Championship Drag Racing

Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Chicago, Ill.
(June 5-8)

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Driver Profile

Hillary Will KB Racing dragster

Chicago, pre-race: A permanent smile is beginning to form on the face of NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary Will, driver of the 8,000-horsepower KB racing, LLC dragster, as she and her team make the trip to Joliet, Ill., just south of Chicago, this weekend, June 5-8, for the annual running of the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

At the previous NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event in Topeka, Kan., last Sunday, Will, the world’s fastest female (334.65 mph), won the first Top Fuel title trophy of her three-year career. She became the 11th female to win an NHRA event, and the Ann Arbor, Mich., resident has been overjoyed ever since the triumph.

“It’s still all just starting to soak in,” Will, a 28-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., said. “It’s been a whirlwind since we won, and I’ve not had a lot of time to just relax and think about it. I’m still pinching myself to make sure it’s not all a dream.

“It’s a huge relief for me and my KB Racing, LLC team to finally get a win. We’ve been through a lot together, and we’ve been through some really tough times together, but going through the down times makes us all appreciate this accomplishment even more. We’ve had to fight through quite a bit of adversity, but we persevered and it paid off.

“Route 66 Raceway is a great facility, and the race track is one of the best in the country, so we’re really looking forward to racing in Joliet this weekend, and hopefully we’ll have a chance to make it two wins in a row.”

Will became the 8th female Top Fuel winner in NHRA history with her Topeka victory.  She joined other auto racing female winners in what has become the year of the woman racer so far in 2008. Recently, Ashley Force became the first female event winner in the NHRA Funny Car class, and Danica Patrick became the first woman to win in the Indy Car Series earlier this year. Also, in May, Melanie Troxel became the first woman to win event titles in both of the NHRA’s nitro-fueled classes – Top Fuel and Funny Car.

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