Pony Express. The car was unusual in that the rear wheels were enclosed and had the name Pony Express on the Covers. I think there was a Hot Wheels model made of the car and trying to get one for a friend who co-owned it with I believe Bruce Egleton. Any info would be appreciated." I'm sure many of you remember that distictive car, I remember that it was featured on one of the 'Top Trumps' cards that were popular in the seventies, but do you recall there being a model of it? If so, or if you have any other information that you think may be of use to Doug you can send me the details and I'll pass it on. Doug has also sent me a picture of his '68 Dodge Charger which will be appearing on the site soon. |
Latest 18/2/01 |
| Not much in the way of news this time. I am in the process of finally putting together the beginnings of a photo archive, this should be up and running by the next update. On the subject of photos check out this weeks Photo of the Week (link below) which has been kindly donated by Kelvin Fagan. Kelvin worked as crew member and photographer for Terry Revill, both in his days with the Assassin Drag Bike and Funny Car, and he has a superb collection of pictures, some of which will be in the new photo archive. |
Where are they now? |
| Something a bit different this week, Doug Harler (1969
Top Street Champion!) has been in touch with the following;
"I am looking for information on a friend of mine who ran an Altered called Pony Express. The car was unusual in that the rear wheels were enclosed and had the name Pony Express on the Covers. I think there was a Hot Wheels model made of the car and trying to get one for a friend who co-owned it with I believe Bruce Egleton. Any info would be appreciated." I'm sure many of you remember that distictive car, I remember that it was featured on one of the 'Top Trumps' cards that were popular in the seventies, but do you recall there being a model of it? If so, or if you have any other information that you think may be of use to Doug you can send me tha details and I'll pass it on. Doug has also sent me a picture of his '68 Dodge Charger which will be appearing on the site soon. |
This Weeks Updates |
| Here we go with more material from Jim & Janet
Smith. The 1964 section sees the addition of
a couple of details of the arrival of the Americans for the Drag Fests, including
the trip to the Italian Grand Prix for some of the machinery,
1965 and a large update to the meeting held
at the Vickers Gala day in July which saw the quickest ever run by a Brit
on British soil and which was possibly the only event in UK drag racing history
where all four semi final competitors in an elimination were disqualified,
1967 and loads of detail and results from the
Big Go in May including no less than 15 new records and some points that
were raised at a drivers/organisers meeting after the event. As these would
affect the future running of meetings I thought I would include them as points
of interest. More sixties stuff from Jim & Janet on the next update.
1977 sees three new entries, in May Priddle sets a new record in Sweden, there's an update with results and Pro Fuel/Funny Car elimination ladder from SPRs Big Go at the beginning of June where Roz Prior won the show, Bootsie fireballed the Gladiator and Al O'Connor almost trashed the Gasser, and there's new details from SPRs Internationals in September which included the first appearance of the Blue Max, new Funny Car speed and E.T. records, new records in Senior Dragster, very nearly a 200mph Pro Comp run...........and rain! 1979 sees a new addition in May with details of some of the Brits in Sweden including a controversial runner up place for Jim Read, and victories for Priddle and Hobbs, one week later there's a revamp of the Big Go entry, more rain but some great on track action from Hobbs and Vink and victories for Jim Read, Alan Loten, Brian Johnson and Sam Connell amongst others, 1980 sees the addition of some Superbike detail from the Big Go in May. 1989 and the addition of some Pro Mod detail to the Cannonball event at SPR in July, 1995 sees a large amount of details and full results from SPRs Summer nationals in August, this was the meeting that saw John Spuffard set a new European Funny car record and Anita Makela lead the field in Top Alcohol while Barry Sheavills wrecked his car. Finally the Hall Of Fame entries for Priddle, Skilton and Herridge have all been brought up to date. |
Latest 3/2/01 |
