(Gasser Magazine’s)
GASSER REUNION IV
(Thompson Raceway Park, Ohio)
By Vic Cooke
“The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain”....but in Ohio during July it
seems to have a particular preference for anywhere there’s a drag strip! Such
was the fate awaiting the Fourth Annual running of the Gasser Reunion at
Thompson Raceway Park over the weekend of July 15-17, 2005. A weekend either way
and it would be a different story, but the last remnants of “early” Hurricane
Dennis had left unstable conditions in the area that refused to dissipate.
Sooner or later the law of averages will prevail and we’ll have an event not
dominated by uncooperative weather to report.
Thompson Raceway Park, home of the Gasser Reunion, before storms of
another kind began to
interrupt the event schedule.
The rain may have taken a heavy toll on the racing schedule but did little to
dampen the enthusiasm of those attending the event, whose general attitude
seemed to be “shame about that, but we had a great time anyway!” By that gauge,
the event has to be called a success. The crowded pits and parking lot
also testified to this being the best-attended reunion yet, and while room
remains for continued growth, it’s the spectator side of the event that remains
stubbornly below potential. Once again the weather forecast seemed to be the
biggest deterrent to a stronger local turnout. If tee-shirts from past events
are an indicator, it’s the kind of event that once “discovered” tends to build a
loyal fan base returning the following year. It’s a matter of inducing those
with a latent interest to come give it a look-see, and chances are most will
find it an very entertaining experience.
Reunion IV opened on a sweltering morning that found only about a third of the
eventual entries already on the grounds. All day long new arrivals trickled in
as time trials continued throughout in very informal fashion. It was a good day
to circulate the pits, becoming reacquainted with returning participants from
prior events and checking out new entries making a first-time appearance at the
event. Although the skies threatened at times, the planned session concluded
without interruption in advance of evening showers.
Don Benedict leads another competitor down the Thompson quarter-mile
during time trials on Friday.
The intended schedule for the 2005 event was to follow the outline developed
over the past couple of years. That called for Friday being devoted to “at will”
time trials, and the daylight hours on Saturday to qualifying. Saturday evening
was to be a “feature race” presentation intended to appeal to the broadest
possible audience (more about that in a moment) and Sunday’s schedule called for
final eliminations and concluding awards presentation. As with
the reunion events from #2 onward, this year’s event was also open to
nostalgia-type racecars in the Super Stock, Altered, Comp and Dragster classes,
although these were segregated from the Gassers and ran within separate e.t.
brackets. Stricter classification guidelines were in place regarding vehicles
competing as Gassers, including such matters as production year, inclusion of
fenders, engine setback, etc. (basically, closer to the historic rulebook
restrictions on allowable modifications). Qualifying Gassers competed among
themselves in one of a half-dozen Gasser-only e.t. brackets. By this arrangement
nostalgia racers of all stripes had a “place to race,” but the focus remained
primarily on the Gasser ranks befitting the central theme of the event.
Jim Wilkens’ Cincinnati-based “Handshaker” is a classic Willys Gasser all
the way. Completing his burnout
here and ready to race!
By Saturday morning the main pits had nearly filled with overnight arrivals as
additional participants still continued to filter in. The track was dry and a
full
afternoon of qualifying action saw many fine runs. The “Quick 8" field was set
on the basis of these performances as part of the program planned for Saturday
evening.
The Saturday night “feature” event is tailored to attract new spectator
attendance to the Reunion and hopefully build up the fan base that will support
it into the future. In addition to final-round qualifying, and the Quick-8
elimination program just mentioned, a number of exhibition races were also
scheduled. The “Winged Express” AA/FA of Marcellus & Boyd was again booked in
for a couple of exhibition passes, as was Tom Motry’s “Drastic Plastic”
transformer-style nitro coupe (the track e.t. and speed record holder after his
performance here two years ago). Four Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragsters and four
Nostalgia Alky Funny Cars were also on hand for two rounds of exhibition match
races. A special shootout among members of the internet Gas/FX e-group was
planned, as well as match races among pairs of the VRA A/Gas Supercharged cars
in attendance (including the Mallicoat Brothers Barracuda from the West Coast,
Rocky Pirrone and his “Big Time Memories” Willys, and Micky Hale with his ‘37
Chevy “Warlock” Gasser). Cap it off with a fireworks finale and you are talking
a Saturday Night Extravaganza here, folks! Only one problem, and it was spelled
R-A-I-N.
The Mallicoat Brother Barracuda Gasser proved the quickest of the
“contemporary” A-Gas Supercharged
racers at Thompson, with times in the 7.0's
Periods of sunshine interspersed with purple thunderclouds battled for control
of the sky all afternoon, till around 5 p.m. when a heavy thunderstorm deluged
the track. A massive track drying effort was launched to enable the planned
evening program, and things were just about ready for
action by 8 p.m. However, so much rain had fallen that water continued to weep
to the surface in the sloping shutdown area. The decision was made to limit
competition to eighth-mile passes for lower speeds and to assure plenty of dry
shutdown room. Then a second storm front moved in and once again rain poured
down, drowning out any possibility of further racing for the evening. The
largest Saturday crowd we’d seen to date at this event was sent
home with a rain check and more than a little disappointment.
The field of exhibition fuel dragsters and funny cars were re-scheduled
into Sunday after Saturday night’s
rainout. Time only permitted a single round.
This set the stage for a much more ambitious Sunday than originally scheduled.
As much as possible of the Saturday evening program was re-scheduled into Sunday
together with eliminations based on the close of qualifying Saturday afternoon.
Since the condition of the far end of the shutdown continued to be problematic,
it would all be eighth-mile racing however. Competitors scrutinized their prior
timeslips to determine appropriate dial-in’s, and competition got underway late
Sunday morning. Once again though, Mother Nature would throw a monkey wrench
into the works with more rainfall. A noontime shower shut down racing for a bit
over an hour, and a second sprinkle around 2 p.m. caused a second, shorter
delay. In between the periods of precipitation a couple of rounds of
eliminations were concluded in all brackets, and the NTF and NFC exhibition cars
got in a single pass. Neither “Winged
Express” nor “Drastic Plastic” were able to run at Reunion IV, however, as Mike
Boyd had to return to California on Sunday morning and Motry had another
booking.
Erik Carlson sits out the first rainy spell during Sunday’s elim’s.
A few hours and a couple showers
later the event was called.
The final blow came around 3:30 p.m. The third rainy period of the afternoon
began and proved enough of a soaker to
bring the event to a premature end.
While the books close on Reunion IV as a “winnerless” event, that’s only in
terms of having no list of trophy winners to offer our congratulations. Events
such as the Gasser Reunion are as much about the “overall experience” as they
are about intense competition. There is no question about it being a weekend
high on “fun factor” if a little frustrating because of weather interruptions.
One thing is for sure....when the time rolls around for Reunion V next
July, we will be just as eager to return for another “experience.” Just maybe
the weather will co-operate.......IMAGINE THAT!
Despite all the wet stuff, there was still plenty of action and once again we
have a large collection of photos from the event for your viewing enjoyment.
Come have a look......just
CLICK HERE.
