In the UK, our most popular motorsport is Formula 1, Rallying and Touring Cars. Drag Racing is 100%, an American thing. However, we do still have Drag Racing in the UK, and the most famous of all the British Drag Racing venues, is Santa Pod in Podington, Northamptonshire. Today (Sunday 19th June,) is fathers day, and for my dad's gift I took him to Santa Pod. I have been myself when I was 10 years old, with my late Grandparents. Back then, I loved it, but I haven't been since, and even better, my Dad hasn't been at all.
Today's show was the Retro Show, a collection of vehicles from before 2000, both stock and modified. Classic Ford's, Vauxhall's, Fiat's and even Lotus Sunbeams. The cars were all parked up and were part of the Auto Glym show and shine, where owners would show off their pristine cars and enter them into a competition to see who's was the nicest. Then there was the Kitfest, which was a collection of Kit Cars on show in a similar fashion to the retro vehicles. Then of course there was the strip itself, the main attraction. In the Run What You Brung category, people were simply just racing their own cars, such as the ones mentioned before and many more. Then there was the official racing categories.
First there was the Gasser Circus. These are stated as being "Old-School high riding sedans paying homage to the Gasser Wars of the '60's." These were hitting 120 mph plus in the Quarter Mile, and sounded excellent. Then there was the Supercharged Outlaws, which is very simply, any 4 wheeled vehicle as long as it's supercharged. These were a lot faster with the average trap speed being about 140 mph, and easily pulling in less than 10 seconds. And finally there was the Old School Stockers. Basically, these are the Bikes. Loud. Very loud. And very fast, one of them hit over 170 mph.
But how could I forget the stars of the show, the Jet cars. First up was Oklahoma Willy. This started life as a VW Campervan, which started life in 1958 on a farm in Oklahoma. It has since been restored and heavily modified. When I say heavily modified, I mean they have just bolted a massive Rolls-Royce Jet engine on the back. It produces over 5000lbs of thrust. When it entered the strip, it was roaring with bright Orange flames and sounded like some sort of wild beast. When it was at full throttle the whole ground literally shook. You could feel your eardrums vibrating like they are about to explode. The Bus wasn't the fastest vehicle of the day but it still hit 150 mph. And just when you thought things couldn't possibly get any louder, another Jet car entered the strip. This one was even louder than the bus, and reached a huge 224 mph at the end. I'm not sure what this one was, but it doesn't matter, because
Fireforce 3 came out and blasted that one out of the park. It was so loud, I honestly thought I was going to die. And then there's the fact it reached 260 mph. That's 260 mph. In a little over 5 seconds. Bugatti Chiron who? Yeah I know that's a road legal car and Fireforce has a literal Jet Engine in it but who cares.
Other things about the day worth mentioning. A live, rock covers band, a drifting competition, a selection of aircraft engines on display, plenty of food and drink stalls and an actual flyover, from an actual Spitfire. Epic. On the whole, the day was great, and I honestly think Santa Pod is a great place for all petrolheads, and I would gladly go again.