1959. The Highwaymen Hot Rod and Custom Club is formed by teenagers in the Hayes area of Middlesex. Amoung them is a young Allan Herridge. Allans dream was to build a Hot Rod and inspired by his collection of American Hot Rod magazines and the TV show 77 Sunset Strip they built a Model T rod. Their first project, and possibly Britains first serious attempt at Hot Rodding, appeared this year at the Hayes Carnival although it never actually ran.    
  June 24th 1961. Long Marston. Evesham AC. Sydney Allard (Allard Dragster) and Brian Witty (Chrysler Dragster - 5500cc) were listed in the event programme in 'Class 7 - Exceeding 1500 cc over 440 yards'. In Brian Taylors book `Crazy Horses` it is reported that despite the best efforts of all involved, including Allan Herridge, Brian Sparrow and Allard's crew, Witty's dragster would not run.
1962 Allan Herridge and John Harrison form their own company called Dragster Developments and  begin to build their first dragster together. The car had street tyres, an open back end and, at the insistance of the RAC, front disc brakes. It was powered by a 322ci straight 8 cylinder Buick motor with 4 SU carbs, these were later replaced by 2 carbs with a front-mounted blower.  
March 31st 1963 Allan Herridge ran his straight eight Buick powered dragster at the West Essex Car Club Sprint at RAF Debden. He put in three passes with times of 18.18, 16.68 and 17.19 seconds.  
June 23rd 1963 Long Marston. Evesham Auto Club Sprint Meeting. Allan Herridge made four passes. The first pass was over the half mile course and resulted in a time of 26.9. He then put in three runs over the quarter, 17.52, 14.58 and finally, a best ever of 14.23.
August 4th 1963 Church Lawford. Sprint Meeting. Several drag racers were running their machines. Allan Herridge, in the Dragster Developments Buick 8 dragster, ran 14.83, 14.63 and 14.42 suffering traction problems off the start line.
Tuesday September 10th 1963

Silverstone. Dante Duce and Sydney Allard were invited to the track to demonstrate to the press what Drag Racing was all about on the circuits Club Straight. They were joined by, among others,  Allan Herridge with his Buick dragster. Allan's first run was a 14.41//97.3. Then Herridge and Densham ran together with The Worden crossing the line first with a 14.33/92.3. In their second match up the win went to Herridge with a 14.40/97 as Densham lost his blower belt on the start line.

Allan Herridge and John Harrisons Dragster Developments firm build the first all British dragster, powered by an Austin Atlantic engine.    
May 17th 1964 Duxford airfield, Cambridgeshire. The BHRA hold a meeting in conjunction with the National Sprint Association & the Allard Owners Club. Allan Herridge ran a best of 13.82 in his Buick.  
August 9th 1964 Graveley. Thames Estuary AC Sprint.  Allan Herridge ran a best ever 13.62.
19th September 1964 Blackbushe Drag Fest, Hampshire. First visit of the U.S. team to the UK for a series of six meetings. Organised by BDRA Chairman Sidney Allard and the legendary Wally Parks of the NHRA, Allan Herridge managed a best of 13.49/98 in the Buick dragster.  
October 1964 Inspired by what he had seen at the Drag Fests Allan Herridge begins work on a new 120" wheelbase slingshot, Pulsation, which he designed himself. The car took a total of 1700 man hours to build and cost £413.  It would make it's debut eight months later.  
June 19th 1965 Graveley. BDRA meeting. Making its debut at this meeting was the new dragster built by Allan Herridge which was eventually named Pulsation.
25th/26th September 1965 The Blackbushe Dragfest is plauged by torrential rain. Allan Herridge drove his new Pulsation slingshot to a best of 12.31 and collected £12 for the days quickest qualifing run. To see all the results from this meeting click here.  
3rd October 1965 RAF Woodvale Dragfest. Allan Herridge matched his 12.31 et with a terminal speed of 117mph.To see all the results from this meeting click here  
1965 Allan Herridge and Peter Billington purchase the UKs entire stock of nitro. This was the fuel that had been left behind by the visiting Americans. Allan had 20 gallons of 55% while Peter went on to import the fuel in larger quantities, and two years later became the UKs sole importer under the name G Max Fuels (still going strong today)  
March 26th/27th 1966 Manchester. The Northern Division of the BHRA held a very successful show at the Manchester Stretford Road Drill Hall. There were 8,500 visitors over the two days, and the cars that they saw included Alan Herridge’s Pulsation rail.
April 24th 1966 SPR. Thames Estuary AC Sprint. There were heavy showers and strong winds all day. There was an entry of 60 cars plus five dragsters. Allan Herridge only put in two passes but his first run of 12.43 was FTD, and his second run was 13.58.
May 1st 1966 SPR. Jaguar Drivers Club Santa Pod Sprint. Organised by the London & Home Counties branch of the Jaguar Drivers Club. National Dragways invited a number of dragster drivers to attend and give demonstration runs. Those present were Allan Herridge, Ken Bunce, Derek Metcalf, Tony Densham, Ken Cooper and Harold Bull.
May 28th/29th 1966 Whitsun. SPR BHRA Big Go. Perfect weather and a big crowd made for a successful event despite the fact that the timing gear was out of action for the whole day. Allan Herridge was present with his Cadillac powered rail. A new back axle and stronger clutch saw the car launch and run so hard that on one occasion Allan was forced to change lanes mid-run. He went on to win the DF/1 class.
June 4th/5th 1966 BHRA Commandos Meet. SPRs first meet featuring foreign drivers. Star of the UK competitors was Allan Herridge who took his 'Pulsation' rail to a series of ten second runs over the weekend, 10.99, 10.88 and 10.84. His best was a new class B record at 10.68 seconds. His final run ended with a 125mph collision with the centre marking boards and lights. Allan was unhurt and the only damage to the car was to the left hand front wheel.
