From June 27 – 29, Santa Pod Raceway roared to life with the unmistakable sights, sounds, and smells of the past as the 14th annual Dragstalgia took over the quarter mile. A full-throttle tribute to the glory days of drag racing and hot rodding, the event delivered three jam-packed days of tire smoke, wheelstands, dry hops, and old-school showmanship. Over 230 entries rolled in from across the UK and beyond, bringing with them everything from cackling Slingshots to straightaxle Gassers and wheelstanding Altereds. But Dragstalgia is more than what happens on track. It’ s a full-blown throwback experience, complete with live bands, a classic car show, vintage fair, beer & cider festival, and the legendary
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British Drag Racing Hall of Fame display.
Other highlights included the appearance of Ron Smith and Michael“ Spike” Lauria, who brought their nostalgia bikes halfway around the world – from New Zealand – to race in the NSA Bike Shootout. And the display of the OS- CARs – Old School Classic Altered Racers. Short wheelbase Altereds from Bob Glassup, Bryan Whitfield, and Nick Davies. Nick and his team had just finished the build and fired it up for the first time only a few weeks before the event. After the first rollout, he performed a textbook burnout to the delight of the cheering crowd. Later that weekend he even attempted some runs with a best E. T. of 7.431at 156.29 mph.
At the heart of the action was the Dragstalgia
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Cannonball, which puts nitro and methanol Nostalgia Funny Cars, Slingshots, and Altereds together to race in a cannonball format. Additional classes included the Gasser Circus, Outlaw Anglia, Wild Bunch, Willys Wars, Supercharged Outlaws, Nostalgia Super Stock, and not to forget about the two-wheeled machines represented by the Old School Stockers and the NSA Bike Shootout.
The Dragstalgia Cannonball has no traditional qualifying as such. Instead, three runs are made with the E. T. s added together. The final sees the two quickest face off for the win, third and fourth quickest for second, and so on. By the end of qualifying, Funny Car driver Tony Betts secured the top spot of the Cannonball field, fol-
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID BEITLER |