by Bobby Bennett, Jerry Bonkowski; Photos by William Swanson, NHRA
Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The NHRA Route 66 Nationals outside of Chicago.
1 – FORGET THE DUST STORM, LOOK OUT FOR THE SMOKE – Route 66 Raceway was enveloped by a dust storm Friday. Two days later, it became a Smoke show.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony “Smoke” Stewart continues to have an outstanding start to his second full season in the NHRA Top Fuel ranks, earning his second win in the last three races at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Peak.
Stewart covered the 1,000-foot drag strip with a winning time of 3.777 seconds at 329.10 mph to Ashley’s effort of 3.818, 324.12. Stewart earned a special silver Wally winner’s trophy, commemorating the 25th NHRA spring race at Route 66. With the win came a major bonus for Stewart: He inherited the NHRA Top Fuel point lead over Shawn Langdon by three points.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of Sunday’s final round was Stewart’s reaction time. Ashley is considered the top leaver in the sport and had a reaction time of .042 seconds. Stewart, who admits he isn’t the best leaver, shocked himself with his own reaction time of .048.
“It’s proof that it can snow in July, I guess, or hell’s freezing over, one or the other,” Stewart said with a laugh.
But like his prior racing exploits in IndyCar, NASCAR, sprint cars, sports cars and pretty much anything that has four wheels, Stewart is very serious about his drag racing exploits – particularly when it comes to racing opponents like Ashley.
“When you race Justin, you’ve got to forget who you’re racing,” Stewart said. “You’ve just got to run your race. As soon as you try to do something different to catch up to him is when you’re going to make a mistake.
“I just need to do my deal the same way that I’ve been doing it the whole way.”
While there were a number of skeptics when Stewart first announced that he was going to go drag racing three years ago – the first year was getting his feet wet in the Top Alcohol Dragster class – he’s clearly muzzled his critics.
“I think finally I get to take myself serious, too,” Stewart said. “After Vegas we said we’re gaining on it and we have been. We’re making progress and here we are.”
But Stewart can also be his own worst critic. It’s been an admitted character flaw he’s had his whole life, even with all the success he’s had. He revels in Sunday’s achievement, but still remains cautious that good can turn bad in a heartbeat.
“It’s hard to not consider yourself a contender at this point,” he said. “I mean, there’s a lot that can happen. There’s a lot of racing left.
“But I’m just extremely proud of our team for the progress we’ve made and where we were a year ago this time and where we are now.”
Stewart is currently the hottest driver in the NHRA Top Fuel ranks, having reached the final round in each of the last four national events and coming away with two wins and two runner-up finishes.
He earned his first Top Fuel victory three races ago at Las Vegas. The Las Vegas win was in a four-wide event, while Sunday’s win at Route 66 was on a traditional two-lane track.
In doing so, Stewart won a trifecta of sorts for the second time: In Las Vegas, he has wins as a driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a NASCAR race, on LVMS’s dirt track, and the NHRA race last month.
Now he’s done the same in Chicago, winning in NASCAR at Chicagoland Speedway across the street from Route 66, as a team owner on CLS’s dirt track, and now as a Top Fuel driver at Route 66.
While Stewart admitted he had to put on his usual tough guy persona in the final, he got emotional after his victory.
First to meet him with a big embrace at the top end of the drag strip was his 87-year-old father Nelson. Then came a congratulatory kiss and hug from wife Leah Pruett and the couple’s newborn son, Dominic.
“I love it,” Stewart said. “I was almost 50 when I got married finally. So, I was late getting married, I’m late having a child, but it was worth the wait.
“I mean, Leah was absolutely worth the wait. I’m very superstitious; I have been my entire racing career. And when we were going rounds at Vegas, I didn’t want to see my son. Like I hadn’t seen him all day. And I’m like, I’m not breaking the string.
“And I went in before the semis (today) and saw him and they said, ‘Hey, don’t get soft seeing your son.’ So I had to stay tough, but it is so cool to share it with my dad, who’s 87 now. And Dominic is six months old today, or yesterday, actually.
“As soon as we can teach him to sleep, he’s going to be awesome. But everything else about him is great. But, God, he can’t sleep worth a shit.”
