Robin Reeves and dad Ian are running their Triumph Herald in Super Street. "We bought the rolling chassis from the Moore brothers after selling our Escort as we wanted a full race car rather than a street/strip car. The chassis is tagged for 8.5 and we have put a small block Chevy in it with standard internals and a single carb." Transmission is a TH400 with transbrake. The car ran a 10.20 at the 2008 Hot Rod Drags and the challenge is to slow it down to 10.90. "We want to race it in Super Gas but need the parts to get it to run nines. Thanks go to Lee Dukes for the paint and Jason Marshall who helped supply parts from the US.

Fireman Antony Wilkins has replaced his tidy Model A pickup with an equally clean Morris Minor Traveller. He said "I needed more legroom in the car as my knees were almost touching my chin. I bought the Minor from Ebay for £300 and cut about a quarter of it off as it was rotten. I put in a new floor and bulkhead. The drive train is from the old car and adapted which was quite a job as the rear axle is 10" narrower and the wheelbase is 92" compared with 95" in the truck. Antony does all the work on his cars himself including building roll cages. "The engine is Big Block Chevy and although there is nitrous I won't be using it this weekend as the launch is interesting and needs sorting out." The intention is to make the car road legal and to take it to hot rod shows.

Dave Catton and Steve Bolton, graduates of the Paul Marston Drag Racing School, have teamed up with Gary Springford of Drag Race Engineering to share the driving on Hulk Shogun and Steve's Plymouth Scamp for 2009. Dave said "We went to Holland with the Plymouth last year and are looking to do the same this year if funds allow. For 2010 we will be looking to build a new race car." Hulk Shogun will be run in Pro ET and Super Comp and a 9.23 this morning was described as "still testing". The Shogun has bigger tyres and wheels and a side exhaust for this year. Dave, who is retiring as a pilot with Thompson Airways at the end of April has been filmed by the BBC Manchester comparing his day job with drag racing.

Andrew Gibb ran Stripteaser down the track for the first time. "It was just a relief to get the first run in after our difficulties last year", he said. "I want to put more clutch in it to leave the line faster and eventually I want to run 11.9s with the car, but we won't be able to use gas here this weekend. We are not here to set records. A trip to Sweden might be possible but I would like the car to run competitively. We will be running the Mini 50th Anniversary show here." Andrew is grateful to Fester Engineering (Bill Felstead) who did a tremendous amount of work including lengthening the wheelbase.

Also in Pro ET, Dan Williams is here with dad Keith and brother Nico with their clean '69 Nova II. "This is our first event in Pro ET. We have been building hot rods and ran a '32 roadster in the Gasser Circus at the Hot Rod Drags. We imported the Nova as road legal and Nico's firm Werx Paint resprayed it. We took the roll cage to Jon Webster and he rebuilt the front end and then baselined the car. Last year the car had a self-built small block but before the exchange rate got too bad we acquired a Scott Shafiroff 555cu in big block crate engine which has been dynoed at 870hp. The suspension is like a Super Stocker with stock leaf springs, QA1 shocks and Caltrack bars. The wheels are only 9" wide, which must be the narrowest in the class and are pleased with a 9.74/141. Thanks to John Spears for giving us a good deal on a replacement TH400 gearbox.

Pro ET racer Carl Burton suffered torque converter problems in the first qualifying session. "The car was really strong in the burnout using second and third gears but was sluggish off the line and lost over two tenths on the sixty foot. He said "I've pulled my hair out already." Carl mentioned that the Pro ET sponsorship scheme is being organised by Charlie Chivers and Neil Hunter.

Team Heaven & Hell had a shortened preparation period for this season and used it mainly to fit a new 407 cu in block in the Team Heaven & Hell as well '84 Camaro. "We finished it the week before last at Engine Data Analysis", said Carla Pittau. "Kenny Coleman built a new short block and dynoed it at 600 hp and 530 lb/ft of torque, more than 100 more than before. Kenny is an absolute diamond and worth his weight in gold as he let us use his facilities to complete the installation." The car can now take a higher gear ratio as the power curve has moved further down the rev range and this is on the shopping list.

Comp Eliminator racer John Tebenham has a new colour scheme that is instantly recognisable to viewers of the movie Cars. The graphic work was done by signseen.co.uk and fits the car's name Lightning McQueen (sponsored by Rust-eze). Under the hood, the boost pressure to the Cosworth Turbo engine has been increased from 35 lb to 50lb. to potentially run a 7.4. "Our best is 7.74/174 and I have now put more than 40 seven second passes on it."