Sunday is on the horizon at the 25th annual Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals in the Chicagoland town of Joliet, and although the Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown $1,000 bounty was on Charlotte winner Jonathan Allegrucci, it’s now Lee Hartman wearing a target into final eliminations.
Driving his Stanfield Racing Engines-powered Dodge Challenger Drag Pak, Hartman qualified in the No. 1 position with a stout 7.642-second pass at 179.95 mph. Notably, his son, Matthew, also qualified No. 1 in Stock Eliminator at the event — the first national event of his career — with a Stanfield Racing Engines bullet.
The elder Hartman reinforced the quick theme with a 7.694 in the opening act that stood as low elapsed time of the round, and his was the only car to dip into the 7.6-second range out of 16 strong competitors. In the first round, Canfield, Ohio-based Hartman utilized the efficient pass to defeat fellow Drag Pak runner David Davies II, who went 7.843 at 173.61.
The strong start harkens memories from last season, when Hartman claimed the first No. 1 qualifier award of his Factory Stock Showdown career at Route 66 Raceway and went on to reach the final round.
“We made a great run, and it helps to know you’re heading in the right direction,” said Hartman, who is a two-time finalist deep in the hunt for his first Wally, NHRA’s prestigious trophy. “It would be awesome to get the win in Chicago [so] close to home. The track is great, the fans have been great — you really can’t beat it.”
Each of the three drivers utilizing Stanfield Racing Engines power advanced from the first round; in addition to Hartman’s crisp victory in his Carrier Services Group Dodge, David Janac wheeled his Janac Brothers Cobra Jet Mustang to a 7.777, 174.37 over Tony Scott Jr.’s 7.866, 175.32, and Doug Hamp got the nod on a 7.798, 175.78 in his Hamp Racing COPO Camaro as James Betz could not make the call.
Also of note, Alex Anderson claimed the bounty when Allegrucci broke on the starting line. Second-round pairings feature Hartman vs. Lenny Lottig; Anderson vs. defending series champion Mark Pawuk; Hamp vs. Taylor Dietsch; and Janac vs. Jason Dietsch.
While the first round of eliminations took place on Saturday night, the remainder of eliminations are scheduled for Sunday; round two of Flexjet Factory Stock will follow the first rounds of Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock Motorcycle, and Pro Mod. Subscribers can watch live on NHRA.tv, and full round-by-round results can be found on DragRaceCentral.com.
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