Championship seasons for a series and a racer can be defined by a single race and moment. Fans and racers at Shadyside Dragway for the Championship Finals presented by Robbins Repairables experienced those defining moments as Southeast Gassers Association drag racing concluded for 2025.
Moments that decided championship chases in win-lights and even wrecking fashion. Moments that showcased the very reason a few competitors rolled into the last race as champions in their category. Moments where we see challengers arising for 2026 SEGA drag racing. The ninth and last championship SEGA race for 2025 encapsulated what SEGA drag racing is all about – putting the drive of the race back into the driver’s hands.
A/Gas Championship: Howard Clinches Title Amid Drama
The A/Gas contingency of SEGA, the quickest and fastest in SEGA competition, began their racing action at Shadyside Dragway with the closest championship race in the organization. Chase Howard in his USA – 1, 1967 Chevy Chevelle gasser entered the race with a five point lead over defending A/Gas champion Leslie Horne in the fan favorite Chick Magnet 1955 Chevy gasser.
In SEGA drag racing, each round win counts for five points. Between Chase and Leslie, the expectation was that the championship battle might just come down to a winner-take-all final situation. Shockingly, neither of these two top competitors of the season would be the number one qualifier, though.
That spot would go to Gabriel Burrell, the 2023 A/Gas champion in his Southern Flyer Ford, who, in his only entry of the season, wowed the SEGA followers. He set top pace going into eliminations at a 5.17 elapsed time. Chase would qualify right on Gabriel’s bumper with a 5.18ET. Leslie entered racing rounds in the fourth slotted place with a 5.23ET.
Ladder set, the Chase versus Leslie final seemed locked with them on opposite sides of the bracket. Chase won his round one match-up against Blake Housley. Leslie won his round one match-up against Doyle Lyne.
In round two, Chase defeated Barry Lynn to advance to the semi-finals. In round two, Leslie defeated himself, putting the Chick Magnet into the Shadyside Dragway left side wall. In that match-up with Alan Pittman, Leslie launched, putting the Chick Magnet gasser into a wheelstand. Shifting into second, still in the air, the car continued to go forward but also directly into the wall, making contact in a hard fashion.
Pittman streaked on to the stripe, turning on the win-light with a solid pass while Leslie limped down the track with the front left wheel eventually off near his stop in the Shadyside shutdown area. Leslie exited the car unharmed, but the Chick Magnet was certainly demagnetized. “I’ve been in that position many times, usually when I grab second, it will come back… this time it drove into the wall,” Leslie stated in an animated fashion.
With this incident, Chase Howard became in a wrecking moment the 2025 SEGA A/Gas Champion. For Chase, the race and season weren’t over. He was looking for the jewel of a win to set in the now-earned championship crown.
Chase would dispatch Ben Christopher on a slim hole shot win to advance to the finals. To face him in the final would be the former champ, Gabriel Burrell. It would be a Chevy versus Ford battle between the number one and two qualifiers, multi-time event winners, and now racers with championships to their credit.
The last final of 2025 exemplified SEGA drag racing as Chase and Gabriel launched with wheels up, streaking down the historic Shadyside Dragway door to door to the stripe with Gabriel clocking a 5.24ET to Chase’s winning 5.23ET. Chase ended the season with three event wins and the A/Gas elapsed time record at a 5.14ET.
B/Gas Championship: Rainwater Returns to the Top
In B/Gas, there was a clear frontrunner in the championship chase, with one other driver barely within striking distance. Leading the pack was Ken Rainwater in his Renegade Chevy II gasser, entering the Championship Finals with a commanding points lead. The only driver with a mathematical shot at the title was Ted McKee, also in a Chevy II known as the Rocky Top Missile.
For Ted to claim another SEGA championship, he needed Ken to be eliminated very early—and then go on to win the race himself. By the end of qualifying, Ted had done all he could do with a time good enough for second at a 5.64ET. Ted was seriously outpaced by Ken, who qualified number one with a 5.56ET.
The upward battle for Ted seemed to come into focus as an even steeper climb than previously thought. With the field just one car short of a full 16-car bracket, Ken Rainwater received a bye in the first round. With his round two victory, Ken Rainwater put the championship out of reach and earned his first SEGA championship in several seasons.
He would advance all the way to the final to face Ted McKee. The Rocky Top Missile had aimed for a perfect race and a championship. The championship lost with Ken’s earlier win-lights, there was still a race title to claim.
The final round pitted the number one and two 2025 points finishers, who were past champions in their own right while also being the race’s number one and two qualifiers. The two top competitors in B/Gas staged for their final pass of the SEGA 2025 season.
