If you want to win a doorslammer event, Eric Dillard is about as close as a sure bet as it comes. His combination of tech knowledge, feel for the car and talent has proven more than a few times to be a winning combination. 

Sunday, at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, Dillard had all of his attributes on display as a substitute driver for former world champion Jose Gonzalez. On Sunday, he secured a victory in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+. The event is the third of ten in the 2024 season.

Dating back to the early 1980s, when IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock raced down the Norwalk Raceway Park dragstrip, doorslammers have been an integral part of the track outside Cleveland, Ohio’s DNA. Then came Pro Modified, which took this genre of drag racing to another level. 

The next level will be on display at the Norwalk facility as the third event of the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series this weekend. 

Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The NHRA Route 66 Nationals outside of Chicago, Ill.

Matt Hagan is dialed in right now in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car class.

Hagan, who pilots the Direct Connection Dodge for Tony Stewart Racing, won his second race in a row Sunday. He took the title at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance in Joliet, Ill.

Hagan clocked a 3.998-second elapsed time at 323.27 mph to defeat legendary John Force’s 4.096-second lap.

​​In a drag racing career full of countless memorable moments Antron Brown added another one Sunday.

Brown, driving his AB Motorsports Matco Tools dragster, captured his 75th career NHRA national event win – 59 in Top Fuel to go along with his 16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Brown claimed the milestone victory with a 3.838-second run at 324.75 mph to edge Shawn Langdon’s 3.869-second lap at 322.04 mph.

Antron Brown picked up a milestone of a victory on Sunday at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals when the Matco Tools-sponsored driver scored his 75th career victory. 

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also scored victories in the sixth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Brown had a tough battle in the final and need a 3.838-second elapsed time at 324.75 mph to beat Shawn Langdon. Along the way, he scored wins against Jasmine Salinas, points leader Justin Ashley and led Langdonn wire-to-wire against Langdon, who went 3.869 at 322.04 in the finals, to claim his sixth overall Chicago victory and fourth in Top Fuel.

Point standings (top 10) following the 24th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway, the sixth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series -

Final round-by-round results from the 24th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway, the sixth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:

The blue-collar Top Fuel favorite from Chicago finally has his yellow hat. 

T.J. Zizzo, who had previously scored a provisional No. 1 on a Saturday, sealed the deal at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance.

He is joined atop the leaderboard by Austin Prock (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) in the sixth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

In the Mission Foods 2Fast2Tasty Challenge series, Justin Ashley is shaping up to be the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time). He scored his latest win, knocking off Clay Millican in the final round of the specialty series Saturday afternoon at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals outside of Chicago. 

J.R. Todd (Funny Car) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joined Ashley on the winner’s podium.

Ashley, who in two seasons has won the event a whopping eight times, scoring his best run of the weekend in the final round. It is his second #2Fast2Tasty win of the season,