Wayne Swofford and his non-descript red Nova "Leroy" took the top spot over 25 entries in the South East Gassers B/Gas qualifying field, but it was number-two starter Colby Welch who would leave Shady Side Dragway Nov. 6, with the class elapsed time record and his second race win of the year.

"This was a really big win for us," the 18-year-old driver later declared in his pit. "And we set the record, too, so I mean, we made some good milestones to end the year."

Welch and his "Moonbeam" '65 Ranchero opened with a relatively easy victory over Jason Roberts, followed by a competition bye and a close, though off-the-pace, win over defending class champion T.J. York in the quarter finals. He returned to form in the semis, though, to officially post the quickest SEGA B/Gas pass ever while eliminating third-place qualifier "Tennessee Charlie" Lee.

Meanwhile, number-five starter Daniel Haynes in "The Patriot" Ford Falcon made his way through former C/Gas champ Todd Oden, Art Copeland, Bill Revels, and Swofford to reach Welch in the final.

Unfortunately, a cold track following a lengthy cleanup for an oildown in the Super Stock final resulted in a pair of sluggish passes as Haynes lost traction early and posted a 10-second result on the Shady Side eighth mile, while Welch ran more than a half second above his qualifying time.

"It was a real good burnout. I got some good heat in the tires, went up there and staged second, and I left right on my desired RPM," Welch recalled. "But then it shook the tires pretty good off the line, but once I had some good sticky payment, it pulled away and from there I was able to just row it through the gears, ride it through, and let it bring me the win.

"I was kinda' worried at first, you know, I figured I might be playing catch up after I spun," he added. "But once I got to moving and I couldn't see him I figured I was pretty good."

Despite attending only eight of 11 SEGA events staged this year, Welch finished with a top-10 points result (seventh, tied in points with sixth-place Revels).

"For the outcome of the amount of races we were able to attend, I'm very impressed with what we were able to achieve," he concluded. "And it's a homebuilt race car. We did every bit of it ourselves, engine assembly, every little bit. So I'm definitely proud of what we accomplished this year."