(Photos by Mike Brooks) – Mike Brooks totally killed it with these photos from the 2017 Gasser Reunion at Thompson Dragway in Thompson, Ohio. The track and the state are both fitting to honor the gassers as Ohio was one of the great hotbeds of gasser activity during the class’s heyday in the 1960s. Obviously one of the biggest stars of the gasser wars was “Ohio George” Montgomery who ran a series of innovative and bad ass fast hot rods. Yes, when Ford pressured him to run a Mustang body in the category many people think it set the course for the ultimate decline of the category in terms of popularity but the was a racer and racer’s work for an advantage and work the rule book when needed. What would have happened if the Mustang never showed up? Who knows. We don’t blame the guy, we blame Ford for that whole deal…but anyway.
With gassers of all different shapes, sizes, and power plants, along with a brace of sportsman racers in a multitude of categories this was a fun show to both participate in and spectate at. People love diversity at the drags and in this collection of photos you are going to get a slice of that diversity from the muscle car era machines to the gassers and pseudo-gassers that hammered the starting line all weekend at Thompson.
Long live straight axles and parallel leaf springs!
Click the images below to expand them and then scroll to see the gasser action –
First off, nice pics.
So what defines a gasser or the better question what does the organization that sponsors the \”Gasser Wars\” define as a gasser? Many of the cars depicted by the pictures do not appear to be what I would think are gassers.
Although the Gasser’s were the main attraction, they did have other classes running as well. If I remember correctly the event had classes for pre-’72 vehicles. I can’t tell you exactly what qualifies a car for the Gasser classes at this event.