Archive entries for The Stones Team including Dennis & Dave Stone, Dave Lee Travis and Gerry Andrews.

The Stones, Dad Dennis and Son Dave, began their long involvement with British Drag Racing in 1968 when they purchased an almost new Lotus Cortina which they both raced in the Modified Production class turning times in the region of sixteen seconds.  
May 3rd 1970 The NDRC held a one-day meeting on the old aerodrome at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk. It was at this meeting that Dennis Stone purchased Cliff Jones 283ci small block Chevy "Opus One" altered and the Stones teams long involvement with drag racing began.Gate receipts at Martlesham were £2319.19s.6d. To see all the final results from this meeting click here.
June 7th 1970 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. Just a month after purchasing the car Dennis Stone took the Opus One Altered to the Top Competiton win with an 11.73. Dave Stone was the winner in Junior Street with a 17.02 in his Lotus Cortina. For meeting results click here.
June 14th 1970 SPR. NDRC Meeting. Dave Stone was winner in Junior Street with a 16.01 to Mike Aitkins 16.32 in his TVR. Dennis Stone was runner up in Top Comp. For meeting results click here.
August 9th 1970 Elvington. NDRC Meeting. This meeting was originally intended to be held at Martlesham Heath but it was moved to Elvington following complaints about noise from Martlesham residents after the May meeting. Dennis Stone in 'Opus One' was runner up to Phil Elson in Top Comp while Dave Stone in 'Lopus One' won Junior Street. For meeting results click here.
August 16th 1970 Hullavington. BDR&HRA 'On Tour' Meeting. Due to a small entry list only four eliminations were run, each with eight competitors or less. Dennis Stone was runner up in Top Comp to Phil Elson while Dave entered Top Street in the 'Lopus One' Lotus Cortina and was runner up to W. Marshalls Lotus Elan. For results click here
August 30th/31st 1970 SPR. August Bank Holiday Meeting. Dennis Stone got his revenge on Phil Elson, taking the Top Comp win with an 11.19 to Elsons 12.29. Dave Stone was running in Middle Street and was runner up to the Lotus of Ken Obee. For meeting results click here
In their first full seasons racing the Stones finished the year at the top of their respective NDRC classes. Dennis in Top Comp and Dave in Junior Street. For all 1970 NDRC Points Champions click here
April 11th/12th 1971 At the Easter meet at SPR Dennis Stones 5.3 litre chevy altered "Opus One" was the car to catch with a 11.52 /115 mph taking Senior Competition on the Monday.
May 22nd/23rd 1971 RAF North Luffenham 30th Anniversary Show. NDRC Meeting. In Top Competition Dennis Stone had a bye run in the first round. In the semis the Stones Opus One defeated the Itzaviva of Wigmore. The sheer power of Roland Pratt's big block Hillbillies triumphed over the small block Opus One in the final.
June 27th 1971 SPR. BDR&HRA meeting. A couple of the big altereds turned up with new engines for the first time. Dennis Stone in Opus One had an aluminium Chevy 427 fitted. Stone match raced Steve Cryer in Metronome. Even though Opus One wasn’t running properly, it still took the series 2-0.
June 13th 1971 Elvington. NDRC & Auto 66 Club meeting. Dave Stone was the winner in Junior Street. For all class results click here.
July 25th 1971 Dunkeswell. NDRC Meeting. The largest NDRC crowd of the year so far turned up to watch the action. Dennis Stone took 'Opus One' to a Top Comp victory over Pete Smith in 11.81 seconds. For all class results click here
August 8th 1971 Blackbushe. 120 competitors and 12000 spectators attended this NDRC meeting which was sponsored by Radio Luxembourg. The startline had to be painted before any racing could take place. Dennis Stone received the teams first sub-ten second timeslip when he drove the 'Opus One' altered to a new personal best of 9.95seconds to win the Top Competition final. For all class results click here.
August 29th/30th 1971 SPR. BDRHRA meeting. Dennis Stone won Top Comp Altered in "Opus One" beating Freddie Whittles "Shutdown" in the final.
September 25th/26th 1971 RAF North Luffenham. NDRC Meeting. Dave Stone was runner up in the Junior Street class. For meeting results click here.
October 10th 1971 SPR. Kevin Pilling won Top Altered by beating Dave Stone in the final.
  At the end of the 1971 season the Stones had a re-think as to their future plans. The 'Opus One' altered was exchanged in a deal with Chris Urlwin for a V6 powered Ford Escort named 'Rudolph'. They also purchased the ex- Benbow & Fullerton 'Turtle T' altered which became the famed 'Tee Rat'.
March 19th 1972 SPR. Season opener. Making its debut at this meeting was the new Stones altered named Doo-wot. It was the ex Tee Total chassis of Benbow & Fullerton with the 427 Chevy out of Opus One. Dennis Stone put in the first couple of runs in the car which were both high tens. Then Dave took over for a match race with John Siggery in Geronimo. Geronimo took the first race in 9.3 seconds as the altered travelled a lot further than a quarter mile on the pass in 10.2 seconds. The second race was much closer with Siggery once again winning in 9.7 seconds to the 9.8 pass from the altered.
April 30th 1972 Martlesham Heath. NDRC Meeting.  ET Bracket racing was tried out with some success. Bracket 3 (10-12 seconds) was won by Mike Treutlin in Crescent Coupe, as his main opponent, The Stones, with their Doo-Wat altered had to retire with clutch and throttle linkage problems. Dave Stone put in an impressive 14.6 in the V6 Escort, previously Otis Blue, but now christened Rudolf owing to the red nose on the bonnet scoop. Unfortunately Stone lunched the gearbox during the Bracket two eliminations. Dennis Stone was presented with the Comp Altered cup for the lowest ET in his class.
May 20th/21st 1972 North Luffenham. NDRC Meeting. Rain on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon held up proceedings but all the classes were completed. Dave Stone had a wild ride in the wet in the final of Top Competition Altered. He kept his foot in all the way as 'Tee Rat' slid one way and then the other to an 11.43 win over Phil Elsons 15.08 in 'Sneaky'.
May 28th/29th 1972 SPR. Big Go. The Stones team had trouble with their 'Tee Rat' Altered which was destroying clutch plates at an alarming rate.
July 8th/9th 1972 SPR. "3rd Internationals". The entry list contained racers from Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, the U.S.A., South Africa and the UK. Dave Stone took "Tee Rat" to a quickest ever time for a Competition Altered in Britain, 8.81 seconds, making it the first British Altered to get into the eights.
