The first of which is the launch of the new venue with our first Hot Rod Hop on Saturday 1st October starting at 3pm with Live music, DJ, BBQ and with Trophies for Best American, Bike and Hot Rod up for grabs its looking to be a great new start for us. There is limited camping onsite so check to make sure we have enough space first.

The Barn attached to the Pub does have some considerable Rock n Roll heritage with the likes of Rod Stewart, The Who and countless others playing there back in the 1960’s.

Its hard to believe we are nearing the end of September already the year has just flown by but there's still plenty to do before the end of the year, naturally the new venue launch on 1st October, the Flame n Thunder Fireworks Spectacular with some of UK Street Machines members booked to run it would be great if we can get along to support them and a date for your Diarys the club Christmas bash at The George Inn on SATURDAY  17th DECEMBER and we’ll give you more info on that one soon.

Right I’ve just booked tickets for Von n me to see Imelda May in November so I’m off to work to pay for em, and we’ll see you on the 1st. 

Evening entertainment was courtesy of Milk Cow Magazine with a variety of Bands and Burlesque Shows late into the night….a stroke of genius. Lets face it who doesn’t want to sit round drinking Beer and watch scantily dressed ladies!

Von and I arrived at a wet n windy Santa Pod midday Friday and with the help of Trev, Andy & Kaylee set up the all new UK Street Machines stand and for a first time erection (Roy stop giggling) it went very well.  All we had to do was wait for the sunshine (We were in for a long wait)

Milk Cow were already doing their thang from the bar on the Friday night so I dropped by in passing for a quick half and an ogle at the ladies, the place was rammed so I settled for a can of warm Fosters at a picnic table outside with  the other Saga louts Roy n Andy then back to the caravan to unwind from my mad impetuous evening with a Horlicks.

 
After the ravishes (it’s actually ravages Mark but that’s too funny to correct, I think there was a bit of wishful thinking going on there…..SMACK!!) of the night before I woke Saturday morning to the dreaded sound of raindrops on the caravan roof which as you know is not the best ingredient for perfect Drag Racing. We opened the stand at around 8am and even though we were starting to get a little marooned with the water out front business was brisk with people buying event merchandise and wanting to know a little more of what we were about.

Darren Prentice and the track crew did an amazing job of drying out the track (and trade area) and despite the rain we still managed to get 6 hours racing in on the Saturday,  As always Mark Wallington and his Outlaw Street crew were first back to put some times up on the shootout board with habitual shootout finalist Jeff Thurston in the Mustang throwing the gauntlet down with a storming 9.95 timing tickets were coming back thick and fast from racers wanting to make sure they made Sunday Shootout with “Most aggressive burnout of the decade winner” Stu Ramsey holding on to a 9.34 in the Camaro. As a result of the foul weather we couldn’t make the numbers so only the eight class winners went through to Sundays Shootout.

 
With so many groups attending the running order was bloody tight so when the weather started to play up start line guru Ian Marshal certainly had his hands full and did a great job despite all the challenges thrown at him.

With the racing finished for the day the track was lined with an array of Race cars from days gone by for the Cacklefest which not only made for an amazing sound but with the sun going down the header flames just made the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention  This was followed by some awesome flaming burnouts a sight I’m sure you will see more of at future events.
Milk cow served up much the same great entertainment in the Bar on Saturday night and I did pretty much the same as the night before really apart from having the Zoom club at the next picnic table making it look even more like Gods waiting room than it did the night before!!

Sunday rolled around without the addition of the bloody rain so the track opened on time  As you would expect the fire up lanes filled very quickly. I dropped by the Outlaw Street HQ as it was most of their cars in the shootout (no change there then) and we would be starting the shootout asap to try and beat the rain and minutes later the cars were all in line and ready to run (cheers Mark)

First out was Darren Scannell in his Cosie powered Escort up against Andy Murtons big Camaro and with Darren a little to eager to slay the mighty Camaro red lit with Andy taking the win with a very impressive 9.48@148mph. Next out it was the sole HRG member KC in the Cortina taking on shootout legend Jeff Thurston in the Mustang, Jeffs legendary reaction times were just too much for KC with a 0.28 R/T although KCs 0.51 would have been fine against any other contender and Jeff took the win with a 10.03@132mph. KC had barely crossed the finish line when Stu Ramsey flew into one of his huge burnouts ready to take on Steve Moisey in the late model Mustang. Stu took the win with a very impressive 9.13@153mph over Steves 12.73@107mph. Last pair out was Dons Scott awesome Superbird up against Trudy Slaters mighty Moggy with Trudy taking the win with a 13.08@115mph after the Superbird ran out of steam at the top end.

