Action at the historic Brainerd Motorsports Park was every bit as hot as the June weather with the Southeast Gassers Association’s Rumble in Ringgold, presented by Harbin’s Mechanical Services. The extreme conditions pushed SEGA competitors to the limit as they wrestled their old‑school, naturally aspirated four‑speed gassers – machines built to mirror 1960s-era drag racing as closely as possible. This third stop of the SEGA championship season, rescheduled from its original date, delivered several career and season firsts while also helping to solidify the early favorites in the 2026 championship hunt.
In hot and challenging conditions, the quickest and fastest competitors in SEGA showcased that the new Brainerd Motorsports Park surface was certainly suitable for A/Gas racers. Four drivers out of the fourteen stopped the clock in the 5.30-second range, with Ben Christopher being the number one qualifier at a 5.31. The top four qualifiers would all advance to the semifinals, except defending event champion Barry Adler. In his round one match-up against a fellow Barry – Barry Lynn – in the Chevelle Red Wagon, Adler had the pace in his Iron Eagle Corvette with a 5.39, but it was a hole shot victory for Lynn at 5.52.
The only outlier of the top four qualifiers advancing to the semifinals was Leslie Horne in the Chick Magnet 1955 Chevy gasser. He defeated Lynn in his second-round pairing to face Ben Christopher in the semifinals. Though Horne was able to muster his best elapsed time of the day at a 5.33, it wasn’t enough to stop Christopher from advancing to the finals, who went low elapsed time of race day with a 5.23.
The other semifinal pair featured Kenneth Phillips, making his first appearance in 2026 with his Silver Streak II Corvette gasser, against new A/Gas competitor – but 2025 B/Gas champion – Ken Rainwater. Rainwater, in his Instigator gasser, continued the great performance that put him in the top four qualified cars, but it was Phillips dipping into the 5.20s with a win-light to advance to the final round.
In the final round, the No. 1 and No. 2 qualified cars met each other, both having just run in the 5.20s in their semifinal victories. The expectation was high that it would be a fender-to-fender battle to the finish-line stripe, but Phillips had issues on the launch, allowing Christopher to streak on to a win. Christopher has appeared in all three finals thus far in 2026, and with this victory, just completed his first career back-to-back wins. Christopher and his team, with the Jason Line powerplant in the Happy Daze gasser, have clearly established themselves as the A/Gas frontrunner.
With the win in B/Gas at the last race at Holiday Raceway and rolling into Brainerd Motorsports Park as the defending event champion for the category, all eyes were on Charlie Lee in his white with red racing stripes Mustang to perform remarkably well. In qualifying, he continued performing, slotting in the second spot, being one of just three cars that were able to reach the 5.60s in elapsed time. In round one, he dispatched Zak Hall in the Home Grown gasser in a return to SEGA competition. For his second-round matchup, Lee wheeled his gasser to a 5.72, whereas Mark Jones, in his Mini Kwik II 1937 Chevy gasser, clocked in with a 5.98. While the performance was clearly with Lee, the win light was with Jones, the eighth-place qualifier who defeated both his first and second round opponents with massive hole shots.
In the semifinals, Mark’s rumble through the ladder would come to an end as Wayne Swafford advanced to the final round. Opposing Swafford in the final would be the number one qualifier, Ted McKee. In his Tennessee orange, Rocky Top Missile Chevy gasser, Ted appeared in his third final in a row, along with a season-opening win. Being just a bit behind on performance, Swafford tried to gain all the edge he could; however, he illuminated the red light, giving McKee the win. McKee earned his second win on the season while facing a different opponent in each final he has appeared in. He has a clear points lead in a very competitive SEGA B/Gas category.
In just three races within C/Gas this season, it’s clear we’ve got the Perdue and Oden show on display. Jerren Perdue, the 2025 champion, and Todd Oden, the 2024 champion, have appeared in the two previous finals, with each claiming a win. That performance didn’t stop at Brainerd Motorsports Park as Oden qualified No. 1 and Perdue claimed the second spot, both stopping the clocks at a 6.06. When the finals were called, C/Gas again featured Perdue in his Chevy wagon and Oden in his 1958 Chevy Del Ray for the third straight race.
The winner was known as soon as Oden rolled through the water box, poised for his final burnout of the race. Perdue dropped a valve in his semifinal win and couldn’t make the call to compete for a second win in a row. Even without an opponent in the other lane – which had been the norm for Oden on race day with a competition single in round one and a bye run in round two, only facing an opponent in Heath Adams in the Rusty Bullet in the semifinals – he sent it to the delight of the fans that attended on a hot day in north Georgia. Oden earned his second win of the 2026 season and has showcased a complete turnaround of his program from the abysmal start in 2025.
Super Stock is dominated by Jerry Dean in the Last Rebel II. He came into Brainerd Motorsports Park with a seven-race win streak since his last loss, and a No. 1 qualifier streak that may never be matched in SEGA drag racing. He added to that tally, going No. 1 with a 6.40, whereas the second-place qualified car could only muster a 6.78. The eight-car field was once again chasing Dean, who charged through the competition all the way to the final round, where he was ultimately edged out, leaving Brainerd Motorsports Park with a runner‑up finish. The last time Dean lost, seven races ago, was at this very track. Who beat him in that final to be the only other winner in SEGA Super Stock in 2025? That would be Rob Walden in his Strych 09 Chevy Impala, and in 2026, he did it again. In an almost carbon-copy final, aside from the lanes they were in, it was Walden getting to the stripe first as Dean lost traction at the launch. It was Walden’s 6.76 to Dean’s 7.10 to conclude Super Stock, with Walden, a Georgia native, defending his home turf and his event championship at The Rumble In Ringgold.
Despite the initial postponement and the blistering heat at Ringgold, the event delivered big moments: a new season-first winner emerged, and another driver captured back-to-back victories for the first time in his SEGA career. And while the weekend offered its share of breakthroughs, it also made one thing clear: early championship favorites in each class are now firmly taking shape. The Rumble in Ringgold presented by Harbin’s Mechanical once again brought the spirit of drag racing’s glory days roaring back to life with the unmistakable authenticity of the Southeast Gassers Association. With Brainerd Motorsports Park now in the rearview, SEGA turns its sights northward to Rocky Top for the fourth race of the 2026 championship season at Knoxville Dragway.
This story was originally published on June 18, 2026. 
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