Top Fuel rookie Jake Opatrny and the Leverich Racing team have chosen a “home game” for their next foray into the field, competing in the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by Peak Performance.
Opatrny, of McHenry, Ill., will emcee the event with the Chicago Federation of Labor/Proud Union Home as the title sponsor. Opatrny is a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and is excited to promote them in Top Fuel competition.
The Chicago Federation of Labor is an umbrella organization for unions in Chicago, Illinois, and is affiliated with more than 300 unions and represents more than 500,000 workers. Proud Union Home is a nationally recognized campaign developed by the Chicago Federation of Labor to help union members and supporters show their pride in the American labor movement and the middle class and offers products such as yard signs , garden flags, mats, t-shirts and more. .
“We are excited to be able to highlight our nationally recognized Proud Union Home brand on Jake Opatrny’s Top Fuel dragster,” said Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter. “As a member of Operating Engineers Local 150, the CFL knows that Jake understands that Proud Union Home is more than an icon, but a way of life for working families.”
“I’m really excited to race at Route 66 Raceway because the last time I was there, in 2019, I was just a fan walking around the pits and watching the races from the wall,” said Opatrny, who got the license at the end of 2021 in Del. Worsham’s dragster. “It’s where my passion for drag racing began years ago and launched a lifelong obsession. As soon as I saw my first couple of Top Fuel cars, I was like, ‘I want to do this “, and I never stopped thinking. It’s going to be great to be able to run on my home track, in front of friends and family that I’ve driven myself crazy for most of my life wanting to do this. Now they’ll finally have the chance to -ho. Watch me do it. It’s also where I made my first runs in a Super Comp car at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School.”
Opatrny made his Pro debut last year in St. Louis with the Leverich car supported by the Illinois State AFL-CIO as part of Opatrny’s #UnionStrong campaign encouraging unions to stand in solidarity with each other and promote the label.
“We all work tirelessly to try and find the sponsors and the money to go to these events,” he said. “Chicago is the big one, it’s our Super Bowl, because that’s where most of my marketing pull is, and Illinois is probably the biggest union state in the country.”
Opatrny will also wear the colors of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 (Countryside, Ill.), the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 9 (Denver Colo.), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 117 ( Crystal Lake, Ill.), and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 701 (DuPage County, Illinois)
Additional help will come from Foundation Mechanics, Automotion Training & Consulting, Burromax Mini Bikes, Goodson, Mark’s Mixers, Specialized Auto Craft, Superior Engine, Hi Tech Cam, Smith Systems, Edge Welding Supply and DA Lubricants/Penn Grade. Opatrny is also working with Mission 22 which represents the 22 a Day campaign, raising awareness about veteran suicide.
Opatrny and the Leverich team also ran this year’s Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals and hope to put what they learned there into practice at Route 66 Raceway.
“We’re confident going into the weekend,” he said. “I think the car will probably come out with the best of its career in the trailer. When we were in Gainesville, we had to start from the incident. We had in St. Louis, where the crank broke. We put an engine nine and we got up there, and we learned a lot. We think the car will be stronger than ever and we’re very optimistic to see what kind of numbers we’ll put up on the board.”
