Santa Pod Doorslammers 2018

Last weekend (19th/20th May) Santa Pod Raceway hosted the much anticipated return of The Doorslammers. Clear blue skies and the thermometer hitting the mid 20’s made it perfect conditions for a weekend of fast action drag racing!

This event first ran at Santa Pod Raceway way back in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Traditionally an end of season event it was held the week after what was the old ʻWorld Finals ̓ in September and now the renamed European Finals.

Originally there was a cash prize of £1,000 for the fastest Doorslammer but now 20 years later the prize money has risen to a staggering £75,000.

Now obviously this sort of cash would be very tempting and bound to bring out some of the big names from all over the UK and the EU, including Andy Robinson of the UK, Micke Gullqvist of Sweden and Marck Harteveld of Holland to name a few.

Racing was halted only twice over the weekend with Michel Tooren’s Plymouth Barracuda crashing out on day one

and Marck Harteveld’s Plymouth Superbird having a more serious incident on day two.

Thankfully both drivers were unharmed and promised to be back as soon as possible.

Over all there were 6 classes,

Pro Doorslammers, Pro Street, True Street, Front wheel Drive, 4 Cylinder and 6 Cylinder and then at the end of each day there was The Big Bracket.

The Big Bracket included entries from every class in Europe that run on an index or dial in, this included the Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Super Gas, Super Comp, Superstock, the Gasser Circus and many more. This unique format meant drivers got a shot at winning a large chunk of money in the final race on both days.

Records are meant to be broken and the Wulcano racing teams Chevy Camaro 69 did just that,setting a new European Doorslammers record of 5.534 seconds at 262mph.

Also at the venue there was entertainment from the Big Bang Camper & Bus Show,Jet Cars, Show & Shine, BMX displays, Club displays and live action in the Arena.