VETERANS DOMINATE SEGA AT SHADYSIDE

by Ian Tocher    Sat, 2021-04-24 23:33

EVENT PHOTO GALLERY BY ROGER RICHARDS

A full house was on hand at Shadyside Dragway Apr. 17, for the second of 11 scheduled Southeast Gassers Association (SEGA) events this year. And thanks to an all-run policy for eliminations, for the first time in series history all four official classes--A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas and Super Stock--required five rounds of competition to determine race winners.  

Seventy-nine total entries of mandated 1967 or older body styles eventually were whittled down to winners Gabriel Burrell in A/Gas, T.J. York in B/Gas, Larry Noel in C/Gas, and Mark Hackett in Super Stock. None were repeat victors from the season opener last month in Holt, FL, but all were veteran SEGA drivers with multiple victories from past seasons.

Additionally, Florida's A/Gas winner and Shadyside semi-finalist Ben Christopher lowered his own class elapsed time record by approximately five-hundredths of a second in his "Happy Daze" Chevy II. ETs and speeds are not publicly released by SEGA, however, based on founder and promoter Quain Stott's decision from the beginning to focus attention on close, heads-up racing rather than statistical performance.

RECORD-SETTING RUN - Ben Christopher, winner of the A/Gas title in the SEGA season opener last month in Florida, lowered his own class elapsed time record by approximately five-hundredths of a second along his way to a runner-up finish at Shadyside Dragway in his "Happy Daze" Chevy II.

A/Gas - With his new ET record coming in the second of two rounds of qualifying and officially backed up in round two of racing, Ben Christopher sat atop 19 A/G entries at Shadyside, with former Pro Modified star Terry Housley slotting in second with his "Mr. Quick" '55 Chevy, followed by Leslie Horne and his "Chick Magnet" Tri-Five Chevy in third. Eventual race winner Gabriel Burrell qualified his "Southern Flyer" '31 Ford Tudor fourth, with fifth going to Ken Phillips and his "Silver Streak II" second-generation Corvette.

Riding some wild wheelstands off the start throughout eliminations, Burrell opened with a dominating run over Rick "The Dirt Man" Varner, then doused the hopes of Rod Burgner and Todd Blackwell before enjoying a bye run in the semis that netted him lane choice for the final.

Meeting him there was number-nine starter Justin Moses in the "Ol' Dirty Bastard" Tri-Five, after downing Shaun McLemore and Chase Howard before enjoying his own bye in round three that led to a close semi-final win over Christopher.

The final was over as soon as it started, though, as Moses left a little too soon, while Burrell and his crowd-pleasing Model A made one last wheelstanding pass for the event win.

"The car was working pretty good this weekend, but it was going pretty hard left every time it took off, which is not that big of a problem as long as you're ready for it," Burrell said afterward.

After destroying a transmission in Florida, Burrell also credited G-Force South and Ram Clutches for a quick rebuild between events and Jon Kasse Racing Engines for the winning horsepower.   

"It's definitely good to get a win early this year, puts us in good shape in the points, for sure," the Georgia-based racer added. "We've come close (to winning a SEGA championship) a couple of times before, but this year I'm really going for it."

LOWHORN HANGS 'EM HIGH! - With his father, Mike, giving an approving kick from behind the car, Indiana-based racer Adam Lowhorn put on a high-flying show in first-round B/Gas qualifying for the South East Gassers event at historic Shadyside Dragway in Shelby, NC.   

B/Gas - The largest field at Shadyside belonged to B/Gas, where 23 entries were led by Wayne Swafford and "Leroy," his quick-but-understated '66 Chevy II that placed second in points last year. Close behind was Florida polesitter Todd Oden in his "Double Down" '57 Chevy wagon, followed by Troy Lightner in the "Shakin' Bacon" Henry J entry, with Jerry Birch and Bill Revels filling out the top five.

After opening eliminations with a bye run, Swafford improved his ET in each subsequent round as he got past Adam Lowhorn, Florida winner Ken Rainwater, and Birch with his "Freebird" Nova in the semis.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the ladder, reigning class champion T.J. York started from the eighth position and drove his "Greenhorn Hillbilly" '55 Chevy around Robbie Walden before making a bye run when the '59 Chevy of Revels was a no-show with breakage for round three. That sent York to the quarter-finals where Oden went red off the start.

Another single run in the semis meant all that was left was Swafford, who ran more than a tenth quicker to take lane choice, but York scored a big holeshot in the final and held on for his first win of the year despite Swafford again running more than a tenth quicker.

