Knoxville Dragway is nestled in a quaint little valley that normally would conjure thoughts of tranquility. But when the Southeast Gassers Association is settled in the vale, you get mountain madness! The MAHLE Nationals for SEGA had all that the series advertises, with mad moments on and off the track. Fan and racer alike rolled away from Rocky Top having partaken in a summit experience in what is a golden era of drag racing revival with its iconoclast machine – the gasser.
Friday night in test and tune action, the tone was established for just how mad the Mountain Madness event was to be. Jerry Dean, the dominator in the super stock category, put everyone on edge when he nearly put his Chevy II on the edge of its bumper, displaying just how much power he has in his Last Rebel II super stocker. The drama wouldn’t stop there, but rather ramp up greater than Jerry’s wheel stand. Barry Adler in his Iron Eagle Corvette gasser staged up for a test pass in the tower lane of Knoxville Dragway. The rookie SEGA driver who earned one victory earlier in the season looked to be on a pass that was worthy to nest the eagle and await race day. Before the eighth-mile mark the car began to sway back and forth. Through the eighth-mile mark the car, with Barry at the wheel, was sideways. After the nose edged into the wall and spun like a top in the shutdown area, Barry came to a stop. Barry wasn’t injured in the incident, but the Iron Eagle will need a beak job. Another moment of near ruin was with two A/Gas competitors in Greg Stelse and Todd Blackwell in a side-by-side test pass. Launching simultaneously, Blackwell in his Sling Shot Chevy II darted from the left lane around half-track into the right lane nearly dooring Stelse in his The Joker 57’ Pontiac. The tone was one of madness on Friday night and it wouldn’t dissipate on race day.
For the A/Gas machines of SEGA that set the quickest and fastest times of a race weekend, it was Chase Howard, who is chasing Leslie Horne atop the points board, qualifying number one at a 5.23 elapsed time. For the points leader, drama would strike after a round two win against Alan Pittman. Leslie had a mechanical issue that caused his Chick Magnet gasser to not operate normally. In attempting to scale the car as is required by SEGA rules, he overshot the scale. In an attempt to get the car on the scale, the on-site crew touches the car to get it back for Leslie to be able to drive up on the scale. That resulted in a disqualification [per SEGA rules, the crew cannot touch the car before it has been scaled]. Alan Pittman was awarded the win to go on to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Alan faced Kenneth Phillips, who was the number two qualifier and had shown that his Silver Streak II Corvette was back to its top competitive form. Competitive enough that Kenneth went on to the final round to face Chase Howard, who had advanced over Todd Blackwell. The number one and number two qualifiers staged up for the A/Gas event championship at Knoxville Dragway. Kenneth was looking for his first win of 2025. Chase Howard was looking for his second win on the season, a redemption win after losing in the final at the first Knoxville race, and to take the points lead. Kenneth launched straight, where Chase launched toward the centerline but drove it back into the groove, yet his USA-1 Chevelle gasser never seemed to settle down. Kenneth streaked on to his first win in 2025, but all eyes were on Chase as he was getting out of his gasser unscathed after a brush with the wall, spin, slide, and a roll to end sitting upright in the shutdown area. Leslie and Chase will enter the next SEGA event tied atop the points board.
For B/Gas it was a race that all the competitors, especially Ted McKee in his Rocky Top Missile Chevy gasser, were looking to slow down Ken Rainwater, who has held the points lead for most of the season. Charlie Lee, in his Mustang gasser, qualified number 1 at a 5.64ET. Though Charlie was the top performer in qualifying and had made the finals in the last two races with one win, he would be stopped in round two of competition. The number fifth qualifier, Ted McKee, took Charlie out. After that win, Ted would face the number two qualifier, Ken Rainwater. In the battle between number one and two in points, it was Ted McKee besting the Renegade to advance to the final. To face McKee in the final, was Mike Blackwell in his Thunder Stuck Thunderbird gasser that he entered eliminations with the third-qualified machine. With wins over Mark Jones, Wayne Swafford, and then a bye into the final, it was set that we’d have two competitors eyeing to win their first of 2025. It would be Ted McKee turning on the final round win-light. Outside of round 1, he defeated high qualifier cars and advanced each time with another competitor in the lane. The Rocky Top Missile with Ted McKee at the wheel defended the home turf and did what was necessary to slow Ken Rainwater’s momentum, cutting into his points lead.
C/Gas wasn’t to be outdone by A/Gas on the mountain madness happenings. Jerren Perdue again qualified number one with a 6.04ET in his Chevy II wagon, which was no shock at all. The shock in C/Gas occurred in round 1 of competition. Ernie Smith, who came into the event second in points, a multi-time finalist, and had qualified fifth, was eliminated in round one by Diana Casto. Diana then went on to wheel her Quick Draw Flacon gasser to her best performance thus far in 2025, advancing past her round two opponent in Rick Taylor to face Jerren Perdue in a semi-final match-up. Casto knew she needed everything off the line, and she got all she could with a .001 reaction time though she didn’t have the performance to keep the hole shot advantage for a win over Jerren. To face Jerren in the final, it would be two-time C/Gas champion Tim Hall. Hall defeated John Leidich, Brad Wimberly, and Josh Pruitt, who sent his Young Blood Fairlane gasser into a wheel stand so massive that the springs popped out. Jerren Perdue was looking for his fourth win on the season. Tim Hall was looking for his second win on the season while it being only his third race of the season. In a race that matched up a Tim Hall stopping the clocks at a 6.08ET and Jerren Perdue with a 6.04ET, it was Jerren in the wagon turning on the win-light for the fourth win on the season. Jerren will go into the next event with a commanding points lead.
For Super Stock, A/FX, and H/Gas, it was the expected yet also a surprise winner. Jerry Dean is dominating the Super Stock category, having won every 2025 race except one in which he was a finalist. At Knoxville, it was a number one qualifying effort, reestablishing of the Super Stock record (6.305ET), and the event championship over Rob Walden in the final.
The early funny cars, A/FX, held a story of redemption for Jeffrey Ferguson. They debuted their Wild-N-Wooly II at the first race at Knoxville Dragway in the Spring. It was undeniably the best-performing car, but they didn’t come away with the win. At this event, they earned their second SEGA win in a row, beating Rob Walden in the Dixie Twister in the final.
The surprise driver and winner in H/Gas was Quain Stott. Todd Hinds, owner and driver of the Corn Pop Studebaker gasser, had a knee injury preventing him from driving. He called in the wheelman, Quain Stott, to the get the job done, and he did just that. In the final, Quain Stott defeated Larry Noel in his Crazy Pony Anglia. Quain summed up SEGA racing perfectly in his victory lane interview – “if I had gone out round one, I would have had just as much fun.”
The MAHLE Motorsports Nationals was truly Mountain Madness in the valley of Knoxville Dragway. Record performances were established. Points battles tightened while others became out of reach. There were disqualifications. Mechanical failures. Spectacular spills and thrills. The Southeast Gassers Association leaves Knoxville, looking ahead to the first-ever SEGA double race weekend at Gulfport Dragway, knowing that it was a mad good time in East Tennessee at Knoxville Dragway.
THE 2025 SOUTHEAST GASSERS ASSOCIATION REMAINING SCHEDULE
10/10-11 – Gulfport Dragway “Cruise the Coast” (Two race weekend)
10/31-11/1 – Shadyside 2025 FINALS
This story was originally published on September 25, 2025. 
