Drag Racing in the UK—Nostalgia Super Stock

By Charlie Fuller

In 2019 I had one goal. It was to buy my dream car: a classic 1966 Ford Mustang. I hunted everywhere, from shows to dealers and online. I was convinced that Mopar Euro Nationals was going to be the place. Ultimately, I found mine on eBay and it was only 40 miles away.

Later that year I joined The Watts Shop Facebook group, where I posted my Mustang about wanting to race down the strip. I was approached by Don the chairman for UK Nostalgia Super Stock.

UKNSS is a racing class where classic Muscle Cars from the 60s to 70s compete against each other, it’s a bracket class so you’re aiming to reach your set time. There is a rule list available on their website.

Preparation and Journey

I had an action-packed year planned ahead, but like everything else it didn’t quite go to plan. As events were continually getting cancelled, UKNSS felt like it was not going to happen. Luckily, however, Santa Pod racing track began to hold socially distanced events so the example gave me confidence it would happen. I booked my tickets to Nostalgia Drags and the wait began.

I had never before driven my Mustang on such a long journey, so after the excitement had worn off it felt quite daunting. My car had been serviced and looked through at the start of the year so I was mechanically confident, but since it’s an older vehicle you always have a lingering bit of doubt.

A few days before the journey, I had a checklist of stuff I wanted to do. First of all, I needed to get my race number sticker printed, I contacted a local company that printed it for me and applied it.

Next up was checking the basics: oil and tyre pressure. The day before the big cruise, I loaded up my car until there was no room left and then I filled the radiator with water. Once my brother got home, we jumped in the Mustang and set off. It was a hot day at the start of August, but the journey went smoothly besides from a few gremlins I discovered (namely, the carburettor would starve itself of fuel, causing my car to overheat a few times). Apart from this, it was a really fun journey and something I will never forget.

UKNSS at Nostalgia Drags

After three hours on the road, we made it. Full of adrenaline, we got out of the car and set up the tent in an area that turned out to be for spectators and not Run What You Brung (RWYB). I then drove my Mustang up to the show and shine area and to the race pits.

We caught up with familiar faces and my friend Nick, whom I had never met face-to-face before. Nick was doing RWYB like me to see if his car could run in the class. After Wild Bunch had finished, we were up. It’s very hard to describe how I was feeling as I got in the Mustang and drove towards the pairing lanes, but adrenaline controlled me.

The Run

As I slowly drove down the lanes, I stepped outside the car for a breather and approached the people crewing the Camaro (in the first picture) who advised me on how to approach my first run, which was against a Fastback Cuda. I went around the burnout box under the tower, the Cuda and I staged at the lights. The light dropped and I slammed my foot on the throttle. Now, the Cuda had beat me at the tree and was miles ahead, but I didn’t care: I’d done it. After the run, I met my brother in the pits before hot lapping it and doing another run.

That Evening

After my runs, we went back to the tent, packed our stuff up and set up in the RWYB pits. We set our tent up next to Nick, so it’s fair to say a lot of beer was consumed that night! This was also a great time to reflect on what I had achieved. I went round and had a chat with my friends and the fellow racers, and immediately the topic of making my Mustang faster came up. At the time I was a bit uncertain about tinkering too much with her, but now I have new engine upgrades and I’m not looking back!

The Last Day and Drive Home

I woke up to the glorious noise of a big block 1968 Mustang, I walked over to have a look. This turned out to be a long chat but I made great friends from it, and I learnt things that only hardcore Mustang owners would know.

Sunday was the main day for Show and Shine so we packed up and headed for this feast for the eyes, although because of COVID-19 restrictions the cars had to be two metres apart. Once the Mustang was parked up, we had a more relaxing day watching the racing. Part of me was tempted to take her down the track again but my main goal was to get home.

I parked next to agorgeous 1970 Dodge Charger. What always shocks me about the Nostalgia events at Santa Pod is the amount and variety of cars that show up!

Just after two o’clock in the afternoon, we set off home, though little did I know how long the journey would be. I had no mechanical problems apart from the carburettor playing up a few times, but as we got back into to Norfolk was when she started getting quite hot. I anxiously turned the engine off multiple times in long periods of static traffic due to an accident on the road, and was then blessed with the sight of a Shell station in the distance. I pulled in to let her cool down and set off again once the traffic eased.

Conclusion

Looking back at this trip, not only can I say it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, but also declare that it will stay with me forever. I would highly recommend a Santa Pod trip to any car enthusiast. After this trip, I felt more even more attached to my beloved Mustang.

I always found it funny in the car world how people recognise you by your car. But this trip proved that with messages from Instagram and random people saying “You’re that guy I follow!”. With the year we’ve had, you bet my Mustang will be at Santa Pod at the next opportunity.

Author: Charlie Fuller

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