- [Brian Lohnes] Welcome to Put Up Or Shut Up,
the show where I pick two racers
and put them against each other for ten grand.
This week, I've chosen gassers.
Small blocks, four speeds,
and they're goin' heads up to the eighth mile.
It's like 1967 all over again
and we're drag racing in Ohio, baby.
Doesn't get any better than this.
(upbeat music)
(engines roaring)
How 'about some gasser history?
Back in the 1950's when the NHRA created
the gas coupe and sedan categories,
they actually invented the fastest street car movement.
Back then, the cars had to have all their street gear
functional and accounted for to be legal to race.
Thing's got crazy in the early 60's
when those rules went away
and the golden age of the gassers really began.
Gassers are most famous for their stance.
With the crummy suspension technology of the day,
racers figured out the higher they moved the engine
in the front of the car, the better the
static weight transfer to the rear tires was.
The reality is, they were running on junk hard slicks,
so they needed all the help they could get.
It actually got so crazy, the NHRA limited gas competitors
to only raising the crank shaft 24 inches off the ground.
Yeah, two feet in the air.
Rules allowed for cars with extremely
short wheel bases back then.
92 and then 86 inches, so we're talkin'
English Ford Anglias, Willys coupes, Thames panel trucks,
Austin coupes, and other cheap, weird cars.
The cars of Quain and Gabriel that we're racing here
at Dragway 42 are perfect examples of what
A-Gas would've looked like in 1967.
Quain Stott is driving a 1941 Willys Americar coupe.
The engine is a naturally aspirated,
383 cubic inch small block Chevrolet.
The transmission is a Ford Toploader four speed
built by Johnny Hightower.
The rear axle is a 1958 Ford 9-inch
with a 540 gear ratio in it.
Using the six pounds per cubic inch multiplier and A-Gas,
Quain Stott's car has to weigh a minimum
of 1,986 pounds to be legal for competition.
Quain Stott is a history obsessed, drag racing legend.
The 2006 Pro Mod World Champion,
the winner of dozens of national events
over the course of his successful career,
The leader of the Southeast Gassers,
where these cars regularly compete,
and a guy who can really work
a four speed manual transmission.
Gabriel Burrell is driving a 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint,
powered by a 434 cubic inch,
Jimmy Huff-built, small block Ford engine.
The transmission is a four speed Ford Toploader,
modified by Johnny Hightower.
The rear axle is a Ford nine inch, with 514 gears.
Using the six pounds per cubic inch multiplier
in the A-Gas category,
the car must weigh 2,604 pounds
with the driver to be legal for this competition.
Gabriel Burrell is clearly the underdog in this situation.
A young man in his 20's
who loves the history of the sport of drag racing,
he built this Ford Falcon in his own garage
with his own two hands, and today,
he takes on one of the great legends of the sport.
Will he succeed?
We're going to find out.
Here's how they stack up against each other.
My dork obsession with drag racing history
led me to pick these guys to be on the show because
this is as pure a historical drag racing experience
as we'll ever have together.
These cars are 100% legit, and they're going to be run
as they would've been 50 years ago.
The road to this, $10,000 starts right now.
Round one, we're goin' gasser racing!
(dramatic music)
These things are so difficult to drive,
you got to appreciate what these guys
are doin' in these cars.
There's no wheel base, the suspension is horrendous,
and they're manually shifting them down the racetrack.
Dry hops!
So, what these guys are doin',
they're these deals just like they did in the 60's,
and dry hops are awesome.
Basically, they're makin' test launches
so they can figure out where to leave with the RPM.
Today, you program the launch RMP in your MSD block,
you put a two step on your car, whatever.
These cars have none of that stuff,
they're doin' it just like the guys did 50 years ago.
(engines roaring)
And it's the kid! 594, 115 miles an hour.
Quain was 603. You saw Quain's car come up.
He grabbed 2nd, the thing was a little bit looser low gear.
Queue one up for the kid.
We're going to go down an' talk to him
at the top end, but that is cool.
The legend is down one, and the kid's up one.
Let's take an in-depth look at the two runs,
and the factors that led to Gabriel
getting to the finish line ahead of Quain.