June 19th 1966 Debden Gala Of Sport. A sprint meeting was part of the Gala and several dragsters were invited to attend. In the over 3000cc Class Allan Herridge recorded a time of 11.45.
June 26th 1966 Santa Pod Raceway. BDRA Meeting. Allan Herridge set the best time of the day in the Dragster Developments 'Pulsation' with a 10.68/132.5 followed by a 10.73/131. He took the elimination in the over 5000cc class.
August 28th/29th 1966 SPR. The first British Drag Racing Championships.Allan Herridge took his Cadillac powered rail to a new B class Dragster speed record of 129.37.  
1967 Allan Herridge begins building a 138" wheelbase slingshot called Motovation. The car featured a Hilborn injected 301 small block Chevy running on nitro.  
June 2nd/3rd 1968 SPR. BHRA Big Go. Cars only. Allan herridge ran his best ever in his injected Chevy rail of 10.3/143, only to have his timing gear blow on the next run.  
July 21st 1968 SPR. Combined car and motorcycle meeting including night racing. Allan Herridge ran a new personal best of 10.20/141.84 in his Motovation Chevy rail. The end of the meeting saw Allan herridge and Mick Tickner running a 'grudge match' with Tik just taking the win with a 10.174 to Bootsies 10.193, another new personal best.  
July 5th/6th 1969 SPR. Summer Spectacular. John Siggery ran 9.99/140mph in "Geronimo" to defeat Allan Herridge in the Glacier Bearing Special Dragster.  
July 26th/27th 1969   Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp, Sweden. The Second Annual Anderstorp Trip saw six UK cars make the trip along with four bikes. They were John Siggery in Geronimo, Allan Herridge in Motovation, Harold Bull in Stripduster, Dennis Priddle in the Whistler and the fuelers of Tony Densham and Clive Skilton while the bike racers were Ian Messenger, Dennis Norman, Ray Baskerville and possibly one other. Herridge put a rod through the side of his block and was out of competition.
May 16th 1971 SPR. During a demo run with Allan Herridge in the Gloworm Capri, Mike Hutcherson in the Houndog rail had a frightening experience when a slick blew at 140 mph and sent the car into the barrier. Mike was OK but not so the car which was a total wreck. T
September 12th 1971 SPR. BDRHRA Club Meeting. In Top Competition, Roland Pratt in The Hillbillies Topolino defeated Alan Herridge in the Gloworm Capri, 9.42/148 to a losing 9.59/152.
1972 Tony Densham announced that he was to retire from the sport, leaving the driving seat of the Santa Pod fueler 'Firefly' vacant for Allan Herridge. Allan had been driving Tonys old car The Commuter. At this time Firefly was the most powerful car outside America.  
August 5th/6th 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA Grand Fuel Meeting.This meeting had to be abandoned due to the weather. There were some notable performances that took place before the meeting was stopped including Allan Herridge running 7.8/192 in Firefly.
August 27th/28th 1972 At SPRs Nationals Herridges 'Firefly' ran a 7.34/201 to beat Skiltons 7.41/200, the first side by side 200mph race. Herridge went on to run a 7.2  
September 23rd/24th 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA Meeting. Super Top Dragster should have been a three race, round robin affair. In the first race, Dennis Priddle defeated Clive Skilton with a 6.7 to a losing and engine damaging run of 7.24. In the second race, Priddle soloed as Allan Herridge in Firefly lost fire, but the clocks went on the blink which meant no time or speed. Firefly was re-fired and ran 7.12 at 212 mph which was the fastest ever speed in this country.
October 21st/22nd 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA G Max Grand Trophy Meeting. Allan Herridge performed Britains first ever flame burnout at this meeting in the Firefly slingshot. He then followed it with the fastest Top Fuel speed outside the US, a 7.51/218. His opponent for the race, Clive Skilton, had shut off with a faulty oil pressure gauge. Allan red lit however so a re-run was called. This time Clive pulled a red on a 7.04/204 pass as Herridge coasted through in 11.53/88.44 for the win. By the time the crew had turned "Firefly' around to race Priddle it was too dark for the cars to run so the pair sent the fans home with fire burnouts.  
November 4th/5th 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA Meeting. Dennis Priddle and Allan Herridge came together for the final Top Fuel. Priddle took the win with Herridge gaining at the top end before going sideways and striking the barrier of the spectator lane bursting a tyre and damaging the rear of the car. On pulling the chute the car straightened up and Bootsie managed to stop it safely. Later he brought it out to entertain the crowd with some fire burnouts.  
April 1st 1973 SPR BDRHRA Season Opener. Top Fuel saw Mike Hutcherson and Alan Herridge run identical 8.53s in qualifying. Hutcherson in 'Houndog' was running the old 392 motor from Herridges 'Firefly' and hit 181mph. In eliminations Herridge performed a flame burnout before coming to the line alongside 'Houndog'. The car then lost fire and Hutcherson soloed to the final.  
April 22nd/23rd 1973 SPR. Custom Car Springnationals. Dennis Priddle ran a two match race against Allan Herridge in Firefly. Priddle won both races, the first with a 7.80/205 after Bootsie red lit, and the second with a 6.87/208 hole shot to a 7.55/198. In the semi final of Pro Fuel Mike Hutcherson, having patched up the nose of Houndog, put a rod through the sump while Allan Herridge pulled a red light in Firefly. Priddle and Herridge decided to run off for second place. After the burnouts Firefly cut out and the crew quickly re-started it. On the run the clutch gave way in Firefly and Herridge coasted through the lights at 8.94 behind Priddles 7.28/193.80 winner.  
