SOUTHEAST GASSERS
FRIENDS GATHER ‘ ROUND AND SHARE PLENTY OF LAUGHS WHILE TUNING THEIR CARS FOR COMPETITION . THE SEGA SERIES CURRENTLY HAS FOUR MAIN EVENT CLASSES , ALONG WITH H / GAS AND A / FX , WHICH WILL LIKELY BECOME OFFICIAL CLASSES IF PARTICIPATION CONTINUES TO RISE .
with me and Greg Porter match racing ,” recalls Stott .
There was some apparent interest in expanding it into something more , but Stott ’ s vision was far too “ period correct ” for most people to embrace , and many tried explaining to him that there was no way people were going to go to this much trouble to build a car “ wrong ” on purpose ! Stott ’ s idea of an authentic gasser series was to build and race automobiles using the exact technology that was available , say , more than a half-century ago !
When people got a look at the rulebook for this proposed series , they thought Stott had lost his mind . When it came time for the first race – which took roughly 6-8 months in the planning stages – Stott even wondered how many period correct gassers existed within a 400-mile radius ... and would they even want to race them , he wondered ?
A grand total of seven cars ( one of which belonged to Stott ) showed up at Greer Dragway for the inaugural event 12 years ago . Stott instantly realized the whole deal had potential , but he was
determined that the newly-formed Southeast Gasser Association was in no way going to evolve into just another group where an antique body is draped over a modern chassis and the word “ gasser ” is proudly presented with a completely straight face .
Regardless of the pushback , Stott was resolved to enforce the strictest nostalgia series in the world , with a successful portrayal of a weight-tocubic-inch , heads-up eliminator , all while driving shockingly fast race cars equipped with 4-speed , manually-shifted transmissions . And for added
mystique and mischief , he decided to turn off the scoreboards , leaving much to the imagination for those in the stands . People began showing up in droves and also staying late .
“ I think that ’ s why the bleachers are still full at the end of the day , and if you go up and ask the fans who they think is gonna win , they don ’ t have a clue ,” smiles Stott , and that ’ s the way he likes it . “ If you sit and watch qualifying and see the times on the scoreboards , you pretty much have a good idea of who ’ s going to win , but there ’ s an element of mystery when you don ’ t display the times . Oh , don ’ t get me wrong , fans still fuss about wanting us to show the times , but I just say , ‘ Guess what , we ain ’ t !’”
Regardless of their occasional griping , folks can ’ t seem to pull themselves away from Stott ’ s drug . The humorous nickname “ Quaincaine ” even began to circulate recently due to SEGA ’ s highly-addictive qualities . As a compromise to a full-on disclosure of performance , someone did suggest displaying the times in the final round only , and Quain pondered on that notion for quite awhile before finally deciding to let the genie out of the bottle for the first time ever in the final rounds of each eliminator at the recent Knoxville Dragway meet in early September , and who knows if he ’ ll ever do it again .
Stott doesn ’ t mind disclosing various records , including the incredible elapsed time of 5.25 seconds from a racer in A / Gas , which is impressive considering the rulebook for A / Gas alone ... which would take more ink to publish than this entire article ! Despite a litany of unique engine / chassis combinations , a mere three-hundredths of a second separates the top runners in A / Gas .
“ The Super Stock class has exploded in popularity too and features heavily-restricted cylinder heads , single carbs , 7-inch tires , and hardly any suspension mods , including no ladder bars or 4-link , and the record is 6.58 !” says Stott .
All told , the fledgling series that started with seven cars competing in a single eliminator has now topped 103 entries at a single event and now boasts four main classes , plus H / Gas and A / FX , which Stott hopes will become official classes if the membership levels continue to increase . The SEGA series has 10 events on the schedule in 2023 , and the organization has
138 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 184