BRITISH DRAG RACING HALL OF FAME – 2013 INDUCTEES

The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in association with US Automotive continues into its eighth successful year and is pleased to announce the 2013 intake. Nominees are eligible by dint of having raced, owned, designed, built, maintained, prepared, promoted, officiated, supported or taken part in British drag racing, having been involved for at least twenty years, or having made a significant and recognisable contribution to the sport.

British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury says, “This is another important year in the development of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. We have not only moved the announcement of the inductions, but we will also be having our own banquet to formally present the awards. The contributions that these members have made to the development of drag racing in the UK and Europe have been immense. It true to say that without their dedication and hard work in the early days of the sport there is no doubt that drag racing would not have achieved the popularity it enjoys today.”

Members of the Hall of Fame receive a ‘Bootsie’, a trophy encapsulating an image of the late Allan ‘Bootsie’ Herridge, a man who put so much into British drag racing, together with an exclusive commemorative pin. They join the élite list of inductees from previous years and will be listed with fuller versions of the above biographies on the official British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk

The Hall of Fame trophies will be presented at a dedicated ceremony at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September: more details in due course.

The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is sponsored by US Automotive, Santa Pod Raceway, Shakespeare County Raceway, Pennine Drag Racing Club/York Raceway, Avon Park International Racers Association, Santa Pod Racers Club, Power Race Graphics and Eurodragster.com.

BRIAN CHAPMAN

The term giant-killer is often used in sport, but rarely is it used more aptly than when describing the outstanding performances of Brian Chapman riding his Vincent machines over many years of drag racing.

For several years Brian developed his tiny, unfashionable single cylinder Vincent Comet and became the first 500 cc rider anywhere in the world to run under nine seconds. Called Mighty Mouse it reached the end of its development at the end of the seventies, notching up a best of 8.81 seconds for the standing start quarter mile.

Brian then built the Super Mouse V-twin Vincent recording 8.25/169 before crashing the bike in 1982 and retiring from full-on racing soon after the rebuild. If Brian could make something himself then he would, which was all the more to his credit (Extract from full biography and picture both by Keith Lee).

KEITH AND FRANCES PARKER

Frances Parker became involved in the National Drag Racing Club as Membership Secretary then Race Secretary. It was in the latter capacity that Frances brought Keith along to the races and he started his NDRC career on gate duty but eventually becoming Vice Chairman of the NDRC. It became a family affair as daughter and son Linda and Stephen also became involved.

In the 1970s, with some prompting from Keith, the NDRC organised races around England at Blackbushe, Snetterton and Wroughton before the Club took the logical, but extensive and intensive step, of opening their own facility on the former eighth-mile track at Long Marston Airfield.

That track is now Shakespeare County Raceway, still going strong and a tribute to two of the BDRHoF’s newest members (Extract from full biography and picture both by Keith and Frances Parker).

The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame invited Dave Riswick to become a member, but for personal reasons Dave has declined to accept. In the interest of protecting the selection criteria we show his credentials and hope that one day he will accept the award.

Having come to England as a GI, Dave became involved in drag racing with Mark Stratton’s Hustler altered before returning to the USA. He then came back to the UK to manage John Woolfe’s racing team and to sell performance parts. In 1968 Dave met Dennis Priddle and started a long and famous association with the fellow BDRHoF inductee. After John Woolfe’s death at Le Mans Dave continued the performance parts company in John’s name.

Dave was instrumental in setting up the National Drag Racing Club and was a major sponsor of the sport, also actively involved in bringing in prestigious American companies. Dave was also heavily involved in creating Avon Park Raceway (now Shakespeare County Raceway) and helped to involve fellow BDRHoF inductee Carl Olson in European drag racing. (Extract from full biography by Brian Taylor).