Route 66 Nationals Sponsored by NHRA and K&N Features KB Racing and Others

K&N will be the title sponsor of the 2016 K&N Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Illinois.

Expanding on their partnership with K&N, NHRA has announced that the 2016 Route 66 Nationals will be title sponsored by K&N. The K&N Route 66 Nationals will kick off the second half of the 2016 NHRA season with a bang. Held at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, the NHRA Mellow Yellow Drag Racing Series event is the 13th of 24 races for the season. K&N is already the sponsor of the K&N Horsepower Challenge and this brings the two internationally renowned names in motorsports even closer.

Greg Anderson is currently second in the K&N Horsepower Challenge standings behind KB Racing teammate Jason Line.

"K&N Engineering has been a longtime partner with NHRA and their commitment to provide title sponsorship for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals will help ensure a premium motorsports experience in the major market of Chicago," said Brad Gerber, NHRA Vice President and Chief Development Officer. "K&N has demonstrated over the years that they understand the tremendous value of aligning their marketing strategy with NHRA's racing product. In turn, we feel confident we will help expose more potential customers to K&N's brand through this association."

Held the weekend of July 7-10, the K&N Route 66 Nationals will be a weekend packed with racing excitement. Starting Thursday, with Dialed-In Thursday, drivers will be on the track prepping their cars for the weekend. Friday Night on Fire will feature the top drivers from Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Stock, Funny Car, and Top Fuel out on the track dialing in their cars and bikes. All-Star Saturday is packed with excitement as drivers from all over the country compete in the JEGS All-Stars event. Capping off Saturday is final qualifying for Pro Stock and the ever-popular Nitro cars. By Sunday the weekend will have only just begun as NHRA's top four classes race towards their respective championship. Anyone in or around Joliet, Illinois, should come out and enjoy a weekend filled with some of the fastest cars in the world at the state-of the-art Route 66 Raceway.

"When two big players in the motorsport industry come together like NHRA and K&N, everybody wins," said Tony Yorkman, Senior Sports Marketing Manager for K&N Engineering. "K&N was founded around the motorsports industry and that will be a big part of what we support. The thing about it is we can prove that our products really do work by putting them on some of the fastest drag cars in the world. The fans see this and they know they are getting the exceptional quality and craftsmanship that they have come to expect from K&N Filters."

K&N and NHRA also announced the extension of the sponsorship for the K&N Horsepower Challenge earlier this month. An event within an event, the first part of the K&N Horsepower Challenge lets Pro Stock drivers compete for a chance to win $50,000. The second part of HPC allows fans to enter for a chance to be flown to Las Vegas for the NHRA Nationals in the Spring and paired with one of the top 8 drivers. The fan paired with the winning driver of the event wins a special edition truck.

Currently, Jason Line and Greg Anderson, both members of KB Racing, are dominating the leaderboard with only 30 points keeping the five-time Horsepower Challenger winner, Anderson, out of first place. Bo Butner III is keeping tabs on them and is only 100 points behind Anderson. Currently in fourth, fifth, and sixth place are Drew Skillman, Vincent Nobile, and Shane Gray, respectively. That is a tight race as there are only 50 points separating Skillman from Gray. Rounding out the top seven, who are automatically chosen to compete in the finals in Las Vegas, is Allen Johnson. The eighth driver to compete in the K&N Horsepower Challenge finals is selected by a fan vote.