VHRA VINTAGE NATIONALS - SANTA POD APRIL 2017

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It’s around 4pm on Friday afternoon, and after a day working I find myself sat on the nightmare that is the M25!  Very quickly, it becomes apparent that I’m going to be here some time and the estimated time my satnav gives to get to Santa Pod Race Way is a work of pure fiction, but I crank up the radio and remind myself of the destination.  I’m heading north from Brighton to document the first VHRA Vintage Nationals, a weekend of the finest vintage hot rods in the country going head to head on the Santa Pod Race Way to see who can get bragging rights as the fasted down the strip!

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Five hours later, I finally arrive at my destination, it’s my first visit to the Pod and it’s an impressive sight as I drive through the old WW2 airbase and the 30’000 seater terrace and ¾-mile drag strip appear before me in the setting sun.  The campsite had already filled up nicely with an impressive collection of hotrods and customs ready to race the next day, and with just enough time to pitch my tent before dark it was time to head to the bar for well-deserved drink.  As I catch up with familiar faces from pervious VHRA events, Big Boy Bloater and the Limits keep the place shaking with their roots rhythm & Blues, whilst a fine selection of rockin’ records are spun by DJ’s Little Carl and Steve Stack-O-Wax into the night!

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Saturday morning and I’m woken by the sound of main organiser Neil Fretwell bellowing through his megaphone instructing all racers to head to the pits to register.  I slowly emerge from my tent, load up my camera gear ready for the days shooting and head over to the pits in the hope of capturing the day’s action to the fullest.  By the time I’ve collected my trackside pass, the amount of cars behind the bleachers had doubled and was a hive of activity, with racers signing on, last minute tweaks to cars and the painting of race numbers.  With pits filled up nicely it was time to get the racing underway, first up was Neil Fretwell and Liam Bates from the Sidewinders in their 4 banger Model A’s.  As I took position behind Neil’s Model A the light bounced up from the almost polished track laid out in front and I knew I was in for a treat, in fact those first few shots off the starting line perfectly captured the spirit of the day. It was almost tempting to put my cameras away but I knew more action was to be captured!  I spotted my next shot in the lineup of V8’s, Flatheads, dragsters and other superb classics, it was Johnny diablo from Lipstick and Gearshift in hos Model A Coupe, as he took position on the starting line his back wheels began to spin, giving off a perfect cloud of smoke as he rocketed down the strip.  To paraphrase Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore “I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning”!

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Racing continued until lunch with pick-ups heading off against Sedans, roadsters against classics and enough action to keep the 800 strong crowd entertained.  The break gives me chance to look around the small selection of stalls behind the bleachers including the VHRA selling a range of merchandise, making me wish I’d perhaps brought more spending money with me, whilst also getting some up close snaps of the cars whilst they were cooling down.  Behind the trade stalls, there was also an impressive collection of spectator’s rods and classics in the show and shine area, including some classic Harley’s and an Indian.  Back to the pits and it was also time for racers to make further fettle and fix to their vehicles to get that faster start or extra second, unfortunately for some it was also the realisation that they might have overdone it on the warm ups, with a number of racers loosing gears and clutches!!

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With lunch over it was back to the track for more action, as the first two cars left the start line neck and neck, I focused my telephoto lens on Steve Hill’s roadster pick up (once owned by Dean Lowe) as he speeded down the track.  Just as I got him in focus, all that could be seen was a cloud of smoke and then the sight of the roadster slowing towards the end of the track, with what was possibly a piston blowing through one of the heads!  This brought proceedings to a halt for a short period as what seemed like an army of track attendants appeared out of nowhere loaded with giant tubs of pink ooze to franticly scrub the track clean of engine oil.  This was done with great speediness, and the racing was back on, but with some slight confusion over the elimination runs.  Due to some cars missing race numbers and the logistics of running a full on race meet for the first time, it was decided to scrap the eliminations and award the quickest car in each class at the end of the day.  No one was complaining however, as they were all having too much fun and happy to race against each other for bragging rights!

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Racing continued until around 5ish, by which time most were happy with their efforts for the day and ready to relax for the evening.  Just as I packed my gear away for the day to relax myself, Santa Pod surprised everyone by firing up a state of the art dragster and letting it fire itself down the track in less than five seconds, reaching 100pmh in 0.87 seconds and scaring the hell out of me!  Just before everyone departed back home or to their tents, it was announced that the prize giving would be postponed, due to the lack of numbers on some cars and the huge amount of timing data to get through.  Winners would be notified during the following week and on the VHRA website (full results can be found at the bottom of this dubious write up), and would receive their trophy sponsored and designed by Stromberg Carburetors in the post.  Vouchers were also provided to class winners to spend at the various sponsors stalls/websites, and the final award, the Tony Cardy Memorial Trophy will be awarded to the fastest naturally aspirated flathead in the street classes.  Some noted results were for the quickest pass in a streetcar by Dan Williams, with 13.1415 ET at 109.88 mph, and to Bradley Cooper, for the fastest overall, hitting 115.21 mph in 11.5103 seconds in his flathead powered dragster.

I finally headed back to the campsite to relax before the evening entertainment, but found myself partying early with the Originals Car Club.  We finally made it to the bar in time to catch a set from the James Hunter Six, and more rockin’ tunes from Little Carl and Steve Stack-O-Wax.

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I’d like to thank the VHRA and the East Coast Sidewinders for another fantastic weekend of vintage hot rod action, and letting me document the events.  Next year’s Vintage Nationals should shape up have even more speed and thrills!