GASSER BLOWOUT 5
EMERALD COAST DRAGWAY
2017
DVD #182
This two hour and forty-five minute video production covers all the action of the Southern Outlaw Gassers at Emerald Coast Dragway in Holt, Fl on February 10-11, 2017.
The video begins by showing some of the early arrivals at the track on Friday. After profiling some of the cars in the pits we took time to capture some drag racing action during a test and tune session on the Emerald Coast eighth mile drag strip. The racing action continued into the evening hours and later a full moon cast its spell on the race cars. Strange things happen during a full moon.
Our Saturday coverage begins with a walk around the pit area and a series of interviews with the owner/drivers of the cars that showed up for Gasser Blowout 5. Each interview includes an overview of the race vehicle and some information about the people who race them.
Included within our interviews are: Jerry Lopez and his "River Rat" '55 Chevy, Bill Ziel and his 1941 Willys, Glenn Henderson and Will Ethridge with their 1957 Ford, Chris Cantrell with his ''Hound Dog'' Ford Falcon, Jimmy Spinks and his "Country Boy" '55 Chevy, Lee Barnes and his wife Donna with their 1966 Pontiac GTO called "Gold Rush", Billy Jack Ethridge and the "Coon-Tang" Falcon, Tommy Jones and his Blown '58 Corvette, Bill Thompson and his 1969 Mustang, Keith Kostner and his 1965 Falcon, Larry Moore and his 1965 Falcon, Joe Bush and his Willys Pickup Truck, Travis Martin and his "Sucker Punch" '63 Falcon, Jeff Lambert with his 1964 Ford Galaxie, Greg Porter and his '27 T called "Frankenstein", Jimmy Huff and his '64 Falcon Wagon, Jerry Hutchins with his 1966 Mustang, Bruce Burnsten and his 1970 Mustang and Jerry Merrill and his '49 Anglia named "Storm Warning."
We also did an interview with Art Conway and Jean Kingsbury who had two gassers at the event. Art won the long distance award by traveling to Florida from his home in Massachusetts. In addition to two 1957 Chevy gassers Art and Jean use a 1961 B1 Mack truck to tow the cars. This was a great story and I believe you will enjoy the segment with Art and Jean.
We also did an interview with three of the Emerald Coast Dragway staff members. We begin with one of the workers who handed out the time slips or as he calls them speed tickets. This guy also brought his '32 hot rod to the show and he took time to show it to us. From there we talked with the technical inspection crew. It was interesting to hear how they conduct their race car inspections. Finally we talked with the track manager Jim Knight about the recently reopened Emerald Coast Dragway. The new ownership team invested over one million dollars in upgrading the facility and it looked great.
The Gassers ran two time trials and then we captured three rounds of competition. All the cars were eligible to run all the rounds of competition. The winner and runner-up in the Heads Up Gasser class were determined by achieving the quickest reaction time during the event. Even though a winner and runner-up were determined the emphasis was on having fun and making passes down the track. The crowd seemed to like it as they were hanging on the fence all the way down the eighth mile.
Also making a pass on the Emerald Coast track was a Pro Mod style Mustang that was driven by Jason Wilkins. Jason had some problems getting the chutes out at the end of the run and he brought out the emergency response crew. We had a chance to talk with Jason after the incident and he filled us in on what happened.
We also include some footage from the other classes running at the event. They ran a foot brake and trans brake class for 1974 and older cars and trucks. There were some very interesting machines in those classes and we bring you some select action during their time trials and eliminations.
We also give you a look at the group of junior dragsters that were part of the show. The Southern Outlaw Gasser group love to have young racers join them for a fun day with family and friends.
A nice group of altereds and front engine dragsters raced against each other and we include some of their runs. These machines were clean and quick.
In our race coverage we have included relevant narration regarding dial-ins, and performance elapsed times. We feel this helps our viewers to understand the dynamics of each race down the eighth mile.
They also had a car show at the track for 1974 and older cars and trucks. We include a segment dedicated to some of the machines that attracted our attention. My grandson Tyson also had his camera on a couple of late model Corvettes and a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. Very cool cars.
We used three video cameras while capturing this event. My grandson Tyson Amos ran one of the cameras and I had another. We also used a third unmanned camera to capture some interesting starting line shots. I hope you enjoy the multi-camera format we used in this production. We also include some footage that was captured by Tommy Killingsworth and Jimmy Huff. Tommy's footage gives us a great look at his blown and injected small block Ford engine as it makes its way down the track. Jimmy's footage is an in-car look at how Jimmy gets his 9,200 rpm stick shift Falcon down the track. Great stuff.
We close out the video with the awards and trophy presentation.
Jessie Holmes of the Southern Outlaw Gassers says it best when he says Southern Outlaw Gasser racing is “Good Times and Good People.”
Order your DVD today and see what a great show the Southern Outlaw Gassers produce.
