(Words and Photos by Caleb and Samantha Sewell) We’ve got great photo coverage below, along with a complete Race Recap Video at the bottom of the page!
The Southeast Gassers Association had their second stop of the race season at Mountain Park Dragway in Clay City Kentucky on May 6th, 2016. This track truly lives up to its name as it sits within a valley in the rolling hills of the Bluegrass State of Kentucky.
This race has been plagued by rain for multiple years now. This year was no different. The weather forced us into starting on Sunday rather than our usual Saturday start times. Following three days of rain, Mother Nature finally sent a short break in the weather, which allowed barely enough time to get the race in before a new storm developed.
Following a Sunday service put on by Tim Ellison, the track crew worked tirelessly throughout the morning to dry the track and prepare it for a day of racing. Qualifying started off using both lanes but due to the left lane constantly weeping water at the top end we were forced to finish with only the right lane. After two rounds of qualifying, the cars to beat were Kenneth Phillips in the “Silver Streak II” for A/Gas, Doug Dobbins in the “Medicine Man” for B/Gas, and Josh Pruitt in the “Young Blood” for C/Gas.
After qualifying, the track crew was finally able to get the left lane dry enough for the race to begin. The National Anthem was played and the engines started as usual. After almost winning C/Gas at Shadyside a few weeks before, Larry Noel in the “Crazy Horse” was hungry for a win. He went up against the fast Josh Pruitt in the “Young Blood” in the finals and was able to take the win. It was a very emotional win for Larry and his wife. This would also put Larry as the current points lead in the C/Gas class.
For B/Gas, Doug Dobbins in the “Medicine Man” battled it out with Jerry Birch in the “Freebird” for the Semi-Finals to pick up the win that would put him against the legendary Danny Byrd in the “Junkyard Dog” in the finals. Danny Byrd picked took the win for B/Gas following a red light off the tree from Doug Dobbins. This also puts Danny Byrd in the number one position in the points for B/Gas.
In A/Gas, Kenneth Phillips took the win from Todd Oden in the Semi-Finals that would put him against Shannon Smith, who took the win from Gabriel Burrell. Kenneth and Shannon went head to head in the finals, but it would be Shannon that would claim the win after Kenneth red lit off the tree. Even after such a loss, Kenneth Phillips still holds the points lead in A/Gas.
Adding to the non-stop racing action is the new SEGA Super Stock Class. Clay City debuted with 5 cars. There were three Plymouth Belvedere Wagons with Dallas Peffley in the 67, Robert Peffley in the 65 “4 Speed Stampede”, and Don Grotheer in his 66. In addition was Mark Hackett in his 65 Mercury Comet and Mike Wyatt in the “Soul Sacrifice”, 66 Ford Fairlane. You can see the Super Stock class again at our race in Knoxville, TN on June 9th.
For a full recap, check out Southeast Gassers Association official channel on Youtube. You can find us next at Piedmont Dragway in Julian NC on May 26th. We will also be at the Knoxville Dragstrip in Knoxville, TN on June 9th.