| Welcome to the latest Trakbytes update. The new material for this update is all in the history archives and spans twenty nine years. The earliest is in the 1967 section, it's good to have some more sixties material to add as this is one of the most popular areas of the site. The years that are least well covered now are the early-mid eighties so if anyone has any material that can be used to help bolster these sections please let me know. On the subject of the sixties I have recently received an e mail from Maurice Takoor who runs the BHRA Pioneers Club. Maurice informs me that the membership of the club is growing steadily and this is in small part due to those of you that have contacted him through this site. For those of you that are new visitors, were active on the Drag Racing/Hot Rod scene in the sixties, and are unaware of the existence of the club, check the details out here; BHRA Pioneers Club. Finally this weeks photo of the week comes from Jim & Janet Smith who have supplied the new sixties material and shows Priddles first Avenger funny car outside the great mans workshop, see the Photo Of The Week link below. I have also just posted the latest update on the Showtime Racing UK website, it features a new addition in the form of the story of the Pontiac that eventually set the current European Fuel Funny Car E.T. record, as told by Crew Chief Bob Jarrett. It's well worth checking out if you're interested in the history of UK funny cars. |
Where are they now? |
| Pleased to say that we had some great help with finding Bob Glassup, not only did Jerry Cookson of the APIRA come up with the goods but Bobs son got in touch too. So far nobody has been able to suggest what happened to Swedish Jet Man Arnold Sundqvist, just to be clear there is nobody looking for him, its just a case of "what happened to him?". If anyone out there would like to trace someone from the British drag racing scene that they have lost touch with why not try finding them here? We have had some success so give it a go. I'd still like to know what happened to Bill Weichelt and that car Asmodeus. Clive Skilton tells me he saw Bill about six years ago, someone must know where he is now. |
This Weeks Updates |
| Andy Marrs of
TSI Timers
occasionally comes up with some useful info for the site and this time he
has solved the answer to one of the questions on the Questions page. The
question that reffered to Rob Turners Top Alcohol record in 1996 had been
there since the page was introduced and may have been a little misleading.
It refered to a record for a British driver and this has now been added to
the Main Event 1996.
On the last update I mentioned that I had received a wealth of info from Jim and Janet Smith. they have scanned a very large quantity of material from old drag mags and I have it all here on CD. It will take a while to add it all to the site and the first additions are in the 1967 section. There are a few more race dates added and details and results from a meeting that was held over two weekends due to rain. There were some American visitors at that meeting and Tony Densham had the Commuter out on the Santa Pod track for the first time. 1974 saw a round of the Castrol/RAC Championship at Long Marston in June although I don't yet have the date or what round number it was, a small turnout and two Top Fuelers were present, in 1980 there's a huge amount of detail added to the August Supernationals meeting at Santa Pod including that Priddle/Herridge match race and the debut of "Paula" on Russ Carpenters team! 1984 sees the UK debut of Top Fuel Bike legend Elmer Trett at Long Marston in June (I have no times or speeds for Elmers appearance as yet, can anyone help?), 1993 There's a little more detail from Avon Parks Shootout #1 in May with some info on the demo and Pro cars that were present, 1994 and some details from SPRs Easter Thunderball of the action that occured inbetween the rain showers including the final run for Steve Greens Cortina, |
Latest 21/1/01 |
| It's amazing what you can find, if you look long enough.
While aimlessly searching the net recently I stumbled accross a few
pages that contain some great nostalgic stuff from Santa Pod. I
have never seen these in the links of any other Drag Race sites and I think
it's time you all took a look at them. Richard Heeleys site features two
galleries of seventies pics, and Richard has kindly let me use a picture
of Dennis Priddles Monza in this update. David Forwards site contains a
great story about Davids first trip to Santa Pod. David has kindly provided
this weeks photo of the week which you can find below. You can find links
to these sites and a couple more on the Draglinks page. There must be plenty
of people out there who went to Santa Pod or Long Marston, or Snetterton
or any other of the numerous venues that have hosted quarter mile action
in the past. How many great photos must there be tucked away in drawers and
hidden in attics up and down the land? It's enough to bring a tear to
the eye!
