Route 66 Nationals
June 3-6th, 2010
Joliet, IL

(Pro Racing Summary Courtesy of NHRA Communications)

NHRA’s annual touchdown at fabulous Route 66 Raceway SW of Chicago was a crash and weather marred affair. Matt Hagan rode a national ET record setting performance to victory in Funny Car while Larry Dixon increased his overall Full Throttle points lead in Top Fuel. The event also marked the 26th running of the very prestigious Jegs Allstars Sportsman racing event.

Larry Dixon raced past defending world champion Tony Schumacher to grab the win at the rain-delayed United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Matt Hagan, Mike Edwards and LE Tonglet also won in their respective categories at the 10th of 23 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Dixon drove his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to a 3.823-second run at 323.12 mph past Schumacher to earn his fifth win of the season and 53rd of his career. It was also the sixth time this season that Dixon and Schumacher met each other during eliminations.

“Obviously this is big,” said Dixon. “Any time you win it is huge. The last couple of times we ran in the final, he has got the best of us. It was a long day, at the same time, not as long as Friday and it was definitely worth the wait. This track is the gold standard when sun is off of it. It is awesome. And a final round under the lights is so cool. This is what I grew up on. My dad raced a bunch of times at Orange County and Lions at night. Our sport is cool at night. I wish we raced through the summer on Saturday nights.”

With his final round appearance, Schumacher was able to move from third to second in the Top Fuel point standings, just behind first-place Dixon.

In Funny Car, Hagan not only stopped runner-up finisher Robert Hight’s current winning streak, but set the national record for time in the process. Hagan drove his DieHard Dodge Charger R/T to a 4.035 at 312.78, which was just enough to back up his semifinal time of 4.022-seconds to set the new national record and pick up those valuable 20 extra points in the process. It was also Hagan’s second career win.

“This was (crew chief) Tommy DeLago and John Medlen’s race,” said Hagan. “In the first race we won in Houston, I had to pedal the car but not here. This weekend, I had a great race car. We tested some stuff recently but they put what they know back in the race car this weekend. I told Tommy ‘That’s the race car I’m used to.’ It’s great to have that confidence and great to set the record and win the race.”

While his three-race winning streak came to an end, runner-up finisher Hight did take the points lead from team owner John Force with his final round appearance.

In Pro Stock, Edwards continued his dominance over the class and followed up his win in Topeka with his sixth win of the season. Edwards drove his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP to a 6.594 at 208.49 and past runner-up Jason Line.

“That’s what Pro Stock is all about,” said Edwards. “The first thing Jason said to me was ‘Man, you were late.’ What a great way to finish the day. We weren’t at our best today but we managed to pull off another win. It just feels great.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle rider LE Tonglet held off Steve Johnson to pick up his first career win in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. In only his 10th start, Tonglet rode his GT Motorsports Suzuki to a 6.935 at 190.38 to pick up his first win in just his second season of racing.

“My emotions are so high right now,” said Tonglet. “I’ve been waiting for this day all my life. GT (Tonglet, brother) won a few times, but to have one of my own is awesome. We’re on a tight budget and this might get us through New Jersey and maybe even Norwalk.”

Manzo leads Division 1 team to JEGS Allstars title (By Scott Woodruff)

With perennial frontrunner Frank Manzo leading the way, the team from the NHRA Northeast Division rallied to claim its fourth JEGS Allstars overall team title in the last five years. Manzo won the Top Alcohol Funny Car title for the eighth time in his career and was joined in the winner’s circle by fellow Northeast Division racers Joe Santangelo and Jason Kenny, who claimed wins in Super Stock and Super Gas, respectively. The wins enabled the Division 1 team to come from behind and win the overall title, and the $20,000 team bonus that goes with it, via a tie breaker over the Division 5 team. The JEGS Allstars is a special invitation only competition that is open to the best drivers in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series based on a year-long points competition within NHRA’s seven geographic regions.

Manzo, the driver of the Al-Anabi Monte Carlo defeated Division 2 racer Mickey Ferro in a close final round, 5.56 to 5.59 to seal the victory. Santangelo also chipped in with the big win over Division 5’s Justin Jenkins and Kenny got the best of Division 6 driver Mark Resen in the final of Super Gas.

The Division 5 team came close to capturing their first overall win, thanks to the efforts of members Michael Miller, who won in Super Comp, and Steve Domingues, who earned the title in Super Street. Heading into the final rounds, the Division 5 team had five members remaining while the Division 1 team had four.

Jim Whiteley claimed a win for the Division 7 team when he stopped Shawn Cowie in the Top Alcohol Dragster final. Defending champ Bruno Massel, who was eligible to return to the event as a blocker, scored a second-straight win in Comp when he defeated Frank Aragona Jr. of the Division 1 team in the final round. Other winners were Mark Faul of Division 6 (Stock Eliminator), Division 4’s Keith Raftery (Top Sportsman), and Ray Miller III of Division 2 (Top Dragster). All told, the champions received a share of the more than $120,000 posted by JEGS Mail Order for the event.

Division 3 racer Ricky Adkins, who was driving Mike Coughlin’s JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt, reached the second round of eliminations in the Top Sportsman class.

The members of the winning team shared in a $20,000 bonus courtesy of Jegs Mail Order.

Route 66 Nationals — Click To Connect to Photo Gallery
(Photos by: Bruce Biegler)