Annual Gasser Reunion at Thompson Raceway Park

It Was a Real Gas!

Words by Tom Schiltz
Ohio Outlaw AA Gasser photos by Bob Wentzelberger
Other photos by Tom Schiltz

Each June, Thompson Raceway Park, east of Cleveland, Ohio holds an event they call The “Gasser Reunion” They run several classes, with the main two being the Ohio Outlaws Supercharged Gasser circuit and a bracket class simply called Nostalgia Gas. This year however there were two distinct groups of AA/Gassers in attendance, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

The Ohio Outlaw Gassers had 12 cars in attendance competing for eight spots in final eliminations. The Ohio Outlaw group runs off a 5.60 index for the eighth mile, and they run a normal eliminator ladder; you lose, you go home, while the Nostalgia AA/Gasser group runs, as they advertise, all out, heads up, no index style of racing, running in the low 5’s and high 4’s. The Nostalgia group runs a Chicago style format whereby all cars make three runs and the two low ET’s from the first two rounds race for the trophy. The Ohio outlaw group concentrates on putting on a show with their long, smoky burnouts and their colorfully dressed back-up girls, while the Nostalgia group concentrates on just running fast.

The only qualifier for the Nostalgia Gas Class is you must have a straight axle. Simple.

The crowd loved both shows.