August 20th 1972 Blackbushe. Hot Car/Radio Luxembourg Grandnationals. NDRC Meeting. Top Competition saw a contest between the Altereds of Dave Stone (Tee Rat) and Freddie Whittle (Shutdown). Dave Stone was the dominant driver, beating Whittle 9.58/160 to 9.77/159 to take number one qualifying spot. Later in a match race with Phil Elson in the 'Sneaky' Altered Stone took Tee Rat to a 9.48/172, the fastest speed ever for an Altered in the UK. Elsons losing 11.44/123 was no match. Stone went on to win the final of Top Competition with a 9.43/149 to Shutdowns 9.80/153.
August 27th/28th 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA Nationals Dave Stone took 'Tee Rat' to its best ever time with an 8.6 second run and then went on to crack a piston and bend a rod trying to better it.
September 23rd/24th 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA Meeting. Top Comp Altered winner was Dave Stone in Tee Rat with an 8.78/152 win over Phil Elson.
October 21st/22nd 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA G Max Grand Trophy Meeting. Dave Stone qualified 'Tee Rat' with an 8.92/152.67, beat Phil Elson 8.91/16026 to 9.89/155.52 and went on to take the Top Competition title with a solo 9.90 after Freddie Whittle lost fire in 'Shutdown'.
November 4th/5th 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA Meeting. In Top Comp Phil Elson ran 9.73/148 in 'Sneaky' to defeat Dave Stone in 'Tee Rat'.
April  1st 1973 SPR BDRHRA Season Opener. Dave Stone took top spot in Comp Altered with a 9.21/164 in 'Tee Rat'. In the semi-final Stone easily defeated Colin Mullans 'Invader'. The final was an easy win for 'Tee Rat' with an 8.81/167.74.
April 22nd/23rd 1973 SPR. Custom Car Springnationals. Dave Stone was #1 qualifier in Comp Altered with a storming 8.77/166. He went on to win the eliminator with an 8.89/166.67 victory over Fred Klein.
May 26th/27th 1973 The Hot Car Big Go. SPR. Dave Stone took 'Tee Rat' to a 2-1 pair of wins in Top Comp Altered over Phil Elsons 'Sneaky' with times of 8.61, 8.63 and 8.61 with terminal speeds around 170mph.
June 17th 1973 SPR. G-Max  Grand Fuel Meet. John Siggery was to have run a best of three match race in the 'Commuter' against the Stones 'Tee Rat' but the Ford motor repeatedly lost fire as Dave Stone ran a series of 8.6s at 165-166mph. This was the last on-track appearance of the Commuter.
July 7th/8th 1973 SPR. BDR&HRA Petersen Publishing Internationals. Round 1. This meeting included the debut of the first euro-style entries in Pro Stock,  one of which was the Stones Chevy powered Escort 'Tender Trap' (their gutted and re-styled 'Rudolph') which ran a best of 12.43/96. 'Tee Rat' took Top Competition honours.
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. Dave Stone in 'Tee Rat' was paired up with Norm Wilcox in Dennis Priddles 'Mr Revell' slingshot. Wilcox took both wins, the first a 6.16/164 to Stones 7.49/155, while the second was the quickest time of the day, a 5.83/168.63 to a losing 7.45/156.
July 21st/22nd 1973 SPR. BDR&HRA Internationals. Finals. Dave Stone took Top Comp in 'Tee Rat' with an 8.73/167 to Phil Elsons slowing 9.07/127.
August 26th/27th 1973 SPR. BDR&HRA Nationals. In the semis Ed Shaver ran an early shut-off 9.94/107 in the rear engined Castrol FC to be defeated by Dave Stones 8.95/159 in 'Tee Rat'. In qualifying Stone had run an 8.54. Phil Elson took the final when Stone pulled a red light.
September 15th/16th 1973 European Grand Prix. SPR. Dennis Stone took the wheel of Tender Trap and put in a couple of 110 mph runs.
September 15th/16th 1973 Mantorp, Sweden. Dave Stone and Roy Phelps made the trip taking along the FGR Wheelie Stingray and the 'Tee Rat' Altered respectively. Running on 50% nitro Stone took the Rat to a new best ever time of 8.04/172 and followed it up with an 8.03/173 before the parachute failed to open and the car went off the end of the strip at 150mph demolishing two safety fences. The car suffered a bent front axle and minor body damage, Dave was just shaken.
September 15th/16th 1973 European Grand Prix. SPR. This meeting marked the return of Pete Atkins rebuilt 8 litre Oldsmobile "Slo-mo-shun"which ran a very creditable 10.15 /128.53 mph run straight off the trailer. As the weekend progressed the car got slower, but the speeds increased, much to the puzzlement of Atkins and his team, but he made it to the final to meet Dennis Stone in Tender Trap. Stone took the win with a 9.57 to an 11.5.
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. Dave Stone led the way in Top Comp despite strong challenges from the Funny Cars of Liam Churchill and Ed Shaver. Both the British built floppers made the semis but Shaver was defeated by Phil Elson in 'Sneaky' with a 9.92/114 to Eds 10.26/145 while Churchill went out to 'Tee Rat' with a red-lighting 10.12/132.10 to Stones 9.03/125. In the final it was the Rat all the way with an 8.71/159.74 to Elsons 10.32/102. This win clinched the Championship for the Stones team. To see the completed final results click here.
October 21st 1973 Santa Pod Raceway. BDR&HRA Drag Racing News Trophy Meeting. Top Comp finished with no result as Phil Elson and Dave Stone both red lit. Elson rolled the beams first and Stone followed. Both cars were too hot to stage a re-run and so the final was held over until the November 3rd meeting.  
November 3rd/4th 1973 SPR. Firework Spectacular. Bad weather took its toll on the proceedings, with Sunday's racing cancelled.  Top Comp was won by The Stone's Tee Rat with runs of 8.74 and 8.72/155. Phil Elson was runner up with 9.40 and 9.25/149.9.
March 17th 1974 SPR. At a pre-season practice session the Stones Hemi Hunter made its track debut 3 years after being built by Peter Bennett. Hemi Hunters name came from the cars use of a Chevrolet motor (Previosly in their Tee Rat Altered) as opposed to the Chrysler Hemi favoured by other top fuel drivers. Dave Stone put in an 8.2s pass.
March 24th 1974 SPR Season Opener. In Top Comp Altered, Phil Elson ran a 9.75/147 bye, and then Dave Stone in Tee Rat put down a 9.18/120 to defeat the 10.34/146 from Shutdown’s new driver Mick Hall. In the final, Stone took it with an early shut-off 8.54/134 to Elson’s losing 9.29/155. The Stones other entry, the Hemi Hunter rail, with driver Gerry Andrews taking the wheel for the first time, was due to run a match race series with the Accles & Pollock 454 car of Roz Prior. This didn't come about as a fault in the fuel lines of Hemi Hunter prevented any competitive runs.
April 7th 1974 Blackbushe. NDRC Spring Smokers Meet. In Top Dragster, Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter ran 8.84/144 to defeat Ray Hoare’s Saxon. Roz Prior put in a bye pass. In the final, it was Andrews all the way in 8.77/153 to Roz’s 9.34/144. Top Competition winner was Mike Hall who soloed for the win as the only other car in the class, the Stones Tee Rat, broke its axle qualifying.
April 14th/15th 1974

