UK Nostalgia Drags and Europe’s Quickest Outlaw Anglia
August 2020 • By Andy Willsheer
It wasn’t the ideal beginning for Santa Pod Raceway’s hastily arranged Nostalgia Drags when the police rolled up on the Saturday morning of the two-day affair to inquire as to why the race was being held with paying customers on hand when many other outside events throughout the UK—motor racing, horse racing and concerts, to name a few—have either been set aside or enacted behind closed doors. It was fortunate that track owner, Keith Bartlett, was on hand to explain that corona virus protocols were being strictly enforced and had been approved by the local authority. And so the event was allowed to continue, albeit in front of prepaid spectators spread out along the quarter mile, with teams being similarly pitted with social distancing being a requirement for all attendees. An added attraction at the affair was an Autoglym-sponsored Sabbath show ’n’ shine gathering of hot rods, customs, race cars and a predominance of old American tin, arrayed inside an area customarily reserved for trade stands and refreshment trailers.
Considering that this was the first ‘real’ meeting allowed this season at the home of British drag racing, it was imperative that all went well, with no infractions of the strict regulations imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s safe to say that the necessary restrictions were adhered to without complaint. With eight classes being run plus a few Run What Ya Brung entrants, there was a good turnout of competitors, bearing in mind that season championships have all been forsaken due to months of lockdown.
The so-called Gasser Circus group kicked off the proceedings and the program worked its way through the various Sportsman categories with a large degree of entertainment and a small number of holdups due to oildowns etc. There was a strong turnout of 18 cars in the Outlaw Anglia ranks, an eclectic mix of FoMoCo-manufactured Anglias, Populars, Prefects and Fordsons, with the only class requirement being that they are capable of running sub-11½ second quarters. Top dog over the weekend in this heads-up category had to be Scotsman Colin Millar, a name that should be familiar to nostalgia fans in the States as he made a quite an impact in 2015 when the famed black and flamed Flyin’ Fyfer Pop was shipped across the Atlantic for competition in America. Colin thrilled onlookers with eighth-mile burnouts, nitrous purges from three orifices and banzai passes on both days, his best ET being a stout 7.11 seconds, a new record for the class and, by the way, more than four tenths quicker than anyone else in the short-wheelbase category.
More than a couple of dozen Nostalgia Superstock contenders came along and were delighted just to have an opportunity to run their cars following the enforced absence from the straight and narrow. The dial-in class saw Jack Bishop garnering event laurels with the Jim Smith Plymouth Barracuda over the Layram/Pearson Racing ’65 Ford Falcon.
Supercharged Outlaws action was highlighted by Joel Kerr carding 7.00-seconds flat in the Stiff Shifter low-lid ’57 Pontiac Star Chief, a mention also going to the ’75 AMC Pacer making its competition debut following a test n’ tune session the month previous.
The ever-popular low-budget Wild Bunch put on a good show and tireless organizer, Claire Meaddows, was rewarded with an entry list of some 23 competitors and some good elapsed times and terminal speeds.
Claire Meaddows, partner of ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell, paid this cockpit cowling tribute to the late Stu Bradbury, long-time starter at the Pod.
Given the last-minute nature of the Nostalgia Drags, it would be fair to say that everybody enjoyed a mild dose of drag racing’s life in the past lane. However, drag racing, as we knew it pre-Covid-19 is unlikely to return any time soon.... A huge thanks though to everybody who helped make it happen.
For info regarding future events visit: SantaPod.co.uk