Robin Jackson takes us into the world of Drag racing, the fastest and loudest category of motorsport. It emerged from the ‘hot rod’ craze which swept post-Second World War America. The sport arrived in Britain in the early 1960s. This year marks the 60^th anniversary of the 1964 British International Drag Festival, when sportscar manufacturer and entrepreneur Sydney Allard brought over a group of leading American drag racers to compete at airfield sites across England. 

Santa Pod Raceway opened for business two years later on the Bedfordshire-Northamptonshire border as Europe’s first permanent dragstrip and will celebrate its 60^th anniversary in 2026.

Some 400,000 people a year pass through Santa Pod’s gates to attend more than 60 events, public and private, on-track and off. The opening and closing FIA European Championship rounds headline a drag racing programme which includes national championship rounds and historic events.