Stu Bradbury
Few personalities in British drag racing are as well-known and respected as Stu Bradbury. For years he served as Chief Starter at Santa Pod Raceway and subsequently became Founding Chairman of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, which has since achieved international acclaim. He discovered drag racing in 1964, not at one of Sydney Allard’s International Drag Festival events, but at a famous stately home, Woburn Abbey. Performing in a pop group at a function there, he stumbled across a display organized by the British Hot Rod Association (BHRA), then a sparse group of enthusiasts with a dream of organized drag racing in the UK. The hot rods and dragsters on display struck a cord with Stu and he joined the club a move that was the beginning of a love affair with drag racing that has lasted over fifty years.
In 1965, Stu and his parents provided accommodation to BHRA club chairman, John Bennett while a permanent drag strip was being developed at Podington aerodrome, a disused wartime base located near Stu’s Wellingborough home. Stu himself actually lent a physical hand in building Europe’s first permanent drag racing venue, Santa Pod Raceway.
Stu spent many non-race weekends digging, painting and other wise helping with its building and Santa Pod Raceway opened its doors in 1966. Stu’s first race day job was crowd control. The following year he was promoted to Deputy Starter and then Chief Starter in 1968. Stu encountered his first American racer when the American Commandos’ team visited Santa Pod in 1966 with Scandinavian, Dutch and even South African entrants following soon. Stu controlled the starting line when Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy brought over their Funny Cars in 1973 and when Don Garlits made his historic appearances in 1976 and 1977. He was also the main man when other American racers such as Tony Nancy, Raymond Beadle and Don Prudhomme made their appearances.
Stu also spent time in America learning more about how the sport was promoted here, even spending time on the starting line at some NHRA events with Buster Couch teaching him some tricks. Stu quit as Chief Starter in 1990 to join with John Woolfe Racing in an attempt to develop Long Marton Airfield into an NHRA sanctioned track. While local planners thwarted the full plans, the track is there today as Shakespeare County Raceway. Stu also joined UK parts supplier, US Automotive, on its launch and assisted Top Fuel Dragster star Andy Carter build his team.
In 2005, Stu and several colleagues founded the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame which has been his chief focus since its founding. He was also a prime mover behind the restoration of Sydney Allard’s 1961 Allard Chrysler, and he continued to lend support to Santa Pod’s Dragstalgia events, now Europe’s premier nostalgia drag racing event
In 1971, Stu was inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.