Santa Pod Raceway, Drag Strip

Santa Pod Raceway, near the villages of Podington and Hinwick in Bedfordshire, was Europe's first permanent drag-racing venue, laid out on the runway of the disused wartime airbase RAF Podington, previously home to the USAAF's 92nd Bomb Group. Permission to use the site for drag racing was granted in 1966 and the strip opened that Easter, its name combining the Californian Santa Ana Drags with the local village of Podington. The venue is now the home of European drag racing, hosting both the opening and closing rounds of the FIA and FIM Europe championships alongside the British National Drag Racing Championships, and it also runs 'Run What You Brung' sessions that let licensed drivers test their own road cars on the strip. Its quarter-mile main strip, resurfaced in concrete over the winter of 2017-18 for more consistent times, has seen landmark runs including Sammy Miller's 3.58-second rocket funny car pass in 1984, and the site also hosts a shorter eighth-mile configuration for amateur and test days. Beyond drag racing, Santa Pod runs a packed calendar of car shows and festivals, including the Bug Jam weekend it has staged annually since 1987, plus firework and Christmas events; its 2026 calendar marks the sixtieth anniversary of the venue's opening.

Organised by: Santa Pod Raceway Ltd

Also known as: The Pod, RAF Podington