GASSER MAGIC

The advertising hype for a little-known — even forgotten — class of drag racing brought in the fans by the hundreds to Tokoroa Street Rodders Inc at Amisfield Dragstrip on Sunday, 17 March for the New Zealand Rodder Gasser Wars Reunion Drags. Perfect weather coupled with a contingent of 16 vintage gassers from all over the country and a range of supporting classes made for a massive show for the crowd, one which would have won a lot of new fans for the sport. The event was conceived as the place to race cars that don’t quite fit the normal classes and to allow gassers to race door to door. While the rules laid out by the organizers for the Gasser class were sparse, they were strictly adhered to. This included that cars must be pre 1970 and run straight axles, just like the gassers of days gone by. As it was about putting the fun back into racing, putting on a show for the crowd was also a big part: think bunny hops, wheel stands and

unnecessarily long burnouts — the drivers certainly exceeded all expectations. Included in that was Fuel Altered driver Dave Gauld, who came out to put on a show over the eighth-mile strip. While Dave’s car has done countless passes, Russell Lowe’s ’56 Chev was completed just hours before the event, the barnfind four-door still having 20 years of bird shit on the windows to complete the look. The winner on the day was Chris Hornblow in his 355ci small block–powered ’56 Chev — a car that’s steeped in history, having raced in the US before being brought to New Zealand long ago. Event co-organizer Craig ‘Fingrz’ Mullan took home the second spot in his equally well-travelled Studebaker Lark, the ‘Larkness Monster’. With the event being such a huge success, we can only imagine that next year will be even bigger — here’s hoping that it doesn’t lose the relaxed charm that it had this year.