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Ladies Day at Route 66 Raceway as Angie Smith provisional No. 1 bike class; Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car) also early leaders
After seven years of slogging through insults, prejudice, funding struggles, uncooperative race cars, and just plain poor luck, Pro Stock driver Erica Enders finally found that shining moment of satisfaction 14 years ago at Route 66 Raceway in the Chicago suburb of Joliet, Ill.
She earned her first NHRA victory there and received a congratulatory phone call from her Pro Stock hero Bob Glidden in a media center that she seldom had had a reason to visit before that Sunday night in July 2012. Since then, she has claimed six championships, recorded 49 Pro Stock victories, and become the most successful woman not just in drag racing but in all of motorsports.
Enders, winless in 11 races dating back to last September at Indianapolis, is looking for some positive reinforcement this weekend at Route66 Raceway—looking for her milestone 50th victory and first of the season. While Friday’s 6.542-second, 209.92-mph performance gave her only the tentative No. 1 qualifying position for Sunday’s Gerber Glass and Collision Route 66 Nationals and two more sessions are set for Saturday, she’s on her way to another feel-good visit to the facility.
“I love coming here,” Enders said after Friday’s effort. “I've been coming here my entire life and embracing it in all different categories, but I remember vividly winning here in 2012 and being in this very press room. And I was talking to the media, and Bob Glidden called my phone, and I’ll never forget it. That was so cool, because he was my hero and a legend, and that was my first win.
It’s been a long, crazy, crazy road, but I think it is serendipitous. And I love racing here. So, I think it would be great if this were the turning point. ”The driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/R+L Carriers entry for Elite Motorsports is seeking her first No. 1 start since the 2024 season.
“It’s definitely a good feeling, and I’m excited,” Enders said. “It’s fun to have the provisional No. 1 after the first session. I’m obviously surprised that we stayed No. 1, but I honestly don’t think that we’re fast. The season was extremely rough for our entire organization, and ’26 hasn’t started off on the right foot, either, but we’ve been working really hard.
And it’s about tenacity and not giving up and just keep plugging away at it, and that’s what my guys are really good at. ” “Bob Glidden called my phone, and I’ll never forget it. That was so cool, because he was my hero and a legend, and that was my first win. ” Friday’s Pro Stock Motorcycle leader Angie Smith is poised to earn her second No. 1 spot in the class’ fourth appearance of the season.
She and husband Matt Smith, the winner at Valdosta two weeks ago, have been atop the order at the first three races. Angie Smith said she wants to silence a few critics who have been “talking a little bit of smack, telling us that we needed to go to work on our 60-foot program .
”Kalitta overtook first-session leader Maddi Gordon in pursuit of his second straight No. 1 qualifying berth and the 68th of his career, as well as his first victory at Route 66 Raceway in 20 years.
“It was kind of interesting before that run. They put weight on the clutch, and the next thing you know, they're doing this, doing that so you can kind of tell that they're hopping it up. It looked like we needed every bit of it, because everybody's running super-close,” Kalitta said. Beckman said his second run that left him No. 1 overnight, “was entertaining and scary.
” He said his PEAK Chevy Camaro “was just a handful, and it was entertaining. I hope everybody in the stands was half as entertained as I was. We've made two absolutely solid runs, one in each lane. We have great data.
We can now afford to push on Saturday, and if we push too hard, that'll teach us something as well. So, it really just sets us up for a lot more race day success. ”Susan WadeSusan Wade has lived in the Seattle area for 40 years, but motorsports is in the Indianapolis native’s DNA. She has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with nearly 30 seasons at the racetrack, focusing on the human-interest angle.
She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, and Seattle Times. She has contributed to Autoweek as a freelance writer since 2016.
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