Add Route 66 to the Chevy slogan of baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. That highway is as much a part of America as the Bowtie brand, and we see that each year at the Super Chevy Show in Joliet, Illinois. Some very serious racers from all around the heartland, along with the best and brightest show cars, trucks, and hot rods from at least a dozen states, show up to compete for bragging rights and just for the fun of being at a Super Chevy event.
Joliet is right in the neighborhood for our favorite Chevy racers, the Chicago Outlaws, and they came out prepared to show the hometown crowd how real Chevys can run. Of course they did this with several runs in the 7-second zone, eventually leading to the finals where Joe Stiles, who had set the low e.t. of the meet at 7.822 in his '71 Camaro, defeated Frank Podlogar in his Chevelle. Joe was still running strong in the final cranking a 7.872.
Nitro Coupe competition came down to two of the strongest runners in the recent Super Chevy races, the Barklage brothers. Zach, who set low elapsed time at Route 66 with a qualifying run of 6.138, in his '57 Chevy, went up against younger brother Cody who had "signed in" during qualifying at a not-too-shabby 6.308 in his late-model GTO. In a great race, Zach took the crown by running a 6.154 to Cody's 6.302. Something tells us we're going to see a lot more of both of these fine racers in the future.
The show car area was crammed with more Camaros and Chevelles than we see at any other event. It was difficult to pick winners in any category. Every once in a while, we had to go stand in the shade to avoid burning our eyes from looking at the gorgeous paint in the bright sun. We wouldn't want it any other way.