May 26th/27th 1973 The Hot Car Big Go. SPR. 200 cars and bikes made up the entry list for this meeting with a record of seven British-owned fuel dragsters. Allan Herridge in 'Firefly' ran 7.8, 7.64/191.57 and 7.55/207.47 in qualifying. In eliminations a solo 7.39/200.4 from 'Firefly' after 'Commuter' cut on the line saw Allan through to the next round. The second round only saw one race before the rain brought the meeting to an abrupt end. Clive Skilton ran a 6.85/205.76 to defeat Allan Herridge who clocked top speed of the weekend with a 7.45/210.08.
June 17th 1973   SPR. G-Max  Grand Fuel Meet. Allan Herridge had a string of problems in 'Firefly'. First the axle gave up giving Bootsie an oil bath. Once that had been replaced the blower belt broke and the fuel tank split. Finally he made a straight 3/4 pass to check that everything was OK.
July 7th/8th 1973 SPR. BDR&HRA Peterson Publishing Internationals. Round 1. International entries included 5 Americans, 5 Swedes, 2 Dutch and 2 South Africans. Top Fuel saw Allan Herridge go out in Round One when 'Firefly' lost fire and Dennis Priddle took the win with a 7.45/112.61.  
July 15th 1973 HMS Daedalus Royal Navy Air Base. Gosport, Hampshire. BDR&HRA Internationals. Round 2. Rain until midday held up proceedings and a Westland helicopter was used to blow the surface water from the 1000ft strip. With time limited it was decided to concentrate on putting on a show for the spectators and competitors were paired up for best of two match races. Allan Herridge took his first drive in Don Schumachers 'Stardust' Funny Car and made an initial burnout and half pass before lining up alongside Paula Murphy in her 'Miss STP' Plymouth Duster. Earlier Paula had run 6.65/158 and 6.21/168. Paula took the win with a 6.46 while Bootsie smoked his way to a 7.12/114.68 behind her. Herridge was also on duty in the 'Firefly' Top Fueler, running against Mike Hutcherson in the 'Houndog' entry. 'Movin' Mike took both wins as 'Firefly' went every which way but straight. The second race saw "Houndog' break a halfshaft and pop the blower on a 6.99/126.26 winner.  
July 21st/22nd 1973 SPR. BDR&HRA Internationals. Finals. The final round of the International series saw Allan Herridge back in the seat of the 'Stardust' Funny Car. He put in a 7.70/188.68 before lining up alongside Paula Murphy who had earlier run a 7.19/193.05. Paula took an early lead in the race but Bootsie was gaining when he ran low on fuel, the resulting weakened mixture lifted the blower with a bang and blew the roof clean off the body. He still clocked a 7.35/199.20 to Paulas winning 7.18/173.61 which stood as a new FC record. Pro Fuel saw Allan in 'Firefly' put in a 7.6 second run taking all the timing mirrors and marker cones with him. One of the cones smashed his goggles and with somewhat reduced vision the car ended up resting against a barrier. The final pairing in Round One saw 'Firefly' die on the line while Clive Skilton  soloed to a 7.35/200.80.  
August August 26th/27th 1973 SPR. BDR&HRA Nationals. In Pro Fuel Allan Herridge in 'Firefly' was defeated in the semis by Dennis Priddle with a holeshot 6.78/181.82 to a 7.13/206.19.  
September 15th/16th 1973 European Grand Prix. SPR. In Pro-Fuel Dennis Priddle had things all to himself as Clive Skilton did not enter. He qualified with a strong 6.87 / 176mph getting slightly out of shape. Allan Herridge in "Firefly" ran a nice straight 7.56 / 192mph.  
October 6th/7th 1973 SPR. Castrol Championship Finals. Heavy rain on the first day put the qualifying session back by three hours, causing it to run over to the second day. More rain overnight and into the morning meant that the strip was not ready for action until noon on Sunday although the surface was still damp. The meeting was later called to an end before all the finals were run. Those that were unresolved were held over until the October 21st meet. Pro Fuel saw a three car field after Dennis Priddle failed to make the show. Clive Skilton was on form qualifying with a 7.01 before running a 6.86/224.22 in a solo first round blast followed by  a holeshot 6.75/224.72 against Allan Herridge in Firefly in the final. To see the completed final results click here.
March 24th 1974 SPR Season Opener. Three Pro Fuel cars qualified which meant a bye run for Allan Herridge in Firefly which he made in 7.90/200.80. Clive Skilton then defeated Mike Hutcherson in Houndog 7.09/211.86 to a losing 8.33/160.51. In the final, Firefly shut off just into the run leaving Clive an easy win in 7.17/214.13. Allan Herridge also put in a couple of runs in the Stardust Funny. Firstly, a 7.32/170, then a 7.43 clocking.
April 14th/15th 1974 SPR. Spring Nationals. The attendance for the two days over Easter was put at 25,000 with 16,000 present for Monday’s eliminations. In Pro Fuel, top qualifier Dennis Priddle ran a bye 7.42/194.93, and then Allan Herridge aboard Firefly ran 7.47/182 to defeat the axle breaking 8.12 from Houndog. In the final, Bootsie was forced to shut down due to a bad fuel leak leaving Dennis to solo to a 7.20/201.21 win.
May 5th 1974 SPR. May Day meeting. The eliminations were curtailed by rain. Just two Pro Fuel cars were entered, Houndog and Firefly. Houndog had problems on both runs and never even made the line, while Bootsie in Firefly got wildly out of shape.
May 26th/27th 1974 SPR. Whitsun Holiday Weekend Big Go. At this meeting, Allan Herridge in Stardust recorded the first six second Funny Car pass outside of the USA. His time was 6.87 seconds at an early shut off 191 mph. Dennis Priddle in the Avenger car ran 8.03/163.92, then a 7.19 at 194 mph before match racing Bootsie. In this race, Stardust got wildly out of shape before Alan managed to correct it. In the meantime, Dennis headed skywards on the green but kept it under control. Dennis took the win in 7.71/187 to Bootsie’s identical 7.71 at 168 mph. In Pro Fuel on the Sunday Allan Herridge ran a wild 8.3/106 in Firefly. In the final, Skilton won with a 6.86/209 pass as Bootsie changed lanes in Firefly due to the rear wheels being out of balance. In Monday’s elimination Skilton had a broken torsion bar which put him out thus letting Firefly back in. Bootsie red lit and Houndog got out of shape and pulled the chute early.
