The inspiration of watching his father and brother win in Pro Stock Motorcycle was enough to propel LE Tonglet to his day in the sun, albeit in the darkness of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals.

Tonglet scored his first career national event win, beating Steve Johnson at a rain-drenched Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

“My emotions are running so high it’s indescribable,” said Tonglet during his first-ever NHRA press conference. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all of my life. Seeing my brother and my dad compete out here, and they’ve won a time or two, but in having my own is just awesome. I can’t thank my dad enough for doing this out of his own pocket. This win will provide a huge boost going into New Jersey and Norwalk.”

The National Hot Rod Association advertises itself as a family-friendly form of entertainment.
 
While it indeed might be family-friendly, it certainly isn't stroller-friendly, at least not at Route 66 Raceway.
 
That's what Daniel E. Albert, a stay-at-home dad and realtor from nearby Oswego, Ill., said he learned this weekend as he attempted to attend the United Association Route 66 Nationals with his two young sons.

Joe Dunne was able to get his repeat victory at Maple Grove Raceway.

But it wasn’t easy.

“We ran into some trouble,” Dunne said. “We hurt the motor during time trials on Saturday and we stayed up until 3 in the morning to get it ready. Everything came together really well.

“The track was excellent. The guys here did a great job preparing it and it was perfect for us.”

Ten races into the 2010 season, Doug Kalitta has already matched his round win total from last season.  He now has 19 elimination-round wins this season. That is one more than his total amount of round wins in the 2009 season.

The 45-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., reached the semi-final round in Sunday’s NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago. Kalitta also raced to the semifinals in Las Vegas and Atlanta. He has four final-round appearances this season in Pomona, Calif., Phoenix, Charlotte, N.C., and most recently in St. Louis.

Tony Schumacher moved  into second place in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series drivers’ standings with his final-round appearance at the Route 66 NHRA.

Schumacher lost to series-leader Larry Dixon in a late-evening final round – a four-hour, 51-minute rain delay separated the second round from the semifinals. His 3.823 seconds at 323.12 miles per hour fell short of Dixon’s 3.773 seconds at 321.65 mph.
        
“It was a great race,” said the reigning and seven-time world champion. “You put two world champion drivers in two great cars, together with ideal weather conditions on a great track, and this is the kind of race you get. I think it was worth the price of admission (for the fans).

CarSafe has been named as the major sponsor for Extreme Pro Stock Mustang racer Cale Aronson. The sponsorship debuts this weekend at the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI in Martin, Mich.

For Ron Capps, the NHRA Route 66 Nationals was not one of his better outings despite a strong qualifying position.

Capps, who made the field in his last qualifying attempt, was a first round casualty opposite of Jeff Arend.

The driver of the NAPA Batteries Dodge contends the NHRA’s track prep is largely to blame for much of the unpredictability of the racing surface.

"We saw an oildown a couple of pairs in front of us and the sun started beating a little harder on the track," said Capps, "and our teammate Matt Hagan went right down that same left lane and ran a great 4.18.

Robert Hight didn’t win his fourth consecutive national event victory at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Despite the loss, the defending NHRA Funny Car series champion didn’t leave the rainy event empty handed. He is now the point leader.

Hight missed out by thousandths on securing a part of drag racing history. Only four drivers including Don Prudhomme (30), Cruz Pedregon (22), John Force (21) and Kenny Bernstein (18) have longer consecutive round win streaks than Hight’s 15 in a row.

It took a national record setting performance from second year driver Matt Hagan to beat Hight.

Some race weekends are made to be forgotten. For 64-time national event winner Jeg Coughlin Jr., the Route 66 NHRA Nationals provided one of those experiences.

It wasn’t so much Coughlin’s day ended in the first round as it was the way it ended. He couldn't get his car to cooperate during his first-round staging procedure.

In one of the most bizarre race starts of the season, Coughlin executed an odd and very short burnout, backed up, tried another, and then his engine lost fire. A mad, last-second thrash didn't help and V. Gaines was given a free pass against the second quickest racecar on the property.

In the opening round of ODSS Pro Mod eliminations at the Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com South Carolina Spectacular, Danny Blankenship steered his blown 1940 Ford (formerly ’41 Willys) to an unofficial quickest pass ever by a Powerglide-equipped doorslammer.

In just his first outing with the car recently acquired from Terry Leggett and only his fifth pass in it, Blankenship left with a .975 60-foot time, followed by 2.604 to halfway (330 feet) and 3.959 at 181.96 mph that beat Eddie Smith to Orangeburg Dragstrip’s eighth-mile finish line.