: Competition History :

History

In The Beginning

Street racing is at the very roots of all drag racing today. In the late forties and fifties in the USA ex-GIs would race their ‘souped-up’ hot rods from stop light to stop light and before long these guys became the first racers at organised drag strips, racing legally within under the auspices of official organisations. However, whilst ‘official’ drag racing became more professional and ‘corporate’ there remained a hardened group who would continue to race on the streets.

Getting Legal

Through the sixties and seventies street racing continued as an underground movement With speeds and performance reaching new heights and, sometimes, ending with tragic consequences as these illegal races were without the safety equipment needed to protect both competitors and spectators.

In the eighties the concept of ‘street-legal’ cars racing at sanctioned events on permanent tracks began to take off. Initially these were just one-off events, some national and some regional, but the huge level of interest generated by these vehicles that watching fans could identify with soon led to the formation of organisations such as the NMCA and, latterly, the NSCA. Following on from this was the creation of multi-venue championships and a variety of classes.

Today, this increasing number of classes has led to what some consider as a ‘watering down’ of the street-legal concept as some of the quicker cars are really no more than Pro-Mods with silencers and ‘DoT cheats’.

(DoT cheats are basically slicks with just enough tread to achieve a DoT approval – take a look, there is no way they’d work on a damp road!). Recent years however have seen a movement back to the basics – street legal cars that can actually be driven on the street. Last year saw the introduction of the ‘Plate Nitrous Class’ in the NSCA where cars have to complete a 30 mile cruise to qualify (sound familiar!?!?).

Over Here

Meanwhile the UK saw it’s first dedicated ‘street-legal’ event when, in 1978, Street Machine magazine held the first UK Street Racer Championship at York Raceway. It was open to road legal cars and had to be run on treaded tyres. The winner all those years ago was ‘Wild’ Bill Sherrat driving a big-block Chevy powered Vauxhall Ventora with high 12-second ETs. Those of you old enough to remember will also recall, amongst others, the twin-turbo Minor of Nick Mann and the big-block Pop of Andy Carter (yes, that Andy Carter). Street-legal drag racing continues to this day at York.

There were other events, such as Gary’s Picnic which included awards for the ‘quickest car with a tax disc’ or other similar definitions which gave a nod towards street-legality but often the winners would be shod with slicks or would be using ‘open headers’ (no exhaust system).

Street Eliminator is Born

By the early nineties street-legal drag racing was grabbing a lot of headlines in the USA and generating a lot of interest on this side of the Pond. In 1995 the then editor of Custom Car magazine, Tim Baggely, came up with the idea of a multi-round, multi-venue championship for street-legal cars in the UK. The original concept allowed for open-headers, slicks and race fuel to be used on the track but the cars had to be returned to full road legal condition for ‘the cruise’. The cruise was (and still is) a 15-25 mile observed drive on public roads which includes a fuel stop and hot-start test. Fail this and you’d DNQ (Did Not Qualify). That first championship was won by Alisdair Cromey in a small-block Chevy powered Anglia. The record for ’95 was set by Steve Neimantis in his Chrysler-powered ’34 Ford with a 9.72 ET. It should be noted however that this was on slicks and open headers.

Split Personality

With increased racer interest in ’96 the decision was made to split the class in two – Sportsman and Pro. The Sportsman class stayed closer to the original street-legal concept as all cars had to use treaded tyres, pump fuel and silencers on the track. Winning Sportsman this year was Mark Balzaretti in his SBC-powered ’34, a car that was as good a show car as it was a race car. The Pro class was won by Andy Frost. The class records in ’96 were 10.57 and 9.19 for Sportsman and Pro respectively.

1997 saw the end to two classes when Simon Paynes ‘Pro-Mod’ Camaro tore the records apart with a 7.87 and the Pro class was, in effect finished with just two cars seeing the season out. Mark ‘Bowser Balzaretti was pipped to the Sportsman post by John Tebenham whose turbo Cossie powered 105E Anglia became (and remains) the first and only non-V8 car to win the Street Eliminator title. However, Mark did lower the ET mark considerably to 9.47.

Back to One

Colin Lazenby and John Tebenham were locked in a real battle for the championship in ’98 until JT put his Cosworth-powered 105E Anglia on its roof leaving Colin to romp home and wrap up the title with a round to spare. The ET record was lowered again , this time to 9.43. This year also saw the founder of the class, Tim Baggeley, involved in a serious accident that would put him out of action for a long time. The new editor of Custom Car magazine, Kev Elliot was more a of a hot-rodder than a racer and with competitor numbers dwindling the future didn’t look too rosy for the class.

New Beginning

Enter one Ian Jackson. Ian, a former competitor took up the reigns as class organiser and what a job he did. 1999 saw entrant numbers and performances reach new levels along with the number of class sponsors. This year also saw the first appearance of Steve Pateman’s all conquering Vauxhall Calibra and after seven rounds filled with 9-second passes Steve took the first of his Street Eliminator championship trophies home. The ET record was dropped once more to 9.34 seconds.

2000 saw a new name on that trophy – John Sleath. John’s understated ‘back seat driver’ blown big-block Chevy powered Saab taking the title back to the North and a new ET record of 9.21.

BIG MOTORS

I mean really big. Like 700+ cubic inches. Steve Pateman was hurting from the beating handed out by John Sleath so went shopping and in 2001 returned with the biggest motor seen in the class – 706 cubic inches of ex-Pro Mod Pontiac. Loads of people said it wouldn’t work – that the torque on offer would just murder the tyres but Steve proved them wrong. He took the title back in 2001 and then kept it for 2002 and 2003. On the way he made the ET record his own with annual marks of 8.60, 8.44 and, in 2003 8.14. In 2004 major engine damage took Steve out of contention early on in the season and suddenly it was anybody’s game. Steve ‘Splinter’ Nash and Colin Lazenby had invested heavily in a twin-turbo and Pro Mod set up respectively. Surely it would go to one of these guys? Nope, topping the table after six rounds was Ian ‘Silver Fox’ Jackson in his small-block Chevy powered Vette.