With the first round settled and wanting to beat the rain in an attempt to run the final at the same event a quick turnaround was agreed on. Let the cars cool down, let Jeff have a quick cuppa tea and back down the fire up lanes.

The first race in the semis was a real David and Goliath or as we now say Trudy and Jeff. Trudy was certainly going to have to pull one out of the bag for this one, but hey stranger things have happened in Drag racing…..but not this time Jeff pulled off another amazing 0.15 R/T taking the win with a 10.00@132mph over Trudys 13.48@113mph. Next out was a real clash of the Titans the two mighty Camaros of Andy Murton and Stu Ramsey and what a race! With Andy narrowly taking the win with a 9.33@149.62mph over Stu’s 9.67@149.56mph

 So the Final was to see Jeff Thurston take on Andy Murton what a great final for UK Street Machines debut Shootout. With ominous clouds overhead I had spoken to Tony Oksein organiser of the Mopars to see if the worst happens and it starts to rain again could we run the Final at his Mopars and like a true gent he agreed and we had a plan B if we needed it. Less than an hour later The Mustang and Camaro were paired up and ready to go at the front of the fire up lane and with that the bloody heavens opened and Santa Pod after all their hard work called it a day, thank God for plan B’s me thinks.

Two weeks later.....

And its Saturday night at the Mopars and thanks to Tony Oksien for letting us run the Dragstalgia Shootout Final and with a warm track and the cool night air some good times were expected.

With £500 for the winner and £250 for the runner up courtesy of UK Street Machines the guys were not going to be holding back. Andy and Jeff pulled round and wasted no time putting down two monster burnouts and as they staged you could have heard a pin drop but as the lights changed that all changed with the roar of the Chevy and Ford motors filling the air. As expected Jeff pulled out a slightly better reaction time but the raw power from the Chevy took hold and Andy took the win with a 9.10 @ 152.5 mph over Jeff’s 9.87 @ 134.9mph. Congratulations to Andy Murton for taking our first shootout and I’m sure Jeff will be back next year to try and avenge the big Chevy.

So that’s about it a great new event with a great format which got rave reviews on all the forums keep ya fingers crossed for the Sun for 2012 Will we be back again next year? HELL YES!!!!

This Dragstalgia write-up is dedicated to Kasey Dixon-Grainger (KC), a talented young racer and a bloody good lad who lost his life on 28 August 2011 doing what he loved best…..racing. Our hearts go out to his family and friends.

 
Mark, Von and all the UKSM gang.

Top 5

 

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Huge thanks to our sponsors with special mention to Phil and Zoe who were a great help on the day and got roped into helping out with jobs on the UKSM stand when it got a bit manic…….
 
Shoreham rock’n’ roll club   http://www.rock-n-roll.org.uk/
Swingtime collection   http://www.swingtimecollection.co.uk/
Gibbins ice-cream   www.gibbinsoutsidecaterers.com
Al’s Diner   http://www.alsdiner.co.uk/
Tom Dean Rock n roll DJ   01323441998
And finally our other Tom who turns up with his equipment and services year in year out.
 
 
Even the traders at the show said they’d had a good time and a good days trading.  That’s something almost unheard of but you’d only know that if you’ve actually run a trade field.  They can whinge for England but our regular traders at Worthing were very supportive and very happy and we in turn will be happy to welcome them back next year.  If there’s any traders you’d like to see at the show drop us a line and we’ll do our best to source em.  Same goes for ideas to better the event.  We’re always happy to push forward with good ideas if they’re feasible so let’s hear from you!  Judging cars  can be a difficult job at any show and with so many top quality cars coupled with such a wide variety the Worthing shows judging takes an awful long time to make sure the final winners list is the right one.  Hey, don’t get me wrong, having this challenge is a show organisers dream and I wouldn’t want it any other way. There were just so many cars that nearly made the final list.  We had a 1955 Oldsmobile 88 complete with full continental kit. Not only is this as rare as rockin horse poo but what  amazing condition and the bronze paintwork was outstanding.   There was a metallic green 59 Mercury with a panel fit better than factory and so the list goes on and its this quality of vehicles that makes the Worthing show what it is today.