Stewart reached the finals duel against Ashley by defeating, in order, Terry Totten, Shawn Reed, and four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence.
Meanwhile, Ashley advanced by beating Brittany Force, reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown, and Doug Kalitta.
Stewart will go for his third win of the season in the next event, the NHRA New England Nationals, May 30-June 1 in Epping, N.H.
“I’m extremely encouraged about the rest of the season,” Stewart said. “And it’s no guarantee that it’s going to stay this way, but to be six races in the season and leading the points, we’ve got a lot to be proud of.”
2 – BLUE-COLLAR BADASSERY – A lot can happen in a year, just ask Jack Beckman.
This time last year, Beckman attended the NHRA Route 66 Nationals as a spectator and found a comfortable spot on the stadium-style pit-side bleachers.
“I came out to this race last year to see my buddy Chris King drive his nitro Funny Car, and I sat in the grandstands up there and I enjoyed the race,” Beckman admitted. “I had no concept I’d be back sitting inside John Force’s car getting the trophy and seeing you guys from the podium up here. It’s beyond words.”
Beckman, now the full-time driver for John Force’s Peak Chevrolet Camaro, picked up his fourth win for JFR since joining the team last August.
Beckman won an all-John Force Racing final, beating teammate and defending series champion Austin Prock. The former Super Comp champion who graduated to fuel racing in the early part of the 2000s, held .14 at the green, and led all the way to the stripe. He stopped the timers with a 3,935, 325.77, to beat Prock’s quicker and faster 3.933, 329.02. They are 3-3 in head-to-head meetings.
Beckman recalled his exchange with Prock following the run.
“That kid has been the class of the field,” Beckman said. “That young man has such a future here. I’m enjoying my time while I have it. I don’t know how I did it.”
Beckman was quick to point out that Sunday’s victory was squarely for the 623 Old World Industry employee names on the hood of his Funny Car. He can relate to them because after he lost his ride at the end of the 2020 season, he resumed working as an elevator repairman.
On a weekend where Beckman battled dust storms, high winds, a car that refused to start multiple times, and a broken fresh-air hose prior to the final round, he believes this race was as close to blue collar as it gets.
“On Wednesday, we went to Old World Industries to Peak’s headquarters and I got to meet Tom Hurwitz, the owner, for the first time, and he told me why he put his chips on John Force and it was about passion,” Beckman said. “We just talked about having that burning passion that makes you want to work hard and put in the hours there. And all the employees came out, and we put all 623 on the hood of the car – to watch the looks on their faces and to have them take pictures of the car.
“Tuesday, I go back to fixing elevators. I’m going to tell you this, Urban Elevator is cool. My weekend gig with JFR is the greatest that it ever gets. One of my friends in the elevator trade said, ‘You know most of us never get a shot at our dream. You’re getting your second shot at it right now,’ and I’m going to ride this as long as we can.”
3 – IT’S GAIGES HOUSE AND DON’T FORGET IT – Route 66 Raceway is Gaige Herrera’s home track and nobody – even if your name is six-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith – comes into Herrera’s house thinking they’ll steal a win.
A resident of tiny DeMotte, Ind., about an hour from Route 66, Herrera defeated Smith to take the win in Pro Stock Motorcycle in the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals Presented by Peak at Route 66 Raceway.
Herrera is now 6-1 lifetime in final-round battles with Smith. It’s also Herrera’s 23rd career win in NHRA PSM competition, including the last three events at Route 66.
“None of this feels real to me, honestly,” Herrera said. “It’s hard to keep track because there’s been so much in such a short time, so much that I would never have expected. I’m still in awe about this, just living the dream and riding it out.
“Everyone’s chasing me and I grew up watching Matt and Andrew (Hines), all those guys battling it out. So to have my name up there with them is very incredible.”
Herrera took home the commemorative silver Wally winner’s trophy by covering the quarter-mile in 6.777 seconds, 198.90 mph. Smith was faster at 199.02 mph, but was a little slower at 6.805 seconds. The race was over almost from the start as Herrera grabbed the hole shot with a near-perfect reaction time of .005 to Smith’s .024.
“It ain’t too bad for a rental bike, so if anyone rents it, they’ve got a great hot rod,” Herrera laughed.