We'll start with Quain's run.
When he let the clutch out, immediately pulled 2.3 G's.
Then the tires spun out a little bit,
and he made his first shift 1.5 seconds into the run,
or about 70 feet down track.
During the span of that shift,
just a couple hundredths of a second,
the G's went from 1.4 to -.02,
and then right back up to 1.6 again.
The car covered about 15 feet during that shift.
Quain hit third gear in three seconds,
or 200 feet down track,
and the final shift was made four seconds in,
just before 300 feet,
with 26 feet of distance being covered
as he grabbed the gear.
Interestingly, the car was pulling .3 G's
at the finish line,
an indication that the engine had spun up
and largely out of its power band.
The steep rear gear ratio Quain runs
helped him get off the starting line,
but also added to some wheel spin.
If that happens again in the second round,
he's going to be in some big trouble.
When we look at Gabe's run, we see kind of the same story,
but told in a different manner.
Gabriel's car pulled 1.9 G's on the hit of the throttle,
and he does run a less aggressive rear gear ratio,
so that makes sense.
Now here's where the transmission
and axle gearing stuff gets interesting.
Gabriel made his first shift one second into the run.
The G drop was from 1.2 to .48,
before the acceleration picked up again.
His car covered just seven feet during the shifting process.
The second shift happens 2.9 seconds into the run,
with a momentary G drop, and then they pick up again,
but the key moment comes at 5.5 seconds into the run
when Gabriel grabs high gear far deeper
into the pass than Quain.
The biggest deal on the down track shift
is that Gabriel was making .45 G's at 660 feet,
far more than Stott was,
and accelerating harder across the finish line is obviously
what got him there first.
When we lay the acceleration curves on top of each other,
you can clearly see how closely matched these cars are.
The lines are absolutely identical,
outside of the shift flips, until we get to
that high gear shift that Gabriel made
more than 400 feet down the race track.
He's accelerating 33% harder at that point
on the track, and that is the key to his victory.
If Quain's going to beat Gabriel,
he's going to have to get off the starting line first,
and make the first 330 feet of the run better.
If not, Gabriel's going to eat him up.
You got one up on Quain Stott.
There's not much cooler than that.
- I was pretty glad.
Two races ago, he got me second round, so I owed him one.
So we're back even now. - You left on him big time,
but you spun, he pulled a giant wheelie.
Take me through the run.
- Done my normal thing, track's a little green.
Done the dry hop and it hooked good,
so I thought I'd leave where I left on the dry hop,
and it didn't like it the second time
I dropped the clutch there, so it spun pretty bad.
60 foot, but it pulled on one of the big one pretty bad.
- The thing sounds incredible.
What's RPM you're leaving the starting line at?
- I left about 6800 right there.
- [Brian Lohns] You're going to make
a wheelie bar adjustment, I heard you say?
- [Gabriel] We're going to raise the wheelie bar,
we're going to see if I touch the tires out here.
- So, I don't know how many guys have won ten grand
in a classic gasser, but dude, you're one run away,
and you're one run away from doing it against Quain Stott.
That's pretty good.
- He's been gettin' a little old in his old age.
His reaction times are slowin' down.
It's hard to outrun.
- [Brian Lohns] Well it's a warm day in Ohio, man.
Good Luck.
- [Gabriel] Appreciate it.
- So here, in the pits with Quain Stott.
You're down 1-0 to the kid.
He says you might be gettin' old. He treed ya'.
- He did.
Y'know, I know I got to pass the torch one of these days,
but I'm not quite ready to do it just yet.
- Does the thing normally pull second gear wheelies,
'cuz it pulled a good one out there.
- Oh yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's got the characteristics of a 1960's gasser.
That's what makes it so cool.
- The thing I got to tell ya, is it sounds freakin' brutal.
I mean, this is one of the meanest soundin' cars
I've probably ever heard.
- Yeah, I turn it.
I do not have no mercy on it.
Old buddy biker used to say "Go, or blow."
- He said he's leavin' the startin' line at 6800,
where you at?
- 85, that time. - 8500? Yes!
