Eurodragster.com Saturday coverage presented in association with John Woolfe Racing

Heads Up Cash Day/RWYB/NSA
Dakota Raceway, 23rd April 2022
Photos by Jerry Cookson and Carol Jenkinson

Saturday

The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh key to be sure of seeing the latest news. Click here to return to the Event Index.

Dare to be different at Dakota

The Drag & Drift boys and girls were back in town at Smeatharpe Airfield’s Dakota Raceway last weekend for another Saturday bash of RWYB highlighted with the second in a series of Heads Up 1/8th Mile No Prep Cash Day races organised by Straightliners, writes Jerry Cookson.

With four cars signed up for the untimed, first across the line the first of the semis in the Street Rear Wheel Drive category featured the newly finished 1968 Pontiac Catalina Station Wagon of Paul Leworthy and Ed Pursley’s diminutive but quick Vauxhall VXR220 sports racer. Bearing in mind this was the first time out for these two local guys in a competitive drag race, both Paul and Ed did very well despite the old cliché that you could have fitted Ed’s sports racer in the trunk space of Paul’s big old Catalina barge! Joking aside, in the end it was the 4 cylinder Vauxhall that crossed the line by a fender having overhauling the 6.7 litre V8 tank mid track.

In a battle for American supremacy, as well as a place in the big bucks race, the second semi fell in favour of the series’ previous race winner Kevin Headon. His mighty Pontiac GTO Le Mans was proper out in front by a true car length’s lead over Pete Lane’s Mercury Marquis Colony Park Station Wagon. In fact, it was touch and go whether Pete would make the race at all having stripped two head studs at the beginning of the week. But thanks to a quick rally round with friends and team mate Dave Coombes the problem was sorted and a tune sourced, Freddie was up and touring the airfield’s runways before better half Kerrie’s bacon butties had sizzled! Even though the two Station Wagons were out both Pete and Paul did manage a dual in what was talked about as a ‘battle of the long roofs’! Outcome: chalk one up for Paul’s Catalina; 16.650 to 18.684. They also seem to breed them down here in deepest Devon as sitting in the pits was a sand coloured mid-seventies Ford Country Squire complete with a few beaten panels and a fully customised show-worthy Chevy Nova Wagon. So with the final set, it was all or nothing as the unprepped track beckoned!

In the end, and with a perfect holeshot, rookie Ed Pursley took the win by a fender, the greenbacks and the Grass Seed Store trophy. Well done Ed. Guess we’ll see you next time in July!

Also out to log in some first time RWYB laps was a rather snazzy period 1935 Chevrolet truck. Unfortunately I didn’t get the owner's name other than this was the first time out on a drag strip for this period truck and the owner thoroughly enjoyed his day smoking the rears and stretching the legs on the stock 350 small block Chevy resulting in a best of 16.534s. Also out for the first time other than cruzin the street’s was a rather stock looking ’32 Model A Sedan Street Rod. Packing a 355ci motor with Dart Heads the owner put in a couple of passes resulting in a 14.542s PB against Patrick Hobbs driving a rather fetching race prepared unstickered (except for the glass) Ford Falcon Super Stocker. Although again I didn’t catch a name the Street Rod owner did tell me he was building a big inch motored Roadster to go drag racing with, and is expected to break cover at Dakota real soon.

In addition to the National Sprint Association bikes there were some rapid modified and production Audis, Subarus best in Imprezas, Beemers and Mercedess. Even a Porsche GT3 RS came out to claim a few scalps but the owner didn’t stay for too long on the amount of losses he was chalking up! But hey if you want to be involved in future events at Devon’s ‘House of speed’ then remember these important dates; Sat 9th July, Sun 14th August and Sat 1st October or indeed follow the many updates on the Dakota Raceway South-West Facebook page and for those who are exclusively web based head on over to the new straightlinersonline.co.uk site. See you trackside!