JOLIET, Ill. (May 18, 2025) – Racing legend Tony Stewart moved into the NHRA Top Fuel points lead for the first time with his second win in three races at Route 66 Raceway, defeating Justin Ashley in the final round of the 25th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the sixth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Stewart went 3.777-seconds at 329.10 mph in his 12,000 horsepower Rinnai dragster to hold off Ashley and earn his second Top Fuel win, just more than a month after he won for the first time in his Top Fuel career in Las Vegas. It’s the fourth straight final round for Stewart and his standout team, as he also moved three points ahead of Shawn Langdon, who fell in the second round, to take the Top Fuel points lead for the first time ever.
Stewart, who made a career-best run of 3.679 in qualifying, defeated Terry Totten, Shawn Reed and Steve Torrence to reach the championship round. Ashley left first with a stout .042, but Stewart was right there with a .048, quickly running him down and cruising to another impressive victory in what is shaping up to be a special season for the former NASCAR and IndyCar champion.
“You’ve got to believe we’re real now at this point,” Stewart said. “I wouldn’t have said it before today.”
Funny Car’s Jack Beckman needed his own impressive performance on the starting line and he delivered, winning on a holeshot in the final round against John Force Racing teammate and reigning world champion Austin Prock with a run of 3.935 at 325.77 in his 12,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet SS.
Prock went a quicker 3.933 at 329.02 and had his own solid reaction time, but Beckman went .049, which made the difference at the finish line as he earned his second victory this season and 37th in his professional career.
The veteran and former world champion got past Dave Richards, Chad Green and Cruz Pedregon to set up the all-JFR final round.
“Every win is great and I have a lot of trophies from places like Indy and my home track in Pomona but winning here in Chicago, a track that was off the tour for a while is as good as it gets,” said Beckman, who was making his first appearance in Chicago since 2019.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Gaige Herrera still hasn’t tasted defeat at Route 66 Raceway, knocking off rival Matt Smith in the finals with a run of 6.777 at 198.90 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. It’s the third straight Chicago victory for the back-to-back world champion and Herrera was stellar when it counted in the championship round against Smith.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action May 30-June 1 with the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.