The Southeast Gassers Association continued its second stage of existence Apr. 13 at historic Shadyside Dragway with the SEGA Shelby Nationals presented by Robbins Repairables. It also marked just the second race under new ownership after Leslie Horne took over from series founder Quain Stott last November.

"It's kind of nice to be here and be able to race without worrying about the event or dealing with everyone's complaints and anything that could go wrong," said Stott, who established SEGA a dozen years earlier, but will only be campaigning his "Executioner" '48 Anglia in A/Gas this season. 

"I'm looking forward to it," he added.

Also new for this year is video-delayed online TV coverage of each event by PowerTube TV (watchpowertubetv.com), available free on several TV streaming platforms and as a free, downloadable app. 
Once eliminations got underway, Colby Welch maintained a perfect record in 2024 with his second B/Gas race win of the year. Joining him in victory lane at the historic eighth-miler in Shelby, NC, were defending A/Gas series champion Gabriel Burrell, Todd Oden in C/Gas, Jerry Dean in Super Stock, and H/Gas winner Robert Frazier.

A/GAS



SEGA's longstanding no-elapsed-times-or-speeds-shown-on-scoreboards policy remains, but after two rounds of qualifying, Todd Blackwell stood atop a 15-car A/Gas field in his "Sling Shot" Chevy II.
Ben Christopher, past champion Ken Phillips, Horne, and Burrell made up the rest of the top five, with Stott slotting into sixth place.
Burrell opened with an off-pace but relatively easy win over Doyle Lynn, then made a solo pass in round two after new series owner Horne was unable to answer the call with his "Chick Magnet" tri-five Chevy. Burrell left with a holeshot on his quickest pass of the event in the semis against Blackwell -- and needed both -- as Blackwell went even quicker than his qualifying time and set low ET for the event in a very tight loss.
In the final, Burrell met number-10 starter Barry Lynn in his "Lil' Red Wagon" long-roof Chevy, who made it past Wisconsin's Greg Stelse, second-place starter Christopher, and Dean Jonas in his "Agent Orange" Chevy II, who also enjoyed a good day after an 11th-place start.

"I actually wanted to see Barry get a win -- but not against me," Burrell admitted after a come-from-behind effort that beat Lynn by just a couple of thousandths at the stripe.

"It was a really ugly way to get a win. I mean I qualified pitifully and then didn't really get down the track until the third run of eliminations. And then I about didn't get down in the finals. It was ugly," Burrell stated.

"As soon as I dropped the clutch it started going left and I kept putting more steering in it and more steering and it never would come back until finally it come on back the other way and I finally got it squared away. Then about high gear, I guess I finally got it trying to make some steam," he continued. "So, I knew I was pulling on him, but I knew the stripe was coming quick, too, so I wasn't sure whether I had beat him or not."

It wasn't until following Lynn to the timing shed after the turnoff that Burrell realized he'd won the race.

"I saw them hand him (Lynn) the yellow slip, so that's when I knew I'd won," Burrell explained. "The white slip goes to the winner, so that's when I knew."

For his part, Lynn said he knew the result already.

"I knew he (Burrell) was coming and I knew it was gonna' be close, so I actually took a quick look up just as we got to the lights and saw his win light come on."

B/GAS



A full 16-car ladder qualified for B/Gas at Shadyside, led by 2023 class champion Ted McKee in his "Rocky Top Missile" Nova. Welch and his "Moonbeam" Ranchero slotted in second, followed by "Tennessee Charlie" Lee in another Nova, Gerard Milidantri in his "Wicked 1" '48 Anglia, and Bill Revels in his '63 Comet, "Black Betty."

Sixteen-year-old Brilee Stott put his Rambler into the sixth position, Mike Blackwell qualified his "Thunder Struck" T-bird seventh, and in a new SEGA B/Gas '55 Chevy (a repurposed car he already owned), reigning Super Stock champ Rick "Dirt Man" Varner rounded out the top half of the field.

Number-one starter McKee beat Todd Rosenberry, Varner and Revels in the preliminaries to reach Welch in the final round. Welch got there by putting Gary Smith, Ron Burgner, and Lee on the trailer.
The fourth round turned out to be the closest race of the day for both finalists, as just a few thousandths separated them at the finish line.
"Every round I keep the pressure on myself and it's always a tough round, but that final against Ted was, it was definitely a toss-up," the 21-year-old Welch said. "We've met in the finals all too many times and they're always close, one way or the other. So that one I definitely had the pressure on myself."