- Yeah, I'ma probably give it nine this time.
- Yes!
- For whatever reason, it's down (mumbles)
so, like I said it's gon' go
or I'm gon sling a guts out of a one.
- I'll be hiding behind the wall.
- You better.
- You got to get him this time bro or it's over.
- Oh I'm after him, I'm after him.
(dramatic music)
(engines roaring)
- So they were able to get a tenth of a second
last time down the racetrack remember.
Very very close, Gabe said he spun in low gear.
Talkin' to him in the pits,
he said if he pulls a big wheelie,
it's typically 60-foot to five hundredths of a second
better than normal.
He'll need all of it, if Quain can get his car hooked up
because Quain's car on its face
is lighter and more powerful.
(engines roaring)
Squint your eyes, we're going right back to 1967.
This is exactly the way it used to go down
right here at Dragway 42.
(dramatic music)
(engines roaring)
Yeah, he got 'em.
On a hole shot,
603 beats a 598.
I cannot wait to see a replay of that
cause you'll see Quain jump off the starting line first
and he was slower by five hundredths of the finish line
but he still won the race.
How is that possible?
On a drag strip, both lanes are timed independently,
so you have to run the same distance as your opponent
but if you get a running start on 'em,
that's how you get a hole shot win.
That's what Quain just did,
we're going to go catch up with 'em.
So let's take a look at the round two race
from an overhead perspective.
What we can't quite see from this vanish point
is the fact that Quain has put a hole shot on Gabriel.
He reacted quicker
and got his car moving off the starting line first.
We can see that Gabriel's car has begun to drift
toward the center of the race track,
an area where there's a lot less traction
than the middle of the groove
where the cars like to run.
By the time the cars get to the halfway point in this race,
Quain Stott has put about three quarters of a car length
between himself and Gabriel.
As they approach the eighth mile speed trap,
that distance is still maintaining itself
at three quarters of a car,
but when they get to the finish line,
it is clearly seen that Quain Stott
is a full car-length ahead of the Ford Falcon.
When we look at the elapsed time,
Quain won this baby on a hole shot.
He was just over six seconds,
and Gabriel, he went through at 598.
That's a tough one.
Quain Stott said that Gabriel was not
going to get away with two in a row,
lived up to your promise man.
- No way I could let him have two in a row.
I mean, $10,000 dollars on the line here guys,
this is kind of time to, what they call it,
put up or shut up.
(laughing)
- [Brian] That's exactly what it's time to do.
- And that's what I had to do, I know.
- And what's the most fun part about
driving this thing for you?
Is it dumpin' the clutch,
grabbin' the four gears, what is it?
- Four speed, without a doubt.
Four speed, and it's not fun,
it's just that it takes some talent.
This thing here,
I challenge anybody that wants to jump in it.
Lay a little money on the table
'cause I know you're going to wreck it.
Ain't no way you can jump in it and go down a race track.
- You love it when it gets the wheels up,
you love it when it gets out of the groove,
what's going to happen in the final?
There ain't much I can do about it gettin' out of the groove
I do like it, I think it's cool cause it makes it but,
that's just the characteristics.
Drivin' this thing is like tryna push a rope.
And it's so, it's going to be out of the groove.
If it makes a good straight run, it'll be one of the few.
- Good luck man.
- Thanks man, thank you.
- So I'm back here with Gabriel on round two,
man, he left on ya there's no other way to say it
he left ya standin' there.
- I messed up on him.
(laughing)
- That's how these old guys take advantage of kids--
- I guess.
- So now it's time for the finals, the third round.
Each of these guys has got one.
Gabe got the first one,
(engines roaring)
Quain came back on a hole shot
and kicked his ass in the willys
by five hundredths of a second.
(engines roaring)
603 beats 598.
Pretty embarrassing for the kid,
he's going to step on it.
He already told us what is plan is
to leave on the old man,
and take the thing home.
We don't know what's going to happen
but we do know one of these two guys
is going to leave with $10,000, it's time for the finals,
baby let's go race some gassers.
(dramatic music)
See Gabriel movin' the car around a bunch,
we get the period correct back up girls out here.