July 6th/7th 1974 SPR Internationals. Allan Herridge and Owen Hayward recorded the quickest side-by-side UK Funny Car pass. Stardust turned 7.00/202 to cross the stripe ahead of Houndog’s 7.11/154. Just two Pro Fuelers attended, Firefly and Houndog. Peter Crane tried out Firefly for size in preparation for buying his own car. For the eliminations, Bootsie was back in the hot seat and he defeated Mike Hutcherson in Houndog 7.4 to an early shut off 7.8.
July 21st 1974 Drag Racing News Trophy meeting. SPR. The new Houndog 8 rear engined TF car made its debut at this meeting. Mike Hutcherson ran a gentle first pass and then he raced Allan Herridge in Firefly. The new car took the win in 7.31/158 as Firefly ventilated the block. Herridge was also out in the Stardust FC and put down a 7.13 with a top end charge of 210.97.
August 25th/26th 1974 Supernationals SPR. In Funny Car, Allan Herridge in Stardust soloed to a 7.09/199.2. Herridge took the final round win in a new track FC ET record of 6.81/195.69 as Dennis Priddle slowed to a losing 8.02/155.72.
September 29th 1974 NDRCs first meeting at Snetterton circuit, Norfolk. The final round of the Castrol/RAC National championship, and a round of the STP/Custom Car Championship for Pro Stock and Super Street. There was a match race between the floppers of Dennis Priddle and Allan Herridge in Stardust. In the first race, Herridge drew the lane with the bad bump in it. Priddle took the race in 7.26/190 as the Stardust car got wildly out of shape. In the second race, unknown to the two drivers as they tried to stage, somebody had tripped over a battery lead to the Christmas tree and the lights never came on. Somebody then ran into the middle with a couple of flags. Priddle went a few yards and cut the motor, but Herridge in the good lane made a full bore run at 202 mph with a highly dubious ET of 6.48.

This meeting drew the circuits biggest crowd of the year, larger than all the roundy roundy meetings! Re. Bootsies appearance with the Stardust Funny Car, this was the first and only time Roy Phelps sent one of his major cars to an NDRC event. The disputed 6.48 was far in excess of what any other funny car had run in the UK at this time.
November 2nd/3rd 1975

SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. Rain and mist played havoc with the racing and times and speed were affected by the slick track conditions. Many finals were not held and some classes didn't progress beyond the first round. Saturday saw most vehicles get at least one run in, but the track conditions meant that nobody was able to run anywhere near their full potential. Allan Herridge twice reversed Stardust into the startline advertising boards after his burnouts on Saturday. On Sunday he put down the best Funny Car time of the day with a 7.64/166.39 practise run against Houndog. His next pass, the first round of competition, saw Stardust come to the line for a solo pass as the Hillbillies team failed to show. The car launched violently sideways before Bootsie wrestled it straight to clock an 8.27/159.49.

November 30th/December 1st 1974 SPR. Winternationals. Allan Herridge was doing double duties, taking the driving seat in Stardust and Firefly. The dragster was withdrawn after an out of shape pass and subsequent inspection which revealed some bearings beginning to break up. The decision was made to run Stardust in the Top Fuel class. Herridge then put in a 7.26/198 qualifying pass which was the quickest run of the weekend. By the time the final with Peter Crane arrived fading light, and limited track illumination saw Crane and Herridge put on a show of multiple burnouts, with Stormbringer putting in a fire burnout for good measure.
March 30/31st 1975

SPR. Easter Meet. In Qualifing Allan Herridge in Firefly ran an uncharacteristically straight 7.37/202.02, the fastest speed of the day. He had less luck in the Funny Car though. Stardust, having apparently been on a diet over the winter, pulled huge wheelies on both Sundays passes. On Monday the car's chassis was seen to have aquired a lead weight to try and tame it down. On Monday, as the time for eliminations arrived the bad weather was closing in and the decision was made to run the Funny Cars first. Houndog soloed to a 7.33/184.90 and then Roland Pratt made Bootsie work hard for the win with a 7.74/196.08 charge almost beating Stardust's 7.29/182.48. The Hillbillies car crossed lanes in front of Herridge, and ended up in the grass at the bottom of the shutdown area. Damage was limited to the front of the body only. In Pro Fuel Hondog had reverser problems leaving Firefly to solo to a 7.55/190.11.
April 20th 1975 SPR. Owen Hayward beat Allan Herridge in Funny Car with a 6.76 and new strip record. In the Funny Car Final Owen Hayward won with a 7.07 to Allan Herridges 7.08.  
May 11th 1975 SPR. Allan Herridge put in an appearance in Stardust and laid down a 6.93/207 clocking.
July 5th/6th 1975 SPR. European Grand Prix incorporating the first British funny Car Grand Prix. A total of seven Funny Cars and one Fuel Altered were entered for this meeting. Allan Herridge set both ends of the European funny car record  in Stardust with a 6.66/213.68 run in the Final against a tyre smoking Owen Hayward. For the Funny Car elimination ladder click here.
August 23rd-25th 1975 SPR Holiday Weekend Supernationals. Owen Hayward and Allan Herridge had two races in the Houndog and Stardust funny cars. Herridge took the first with 6.91/202.84 to Haywards 7.14/207.04 and the second with a 6.81/210.97 to 6.87/207.70.
