REMEMBERING ALLAN ‘BOOTSIE’ HERRIDGE
Chairman of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Stu Bradbury remembers November 6th 1983 when Allan ‘Bootsie’ Herridge made his 
last ever pass down the world famous Santa Pod Raceway strip. The year 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of Allan’s passing. The legendary ‘Bootsie’ whose image is encapsulated in the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame trophy built one of the UK’s first dragsters and in a long and glorious career proved he could turn his hand to everything from managing a race track to driving race cars and building them.
Allan Herridge’s first dragster – a straight 8 Buick rail. (photo Fred Babcock)
In 1962 when Allan started to build his first dragster, there was no rulebook, no drawings, just pictures in American Hot Rod magazines and Sydney Allard’s 1961 Allard Chrysler. Allan being Allan was already fully engaged in the development of the sport, helping to form an organising club, writing construction rules for participants and spectators.
Along with John Harrison and Brian Sparrow he formed a business called Dragster Developments and this company completed the construction of Allan’s first dragster and became renowned for shortening rear axles. When Santa Pod Raceway opened its gates to the public in 1966 Allan became even more involved in the sport.
Stu Bradbury says, “When I met Allan in 1963 he instantly struck me with his happy-go-lucky attitude and his enthusiasm for drag racing and hot rods. Without any doubt it was him that got me involved in the sport all those years ago as he did many others. He once said to me that he was ‘just lucky’ being in the right place at the right time to be offered the drive of the Santa Pod owned cars; legendary names such as Commuter, Firefly, Asphalt Alligator, the Gloworm and Gladiator Funny Cars to name a few”.
As the sport became more popular Allan moved to live close to Santa Pod and was its full time track manager. On Saturday and Sunday he’d be driving Fueler, Funny Car, Jet or Rocket Car and on Monday supervising the litter pickers and empting toilets, building, advising, and modifying cars and chassis for others. Allan’s character – his friendly and helpful nature, his unwavering passion to develop drag racing is still stamped right through the sport to this day.
Stu says, “Allan’s BDRHoF trophy was the first to be awarded at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance in February 2006. He would be so humbled to have the award named after him. If we still had him with us today, he would have laughed, rattled of a half dozen names of people he would think are far more deserve than him. For me, and many, many others, there is no one more deserving than him, that’s why we named the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame award a Bootsie”.