SPR. Spring Nationals. Entry List. The attendance for the two days over Easter was put at 25,000 with 16,000 present for Monday’s eliminations. In qualifying on Sunday Dave Stone discovered that the new slicks on Tee Rat were rubbing the bodywork at speed. In Top Dragster Gerry Andrews led the way with an 8.19 while Roz Prior continued to improve with new personal bests of 8.7 & 8.6. In Top Dragster Roz Prior ran another 8.7 to beat Peter Jones in the first round. Gerry Andrews ran a solo 8.55 after Ray Hoare lost fire. In the final at three quarter track, the parachute on Roz’s car deployed causing the car to swerve badly and giving the win to Andrews in 8.64/172. In Top Comp Altered Dave Stone in Tee Rat had an easy win over Freeman Rogers in Aardvark 9.71/102 to 11.47/100. Hall soloed for the win in the final as Tee Rat suffered a dragging clutch.

April 28th 1974 Castrol/RAC NDRC National championship Round three. Wroughton, Wiltshire. The meeting was turned into a practice session as it rained until 1 pm which gave no chance for any qualifying. Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter laid down an 8.40/163.
 
May 5th 1974

SPR. May Day meeting. The eliminations were curtailed by rain. In Top Dragster, Roz Prior outpaced Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter, 8.47/151 (A new personal best for Roz) to a losing 8.91/173. Andrews had earlier qualified with an 8.29/161, which turned out to be the fastest time of the day. Dave Stone in Tee Rat took on the Houndog Funny Car of Owen Hayward but bogged off the line. Hayward shut off early to a low nine second finish.

May 11th/12th 1974 Blackbushe.NDRC Meeting. Gerry Andrews took the win in Top Dragster defeating Roz Prior 8.56/172 to 10.10/137. In Top Competition Dave Stone in Tee Rat defeated Ed Shaver even though his back axle had given out again.
May 26th/27th 1974

SPR. Whitsun Holiday Weekend Big Go. In Top Dragster Gerry Andrews took Hemi Hunter to number one qualifier with an 8.2 with an ever improving Roz Prior close behind at 8.4. Dave Stone ran a best ever in the Chevy powered Tender Trap Escort of 11.8 with Dave Lee Travis due to drive the car on the Monday. Travis' first qualifier (his first ever) the next morning produced a 12.5 which got him into the eliminations.In Monday's eliminations in Top Dragster,Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter soloed to a 9.2 while Roz Prior defeated a holeshot from Ray Hoare with an 8.6 to a 10.0. In the final Prior proved to be the quickest off the line and won with an 8.4/157 as Andrews lifted the front wheels off the line, and again at the eigth mile, still recording an 8.29/177. In Super Street Dave Lee Travis drew Alan O'Connor in his first round for his competiton debut. A hesitant start for DLT saw Al's Gasser take the win with a 12.4. He went on to win the final against Dave Rose. A later match race between O'Connor and DLT saw the Gasser break it's diff on the start line as DLT improved his start line reactions and took the win.
June 2nd 1974 Long Marston. Castrol/RAC NDRC National championship Round 5. Top Dragster winner was Gerry Andrews who defeated Roz Prior 8.66/149 to 9.26/146.  A best of three was held for Super Street between the escort of Dave Stone and the Barracuda of David Rose. Stone took all three wins. 
June 15th/16th 1974 Silverstone. NDRC Second International. In Top Dragster Gerry Andrews qualified at number one with an 8.4. He made his way to the final with an 8.3s win over Peter Baker, who was making his first runs in Roz Prior's old car. There he met Ray Hoare, who had disposed of Tony Froome with a 9.5 to a 10.3. Andrews took the final win with another 8.3 to Hoare's 9.5. Top Comp saw the Stones Tee Rat out for the first time with an uprated rear axle to cope with the blown injected Chevy engine. It proved a successful combination as Dave Stone put in an 8.1/189 on his first run, a good 20mph faster than the car had run previously. In the first race against Mike Hall's Shutdown Stone clocked a 7.96/194, the first sub-eight second pass for an Altered outside the USA. In the second match a 9.4/165 from Hall was no match for another seven from Tee Rat, this time a 7.98/198. Dave Lee Travis made number one qualifier and won his first ever Super Street Eliminator in the Stone's 'Tender Trap' Escort against such established racers as Al O'Connor, Mustapha Errol and Dave Rose. 
June 23rd 1974 SPR. Wolfrace Trophy Meeting.Top Dragster was a best of three between Gerry Andrews and Tony Froome. The Hemi Hunter of Andrews took it 3-0. Mike Hutcherson in the Houndog TF car and Dave Stone in the Tee Rat altered match raced. The dragster took the first race in 8.13/153 as Tee Rat put down a wildly out of shape 10.16. In the second race, it was a reversal as the altered got there first in 7.83/162 to Houndog’s 8.28/124. In the decider, Houndog cut out on the line and Tee Rat recorded 8.56/167.22 to win 2-1.
July 6th/7th 1974 SPR Internationals. Top Dragster winner was Gerry Andrews who defeated new girl Liz Burn in the ex Age Machine. In Top Competition, Dave Stone’s Tee Rat ran 7.79/167 to defeat the 9.8/116 of Freeman Rogers in Aardvark. In the other semi, Mick Hall red lit handing the win to Phil Elson. However, Elson’s Sneaky had broken allowing the Shutdown of Hall to come back in. In the final, Stone really nailed it to take the win in 7.97/196 to a losing 9.21/161 from Hall.
July 21st 1974 Drag Racing News Trophy meeting. Top Comp semis saw the Stones Tee Rat take an easy 8.33/127 win over Freeman Rogers in Aardvark. Dave Stone won the final with 7.71/163.51 to the 10.86/85 from Phil Elson. In Top Dragster, Gerry Andrews drove around Ray Hoare 8.31/175.13 to a losing 9.51/156.25. Hemi Hunter took the final with 8.23/170.07 to Liz Burn's 8.93/144.
August 4th 1974 SPR. G Max Trophy Meeting. In Top Comp eliminations Dave Stone ran a bye at 7.95/171.82. He then ran a 7.83/185.19 in the final which was way too quick for Mike Hall’s 9.00/165.29. Top Dragster was a walkover for Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter as Liz Burn failed to make it.
August 25th/26th 1974 Supernationals SPR. Top Comp saw two of the four entries go out early leaving Dave Stone to take number one spot with a 7.93 ahead of Mike Hall. On the Monday Tee Rat ran a solo best ever 7.71/187, and in the final, Dave Stone’s sideways 9.38/180 clocking was too strong for Mike Hall’s 9.90/139. Top Dragster winner was Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter with a solo semi win and a final round victory over Alan Blount. This also netted the team the five hundred pound prize for being the fastest fuel car over six runs. In Super Street Mustapha Errol beat Al O'Connors Al's Gasser, 10.7 to 11.5, before Dennis Stone took the team's Chevy Escort to an 11.27 win over a 12.5 from the Barracuda of Dave Rose. In the final it was Errol who took the win with a 10.6 to Stone's personal best of 11.22.
September 14th/15th 1974 Silverstone. The Top Competition altereds were combined with the Funny Cars to give an eight car field, but when their first round was due, only one lane was in a reasonable condition to run in so a time trial was held.  Dave Stone in Tee Rat took the number one spot in qualifying with a 7.8. In the first, and only, round, Dave  put down a 7.99/160 before the meeting was abandoned due to the heavy rain that was now falling making the surface dangerous.  Gerry Andrews again led the way in Top Dragster with The Stones Hemi Hunter. Dave Lee Travis took the Stones Escort to an 11.6 for third place in qualifying. Gerry Andrews ran a solo 8.19/172 in the first round of Top Dragster before the meeting was cancelled.
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. In the Top Comp/Funny Car eliminator Dave Stone in Tee Rat qualified third with a 7.8/180. The two top qualifiers, Allan Herridge and Dennis Priddle,  then pulled out of proceedings in order to run a two round match race. This gave Stone a bye run to the final, which he took with an 8.53/143. Gerry Andrews took the final win in Top Dragster. The Pro Stock and Super Street classes were amalgamated and it was Colin Mullan's Dodge that took the title with a 9.9. Dennis Stone was runner up in the Chevy Escort.

