In the company of royalty and the nobility, tears, cheers and standing ovations were in order at the 9th Annual British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF) Gala Awards Dinner held on November 22nd 2014. Four British drag racing personalities were joined by American legend Don Garlits and, in a sometimes emotional ceremony they were inducted as members of the Hall of Fame for their services to the sport.

Don Garlits receives the Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award from Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia. Manager Director and Director of European Operations for Lucas Oil Products UK looks on.

The most emotional moment came when Don Garlits became the first recipient of the Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award presented by Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia. It will not be awarded every year but each time it is presented it will have engraved on the base ‘In memory of Pat Garlits’ – Don’s wife who died earlier this year. As such it marks the role played by the families of all drag racers. Without their support the sport could not happen.

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Saturday November 22^nd 2014 marked a new award presented at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Awards Celebration Gala Dinner held in Windsor Great Park – the Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award. In a very emotional ceremony, it was presented to American drag racing legend Don Garlits by Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia along with Managing Director and Director of European Operations for Lucas Oil Products UK – Les Downey. Messages from American drag racer Bob Keith, Ambassador Barzun at the Embassy of the United States of America in Grosvenor Square, London and legendary British drag racer Clive Skilton (now resident in California) all showed just how much Don is loved and respected.

The crystal trophy will not be presented every year and a unique aspect of it is the inscription ‘In memory of Pat Garlits’ on the base – something that will be engraved each time the award is presented in future years. It is a tribute to Don’s wife Pat who passed away earlier this year, and as such marks the role played by all family members associated with drag racing. Without their support it could not happen.

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In its heyday the MGM studio motto was ‘Do it big, do it right; give it class’. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF) has adopted that creed for the prestigious black tie 9^th BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner and November 22^nd at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park will see one of the largest social gatherings of UK drag racing pioneers ever held in Europe.

Now a Royal occasion in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia, the induction of the 2014 nominees will be the main event – Gerry Belton, Russ Carpenter, Don Garlits, Dennis Norman and John Whitmore. Full details about all of them are on www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk and in the 16 page Souvenir Programme designed by Power Race Graphics. This will be a very special keepsake that everyone will want.

The inductees will be celebrated by an audience of nearly 300 people including many existing BDRHoF members such as Gary Page, the Readspeed Team, Barry Sheavills, Geoff Hauser, Harold Bull, Tina Gibbs, Peter Crane, Roz Prior, Steve Murty & Family, Roy Phelps & Family, Philip Evans, and John Hobbs.

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The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF) is proud to announce that Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia

will be an Honoured Guest at the BDRHoF Celebration Gala Awards Dinner being held at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on November 22nd 2014.

Princess Katarina will present one of the major awards of the evening and is the first relative of the British Royal family to attend a drag racing event in an official capacity. As a great-niece of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, she is in line of succession to the British throne and as well as her extensive humanitarian work she is also President of the Guild of Travel and Tourism.

Chairman of the BDRHoF, Stu Bradbury said, “It is a great Honour to have Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina attending our event and present the major award of the evening. Her presence reflects the stature that the Gala Dinner has attained and is a fitting tribute to the pioneers who built the sport of drag racing in the United Kingdom. To have drag racing royalty in the shape of Don Garlits and a relative of the British Royal Family at the same event is something I would not have thought possible just a few years ago – even just a few months ago. I still can’t quite believe it”.

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Following nominations received from classic car enthusiasts across the world, the finalists have now been confirmed for the 2014 International Historic Motoring Awards. After initially being nominated by the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF), the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing has reached the Museum or Collection of the Year short list.

Museum or Collection of the Year:

• Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, USA
• Blackhawk Automotive Museum, USA
• LeMay – America’s Car Museum, USA
• Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, USA
• Haynes International Motor Museum, UK

These museums now go forward to the panel of expert judges which includes racing drivers Derek Bell and Jochen Mass, Horst Brüning (President of the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens) and Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen (former Chairman of Bentley). They will vote to decide the winners; no easy task given the high standard of candidates.