The updates for this week are still centred around the early nineties since this is a part of the archives that remains a little thin in places. I still have older material to add, including an enormous amount of sixties material from Jim and Janet Smith (thanks guys) which I'll be getting around to soon. But as regular visitors to the site will know I'm always eager to receive anything that can be added to the site, be it photos, programme cover scans, stories or info for the history files. Get searching folks and help this site expand even more. |
Where are they now? |
| We have had a certain amount of success on this site with reuniting people so here goes for another try. Last call for now on this one. Mark Ringer has contacted me and is trying to trace Bob Glassup who used to race 'Bubble Gum'. An old mate of his who now lives in the States would like to get in touch again with him, his name is Coopster. If you can help in any way please could you either mail me at Trakbytes or Mark directly at quartermileruk@yahoo.com Thanks. Another question that has recently arisen about names from the past regards the whereabouts of Arnold Sundqvist the Swedish Jet Car pilot who appeared at Santa Pod in the early seventies. Does anyone know what he did after that or his current whereabouts? |
This Weeks Updates |
| 1991 details and full results from Avon Parks Pro Comp Classic in July, a meeting which saw the first 200mph doorslammer run in the UK and (I think) In Europe, and details and full results from the FIM European Drag Bike Championship round in September also at Avon Park. In the same year there's a small update to the Cannonball entry with details of Round two of the Anglo Swedish Super Gas Series. At the end of the 1991 section you will find a list of all the IHRA European Championship winners. At the beginning of the 1992 section there are details of Avon Parks BNDRA meeting in April. The 1992 and 1993 sections also now include a few details of Steve Reads success in Australia, and there's a brief run down on Stu Vallance and Gary Pages somewhat less successful winter in Oz. June 1993 also saw the sad departure of John Harrison, one of UK Drag Racings pioneers. In the same year there's full results for Yorks UK Open Nationals in May. There's a new addition to the Historic Vehicle Files and I take none of the credit for this one. Regular contributor Darren West has compiled an excellent account of the story of Dennis Priddles Monza Funny car. The snippets section has a couple of new additions, the first from Russ Heaven, he too remembers the Hemi Jeep and do you remember the Santa Pod streakers??and the second has some memories from David Forward about his encounters with Pat Cuss and Roland Pratt. I've chosen one of Davids photos for the photo of the week, just follow the link below. The Anecdotes section also features a new entry, a bit more recent this one, many of you may remember it from September 1996 at Santa Pod. |
Latest 7/1/01 |
| Happy New Year one and all. Welcome to the first update for 2001. First of all a plea to any of you out there who sent me any e mail between Christmas Eve and New Years Day. I was away from home for this period and tried to access my mail from somebody elses computer. I mistakenly thought I knew what I was doing and lost all the mail in the process, so if you did send me anything during that time could you re-send it please. As usual I have not had as much time as I would have liked to edit new material for the site but I can promise some good new material for the next few weeks. I'm glad to say that some more ex-racers have been in touch, and regular contributor Darren West has been busy again and supplied an excellent addition for the Historic Vehicles section. Hopefully this will be included on the next update. This update sees the addition of a new feature, the photo of the week slot, you will find the link to the latest picture at the bottom of each entry on the page. |
Where are they now? |
| We have had a certain amount of success on this site with reuniting people so here goes for another try. Mark Ringer has contacted me and is trying to trace Bob Glassup who used to race 'Bubble Gum'. An old mate of his who now lives in the States would like to get in touch again with him, his name is Coopster. If you can help in any way please could you either mail me at Trakbytes or Mark directly at quartermileruk@yahoo.com Thanks . |
This Weeks Updates |
| A very small update for the 1984 Cannonball entry, some more details added to the 1989 World Finals, and in 1991 an update to the details for the Cannonball (where Harlan Thompson controversially won the meet in a borrowed car) and two new entries, details and full class results for SPRs Summer Nationals, where there was a match race victory for John Spuffard, and Yorks North Star Nationals which saw the UK debut of a new Jet Funny Car. |
| 2000 Whats New Archive Click Here |
| 1999 Whats New Archive Click Here |
| 1998 Whats New Archive Click Here |
Photo
Of The Week That Swedish Jeep