The Southeast Gassers Association (SEGA) began its tenth year of operations Mar. 20, with its 2021 season opener at Emerald Coast Dragway in Holt, FL. It marked SEGA’s second trip to the eighth-mile strip on the Florida panhandle in just four months as it also hosted last year’s final SEGA event.
Four official SEGA classes ran down the track, where 62 total entries of strictly 1967 or older body styles were eventually narrowed down to winners Ben Christopher in A/Gas, Ken Rainwater in B/Gas, Larry Floyd in C/Gas, and Robert Peffley in Super Stock. Beginning at noon, in just over nine hours the typically tight SEGA show delivered two rounds of qualifying, all eliminations, and even winner’s circle celebrations.
Elapsed times and speeds are not reported by SEGA, as founder and promoter Quain Stott prefers instead to focus attention on close, heads-up racing without creating pre-determined favorites based solely on stats.
Nevertheless, Leslie Horne and his “Chick Magnet” tri-five Chevy took the top spot in A/G qualifying with two outstanding passes. Ben Christopher and his “Happy Daze” Chevy II came next on the list of 16 A/G contenders, with Kenneth Phillips, the 2019 A/G champion, third in his “Silver Streak II” C2 Corvette, followed by Gabriel Burrell and Todd Blackwell to complete the top five.
After defeating the similar machine of Dean Jonas in the opening round, Christopher took down 7th-place starter Barry Lynn and his ’67 Chevy station wagon before facing off with Phillips in the semis. A too-hasty start by the silver Corvette negated Phillips’ effort, however, sending Christopher to the A/G final against Horne, who went through Sonny Burr, Chris Dunn and Burrell in the early rounds.
Christopher established a new class E.T. record in the semis, then lined up in the left lane and nearly matched his record run in the final while Horne had trouble off the line and slowed to an off-the-pace finish. Despite his apparent dominance on raceday, however, Christopher said the win came with significant challenges.
“We had to do a clutch change on Friday night,” the Boiling Springs, NC-based driver explained. “It was a big disaster where we just kept working with it for a little bit here, a little bit there and finally got it. I did qualify number two, but it was on my final qualifying run, though. We barely got it going.”
The car and Christopher were certainly ready for facing top qualifier Horne in the final, though, as they left with a full tenth-of-a-second advantage off the start and never wavered.
“I was really trying to relax and hit the tree and I did,” he said. “So it was a good, over with when it started pretty much. I never saw him again the whole way down.”
Twenty B/Gas entries made qualifying attempts for an all-run field, led by Todd Oden and his “Double Down” ’57 Chevy wagon, with Daniel Haynes, Charlie Lee, Ken Rainwater and Mike Blackwell following at the top of the order.
Rainwater and his “Renegade” ’66 Nova ran his best time of the weekend and significantly quicker than Oden’s number-one effort in his opening-round win over Robbie Walden, then set low time for all but one round as he drove past Ronnie Santhuff, Michael Walters and Oden to reach a faceoff against Blackwell in the final. Blackwell and his “Smokin’ Sam” Nova, meanwhile, doused the hopes of Chuck Radabaugh, reigning class champion T.J. York, and Haynes before getting a bye run in the semis.
A former Outlaw 10.5 racer for years, Rainwater had been out of the seat for more than a decade and was running in just his third SEGA event after buying his current car just a month before the Florida season opener.
“It really felt like if I could just be on the start line and not do anything stupid that I would be okay. So I tried to lay back a little bit and just play it smart and not beat myself,” he said after making another solid run while Blackwell actually lit the dreaded red bulb and coasted down the left lane.
“I just felt a little hyped up for the final,” Rainwater admitted. “I mean, it’s been what, probably 12 years since I’ve been to a final? So I just didn’t want to go out there and get too antsy. Then he was red and I realized he was red and I knew we were good on the tree. So then I went ahead and ran it out the back. I knew I had already won, but I went ahead and made the pass just for the fun of it, so I guess it all worked out.”
The C/Gas final came down to a showdown between the two quickest cars on the grounds at Emerald Coast. After Larry Floyd set a new class E.T. record in qualifying Leslie Horne’s “Stud Muffin” Nova wagon, he took on number-two starter Tim Hall and his “Scalded Dog” ’67 Rambler.
Following a first-round bye due to just 13 C/G starters, Floyd got there by racing through Scott Wallace and his “Indian Express” 1950 Pontiac and Billy Wilson in the “Trouble Maker” pick-up, while Hall dispatched Diana Casto in her first race with the “Quick Draw” ’64 Falcon, enjoyed a second-round bye, and beat Josh Pruitt and his “Young Blood” Ford in the semis.
Despite the dominance of his car, Floyd openly admitted he’s “not the best off the light,” and recognized there was no room for mistakes.
“Tim Hall, he’s a great driver. I ran him three times last year in finals and lost them all,” he recalled. “So going into this one, I said, you know, I don’t have anything to lose, I’ve got to go for it. And I know he cuts good lights, so I had to try and do what I could do so I could at least have a decent light.”
Hall did get away first, but by the 330-foot mark Floyd said he was rapidly reeling him in.
“I had to chase him down and when I went into fourth gear I just pulled around him, almost like he just slowed down. It was at three-quarter track. We were side by side about halfway and I was gaining on him and I went to fourth gear and this car just runs great in fourth,” Floyd said.
“If I get to fourth it’ll really move and I knew that, so when it hit fourth gear it just jumped right past him and kept pulling away. As long as nothing broke, I knew then that I had him.”
Just as in C/Gas, the top two starters in Super Stock marched through their respective sides of the ladder to meet in the final round. Defending class champ Mark Hackett earned the qualifying lead after being quickest in both sessions, followed by Robert Peffley both times, too.
Driving his appropriately titled “Mercury Poison,” ’65 Merc, Hackett won four SEGA race titles last year, including the season ender in November at Emerald Coast Dragway, while 2019 champion Peffley was shut out of the 2020 win column.
With 12 cars entered, Hackett had a first-round competition bye, while Peffley opened with a win over Ben Rivers in the “Snake Doctor” Plymouth. The roles were reversed for round two, where Rivers advanced through a bye and Hackett handled “Slick Rick” Cathcart. The semi-finals saw Hackett and Peffley respectively defeat teammates Chris Austin and Rick Varner in “The Dirt Boys” and “The Dirt Man” Chevys.
For the final, Peffley’s “4-Speed Stampede” Plymouth wagon gained a precious advantage over Hackett’s machine off the start that translated to putting him back on the winner’s for this year.
“We knew we were down going into the final round, so we just went out after it got him on the tree and got out in front of him. He just didn’t have enough track to run us down, so we won it on a holeshot. The driver came through for us for once,” Peffley joked.
“It always feels really good when the driver does his job. He had been kind of lagging a little bit in a couple of other rounds today, but fortunately the car pulled us through. So finally I had to do one for it.”
The nest stop on the 2021 SEGA tour is Apr. 17, at Shady Side Dragway in Shelby, NC.
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