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With a substantial four figure sum, the National Street Rod Association UK (NSRA) has joined the list of those sponsoring the prestigious 2014 British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF) Celebration Gala Awards Dinner at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on November 22nd 2014. Before the formation of the NSRA, hot rod enthusiasts tended to be organized as a Division of one of the two main drag racing clubs. The NSRA grew out of the National Drag Racing Club (NDRC) Roadster Register with the inaugural meeting being held at the Wheatsheaf Public House on the Reigate Road in Surrey in 1972.

For the NSRA’s 40th Anniversary in 2012, NSRA ‘Street Gasser’ magazine editor Nick Brooke-Langham set about the massive task of recording the history of the NSRA in book form. The resulting 360-page publication – Keeping the Dream Alive – was issued to all NSRA members free of charge to recognize the anniversary year. Jason Hollamby of the NSRA said It is now a National organization for hot-rodders, each year organizing two of the UK’s largest hot rod show weekends, plus two major auto parts swap meets, and in conjunction with Shakespeare County Raceway and Santa Pod Raceway, is involved with three nostalgia drag racing event weekends.

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Earlier this year, the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF) announced two new awards to be presented at the Annual Gala Awards Event being held at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on November 22nd. They celebrate the importance of the media in promoting drag racing along with the crucial role played by the late Sydney Allard as the ‘Father of British Drag Racing’. The new crystal trophies are sponsored by the Allard Motor Company operated by Sydney’s son Alan and his grandson Lloyd.

The BDRHoF Sydney Allard Awards are open to professionals and amateurs. Best Written Journalism is for to the writer of the best book, article or feature on British drag racing published in print or on-line during the 12-months ending July 2014. Best Photo Journalism is for the best photograph featuring British drag racing, either published in print or on-line during the 12 months ending July 2014, or remaining un-published.

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The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF) can announce that Custom Car Magazine, in partnership with Real Steel, is to join the list of companies sponsoring the BDRHoF 2014 Celebration Gala Dinner Awards. First published in March 1970, Custom Car Magazine is the longest established magazine covering drag racing and hot rodding in the UK and in 2007 was inducted into the BDRHoF in its own right.

At one time in the early 1970s it was the official magazine of the British Drag Racing & Hot Rod Association and has sponsored many cars, events and championships throughout its history. The Custom Car Shows of the 1970s and 1980s played an important role in bringing hot rodding and drag racing to the attention of the British public. The first issue cover is shown in the photo. This history of support will be marked by the BDRHoF Gala Dinner table programme/menu that will be presented to all those attending. Jointly sponsored by Real Steel it will be in the form of a mini Custom Car Magazine, featuring the menu, time table and information about the award winners. Designed by Darren West of Power Race Graphics it will be a great souvenir of the event.

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Owing to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame (BDRHoF) Celebration Gala Awards Dinner on November 22nd heading to be a sell-out event, the BDRHoF have decided to arrange an additional opportunity for fans to meet Big Daddy Don Garlits at Santa Pod Raceway during his 2014 trip to the United Kingdom. It will include refreshments, a signed copy of Don’s latest book ‘Don Garlits and his Cars’ plus the opportunity to shake hands with the great man and take part in a Q&A session. It will be an exclusive event with no more than 50 tickets being made available.

Sponsors of the event are UK-based American drag racer Julie Braskett and long-time BDRHoF supporters US Automotive.

The event is ‘Afternoon Tea with Don Garlits’ held in the Quarter Mile Club VIP Centre at Santa Pod Raceway on the afternoon of November 23rd starting at around 2.30pm. Tickets will cost £35.00 (booking fees apply).

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Most automotive enthusiasts will know that Dean Moon was very much involved in supplying parts and advice to Sydney Allard’s team back in the winter of 1960/61 when Europe’s first dragster was being assembled in the Allard Motor Company Clapham workshop under Sydney’s office. Dean was also very much involved in bringing Dante Duce and the Mooneyes dragster across to appear in the UK during 1963.

What was not known was the fact that Dean kept copies of the correspondence linked to his association with the project in his office drawer, along with press cuttings. They have been discovered only recently and, backed by Shige Suganuma and Chico Kodama of Mooneyes, have been copied and printed in a folder by Allison Jobe of SXS Performance in California.

The completed publication has been donated to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu as part of the archives linked to the Allard Chrysler dragster. Along with lots more information it can now be accessed by researchers using the library at the museum.

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