All of the pictures on this page were contributed by Benoit Pigeon,
I am grateful to him for the opportunity of reproducing them here.
Click on any image to get the bigger picture
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Click on any image to get the bigger picture |
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The Acceleration Archive's US-based roving reporter Benoit Pigeon has been out and about again. The venue this time was New London Airport and Drag Strip in Virginia. This is Benoit's report on the meeting. Welcome to New London, Virginia where airplanes and drag race cars have shared the same asphalt strip since 1958. This was was my first time for many years at this fun facility, now run by Pro Modified racer Jr. Ward of Ward Motorsports. I met the team that run the track over the winter by accident at a car show in Roanoke, but already I had planned on taking pictures at the Gasser event. My luck has been strikingly weird meeting all kinds of people at the right time this year and thanks to Alan, I am able to share images here again. There were a total of eight gassers that showed up on a cloudy Saturday, coming from Canada, Ohio and the Carolinas. Jim Oddy, a legend who made his name in Gassers and Pro Modified, brought his altered 4 door Willys turned very neatly into a 2 door, a very narrow car with tires totally covered under the rear fenders. Jim is an expert at mixing simplicity in the details with performance. The driver was none but Jr. Ward himself, one of his many jobs of the weekend. I have never witnessed Jr. Pro Modified driving but you can tell from his handling of the car that he has a well-oiled routine for getting the car staged wasting no time at all. In the end Michael Campolucci at the wheel of the Blue Code '33 Willys coupe won against Junior Ward. I was expecting a real show but this event was an amazing race. While racing Gassers are obviously a tremendous amount of work for the driver and the legendary wheelstands associated with these types of cars are no doubt fantastic, it was actually impressive to notice how much hard work went in the pits to avoid the lift ups. Three historical Gassers showed up at the event and made a slow presentation pass on the track. Other cars making for bright colors were a group of powerfull slingshot dragsters, some local, some from out of state, racing against door slammers including a Ford Thunderbird in a nostalgia class. There will be a second event later this year in October at the same track. For more info on this club click here. |
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(First posted on 21 May 2013) |
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