As the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series rolls into Route 66 Raceway, Josh Hart and his R+L Carriers Top Fuel team arrive with momentum. Five races into the 2025 season, Hart sits inside the top 10 in the Top Fuel standings and has emerged as a contender, stringing together round wins and consistently posting strong numbers. Now, as the tour returns to Chicago for the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals, the Ocala, Florida driver is looking to turn that consistency into a victory.

Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

“We have all the pieces in place to have a lot of success. We just need to put them all together on the same weekend,” Hart says. His dragster has been back in the 3.6-second zone of late and making clean laps, which is an encouraging sign that the team’s off-season work is translating into results.

This marks Hart’s third trip to Route 66 Raceway, a track where he’s shown flashes of success. In his debut at the event, he raced from the No. 12 qualifying spot all the way to the final round, notching wins over frontrunners Antron Brown and T.J. Zizzo before falling to Clay Millican in a close final round. He matched that qualifying effort last year but was knocked out early by Shawn Reed.

With three straight quarterfinal appearances under his belt and his performance trending upward, Josh Hart believes a breakthrough weekend could be near. “We’re working on getting quicker at every increment down the track, and the results are starting to show,” he says.

Key to that success, Hart says, is performing well on the tree. “Reaction times are so important in this class and that has been a major focus for me. My biggest contribution is being dependable and quick off the line.”

Chicago marks a return to traditional two-lane racing after consecutive four-wide events. While Hart has adapted well to the alternate format, he welcomes the return to side-by-side competition. “The four-wides are great for the fans, but I’m looking forward to heads-up racing again. Chicago is a great facility and we’re ready to get back to it after a couple weeks off.”

The pieces are in place, and now it’s a matter of putting it all together. And if Josh Hart gets the rhythm right this weekend, the rest of the Top Fuel field may have their hands full.