Nostalgia Nationals Gasser Circus Round 2

Friday evening and the Gasser Circus pit had 13 Gassers on the property and all lined up and preparing for qualifying on Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather had different ideas, and even though the Gassers made it into the fire up road on 2 occasions, both were curtailed by rain showers that swept across the drag strip and shut down area.
With no qualifications run on Saturday, all cars automatically qualified, but the ladder needed populating. Cars names were written onto slips of paper and folded. A passing young lady was then asked to select them one at a time, and the ladder was soon set, with Round 1 winner Sean Milson and his Ain’t Misbehavin Morris Van garnering the number 1 qualifying spot. This was important as it afforded him a bye in round 1 of eliminations. Sean had no intention of taking it easy despite the other lane being empty, dialling in with a 10.64, however he was about to set possibly one of the most outstanding tickets of the season, with a mind bending 34.57 seconds @ 135mph!

The reason behind this ticket appeared to be a stall as he launched, which broke the beam and set the clock in motion, with start line crew jumping into action, as they saw a small amount of flame, luckily no extinguishers were used and as Sean refired his new stroked 347 Ford they stood aside and he flew off down the strip.
The next pairing had a West Country feel about it as the Barnett & Welch 41 Willys Coupe, took on the Denning & Pike Honky Tonkin 2 Nova, it seemed the lack of Saturday running had an effect on both drivers, as they both hit the go pedal before the green had chance of flickering to life, with the first or worst rule signalling elimination for the Willys Coupe.
Ray Irish was back out in his Willys Pickup, with Ray getting the handle on his new blown motor, but like the earlier pairing Ray cut the light to fine. Putting a cherry on in his lane handing the win to Katie Booth piloting ‘The Mighty Mouse’ Pop.

Steve Dixon had spent much of Round 1 getting acquainted with staging and launching and he was keen to put this knowledge to good use, but he was up against one of the toughest competitors in the Gasser Circus, due to his consistency, 2 time Champion Ray Turner. But as the fire up officials signalled for Ray to fire his ‘Green Onions’ engine, the car turned over but there was not the slightest hint of it firing. As Steve burnt out and edged up to the lights, Rays 55 looked forlorn as it was pushed through the hole in the wall. Steve ran a 12.20 on a 12.10 dial and progressed to the next round. Frustratingly for Ray, his 55 fired back into life once back at his pit!
It was good to see Tim Holmes back with his ‘Powerwagon’ Dodge Pickup, as he was missing in action at Gary’s Picnic, and he knew he would have to be on the money as round 1 saw him taking on Martyn Hallam in his ‘Whiplash’ Willys Coupe. Martyn also meant business, as he had his wheelie bars on and they were soon earning their living, as he ran an 11.00 on a 10.85, beating Tim who ran a slowing 12.01 on a 10.96 dial in.
The next pairing had an inspiring back story, as Gasser Circus Rookie Merv Barnett in his ‘Psychedelic Relic’ Pop, had grenaded his blown 327 Chevy at his first event Gary’s Picnic, but in true racer style, had spent the intervening weeks sourcing parts and building a new 327. This was the eliminations of the recently retired as Merv took on Kev Strevett in his ‘Goldrush’ Ford, with Kev dialling in 12.00 but Merv taking the win with a 11.80 run. Now that’s one way of running in a new engine!

Final pairing had another Gasser Circus rookie Chris Hill, in his 56 Chevy ‘Gas Guzzler’, preparing to take on Brian Gibson in his ‘Identity Crisis’ Dodge, with Brian coming out victorious running 11.95 on his 11.70 dial in.
The quarter final pairings were set, and ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ went to the line against ‘Honky Tonkin 2’ and despite the latter running a superb 9.35, ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ took the win with a 10.64 on a 10.30.
Next pair up had Steve Dixon in his ‘High Roller’, taking on Katie Booth who had problems with the line lock, but this did not put her off as he stormed through the lights to take the win with a 10.74 on a 10.62.
‘Whiplash’ in the capable hands of Martyn Hallam had a bye to the semi-final, but it’s not in Martyn’s nature to take it easy, and he ripped off a 10.87 on a 10.81 dial in!
The other quarterfinal saw the Pop of Merv Barnett taking on Brian Gibson’s Dodge and beating him with a stout 11.30 on an 11.30 dial in.

With Katie Booth and Merv Barnett on opposite sides of the ladder, there was a distinct possibility of an all Ford Pop final, however, the moment Katie left the line we knew that was no longer a possibility as she uncharacteristically, left a cherry on the tree! It soon became clear this was not a day for Ford Pops as, the 33 Willys ‘Whiplash’ booked its place in the final with a very close, side by side fight to edge the win over the ‘Psychedelic Relic’ of Merv.

As the finalists edge ever closer to the end of the fire up road, tension was building, could Martyn take a round win, or could Sean make it back to back victories? Martyn fired his 383 Chevy and pulled forward to the line marking the end of the fire up road, the gap between him and Sean clearly visible, as was the surge of activity around Sean’s Morris Van, as his car failed to start! As crew looked into the engine bay, the sound of the starter motor screeching, with no engagement was heard again and again. Martyn was given the signal to pull round and prepare to burn out, whilst Sean’s van still lay dormant at the end of the fire up road. As the officials move forward to say to his crew he had seconds left to get it started or he was out, the starter engaged and fired the Ford engine into life. A few quick rasps of the throttle and Sean was on his way to burn out alongside Martyn. The Gassers edged to the line, with Sean electing to dial in at 10.6 and Martyn at 10.85 the crowds watching knew these Gassers would leave virtually at the same time. Both drivers knew this was not a time to break out, but it was a breakout which would at the end of the quartermile decide this race, and unfortunately for Martyn this would befall him as he cut the lights at 10.80. Sean in the other lane ran through in a storming 10.61, ensuring he took back to back victories, further securing his lead in the Championship.
This was a big weekend with new personal bests being set all over the place, these included Tim Holmes in Powerwagon, Steve Dixon in High Roller, Martyn Hallam in Whiplash, Nick Barnett & Ryan Welch in their Willys Coupe, Katie Booth in The Mighty Mouse, Merv Barnett in Psychedelic Relic, Kev Strevett in Goldrush and last but not least Sean Milsom in ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’. If ever evidence was needed that the Gasser Circus racers are developing their cars and getting ever faster, then this is it. Talking of speed Lee Pike & Jerry Denning picked up the trophy for the Fastest Gasser with their very impressive 9.35 @ 151 mph.

The Gasser Circus were also delighted to welcome on board a new sponsor ‘Speedking’ and the prizes and gift certificates they supplied were most welcome and a great bonus for the Gasser Circus. They join the NSRA and Mechanix Limited, whose reaction time prize money rolls over to Round 3 at Dragstalgia.
The weekend was a blast a befitting tribute to the late and sorely missed Roger Butterworth and Mel McClaine.

Gasser Circus Standings
Position Gasser Points
1 Ain’t Misbehavin 1320
2 The Mighty Mouse 780
3 Identity Crisis 750
4 Whiplash 710
5 Barnett & Welsh 580
6 High Roller 560
7 Honky Tonkin 2 520
8 Psychedelic Relic 410
9 Green Onions 390
10 Gas Junkie 360
11 Goldrush 320
12 Gas Guzzler 220
13 Powerwagon 190