It was a statement Quain Stott had no qualms about making. 

"When it comes to being the strictest period correct series, it has no equal," Stott would say, referring to his 12-year-old Gasser series, the Southeast Gassers Association. 

Stott can still say it today, and he hopes to be able to say it tomorrow and months later. The only difference for Stott is now he will have to say it as a racer and a fan of a passion he created from the ground up. 

Stott completed the sale of the series to racer Leslie Horne on Saturday, November 25, 2023. And he's convinced it's going to a good home. Considering the series was like a favorite pet to him. 

"I know it's going to a good home," Stott said. "It's not like I'm setting it out in front of a kill shelter, and that's what I would've felt like if I thought it had got in the wrong hands. But with Leslie getting it, he has the money, he has the business brains, and he has the same passion I have for protecting the history of the sport and what real drag racing's supposed to be. 

"Real drag racing's, a heads-up, first finish line wins. That's what this thing's been about for 12 years, and that's what he will continue to make it be."

The last three years have presented the most significant challenges for Stott, who has faced personal tragedy in losing longtime life partner Cynthia Phipps and then experiencing a severe case of COVID. He considered letting the series, which has consumed his life since stepping away from Pro Modified, go. 

"The word got out this year that I was ready to make a move, and so I started getting a lot of offers at that point," Stott explained, "What got me wanting to sell, actually, about three years ago, I started feeling unappreciated. I'll say this: back in 2015, I had this one guy who wanted to come racing with us, and he had a better idea. He was wandering around the pits telling all my racers how I was greedy because I was doing this and doing that and, 'Quain should be running the show this way or that way." 

"But that was one guy. For the last three or four years, I've had about 20 racers that have been doing that and been saying that they had a better way and it needed some... I was greedy, and I should be paying the racers more. I even had one guy said I should be letting the fans in free too. That's how ridiculous it had gotten."

Stott had always proclaimed he would keep doing it as long as he felt appreciated. 

"I started losing that appreciation and started really realizing it this year," Stott admitted. "So that's when I said, 'You know what? I'd like to see the Southeast Gassers continue to grow. So for it to grow, I need to let somebody else run it." 

Stott often took inventory of what he'd accomplished over the years from the scratch-built series, adding that he hired the right folks to help him along the way to success. 

There was always one question that always stuck in Stott's craw.

"Why am I the wrong one to run it when I built it?" Stott asked. "It's just funny how that works, but I know everybody will love Leslie. I'm sure There will be a few, just like anybody; Leslie's the right person to do it 'cause everybody will love him. Everybody loves him now. He's a great guy. He's done a lot of things for a lot of people.

"But the other side of it is that I'm 63 years old and ready to slow down, too. So this just gave me a reason to give up on it, so to speak, and let somebody else take over. I had gotten to looking at when Cynthia passed away; it was almost three years ago now, I took a big turn in my life. I looked at things a whole lot different now, and I feel bad; she's the one who helped me build this. So, I've started looking at things a lot differently. 

"I'm trying to enjoy life more. [new girlfriend] Heather came along. She's been a very big supporter of me. I don't know if I'd have made it without her to be honest with you, because she helped me through all this mess. Then, when I started feeling like I was unappreciated by the racers, I'm like, 'You know what? I don't need this. My life's too good. Let somebody else have this headache." 

​

Stott is adamant he will come back and race with the new ownership and is even building a new car to remain competitive. But one thing he learned in 19 years of barnstorming the Pro Modified world is that this time, he's racing for fun. Stott understands that having fun and winning don't always run on a parallel path. 

"Racers, and that's where I am solely, have to make a decision," Stott said. "Are you going to race for fun, or are you going to race to win? I done been there and done that 19 years racing to win. I'm going to probably go out and give it enough effort to make the guys worry a little bit, but I don't think I'm going to put 100% in it because if I do, I'm going to be right back in the same boat when I was running ProMod. I don't want to live and breathe this. I have other interests in my life now."

But for now, Stott can look back in pride for what he and his team built over the last 12 years. 

"We were the only group that even put forth that effort to keep it as strict as it was," Stott said. "There's no other Nostalgia races in the world that have rules like we have. It's so funny; you can look at some of these gasser organizations, and the rules will say, 'Must look like a gasser." 

"Now, who in the hell's opinion is that? Then they got it right at the top of the page, racing like they raced in the '60s. Then you go down and read the fine print; there's a breakout. Bracket racing wasn't invented until the '70s, so how in the hell are they racing like they were in the '60s? 

"When I first started this thing, everybody says... 'cause if you go look in the NHRA Rule Book in 1967, the Gasser rules were about a quarter of a page, and mine's 22 pages. People would say, 'Why don't you just take the Gasser rules from the 1967 rule book and let that be your rules?"

Stott said if he had done that, the cars would look like modern-day Pro Stockers with Gasser bodies on them. 

"We did the best we could do to let a generation of drag racers go back in time when they cherished drag racing with the Gassers," Stott said. "By all accounts, we succeeded. The Southeast Gassers Association will continue to succeed. I was just proud to have had a role in getting it to where it is today."