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Gasser Circus Nostalgia Nationals Part 1
The ‘Unbelievably’ long wait was finally at an end on the 11th May, as the Gasser Circus cars had not been in competition against each other for 236 days! The last time we had battled was when the Showdown Championship was decided at the Hot Rod Drags back in September. It was therefore not surprising at all, to see so many of the class gathered in the pits, with 17 Gassers entered, someone was going to miss out.
This was to be a weekend of fond memories of Stuart Mitchell, who we lost on the eve of the 2018 event, and whom we all still miss. It was also a weekend of new arrivals and oh so welcome returnees, with the end of the weekend for one racer, a time of reflection with a tough farewell.
The new arrival was another Austin Devon, ‘High Anxiety’ this one in the very capable hands of Graham Barton, the returnees headed by Katie Booth and her husband Ted with their ever impressive ‘The Mighty Mouse’ Ford Pop, and it was a return of a different kind for the Ford Falcon ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’, now in the very capable hands of its new owner Ken Brookes.
The biggest and in my opinion the best surprise of the weekend, became apparent to me on Saturday morning, as I returned to the pits. My daughter Jungle Pat, ushered me towards Steve Dixons ‘High Roller’ Falcon, with the words, come and see who is driving Steve’s Gasser this weekend. I could see that someone was leaning into the car, but as I arrived at the car I still could not work out who it was, as they were busy inside the car and had a woollen beanie on. I cautiously said Hallo, and as the person inside the car reacted and stood up, I was completely stunned, as stood before me was Dale Snoke a great friend of the Gasser Circus and the only Gasser Circus member based in California. Dale had flown over for the weekend and was going to be racing Steve’s Gasser. The last time we had seen Dale he was over here with his Mercury Gasser and racing the dream at Dragstalgia 2015. With hugs all round, it was not only the best kept secret but also the best surprise of the year so far.
On reflection, Dale has had and continues to have a big impact on the Gasser Circus, and a quick look around the pits confirmed this as I was running one of his engines in my Gasser, Ray Turner also had one of Dales engines in his Green Onions 55, (leant to him by Brian Gibson) Brian was racing a car that Dale built and raced ‘Identity Crisis’, and Tim Holmes had purchased the bare rolling project that Dale had built, and gone onto build it into the ‘Wragged Wedge’.
Qualifying
Qualifying soon got underway, and everyone began to knock the rust off of their minds and get back into the groove as quickly as they could. My first run in ‘Nogbad The Bad’ did not go to plan, as I suffered a death wobble on the front end as soon as I left the line, the car was intent on shaking itself to pieces. The car in 8 years of racing has never done this before, and it was not something you can drive through or brake out of, you just have to get off the throttle and wait until the earthquake subsides, when it does you find that you have just run a 28 second run!
My wobbles were however, nothing compared to the fate that befell Simon Glenn. Having spent the winter gathering parts and rebuilding the engine in his ‘Straight Shooter’ Austin pickup, the car only made halftrack before it pulled off the racing line, with tell-tale puffs of smoke emitting from the headers on both sides. This calling an end to his fun and possibly his season. The smoke later traced to a block damaged beyond repair.
Things were not going smoothly for Steve Matthews, but luckily for him he had already posted a qualifying time when the brand new radiator from the states, let go following his burnout. Thankfully, Tony Pearson knew just the person who could repair the radiator in time for eliminations, our gratitude to Shakey.
Elsewhere, there were a couple of red lights and some reaction times that were definitely on the side of cautious, but this was only round 1 of qualifying. I had the privilege of being sat behind Graham Barton as he edged his ‘High Anxiety’ Devon to the line. As the lights dropped Graham launched and as the car leapt left, I could clearly see at least 6 inches of daylight under his front wheels, he stayed with it and back in the pits could not quite understand that the car had not responded to his steering input when it left the line. It was only when someone pointed out that you cannot steer if your wheels are not on the ground did he realise with some surprise that he had pulled a wheelie!
By the end of qualifying there were 15 Gassers left in competition, with Dale Snoke sitting proudly at the top of the pile in Number 1 Qualifier spot. Everything was set for a great days racing on Sunday.
With Ray Turner and Brian Gibson drawn against each other, jokes were abounding that Brian may want back the 383 Chevy engine he had leant Ray, but this is the Gasser Circus, and no such request was even thought about by Brian. On the strip Brian got the job done and moved onto potentially race his brother, with John set to race Graham Barton. This was Graham’s first event with the Gasser Circus, and as he edged his Austin Devon to the line, adrenalin was pumping, but it seems John was pumping more as he broke out with an 11.42 on an 11.60. Graham running an 11.28 @ 115mph.
Ray Irish and his ‘Gas Junkie’ Willys Pickup are always tough competitors so I knew I had my work cut out to beat him, unfortunately for Ray but fortunately for me Ray was uncharacteristically late on the lights and his 0.4 reaction time, and this made all the difference at the top end and ‘Nogbad The Bad’ advanced to Round 2 of eliminations.
No 1 qualifier Dale had a bye in round 1, whilst the defending Gasser Circus Champion, Martyn Hallam in his 33 Willys ‘Whiplash’ saw off the challenge of Katie Booth and her ‘The Mighty Mouse’ Ford Pop. With Julian Balme unfortunately on other duties, Sean Milsom had a bye to Round 2, but during his solo pass, his recently upholstered roof insert, decided it did not fancy another 120mph pass. The vinyl parting company with the insert at mid track!
Steve Matthews in his wheel standing 57 beat Hank Holmes in his ‘Wragged Wedge’ Mopar, and Nick Barnett piloting the ‘B&G Racing’ Falcon took on Tony Pearson in his ‘Guzzler’ 56 Chevy, both Gassers dialling 11.50. It was Tony who came out on top with Nick breaking out with an 11.47.
Special mention must go to Ken Brookes, who after selling his iconic ‘Roarin Rat’ 57 Chevy had wasted no time in securing a replacement Gasser with the purchase of ‘Jumpin Jalapeno’ Falcon. The car was running what Martin (Ken’s ever reliable crew chief) calls a boat anchor, in the form of a stock Ford. Ken and Martin worked away on the car and despite the anchor and the old street tyres Ken took the car from a 14:81 to a 13:97. With a set of slicks, the Falcon has every chance of qualifying.
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