Although the top 5 winners took an absolute age to decide, in the end I was over the moon with the outcome. The flawless build and finish on the numbers matching Chevy Nova & Mach 1 Mustang, the arrow straight paint on the VW Camper, the attention to detail on the Dodge Challenger 440 R/T and who in their right mind would not want to take home the Blue 32 Roadster?  All  these factors made for a mighty impressive top 5 with Best of Show going to Dave Batson’s 32 5 Window coupe with its flawless paint and detailed drivetrain set off with its Red wall tyres.  A  worthy winner of this years show. I can’t wait to see what next years challenge throws up.
 
One change we’re making for next year is that we’re getting rid of the pre-entries.  It’s a bloody nightmare.  Because it’s a free show people hedge their bets and pre-enter not really having made a firm decision whether or not they will actually attend.  Our first year was a bit dodgey anyway re the pre-entries  as people didn’t seem to realise the show was still up and running  even though it was well advertised.  This wasn’t helped by the malicious rumour put about that the show had been cancelled.  As we said on our front page just before the show.  This was a particularly spiteful and petty thing to do as we run the show in conjunction with the Lions and it’s theirs and our hard work that puts money into their charity coffers.  Anyway we had over 20 no-shows and that’s over 20 places we were saving which, had we have been busier would have meant turning over 20 cars away from the field. We can’t organise a show-field on maybe’s so we’re sorry to all the people who faithfully pre-enter and turn up year in year out but the only other alternative would be to charge a pre-entry fee cos parting with hard earned cash would certainly cut out the ‘maybe’s’…….…but we aint going there.  Worthing will remain a free show for everyone for the foreseeable future but the pre-entry system is in the bin. It’s first come first served from now on so get up early.  One exception to this rule will be clubs wishing to put on an organised display.

So for the winners...

Well all our hard work paid off.  The feedback from the show was awesome.  The lady Mayor and Chairman of the Lions said it was the best ever Worthing Car show and they didn’t want to leave to attend their other official duties and that was after I’d told the Mayor to ‘shut up!!....There she was in all her Sunday best and I told her she looked lovely.  She said ‘you look lovely too!!.  I just looked down at my coffee stained T-shirt and crumpled up shorts and said the first words that came into my head.  Ne-mind she still loved us!!
 
If we thought putting on a small established show was going to be an easy ride then we were in for a shock.  If we’d followed the same format maybe it would have been but we wanted a challenge and boy did we get one.  We couldn’t have done it without the support of some of the ‘old hands’ who worked their butts off all day as they do every year.  Special mention to Allan Pidd, Windscreen Kev and team Shrubb  who  all took control of various jobs/teams to ensure the show ran smoothly.  So big thanks to all the other guys and gals within those teams too without whose help we wouldn’t be able to run the show.  Additional thanks too go to Paul Shrubb who designed the most excellent T-shirt.
 
Our aim for this year and for future years was to inject a bit of atmosphere into the proceedings and with the help of Shoreham Rock n Roll club (Phil and Zoe), their members and friends and awesome  DJ  Tom Dean and commentary from  our other Tom  we certainly did that by the bucketful. The impromptu Rock ‘n’ Roll demonstrations in front of the stand went down a storm and we’ve been told that they all enjoyed themselves so much they’ll be back next year with even more people.

Half way through the afternoon this guy whom I’d spoken to earlier came and plonked himself down next to me and said he was in shock.  Apparently he’d got a note on his windscreen and I told him he was correct in thinking he’d won a ‘prize’.  He said he’d been coming to Worthing for years and had never even got a sniff of a trophy.  His face was a picture when he learned he’d won Best of Show.  As I later explained to Dave….Mark has worked very closely with the Best of Britain judging team for 9 years so he brings a wealth of experience to judging the cars at Worthing and has a completely different set of  judging criteria to what has gone before.  Dave went on to join UKSM as our guests on the stand at the Nats a few weeks later and he stuck around a lot of the time to answer questions and chat to people.  He was very well received.  Top bloke is 3 pints Dave and a very worthy winner of our first Worthing American.