Congratulations to Beverly ‘Bev’ Bradbury, BDRHoF General Secretary, Treasurer and Director in accepting the prestigious Peter Crane ‘Spirit of 76’ Award during last Sunday’s Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway – a secret revealed to many but not until the last minute to Bev!
Bev first encountered the sport of Drag Racing when she met her future husband, Stuart Bradbury, in the late 1970s. At the time, ‘Stu’ was Chief Starter at Santa Pod Raceway. He had continued an involvement in the sport when, in 2006, the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame was established. Stu served as the organisation’s Founding Chairman and Bev aided and supported him.
Bev’s role in the Hall of Fame became more central in 2014 when fresh funding allowed the organisation to stage its first fully independent Gala Awards Dinner. With a lifelong interest in food, drink, and cooking, she assumed immediate responsibility for creating and developing the Gala menu, the beating heart of the occasion.
Her position was formalised with the Hall of Fame’s incorporation as a limited company in 2016 when she was appointed a director. The company’s five directors, who serve in a voluntary capacity, pro bono, exercise specific areas of responsibility, and Bev’s role has expanded significantly after the death of her husband in 2020.
Her role as the primary liaison with the Gala venue extends to all aspects of the Gala organisation, with vital catering arrangements still at the forefront. Bev also manages the booking system for the occasion. In addition, she serves as the company’s general secretary and treasurer, maintaining the records of its income and expenditure.
UK Drag Racing’s world extends beyond the limits of the racetrack, and over two decades the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and its activities have developed into a fixture on the sport’s calendar. For more than half a decade, Bev Bradbury has performed an essential role at the core of that development. Once a peripheral presence in the sport via her late husband, she has risen to become a figure of individual significance in her own right on drag racing’s broader landscape.
And that’s not all. Bev’s day was made even more special with a passenger ride with Santa Pod track announcer Colin Theobald in his ‘69 Camaro SS ‘Bruce’. Unbelievably Bev had never been down the track in the 45 years she had been coming to Santa Pod. But saving the best till last Colin and ‘Bruce’ delivered in every way possible – the quickest passenger ride the Camaro has ever run with a fantastic 11.4968/118.25mph, leaving a memory that we very much doubt will ever fade.
The Peter Crane award was presented to Bev on Sunday afternoon in the Historic Marquee by Peter himself. Bev now joins previous recipients who include the late Stuart Bradbury, founding chairman of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Wild Bunch administrator Claire Meaddows [2017], author, photojournalist and commentator Keith Lee [2018], Wild Bunch and Supercharged Outlaw founder and racer Roy Wilding [2019], photojournalist and Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association founding member and team owner Lawrie Gatehouse [2021], British Drag Racing Historian and hot rodding enthusiast Nick Pettitt [2022], Original Hot Rod Drags Team [2023], and last year Lesley Wright, Chair of The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.
The award was devised and founded in 2016 by Peter, who is a legend of UK Drag Racing for his own outstanding achievements at the 1976 10th anniversary Internationals at Santa Pod (hence the ‘Spirit of 76’ name). He ran the first 5-second pass (5.97s) outside America with the Crane & Edmondson Top Fuel Dragster ‘Stormbringer’ and beat visiting American legend ‘Big Daddy’ Don Garlits during eliminations. The ‘Spirit of 76’ Award exists to acknowledge those involved in any aspect of Nostalgia racing, from racers to administrators, crew members and any others involved in running or shaping the Nostalgia racing scene. The award is presented in association with Santa Pod Raceway.
Photos: Jerry Cookson