Still, Welch added he felt "a boost to the morale" heading into the final, since he'd secured lane choice by running several hundredths under McKee in the semis.
"It was a good race," Welch recalled after his second SEGA win in three weeks to open the '24 season. "I had him off the line, but he actually did have me to the 60 (-foot mark) and 330, regardless of the hole shot. But then I pulled past him from the 330 on to close out the win. 

"By then I was just hoping it would stay together and looking for that win light."

C/Gas



Twenty-one entries made qualifying passes for the all-run C/Gas eliminations at the Shelby Nats, but after five rounds of hard-fought eliminations it was number-one starter Todd Oden who reached victory lane.
Following Oden and his big, black "Double XX" '58 Chevy in qualifying was reigning back-to-back C/Gas champion Tim Hall and his "Scalded Dog" '67 Rambler American. Josh Pruitt, winner of the SEGA season opener three weeks earlier in Georgia, started third in his "Young Blood" Mercury and Brad Wimberly in his "Southern Sizzler" placed fourth, followed by Ernie Smith in the "Saturday Night Special" Chevy II to fill out the top five.

After making a solo pass to start eliminations, Oden made his way through Ben Helms and his "Pucker Time" '55 Chevy in round two, then Bryson Buff, one of three brothers who own and operate Shadyside Dragway, as well as share driving duties on a race-by-race basis in the family wagon.

That set up a clash of class titans for the semis, as Oden took on Hall and his Rambler, which already had set class low ET for the event in a second-round solo pass. They ran within a couple of hundredths in the semis, but Oden advanced to face Wimberly and his '63 Comet in the final. 

Wimberly opened eliminations with a win over B.B. Brown, who had been battling wheelstands all day in his "Deputy Dawg" Willys,  then advanced past Diana Castro in her "Quick Draw" Comet before scoring a big upset with a holeshot win over Pruitt before making a solo run in the semi-finals.

Once in the final, it was essentially over at the start as Oden ran his quickest ET of the event while Wimberly had been gradually slowing with each passing round.
"We left pretty much dead even but then it started to pull," Oden said of the final round. "Out about the 330 (feet), the car shook a little bit, but we were out front and I just held it all the way through.
Oden admitted his heart "skipped a beat" when he felt the tires chatter.

"We're on the smaller tire right now and when that tire shakes a little bit it can get away from you. Sometimes that thing will shake it's head right toward the wall," he said. "But oh, the big girl, she just went down through there and stayed straight."
Oden, who won a championship in D/Gas back in 2017, said he's committed to adding a C/Gas title to his racing resume, so it was important take advantage of Pruitt's semi-final exit.
"It's good to come out of here with a win," he concluded. "We closed the gap a little bit at least."

Super Stock

Eight entries vied for the Super Stock title at Shadyside, where last fall's winner Jerry Dean took the top spot in qualifying with his non-descript Nova that looks like it would be equally comfortable on the street. 
Following Dean in order for qualifying were Randy Keifer, Don Wilmot, Allen Lovelady, Bryant Dalton Sr., Kenny Phillips, Dean Hall, and Zach Long.

Dean was scheduled to race Long and his "Brass Monkey" Plymouth station wagon in round one, but with Long a no-show, he advanced with a solo run to take on Dalton in the "Dalton Gang" '63 Falcon for round two, which also served as the semi finals.
On the opposite side of the ladder, number-two starter Keifer in the "Spine Tingler" Pontiac wagon made it past Hall and his "Sledge Hammer" '66 Fairlane and then Phillips in the "Street Legal" '65 Chevy.
That set up a final for Dean and Keifer, who pushed a little too hard on the tree and the dreaded red bulb handed an easy win to Dean.

Despite holding a sizable performance advantage over Keiffer, Dean later said he felt "very lucky" to get the win.

"When we left, I spun and then out there about second gear it spun again, and then it straightened up and went on," Dean recalled. "I started running him down a little, I think, but I wasn't ever going to get by. I didn't know he had redlit and then he left off. I was thinking, 'Dang, surely I ain't that late on the light!'"