The drivers from NASA Class 8, shown below, will be taking part in both the main daytime Live Action shows and the Oval Racing Spectaculars, the race meetings held in the Autosport Live Action Arena on Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 4.15pm, for Class 7 click here and for the Juniors click here.

CLASS 8

ARC4 – Phil Cooper – Burtonwood, Cheshire
Abram Racing Club

The Live Arena wouldn’t be complete without an appearance by Phil Cooper, who three years ago set the World Indoor Speed Record at the NEC with his B&J Lexus-powered Class 9 Special. During 2009 Phil finally achieved his ambition and become Class 9 National Champion (nine years after winning the Junior title) but his main focus during the year was the development of the RaDe chassis, the first serious Autograss challenger from Northamptonshire based engineer Ian Littler, hitherto better known for building World Rally Cars. The new cars proved instantly successful and on a number of occasions Phil was struggling to decide which of his two winning cars to take out in the champion of Champions race!

NS55 – Geoff Berrisford – Wybunbury, Cheshire
North Shropshire Autograss Club

A legend in Autograss racing, GB has been arguably the sport’s most consistently successful car constructor over the past twenty years. The reputation of his engineering is such that the vast majority of home built Specials and modified saloons are constructed around Berrisford components, while GB’s ingenious drive boxes are fundamental to the design of most bike-engined grassers. His success as a driver has been enormous too, with four National championships to his name in Classes 9 and 10. No longer quite as spectacularly sideways as he tended to be in the 1990s, Geoff’s racecraft still makes him hard to beat.

NW60 – Kenny Roberts – Bala, Gwynedd
North Wales Autograss Club

Kenny made his name racing with the sadly now defunct Bala club in mid-Wales, and had something of a reputation as one of the most spectacular drivers of the Class 9 Specials. Among Kenny’s claims to fame was being the first driver to switch successfully from the old Ford Pinto engines to the Vauxhall 16 valve unit that later came to dominate the class. After being so strongly identified with the 9s, Kenny made a surprise switch at the end of 2008 to his current ARD Class 8 machine, and performed strongly in the smaller class throughout 2009.

R1 – Lee Waldron – Suckley, Worcestershire
Radford Autograss Club

The son of Class 7 man Paul Waldron, Lee’s a highly experienced driver in his own right. He was a leading contender in Juniors and Class 1 before a few seasons pedalling an extremely quick Class 4 Mini. Since moving into open wheel racing he’s been a consistent front runner in the Class 8s, and in 2009 bounced back from en extremely bruising airborne accident at the 2008 Nationals. He’s also a sought after car constructor, in partnership with Paul, but for 2009 he was at the wheel of an Xtreme chassis with Powertec Hayabusa power.

ST44 – Dan Mackenzie – Manea, Cambridgeshire
Sturton & Stow Motor Sports Club

The oldest of the third generation Mackenzie racers established himself as a top Class 8 contender over the 2007 and 2008 seasons, after graduating from the Juniors. It took him a while to get his new-for-2009 car sorted, but the results started to come again towards the end of the year, including a third place at the Fastest Man on Grass. For 2010 Dan should be armed with a new ARD car, which is expected to make its debut at the NEC. Working for leading bike engine tuners Powertec means he’s well looked after on the engine front, and you can expect to see some spectacular flame-throwing performances in the Arena.

Y34 – Mark Grice – Elvington, York
York Autograss Club

Known to his friends (and everyone in grassing is his friend!) as “Blobby”, Mark had a rather unspectacular career as a Junior and Class 1 Mini racer and never enjoyed the same success as his sister Nicola. But as soon as he stepped into a Class 8 Special, he’d found his true vocation and he’s never looked back.  On his day (it’s not always his day) he’s usually been unbeatable, although it wasn’t until he diversified into father Les’ Class 5 machine that Blobby became National Champion in 2008, repeating the feat in 2009. Back in Class 8, during 2009 he joined his friend Phil Cooper in developing the RaDe chassis, which proved an instant success for Blobby as well as Phil.

National Autograss Sports Association
www.national-autograss.co.uk