November 2nd/3rd 1974

SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. Rain and mist played havoc with the racing and times and speeds 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.Racing on the Sunday didn't begin until after lunch due to more rain. Dave Stone put in an early run in Tee Rat, which resulted in crossing from the left lane to the right, and hitting the barrier causing some front end damage. A new chassis for the car was already being planned. Super Street saw Al O'Connor in Al's Gasser get a bye run into the final, whilst Gerry Andrews, who was deputising for a holidaying Dennis Stone, took the team's Escort to a 13.64/116.82 win over the similar Chevy Escort of George Hamlyn which ran 13.70/89.29. In the final it was O'Connor who took the win with a new personal best of 11.45/119 to a 12.49/116.
March 30/31st 1975

SPR. Easter Meet. In the dragster ranks Gerry Andrews fared the best, qualifying with an 8.31/170. Andrews and John Wright held a best of three match with Hemi Hunter taking the first win with an 8.14/174.83 to Wright's 9.07//142.86. The weather ensured that no more rounds took place.

April 13th 1975 Blackbushe. RAC National Drag Racing Championship Round Three. Making its debut at this meeting was the Pro Comp elimination, the first time it was run in the UK. Entered were John Sutton in Rainmaker, Pete Barnett in the ex Ed Shaver FC, Mike Hall in Shutdown and Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter. The final was between Andrews and Hall. Unfortunately, the engine in Hemi Hunter let go leaving a 200 yard slick and handing the win to Hall.
May 24th-26th 1975 SPR. May Day Holiday Weekend Big Go. Dave Stone ran 7.7 in Hemi Hunter.
July 5th/6th 1975 SPR. European Grand Prix incorporating the first British funny Car Grand Prix. Seven Funny Cars were joined by Dave Stone in Tee Rat to make an eight car field. Dave had a win in the first round with a 8.04 but had mechanical problems in the semis. For the Funny Car elimination ladder click here. Mike Hall in "Shutdown" won the Pro Comp Final after Gerry Andrews in the Stones "Hemi Hunter" broke.
July 27th 1975 Santa Pod Raceway. BDR&HRA Drag Racing News Meeting. Phil Elson in the 'Sneaky Gloworm' Capri and Dave Stone in the 'Tee Rat' Altered competed for the Funny Car title over a best of three match. The first round saw Stone take the win and run a new best for the Rat, a 7.58/174.83 to Elsons 8.84/136.43. Both cars came out again for a second round but as Elson took the win with a low nine second pass Stone lost the steering on the Rat and scuffed the gaurdrail on the pit side bending a wheel at the same time. Oh, and both cars red lit! For all class results click here.  
August 23rd-25th 1975 SPR Holiday Weekend Supernationals. Saturday was reserved for qualifing and eliminations were run on the Sunday and Monday. Gerry Andrews qualified 'Hemi Hunter' at number four in Pro Fuel with a 7.59/179.
September 6th/7th 1975 Snetterton International including 4th and Final round of the TOR LINE Funny Car Championship, Gerry Andrews demolished the field in Pro Comp with a 7.61, a 7.48, a 7.41 and finally a 7.29/196, a best ever terminal speed.
September 20th/21st 1975 The Funny car eliminations included nine floppers and a Fuel Altered, the largest FC field ever in Europe. Saturday qualifying saw Dave Stone, competing in FC in the 'Tee Rat' Altered, clock a 7.94/146.63. In Pro Comp Gerry Andrews set the pace with a 7.36/193.05 for number one spot. He went on to win the final with a 7.43/165.65 against Martin Rowatt's 8.78/162.60
September 28th 1975 SPR. G-Max trophy. Funny car consisted of Tony Froomes Vauxhall, Roland Pratt in the 'Hillbillies' Avenger and The Stones 'Tee Rat' Altered. Pratt had problems and Froome managed a 9.28/136.24 to a storming 7.55/149 from Dave Stone. In the final Stone backed up the new record with a 7.59/165.29 defeat of Pratt. Pro Comp had only two entries, Gerry Andrews in 'Hemi Hunter' and Pat Cuss in 'Ratcatcher'. Round one saw Andrews pull a red and shut off to an 11.83 while Cuss ran a 9.76/143.47. The next round saw Cuss loose fire leaving Andrews to solo to a 9.26/109.29.
October 12th 1975 SPR BDR&HRA Meeting. Funny Car had three entries, Phil Elsons 392ci capri, Tony Froomes rear-engined Vauxhall and The Stones "Tee Rat" Fuel Altered. It was Dave Stone who led the way running an 8.11/148.15 in Round One and an 8.52/132.45 defeat of Tony froome in the final. The different groups and eliminations saw some unusual pairings. Pro Comp saw Gerry Andrews in "Hemi Hunter" defeat Bob Messents "Stripteaser" Altered for a place in the final. On the other side of the ladder Alan O'Connor in "Als Gasser" defeat John Whitmores "Drag-N-Fly" rail with a 10.98/126.74 to a 10.97/127.55. Alan had problems and failed to make the final leaving Andrews to solo for the win.
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 and one Fuel Altered in the shape of The Stones "Tee Rat". Gerry Andrews took the Stones 'Hemi Hunter' to the final win in Pro Comp with a 9.42/108.11 after opponent Mike Hall pulled a red light.
December 6th/7th 1975 SPR. Winternationals. This meeting had an invitation only entry. Sunday saw four Funny Cars and three Fuelers take to the cold track. Gerry Andrews lost to Owen Hayward in the first round of Pro Fuel, 8.35/171 to the Houndogs 8.25/205. The motor on Andrews 'Hemi Hunter' threw a rod at the finish.
  At the end of 1975 the Stones team announced that due to 'high running and breakage costs' the 'Tender Trap' Escort Street Altered had been sold although it would continue to be driven by Gerry Andrews at 'On Tour' meetings during 1976. Gerry was to drive the 'Hemi Hunter' Chevy dragster at Santa Pod meetings. Radio One DJ Dave Lee Travis, who drove the Escort on various occasions during the 1975 season was unsure wether to share the driving duties or obtain a new car.  