The ambers illuminated. To the stripe first was Ted McKee, but without the green ‘W’ shape light illuminated that is at Shadyside Dragway. Ted had lit up the redlight in his lane, knowing that he needed every precious increment of time over Ken with the Renegade reestablishing the B/Gas record at a 5.54ET in a semi-final win over Brilee Stott.
Ken coasted to victory already a victor in the championship battle. He finished the season with an elapsed time record and four wins on the season.
C/Gas Championship: Perdue Dominates as Adams Breaks Through
The largest field of SEGA racers for the Championship Finals was found in C/Gas with eighteen cars. Out of the eighteen competitors present, only one was the 2025 SEGA C/Gas Champion, Jerren Perdue.
In his Chevy II Wagon known as The Ghost of Fulton’s Past, he had earned four wins on the season and an elapsed time record to his credit at a 5.95ET. Jerren, through performance and consistency, outpaced his fellow C/Gas competitors to the point that he locked up the championship at the previous race in Gulfport, Mississippi.
But at Shadyside Dragway, the other seventeen racers wouldn’t just give over an event win to the newly crowned champ. Though Jerren qualified number one with a 5.99. The competition was right with him as Heath Adams in his 1953 Chevy gasser Rusty Bullet performed to the number two spot with a 5.99ET as well.
These two competitors would meet each other in the semi-finals, and it was Jerren with a 6.01ET that was put on the trailer by Heath, who picked up a hole shot win to go into the final with a 6.03ET. To face Heath in the final would be Tony Tagenhorst in his Wasted Wages Chevy II gasser with a Ross Racing Engine under the hood.
Tony had qualified fourth with a 6.05ET and, through eliminations, had even defeated Todd Oden, the 2024 C/Gas champion who has three wins to his credit in the 2025 season on an impressive hole shot. Tony and Heath would face off against one another, both aiming for their first SEGA win.
The first-time winner in C/Gas and SEGA between the two would be Heath Adams in the Rusty Bullet. C/Gas closes their competitive season with a decisive championship effort by Jerren Perdue, while new contenders such as a Heath Adams seem to be on the rise.
Super Stock: Jerry Dean’s Dominant Season
For the Super Stock contingency of SEGA, it was the continuation of the show of dominations by Jerry Dean in his Last Rebel II racecar. Jerry entered the Championship Finals, effectively being the champion nearly three races before.
He had raced in every final the season had and had only come in second once in 2025. He also held the elapsed time record for the class, with the top pace being a 6.30ET. For this last race, Jerry would continue his Mr. Dominator status by qualifying number one and winning his eighth race on the season, which had nine to compete in.
Kenny Phillips faced Jerry in the final, but his 6.87ET was nowhere near as strong as needed to overcome Jerry’s 6.38ET. For Jerry Dean, crew chief Karen Mitchell, and the Last Rebel II team, it was nearly a perfect season.
To the credit of those competing in Super Stock, the Jerry domination didn’t deter them from racing. If anything, it pushed them to greater performance overall for the SEGA championship category.
A/FX and H/Gas: First-Ever Champions Crowned
2025 was the first championship season ever for A/FX and H/Gas. A/FX, a class with strict rules portraying a narrow window in time of early funny cars, and H/Gas, a class for four cylinders, six cylinders, and even flathead V8s.
These two classes also had the championships decided before the final race at Shadyside Dragway, but that wasn’t for the lack of twists and turns over the season. Todd Wimberly earned the A/FX Championship while also winning the last event of the year.
It would be the fifth win for him driving and the sixth win for his Southern Comfort Ford Falcon A/FXer which Daniel Haynes also earned a win in (points earned in A/FX followed the car).
Larry Noel, in his beautiful Anglia gasser known as the Crazy Pony, would outlast all the H/Gas competitors to win the final race of the year and the championship. Larry would end the season with the most races attended and the most wins in the category at three.
These two categories add to SEGA in their own way to continue the nostalgia revival that is the Southeast Gassers Association.
2025 Season Reflections and What’s Ahead
Fans at the Championship Finals presented by Robbins Repairables—and there were many, filling the stands and lining the hillsides of Shadyside Dragway—were treated to some of the finest moments SEGA has to offer.
The 2025 season was marked by the rise of several first-time champions, as well as the return of past champions reclaiming glory after years away from the top. Of all the reigning champions, only Jerry Dean in Super Stock successfully defended his title.
The season wasn’t without its challenges—attrition, unpredictable weather, and even a few transitional growing pains—but by year’s end, one thing was clear: SEGA continues to hold a unique and vital place in the world of drag racing.
It’s a series that puts the driver back at the center of the action, celebrating the golden era of the sport with wheel-standing launches, manual shifting, and heads-up finishes that thrill fans both young and old.
The Southeast Gassers Association is set to release its 2026 schedule soon. Stay tuned to the SEGA social media channels for that announcement and more updates.
This story was originally published on November 7, 2025. 
