“Fire ’em up!” is about to be exclaimed for the first time in 2026 for premier gasser drag racing. The Southeast Gassers Association’s ten race championship season will ignite at Shadyside Dragway for The First Drag Race presented by Robbins Repairables April 10-11 to begin the next installment of nostalgia, no rival, gasser action. It will mark the start of a season that has SEGA returning to fundamental elements to fire off into a favorable future.
Shadyside Dragway will be the only two-stop venue for SEGA in 2026. It will bookend the season as the opener and closer of the championship contest in SEGA drag racing. The historic strip near Shelby, North Carolina, is a fan and competitor favorite. For many competitors, it is the home track in SEGA competition, while fans take in the nostalgia at a throwback facility, allowing for immersion in the glory days of pioneering drag racing when the gasser was king.
The championship categories on display will include A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, and Super Stock with A/FX and H/Gas as exhibition elements at Shadyside Dragway. Nealy every reigning champion will begin their title defense fights in the gasser and Super Stock categories (2025 Champions: A/Gas – Chase Howard, B/Gas – Ken Rainwater, C/Gas – Jerren Perdue, Super Stock – Jerry Dean). The one exception in title defense is Ken Rainwater, who makes a move from B/Gas to the A/Gas ranks. Rainwater’s move is not the only storyline in the A/Gas category that, with internal SEGA reports, seems to be swelling with competition. Barry Adler in the Iron Eagle Corvette A/Gasser, along with Leslie Horne in the Chick Magnet Chevrolet A/Gasser return after on-track incidents and off-season repairs. 2024 B/Gas champion, Daniel Haynes, driver of the The Patriot Flacon, is a notable entry amongst the B/Gas competitors who only had two starts in 2025 (A/FX and B/Gas). In C/Gas there are rumors of a strong A/Gas car being reconfigured for C/Gas competition. For Super Stock, the only question is who can stop Jerry Dean?
The season for 2026 in SEGA drag racing will ignite Friday at 5:00PM Eastern with a SEGA-only test and tune (gates open at 3PM ET – $20 admission). Saturday will showcase qualifying at 1:00PM Eastern with championship eliminations to follow (gates open at 10AM ET – $25 admission – $35 weekend pass). The Southeast Gassers Association competition will continue premier nostalgia gasser drag racing, bringing an authentic 1960s racing experience.
For more information, you can visit www.southeastgassers.com or www.shadysidedragway.net – also check out the social media outlets for both the Southeast Gassers Association and Shadyside Dragway on the major platforms such as Facebook.
THE SOUTHEAST GASSERS ASSOCIATION 2026 SCHEDULE
4/11 Shadyside Dragway – Shelby, NC.
5/2 Holiday Raceway – Woodstock, AL.
5/30 Brainerd Motorsports Park – Ringold, GA.
6/27 Knoxville Dragway – Knoxville, TN.
8/1 Rockingham Dragway – Rockingham, NC.
8/22 Farmington Dragway – Mocksville, NC.
9/12 Greer Dragway – Greer, SC.
10/9, 10 Gulfport Dragway – Gulfport, MS. (Double Feature)
10/31 Shadyside Dragway – Shelby, NC.
This story was originally published on April 8, 2026. 