The February 1976 issue of Drag Racing News contained an advert for the Stardust Funny car at a price of £12,000. The car was bought by the Stones team who installed the Chevrolet motor from their Tee Rat altered.
March 7th 1976 SPR. Season Opener.Cold winds and snow showers kept the number of competitors down to just under 100. Four cars qualified for the Pro Comp elimination with Dave Stone in Hemi Hunter at the top with 8.27/154. In the first round Pat Cuss red lit allowing Stone to shut off early to a 10.65. In the final, Jim Read got crossed up and trailed to a 9.51/157 as Stone took the win in 8.24/149.
April 17th-19th 1976 Over 50,000 people attended SPRs 10th anniversary Easter meet starring the legendary Don Garlits in his  1975 car, the Swamp Rat#21 fueler. For the first time in Europe there was an eight car top Fuel entry. Gerry Andrews qualified the Stones 'Hemi Hunter'  at number seven. He ran 7.86/143 in the first round but went out to Clive Skilton. The Stones team won the Funny Car class however with  an 8.36/160 in Stardust against Liam Churchill To see results, Pro Fuel qualifing results and elimination ladder click here
May 8th/9th 1976 SPR. May Day Summernationals. In Funny Car Dave Stone qualified fourth of four in Stardust with 7.66/183. In the semis Allan Herridge staged too deep 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 Owen Hayward couldn’t get reverse gear after the burnout. In Pro Comp, Gerry Andrews had a solo run to the final as Martin Rowatt had broken. Liz Burn then took an 8.04/178 win over the 8.15/176 pass of Jim Read. However, the Liz and Ollie car suffered extensive chassis damage when it grounded allowing Jim Read back in for the final. It really was Read’s lucky day as he soloed to a final round win in 8.11/117 as Hemi Hunter couldn’t fire due to water in the fuel!
May 14th-16th 1976 Mantorp Park, Sweden. Eight British cars and two bikes made the long haul to Sweden. They included Dave Stone with Stardust. In Funny Car first round Pete Barnett soloed through in 8.05 as Dave Stone broke a rocker arm on the burnout.
May 29th-31st 1976 Holiday Weekend 'Big Go'. SPR. Pro Fuel was an eight car field. In the first round of eliminations, Ronnie Picardo in Firefly put down a winning 7.23/203 to overcome Gerry Andrews’ 7.51/173.   In the first semi-final, Peter Crane couldn’t make the round due to head trouble which allowed Andrews back in but he went down to Picardo in Firefly 7.21/204 to a losing 8.24/143. In Funny Car Dave Stone in Stardust took an easy first round win in 9.35/83 as Phil Elson suffered problems. In the semis Clive Skilton took out Stone with 7.02/181 to a losing 7.92/161. For the final, Stone came back in on the break rule but was trounced by Skilton who ran 7.09/191 to a losing 7.92/174.
July 3rd/4th 1976 SPR. Euro Grand Prix. An eight car field in Funny Car saw Dave Stone in Stardust take the win in round one when Clive Skilton lost fire.  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 Herridige in the lighter of the two machines coasted through the top end first. For the Funny Car elimination ladder click here. In round one of Pro Comp Gerry Andrews (Hemi Hunter) beat Barry Young. In the semis Andrews ran 7.3 to beat Jim Read. In the final he ran 7.29 to defeat Mike Halls 7.72.
August 28th-30th 1976 SPR. Supernationals. Rain caused the abandonment of the meeting before any of the eliminations began. In Funny Car Dave Stone qualified third with a 7.65/177. Gerry Andrews led the qualifying in Pro Comp with a 7.44/177.
September 18th/19th 1976 SPR. Supernationals Re-Run.The weather certainly was a lot better for the re-run. Dave Stone in Stardust couldn’t make the call for the first round due to a holed piston from his qualifier. In Pro Comp, Gerry Andrews defeated Jim Rowatt 7.51/157 to a losing 8.28/168. In the final, Andrews took an easy 7.39/173 win as Mike Hall slowed to 12 seconds.
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. In the last pairing of the first round Dave Stone defeated Skilton 7.40/192 to a losing 9.84/91. Even though Skilton had lost in the first round, he had amassed enough points to win the FC Championship. In the semis Stone then defeated an off-form Dennis Priddle, 7.46/183 to 8.89/97. In the final Allan Herridge had staging problems and popped a red light handing the win to Stardust which ran an easy 8.12/127. In the first round of Pro Comp, Gerry Andrews defeated Pat Cuss 7.71/159 to 9.20/164. In the semis, Andrews had the misfortune to destroy his engine on the burnout allowing Ludvig Bjornstad to solo through.
November 6th/7th 1976 Fireworks Spectacular. SPR. There was no qualifying at all on the Saturday due to the strip being too damp. In the Pro Comp semi-final Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter took an easy 11.78 solo run through. The final never took place as the strip was again 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. The track really was slick for the final with Dennis Priddle taking the win in just 11.31/90.
March 20th 1977 SPR. Season Opener. The Stardust FC had a new 500 cube Chevy motor fitted and Dave Stone was doing demo runs. His best time was an 8.63/171. In Pro Comp, Gerry Andrews qualified Hemi Hunter with a 7.42/179, followed by Jim Rowatt on 8.35/165. The Rowatt car failed to make the eliminations which meant a best of three between Andrews and Steve Read. Hemi Hunter won both races with a 7.88/145 to a losing 9.73/126, and then a 7.81/152 to a 9.08/156.
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. There was a run-off for third place which Andrews won with a 7.53/185 to Tony Froome’s 7.90/181. Funny Car was supposed to be a best of three between Dave Stone and Phil Elson but Elson’s Sneaky Gloworm suffered more problems so Stardust soloed twice, the best being a 7.47/185.
July 9th/10th 1977

SPR. July Internationals.  In Pro Fuel Gerry Andrews qualified at number seven in Hemi Hunter with an 8.73. In Round One, despite a holeshot, Andrews 8.3/119 in Hemi Hunter was no match for a 6.92/207 from Roz Prior. In Funny Car Dave Stone ran a 7.24 personal best in Stardust for fourth spot in qualifying. In Round One Stone ran a piston burning 7.68 win against Phil Elson whose engine died. The Semi's saw Stone run a holeshot 7.30 win against a 6.98 from John Anderson, but at the expense of six pistons and no chance of making the final.
 August 27th-29th 1977

SPR. Holiday Weekend Supernationals Including fourth round of the Motorcraft Pro Fuel Masters Championship. Peter Crane was number one qualifier with a 6.75 from Stormbringer. Close behind, at 6.81, was Roz Prior, followed by Dave Stone in Stardust (7.42), Owen Hayward in Houndog, the Sundance dragster of Tony Froome at 7.64, and Gerry Andrews with a 7.69 in Hemi Hunter. In the first round of eliminations Dave Stone ran a best ever 7.15/189, but lost out to Roz Prior's 6.92. Crane disposed of Hemi Hunter with a 7.05.
September 17th/18th 1977 SPR. International. This meeting saw the first appearance in the UK of Raymond Beadle and his 'Blue Max' Funny Car. Beadle ran a 6.52/214 to beat a broken Dave Stone in 'Stardust' in round one. Pro Fuel eliminations saw Gerry Andrews take 'Hemi Hunter' to a win over Fred Larsen with a 7.67/167 to an out of shape 9.11/150. Rain brought the meting to an early end.
October 15th/16th 1977 SPR. Winternationals. Pro Fuel Dragster had 6 cars vying for top spot in qualifying. Gerry Andrews managed fourth with a 7.99/144. In the first round Roz Prior found her form and a 6.79/212 was too strong for Andrews’ 7.43/178.
1978 The Stones team retired the original Stardust funny car and purchased Raymond Beadles Blue Max Mustang. They had the car repainted in the original Stardust livery.
February 18th/19th 1978 Crystal Palace. The 3rd International Drag Racing Show. Many new cars made their public debut at this show. Creating a lot of attention was a new Santa Pod Top Fueler, "The Needle" to be driven by Radio One DJ Dave Lee Travis andlooked after by the Stones. The car was built in just five weeks after the BBC gave DLT permission to take the drive.  The Stones team also had their new rail 'Hemi Hunter II' and the 'Tender Trap' Escort on show, both painted in Stardust colours.
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! A couple of notable cars making their debut at this meeting were the Houndog 9 FC and the Stones new rear engined Hemi Hunter II. Rain showers which began midway through the eliminations meant they had to be completed at Easter. Gerry Andrews did manage to put in a first pass in the new car at 7.54/194.
March 24th-27th 1978 SPR. Easter Springnationals. Dave Stone qualified 5th in the Stardust Funny Car with a 7.61/185. In Pro Fuel Gerry Andrews put in a troubled pass in Hemi Hunter to make a 5 car field. Peter Crane was also there making shakedown runs in Dave Lee Travis’ new car. On Monday, Funny Car Round One saw Allan Herridge defeat Stone 6.60/216 to an 8.21/127. In Pro Fuel a 7.54/183 from Andrews was too good for Trevor Young’s 8.37/169. In the semis Mickey Naylor beat Andrews with a 7.59/185 as Hemi Hunter broke on the line.
April/May 29th-1st 1978 SPR.May Day Festival Of Speed. Dave Stone qualified fourth of four in Stardust in the Funny car field. In the eliminations Owen Hayward motored to a winning 7.89/189 as Stardust lost fire on the start line. In Top Fuel Gerry Andrews qualified third in Hemi Hunter with a 7.36/190. In the semis Ronnie Picardo holeshot Hemi Hunter and took it 8.00/200 to a losing 7.88/183 in the slick conditions.
May 27th-29th 1978 SPR. Spring Bank Holiday Big Go. Rain hampered proceedings. Radio One DJ Dave Lee Travis was doing observed runs in the 'Needle' rail under the guidance of the Stones team. His first full bore pass on the Monday was timed at 7.37. Mick Naylor, in the Medicine Man, ran a 7.17/195.4. Due to the somewhat depleted Pro Fuel ranks it was these two that ran off for the final honours. Naylor popped the blower as he moved into stage leaving DLT to win with a 7.35/171.8.
July 21st-23rd 1978 The First Brighton dragster & Custom Show. Metropole Hotel. Among the entries were the Stones Stardust, Hemi Hunter and DLTs Needle Fueler.
August 26th-28th 1978 SPR Supernationals August; In the final of Super Comp on the Monday, Al O'Connor in Al's Gasser against Gerry Andrews in the Stones Tender Trap, Al pulled a massive wheelie from the line and then went totally out of shape, flipping the car end over end, completely destroying it in the process.
September 16th/17th 1978 SPR Internationals The Pro Fuel semi finals saw Kent Persson beat Gerry Andrews with a 6.75 to a 7.16.
October 14th/15th 1978 SPR. Winternationals. The meeting was badly affected by fog and drizzle with most of the eliminations not even commencing. In a 4 car Pro Fuel field Hemi Hunter was fitted with the motor from Stardust but Gerry Andrews was unable to stay in his own lane and record a time.
November 4th/5th 1978 SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. The weather was kind for the meeting which meant some good times in the nitro classes. Both Gerry Andrews and Trevor Young had problems but both made the field. In the semis Andrews took out Young with a slower but winning 7.17/189 to a losing 7.05/212. In the final, Roz Prior put down her quickest run ever to take the win, her 6.42/190 easily took care of Andrews’ 7.96/148. In Super Comp Dave Stone in Tender Trap made it to the semis where he was taken out by Steve Johnson.
April 13th/16th 1979 Easter Internationals SPR.(Including European Pro Comp Championship Round 1) Dave Lee Travis made it to the final of Pro Fuel but lost to Allan Herridge. On his way to the final he ran his best ever E.T. at 6.66 seconds. Gerry Andrews made it to the final of Pro Comp but his 7.35/190 lost to Dave Pages 7.18/189 in the Panic Altered. 
June 23rd/24th 1979 BDR&HRA, in association with Santa Pod Raceway, organised the first Eastern Nationals at the re-named Sugarbeet County Raceway, part of Snetterton Circuit. The entry list included an eight car Pro Comp field. Quickest qualifier was Gerry Andrews followed by Graham Hawes. Most of the eliminations were started and were down to the semi-finals or the finals before the weather intervened with the Pro Comp semi-finalists Gerry Andrews, Jim Read, Graham Hawes and Brian Hazelton.
July7th/8th 1979 SPR. Summer Internationals. In Pro Fuel Dave Lee Travis took the honours with a solo 7.62 after Roz Prior failed to get to the line. In Pro Comp Gerry Andrews took the win over Graham Hawes despite the fact that both drivers recorded 7.67second runs.
August 11th/12th 1979 Sports Nationals, Sugarbeet County, Snetterton. With Gerry Andrews on holiday Ronnie Picardo took the driving duties of the Stones 'Hemi Hunter'. He qualified at number two in the six car field and went on to meet the 'Black Magic' FC of Graham Hawes in the final. Picardo took the win with a 7.53/197 to Hawes 7.82/176.
August 26th/27th 1979 Bank Holiday Supernationals. SPR  In the Modified class Dave Stone set a new A/Modified record in 'Tender Trap' with a 10.25/117 run in the semi-finals. He backed it up in the final but his 10.26/130 was not enough to beat Sam Connells 10.45/113 in the 'Red Devil'. Gerry Andrews took the win in Pro Comp with a 7.52/186 to 7.56/182 win over Graham Hawes.
September 8th/9th 1979 Sugarbeet Nationals. Sugarbeet County Raceway, Snetterton. Gerry Andrews qualified "Hemi Hunter" at number three in Pro Comp with a 7.59. In Top Modified Dave Stone was on holiday so Gerry Andrews took the driving duties in Tender Trap and ran a losing 10.54/129 in the final to Richard Wloszeks winning 13.16/101.
October 13th/14th 1979 SPR. Winternationals.  Pro Comp went to Jim Read with a holeshot 7.64 to Gerry Andrews 7.44.
The original Stardust Barracuda funny car was sold to London Radio DJ Mike Allen. Now called the American Dream he planned to run it as an 'econo funny' and replaced the Chevrolet motor with a normally aspirated V8 Ford.
April 4th-7th 1980 Easter International SPR. In Funny Car Dave Stone took the new Rodeck powered 'Stardust' to third place in qualifying with a 6.77 first pass. The semis saw Dave Stone take the win having nearly demolished the tree. Swede John Anderson won the final with a 6.65/191 to Stones 8.10/173. Pro Comp saw a 17 car field with Gerry Andrews qualifying at number five with a 7.58/193. During eliminations Norways Steiner Stolen in the 'California Charger' Funny Car beat Gerry Andrews and recorded the UKs first Pro Comp six, a 6.91/199 to Andrews 7.18/198 in the quarter finals.
May 3rd-5th 1980 SPR. Spring Nationals. Pro Comp saw Gerry Andrews in 'Hemi Hunter' take an early lead with a 7.35/196. Later in the day Norm Wheeldon took the 'Rifle' dragster to a 7.02/202. Andrews answer was to run a 6.99/198 for number one spot. Eliminations saw Gerry Andrews get to the final with two solo runs, the semi final being a best ever 6.98/196. In the final he found himself without an opponent so Andrews soloed again for the win, a 7.13/196. For all class results click here.
May 24th-26th 1980 Whitsun Big Go. SPR. Gerry Andrews won Pro Comp with a 7.20/195 to Brian Hazletons 8.07/170.  
July 5th-6th 1980 SPR. Summer International World Series. Qualifying saw Allan Herridge at #1 spot with a 6.46/214, followed by Gene Snow (6.48/197), Dave Stone (6.49), Lee Anders Hasselstrom (6.59/218), Harlan Thompson (6.88/217), Dennis Priddle (6.90), Ronnie Picardo (6.98/227-fastest speed of the weekend), and Raymond Beadle (7.65/149). Owen hayward was first alternate with a best of 8.27/210 but came into the eliminations in place of Dave Stone who had wrecked the Rodeck motor in 'Stardust'. Pro Comp saw Gerry Andrews at #1 with a 7.00/191 The semis saw Gerry Andrews drop out when the 'Hemi Hunter' motor would not run, leaving Jim Read to solo with a 7.39/197.
August 23rd-25th 1980 SPR. Bank Holiday Supernationals. Pro Comp saw Gerry Andrews only manage a troubled 8.55/106 in "Hemi Hunter" but he came back with a late practice run to clock a 7.03/188. Andrews ran another 7.03 at 196 to beat Hazleton in round one and soloed to the final with a 7.00/187 to meet Jim Read. Read had hurt his motor in the semis, coasting to a win over an even more troubled Clive Page. The Read team were unable to fully repair the damaged motor and Jim had to idle up the strip for runner up spot while Andrews ran a 7.40/187.
September 12th-14th 1980

World Finals SPR.  Don Prudhomme made his UK debut in his Army Funny Car. He faced competitors from the USA, Norway, and Sweden as well as the UKs finest in a 16 car field with another 4 non-qualifiers. Dave Stone qualified the 'Stardust' entry at number eleven but he went out in the first round when he red lit against Gene Snow. In the hastiy arranged Division Two eliminations he made it to the semi finals, but broke on the line leaving Ronnie Picardo to solo to a 7.27/180. In Pro Comp Gerry Andrews took a first round win but lost out to Tony Donges in the semis.

For Funny Car qualifying and elimination results click here
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 Dave Stone couldn't fireup in Stardust so Owen Haywood soloed to a 6.99/168 in Houndog. Pro Comp had just two entries, Gerry Andrews in Hemi Hunter and Jim Read in Le Patron. They ran a best of three match race. Gerry Andrews took the first with a 6.80/198 to a losing 7.21/199.Gerry also took the second race with the quickest Pro Comp time ever in Britain, a 6.79/200 to 7.33/144. Hemi Hunter had an easy unopposed third round win after Le Patron had to shut down with an oil leak.
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. In Pro Comp first round Gerry Andrews soloed for the round win. In the final, Jim Read produced a 6.86/202 to defeat a troubled Gerry Andrews.
February 23rd-March 1st 1981 The first [and only as it turned out] show was held in a sectioned off part of Middleton Hall in the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Precinct. There were 58 different drag racing cars and bikes, custom cars, vans and rods on display. The show was organised by Santa Pod and included just about all of their considerable stable of cars. Among the drag racing vehicles on display were The Stones’ Stardust and Hemi Hunter.
March 28th/29th 1981 SPR. First Open Nationals. A misty and damp early year meeting, saw the big cars struggle to get the power down. Competitors were divided into brackets for eliminations. In bracket 1 Jim Read ran a 9.00/176 to meet Gerry Andrews, who had recorded an 8.13/145, in the final. Unfortunately the weather became worse and the final was not run.
April 17th-20th 1981 SPR. Pro Comp saw a lot of Scandinavians venture over for the Tor Line Championship. In the first round Dave Stone  tok the win over John Grosland while Gerry Andrews beat Ola Aaserud. Second round saw Krister Johannson defeat Dave Stone with a 6.93/197. The last race of the round saw Gerry Andrews defeat Tony Donges with the quickest Pro Comp time outside of the USA 6.59/207. However, Gerry lost to Johannson in the semi with a 7.46/190 to a winning 7.15/190.
May 2nd-4th 1981 SPR. The weather conditions over the 3 day meeting were poor which meant emergency qualifying times for the eliminations. In the Pro Comp semi-finals, Gerry Andrews defeated Bill Sherratt with a 6.93/200 to an 8.42/166. Second semi saw Jim Read beat Ronnie Picardo in the Blue Samurai flopper 7.61/194 to 7.95/185. In the final, Gerry Andrews took the win with a 6.90/202 to a slowing down time of 7.57/152 for Jim Read.
May 23rd/24th 1981 Mantorp Park, Sweden. Tor Line Pro Comp Championship. Round Two.  On the first day of qualifying Gerry Andrews took 'Hemi Hunter' to a 6.83 to lead the field.  Dave Stone was in ninth with a 7.284 in the Stardust Funny Car. On Sunday the first round saw the two cars of the Stones team up against each other. Andrews took the win, 7.11 to Stardust's 7.19.  In Round Two Gerry Andrews failed to progress any further with a losing 7.08 to a 6.96 from Anders Lantz.
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. On Sunday pairings for the first round were drawn from a hat. Dave Stone took 'Stardust' to a 7.25/183 against Alan Bates 7.59/128. In Round two Stone's 8.68. The aggregate times after two rounds had Dave in fifth spot at 15.93. He failed to make the third round.
August 29th-31st 1981 SPR. In Pro Comp, Gerry Andrews made the final by defeating Dave Stone with a 7.63/191, and then Brian Hazelton with a 6.99/199. In the final, the Krypton car ran a best ever 6.90/195 but it wasn’t good enough as Gerry Andrews carded a 6.76/201 pass.
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. Dave Stone went out with problems in the first round. For Funny Car elimination ladder click here  Pro Comp saw some great racing in the final round of the DDS Tor Line sponsored Championship, with the crowd getting firmly behind the UK racers in the face of stiff competition from the visiting Europeans. Gerry Andrews qualified in Hemi Hunter with a 7.23, progressing through the first round with a 7.06. In the quarter finals, Andrews found himself to be the last remaining British hope and he took a win though with a 6.89/197 after opponent John Grosland broke a fuel line. In the semi finals the crowd were firmly behind the Stones team for the next race, and a storming 6.73/198 from Hemi Hunter took the win over a valiant 6.89/195 from Tony Donges who now had to wait for the final to see if he would take the Championship title. The crowd were at fever pitch for the final race, a win for Krister Johansson would see him take the 1981 Championship. To the crowd's delight Andrews took the win with a 6.84/197 to a red lighting 6.92/198 from Johansson. Donges took the Championship title by one point from Johansson.
October 23rd/24th 1981 Circuit Paul Ricard, France. The Stones team with Gerry Andrews and 'Hemi Hunter' were part of the British contingent for the meeting.
March 20th/21st 1982 SPR. Qualifying on the Saturday was badly affected by the damp and sometimes wet track, which meant there wasn’t a great deal of qualifying. This resulted in the abandonment of the scheduled bracket racing. On the Sunday, there was a Pro Comp match race between Gerry Andrews and Jim Read. Hemi Hunter took the first with a 7.49/187 to an out of shape 10.63/173. Jim Read couldn’t make the second race leaving Gerry Andrews to solo to a creditable 6.96/198 in the cold, damp conditions.
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. Dave Stone in Stardust made sixth spot with a 7.96/154. In the first round of eliminations Owen Hayward ran 6.56/199 to defeat Dave Stone’s 8.83/101.
July 3rd/4th 1982 SPRs Cannonball Funny Car shootout was plagued by timing equipment problems. Gerry Andrews was runner up to Steve Read in Pro Comp despite running a quicker 6.85/196.4 to Reads 7.01/193.4. To see all class results from this meeting click here
