Welcome to Santa Pod for the Easter Thunderball where Andy Carter is looking to win to Pro Fuel Shootout for the third time.

Welcome to Santa Pod Raceway, England where the Lucas Oil Top Fuel team are preparing for the Easter Thunderball and the Pro Fuel Shootout. It’s been a busy winter for the Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing team but we can’t wait to make our first pass of 2008!

The dragster arrived at the track yesterday and last night and this morning have been spent preparing the pit area for the weekend. Over the winter some mandatory modifications were made to the cockpit, Andy had his final fitting in the new cockpit today.

If you are coming to the track this week – wrap up warm – its very cold! If you can't make it then please tune in throughout the weekend for updates direct from the Lucas Oil pit - only at www.andycarter.net.

We have had heavy snow showers here at Santa Pod all morning. In between the showers the track crew have been valiantly trying to dry the track. Tentative plans have been made to run at 3pm but that will depend on whether we receive any more snow.

The snow showers continued this afternoon and the decision was taken around 3pm to cancel racing for today... we'll try again tomorrow!

The Easter Thunderball is an event the crew have been looking forward to all winter, and to loose the first day to the weather is always disappointing. However looking at the weather forecast we are confident that we will be able to make some passes before the weekend is out.

This afternoon Andy Carter participated in an autograph session for the quite sizable number of hardy fans at Santa Pod. This evening the whole Lucas Oil team took a couple of hours away from the track and went bowling in Wellingborough. The first game was won by crew chief Per and the second game by clutch technician Markus. The highly competitive games were great fun and helped to strengthen the already strong bond between the crew.

Tune back tomorrow for more news from the pits!

The snow started falling again at around 5am this morning - there is now a couple of inches of snow on the track. The snow has stopped falling now, and looking at the forecast no more is predicted until 2pm. We are going to find somewhere warm – we'll be back with more news later.

With more snow forecast and a very wet and cold track the decision has been made to cancel racing for today. The weather forecast for tomorrow is much better – still cold but no snow so we are hoping to be able to run. Andy Carter would like to say hello to all of the fans and sponsors that are tuned in today – we'll bring you more news first thing tomorrow morning.

Welcome back to Santa Pod. The weather is looking a little more promising than it has done the past 2 days. The track is currently being prepared and Pro ET has just been called to the staging lanes. The Pro Fuel Shootout has been scheduled to run at 10:30am and 2pm with the final later this afternoon.

Andy would like to say thanks to all the staff at Santa Pod Raceway, the efforts to keep this event going have been fantastic!

The Lucas Oil Dragster is out the trailer again and is being prepared for a warm up within the next hour. Conditions are far from ideal for an 8,000 bhp nitro engine with the temperature barely 1 degree above freezing, but we will keep you informed.

The Lucas Oil dragster was towed down to the staging lanes about 11am – just as we got there snow started to fall. The track crew once again did a fantastic job and we were running again 45mins later. In the staging lanes we were told the Pro Fuel Shootout would be run over the 1/8th mile only. Andy was strapped in and we all waited – hoping the snow would stay away. It did – Andy was on a single and pulled a long burnout. The car launched real hard – 0.863 seconds to 60ft – the car started to shake, Andy pedalled and then pedalled again about 300ft. Andy clicked off just after the 1/8th mile and coasted down the track. 3.6033 flashed up on the scoreboard to put the Lucas Oil team in the number one position!

The full standings from the session are:

1. Andy Carter – 3.6033
2. Lex Joon – 3.7051
3. Jari Halinen – 3.9557
4. Torsten Risdal – 4.0038

The crew are currently servicing the car ready for another run. At the moment we are not sure whether there will be another qualifying session or whether we will head straight to the final.

The next pass for the Lucas Oil dragster was the second qualifying pass and was again run over the 1/8th mile. Andy was paired against Jari Halinen. Andy pulled a red light and then the car went straight into tyre smoke, Andy tried to peddle the car but it would not stick and the car rolled to a 8.0449. Jari in the other lane ran a 3.5201. At this stage we did not know whether we had made the final or not – it all depended on how Lex Joon ran. On the tow back from the top end we heard on Nitro FM that Lex had run a 4.090 meaning we would not be in the final.

We will be running in the 3rd and 4th place run-off – scheduled for around 6pm.

There was another small flurry of snow which delayed the running of the finals. It was getting quite dark by the time Andy Carter pulled alongside Gordon Smith in the nitro funny car for the third / fourth place run off. It was dark and very cold but it was well worth the wait. Another very strong launch considering the conditions, 0.8561 seconds to 60ft, then a real pedal fest – Andy was on and off the pedal several times – wing high header flames at each hit of the throttle. Gordon gave it a pedal in the other lane but Andy crossed the line first 4.288 seconds at 172mph. Third place in the Pro Fuel Shootout goes to Andy Carter and the Andersen Racing / Carter Motorsport team!

When we got to the top end Andy was very happy, “That was great fun – pedalling in the dark, brilliant!” said Andy. When we got back to the pit the crew were just as happy with the run – seeing the car go like that in the dark and cold made a very frustrating weekend worthwhile.

It must be said that the crew have worked fantastically well this weekend. Waiting for three days in very cold weather to make your first pass is both mentally and physically draining. However when the chance to run came the crew worked just as fast and as accurately as they do in the more warmer conditions that they are used to.

We must also say a big thank you to everyone at Santa Pod, from the track crew, to the gate staff, to the security staff, to the caterers – everyone worked incredibly hard in tough conditions to allow us to run. There were several times this weekend when they could have given up but instead they worked fantastically hard to complete a meeting that will be talked about for a long time to come.

Our next show appearance will be at the AACI Spring Nationals, Billing Aquadrome on 18th April to 20th April 2008 – if you are in the area please come and see us at what is always a very good show for American car enthusiasts. Our next race is the FIA Main Event, Santa Pod on 23rd May to 26th May 2008 – as always the Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing camp is very positive and we are really looking forward to starting our 2008 campaign. Rest assured, preparations will begin first thing tommorrow morning and we will be ready to take on the best Europe has to offer.

Thank you for tuning in this weekend, we hope you have enjoyed the coverage. We would also like to thank our associate sponsors: Landmeco, NGK Spark Plugs, Binamic, Pioneer Print, Crane Cams, K&N Filters, Yuasa Batteries, BMRS, Sigma Signs, Antiqus-2000, Rainbow Conference Sets, 3T Creative, Norfolkline Ferriers, RCS Cables, Teng Tools, CAAR, Autotel, Jerrys, USA Autodele and AACI.