The Peak Street Car Shootout Returns to Route 66 Raceway for the Second Year as Part of Route 66 NHRA Nationals
After an initial showing of eight of the quickest street-legal drag-and-drive rides as part of the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Chicago’s Route 66 Raceway in 2023, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) invited the drag-and-drive community back for another shot at the Route 66 Raceway this weekend.
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The winner of the inaugural PEAK Street Car Shootout Presented by Sick The Magazine in 2023 was Bryant Goldstone, and the ‘Drag Drive Repeat’ world champion leads a solid field of combatants into Joliet, Illinois to compete for the title of Street Car Shootout champion.
Joining Goldstone and his AMC Javelin in the eight-car shootout field is Tom Bailey and the ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, Hot Rod Garage host Alex Taylor and her 6-second patina’d ‘55 Chevy, Craig ‘Grubby’ Groebner and his twin-turbo ’71 Chevy Nova, former Hot Rod Drag Week winner David Schroeder and the Schroeder Ens team C7 Corvette, Tom McGilton and the ‘WhyNot’ 2013 Camaro ZL-1, Earl Schexnayder and his 2000 Ford Mustang, and Nick Taylor and the third-generation Camaro known as ‘Uncle Sam.’
The group started out Thursday by cruising the streets of Joliet, including along the famous Route 66 road. They made a pit stop and took some photos at the Joliet Correctional Center, the prison featured in the motion picture The Blues Brothers.
“All eight cars drove back to the track in the rain,” said Dennis Taylor, Alex’s dad. “Street car stuff. It was pretty cool pulling up next to a Joliet police officer at multiple stop lights with parachutes, slicks, 4” side exit headers, headsets, etc. and they didn’t have an issue! I love America!”
Once the group returned to the track, they had a chance to prepare for a pair of time run shots at the track on Friday afternoon, in preparation for the first round of eliminations on Saturday.
After not making a pass in the ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ Camaro in almost a year, Tom Bailey shook the car down at US 131 Motorsports Park earlier this week to get some data. He posted the second-best 60 foot of the group at 1.118, and a 4.88 at 147 mph eight-mile before clicking it off for the remainder of the first hit.
Tom’s second pass would improve on all the numbers except the 60-foot, but made up for it with a 4.27 at 184 mph at half-track, and a 6.45 at 205 mph at the quarter mile for the quickest and fastest pass of the pack thus far.
Bryant Goldstone, looking to continue a solid 2024 that included an Ultimate Iron class win at this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, currently holds the second quickest elapsed time and the best speed from time runs, thanks to his 6.65 at 221 mph blast during the second time shot of Friday.
Alex Taylor, who recently had the chance to represent Arkansas, the automotive industry and advocate for legislation that will protect it during meetings on Capitol Hill on Thursday for SEMA and PRI, made the best time shot on the first session at a 7.18 in her class-winning ’55 Chevy. They turned the knobs a bit for the second session, and the ‘Shoebox Chevy’ delivered a 6.76 at 216 mph.
Craig ‘Grubby’ Groebner is another hoping the Route 66 Nationals will be his rebound from a DNF at Sick Week. The ’71 Chevrolet Nova was teetering on the verge of a 6-second pass at Sick Week, and started his day with an initial shakedown of 4.95 at 153 mph eighth-mile hit. But Groebner didn’t return for round two, leaving us wondering what the Nova has up its sleeve for eliminations.
After debuting their new Corvette at the PRI show last December, the Schroeder Ens with Dave Schroeder at the wheel had been shaking down the new car at Bradenton Motorsports Park, as well as US 131 Motorsports Park earlier this week.
The nitrous-fed car put up the best 60 foot times on both time shots, with a best of 1.02 on his second run, an early shut off 4.33 at 145 mph at the eighth-mile.
After having a rough start to his 2024 at Sick Week, Tom McGilton and his twin-turbo Camaro rolled into Joliet ready to make a statement. The near 4000-pound car made a solid 4.93 at 4.93 at 157 mph eighth-mile hit to start, and backed that up with a 7.39 at 195 mph full pass on the second session.
But unfortunately, McGilton had some bad news at the end of the track, and a connecting rod decided to show itself and put an early end to his weekend.
On his first appearance since an incident at Brown County Dragway in May of 2022, Nick Taylor and his twin-turbo third-generation Camaro looked to bring a little LS-flavor to the Peak Street Car Shootout. After an early shutoff on the first time run, Taylor produced a 4.84 at 138 mph on his second shot.
Representing for the blue oval crowd, Earl Schexnayder and his orange turbocharged 2000 Ford Mustang found both ends of the spectrum during his two shots at the track so far. The first pass found tire spin for Schexnayder, then he found the hook and a wheelstand that meant an early throttle lift.
The PEAK Street Car Shootout at Route 66 Raceway will start eliminations today, with round one scheduled to take place at 2:20 p.m., just before the day’s second qualifying session of the professional classes.
Sunday will host the semifinal round at 12:55 p.m. and the final round at 3:10 p.m., with a Q & A session featuring Tom Bailey and Alex Taylor scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Sick the Magazine merchandise booth is also on site, with lots of great offerings, including the popular straw hats we only sell our of the merch trailer. Every dollar spent gets you registered for the Ute giveaway and $5000 cash.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, NHRA, Megan Taylor and Audrea McGilton Beeler.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com