The 2006 National Finals from Santa Pod

The 2006 National Finals Meeting

from Santa Pod Raceway, Saturday 30th September 2006

It seems we haven't stopped since the European Finals meeting at Santa Pod. I had over 3500 pictures to boil down to a sensible level and what little time I had seemed to evaporate so quickly. A week later was the Hotrod Drags meeting at Shakespeare County Raceway and that meant another 750 pictures to look through. I'm not complaining, though, as I love it - I just wish I didn't have to go to work during the week!

Within a few more days the National Finals meeting was looming upon us, a meeting I have always looked forward to. The weather, however, had other ideas and from the look of the predictions, it looked like Saturday was going to be "Okay with showers later on" and that Sunday was going to be "Bring your swimming gear". Unsurprisingly, I elected to go on Saturday and 'play it by ear'. On the way to Santa Pod, I called in to pick up wise wag, graphic artist and esteemed photojournalist Mark Gredzinski and we arrived at Santa pod just after 10am. The track was still being prepared for racing, so luckily we hadn't missed a thing, thank goodness. I wondered off up into the pits to see what was happening and most of the racers seemed to be feverishly thrashing around to get things ready, so it was difficult to interrupt and have a quick gossip with most, as they all seemed extremely busy. I did have a quick word with Luke Robinson, Crew chief for Colin Lazenby and his Street Eliminator 1956 Chevrolet 210 Sedan and, of course, Crew Chief for Dad Andy Robinson and his Pro Mod '53 Studebaker Commander. We talked about the sensational Pro Mod performances at the European Finals and in particular, about that 6.195 second run at 228.64mph. As you would expect, it came from a little bit more here, a little bit more there, etc., etc. Which makes you wonder just how close to the very fastest US Pro-mod's can our FIA Pro Mod racers can get? The IHRA pro-mod World record was recently reset by Scott Cannon at Budds Creek, MA to 6.019 seconds - so that means that FIA Pro Mod is within a tenth of a second of the fastest 'Modders in the world. Wow! Luke quipped that they'll just have to aim for the first European 'zero' next year! I believe that they can all do it.

Later I was talking with Ian 'Turbo' Turburville and he was looking forward to getting on track with his White Punks on Nitro, Spokehead Harley Davidson Fueler. We chatted for a while and whilst we were speaking, I looked around for Zodiac Racing who were booked for a testing debut with Roel Koedam on their Zodiac Super Twin Harley. I asked Ian as to where they were and with a grave face, he said "Ton's (Pels) cancelled everything; Monique is back in hospital". So we will have to wait till next year for that mouth-watering debut. In fact, as I write this report, news has just come in of the sad passing of Monique Pels and our thoughts and prayers go out to parents Ton and Marianne, Brother Vincent, Partner Bert and their two beautiful children Indy and Nikita.

As practice got underway, I had enjoyed a couple of smelly warm-ups from the NFAA fuel altereds. I had also been meaning to catch up with second generation racer Dan Page and his Pro ET Firebird. He has had some engine damage, a couple of times this year, which has been frustrating. These have been remedied with a couple of trips to Jeff Bull Racing Engines (whilst clutching several weeks' wage packets!) and just as I was getting ready for the first round of Pro ET, Dan sailed by as I was heading for the start line! Blast! One thing about taking pictures is that you cannot be everywhere at the same time. Later in the day, Dan caught me out again at lunch time, when I was chatting with chums on the spectator banking; luckily I had a primed camera with a decent lens on in my hand so at least we have a small souvenir of Dan's reappearance - he seemed to run well.

In qualifying for Super Pro-Et, it was good to see the return of Al Goring in his Firenza Coupe. Al is famous for his wheel-standing launches away from the lights and I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as he kept his wheels down and gave chase to Mick Payne in his lovely blown Dodge Coronet. I had half expected to get some clear shots of the detailing on his oil pan as he sailed past the Christmas Tree. Never mind! Next year awaits! Also in the same category was the debut of the youngest of the many Gleadows who have graced the strip over the years. In a newly-bodied altered and renamed Motor Psycho, Adam Gleadow was licensing and seemed to do a jolly good job. Older brother Martin was directing him back after the burnout (good to see you back at the track, Martin! Sheffield isn't THAT far away!) and Adam took a firm launch away from the line to the delight of the observing marshals. Later, I had a word and understood from Adam's Dad that 'next time he can have full throttle', so that would be worth watching. Unfortunately, rain would intervene in that second run (Adam was belted up and the starter was on, when it came down) so a little frustrating but - we cannot control the weather!