"I knew I had to get him on the tree. He'd been a little bit fast for me all day, so I knew I had to roll in there and real hit the tree hard. So I just put it on kill and let go of the button and luckily I got out on him and had just enough on him to where he couldn't drive around me," York explained in victory lane. "He was right there and by half track I knew it was gonna' be close, but I also kinda' knew he probably couldn't catch me."

York added there was still work to do on his car after a particularly frustrating experience with it a month earlier in Florida.

"We really struggled there and we're still chasing our tail a little bit," the Etna, OH-based driver admitted. "We tore up so much stuff down there that I just got it back from the chassis shop on Tuesday, so we didn't get a chance to test at all.

"But we did get to test it a little bit on Friday night and we just kept working on it and it kept getting better. So I think we're getting a little bit closer. We'll go home, work on it a little bit more and I think we'll have it pretty good for the next race in Alabama."

RACING WITH HEARTFELT PURPOSE - Prayers and best wishes from South East Gassers racers and fans alike were riding alongside Alexis Phillips in each pass she made down the Shadyside eighth mile, as Cynthia Phillips, her aunt and past driver of the "Flower Power" C/Gas entry lay in hospice care about half an hour away from the track. The much-loved longtime partner of SEGA owner and promoter Quain Stott, "the First Lady of SEGA" passed away two days later.

C/Gas - For the first time since 2018 when he won the SEGA C/Gas championship, Larry Noel finally revisited victory lane. The Aiken, SC-based driver and his "Crazy Horse" '56 Chevy qualified third in an 18-car C/G field, then went on to beat sixth-place starter Ben Shaw and his "Odd Rod" pick-up in the final round at Shadyside Dragway.

First in qualifying was the "Stud Muffin" Nova wagon of Larry Floyd, but he departed early after a redlight start in round one of racing. Following Floyd on the list was Tim Hall in his "Scalded Dog" '67 Rambler, Noel, Josh Pruitt in the "Young Blood" Ford and Billy Wilson in his "Trouble Maker" Studebaker pick-up truck.

Shaw made short work of Alexis Phillips and her '55 Chevy in round one of competition, then took out Wilson in round two, Diana Casto, and Steve Bright in the semis. Meantime, Noel opened with a win over Bryson Buff, then beat Scott Wallace in the "Indian Express" Pontiac and Pruitt before just taking the beams for the semis to advance to the final.

Once there, Shaw left first with a slim holeshot, but Noel reeled him in quickly and won by nearly a car length at the finish line.

"The final round was a good drag race. He treed me by a little bit, but when that thing come on to third and fourth gear we went on by probably about a third of the way down," Noel said. "And once I couldn't see him anymore I figured he wasn't going to come around me again so I kinda' knew we had it then.

"It's a real relief, though," he also admitted. "I'll be honest, I was starting to wonder if we'd ever win one of these things again."

Super Stock - With 17 entries, C/Gas featured the largest Super Stock field in South East Gassers history, led by defending class champion Mark Hackett in his "Mercury Poison," '65 Merc, more than a tenth quicker than second-place starter Ron Allison in the "Poppy's Toy" Nova.

Dale Morton's "Lucille" '57 Ford started third, with the "4-Speed Stampede" Plymouth wagon of Florida winner Robert Peffley qualified fourth and Chris Austin in "The Dirt Boys" '63 Impala fifth.

Just as it happened a month earlier in the season opener, where Peffley defeated Hackett for the event win, the top two qualifiers again met in the final round.

Hackett got there through a first-round bye, followed by wins over Johnny Royals, Brian Bickings, and another bye through the semis. Meanwhile, Allison beat Tyler York in the opener, had a bye in round two, then took down Peffley and Morton to reach Hackett.

Fortunately for Hackett, Allison was slow off the tree, allowing the big Merc to pull a big advantage off the line and hold off a run by Allison that was more than a tenth quicker in elapsed time.   

"Yeah, it was not a good pass for us. And Ron actually did make a good pass," Hackett acknowledged. "But I got him on the tree by a good bit and at one point he started pulling on me just a little, but I knew we were far enough out that if nothing strange happened we were in pretty good shape."

SEGA will return to action May 8, at Lassiter Mountain Dragway in Mt. Olive, AL, and will make a follow-up visit to Shady Side Dragway in November for its 2021 season ender.

FAMILIAR, BUT DIFFERENT - Making his South East Gassers debut at Shadyside was Gerard Milidantri of Suffern, NY, driving the same '38 Anglia that Donovan Stott once drove to a pair of SEGA A/Gas championships under the popular "White Trash" banner on the doors. Milidantri was forced to withdraw from competition, however, after drifting out of the groove in second-round qualifying and sideswiping the left wall twice during his second qualifying attempt. Fortunately, no injuries to the driver and the car sustained relatively minor damage.

 

 

 

 

 
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