September 14th 1975 Holland holds its first ever drag race meeting. It was attended by, amoungst others, Brits Allan Herrdige with Stardust, Ronnie Picardo with the Firefly, Mick Warne, John Clift, Mick Hand and Derek Penfold. Most competitors managed to put in at least one run although it rained alsmost all day.  
September 20th/21st 1975 The Funny car eliminations included nine floppers and a Fuel Altered, the largest FC field ever in Europe. On Saturday evening a number of cars took advantage of the new floodlighting which had now been RAC approved for competition. These included Allan Herridge in 'Stardust' who ran a 6.77/210.97 qualifier. The semis saw American Leroy Chadderton defeat Herridge, who burnt a piston, with a 6.92/213.68.
November 1st/2nd 1975 SPR Fireworks Spectacular. The weather on Saturday was so bad that very little took place on the track, except some shakedown runs for the new track drier. With no qualifying completed eliminations were arranged using previous performances. The track was still quite slick and times were down on the usual. Funny Car produced a field of seven floppers. Allan Herridge made itto the semis where he lost out to Dennis Priddle with an 8.00/152.67 to a 7.38/197.24. For all class results click here.
December 6th/7th 1975 SPR. Winternationals. This meeting had an invitation only entry. The Funny Cars were subject to all sorts of problems. The first pair were Roland Pratts 392 Avenger and Allan Herridge in Stardust. Herridge had to cut the motor when the magneto slipped and Pratt took the win with a 'suspect' 7.07/139. Later Allan came out for a demo run in Stardust. On the launch the car immediately turned hard and changed lanes from right to left, followed by a short burst back into the right. For all class results click here.
April 17th-19th 1976 Over 50,000 people attend SPRs 10th anniversary Easter meet starring the legendary Don Garlits in his  1975 car, the Swamp Rat#21 fueler. Allan Herridge debuted his new Alleygator rail, running a 6.31 on its first outing. Allan went on to record a best of 6.29 at 223mph this weekend, his personal; best to date. To see results, Pro Fuel qualifing results and elimination ladder click here  
May 8th/9th 1976 SPR. May Day Summernationals. In Funny Car, Owen Hayward in Houndog qualified top with 6.85/181, followed by Allan Herridge in Gladiator 7.37/132, Herridge staged too deep in the semis and pulled a red light allowing Stone to win in 7.71/180. In the final, Stone took a lucky 8.49/120 win as Hayward couldn’t get reverse gear after the burnout.
May 14th-16th 1976 Mantorp Park, Sweden. Eight British cars and two bikes made the long haul to Sweden. They included Allan Herridge with Gladiator. In Funny Car first round, both Herridge and Dennis Priddle had bye runs but they came out side-by-side with Herridge recording 7.24 to Priddle’s 7.78. Herridge then beat Pete Barnett with a 7.33 to a losing 8.16. The final was marred by a mix-up to the tree. A handicap from the previous run had not been taken out which meant Herridge left half a second before Priddle. Bootsie ran 8.00 to Priddle’s 7.55 with Herridge being awarded the race as he got there first. Everybody agreed that this was not a satisfactory conclusion but nothing could be done.
May 29th-31st 1976 Holiday Weekend 'Big Go'. SPR. Pro Fuel was an eight car field. In the first round of eliminations Allan Herridge ran 6.39/221 as Roz Prior couldn’t make the call. In the second semi-final Herridge soloed to a 7.23/141 as Mike Hall had problems. By the time the final came round, a light drizzle was falling, and it really was too wet to race, but race they did with Ronnie Picardo in Firefly red-lighting handing the win to Herridge in the Asphalt Alleygator.
July 3rd/4th 1976 SPR. Euro Grand Prix. Allan Herridge in the ex-Leroy Chadderton Vega, now the "Gladiator" met Dave Stone in the ex-Allan Herridge car "Stardust" in the final round. Both cars lost fire off the line and Herrdige in the lighter of the two machines coasted through the top end first. For the Funny Car elimination ladder click here.  
August 28th-30th 1976 SPR. Supernationals. Rain caused the abandonment of the meeting before any of the eliminations began. In Funny Car, Allan Herridge was top of the pile with 7.01/183.
September 18th/19th 1976 SPR. Supernationals Re-Run.The weather certainly was a lot better for the re-run. In Funny Car Allan Herridge soloed to a 6.84/179 win as Dave Stone in Stardust couldn’t make the call due to a holed piston from his qualifier. In the final, Herridge pulled a cherry handing the win to Dennis Priddle who ran 7.05/197.
October 16th/17th 1976 SPR. Winternationals. The final round of the Tor Line Funny Car Championship was contested at this meeting with only Clive Skilton and Dennis Priddle in with a chance of winning the title. Priddle qualified with 7.19/209, ahead of Allan Herridge with 7.29/145 on a one gear pass. Number one qualifier was John Andersson at 6.63/187 although the run did cause some controversy as a skirt had been fitted to the front end. By the time the eliminations had started, some of the English drivers had skirts fitted! In the first round Herridge ran 7.30/141 which was too strong for Phil Elson. In the semis Herridge holeshot Andersson and crossed the stripe first in 6.79/210 to the Swede’s quicker but losing 6.53/198. In the final Herridge had staging problems and popped a red light handing the win to Stardust which ran an easy 8.12/127.
November 6th/7th 1976 Fireworks Spectacular. SPR. There was no qualifying at all on the Saturday due to the strip being too damp. In Funny Car Dave Stone took a 7.97/138 win over Allan Herridge in Gladiator which smoked to a 9.83/110.
April/May 30th-1st 1977 SPR May Day  Summernationals Meeting. Allan Herridge took a lucky 1st round Pro Fuel win over Gerry Andrews with a 7.32/183 run to a losing 7.48/183 as he just about successfully stayed in his own lane. In the final, Bootsie put in a storming 6.33/220 charge in Alleygator to easily defeat Roz Prior's 6.81/206 shot in Maneater.
