Editorial: Life’s a Gas

Drag racing is an ego-driven sport. There’s nothing more exciting than the thrill of beating the competition and nothing more humbling than losing.

Where most niches of the sport require eliminations to achieve their results (and thus their excitement), drag and drive has been able to separate itself by using the system of averages over several days first popularized by David Freiburger. One wonders how different drag and drive would be had Freiburger decided he would use eliminations on each day to determine success — or if the concept would have survived at all.

The absence of eliminations means that everybody who enters a drag and drive gets a similar experience. The same tracks, the same roads, the same amount of runs. Personal goals are just as important and the most interesting racers are those with the best stories, not the biggest checkbook.

Last year, Edelbrock Sick Smokies was full of those stories, especially among the ones who embraced the awesome Gasser classes. Getting your name up in lights in other sectors of drag racing most often means big dollars, but what I loved about the Gassers was seeing ordinary, hard-working people getting a chance to be the “big show.”

Matt Donovan ripped a burnout past the 330 feet timer that John Force would have been proud of. Tonya Grabiak overcame her fears to be the center of attention as the backup girl for husband Jay. Troy Henderson was dry-hopping and gear-jamming just like the old days. And the crowd was eating all of this up.

Most of these cars weren’t big dollar builds (with a few exceptions). They were put together by creative and talented people with passion and guts. But if we measure value by fun per dollar spent, these machines were off the charts, tire-smoking and wheel-standing their way into the hearts of fans and all of us here at Sick.

If you’ve ever dreamed of being that guy or girl at the track that all of the people wanted to watch, this must surely be the cheapest way to that goal. Just imagine for a second, you and some buddies, watching the countryside roll past stack injection or a blower hat, stopping at drag strips to hang the front end and getting looked at everywhere you go on the highways. It’s Two-Lane Blacktop come to life.

This wasn’t just a bunch of old codgers reliving their glory days — the Gasser field was brimming with youth. I think the low financial barrier was a big reason for that.

Drag racing doesn’t have an age problem, it has a cost problem. Turns out it’s much easier to compete in heads-up classes if you’re not saving for a house deposit or paying off student loans. But if drag and drive can continue to make heroes of everyday men and women who are prepared to invest sweat over dollar bills, the scene will only get bigger.

There was once a time in drag racing where building a Funny Car was something for the everyman. Maybe not cheap, but achievable for a working class income (or two). They did big burnouts, got to be a part of huge shows, and in general provided a fun/ego dividend for the investment. I think Gassers offer the same chance now, whether that’s street legal as we like them, or as part of series like the South East Gassers Association.

I wonder if we need to build a class that isn’t time focused, but instead becomes the centerpiece of a show. I think the Gassers have the opportunity. We’ve got them coming back for Edelbrock Sick 66 and I am keen to see how it goes.

Maybe you wouldn’t on the road for a week to prove you can build a tough street car or to come home with the best average. Instead, you’d be on the road for a week because it feels good and every day is an adrenaline rush where you get to be the hero on the track.

Perhaps I’m romanticizing it some, but I imagine a guy or girl slugging away every day in their job, putting in the hours of sweat in the garage, bringing out their Gasser once a year and feeling like John Force out there, with a crowd cheering on their efforts.

In conclusion: build a Gasser, be a hero.

Written by Luke Nieuwhof.