The inaugural Southeast Gassers Association event at Holiday Raceway produced a true brawl in The Bama Brawl, where racers duked it out amongst themselves and the track. The historic facility in Woodstock, Alabama, produced another SEGA-defining race showcasing the wild and unpredictable nature of these SEGA-style gassers that get as close to the 1960s as possible. The Bama Brawl packed a punch that will be felt throughout the 2026 championship season and beyond in SEGA drag racing.
The Alabama contingency of racers within SEGA is certainly familiar with Holiday Raceway. Racers from the Carolinas, Wisconsin, and even Texas rolled in for the first time in need of testing and tuning but didn’t get it due to inclement weather. When the clutches dropped, and wheels were in the air for the first hits in qualifying session one, the need to get the gassers dialed in became excitingly apparent. Many cars launched hard with wheels high in the air while darting either left or right. Center line crossing occurred. Timing blocks were sacrificed. Wall strikes occurred. Moments displayed on track that had fans gasping and reaching for their phones to record. Though most of the competitors within SEGA did get their gassers under control beyond qualifying session one, the fight or flight moments weren’t done at The Bama Brawl.
In the fastest and quickest category in SEGA drag racing, A/Gas, the sixteen-car field produced many of the top highlight moments. Leslie Horne, driver of the Chick Magnet 55’ Chevy gasser, qualified sixth in the A/Gas field – well off his typical leading pace. His first qualifying pass had him and fellow competitor Brad Henry in the Wild Child 41’ Willys, showcasing one of the wildest pairs of the day. Both had their hands full of wheel, with Henry turned broadside completely as Horne gathered his gasser up all the way up the Holiday Raceway shutdown hill.
From that point on, Horne continued to gather up his performance from his 5.44 elapsed time qualifying performance. Other than his round one elimination match-up, where Horne was able to coast to a win due to his opponent getting out of shape, he improved his performance from the 5.44 qualifying effort to a 5.31, 5.26, and then a 5.25 in the final. He would need that better performance for a chance in the final, where he would face the number one qualifier, Ben Christopher, at the wheel of his Happy Daze Chevy II gasser.
Christopher had an eventful day himself without being the direct catalyst for excitement other than performance, outpacing the field with his 5.22 elapsed time No. 1 qualifying effort. He did that right off the trailer in the first qualifying session, effectively losing his second shot due to a competitor getting out of shape at launch and crossing the center line in front of him. With the challenging conditions that jabbed at the SEGA racers in round one of eliminations, Christopher would face Chase Howard, the reigning and defending A/Gas champion, who qualified last, struggling in both qualifying sessions, mustering only a 7.77. Howard found his championship performance in round one, putting up his best time of the race at a 5.23; however, Christopher went low e.t. of the meet with a 5.15.
In round two, Christopher would be a part of the pair with the most gut-punching moment of the race. Brad Henry in the Wild Child 41’ Willys had already experienced a wild day in qualifying. Matters had seemed to improve with a round one victory over the orange 41’ Willys known as the Orange Peeler of Scott Bodisalich. In round two, Henry would experience his wildest racing moment with SEGA. Leaving with Christopher, Henry was in striking distance if Christopher had an issue in the Quick Time Performance Right Lane of Holiday Raceway. Just past the 330-foot mark, Henry slipped out of the narrow groove to the left in the Laris Motorsports Insurance Left Lane, turned sideways out of control and skidded into the shut-down area broadside nosing into the right wall resulting in a bloodied nose of his beautiful blue ‘41 Willys. Henry was alright after the incident, exiting the car under his own power. But Christopher’s exciting day wasn’t over yet. In the semifinals, he was paired with SEGA first-timer Steve McNamara of Texas in the Lil’ Johnny Chevy II gasser. Steve launched with a red light but kept the throttle down, then crossed the centerline from the left lane into the right, forcing Christopher to get out of the throttle and coast to a win.
The final pitted Horne against Christopher for the inaugural event championship in A/Gas at Holiday Raceway. Horne had lane choice while Christopher had a slight performance edge. The best two cars in eliminations were set to end the race day with possibly the best race of the day. That was not to be as Horne was just off on being timely in his launch, illuminating the red light, and therefore the win light for Christopher. He rolled away from the Bama Brawl as the A/Gas points leader.
