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Even if not exactly local "Santa Pod is my
home track" says Stockholm resident Pelle.
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"Everything creates that special feeling"
- as does a capacity crowd under nitro-laden skies.
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Situated less than 100 miles from the
Arctic Circle, Piteå has a unique
quality.
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"It's my favourite track in Sweden" and
its midnight sun a source of amazement to all who have been there.
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Hockenheim's infamous Saturday night
racing is another never-to-be-forgotten experience says Pelle.
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After playing in the same group they
formed at school 40 years ago, Pelle and his pals finally agreed on a name in
2004 - 'Tuesday'.
"Now there's no excuse for forgetting which night is band
practice!"
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Gunnar and Leif Hamberg (black cap)
assisting Dan Söderberg (white T-shirt)
on Monica Öberg's T/F at Mantorp, 2004.
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Pelle and Pia in 1972.
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P & G "would never have been half as
good" without Gary Burgin. The maestro being interviewed by Diamond P, Japan
1994.
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Gunnar and Janne Rosqvist, who made those
early Renault days such fun.
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Jerry Gwynn flanked by P & G Racing
1986. Savena boss and all-round super guy Rolf "Ludde" Lundell is second from
the left.
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Gunnar and Pelle's joint 50th birthday
celebrations. P & G Racing might be over, but they've given us some
great memories.
We'll drink to that!
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CONCLUSION
The Acceleration Archive: Looking back over your long career, have you any favourite places that you have raced?
Pelle Lindelöw: Santa Pod is my home track, I've planted more rubber there than anywhere else. The fans, the non-existent (until recent years) facilities, the deadly smell in September when the farmers spray their stuff all over the Northamptonshire countryside, the number of cars, everything creates
that very special feeling. Every time we left we said to each other "never again". But a couple of weeks later, that was forgotten and we were planning for the next trip. That's not by coincidence; I have always felt welcome there. In the beginning there were Roy and Bob Phelps (the original owners of SPR) - they were always good with us . Sure, when we got to the front of the queue to get paid, they’d always give us some story about how the crowd numbers were down and
they hadn’t made as much money as they had expected but we’d always say “And if the crowd numbers were better than expected, were you going to pay us more money?” They always paid up. And of course today it’s Keith Bartlett, not forgetting Kjelle Pettersson, they have really done good things at Santa Pod. Yes, some of our greatest racing moments have taken place at the Pod. Add to that some of the wildest parties I've ever been part of were at the Hind Hotel. There’s a lifetime
of memories from Santa Pod.
Piteå is my favourite track in Sweden. It’s exotic because of the landscape and because of the midnight sun. I can tell you dozens of stories about Americans who have come to Pitea. Like Harlan Thompson in ’82, some of his guys said “Let’s work on the funny car until it gets dark, then we’ll go back to the hotel.” We tried not to laugh, but we imagined Harlan's guys working and working on the car, wondering when the sun was going to go down. They would have been there all night but we
had not the heart to leave them in the pits waiting for the sunset! Also Jerry Gwynn and Keith Bartlett were amazed by the ‘midnight sun’. They had heard of it but you have to experience it.
But I also have bad memories about racing there. At the Swedish Fuel Championships in 1988 our long time friend Lee-Anders Hasselström was killed on the Friday when his Funny Car caught fire. I was probably the last person talking to him as we were standing side by side in the staging lanes. We were supposed to race each other but just as we were going to start our car up Bosse discovered that we needed to add some air in the rear tires and I remember shouting to Lee-Anders he had to go alone
and we‘d see him later . . . we never did. On the Sunday we match raced Monica Öberg and I beat her twice, and lowered the European record in the process. But after Friday’s tragedy I couldn’t celebrate and on the way back to Stockholm I was a victim of "mixed emotions", to say the least.
Mantorp after Santa Pod, is our most frequented race track. We have never (with very few exceptions) been successful there. Don't know what is, but we did never get along, Mantorp and I.
And apart from Japan I have to mention Hockenheim. I have to say of all our experiences, the night race on the Saturday is absolutely unbelievable. Everyone had told us about the noise from the grandstands in the dark, but I could not believe it. I was stood on the start line trying to talk to Viveca Averstedt and I was having to shout in her ear. Not because of the racing but the noise from the crowd was so loud. They were screaming and shouting. I was not too happy about
racing in the dark, and I shut down early because I could not see where the finish-line was. But as I was waiting in the dark in the shutdown area to be picked up I could still hear the crowd half a mile away roaring louder than the cars. It was amazing.
AA: So are you happy to be retired, to be just spectators?
Gunnar: It’s a lot cheaper!
PL: Less work.
Gunnar: Less problems.
PL: We can leave after the last run.
In all our years of racing we can count every occasion we have managed to get back to the hotel for a proper night’s sleep - because they are so few. Usually we would get two hours sleep, grab some breakfast and then back to the track. It’s a lot of hard work.
AA: And life goes on outside of drag racing.
PL: Of course. I might be a grandfather now but I’m busier than ever (Pelle works for TNT as Global Account Manager for Ericsson). It would be hard to find the time to campaign a race car even if we wanted to.
