AutoSport International is a show that holds a very special place in the history of Carter Motorsport. We have launched cars for 1st National, B&Q and Lucas Oil, introduced thousands of people to the sport, formed long lasting partnerships with many associate sponsors and met many new faces who have become friends over the years. So arriving at the NEC Birmingham this year not only as FIA European Champions but also arriving with a brand new book that captures all that history made it a little bit more special.

"King Of Europe" by Andy Carter and Dan Welberry is a detailed account of Andy's career from Top Fuel rookie to 3 time FIA Champion. The lavishly illustrated, and very heavy book, was due to be launched at this years Autosport Show and we couldn't wait to find out what the reaction would be to the 12 month long project that has taken up countless hours. At exactly 2pm the first copy of "King Of Europe" was sold to an excited young fan. With Dan Welberry and Andy Carter on signing duties we had soon sold dozens of copies. The compliments came flooding in as Andy and Dan realised all the hard work had paid off and they had created a book that captures an amazing journey through the sport and that will soon become a fixture on the book shelf of drag fans throughout the world.

The weekend flew by as the Lucas Oil team spent time catching up with dedicated drag racing fans and talking to those who had never seen the sport before. The sensory overload that is Top Fuel drag racing is never easy to explain at a show but as always the teams sheer enthusiasm and vivid descriptions of the ground shaking passes will certainty attract new faces to the track this year.

Thank you to all of our sponsors for your support. Thank you to Lucas Oils UK for their help throughout the weekend and to Pioneer Print for the superb fliers and posters that they produced for us.

Thank you to the Santa Pod team, David lloyd Jones, Kelly, Debbie, Darren, James, Rick, for another fantastic weekend! Thank you to everyone who came to see us at Autosport 2009 - see you at the track!

Your team at Autosport International 2009 were Andy Carter, Dan Welberry, Hannah Welberry, Rich 'The Las Vegas Kid' Bruton, Ian 'The Lion' Jones, Stu Bradbury, Dave Whiffin, Phil Cottingham and Gary Cottingham.

Gary Cottingham
Carter Motorsport

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