While Herrera takes on all challengers, he gets up a bit more motivated when he squares off against Smith, particularly in a final round. They’re rivals on-track, but friends off it.
In a way, Smith, the six-time PSM champion, is doing Herrera, the two-time PSM champ, a favor by racing against him.
“Me and Matt always go back and forth and try to do something to get into each other’s heads,” Herrera said. “We push each other to do better. It’s all fun with Matt, he brings out the best in me. Me and him both know we’re on our A game against each other.”
Herrera enjoyed a first-round bye, then took down John Hall and Chris Bostick for the right to face Smith. Smith took down Wesley Wells, Jianna Evaristo, and Steve Johnson.
Although his postrace interview with the media was light-hearted, Herrera’s face grew serious when asked about what makes him and his team so good.
“We’re deadly,” he said of Vance & Hines and all the people that surround him. “It doesn’t matter what bike we got, we figure it out and it’s going to go to the top.
“Andrew (Hines and) me are a deadly combo. I mean the whole Vance & Hines crew, the guys back at the shop, it’s a whole deadly operation. And it showed today, it showed this weekend.
“We rolled out a bike that we thought was messed up, and it goes out there and goes No. 1 and wins the race. So it just goes to show we got some fast hot rods, and it’s not just one.”
4 – REDEMPTION FOR WRIGHT – Mason Wright celebrated his first victory of the season at the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, defeating J.R. Gray in the final round at Route 66 Raceway. This win comes two years after he crashed at Route 66 Raceway.
Wright earned his second career win in NHRA Pro Mod when Gray went red in the final. Wright posted a solid run of 5.734, 251.25, in his Chevrolet Camaro after qualifying No. 1 with a time of 5.676, 253.66.
His consistent performance throughout eliminations helped secure the win, as he took down competitors Chip King, Mike Stavrinos, and Ken Quartuccio, all while maintaining times in the low 5.70s.
“You can’t take any of these teams lightly. The team carried me the whole way today,” said Wright, who moved to fifth in the standings.
Gray reached the final round for the second time this season after defeating Derek Menholt, Billy Banaka, and Kevin Rivenbark. With his performance this weekend, Gray vaulted to the points lead, with teammate Stavrinos in second and Rickie Smith in third.
The Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series returns June 6-8 during the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway.
5 – THE WIND MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN QUALIFYING, ELIMINATIONS – They call Chicago “the Windy City.” Given that Joliet, Ill. is a Chi-town suburb, 40 miles away from the big city’s downtown area, it’s not surprising that wind is also an atmospheric condition that can create havoc at times.
Like this weekend’s NHRA race at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet. The track has been open since 1998 and has seen a lot of different – and sometimes even crazy – things, but nothing like what was witnessed during Friday’s first two qualifying runs of the weekend.
On Friday, the Joliet area was overwhelmed by crosswinds that gusted as high as 25 mph, significantly impacting drivers in all major classes in attendance at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
The class that was most affected Friday was Pro Stock Motorcycle. Crosswinds were so bad that out of a degree of caution, NHRA decided to limit the bikes to just one qualifying round Friday, but made up for it with three shots Saturday. As if the 25-mph gusts weren’t enough Friday, the area was enveloped in a massive dust storm, which according to some reports hasn’t been seen in these parts since the 1930s.
Fortunately, Saturday’s conditions were much better. Wind at about 15 mph was still a concern, but unlike Friday’s crosswinds, Saturday’s gusts were a tailwind, being an advantage to pretty much every driver out there, lowering times and boosting speeds to several Route 66 track records.
The wind was “definitely in your head,” Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon told CompetitionPlus.com. “It’s not bad when it’s open the whole way and it’s just a constant wind.
“Where it gets difficult at certain tracks, and this being one of them, is where if it’s a solid crosswind and then you have grandstands that block it to where it opens up, because then it’s just from zero to a 30-mph gust like that.
“It’ll kind of feel like driving a motorhome down the freeway. It’s going to move you around a little bit. You feel it. But it’s more of just you react to it, and then in the shutdown area is where all your thoughts come in like, ‘Oh, man!’
“It’s definitely something that you consider, you think about. For me, I’m always in the water box and one of the last things I do before we fire up is I look at the flags just to double check and see the direction” of the wind.
