News, notes, quotes, and photos from the final day of  eliminations at the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Updated throughout the day.

***

It’s another cool and overcast day at Route 66 Raceway which means NHRA fans should expect to see more record breaking performances from NHRA pros as the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals races to a conclusion.

***

TOP FUEL ROUND 1

Josh Hart advanced to round two for the fourth consecutive event but just barely. Hart took out Clay Millican by a scant .006-second margin of victory by a 3.733 to 3.746 count giving the Joliet fans a great side-by-side race to start the day.

It didn’t take long for the first holeshot of the day as Shawn Reed grabbed a slight lead against Dan Mercier and won with a 3.750 to a quicker 3.748. Reed’s crew chief, Rob Wendland, admitted that Reed likely staged a bit deep allowing for his .070 to .101 reaction time advantage.

After TJ Zizzo smoked the tires, Antron Brown threw down one of the most impressive runs of the round with a 3.689. Brown also continued his recent run of big speeds with a 337.16 blast.

Doug Kalitta got probably more than he expected from Lex Joon, but ultimately prevailed with a 3.724. Joon left first and was on a competitive before slowing to a 3.975 at just 255 mph.

Shawn Langdon, the incoming leader, protected his lead with a 3.733 in his win over Kyle Wurtzel, who made a dramatic improvement over his qualifying performance with a 3.783, 316.60 that may well have been the most surprising run of the round.

The most anticipated run of the round pitted Justin Ashley and Brittany Force and Ashley claimed the win at 3.706 after the Monster Energy dragster smoked the tires. The real story came on the starting line where Force had a very competitive .047 reaction time yet still left second to Ashley’s nearly unbelievable .018, one of the best lights of the season in Top Fuel.

Round two pairings (lane choice first): Tony Stewart vs. Shawn Reed; Doug Kalitta vs. Josh Hart; Antron Brown vs. Justin Ashley; Shawn Langdon vs. Steve Torrence.

FUNNY CAR ROUND ONE

Daniel Wilkerson suffered a clutch malfunction in his opening race against Bob Tasca III. After struggling to back up from the burnout, Wilkerson smoked the tires almost immediately. Tasca also smoked the tires downtrack, but held on for the win with a 4.58 in his Motorcraft Quick Lane Mustang.

The first upset of the round came when Cruz Pedregon rolled with a 3.948 to stop J.R. Todd, who smoked the tires early. Pedregon’s team sat out Saturday’s second session after suffering an engine explosion earlier in the day. The team reverted to their old Snap-on body after damaging their special edition Makers and Fixers Dodge body.

The cars of Paul Lee and Buddy Hull both coasted across the finish line but Lee was first with a 4.229 to Hull’s 4.293. Lee also helped himself with a sizable reaction time advantage.

Alexis DeJoria ran a 3.913 and probably deserved a better fate than being on the losing end of Ron Capps’ 3.905 in what is likely the most competitive run of the round. Capps’ crew chief, Dean Antonelli, admitted the team was gunning for a 3.88 but missed the set-up by a smidge.

After some initial struggles in qualifying, Austin Prock quickly made a rebound on race day with a 3.885 to easily cover Bobby Bode’s early shut off 4.184. Prock will have his hands full in the quarterfinals as he’s scheduled to race Paul Lee in a battle between to drivers fighting for the championship lead.

Proving once again that drag racing is a “right place, right time” sport, Spencer Hyde made one of the best runs of the round with a 3.889 but did not get the win light because Chad Green was in the other lane running the quickest pass of the round with a stunning 3.866. Green also helped himself with a very competitive .049 reaction time. Green will now have lane choice against Jack Beckman, who made the second-quickest run of the round at 3.880.

Round two pairings (lane choice first): Cruz Pedregon vs. Bob Tasca; III; Ron Capps vs. Matt Hagan; Austin Prock vs. Paul Lee;  Chad Green vs. Jack Beckman.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND ONE

John Hall left first and never trailed in his round one win over Marc Ingwersen. Both riders ran close to their qualifying elapsed times with Hall’s 6.836 covering a competitive 6.886 by Ingwersen.

The second pair produced a bit upset as Geno Scali took out Angie Smith. Scali ran a 7.085 for the win. Smith’s bike bogged, and then made a move toward the wall when she dumped the clutch and she fought it for the length of the track before coming up a bit short at the finish line.

“How’s that for an old guy who took a bike out of his basement after 20 years?” said Scali, the 2003 world champ. “I didn’t expect it but here we are.”

A slight holeshot allowed Jianna Evaristo to take a win over Chase Van Sant, 6.831 to 6.830. Evaristo missed out on one of her qualifying runs, but has made a solid recovery to produce several competitive elapsed times.

Chris Bostock claimed his first round win since Dallas 2023 when he stopped Kelly Clontz. Bostick’s bike has been noticeably quicker and more consistent lately as he used his third straight 6.86-second run to defeat Clontz, who slowed to a 6.943. Bostick, who was visibly move during his post-race interview, will now race against Geno Scali in the quarterfinals.

Bye runs are rarely impressive but that wasn’t the case for Gaige Herrera, who made the best run of the event with a 6.713 to move into the quarterfinals where he’ll take on John Hall.

