Drag Illustrated Issue 153, February 2020 | Page 78
A
decade ago when Pro Mod
star Quain Stott decided to
launch the Southeast Gassers
Association, he searched high
and low for enough cars to
have an introductory race,
but his guidelines were so
strict, he was only able to
come up with a grand total
of six cars (plus his own) within a 300-
400-mile radius to put on a show at a local
eighth-mile track.
To say this organization has grown since
then would be a vast understatement. Ten
seasons later there have been as many as
115 unique cars show up in a single season,
with 81 cars at a single event and many more
expected in 2020. “There are 24 cars being
built right now – that I know about – which
are nearing completion and will be racing
with us in 2020,” Stott says.
Amazingly, there’s even a racer in Swe-
den who’s building a car specifically for the
Southeast Gassers program. “He’s gonna
have the car shipped to his place in Alabama,
then fly over and race in four or five of our
events in 2020,” Stott adds.
What’s more, the series started out with
every racer competing in a single class: A/
Gas. But as car count soared, B/Gas and
C/Gas were eventually added, along with
Super Stock most recently. Racers have
towed from as far away as Florida and Ar-
izona to compete in various events. Each
class is heads-up, with every entry being
a manually-shifted vehicle that utilizes a
clutch. “These cars take talent to drive and
the spectators notice and appreciate that,”
Stott says.
Exactly how fast these cars are traveling
when they cross the finish line is left com-
pletely up to the imagination since no times
are displayed. “They didn’t have scoreboards
in the 1960s, so neither do we!” laughs Stott.
Fans are turning out in masses to see
the bumper-dragging antics of this series,
where tagging the guardrail is certainly not
encouraged, but it is allowed! “If they hit
the guardrail they’re not disqualified, so if
they want to grab another gear and keep
racing toward the finish line they’re allowed
to do so – just don’t cross the centerline!”
cautions Stott.
Not only has this organization captured
the imagination of both racers and fans,
Stott was completely floored when he was
recently contacted by the Mattel toy com-
pany, expressing their interest in launching
an official Southeast Gassers line of Hot
Wheels. “Never in my wildest dreams did I
ever expect that, but we signed a contract
with Mattel and the cars will be out this
coming March,” Stott confirms.
The 2020 race season promises to be the
most exciting to date, as the 11-race sched-
ule kicks off March 21 at Emerald Coast
Dragway in Holt, Florida.
DI DI DI
MOONSHOT: DRIVEN BY SAM GABLE
A look at the
popular gassers
tearing up
dragstrips across
the Southeast
DIXIE TWISTER: DRIVEN BY ROCKY PLATT
BY VAN ABERNETHY
OF THE
OL DIRTY BASTARD: DRIVEN BY JUSTIN MOSES
AGENT ORANGE: DRIVEN BY DEAN JONAS
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
78 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 153