Santa Pod at 60
Ada Cassisi, a contemporary junior drag racer gets set for their run
Santa Pod maintains a perfect balance, offering‘ Run what ya’ brung’ sessions where anyone can turn up and drive; themed events like the Bug Jam VW festival and Dragstalgia( the drag racing equivalent of Goodwood Revival); and Top Fuel weekends, where the fastest cars on the continent – including the Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Championship ProMod cars and the showpiece fullthrottle jet car demonstrators – rock into town to rattle the eardrums.
A PLACE FOR THE SENSES
Since opening its gates in 1966, Santa Pod Raceway has had just three owners. The Phelps family was the first, and they built it on a foundation of pure drag racing. In the 1970s, they introduced American drivers to the UK, often purchasing race cars from the US and contracting the drivers to race them at Santa Pod as part of the deal. That helped to define the international character of the venue and elevated European drag racing onto a global stage.
The rise of governing bodies such as the British Drag Racing Association helped to build the sport further, but when the raceway passed into the hands of a small property group in 1989, it struggled owing to the owners’ lack of connection with the sport. During the early 1990s, however, current owner Bartlett
QUARTER MILE MEMORIES
THE FOUNDER: Roy Phelps, who set up Santa Pod with his father, Bob.
“ I remember the first event well, the rain and inclement weather – was it going to happen as hoped? The most memorable thing was being told by a spectator on the day:‘ You’ re wasting your time. This won’ t last.’ Well, let time be the judge of that!”
THE AMERICAN: Carl Olson, a Top Fuel star of the 1960s & 70s and founding President of the FIA Drag Racing Commission
“ My enduring memories of Santa Pod will always be the hundreds of wonderful staff, racers and spectators I met and spent time with them. My favorite times were spent on the mound near the finish line – where the always fascinating‘ hard core’ fans hang out.”
THE PR GUY: Robin Jackson, who first visited Santa Pod in 1967 and joined the team in 2007.
“ Don Garlits is the greatest drag racer who ever lived – and when he raced at Santa Pod in 1976, the Daily Mail made him back-page news and spectators’ cars were parked nose-to-tail for more than two miles( entry works better now!) Peter Crane beat him in round one with the first five-second time outside America – but Garlits returned a year later … and beat everyone.”
THE RACER: Leah Kellett, six-time UK national Super Comp champion
“ I was eight when I first visited with my parents. We joined the‘ racing family’ when my brother Joe entered Junior Dragsters in 2004 and at one point, he and I won different classes in the same car. That was special. In 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and being strapped into the car provided such a release. I raised £ 7,300 for charity selling t-shirts at the track – and I also won the championship after 10 months’ treatment. Happy 60 years, Santa Pod. You truly are more than just a dragstrip.”
THE JOURNALIST: Ed Foster, writer and presenter who had a passenger ride in 2010
“ It’ s hard to explain the explosive acceleration. I had driven many racing cars before, but nothing prepared me for the sensory assault of the two-seater dragster. I couldn’ t breathe for three seconds, then laughed uncontrollably for the remaining 4.9 – a standing quarter-mile in 7.9s. It’ s a feeling I’ ll take to my grave.”
n For the full story of how Roy Phelps and others developed Santa Pod, the British Drag Racing Historians plan to release their own publication later this year.
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