In Street Eliminator, Steve 'Splinter' Nash was out with the Cougar for the final appearance before it gets it's chassis-job for next year. This will surely save weight and help launches and must therefore put Splinter right back in amongst it again for the coming season. He completely gassed us all on the line with a ridiculously smoky burnout; We want more! The next pairing of Andy Frost and Colin Lazenby led me to believe that they were both going to 'go for it' in terms of tune-up. Colin has been largely sidelined since his appearance at the Fast & Modified show at Ingliston with engine damage incurred during his MOT exercise. The elusive parts Colin required have been slow in their arrival and he has missed several key meetings. This has allowed Ian 'Fatty' Hook to build a points advantage whilst Andy Frost had also been out with turbo troubles. As we found out at the European Finals, Andy's turbo troubles have now well and truly 'evaporated' and he now 'owns' the quickest street-legal motor on the planet. So, coming back to this qualifying pairing, Andy was ready to show his 7 second prowess and Colin was ready to show us his Championship-winning caliber - surely an explosive mix! I detected a little bit of psychological 'needling' on the line as neither seemed keen to go into stage. Eventually, they went in just before Ian Marshall lost his patience and they were off! Colin seemed to head straight towards the tree and was hauling it away from the centre line and his newly freshened and hugely powerful motor just wanted to push straight ahead, regardless of where the steering wheel was pointed! Andy Frost, in the meantime, was spinning his wheels heavily, right away from the line but Andy was having none of it; he was jumping up and down on every pedal he'd got in a valiant effort to get down track to the line before his buddy Colin (who I might add, was boasting new sponsorship from Cumbernaud-based high quality design and manufacturer Kelvin Kitchens and Bathrooms), who puffed his tyres just passed the tree and was determined to get back in that groove, to run down Andy, but despite Colin's efforts and what appeared to be over half a turn of opposite lock, ALL the way down track, it was not to be. Andy got there first and still got an 8.56 second pass at over 180mph, whilst Colin got there with a disappointing 9.03 at over 170mph - not bad for having your steering wheel turned left all the way down! Clearly Colin, Andy, Splinter, Fatty and pals will be coming back next season seriously tooled-up to get the Street-eliminator titles. I can't wait!

In Super Modified, Andy Kirk was running well with his 67 Ratt-Fink Camaro. His son & Crew Chief is off to Bahrain to work soon, so Andy will be a pair of hands down when he returns next year. I'm not awfully sure of what's involved with chassis setup of this type of vehicle, but if you look at the gallery, you'll see Andy's car twisting hard to the right every time he launches. It makes for spectacular picture-taking, but is it the quickest method of leaving the line? I don't care! I love to see that 'twist' every time! It was great to see the return of Rob Smallworth in his shoe box 55 Chevrolet Bel Air. Since coming to my rescue with a lift from the Airport in Sweden, Rob has been busy with crew members Barry Grimes and Jimmy Day crewing for Gordon Appleton on his Pro Mod and this was the only opportunity to race and also to potentially creep up on the championship lead in Super Mod. Rob left nothing to waste and laid down his personal best of 7.689 at 177.79mph. Had he added to this with round wins on eliminations he would, of course, now be wearing the Super Mod crown.... Pity the weather put paid to his exploits on Sunday.

Next up it was Ian 'Turbo' Turburville with his White Punks on Nitro/Spokehead Harley. I must say that the new red helmet looks very posh indeed and must assist the overall package, some, because Ian ran a superb 7.655 at 182.90, just behind Steve Carey on his Top Fuel bike. Well done Ian with the personal bests! Ian King was next up and was simply awesome as he put down a 6.691 at over 190mph. It has been a pity that we have not seen some more of Ian, this season. I can only guess that work commitments and budget have had something to do with it.

In top methanol dragster, I couldn't help noticing that Rob Turner made a distinctly un-characteristic and somewhat lack-lustre performance on his pass, netting a miserable 7.266 second pass as the result. My 'spies' in the camp confirmed it was self-confessed 'driver error' by Rob. If you launch in top gear, you may not run so well... Oh dear! Better luck next time, Rob! It was good to see Steph Milam back in the She Devil Alcohol funny car, but she shook away from the line really badly and didn't back off in time, so she would be reaching for the Aspirin tablets later... In fact, I heard a little later that the chassis had incurred notable damage during the shaking and that would be that, for the weekend.

The NFAA altereds were next and Tony Betts was first up against Frank Bennett. I stayed in Tony's lane and he sounded strong, although when he got to the finish line, there was a worryingly loud bang (along the lines of a burst panel) and then as they slowed down in the shut-off area there was a little bit of the Mount St. Helens-ish plume of nastiness. In fact, it all turned out okay and there was no oil to clean up (or was it all contained in the diper?) and we were off again. No we weren't. Joe Bond and Bob Glassup were shut down because of 'rain at the top end'. After a short delay we were off again. John Wright and Clayton Round were next and Clayton did a sizzler of a burnout to about 300 feet. John sounded really strong and was looking to run a number, but at the lights John got about to the tree when there was a loud 'Thud' and it appeared the motor had hydraulicked. In the next pair, Bob Glassup laboured away from the line and stopped eventually, whilst Joe Bond stuck with what as a wayward lap at best and went every which way but loose. He still got a 8.33 second run which is all good for the experience bank.

As the second full qualifying session got underway, the skies became angry and it was not a case of 'if' but 'when' the weather broke. At just after half past two, the heavens opened and that was pretty much it. There was 'fools hope' a little later when the sun came out and the wonderful track crew jumped into action, but it was not to be. More rain later and fading light gave no choice to the race director but to call the racing for the day. Nevertheless, I had a great day and got some great material which, hopefully, you will enjoy by looking at the Saturday Gallery

Many thanks to Santa Pod Raceway for all their courtesies and to the SPRC for organising another excellent event. Again, many thanks to all at eurodragster.com: finally a big thank you to Tog, Simon and Sharkman in getting the news, gossip and pictures to all of us. Finally, thank you for taking the time to visit www.topnitro.co.uk

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