Words: John Gunnell
Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wis., lays claim to being the oldest continuously operating drag strip in America. When we attended the NEW Motorama (www.newmotorama) in March and Jefferson Car Show (www.madisonclassics.com) in April, we noticed a cab-forward Ford Econoline pickup promoting a brand new event called the “Brew City Gassers’ 1st Annual Out-A-Sight Drags.”
Now, when someone refers to a new show as a “1st Annual” event, it means either that they’re quite an optimist or they are planning an outrageously good event. According to Mark Davis and John Reidenbach of Brew City Gassers, the second option applies to the Out-A-Sight Drags. They expect a spectacular turnout of both racers and spectators.
The two hot rodders and other members of the Brew City Gassers brought nine gassers to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds for Madison Classic’s show. There were four ’55 Chevys (including a metallic blue hood-scooped coupe like my dream car from back in 1965), Mike Freund’s well-known ’57 Chevy, the Econoline, a Willys coupe, a ‘Vette and a Nova. Well, it was actually 10 gassers if you count the orange, straight-axle ’55 Chevy pedal car that one of the club members built. In fact, it may have received more spectator attention than the real cars!
Davis and Reidenbach said the nostalgic drag racing event, scheduled for June 14-15, seems like one that’s going to be around year after year. Pre-1967 vintage drag racing will be the main attraction that Friday and Saturday in June. Gasser style rods, rail jobs and muscle-bound Super Stocks will all be competing. Racers can pre-register for the competition by emailing [email protected].
In addition to the quarter-mile runs by the vintage cars, there will be a swap meet and a car show for vehicles built before 1973. Admission to the car show is free with a regular track admission ticket. On Saturday night a group called “Floor It” will be providing live musical entertainment. For complete event information, including ticket prices for each day of racing, visit www.brewcitygassers.com.