Top Gas (T/G) is a former

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsp ...

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

professional class. Analogous to

Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 seconds ...

, Top Gas was a pro class, and allowed dragsters (T/GD) as well as bodied cars. Several noteworthy cars ran in Top Gas. One of the early

streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating wikt:streamline, streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "High-speed rail, bullet trai ...

s, ''Scuderia'', made her debut at the 1963

NHRA Winternationals The NHRA Winternationals (commonly called the Winternats) are an annual drag racing event held by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. In 1962, under pressure from Peggy Hart (wife of track owner " ...

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...

, recording a best pass of 8.83 seconds at . At Arlington later that year, ''Scuderia'' set a Top Gas record (average of two passes) of . Like Top Fuel, Top Gas dragsters experimented with twin engines, including ''Freight Train'' and the Motes & Peters digger. It also saw a number of streamliners, including ''

Sidewinder III ''Sidewinder III'' is a streamliner dragster.Taylor, Thom. "Kent Fuller Sidewinder III", in "Beauty Beyond the Twilight Zone", p. 42. Built by Kent Fuller in 1969, it used a transversly-mounted supercharged 350 Chevy (hence "sidewinder") in ...

'' (in BB/GD) and ''Scuderia''. Driver Ray Motes and owner R. C. Williams, based in

Russell, Kansas Russell is the most populous city in and the county seat of Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,401. History In 1865, the Butterfield Overland Despatch established a short-lived st ...

, ran "one of the most successful Top Gas dragsters ever". Motes would win the Springnationals and the Top Gas national title in both 1970 and 1971. Williams, then owner of ''Freight Train'' (driven by Walt Rhodes), would win the 1971

Gatornationals The Gatornationals is an annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national drag racing event held each March at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida. The event was held for the first time in 1970. The traditional East Coast opener and ...

. Late model cars were first allowed in the Gas classes in 1967. Other notable drivers who started or drove in Top Gas include

Gordon Collett Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

Jim Bucher Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim' ...

Eddie Hill Eddie Hill (born March 6, 1936) is an American retired drag racer who won numerous drag racing championships on land and water. Hill had the first run in the four second range (4.990 seconds), which earned him the nickname "Four Fat ...

, and Jack Moss, while teams like Frakes and Funk, and Schultz and Jones, had many fans. The last event was the 1971

NHRA Supernationals The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

Ontario California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

. It was won by

, whose twin-engined dragster redlighted, but was given the win after his opponent, Ken Ellis (in another twin-engined dragster), was disqualified. Top Gas was eliminated by NHRA in 1972.Taylor, p.11.

Notes

Sources

*Taylor, Thom. "Beauty Beyond the Twilight Zone" in ''Hot Rod'', April 2017, pp.30-43. *Taylor, Thom. "Duel of the Duals" in ''Hot Rod'', April 2017, p.11. *Taylor, Thom. "Gone Gassers" in ''Hot Rod'', March 2017, p.9. {{Class of Auto racing Drag racing classes