Oct 2025 • By Tony Thacker
Presented by MicksPaint.com & FirstUpApparel.com

It’s impossible to say no when somebody throws down the challenge of shipping your barn find hot rod from the U.S. to Europe to race in a few events. Shipping cars overseas is no longer cheap or easy but thanks to John Reid and the folks at Kingstown Shipping we managed to get my Lil’ Shitter to England after it had been prepped by Jay Dean at Nostalgia Ranch.

To get the good rate, the car shipped early and sat at I.C.E. Automotive Racing Engines in the UK until I could pick it up and head to Denmark and the Rømø Motor Festival—my first of three races. Driving Clive Prew’s ’55 Pontiac Stromberg Demonstrator wagon, I tagged along with McLaren F1 designer Peter Stevens, artist Stefan Marjoram and Brit rodders Phil Wells and Jamie Taylor driving Phil’s banger-powered ’23 T.

Danish beach racing began in 1919, when Sven Simmelkjær organized the first event but only after the Fanø beach had been cleared of World War I mines. In 1923, driving his ‘Bluebird,’ Sir Malcolm Campbell set the fastest time to date of 240 kph. Sadly, the following year a spectator was killed when Campbell blew a tire. And that was the end of racing until its 2016 revival by Thomas Toft Bredahl, Carsten Bech, Steffen Sonnberg, Finn Andresen and Holger Sonnberg on another, even more expansive beach just south of Fanø on the west coast of Denmark.

Stefan Marjoram illustrated the event

Stefan tries to get warm

On the road to Rømø

The 9th annual Rømø Motor Festival attracted more than 30,000 people from all over Europe for what is essentially a one-day event. However, attendees make a vacation of it enjoying the beautiful Danish islands. Denmark is Legoland, of course, known for cutting-edge design but out on the west coast facing the North Sea and bleak Britain, it’s a step back to simpler times where there is no trash and the people are trusting and friendly.

The sound of engines cracking into uncorked life woke us on race day accompanied by the sound of rain which thankfully cleared as we convoyed in the pre-dawn light to the beach. There’s only one causeway from the mainland out to Rømø and Lakolk Strand (the beach) and you can imagine with thousands of people arriving from all over Europe in American cars, trucks and trailers the two-lane causeway gets crowded as do the few narrow roads leading to the beach but somehow everybody arrives and leaves with minimum hassle.

The race is actually held on a public road albeit on the beach so there is no entry fee for the public, that’s right, the spectators pay nothing to see the 1/8-mile sand drags. Because it’s a public road, the organizers don’t have pre-event access and set-up cannot begin before 5 am on race day and, at the end, everything has to be returned to the way it was. Racing, therefore, does not begin until a civilized 10 am. With little official presence most of the race cars were driven onto the beach and lined up behind the start. There really aren’t any groupings—besides cars and motorcycles—you just choose off who you want to race and go for it.

Stromberg Demonstrator

In line to make a run

Phil Wells in his '23 T

Sönke Becker in his ’29 Auburn speedster

Phil takes off down the course

Losing to Mari Lindblom

I got in line and found myself dwarfed by Sönke Becker’s giant ’29 Auburn speedster. I thought I was dead in the water but as Lil’s Shitter leapt off I could see Sönke disappearing in my rear view. It was a gratifying win but my glory was short lived as I lost the next three races before just winning my final race against fellow Brit Phil Wells with a speed of 77.78 kph to Phil’s 77.3 kph.

Racing in the Rømø Motor Festival was everything I had hoped it would be from the fun of the road trip getting there and home to the competence and friendliness of organizers Carston, Thomas, and their team including the energetic flag starters.