As Elk Creek Dragway’s Original Gear Jammers series turns 35 years old in 2025, the impact this group has had on resurrecting stick-shift racing in the Southeast simply can’t be overstated. By 1990, automatic transmissions at the dragstrip were pretty much the norm when this little country track, located in a stunningly scenic locale on the Virginia/North Carolina border, decided to try and revive interest in race cars of yesteryear.
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #196, the State of Drag Issue, of Sept./Oct. of 2025.
They reached out to all the known racers who still had a clutch-equipped race car and let them know they had a standing invitation to come join in the gear-banging fun at Elk Creek, but initially almost nobody did. Oh sure, there were enough racers in the general area to make Elk Creek’s revival effort a success, but most of them were serious, championship-chasing competitors who mainly had touring with IHRA on their mind, particularly in the Super Stock and Modified categories.
Current track manager Mike Walters was instrumental in the attempted stick-shift resurgence back in 1990, and he vividly recalls the most amazing story of how the stick-shift class at Elk Creek was cancelled, and then reinstated…all in the same day! “It was mid-season back in 1990 and it was pretty clear this deal wasn’t gonna fly, since we were only averaging five or six stick-shift cars per race. I was standing in the staging lanes talking with then-track manager Dennis Jackson and he told me they were going to pull the plug on the class,” recalls Walters.
Jackson had no more than spoken those disappointing words when Walters looked up and saw one of the most decorated Super Stock racers to ever take a tree pulling through the gate! It was none other than many-time IHRA world champion Mike Boyles with his famous “Good Ol’ Charlie Brown” 1957 Chevy wagon in tow.
And behind Boyles was a caravan of fellow stick-shift racers, all coming to participate in Elk Creek’s clutch car gathering. “It was a situation where weather changed the course of history!” says Walters, as he explained how Bristol’s national event was rained out, and many of those racers in attendance found their way to Elk Creek instead of driving straight home.
Amazingly, all it took was that one successful weekend at Elk Creek and the vibe began to spread. Suddenly, cars around the area that hadn’t been raced in years were being pulled out of barns and sheds and brought to Elk Creek to compete in this stick-shift revival. “It just started to catch on and a few more cars would show up each week,” recalls Walters, who still drives his 1967 Mercury Comet that he’s owned for over 50 years.
At a particular race at Elk Creek recently, Drag Illustrated stopped by to check out the Original Gear Jammers, with 38 cars in attendance, including six entries that had never previously raced at Elk Creek. The series seems to continue growing after all these years, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
And while Elk Creek is largely credited with the revival of stick-shift racing in the Southeast, their bracket points program provides the largest roster of events many racers have ever encountered, often with 24 points races in a single season. There’s even a popular points program for index racers.
If the weather cooperates, Elk Creek usually begins test-and-tune sessions in March, with a huge schedule of diverse events from April through late October, including seven points races for the Original Gear Jammers, along with many other events for a variety of cars and classes.
The post Banging Gears For 35 Years: How Elk Creek Dragway’s Original Gear Jammers Sparked A Stick-Shift Renaissance first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