Sun's goin' down at Dragway 42,
what's better than this?
Nothin'.
(engines roaring)
When you think about the sport of drag racing is,
and you thinkin' of what it's essence is.
You think about cars that are out of control,
and old school, and loud and obnoxious,
and hard to drive.
That's everything these two cars are.
It's been awesome to watch 'em all day,
and it stinks we can only give one guy ten grand
but that's the way this has got to work.
(engines roaring)
They've been for the spread,
it's been a tenth of a second.
They ran five hundredths apart last time,
this is going to be a dog fight.
(dramatic music)
(engines roaring)
Oh, wow!
587, 116 he got 'em!
That was freakin' fantastic.
So here we see round three from
that great overhead perspective.
Unlike round two, there was no real hole shot advantage here
both guys left the starting line on time.
When they got to the 60-foot block
they were still running within about a hundredth
of a second of each other.
By the time they got to 330 feet though
the story began to change.
While Quain Stott was running straight down the lane
and Gabriel's car began to drift to the outside wall,
Gabriel began to pull away from Quain.
He had about a half a car length at 330 feet on him.
By the time the cars get to the start of the 660 foot
timing trap, Gabriel has about a full car length,
and that screamin' small block Ford
pulls away from the Chevy-powered Willys through the lights.
The big story here is speed,
Gabriel went through the timing trap at 116 miles an hour.
Quain was goin' 113,
and we just watched a kid upset a legend.
How 'about that?
So the third round was another barn burner battle
between these two gassers
I'm here with Quain Stott first and,
well that's not really the place you want to be
at the night but we're going to chat here man.
This car is amazing,
I've been around the sport of drag racing
for half my life now,
and I dunno if I've seen a more fun show
and a more fun match race between two cars.
- It can't be any more fun
'cause that's what match racin' needs to be was gassers
that's where it started, was match racin' old gassers
back in the old days.
And we're just carrying on the tradition
tryna do it like they done it.
- Just like in the old days,
the old lions come in,
take on the young kids and the kid got ya this time.
- Kid got me this time,
he owed me a bunch.
I mean I've wore him out for a long time
but you know, like I told ya earlier,
sometimes you got to pass the torch,
and I got to say,
nobody better to pass it to cause that kid
built that car his self.
He had some help on a lot of stuff,
his engine, all Jimmy Huff build a super engine
but he was right there by his side the whole time.
I mean what can you say about a kid
that built his own car in his back yard.
And come out here and wore this ol' Willys out.
- Just the way they used to do it.
Quain, thanks for comin' out man.
- Thank you man.
- Spectacular show but,
I got another meeting to attend.
- Go ahead.
(laughing)
- So, we go from Quain Stott
to Gabriel, the kid with the 1963 Falcon,
got the high winding Ford small block,
got the four speed transmission,
and now sir, you have $10,000 in your hand.
- Well thank you sir.
- Pretty good payday for a kid in an old Ford.
- Damn good payday, I dunno if the car's worth that much.
(laughing)
- Talk to me about the last round,
you came off the starting line
and the thing was wheels up, and it went left.
- I done a dry hop in it done good,
I dunno if I got a little excited
and lift a little higher than I did the dry hop or
if it just decided to change its mind
which it does quite often.
When I pulled second gear it went really left
pulled it a little bit and it came back
and it done good, I think Jimmy Huff
built me enough horsepower
we got runnin' on the top end too so.
- Any of that ten grand goin' back in the hot rod?
- Probably most all of it.
- Nice man that's the answer we like to hear.
Dude congratulations, well done.
And you whipped a legend's ass today at Dragway 42.
- Thank you sir.
- That's pretty sweet.
Well that's it for this episode of
Put Up or Shut Up, follow us on Instagram,
and Facebook, at Put Up or Shut Up show.
We had a blast here at Dragway 42,
honoring the history of drag racing with
9,000 RPM small blocks, four speed manual transmissions,
and straight axles under the front end.
We'll be back with more Put Up or Shut Up soon,
if you live this, wait til you see what we got next.
(upbeat music)
(engine roaring)