Drag acts gather to mark Santa Pod summer burnout

This summer Santa Pod will mark the 60th anniversary of drag racing arriving in the UK.

Dragstalgia will take place at the strip on July 5-7 to mark the diamond jubilee of the US import, which was introduced to Britain in 1964 at Blackbushe aerodrome in Surrey. Among the enthusiasts to attend the first meeting was our own Denis Jenkinson, who witnessed American heroes Don Garlits and Tommy Ivo hit terminal speeds of 191mph and 184mph respectively in 6-litre V8 Dodge– and Chrysler-powered dragsters.

The Santa Pod meeting will also honour the godfather of British drag racing Sydney Allard, who collaborated with the National Hot Rod Association’s president Wally Parks to lure the Americans across the Atlantic. Allard’s original British dragster, the Allard-Chrysler, will be brought from its home at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu for the occasion, where it will be joined by a selection of classic American machines. These include Dos Palmas, built by Ivo and raced in 1964 and ’65 in the UK drag festivals by Bob Keith, and a replica of Mooneyes, the original of which ran at the Brighton Speed Trials in 1963 where Dante Duce and another American, famed specials builder Mickey Thompson, took on Allard in a match race. The venture’s success impelled Allard and Parks to establish their first drag festival the following year.

A host of vintage machinery will feature at The Pod – established as Europe’s first permanent drag racing venue in 1966.