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The Big Four-0 at Shakey
Text & Photos by Alan Currans
Shakespeare County Raceway, situated a few miles outside historic Stratford-upon-Avon, is rightly regarded as the home of sportsman racing in the UK. This year they had something very special to celebrate – their 40th birthday! The track first opened for business on Sunday the 9th of September 1973.
The strip has been named ‘Wigmore Way’ in honour of the late Alan Wigmore who was a stalwart of the now sadly defunct National Drag Racing Club, and who worked tirelessly to promote the sport of drag racing.
But Shakey’s 40th birthday was not the only anniversary to be celebrated this year. The National Street Rod Association grew out of the National Drag Racing Club Roadster Register - whose members included the guys who eventually formed the club. February 1972 saw the inaugural NSRA meeting and by July of the following year there were 250 members. The close links which always existed between the NSRA and drag racing were cemented in 1989 when the first NSRA Hot Rod Drags was held at Avon Park Raceway as the track was then known. Five years later a second event - the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals - was added to the calendar.
So 2013 was not only the 25th running of the Hot Rod Drags, but the 20th Nostalgia Nationals as well. These events are incredibly well supported and they centre around a huge Run What Ya Brung field of pre-1973 hot rods, street rods, customs and muscle cars, supported by the Gasser Circus, the Wild Bunch nostalgia class, the Outlaw Anglias and the Supercharged Outlaws plus whoever else turns up! Here are a few of the competitors at the 2013 Hot Rod Drags starting with Jeff Hawksworth’s immaculate and potent Wolseley 4/44 featuring 350 cubic inches of blown Chevy power which propels it to twelve zero clockings.
This is Robert Lauderdale’s Opus-bodied rod powered by a four banger Ford with a C75 Shorrocks supercharger for good measure.
Undoubtedly the most powerful street rod present was Andy ‘Fadster’ Hadfield’s mighty 8 second 598 inch big block Chevy which, although seen running on slicks here, is fully street-legal.
This is the sole surviving example of an Allard Dragon kit car as sold by the late Sydney Allard, the man who first introduced drag racing to the UK. This car was built in 1964 and is raced in the Wild Bunch nostalgia class by Alan
Smith.
Adam Sayers races this turbocharged ’57 Chevy which is street legal and Adam is looking to dip into the eights.
Bradley Cooper drives this superb flathead-powered rail. Bradley’s father was Ken Cooper who campaigned a flathead rail back in the day called ‘Blast from the Past’ so Bradley called his brand new car ‘Back from the Past’.
The high rising Gasser Circus was out in force and this is the beautiful Hallum, Hallum & Couch entry doing what comes naturally.
Jed Guy drives this 496 cubic inch Outlaw Anglia which, as you can see, he calls Shorty’s Hot Rod. He had a rather eventful meeting starting with this burn out
. . .
. . . unfortunately the run was equally out of shape . . .
. . . and then things got really out of hand when he T-boned the barrier, rolled, spun, then rolled again . . .
. . . fortunately Jed was uninjured which is more than can be said for the Armco barrier. No prizes for guessing what he will be up to over the winter break!
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