Booher Looking to Add to Route 66 Raceway History

JOLIET, IL – Brandon Booher enters this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals driving the best car he’s had in his short four-year Top Alcohol Dragster career. The family-owned blown alcohol dragster is running quicker, faster, and more consistent – his three consecutive No. 1 qualifying positions and back to back regional event wins are proof. But now he’s ready to enter his first national event of the season.

The Route 66 Nationals is arguably one of the most competitive events of the season. The Jegs Allstars event held in conjunction with the race draws the top cars from around the country, making for a tight field. Despite a list of twenty four entered drivers, Brandon feels as confident as he did when entering any of the last four races he’s competed at in 2013.

“It doesn’t really change our approach to the weekend. We ran with several of the entered drivers at the regional event a few weeks ago. We’ll use the data we acquired at that time then build up from there. You have to be on point at this race – no mistakes. There are twenty four cars entered, and they all want to win it too. We just need to do our job and pick up where we left off at the last race,” said Brandon, a favorite heading into the weekend.

The Booher family’s torque converter-equipped entry earned the No. 1 qualifying spot at the Norwalk, Chicago, and Cordova regional events earlier in the season. Brandon drove the AB Construction/Torque Management dragster to his first and second career wins at the latter two events, beating Chris Demke and Robin Samsel in the finals, respectively. The car never dropped out of the 5.3-second range at the Chicago regional, reaching a career-best 5.32 at 271 MPH during qualifying. That quickness and consistency puts the former Junior Dragster driver at ease.

“I’m fairly confident that we can unload the car and run a strong number right off the bat,” Brandon said. “The car has been #1 qualifier at the last three races, won the last two, including the regional event held here. We’ll just keep doing the things that have put us where we’re at currently and hopefully see results similar to the last two events.”

Brandon Booher and the AB Construction/Torque Management Top Alcohol Dragster team will get three qualifying shots to get in the show – two on Friday and one on Saturday. First round of eliminations begins early Sunday morning at 9 CST.