With Funny Cars having unique aerodynamics, John Force Racing driver Jack Beckman said Friday’s crosswinds became a major concern because those vehicles are as susceptible to crosswinds as Pro Stock Motorcycle riders.
“If you’re at the starting line looking downtrack, the wind was blowing significantly from right to left,” Beckman said. “That flag’s 30 feet off the ground. It was standing straight up and then some.
“But we don’t run 30 feet off the ground so you don’t know if the wind’s going to be that intense down low, and there’s never a run I’ve made in nitro Funny Car where I’m like, ‘I’ll just hold the wheel with a couple fingers here, or I can look in the stands.’
“The rough one for me was Q2 Friday afternoon. There was so much dust on the track, we backed the tune-up way down. This thing was loud inside the car and it was moving around but it wasn’t ET-ing great. I think we ran a four flat on that run, but that’s about all the track had to give out there on that run. So, wind is something that we don’t have control over, but there’s a steering wheel in the car for a reason.”
Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta pointed out how different the conditions were from Friday to Saturday.
“I think it was about as weird as you can get as far as the differences,” Kalitta said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to a place that actually had a sandstorm next to the track when the last two cars were going down it.”
Kalitta followed Funny Cars in Q2 on Friday and noted how Ron Capps, who ran just before him, struggled to hold on to his car because of the strong crosswinds.
“Well, Q1 people were asking me if the wind affected me and I said, ‘We didn’t get far enough for the wind to affect me.’ I was just like an idiot out there all over the lane. Capps was in the left lane and got up against the wall. I don’t know if it was because of the wind or what have you, but sitting in the car, I couldn’t tell.
“Funny Cars are definitely entertaining. They keep you on your toes as a driver, and they never do the same thing twice. Then you add in these wind gusts and just makes it that much more challenging. But it was definitely a ride.”
Kalitta rocketed to the top of the qualifying ladder Friday, so while the wind concerned him, it really didn’t affect his dragster.
“I told myself I’m not going to let this thing get left once we get past the grandstands and cost myself the run because of that,” Kalitta said. “So as it’s going, I start putting some wheel input to the right, maybe a little too much, because once I got over there I’m like, “Oh,” then I had to correct it back to the left and back to the right. But I held on.”
6 – THE NEW MATT HAGAN APPROACH – When team owner Tony Stewart decided to make a change on Matt Hagan’s Funny Car after last season, it was a total shock.
Stewart released crew chief/tuner Dickie Venables, who had been a major part of Hagan’s success for the last several years, including leading Hagan to three wins and three runner-up finishes en route to a runner-up finish in the 2024 Funny Car standings.
Even with the success Hagan had last season, two things appeared to have been the basis for Stewart parting ways with Venables. First, obviously, was losing the NHRA Funny Car championship to John Force Racing’s Austin Prock, and second, there was inconsistency in the performance of Hagan’s car, which was deemed unacceptable.
While Venables promptly landed on his feet, taking over tuning duties for Kalitta Motorsports’ J.R. Todd, Stewart hired Mike Knudsen to fill the vacancy.
“Dickie always had so much experience,” Hagan said. “He’s seen so many race cars and racetracks and different things, so you never really got to throw your two cents in there, you know what I mean?
“And so when it’s watching that new plant grow, man, it’s just one of those things where it’s exciting because he’s excited and it’s something new. It’s nothing to take away from Dickie by any means, but when you have new blood in there, it’s kind of like, man, you see a guy that just gets the opportunity – and opportunities out here are very few and far between.
“I’m proud of Tony that he allowed it to happen. And Dickie’s doing great over there (at Kalitta Motorsports). … I didn’t think that the change was going to hurt Dickie in any way, shape, or form, but you have to take a real gamble with a new guy.”
Through the first six races of the 2025 NHRA schedule, Hagan and Knudsen are starting to jell, but there is a definite difference in tuner styles. To use baseball parlance, while Venables tuned Hagan’s car to go for a home run almost every time he stepped up to the plate, Knudsen’s philosophy is more about not swinging for the fences, but to go for extra bases in an attempt to improve consistency.
