Kalitta Continues Qualifying Prowess At Route 66

JOLIET, Ill. — Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta made the most of windy conditions on Friday at Route 66 Raceway and kept his impressive qualifying run going, powering to the provisional No. 1 position at the 25th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK.

Teammate J.R. Todd (Funny Car) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the sixth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Kalitta went 3.788 seconds at 326.24 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster and was the only car to go in the 3.70s during Friday’s challenging conditions. Should that hold, the former Top Fuel world champion would earn his fourth No. 1 in six races in 2025 and third in a row, a remarkable streak considering the talent level in the Top Fuel category. Kalitta hasn’t qualified lower than fourth this season.

“That was definitely interesting. There was a big dust cloud off to the side but thankfully it stayed off the track until we were done,” Kalitta said. “The car left well and I thought it might shake the tires, but it didn’t. It made a solid run.

“I know it will be different tomorrow but I’m happy with the way we ran. Thankfully, we have been good with both our cool and hot weather set-ups. I trust that AJ [Alan Johnson, crew chief] and our guys will figure it out.”

Justin Ashley is second thanks to a pass of 3.805 at 329.34 and Brittany Force is third on the strength of a 3.833 at 327.03.

After a slow start to the 2025 Funny Car season, J.R. Todd got an encouraging sign on Friday in Chicago, bolting to the No. 1 spot during the second session with a run of 3.982 at 326.71 in his 11,000-horsepower DHL Toyota GR Supra.

The former world champion is after his first No. 1 of the season and Todd hopes it’s the start of a big weekend. He entered the race eighth in points but could make a strong move with a big result at Route 66 Raceway.

Should it hold up, Todd would also earn his first No. 1 qualifier since the 2021 season and give the Kalitta Motorsports team a rewarding No. 1 double-up in qualifying.

“In Q1 everyone asked me if the wind affected me, but we didn’t go far enough for that to happen. Then, I was sitting in the water behind Ron Capps and I saw his car move towards the wall,” Todd said. “I told myself I wasn’t going to spoil the run so I began to give it some steering input to the right, perhaps a bit too much, but we got it down through there.

“Funny Cars are entertaining. They never seem to do the same thing twice. The one thing I like about Dickie [Venables, crew chief] is he’s not afraid to make changes. We have some parts we were planning to test at Indy and he just decided to put some of them in for our second run. I appreciate that in a crew chief.”

Alexis DeJoria is currently second after going 3.997 at 324.05 and Daniel Wilkerson’s 3.998 at 319.22 has him third.

Due to high winds, Pro Stock Motorcycle only made one qualifying run, with Angie Smith grabbing the top spot with a run of 6.797 at 199.29 on her Denso Auto Parts Buell. With some major names, including her husband, Matt, and defending event winner and back-to-back world champion Gaige Herrera, struggling during the first session, Smith was happy to take advantage as the only rider to dip into the 6.70s.

That puts the veteran on track for her first No. 1 qualifier of the season and third in her career as she looks to win one race after M. Smith won in Charlotte to take over the points lead.

“That was a smooth run but I knew there were four bikes behind me who might bump me out of the top spot. When I let the clutch go I knew it was a good run but it felt like a slow run, but the slow runs are usually the fast runs,” A. Smith said.

“I felt the wind, especially in the shutdown area, but it was good to run a 6.79. Now, all the changes we made to the bike today will have to make changes again because the weather will be so much different on Saturday. Route 66 Raceway is one of my favorite tracks because you can throw everything at it and it will take it.”

Richard Gadson is second with a 6.824 at 199.52 and Chase Van Sant is currently third after going 196.27.