This year marked the 12th anniversary of the famous Dragstalgia event held at Santa Pod Raceway . Celebrating the glorious days and lifestyle of the UK drag racing history , Dragstalgia quickly became the biggest nostalgia drag racing event in Europe . Yearly this event teleports thousands of fans back to the “ good old days ” with the sights and sounds of period-correct nostalgia drag cars , live bands , its historic car show , the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame display , backup BUGs wearing petticoats , and much more . This year saw record entries with over 280 participants racing in 10 different categories . Dragstalgia Cannonball puts Nitro and Methanol Nostalgia Funny Cars , Slingshots , and Altereds
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together to race in a cannonball format . Additional classes included Outlaw Anglia , Gasser Circus , Supercharged Outlaws , Wild Bunch , Nostalgia Super Stock , Willys Wars , and the Custom Car invitational , as well as the two-wheeled categories such as the Old School Stockers and the NSA Bike Shootout .
This event also saw a special guest appearance of long-distance traveler John Willard , who made it all the way from Down Under to bring his record-setting 6-second Anglia to take on the British Anglia peddlers . Alongside him was fellow Australian blown altered racer Paul Stephen , who entered in the Cannonball class . Unfortunately , luck wasn ’ t on their side as both of the teams suffered irreparable engine troubles after their first
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squirt down the track , leaving them sidelined for the rest of the weekend .
Another big upset also happened during the Friday test session when Christian Zulauf from Switzerland ran his best pass ever , a 6.846 at 202 mph . The joy about his new personal best was cut short when his ‘ chutes failed to deploy and he went into the field , barrel-rolling the slingshot 3-4 times . Zulauf was able to climb out of the car under his own power and was checked over by the medical staff on duty . Thankfully the rest of the “ run what you brung “ session proceeded without any further drama .
On Saturday , Mother Nature put a halt on the action before it even started . Heavy rain and thunderstorms flooded the track and pits . Just
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID BEITLER |