Boiling Springs, NC (April 27) - The Draglist.com Southeastern Gasser Tour traveled to Shadyside Raceway to kick off its 2002 campaign. Threatening skies kept attendance low, but fans who did attend saw a great show. Four A/Gassers and nine B/Gassers each made four unpredictable, wheels up passes in close competition.

Being early in the season, the track was green and a little slick, but was well prepared. Unfortunately, a bracket car lost transmission fluid all the way down the track. Ronnie Buff and his crew did a great job of cleaning up the mess, but the left lane never really came back. Some of the high horsepower Southeastern Gasser Tour members got loose and had to lift.

Rickie Bowie's A/Gasser was the day's quickest with 5.5-second passes. Rodger McConnell's A/Gas machine was very consistent, making four runs in the 5.80 elapsed time zone. Gerald Baker and Jerry Curtis also ran well in A/Gas with 6.0 second performances. B/Gas featured extremely close competition, including a side-by-side 7.05 second race. Other B/Gas cars ran in the 7.20 zone.

Bowie and McConnell met in the final. At the green, McConnell hit a .003 reaction time to kill Bowie on the tree. However, the left lane wouldn't hold the power. McConnell's machine made a hard right and he had to lift to keep from crossing the centerline. Bowie took advantage of lane choice, running a 5.56 to set Low ET of the Event and to take the win.

The Draglist.com Southeastern Gasser Tour rolls into North Wilkesboro Dragway Park in Wilkesboro, NC, on May 11 to continue its rompin', stompin', wheels up action.