The piece was commissioned by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and premiered on April 25, 1998, at the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in East Lansing, Michigan under conductor Yoshimi Takeda.
"[1] The work lasts roughly 7 minutes in duration and was described by James Manheim of AllMusic as containing "lots of contrapuntal brass and wind material underpinned by fast-moving syncopated percussion.
[1] Alex Chilvers of Limelight praised Route 66 as "... a big, boisterous Cadillac of a piece, intended to convey the experience of driving from Illinois to California [...] in only seven busy, energetic minutes".
[3] Mark Estren of The Washington Post similarly praised Daugherty's writing as "propulsive, accessible yet well constructed and deeply imbued with the spirits of both romanticism and postmodernism.
Hewett continued, "In works such as Route 66 and Sunset Strip he paints the hopes and dreams embodied in Interstate highways, wide-open spaces and all-night bars where Frank Sinatra crooned.