The 3rd Annual Nostalgia Gasser Reunion
by Vic Cooke
The third annual Nostalgia Gasser Reunion returned to Thompson
Dragway in Northeast Ohio over the weekend of July
16-18, 2004. The meet has grown a bit each year and from a fan's point of view
represents a nicely packaged event
notable for a very laid back ambience, plenty of eye candy in the form of
some truly beautiful racecars, and the
opportunity to mingle with some of the legendary figures of "Golden
Era" Gasser racing. The dragstrip action can't be
called "intense," but there are plenty of good match-ups along
the way to provoke a bit of deja vu for the oldtime
fans in attendance and offering a facsimile of what the heydays of
Gasser racing were all about for those too young
to have personal experience.
Photo by Vic Cooke/Nitrogeezers
Historic Thompson Dragway is a near-perfect setting for an event such as this,
and in general the mood of the
gathering is one of folks there to have a good time. There are some disturbing
signs of discontent, however, that lie
principally on the racer's side of the fence. These appear to center on several
organizational issues, including: 1)
running it as a "bracket race" with competition classes broken down by
dial-in ranges; 2) the inclusion of
altereds and dragsters and thinly-veiled "bracket racers" as part of
the event; 3) money being spent to "buy in"
exhibition vehicles of a non-Gasser variety. The discontent was manifested by a
number of past participants not
returning this year. Although their numbers were replaced with new first-time
entries, the issues still simmer.
These concerns have a legitimacy, but also point to the "niche" status
of nostalgia racing in general, and the
difficulty in attracting a "paying gate" sufficient to cover the
overhead of the event. Without spectator support,
the event cannot stand on its own. Precedents in the form of other Reunions show
that the more "exclusive" the event
(in terms of limitations on the type of entry), the more difficult it is to
attract a general-interest audience. The
rabid enthusiasts for any single type of car are too small in number and too
widely dispersed to provide sufficient
support. A real conundrum. Without becoming embroiled in the situation, this
writer hopes that a dialog between the
organizers, participants and track remains open and achieves a mutually
satisfactory resolution.
Another factor of note impacting this year's event was a scheduling change from
the first weekend in June to the new
mid-July timing. This seems to have been a neutral or positive change for most.
Another large nostalgia racing
event is scheduled the first weekend in June at Norwalk Raceway in Western Ohio,
and in the past undoubtedly
represented competition for a portion of the spectator audience that might
otherwise attend Thompson. The
Goodguys Hot Rod Nationals event in Indianapolis and the new NHRA National Hot
Rod Reunion in Kentucky are scheduled the second and third weekends in June,
making it a hardship on those racers wishing to attend these other
closely-scheduled events in addition to the Gasser Reunion. The mid-July date
provides more breathing room between
events and makes the Reunion the major racing attraction in the area that
weekend.
Early Gasser action at Thompson Dragway
As an observer and reporter on the event, it has to be called a qualified
success!
Despite some of the negative
aspects discussed above, the numbers say it was the best attended Gasser Reunion
yet in both participant and
spectator count. Racing conditions on Friday were superb, but the unbroken
string of fine weather that blessed past
events broke down overnight and sporadic light showers delayed the start of
Saturday's activities until early
afternoon. Cool, overcast conditions prevailed for the remainder of the weekend,
but thankfully further
precipitation stayed away. Fans circulated freely around the premises, ogling
the cars in the pits and chatting with
the racers, meeting some of the personalities at the event and sampling the on
track action from assorted vantage
points. Cameras were everywhere. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.
The "exhibition" portion of the event this year featured an appearance
by the historic and famous Marcellus, Borsch and
Boyd "Winged Express" AA/Fuel Altered who were scheduled to make a
couple of passes. We acknowledged the internal
controversy above, but you are reading this at NitroGeezers and as unabashed
nitro lovers we tend to think of nitro as
all-purpose "seasoning" appropriate to enhance any main fare. We
enjoy it where we find it. Besides, Mousie
Marcellus is one of us! There is no question that the presence of Winged
Express served its purpose as a "gate
builder." There was a steady line of fans visiting the Winged Express
pit-site and purchasing Winged Express
memorabilia all the while! Some tire problems prevented
Winged Express from making it's scheduled run Saturday
evening until a loaner set of replacement wheels/tires were procured in the late
night hours. W-E did make a midnight
pass, although most of the fans had long departed. Those that returned Sunday
got to see a thrilling wall-to-wall
jitterbug performance by the untamable beast.
Winged Express out on a Sunday excursion at Thompson
In addition to the Express, a half dozen front-engined Nostalgia Fuel Dragsters
were on hand for the Saturday
evening program, together with the "Drastic Plastic" Nitro Coupe. No
particularly noteworthy performances were
achieved, and most of the runs were less than full-track, but ample noise,
flame, smoke and fury accompanied the
burnouts and launches to provide entertainment value. We'll leave further
coverage on this and some of the other
open-wheel competition to the photo album pages. The Saturday program also
featured a "Quick 16" shootout and
special matchups between the quickest of the winged VRA Gassers.....hyped as
being (get this now) a "Nostalgia
Pro-Mod shootout!"
Yeah, right!
Gordon Veal was the quickest of the VRA A/Gas Supercharged cars at
Thompson with several sub-7
second runs. But "Nostalgia Pro-Mod?"
Another "Saturday Night Special" was a shootout waged among members of
the Gas-FX internet group who were participants in the event. The fans really
got into this, and look for it to to be a feature at future events. The finals
of
this shootout matched Erik Carlson in his nasty '55 Chevy against Don Benedict
in his '42 Willys. A lot of folks on
their feet for this one as Carlson prevailed in a close race, 10.14 to 10.16.
Erik Carlson (far lane) takes on Don Benedict's "Filthy
42."
Saturday is by far the longest and busiest day of the Reunion. Thompson is a
well-lit track and ideal for evening
programs. The Reunion schedule takes full advantage of that, with the racing
continuing all evening into the wee
hours. This does make for a short night before returning to Sunday's final
eliminations. The hot-lap capability of these cars means that the Sunday program
runs quickly, however, and by mid-afternoon the final racing is completed.
Concluding the event, an on-track Trophy Awards ceremony is held.
Anticipating that the relevant car and driver ID's and event-winning performance
stats would be available later
for this story, we took only brief notes during the Awards Presentation photo
session. We have held up publication of
this coverage attempting to obtain the complete information, but it is still
unavailable at this time. So,
instead of a printed listing, photos of the various trophy recipients have been
compiled into a separate album. To view it, CLICK
HERE. Our apologies to the "anonymous" awardees for the
missing info, which will be added as soon as it is
received!
Also, a GIANT album of over 100 additional images from the 2004
Nostalgia Gasser Reunion is available for your
enjoyment. To view it, CLICK
HERE.
The Fourth Annual Nostalgia Gasser Reunion is scheduled to
return to Thompson Dragway in mid-July 2005, and
NitroGeezers will plan on being there once again to cover
the action. Bottom line: it's a fun meet that we wouldn't
miss