Energy drink and breakfast sandwich in hand, we got out of the rental car and geared up for the final day of the NMCA/NMRA Super Bowl at Route 66 Raceway in Illinois. First thing that came across my phone: that racing should be wrapped up before sunset. Given how many cars were on the property, how lucky we had been avoiding crashes, oil downs, and for the most part, general mayhem, and so on, we snickered…surely, someone behind the scenes was feeling a little bit optimistic, right? We still had eliminations to run, and we weren’t near ready for quarter-finals, let alone final races. But the powers that be were deadly serious and in short order cars were going down the track at a good pace, with time only taken to check the surface and to drag, scrape and prep whatever was needed. Temperatures were up compared to the last couple of days, but the likelihood of rain being a problem was just about gone and everybody was determined to make it not only to their final round, but to find their place as a class representative for the actual NMCA/NMRA Super Bowl shootout that would serve as the race’s finale. Meantime, there was competition to eliminate.
Outside of the dragstrip, among the Manufacturer’s Midway, the guy selling shaved ice (you rock, man!) and the general mayhem of the pits, was the car show. We ran through pretty quick, but our take: lots of Mustangs, some really cool and unique cars, a couple of really badass high-dollar builds including a knockout second-gen Camaro. Anybody have the backstory on this car?
Click on a photo below to check out the Sunday action from Joliet!
