NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The final day of qualifying for the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals will set the fields for Sunday eliminations, and it will also include two of the highly anticipated specialty events: the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge and the NHRA Pro Stock All-Star Callout.

NHRA National Dragster photographers captured the opening day at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals, covering all of the action on and off the racetrack.

See the quickest street car on the planet—plus half a dozen other cars that can run the quarter-mile at insane speeds and then drive to dinner, from the 2023 Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance

Expectations were high entering this weekend's event at Route 66 Raceway, and after four years away, racers and crew chiefs were eager to make their mark early at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance. The first day did not disappoint as Robert Hight (Funny Car), Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) claimed the top spots.

Mason Wright’s Pro Mod crossed the centerline and made contact with the wall during the first round of qualifying in Pro Mod at the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway, Wright exited the car under his own power.

Challenges were made and accepted on Friday at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals as the top drivers in the class made their first-round callouts for Saturday's specialty race, the NHRA Pro Stock All-Star Callout in Chicago.

When it comes to the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, the Pro Stock Motorcycle category gets to join the fun for the first time as part of this weekend’s Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance.

Defending Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders has a great fondness for Route 66 Raceway, as it is where she claimed the very first win of her professional career. The now 43-time victor will be looking for rejuvenation on familiar territory at this weekend’s Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

Jimm Lewis doubled in Top Sportsman and Julie Nataas and Bob McCosh won in the Top Alcohol classes to lead the list of winners as the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series South Central Division was in action with a doubleheader event at Texas Motorplex:

For the first time since 2019, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to Route 66 Raceway for the highly anticipated 23rd annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance. The event is the sixth on the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule and is jam-packed with activities.

The last time Steve Torrence was at Route 66 Raceway, he was in the middle of one of the most impressive stretches in his Top Fuel career, which is saying something considering the tremendous success he’s enjoyed as a four-time Top Fuel champion.

Robert Hight owns the track record in Funny Car at Route 66 Raceway, as well as back-to-back final-round appearances at the two most recent NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series races at the Chicago track in 2018 and 2019.

In advance of the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Peak Performance, Chicago firefighter and driver of the Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car Chris King took NHRA drivers Camrie Caruso, Lyle Barnett, JR Gray, Jerico Balduf, and Mike Thielen through the paces at the Robert Quinn Fire Academy. 

John Jodauga, the talented motorsport artist, longtime former member of the NHRA National Dragster staff, and the man with the most mispronounced last name in motorsports, passed away May 11, and he and his artwork are remembered by his friends and colleagues.

It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s vital. With win lights not coming as expected, Team Kalitta conducted an in-season, three-team test in Indianapolis in preparation for this week’s Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Peak Performance at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. 

The fifth 2023 issue of NHRA National Dragster, featuring NHRA Four-Wide Nationals coverage from both Las Vegas and Charlotte and Sportsman-racer features on Julie Nataas and the Warr family, is now online in digital format and in the mail in its traditional print format to NHRA Members around the world.

For the first time, the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports is headed to Chicago and Route 66 Raceway as part of this weekend’s Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance.