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| CHICAGO (May 17, 2026) — For full-time Chicago firefighter and Funny Car driver and team owner Chris King the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Peak was a solid start to his 2026 NHRA season. The independent team rolled into Rt. 66 Raceway looking to make four quality runs in qualifying, earn a spot in the 16-car field and represent their sponsors Howards Cams/Competition Products with strong runs on race day. King made the most of the three-day national event earning the No. 16 qualifier spot with a solid 4.142 second run at 266.79 mph pass. For his efforts he drew the No. 1 qualifier and defending event winner Jack Beckman. “We’re finally getting this car dialed in, and it’s only getting better,” said King. “This Howards Cam/Competition Products Funny Car is fast, but this chassis is older, the body is older, and those older technologies don’t like fast. Now we’re fighting old technology with power, and we’re trying to get that happy median going. (Crew chief) Bob’s (Peck) doing a great job at getting this thing caught up, we stretched out the clutch a little bit, and kind of reeled it in, and changed some weight and balance, and it responded. It still lifted the front end up, and it knocked a couple holes out, but it was trucking. It was a good run, and we’re very happy with it.” Chris King and the Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car turned heads this weekend at Rt. 66 Raceway, photo credit Innovation Creative Experts King and Beckman have a long history together and the first round had several interesting story lines. Beckman’s son Jason designed the livery on King’s 12,000-horsepower Nitro Funny Car. Beckman is a consistent supporter of King throughout the season, and the Funny Car drivers discuss the ins and outs of racing one of the toughest classes in motorsports on a regular basis. King was looking to make a strong showing in front of his Chicago friends and family while Beckman was looking to impress his hometown-based sponsor Peak with another national event win in their backyard. “I love racing Jack, because he’s a true professional, and he’s one of my best friends out here,” said King. “Jack’s one of my big supporters, and getting to race him, it’s all fun and joking and up front, but when the helmets are on, he wants to beat me, and I want to beat him. The minute we pull the cars off at the top end, we hop out of the cars and give each other big hugs and congratulations. We were talking about how fun that run was.” Both cars took off the starting line together with King grabbing a head start off the line. As they crossed the halfway mark Beckman began to pull away. At the finish line it was Beckman getting the win light with a quicker 3.945 second run in front of a respectable 4.233 second run. Chris King made his 2026 NHRA debut at Rt. 66 Raceway making the field and posting a solid first round race against Jack Beckman, photo credit Innovation Creative Experts“I kept them honest, at least,” said King proudly. “I did everything I could do. We made a clean run that looked good. I left on him. He is with John Force Racing, and Jack is phenomenal driver. That car outperformed us, and I’m not mad about it. We ran a good lap, we looked good, the car felt good. We’re chasing some balance issues with the chassis. It still hiked the front end pretty good, so it probably made for a good video watching it, and it was fun to drive. I didn’t see him until the very, very end, which was kind of cool.” Prior to race day King spent Saturday morning with fellow Chicago-based driver TJ Zizzo serving Nitro Cake pancakes to fans. The fan interaction opportunity was part of a busy Saturday for King who was also a featured guest on the NHRA stage with Hannah Rickards talking about his racing journey and plans for the weekend to the fans in the NHRA pit area. Between qualifying runs King was on the rope line signing hero cards and Competition Products catalogues for fans. “It’s very cool being here, first, for the friends and family, but also for the fans,” said King. “The whole experience about being the hometown guy. When I was in the car, I heard them in Q4 saying, ‘Oh, Chris is probably gonna pull out of the lanes.’ I was like hell no we aren’t pulling out. We’re putting on a show. Our friends, our family, first responders, everybody’s here to see these Funny Cars go down the track. We’re going down the track. That almost bit me in the rear end, but it was a hell of a pass, a hell of a save, and I’m hoping it added to my street cred with my driving capabilities all weekend. This thing’s been hiking up the front, making exciting videos, and dancing around and hauling. I hope that people notice that just because we’re a small team, we belong here.” Overall, the weekend was a strong start for King, and he will head back to his shop with solid race data and a positive attitude for the rest of the season. King and the Howards Cam/Competition Products Funny Car plan to compete at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, June 26-28. Qualifying Results Q1: 4.142 sec; 266.79 mph; Qual. 9 Q2: 9.786 sec; 83.63 mph; Qual 15 Q3: No Time; Qual. 15 Q4: 6.791 sec; 98.82 mph; Qual. 16 Race Results Jack Beckman, Corona, Calif., Peak Funny Car, (.087), 3.945 sec, 325.53 mph def. Chris King, Chicago, Ill., Howards Cams/Competition Products Funny Car, (.080), 4.233 sec, 270.64 mph |