Round two pairings (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. John Hall; Matt Smith vs. Jianna Evaristo; Chris Bostick vs. Geno Scali; Richard Gadson vs. Steve Johnson.

TOP FUEL ROUND TWO

The points battle is likely to get much tighter after Steve Torrence took out incoming leader Shawn Langdon in the second round. Langdon smoked the tires, sending Torrence into the semifinal round with a conservative 3.772. Coming into the round, Langdon had arguably the most consistent car I the class with the quickest average reaction time.

Doug Kalitta had no such problems as he rolled to a 3.723, the quickest run of the round, in his win against Josh Hart, who also boiled the tires.

Both Tony Stewart and Shawn Reed smoked the tires and Stewart was able to recover more quickly to take the win, extending his streak of late round finishes.

“It wasn’t an easy round, I had to pedal it twice but we got it done,” said Stewart, adding that “I think the track warmed up a bit more than we thought.”

The final pair of the round was a doozy as Antron Brown smoked the tires, while Justin Ashley overcame tire smoke, and a mid-track wheelstand in order to get the win.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Steve Torrence vs. Tony Stewart; Doug Kalitta vs. Justin Ashley

FUNNY CAR ROUND TWO

When is the last time you saw two red-lights in Funny Car? If you were at Route 66 Raceway you saw it as Chad Green left early in his race against Jack Beckman while Paul Lee followed with a foul start against Austin Prock, allowing both John Force Racing entries to advance even though both cars smoked the tires.

In a rematch of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Matt Hagan once again got the best of Ron Capps in a very competitive side-by-side battle. Hagan drove his Dodge to a 3.919, slowing just .003-second from his first round run. Capps followed with a competitive 3.957,  a run that would have beaten just about anyone else in the field.

Cruz Pedregon’s team sent a crew member back to Indianapolis to retrieve parts following Saturday’s explosion and it paid off with a 3.947 win over Bob Tasca III, who smoked the tires. Crew chief Jason Bunker attributed the turnaround to “going back to basics and just doing what we know how to do.” Pedregon will race against Jack Beckman in the semifinals and will have lane choice.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Matt Hagan vs. Austin Prock; Cruz Pedregon vs. Jack Beckman

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND TWO

Chris Bostick is going to the semifinals after a 6.901 to 7.024 win over 2003 world champ Geno Scali.

Matt Smith was able to emerge from a tough battle against teammate Jianna Evaristo to reach the semifinals. Smith left first and rode his Denso Buell to a 6.799 to cover Evaristo’s 6.832.

Steve Johnson grabbed a big lead at the starting line over Richard Gadson and scored a holeshot win, 6.809 to 6.765. Gadson’s teammate, Gaige Herrera, had no such problems as he took care of business against John Hall with the quickest run of the round, a 6.743.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Chris Bostick; Matt Smith vs. Steve Johnson

TOP FUEL SEMIFNALS

Don’t look now but Tony Stewart is now appearing in his fourth-straight final round after topping Steve Torrence in the semifinals. Stewart drove his Rinnai dragster to a 3.762 to advance after Steve Torrence smoked the tires. Stewart came into the Chicago race trailing leader Shawn Langdon by 60 points and he’s narrowed the gap considerable.

Stewart will have lane choice in the final against Justin Ashley, who ran a 3.816 in his win against Doug Kalitta, who smoked the tires. Ashey was solid on the starting line again with a .040 light to reach
the final round for the 30th time in his career.

FUNNY CAR SEMIFINALS

It wasn’t pretty but Jack Beckman is going to the Funny Car final after a win against Cruz Pedregon. Both drivers lit the tires but Beckman was able to best recover to win with a 4.257

It will be an all-JFR final round after Austin Prock outran Matt Hagan by .008-seocnd in the other half of the semi’s. Prock put the nose of his Cornwell Tools Camaro ahead and held on for a 3.931 to 3.942 victory.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SEMIFINALS

To the surprise of almost no one, the Pro Stock Motorcycle final round will feature rivals Matt Smith and Gaige Herrera, who have combined to win the bulk of the events for the past two years.

Smith took care of business with a 6.797 to defat rival Steve Johnson’s 6.862.  Herrera joined Smith in the final, and earned lane choice thanks to a 6.763 in his win over Chris Bostick, who ran a respectable 6.886.

LUCAS OIL SERIES RESULTS

SUPER STOCK
Donna Morris def. Troy Gailbraith

STOCK
Marion Stephenson def. Ricky Shipp

SUPER COMP
Jeff Cheney def. Kimbra Fuestang

SUPER GAS
David Dahlem def. Nathan Prose

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP DRAGSTER
Greg Rice def. Tony Elrod

HOLLEY EFI FACTORY X
Jesse Alexandra def. Conner Statler  

FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN
Jason Dietsch def. Lee Hartman

PINGEL TOP FUEL MOTORCYCLE
Larry McBride def. Bob Malloy (no show)

CONGRUITY PRO MOD
Mason Wright def. J.R. Gray

PEAK STREET CAR SHOOTOUT
Tom Bailey def. Bryant Goldstone