June 5th-7th 1977 SPR. Silver Jubilee Big Go. Rain hampered proceedings and the organisers struggled to run one days eliminations out of a scheduled two. Highlighting the meet was the Jubilee battle of the Funnies and Fuelers. Allan Herridge ran the low E.T. and top speed of the meeting with a 6.77/211 in the quarter finals. Herridge made it to the final to meet Prior as first alternate after Peter Cranes transmission broke on "Stormbringer". Prior took the win in 6.98/202 in her fueler while Bootsie chased hard in the Gladiator FC, crossing the finish line in 7.16/210 and engulfed in flame as oil spewed onto the headers.  
July 9th/10th 1977

SPR. July Internationals. In Funny Car Allan Herridge took the Gladiator to number one qualifier with a 6.78/220, a new terminal speed record. Sweden's John Anderson was at number two with a 7.01 followed by Dennis Priddle in the black Monza with a 7.08. After a 6.78/203 bye from Herridge in Round One The Semi's began with a great race between Priddle and Herridge, Dennis taking the win with a 6.95/214 to a 6.96/214. Dave Stone then ran a holeshot 7.30 win against a 6.98 from Anderson, but at the expense of six pistons and no chance of making the final. Herridge returned to face Priddle for the final round and another great race resulted in him taking a holeshot win with a 6.72/208 to a 6.71/207 from Priddle.
August 1977 Drachten, Holland. Allan herridges 'Alleygator 2' rail gets out of shape on a demonstration run and rolls over many times. Allan suffered no more than two black eyes but the car was a write off.  
October 15th/16th 1977 SPR. Winternationals. In the Funny Car semi-finals Allan Herridge had a solo 6.65/216 win as Stardust went bang on the start line. The final was a goodie with Dennis Priddle recording a winning 6.55/211 to Herridge’s 6.76/201.
March 11th/12th 1978 SPR. Half a mile of new tarmac had been laid prior to this meeting, and as to be expected, there wasn’t a great deal of traction! The Gladiator funny car, with Bootsie piloting, could get no grip at all on the new surface, and actually took off some of the top surface of the asphalt! As a result, it was decided the first 100 yards needed to be relaid with a different grade for the Easter meeting.
March 24th-27th 1978 SPR. Easter Springnationals. Funny Car qualifying was led by US racer Raymond Beadle in Blue Max with 6.54/217, followed by Dennis Priddle 6.77/202, Alan Herridge 6.90/215, In Round One Herridge downed Stone 6.60/216 to an 8.21/127. In the first semi, Beadle put a rod through the block during the burnout and Herridge was shut off with a suspected motor fire. Herridge was awarded the race. The final was a good race with Herridge’s 6.54/215 too strong for Priddle’s 6.73/203.
April/May 29th-1st 1978 SPR.May Day Festival Of Speed. Allan Herridge qualified the Gladiator FC in top spot with 6.64/215. In eliminations, Priddle just edged it over Herridge with a 6.72/207 to a losing 6.79/207.
September 16th/17th 1978 SPRs September Internationals In Funny Car there were eight entrants including Allan Herridge with a new Milodon motor in the Gladiator. Allan ran a 6.56 but couldn't quite beat Ray Beadles 6.36.
October 14th/15th 1978 SPR. Winternationals. The meeting was badly affected by fog and drizzle with most of the eliminations not even commencing. Number 1 qualifier in FC was Dennis Priddle with a 7.39/185, followed by Allan Herridge at 8.66/197.
November 4th/5th 1978 SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. The weather was kind for the meeting which meant some good times in the nitro classes. In Funny Car, Allan Herridge qualified at number one with the top speed of the meeting, 6.64/219. In the semis, Herridge sat it out with a solo. The final was an anticlimax as Owen Hayward in Houndog stopped just off the line and then Herridge pitched the blower and coasted across the stripe.
March 24th/25th 1979 SPR. Season Opener. Allan Herridge debuts his latest rail, Alleygator 3.  
July7th/8th 1979 SPRs Summer Internationals In Funny Car Raymond Beadles Blue Max was no.1 qualifier with a 6.57 followed by Gene Snow with 6.75, Allan Herridges Gladiator with 6.76, Dennis Priddles Monza with 6.92, Owen Haywards Houndog with 6.95 and Ronnie Picardo in The Force with 7.97. In the first round Herridge beat Hayward with a 6.68/210 to a 7.07. In the semis Beadle beat Herridge with a 6.34 to a 6.74. The final was set for another Beadle and Snow showdown but the Snowman blew his motor on the burnout. Allan Herridge stepped in to take his place but had no chance as the track was still soaked in oil. Bootsie gave it his best shot , trying to find a line past the slippy bits to much cheering from the crowd but Beadle won with a new record 6.24/221.
August 26th/27th 1979 Bank Holiday Supernationals. SPR Allan Herridge first fireballs the motor of his 'Gladiator' funny car during qualifying then flipped it onto it's roof  in the final against Owen Haywards 'Houndog' who recorded a 7.38/139 win. A surprise party was held for Allan on the Saturday night to celebrate his 20 years in Drag Racing. Click here for a picture and an extract from 'Drag Racing News' about this event. Funny Car Eliminations saw top qualifier Owen Hayward (6.50/200) beat Dennis Priddle in the first round 6.50/203 to 6.64/206. In the other race Ronnie Picardo got out of shape and Allan Herridge took the win with a 6.78/198. Click here to see all class results and further notes from this meeting.  
September 14th-16th 1979 World Finals. SPR. Allan Herridge was back after his rollover in August with a repainted Gladiator. To see the elimination ladder for the Funny Cars Click Here
October 13th/14th 1979 SPR. Winternationals. A wet & windy weekend! Allan Herridge ran the best time of the meet with a 6.34/208 in the Asphalt Alleygator rail in a match race with Trevor Young.  
