GASSER MAGAZINE

Gasser Appreciation Race
B L U E S U E D E C R U I S E
Chuck & Marcella Lipka’s ‘41 Willys is powered by a blown Olds ~ Eureka, MO
NORWALK, OH: The GASSER Appreciation race is our longest running
event and for darn good reason! Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk
Ohio is the best track in the country! My kids want to go there; my wife
has even been there! I know I have said this in the past, but this event
at this venue is such a laid back relaxing weekend. It has the best of
both worlds; Nostalgia drag racing and a huge car show. The car show
brings in 3,000+ street rods and hot rods as well as a bunch of street
Gassers. The track is open to all of them for Fun Runs on Friday and
Saturday. There is also a large manufacturers midway. Speaking of the
midway, this year ScottRods donated a rolling 1934 Ford roadster to be
given to a lucky attendee!
The racers side of the track was packed with three main divisions,
Hot Rod, the NDRL and GASSERS; a total of about 500 racers. The
Gassers were divided into two groups: Competition Gas and Nostalgia
Gas. Competition Gas participants got four time trials and ran a handicap
program on Sunday dialing in to the nearest 10th. Nostalgia Gas participants
got three time trials, and then on Saturday evening they ran a
heads up index show for the fans. Each index winner received a trophy.
On Sunday they also dialed in to the nearest 10th.
The winner of Comp Gas raced the winner of Nostalgia Gas for the
Championship. This year we had five rounds of competitors on Sunday
in each Gasser division. The final round in Competition Gas had Jay
Rust in his ‘Bad to the Bone’ ‘55 Chevy from Chesterland,Ohio losing to
Larry Shawberry from Tifin, Ohio in his wild ‘63 Belvedere.
Nostalgia Gas came down to Craig Murry, the crazy Canadian, in
his ‘55 Chevy losing to Steve Tanzella from Beverly Massachusetts in
his clean ‘56 Chevy. The final saw Steve take the win with the Mopar of
Larry Shawberry had transmission issues. Congratuations to Steve for
figuring out the lights after his first run and then taking it to the rest of
the pack!
The Saturday night heads up racing saw some great starting line
antics and with these cars coming out on top:
A/G Ron Doran, Pataskala, OH ‘40 Willys
B/G David Bowen, Butler, PA ‘33 Willys
C/G Larry Cousino, Ida, MI ‘41 Willys
D/G Graeme Tyler, Twinsburg, OH ‘41 Willys
E/G Freddy Wilkerson, Kenton, OH ‘63 Corvette
F/G Dale Healy, Marengo, OH ‘65 Chevy II
G/G Mike Anderson, ‘57 Chevy
The largest class was D/G with four rounds of competitors. If you’ll
notice, Willys took the first four classes. Pretty cool for the Mid America
Willys Club!
Thanks to all who participated in this year’s Blue Suede Cruise.
With the growing interest in Nostalgia Gassers, we expect an even bigger
group of racers next year. See you there!
Don Moyer, Race Director
Tom Nowicki ~ Goshen, IN
Pam Carpenter works the club display
“Just resting my eyes” zzzzzzzzz