What is it?
  • Drive as fast as you can down a quarter-mile strip from a standing start
  • Compete in knockout style, head-to-head races
Sign Up
  • £
    Low budget required to get started
  • human person
    Personal safety equipment required
  • U18
    Participants can be under 18 years old
  • human person
    You can use your standard road car
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Reasons you will love it!

1

Drive as fast as you can, while going head-to-head with another competitor

2

Test your reaction times

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Enjoy a wide range of classes to suit different cars

Northamptonshire’s Santa Pod Raceway is the UK’s only drag strip. Opened in 1966 as Europe’s first permanent drag racing venue, the former World War Two airfield hosts everything from FIA European Drag Racing Championship rounds, down to Run What Ya Brung events in everyday road cars.

If you fancy a trip down the quarter mile, the best place to start is to visit Santa Pod, chat to competitors, or enter a Run What Ya Brung weekend, where you can drive your own vehicle on the track.

Please note that Run What Ya Brung events are independently operated track days with no affiliation to Motorsport UK. Participate at your own risk. 

The Drag Racing Pathway

Sportsman Car Classes

If you have been bitten by the drag racing bug, you may then want to participate in one of the many Sportsman class championships that take place across the course of the year. The Sportsman classes feature not only a wide range of cars competing, but they also provide a number of different racing types.

The main types of competition are Heads-Up racing, Bracket racing and those that run to an Index.

Heads-up racing is drag racing in its’ purest form. Both cars see the green light at the same time and have the aim of reaching the finish line first in the fastest possible time. This type of racing tends to favour the most powerful cars in the class which are capable of producing low quarter mile times.

Bracket racing offers a more even playing field to each car and driver depending on their respective performance down the quarter mile. Before each run, the driver pre-determines what time they think they will be able to achieve based on previous runs and the track conditions. In qualifying, the aim is to get as close to their dial-in time as possible without going any quicker. When it comes to the racing itself, the starting lights will operate on a handicap system, giving a head start to the driver of the slower car defined by the difference between the two times. Drivers will still need to get as close to their time as possible, however they will also need to reach the line first. This type of racing not only tests the driver’s skills but also their mental ability to stay cool under pressure.

Index racing is similar to bracket racing; however each driver runs to the same time designated by the class. For example, you can have both a dragster and a muscle car competing together and aiming to get as close to 8.5 seconds as possible. As with bracket racing, the aim is still to cross the finish line first but without going faster than the indexed time for the class.

Each of these classes run to what is called a Sportsman light. This refers to the starting lights, also known as the Christmas Tree. In Sportsman classes once both cars are lined up in the correct position, known as staged, there are four yellow lights which count down one-by-one to the green light in a pre-timed sequence. Drivers who react too quickly and launch their car before the green light will be shown a red light and will hand the victory to the opposing driver.

Pro Car Classes

Featuring some of the fastest racing cars in the country, the Pro categories are not for the feint hearted. Here you will find a mixture of doorslammers and bespoke dragsters and funny cars, some running on Nitromethane fuel, capable of running low elapsed time runs with speeds approaching and often exceeding 200mph. The top classes such as Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car are even capable of topping 300mph.

Each of the Pro classes feature straight-up head-to-head racing with the aim of getting to the finish line first. There are no handicaps on the start line, it is down to pure and simple performance on the quarter-mile.

Also, each class runs to the Pro light system on the Christmas Tree. This means that once both cars have illuminated the Stage lights, the 4 yellow lights will appear together before the green lights start the race. This start procedure makes the driver’s reaction times even more crucial to winning the race.

Due to some classes running Nitro fuels, drivers need to ensure that they wear the correct safety equipment as specified by the regulations for that class.

Jargon Buster

As with any new passion, the world of drag racing comes with it’s own phrases and sayings. Get to grips with some of the basics below:

Christmas Tree – This is the name given to the starting lights on a drag strip. It contains a set of lights which are visible for both drivers and features Pre-Stage, Stage, 4 Amber, a green and red lights. Both Pre-Stage and Stage refer to getting the car in the correct position, the amber lights act as a “get ready” signal, while green, of course, means go. The red light will only illuminate if a driver leaves the line too soon and means that the run is void.

Doorslammer – A Doorslammer basically means a car which has working doors, rather than a dragster or car with one piece bodyshells.

Eliminator – The name given to the racing portion of an event. Drivers face off against each other in a knockout style competition. The winner of each race progresses on to the next stage and the loser is eliminated from the competition.

ET – No extra-terrestrial activity to be found here! ET is an abbreviation for Elapsed Time, the total amount of time it takes for a competitor to complete a run down the quarter mile or 1000 foot track.

Fire-up Lane – The location where cars are gathered together prior to their qualifying and race events so that they can be matched up against their corrrect opponents. As many drag racing cars are not driven from the paddock to the track, this is the place where they can be prepared to race and fire up their engines.

Funny Car – Originating from the 1960’s, this is the name given to a category of car which compete at the higher levels of the sport. Originally a Super Stock style car, the changes made to wheelbase and more caused them to look less stock over the years and more “funny” to look at. The name was then adopted for its own class in 1969.

Slingshot – The name given to a historic type of dragster where the driver sits over the rear axle.

Wheel Stand – Due to the grippy nature of a drag racing track and competition tyres, some cars will spectacularly lift the front wheels off the line when they hit the throttle. This is known as a wheel stand because the car essentially is standing on its rear wheels.

Personal Safety Equipment

To compete in drag racing, you will need

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A helmet that meets Motorsport UK regulations
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Fireproof overalls that meet Motorsport UK regulations
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A Frontal Head Restraint (FHR) that meets Motorsport UK regulations

Apply for your RS Interclub Licence

Start your journey, register with Motorsport UK online and apply for your RS Interclub licence. Lasting 12 months, from January until December, the membership costs £82 and enables you to enter 10 different types of motorsport event.

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