April 4th-7th 1980   Easter International SPR. Pro Fuel saw Allan Herridge run a 6.66/218 in qualifying for a four car field. The semi final was an easy 10.05/96 bye run for Alan Ritmeister after Herridge broke on the burnout.
May 3rd-5th 1980   SPR. Spring Nationals. Pro Fuel had a five car field. Allan Herridge made number three in qualifying with a 6.91/212. Round one saw Herridge run out of fuel as the car left the line. A stuck fuel valve being blamed for the rapid consumption of nine gallons of nitro! His opponent, Kent persson, soloed to a 6.88/221 win. The final was Priddle v Herridge as the Scandinavian competitors had to return home early due to a domestic situation that looked as if it would become a national strike. Herridge took the win with a 6.37/211 to Priddles 6.70/214.
May 24th-26th 1980 Whitsun Big Go. SPR. Allan Herridge and Ronnie Picardo ran a top fuel match race on the Monday, being the only two fuellers present. Herridge took the first with a 6.71 after Picardo shut off with problems. The final race saw flame burnouts from both cars and a second win for Herridge with the meetings best time of 6.34/209 to Picardos 7.42/190.  
June 6th-8th 1980 Sko-Uno Drag Festival, Mantorp Park, Sweden. Three of the UK Nitro teams made the trip to Mantorp. Allan Herridge (Alleygator), Ron Picardo (Force), and Owen Hayward (Houndog). Bootsie put the Alleygator into the sand at the top end on his first run, misjudging the infamous Mantorp top end bend! But came back out to take the T/F crown from the likes of Ludvig Bjornstad, Eva Kjellin and Kent Persson.  
July 5th-6th 1980 SPR. Summer International World Series. Allan Herridge debuted his new Trans Am bodied Funny Car, Gladiator II with a shakedown at 8.00am on the Saturday morning. The car ran a 6.4 straight off the trailer. Qualifying saw Allan Herridge at #1 spot with a 6.46/214, followed by Snow and Dave Stone with Beadle on the bump spot at 7.65/149. Round One saw Harlan Thompson keep his boot down in a wild fishtailing drive against Herridge who took the win. The meeting was cut short on Sunday by rain followed by a timing equipment breakdown. Most classes were not completed.
July 18th-20th 1980 The Brighton Dragster & Custom Car show. Vehicles on show included Allan Herridges new Trans Am funny car.  
August 23rd-25th 1980 SPR. Bank Holiday Supernationals. Highlight of the weekend was the match race between the fuelers of Allan Herridge and Dennis Priddle. Herridge had brought along his new Gladiator Funny Car but did not run it, preferrring to devote his time to making sure the Alleygator was on top form. The best of three match race, held on the second day of qualifying, produced three classic races. Herridge took the win in the left lane in Round One with a 6.42/215 to Priddles blower belt throwing 6.74/201. Round Two saw the left lane victorious again with Priddle crossing the line first in 6.25/223 while Bootsie left two black lines down most of his lane, took his turn to throw a blower belt and still crossed the line in 6.35/189. The final deciding race saw Priddle back in the right hand lane. He got a slight holeshot over Herridge and, in the closest race of the three, took the win with a 6.21/227 to Bootsies quicker and faster 6.20/232. The Pro Fuel class saw the fuelers and Funny Cars running together. In the third pairing Owen Hayward wheelied the Houndog Funny Car as Allan Herridge took the win with another 6.31, this time at 207mph. This meant it was Priddle vs Herridge for the fourth time of the weekend. Tension was high as the pair took their time in staging and Herridge powered to the win with a 6.27/222 as Priddle threw another blower belt and crossed the line in 6.43/183.  
September 12th-14th 1980

World Finals SPR.  Don Prudhomme made his UK debut in his Army Funny Car. He qualified at number 2 with a 6.22/227, just behind the UKs Allan Herridge with a 6.21/228, which turned out to be the quickest time of the weekend. Sunday's eliminations saw Rune Fjeld dispose of Herridge with a huge holeshot 6.58/218 to 6.28/217. Due to many of the top names going out in the first round a decision was made to run a "Division Two" elimination for those cars. Stig Hansson broke on the line leaving Allan Herridge to solo with an out of shape run. The second round of Division Two, the semi finals, saw Herridge run a strong 6.36/215 bye. As far as I can tell the final between Herridge and Ronnie Picardo never took place.

October 11th/12th 1980 SPR. BDR&HRA National Finals including Hot Rod & Custom UK Street Eliminator. For this meeting, the Fuelers and Funny Cars ran together in one elimination. In the first round, both Dennis Priddle and Alan Herridge were on bye runs in their dragsters. Dennis ran 6.26/218 and Alan ran a troubled 7.26/194 in Alleygator. In the first semi, Houndog beat Alleygator with a 6.46/205 to a 7.24/189.
November 8th/9th 1980 SPR. Firework Spectacular. Elimination positions were determined by emergency qualifying times as the strip surface was a little too slick for serious qualifying. Pro Fuel featured four cars. Ronnie Picardo in Highway Patrol which was running on methanol, defeated a troubled Alan Herridge. Dennis Priddle ran 7.06/183 to defeat Owen Hayward in the Demag altered which was the Houndog FC without its usual body. This was its first appearance. Both first round losers came out again with Owen recording a 6.92/186 and Bootsie laying down a 6.85/160 in Alleygator. In the final, Dennis clocked a 6.40/211 to defeat Ronnie's shut-off 7.92/58.
April 17th-20th 1981 SPR. In Top Fuel, Allan Herridge qualified in top spot with a 6.69/199, followed by Alan Ritmeister 6.76/193, Trevor Young 6.89/202, Andy Craddock 7.40/191 and Tony Boden 7.62/193. In the eliminations, Alan Ritmeister was unable to make the first round which left Allan Herridge defeating Tony Boden with a 6.54/213 to a 7.06. Bootsie won the final with a fine 6.46/216 against Andy’s 7.55/196.
