The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ return to Chicago-area’s Route 66 Raceway – for the first time since 2019 – is shaping up to be a bellwether for the series with myriad events within this three-day salute to straight-line racing, the Gerber Collision 7 Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals.
In addition to three qualifying sessions, one on Friday afternoon and two on Saturday, this weekend marks the first ever Pro Stock All-Star Callout for eight outstanding door slammer racers, the return of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty competition between semi- and finalists from Pomona (the two four-wide races aren’t included in this specialty race), cacklefests, PEAK Street Car Shootout, Q&A with Larry “Spiderman”cBride and Dave Vantine, and a Toyota Supra Showdown between Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley and reigning Funny Car champ Ron Capps.
All of this on-track activity should make fans happy and keep competitors occupied throughout the weekend, which builds to a Sunday climax of eliminations. The allure of competing again at Route 66 Raceway has brought an extended entry to all the professional classes, with 21 Top Fuel, 18 Funny Car, 20 Pro Stock and 18 Pro Stock Motorcycle entries on the grounds. In addition, the FuelTech Pro Mod Series has a total of 19 cars entered.
In Top Fuel, the situation is familiar as everyone is chasing Steve Torrence, the four-time consecutive champion who currently leads the points standings despite not having scored a Wally winner’s trophy thus far in the 2023 season. The Texan has hovered in the semis and finals but hasn’t hit the jackpot – yet. He is the defending winner of this race from four years ago, when he was en route to a five-win streak in the 2019 season. Behind Torrence are Justin Ashley (-35), Leah Pruett (-53), Austin Prock (-55) and reigning titleholder Brittany Force, who is 56 points behind Torrence. Making up the balance of the top 10 are Antron Brown, Mike Salinas, Shawn Langdon, Josh Hart and Doug Kalitta, who is only 170 points back.
Joining these outstanding racers are Tony Schumacher and Clay Millican, currently 11th and 12th in the standings, Lex Joon, locals T.J. Zizzo and Will Smith, Buddy Hull, Kyle Wurtzel, Spencer Massey, Doug Foley, Jacob Opatmy and Jacob McNeal. With the Mission Foods competition and with this standout field of competitors, finding one’s way into the 16-car field is going to be tough! “I have lots of good memories from Chicago,” Torrence reminisced. “I know things change but my crew chiefs (Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana Jr) should have some good data to work with. I think we’re all glad to be back.”
The situation in Funny Car isn’t much different. In 2019 the winner’s Wally went to Tommy Johnson Jr., who isn’t in the class at this moment. He defeated John Force Racing’s Robert Hight, the three-time champ who is thrilled to be back in Joliet. Hight and his Chevrolet Camaro SS own the class track record at this track. Of course, everyone is chasing Matt Hagan, who is having a fabulous year in his Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. He’s got a 58-point advantage on Alexis DeJoria, whose Toyota GR Supra has been hounding the Virginia cattle farmer all season. Hight is third (-69), reigning titleholder Ron Caps’ Toyota GR Supra holds fourth-place points (-72) and Chad Green’s Ford Mustang is with, 129 points behind Hagan.
Behind those five are Bob Tasca III’s and Tim Wilkerson’s Mustangs, 16-time champ John Force’s Camaro SS, Cruz Pedregon’s Charger SRT Hellcat and Blake Alexander in Jim Head’s Mustang. This top-10 in the Flopper class is joined on the entry list by 2018 champ J.R. Todd (currently 11th after some difficult races – in particular the Winternationals, where he twice suffered incidents), Alex Laughlin in Jim Dunn’s Funny Car, Terry Haddock’s Mustang, Dale Creasy Jr. in his Dodge Stratus, Ohio’s Mike McIntire Jr’s Toyota, Justin Schriefer’s Charger and Bobby Bode III’s Mustang. As the most recent finalist, Hight is “super excited to get back to Chicago. I love that facility and a lot of people from our shops will be there watching,” he said.
Pro Stock sure has a lot on its plate this weekend with its first ever All-Star Callout scheduled for Saturday, mostly in conjunction with qualifying. The eight drivers participating in this inaugural Pro Stock specialty race are all chasing points leader Dallas Glenn of KB Titan Racing, Those seeded second d through eighth are his teammates Matt Hartford and Kyle Koretsky, Elite Motorsports’ Aaron Stanfield, Troy Coughlin Jr., Cristian Cuadra and reigning five-time champion Erica Enders, along with 2022 Rookie of the Year and KB Titan racer Camrie Caruso. Only Cuadra, among these eight racers, drives a Mustang; the balance are in Chevy Camaro race cars.
Glenn’s third year in this class sees him wiping the field on a race-by-race basis. He’s got 81 points on KB Titan technical partner Hartford, 119 on Coughlin Jr., 154 on fourth-place and most recent winner Deric Kramer and 164 on Caruso. The balance of the top 10 include Stanfield, five-time champ Greg Anderson. Koretsky, Elite’s Bo Butner III and Cristian Cuadra. Enders, who has been so dominant the past few years is stuck in the lucky 13th spot; she hasn’t had this poor a season start since her team’s short-lived partnership with Dodge in 2016, when NHRA first went to electronic fuel injection.
Others to look for in the Pro Stock lineup include Shane Tucker, Alan Prusiensky and his Dodge Dart, the son-father team of Mason and Chris McGaha, Fernando and Fernando Cuadra Jr (both in Mustangs), David Cuadra making his second start in a Mustang and Robert River in a Chevy Cobalt. It’s a talented field; some drivers and their teams will be disappointed come Saturday evening. Of course 15 drivers will be disappointed Sunday afternoon.
Of the five races held to date, NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class has only raced twice but the same rider has beat all comers in both events. Hired in the off-season by Vance & Hines, Gaige Herrera has been victorious at both Gainesville and at the second four-wide race in Charlotte. In what’s become a Suzuki-dominant category, albeit with a new weight gain attempt to gain parity for the Buell runners, he’s got 102-point advantage on six-time champ Matt Smith, on a Suzuki, with teammate Eddie Krawiec third (-120). Angie Smith, who continues to ride her Buell is fourth (-129), with veteran Suzuki rider Steve Johnson in fifth and lagging Herrera by 133 points.
Chase Van Sant, riding a Suzuki for WAR Racing in his rookie season, holds sixth place, followed by the Suzuki motorcycles of Joey Gladstone and Jianna Evaristo. Hector Arana Jr., back full-time in the class is ninth on his Buell, followed by the similar machine of Ryan Oehler. Look for all of the top 10 to be challenged by Marc Ingwersen’s EBR, Chris Bostick’s Suzuki, Chip Ellis on a Matt Smith Racing Buell, Wesley Wells’ and Peggy Llewellyn’s Suzukis, Ron Tornow and John Hall on their Buells, and a very competitive Kelly Clontz with her Suzuki. This class will have the semifinalists and finalists from Gainesville racing in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge this weekend.
The weather in Joliet, IL could be a Friday factor, with occasional rain showers forecast, as of mid-week. Both Saturday and Sunday will be mostly sunny with temps ranging from the low- to high-70s and rain chances less than 10 percent. Especially with the specialty events on Saturday, this forecast could presage high speeds and low ETs. Just what every NHRA drag racing participant and fan desires.
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