When I do have time I still play in the same band we formed 40 years ago as school boys. And Gunnar is restoring a ’34 Ford when he’s not busy with work and family.
AA: And of course you are both still involved with drag racing.
PL: Indeed. Gunnar works with Dan Söderberg on Monica Öberg’s Top Fueller whenever he’s asked - as do other ex-P&G members Leif Hamberg and Sören Isaksson, and I do some ‘colour commentary’ at the races whenever I’m asked.
AA: And how about some thank you’s to all the other P&G team members over the years?
PL: Well first and foremost Gunnar and I have to thank our respective wives, Suzanne and Pia. We could never have done this without their support. Our families have run parallel lives for almost 30 years; we bought houses at the same time, had kids at the same time. Even if Pia and Suzanne
haven’t always accepted our other commitment (to drag racing) we hope we can make up for it now we have more home time.
Then we have to mention Gary Burgin. P & G Racing would never have been half as good without the support and knowledge from our ‘teacher’.
He was so keen to learn everything about what made Europeans tick and adapt to our culture. We even managed to teach him how to make a decent coffee - but that was nothing compared to what we learnt from him.
A great guy.
And we have to thank some of our friends back when we began. Janne Rosqvist and his brothers Arne and Berra. Janne made our Renault days such fun, and was always so positive - no better way to start P & G Racing. Then came Gunnar “Dalarna” Öhman. With his verbal skills we got our first sponsors, getting us money, parts and paint for the gas dragster. I remember at one race we only had 40 Kroner between us and Dalarna went shopping for food. He came back with a six-pack
of beer and some ginger cakes! We sent him away again, and then he came back with free coffee and sandwiches because he told the shop-keeper we were broke and starving. It’s hard to find characters like that today.
When we went Top Fuel we had a lot of help from Lasse “The Oil Can” Wåhlander. Lasse was our first ‘diver’ and the only guy I know who could fall asleep under the pan of a Top Fuel dragster. It’s also how he got his nick-name.
At the same time Janne Carlsson joined our team and stayed with us all the way to the end. I can’t emphasize Janne’s importance enough. He was our first crew chief. Today he is restoring cars and is happy to be retired from drag racing. Also back then we had Ulf “Uffe” ”Hot Dog” Schill join us. He always worked on the right side of the motor - the wet side if it’s raining and your awning is narrow! Hot Dog and I had been class mates when we were learning car mechanics at school.
We then ran into each other 6 years later when he turned up at Mantorp with his slingshot. In our latter years he was our Assistant Crew Chief. Now he crews for Micke Kågered - and with his years on fuel engines, he’s a huge asset to any team.
Can I keep going?
AA: The floor’s all yours…
PL: Okay. So I have to mention my cousin Bosse Söderkvist. He’s a lot younger than me, so we had to wait until his parents allowed him to join us full time. When he did we made him our new ‘diver’. He is such a handful. Always the last one to bed and the last one up in the morning.
But he is such fun. Blasting out Rolling Stones and Little Steven at Piteå, promising our pit neighbours to turn the music off when the sun went down. If you need a ‘diver’ and want a million laughs then call Bosse - he is available!
Leif Hamberg - another ‘diver’ but so quick and efficient. Leif also runs a machine shop so he was invaluable to us sorting out all our parts that needed work. But never ask Leif to do your BBQ – unless you want your food black. Leif is never fussy about what he eats but to say he likes his food well-done would be an understatement. Unlike Benjamin Wahlström, our welder and chef supreme. Benjamin even gave us a menu and would plan our pit meals weeks in advance. Breakfast,
lunch, afternoon snacks, dinner, dessert and even wine, other teams had gone to bed and we were still eating!
Then I have to mention Sören Isaksson. He’s a die-hard drag fan who had been coming to the races for years without making himself known. When we bought a trailer from Knut in 1994 we asked Sören to give us a quote for building a lounge into the trailer. Sören said he’d do it for free if he could join the team, so suddenly we had a new member. And when we learnt he loved driving our truck, then I knew I had a new friend as we had worn out all our other drivers.
And I can’t finish without thanking all our sponsors over the years. Clarion and Ralph Grill. It was so good to have a super sponsor who was so motorsports orientated. SAVENA and Rolf "Ludde" Lundell. What else can you say about a guy who watches you blow up your last motor and then says “Buy yourself a new one, and send me the bill.” He was behind us 110%. Red Line Oil and Bert Jareblom – honestly the best oil we ever used. We know the deal wasn’t easy for
Bert but I hope we gave him the pay back he deserved. Södra Förnicklingen, GIRO Vent, NGK, Kamasa, Dynapac, TNT, Flightcase of Sweden - the list is endless of companies that supported P & G Racing. Thanks to you all!
But finally I have to thank Gunnar. I think the reason we achieved such a long lasting partnership is we compliment each other so well. Gunnar is an engineer, a planner and a thinker. He saved us so much money looking after our race cars and repairing parts that others would have just thrown away.
Me? I’m just the talker and the driver…
AA: But you do it so well, and there’d have been no interview without you.
PL: It’s been a pleasure. I hope everyone enjoys reading it.
© Andy Barrack 2005
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