Junior Drag Racing Fun Day
Santa Pod Raceway, 22nd August 2019

Thursday



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Event organiser Andy Wheeler presented the trophy for runner up in Junior Drag Bike to Liam Holgate.

The trophy for winner in Junior Drag Bike went to Casey Holgate.


In the Junior Dragster Stock division, the runner up trophy was presented to Damion Redshaw.

The winner of the Junior Dragster Stock competition was Kai Cooper.


Runner up in Junior Dragster Modified was Harley Coulsell.

The winner of Junior Dragster Modified was Harry Redshaw.


Track Commentator Colin Theobald made a special mention to Dave Warren who after the Euro Finals will be moving on from full time work at Santa Pod, although he will still be on the startline at championship events in the future. We wish Dave all the best in his future employment.

Runner up in Junior Modified Advanced Holly Moore.


The final trophy went to winner of Junior Modified Advanced, Frankie Fordham. He defeated Thomas Cook Abbott in round one and Jordan Payne in the semi final.

Event organiser Andy Wheeler with his family received the applause of the racers for another successful event which attracted thousands of people to Santa Pod, many for the first time.


Sam Fairhurst competed at the Springspeed Nationals and Summer Nationals and competed in the Junior Modified division today, going out in the semi final to eventual winner Harry Redshaw.

Holly Moore had a successful day in the Junior Modified Advanced eliminator, qualifying second in a ten car ladder and going on to be runner up to winner Frankie Fordham.


Casey Holgate won the Junior Drag Bike eliminator by defeating brother Liam in the final.

Blade Dummer, in his final year in the Junior Drag Bike category, has a bike capable of moving up to ET Bike with an appropriately sized engine. Blade's fuel flow issues on his bike have been solved following a successful test day in July with Louis, Allan and Clair Davies in attendance.


Purdie Hadfield was runner up at the Summer Nationals in her first year of racing, quite an achievement in her first year of racing. Her crew is Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield, sponsor of Eurodragster.com's Perfect ET Award.

Jordan Payne, now known for racing in Competition Eliminator, returned to his Junior Dragster roots in his multi-championship winning car which is for sale.


Peggy Raulerson is originally from West Virginia in the US and is here in an imported car with her parents who are now based in the UK. She said 'I have raced here once before so it's quite new to me'.

Luke Fulton is racing a car raced until 2018 by Billy Ringer as 'Ghost Hunter'. Luke has learned about junior drag racing at this event, and despite some car problems (see below) acquitted himself well.


VW Drag Racing competitors Jason Knott, Steve Pugh and Kaylee Jackson were on static display for most of the day. They were one of the many fundraising initiatives for Santa Pod's nominated charity Ups and Downs, which funds children with Down's Syndrome.

Ciro from the Sharnbrook Hotel near Bedford has been organising car events at the hotel and has again arranged a great display of modern US muscle cars and supercars here that have been providing between-rounds entertainment. He said 'We have hosted nine huge car events at the hotel each year, with themes diversified throughout the automotive spectrum, so to speak. There have been supercar, modified, Italian, classic, and American days. We try to raise money for charity from them and this year the shows have raised £63,000 for our nominated charity Rays of Sunshine'. Here in lieu of entry fees, drivers have donated money to the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day Nominated Charity Ups and Downs.


Kaitlin Deevey has a highly visible wrap on her car's trailer, applied by Signstar.

McKenzie Love is in his first season of racing and his aunt Sarah Mills is crewing for him at this event. He said 'I raced in Shakespeare County Tot Rods for two years with a slingshot model of Ram Raider, but my JMA dragster here is 40 mph quicker. The wrap was designed by my Dad Daniel Love and Gareth from Bristol made and applied it. My car is ex Frankie Fordham and as I am 13 years old I can race it for several years and my brother Harrison will also be up for driving it'. McKenzie is running at selected events.


Luke Fulton had a problem when his feet were not able to reach the full travel of the brake pedal, the result being that he wasn't able to halt the car during the staging process. The brake cable was shortened with help from Mark Ringer.

Matthew Dowdy is leading the SPRC National Championship with a margin of 910 points with two rounds to go. Dad Michael said 'The car has been running near-faultlessly, undoubtedly the silencers required on JM and JMA cars have slowed them down this year, and we have compensated accordingly, but will look at different silencers for next year that may be less restrictive'. As Matthew is 14 years old he potentially has three more years in the class.


Luke Mugridge raced at the Festival of Power and then has had to sit out the remainder of the season due to family illness and Nick's dragster needing repairs on its damaged engine. Nick Mugridge said 'Thanks to Will Clark's team for loan of their trailer without which we wouldn't be here. Our team's cars are for sale, my Dad's Comp Eliminator Camaro and my dragster, and I am looking for a Junior Comp car like Will's which needs less maintenance but is still quick'.

Kimmy and Richard Willcox are at the track for their sole 2019 appearance. Dad Andrew said 'We are taking 2019 out but thought it would be good to run at this event. We bought Kimmy's JMA dragster from Giles & Hartley Racing and put new decals on it, and Richard's 50cc twist and go Yamaha engine in the bike has received attention. A belated Happy Birthday to Richard who reached his 12th birthday yesterday.


Junior Drag Bike pits were busy as the class expands. Ollie Dummer and Simon Holgate run the class's association which has its own Facebook page. Simon said 'At the Euro Finals we will be having a giveaway of pencils and draw string kit bags to those who can show us they like and share our Facebook page, and we are looking at t-shirts for next year as well. We have two new riders and two returnees who are taking 2019 off. The availability of suitable bikes is important and we prefer bikes to be sold for continued use rather than storage. Also more bikes being raced can be easily converted to ET Bike specs. Liam will be racing in all of 2020 as his 17th birthday falls in May, and we will be doing both the ACU championship and all rounds of the FIM-E series'.

Mark Moseley from Team Extreme Racing brought his Nissan Skyline R32 GTR for some demo runs and was in the mid nines at over 140 mph on several passes, the car having gone as quick as 8.65/152 last year.


Katie Ellis, semi finalist at the Main Event, qualified number three for the JMA elimination. She is crewed by brother Gareth and this is her Xth year in the class.

Slick Chicks Racing Jacqueline Bartlett's dragster was being maintained by Billy Everitt. Lara Bartlett had a great weekend at Hockenheim by winning the Junior Dragster competition from 16th place in qualifying and coming up against number one qualifier Oscar Norling in the final who she beat on a holeshot.


Saskia Fensome Jell is racing one of the Santa Pod Mustangs which can be hired by would be racers. She said 'The Green Light Nationals my first time on track for two years, in this same car, and I enjoyed Sportsman ET. The manual gear shift is quite hard to do and I am keeping the throttle open to bang through the gears with the five litre engine. Aaron and I are also working on our super Pro ET dragster, a lot of repair work is needed on the engine as well as freshening it, and we plan to be out next season with it'.

Skye Collier in her JMA car and Scott Collier on his Top Gas Bike were appearing for the only time this year. Dad Jerry said 'We're on a sabbatical year apart from going to Melbourne for the straightliners event, where the track had good grip and is an encouraging development. Both the bike (Suzuki TL1000 with 1040cc naturally aspirated) and dragster are unchanged from last year, and Scott came out early on to run 9.25/142. In his time away from the drag strip Scott has been crewing for British Superbike team GR Motorsports WD40.

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