The Southeast Gassers Association will conclude its 2026 championship season with a first for the organization’s racing history – a triple race weekend. The Return to Greer Dragway presented by MAHLE Motorsports was rained out on race day. SEGA’s Gulfcoast Nationals presented by ARP Fasteners was cancelled Monday prior to the event’s scheduled time due to the forecast that developed into Hurricane Isaias threatening Gulfport, Mississippi, and Gulfport Dragway at the time.
A season that has had rain complicate nearly every event hasn’t dampened SEGA’s desire to finish strong at Shadyside Dragway near Shelby, North Carolina. For the first time in series history, the premier gasser drag racing in the world will host a triple race weekend at the Championship Finals presented by Robbins Repairables, October 29-31.
Thursday, Oct. 29 and Friday, Oct. 30 will serve as make-up races for the Gulfcoast Nationals and The Return to Greer. On both days, SEGA competitors will be racing under new circumstances for competition. Both evenings will have full points-earning races with the chance of fate with a chip draw instead of setting the eliminator fields per category by qualifying. There will be only one chip draw per race that sets the elimination bracket for each race. Competitors will get one test hit on the track with eliminations following for each championship category. Both Thursday and Friday contests will have cars on track for their test hit at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
Saturday’s SEGA program will function as a SEGA event is normally carried out on race day. Cars will be on track for the first time of the day, with qualifying beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern and eliminations following. Saturday will be the last day of the triple feature Championship Finals presented by Robbins Repairables that will bring the Southeast Gassers Association 2026 Championship Tour to a close.
With it being the Southeast Gassers Association Championship Finals weekend, championships are on the line for each of the championship categories in SEGA drag racing – A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas & Super Stock. Concerning championship battles, Super Stock and C/Gas are the categories that gasser drag racing fans need to have their attention fixed on. Multi-time and reigning Super Stock champion Jerry Dean holds the points lead but finds himself and his Last Rebel II Chevy II in a position that isn’t fully tenable. Challenger Rob Walden, in his Strych09 Super Stocker, is only fifteen points behind, with momentum after picking up his second race win of the season the last time SEGA contested eliminations back at Farmington Dragway in August.
Former champions are atop the scrap for the C/Gas crown in a category riddled with peril for the top two. The points leader is also the defending champion Jerren Perdue in his Chevy II white wagon known as The Ghost of Fulton’s Past. Behind him by 25 points is Todd Oden in a fan favorite, the Double X 1958 Chevy Del Ray, that has taken him to multiple championships, with one of those crowns being in 2024. This category in 2026 has produced the most diverse category with the number of winners. Jerren and Todd both have two wins to their credit, while there are two other winners: Tony Tatgenhorst and Heath Adams. All of the SEGA categories are highly competitive, but C/Gas arguably is the most competitive. Jerren and Todd are fighting it out at the top for a championship while having to run a gauntlet through winning-capable competitors.
With B/Gas and A/Gas, it appears that those championship crowns may be out of reach for the two competitors atop the standings in their respective SEGA competition category. Ted McKee, the driver of The Rocky Top Missile, has a 70-point lead over his nearest competitor in B/Gas, having won every race in the tour save the Bama Brawl at Holiday Raceway in Alabama. For the quickest cars on property, the A/Gas contingency, Ben Christopher, driver of the Happy Daze gasser, has a 45-point lead. Ben has consistently been the quickest and fastest A/Gas hot rod this season, backing up his performance with four wins. The next closest competitor in the win column is Kenneth Phillips, who sits 10th in the points standings. Could any other competitor snatch championship victory out of their grasp? We’ve got three races to view great SEGA competition that will decide the best for 2026 in nostalgia gasser drag racing.
This triple race scenario at Shadyside Dragway presents a valuable racing deal for drag racing fans. The fan admission fee on both Thursday and Friday will be $20 (If you have a Greer Dragway ticket stub for Saturday of the SEGA race, your stub gets you in free for Friday’s race alone. It can also be applied to the weekend pass as a credit off the total price). Saturday’s ticket price will be $25 for the last day of the 2026 season. A triple race pass will cost $60.
For more information, you can visit www.southeastgassers.com or www.shadysidedragway.com – also check out the social media outlets for both the Southeast Gassers Association and Shadyside Dragway on the major platforms such as Facebook. All three days of racing will be livestreamed to the Southeast Gassers Association YouTube channel.