July 30th/31st Mantorp Park, Sweden. Sko Uno Drag Festival. In Funny Car Dave Page qualified 5th in Panic while Owen Hayward made 4th spot. Page went out in the first round after he pulled a red light against Swede Lennart Ekering. After four years faithful service the motor on Houndog blew in the first round and Hayward lost to Rune Fjelds 6.68. Harlan Thompson won the final with a 6.44 against an axle breaking run from Lee Anders Hasslestrom. In Pro Comp Tony Douglas pulled a red light against Steve Read in the first semi final while Gerry Andrews beat Steinar Stolen in the second. In an all Brit final Andrews beat Read 6.92 to 7.09.
July 30th/31st 1982 Mantorp Park, Sweden. Sko Uno Drag Festival. In Pro Comp Tony Douglas pulled a red light against Steve Read in the first semi final while Gerry Andrews beat Steinar Stolen in the second. In an all Brit final Andrews beat Read 6.92 to 7.09.
August 28th-30th 1982 Santa Pod Raceway. Supernationals Gary Page took the Funny Car win in the "Panic" Monza with a 7.03/190 while Dave Stone got out of shape and shut off while heading for the centre line. Stone had previously defeated Owen Hayward in "Houndog" 7.44/186 to 7.26.
September 3rd 1982 Le Mans. France. The Blue Way Dragster Festival. Gerry Andrews and Jim Read were in the four car Pro Comp field. Both went out in the first round to Swedes. Andrews to Torbjorn Strom and Read to Kjell Johansson. Andrews however made it to the final, after Strom blew his motor, only to lose with a tyre smoking 5.081 to a 4.620 on the 200metre strip.
November 6th/7th 1982 Santa Pod Raceway. Firework Spectacular. Dave Page ran the quickest E.T. of the weekend in the "Panic" Funny Car with a 6.61 in a match race with Dave Stones "Stardust II" Mustang. The throttle jammed open on Stones car after a 3/4 track burnout leaving Page on a solo.
April 1st-4th 1983 SPR. Easter meeting. There were no foreign Pro Comp cars entered due to the suspension of the European Pro Comp Series. There were two British PCs entered but both Hemi Hunter and Le Patron stayed in the pits as no agreement was reached with the promoter as to how they should run. 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 as Dave Stone, in Stardust, burntout, his throttle jammed open and the car shot off up the strip. Dave popped the chute near the finish line and bought it safely to a halt. That was Dave's only run of the day.
May 28th-30th 1983 SPR. The Big Go. In Funny Car first round Dave Stone won after Tony Boden had to shut off after the burnout. In the second semi Dave pulled a fine holeshot over Owen Hayward, but as Stardust approached the stripe, the engine let go fire-balling the car. Dave suffered minor burns but Stardust burned completely down to the ground. Pro Comp was a best of three between Gerry Andrews and Steve Read in Le Patron. Hemi Hunter took the first race with a 6.89/194 to a losing 7.06/187. Andrews also took the second race with a winning 6.87/195 to a close but losing 6.99 of Read.
July 2nd/3rd 1983 This years Cannonball event at SPR was sponsored by Budweiser. During the break between the funnies, Dennis Priddle debuted his re-bodied fueller as a computer designed wind tunnel tested 'Streamliner', sans rear wing. The creation being the result of an experiment for the BBC Tommorrows World programme. Pitted in an out of competition run against Gerry Andrews in the Hemi Hunter, Dennis suffered tyre shake off the line before hooking hard right onto two wheels narrowly missing the Hemi Hunter. A superb driving job by Dennis had the car straightened up before nearly hitting the armco.
August 27th-29th 1983 SPR. Summer Nationals. Pro Comp saw a ten car field of which six were Scandinavian. Norm Wheeldon took the 'Plan X' dragster to an early lead in the first round of qualifying with an off the trailer 6.85. Gerry Andrews was a close second with a 6.86 in 'Hemi Hunter' and Steve Read took third spot. By the end of the final qualifying round though Tony Donges had taken the number one spot with a 6.80 knocking the Brits down a place each. Gerry Andrews progressed to round two with a 6.78/194 win over Krister Johansson with a spurious 6.33/193 ticket. The semi finals ended up with two Sweden v UK races. The first of these saw Gerry Andrews destroy Hemi Hunters engine at the top end in a bid to put Tony Donges back on his trailer. A slowing 6.91/174 not good enough to beat the Swede's 6.77/199.
September 1st-3rd LeMans.  The LeMans Dragster Festival. This event was run over the 1/8th mile on the famous circuits start/finish straight. The start lights failed during the meeting and many of the races were started with flags. Among the UK competitors at this event were Jim Read, Gerry Andrews and Ronnie Picardo in Pro Comp. Andrews went out in the first round, Picardo and Read in the second.
September 23rd-25th 1983 SPR. World Finals. Pro Comp was a four car elimination. In the first pairing, Gerry Andrews outpaced Doug Bond 6.97/191 to a 7.43/166. The final was a disaster for Hemi Hunter as the car got out of shape and rolled over several times. Virtually un-noticed, Steve Read took the win with a 6.81/198.
April 20th-23rd 1984 SPR. Easter Nationals. The Professional Drivers Class consisted of Top Fuel, Funny Cars and Pro Comp all racing together heads-up. Gerry Andrews, in the newly chassied Hemi Hunter, got an easy bye in the first round. In the semis, Tony Boden, in his fuel funny car, blew away Andrews with a 7.04/181 to a losing 8.13/128. However, Boden broke on the run allowing Andrews back in for the final. It was two alcohol cars in the final and Andrews took the win after Dave Wilson couldn’t complete his run.
May 28th/29th 1988 SPR. Fosters Lager Drag Meeting. Poor weather, a low turnout, and a small crowd left what was formerly known as the 'Big Go', Santa Pods longest running meeting, a shadow of its former self. Virtually the whole of Sunday was washed out, leaving an emergency qualifying session on the Monday. The Pro Drag class saw the two quickest cars meet for the final. Steve Read defeated Gerry Andrews in 'Hemi Hunter' 7.00/197 to 7.12/178.
July 20th/21st 1991 Avon Park. Pro Comp Classic & IHRA National Championships. During Pro Comp qualifying Paul Jackson, in the "Time Runner" TAD (with Dennis & Dave Stone on his crew), ran a new personal best of 7.08 and went on to beat Switzerlands Urs Vogel while running his first six, a 6.97/194. He lost the second round to Barry Sheavills. Vogel had been #1 qualifier with a 6.52/187./ He later put in a solo demo pass of 6.25/224, the best E.T. and terminal speed of the meeting and the fastest an alcohol car had ever run at Avon Park.

www.trakbytes.co.uk