“Yeah, Mike’s mentality is to go down the racetrack,” Hagan said of Knutson. “I don’t think he’s going to be the next Jimmy Prock or anything like that. He’s like, ‘Hey, man, let’s go down the racetrack. Let’s give ourselves a shot here.’
“His first thing on Fridays is go down and then kind of swing for the fence Friday night. And it’s kind of bit us a little bit here in this earlier deal because a lot of times we’ll go down on Friday and we’re middle of the pack and then we miss it on Saturday.”
Since making his NHRA debut at the 2008 U.S. Nationals, Hagan has become one of the most dominant drivers in the Funny Car class. In addition to four NHRA Funny Car championships, the Christiansburg, Va., resident has amassed 54 career wins (44 in Funny Car), 93 career final rounds, 52 No. 1 qualifiers and has failed to qualify only four times in 362 races.
In Sunday’s race, Hagan’s season-long consistency got him to the semifinals, where he fell to eventual runner-up Austin Prock.
7 – AS IF HE NEEDED ANY MORE OF A STARTING-LINE EDGE – Justin Ashley, who has one of the best career reaction-time averages in Top Fuel history, felt there was room for improvement in his reaction times. The driver who allegedly beat Nostradomus on a holeshot wanted to be even brutal on the starting line.
“It was a pretty simple change,” Ashley explained. “I think everyone is different and everyone has their own driving style. For me, whether I’m driving the Top Fuel dragster or my Toyota 4Runner at home, I just prefer to be a little bit closer up to the pedals and the wheels, so all we did, we left the pedal angle the same, but we just moved it about a half-inch closer, which just makes it a lot more comfortable for me. I like the knee-bend aspect of it. I’m getting a little bit more there.”
Ashley said he wasn’t sure if the change has made a difference, but he is more comfortable in the cockpit.
“Mike (Green), Tommy (DeLago) and the team, they’re great with making any adjustments that I want to make, so thanks to them for doing that and yeah, so far so good,” he said.
8 – AN INTERESTING FUNNY CAR SECOND ROUND – At first glance, the second round appeared to be a Murderers Row, with each match promising a-race-to-end-all-races.
The first pair featured No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman against Chad Green, who one round earlier had run low elapsed time of the event with a 3.866. Inexplicably, Green left .360 too early to hand the victory to Beckman, who battled his own issues.
Next was a match between the drivers atop the standings heading into the event. Paul Lee left .006 before the green and Prock advanced and held on to his lead.
That meant two red lights in one round Sunday – and there had been only two in the first five races of the season in the Funny Car ranks.
9 – LONG-TIME FOR A WIN – Veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Geno Scali brought out his old bike and snagged a first-round win against Angie Smith. Said Scali, “a bike that was 20-something years old with the same bottom end.”
Scali met up with Chris Bostick, who had beaten Kelly Klontz to score his first round win since October 2023 in Dallas.
“I gotta thank Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior first,” Bostick said. “I can’t believe it’s been this long since we won a round.”
Bostick didn’t have to wait nearly as long for his next win, as he stopped Scali to earn his first semifinals berth, winning 6.901 to 7.024.
10 – DRAG RACING PEOPLE SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS – “He left so early that he saw the future.” – NHRA announcer David Freiburger on Chad Green’s -.360 red-light against Jack Beckman.
“Drag racing is a lot harder than people think.” – Tony Stewart. after beating Steve Torrence to reach his fourth consecutive Top Fuel final round.
“You get kicked so many times in the groin and you finally realize it hurts.” – Cruz Pedregon on his team’s issues with a clutch program that hampered his program early this season.
“He’d been driving pretty good, and he asked if we could make a little change in the cockpit to the throttle pedal and stuff. So we did that from the last race to this race and … huh. Seems to be working pretty good.” – Crew chief Mike Green, after driver Justin Ashley beat Brittany Force to the finish line – but it was the .018 to .047 reaction-time battle that got everyone’s attention.
“We just had to kick some Canadian butt … just kidding. We just gave them a tariff, and we got that win-light.” – Shawn Reed’s crew chief Rob Wendland, after the team beat Canadian Dan Mercier in the first round of Top Fuel.
“I get to cut my hair now, I won a round.” – Reed after beating Mercier.
