THERE will be fast and furious quarter-mile doorslammer action this weekend when Stratford-upon-Avon's Shakespeare County Raceway thunders into life for the Mid-Summer Nationals.

Among the headliners competing at the Obsession Motorsports organised race are the Super Modified racers whose huge smoky burn-outs and wheels-up launches are quickly endearing them to a new league of fans.

Rob Smallworth, a former street racer, recently brought the house down with a stunning 7.88 second quarter-mile dash at 174 mph in his nitrous powered big block Chevy '55 Bel Air, setting a new track record in the process only for Dan Cockerill to take it out of his hands two minutes later with an equally stunning 7.79 at 179 mph in his 800 bhp Rover 220 Coupe.

Also featuring this weekend is a round of the Custom Car Street Eliminator series for road legal street cars. Additionally, close to 200 amateur drag racers will be competing in a variety of sportsman eliminations for round two of the Super Series and round four of the National Championship.

Racer parking begins tomorrow with qualifying for all classes on Saturday 10am and final eliminations on Sunday from 11am.

Admission to the Super Series Mid-Summer Nationals is £15 (Saturday), £18 (Sunday) and £25 for a full weekend pass. Ticket information from Obsession Motorsports on 01483 236262.

They're back. This month's round two of the highly acclaimed Super Series Drag Racing Championship for Sportsman racers will echo to the thunderous sounds of the European Top Gas series of races for four-stroke twin cylinder drag bikes at the tracks Mid-Summer Nationals, round three of the bikers whirlwind European tour.

Machines range from the exotic supercharged 'Zippers/Harley' of former champion and Shakespeare County track record holder Job Heezen from Holland (8.154s@166 mph), the turbocharged Ducati of Germany's Herman Jolink, and current European champion, Italy's Riccardo Gilliberto also Harley mounted, will be making the trip to the UK.

The dedication of these racers is phenomenal. They build state-of-the-art bikes that rival anything in America to put on a truly professional show.

Expect an entry of between eight to 12 bikes this weekend but don't be surprised if the bump spot - the slowest bike to qualify - is in the eight second bracket. That's no mean feat for two cylinder gulping vast amounts of pumped gas!

With their slick professional appearance and impressive on track performances, the European Top Gas Association has voted the rounds at Long Marston as the best of the series.

The venue has been chosen as a round of the European Champion-ships on three separate occasions. Every time the tour rolls through the gates the racing has been an instant hit with the racers and fans