May 23rd-25th 1981 SPR. The wet weather badly affected both qualifying and the eliminations, and only six out of the fifteen eliminations were completed. There were four Funny Cars present and they ran a series of match races. Allan Herridge ran a best of 7.65/192 to beat Paul Manders in the Time and Motion Mustang which ran 9.52/155.
July 4th/5th 1981

SPR hosted the first Cannonball, an event showcasing both alcohol and fuel funny cars in competition against each other. Each car made three runs and the times were added together to find the two cars with the quickest accumulated times. These two then raced head to head for the final. This all took place on the Sunday and so Saturday was used for practice. Allan Herridge made a practice run and promptly put two rods through the block of the Gladiator. On Sunday pairings for the first round were drawn from a hat. Herridge and Owen Hayward ran 7.04 and 7.07 alongside each other. Round two and Herridge improved to a 6.73/215 alongside a slower 7.08/202 from Bill Sherratt. The aggregate times after two rounds had Herridge leading with 13.5 with Sherratt close behind on 13.76. Five cars remained able to contest the third round. Herridge secured his place in the final with a 6.46/218 while Bill Sherratt ran a best yet of 6.47. This put Herridge and Sherratt in the final, with Hayward as first alternate only 0.013 seconds behind on aggregate. In the final Gladiator covered the pitside lane in oil as the bottom of the engine disintegrated during the burnout. This gave Hayward the chance to run, but he couldn't provide a serious opposition as at the green light he had to drive around Gladiators oil. Sherratt took the win with a 6.60/218 to a gallant 8.26/172 from the Houndog car.
August 29th-31st 1981 It was at this meeting that the two match racing jets made their first appearance, Vampire driven by Kieron Weston and Hellbender driven by Allan Herridge.
September 25th-27th 1981 Finals SPR. Fourteen cars were entered in the Funny Car eliminations. Due to a shortage of time caused by rain the qualifying was cancelled and qualifying places were awarded based on previous best times. Allan Herridge won his first round with a 6.94/210, beat Anders Hasslestrom in round two with a 6.59/216 to a 7.51/161, ran 6.19/224 to beat Leonard Ekning in the semis and made it to the final to meet Harlan Thompson. Here his run ended and he broke, handing the win to Thompson. For Funny Car elimination ladder click here
April 10th-12th 1982 SPR. Easter Internationals Meeting. Allan Herridge was offered, and accepted a drive in Sammy Millers 'Vanishing Point' rocket Funny Car. He recorded a best time of 4.84 seconds, with a terminal speed of just 233mph, to make him Europes quickest ever drag racer and the first European driver to go under five seconds.  
May 29th-31st 1982 The “Big Go” meeting was blessed with hot, sunny weather. There were eight Funny Cars in attendance with Lee Anders Hasselstrom leading the qualifying with a 6.43/200 pass. Allan Herridge in Gladiator made eigth spot with a below-par 10.57/72. In the first round of eliminations Herridge ran a 6.43/189 to beat Harlan Thompson, but in the process, he did a lot of damage to the car and had to sideline it.
July 3rd/4th 1982 SPRs Cannonball Funny Car shootout is plagued by timing equipment problems. Owen Hayward takes the honours beating Allan herridge in the final. To see all class results from this meeting click here  
July 16th/17th 1982 Zandvoort, Holland. The "Travelling Santa Pod Roadshow" hit town and compete on an 1/8th mile straight of the Zandvoort circuit which had very poor traction. Sammy Miller and Allan Herridge ran some side by side rocket car races, Sammy in Oxygen and Bootsie in Vanishing Point. Bootsie managed a best of 3.12/221while Sammy turned in a best of 2.82/226.74.  
April 1st-4th 1983 SPR. Easter meeting. There were seven Funny Cars in attendance but they didn’t put in an appearance until the Monday. The Funny Cars were supposed to contest a Cannonball style three-quarter mile race. In the first round, Allan Herridge beat Owen Hayward with a 7.13/191 win to a losing 7.95/184. As only two of the four Funny Cars due to contest the next round were fit to do so, it was decided that that would be the final. Both Allan Herridge and Chris Felsell went up in smoke on the hit but both cars managed to make it to the other end on the dampening track with Felsell just winning with an 8.78 to a losing 8.85.
May 28th-30th 1983 SPR. The Big Go. In Funny Car first round Owen Hayward beat Alan Herridge.
August 27th-29th 1983 Tony Boden and Allan Herridge held a best of three match race in their nitro Funny Cars. Boden took the first race in his 'Hit Man' Dodge Omni 7.64/184 to 7.82/181. Bootsie took the 'Gladiator' Trans Am to the second win with a 6.75/195 to Bodens 7.46/191. In the third match up Herridge took a solo win as 'Hit Man' had spun a bearing.  
September 23rd-25th SPR. World Finals. For Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying and elimination ladders click here In Funny Car, five cars qualified with Alan Herridge and Tom Hoover pairing to run side by side byes. Hoover got badly out of shape leaving Bootsie to take the win light with a 6.58/221. Bootsie qualified at number one. In the semis, Gladiator holed the block on the burnout leaving Hoover to solo through at 6.17/205.
November 6th 1983 Fireworks Meet. Santa Pod Raceway.
Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge made his last ever run. He was debuting a new Jet Funny Car called 'Midnight Cowboy' which he had built himself. For reasons which still have not been fully explained, the car did a hard left at the top end of the strip, running straight into the crashbarrier. Bootsie was killed instantly. He was an original, an innovator, a hero to many and a very sad loss to the world of Drag Racing. We all miss him.
 

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