The ten-car field for B/Gas had the top two performers work their way through their side of the ladder to the final. Ted McKee in the Tennessee Volunteer Orange Rocky Top Missile Chevy II gasser, who won the season opener at Shadyside Dragway, qualified number one with a 5.54. Charlie Lee made his first SEGA appearance with his Tennessee Charlie white and red Mustang fastback gasser. His first qualifying attempt was memorable, launching with such force that a cloud of rust and red dust billowed behind him. The car lifted with a sky‑high wheel stand, and he eventually had to lift off the throttle after crossing the centerline. His second time would have his pony go straight and true to a 5.60.
McKee would dispatch his first-round opponent, then enjoy a bye-run in round two to face and defeat Wayne Swafford, the No. 3 qualifier, in the semifinals. McKee consistently ran 5.55’s all the way to the final. Lee defeated his round one opponent with a 5.62 and his round two opponent with his own 5.55. For his semifinal match-up, he had a bye and would take the tree coasting over the finish line stripe. The B/Gas had the two Tennesseans ready to race, one in a Ford and the other in a Chevy. This final produced a fender to fender race all the way to the stripe – a 5.57 to a 5.58. Though just a tick slower in elapsed time, it was Lee winning over the quicker McKee.
For all the chaos at the Bama Brawl, there were remarkable performances for the SEGA racers at Holiday Raceway. The top performance of the race came from reigning C/Gas champion Jerren Perdue. He was the No. 1 qualifier, but in his round one bye due to the ladder of the thirteen-car field, he reset the C/Gas record to a 5.947 elapsed time. The performance never did dip for Perdue, all the way to the final. He fought in the 5.90s all through qualifying and eliminations into the final. That final would be a rematch of the season opener with Alabamian Todd Oden.
Oden had to defeat an opponent each time to reach the final, being the sixth qualifier at a 6.23. Notably, in the semifinals, Oden faced No. 2 qualifier Heath Adams in the Rusty Bullet gasser in his first start of the 2026 season. It was going to be a match-up where Oden would need everything he could get out of his ‘58 Chevy Del Ray, but Adams rolled the beams, red lighting to give Oden the win. Oden proved that he was ready for the final by taking it to the stripe in the semifinal matchup at a 5.96. The wagon wheeled by Perdue and the full-bodied car driven by Oden launched high into the air, delighting the Alabama fans, and continued to delight in a fight right to the finish line, fender to fender. This time it was Perdue winning against Oden, avenging the loss at Shadyside a race before. It was Perdue’s 5.95 to Oden’s 5.96 in another great display of what SEGA drag racing is all about.
No surprise to anyone familiar with the ropes of SEGA competition, a certain Alabamian once again defended the home turf with a win in Super Stock. The six‑car field afforded the number‑one qualifier a bye run into the semifinals, but Jerry Dean hardly needed the advantage; he continues to hold a clear performance edge in his Super Stock setup compared to the rest of the field. The two cars that are the class of the field in this category met again in the final – a rematch of the Shadyside season opener. Rob Walden in the Strych 09 Chevrolet would again attempt to knock out Dean from the winner’s circle. Though Walden was the No. 2 qualifier and clearly has a stout hot rod in Super Stock, his 6.67 still wasn’t enough for Dean’s 6.35. Dating back to last season, the reigning champion in Super Stock is now on a six-race win streak in SEGA racing.
This inaugural event for the Southeast Gassers Association at Holiday Raceway, titled the Bama Brawl presented by Superior Performance Transmissions, was certainly a heavyweight fight for the racers in SEGA. It had moments that showcased hit points for the highlight reels while also displaying the separation of competition for the early title contenders in this 2026 championship season. When fans, media, and racers rolled away from Holiday Raceway, they knew they had witnessed the kind of performance that sets the Southeast Gassers Association apart as the heavyweight of nostalgia gasser drag racing.
This story was originally published on May 8, 2026. 
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