On March 20, 1992, during qualifying for the NHRA Gatornationals, Bernstein became the first driver to exceed 300 mph in a quarter-mile pass. Driving the Budweiser King Top Fuel dragster, Bernstein achieved a remarkable 301.70-mph run. Crew chief Dale Armstrong had previously guided Bernstein to the first 260- and 270-mph runs in Funny Car.

Muldowney made NHRA history as its first female world champion, winning the 1977 Top Fuel crown in a runaway after three straight summertime wins in Columbus, Englishtown, and Montreal. Her points total was more than 16 round-wins ahead of championship runner-up Pat Dakin. She would go on to add championships in 1980 and 1982.

After a 1970 transmission explosion in his front-engined Swamp Rat 13 severed half of his right foot, Garlits perfected a rear-engine dragster, Swamp Rat 14, and won the 1971 Winternationals in its debut over a field full of traditional front-engined cars. Within two years, every Top Fuel dragster had the engine behind the driver.

A year after her runner-up at the Springnationals, and after also losing the final round of the 1975 U.S. Nationals to Don Garlits, Muldowney became the first female to win in Top Fuel at the 1976 Springnationals, defeating Bob Edwards with a track-record pass. Muldowney would win 17 more times in her Hall of Fame career.

At the NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta, Ashley Force became the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car national event, defeating her famous father, John Force, in the final round. This victory was particularly poignant, as it came after a 2007 season marked by the tragic loss of teammate Eric Medlen and John Force’s near-fatal crash.

After a decade of national event Funny Car racing and nine frustrating runner-up finishes, John Force finally collected his first NHRA Wally in a rain-delayed Monday morning finish at Le Grandnational outside of Montreal, defeating Ed McCulloch. He’d finish the decade with four more wins then capture his first championship in 1990.

Born from the Factory Experimental and Experimental Stock classes — stock-bodied cars that ran offset wheelbases and made the cars look “funny” — the new nitro-fueled brothers of the Top Fuel class made their debut at the 1966 NHRA World Finals, won by Eddie Schartman. After six more test events in the 1960s, it become a championship-eligible class in 1970.

Although fellow Top Fuel racers Chris Karamesines and Connie Kalitta have also laid claim to the achievement, Don Garlits made what is considered the first official 200-mph run under NHRA sanction in his Swamp Rat VI-B, at Island Dragway in August 1964, and later carried him to victory at the NHRA Nationals in Indianapolis.

At the 2006 NHRA Finals, Tony Schumacher delivered a legendary performance known as “The Run,” erasing an incoming points deficit at the season finale to clinch the Top Fuel championship by winning the final round and setting a national e.t. record with a needle-threading pass of 4.428 to win his fourth Top Fuel title.

At the NHRA Midwest Nationals, Funny Car legend John Force, already the winningest driver in NHRA history, celebrated his 59th birthday by becoming the first driver in NHRA history to record 1,000 elimination round-wins, defeating longtime rival Ron Capps in the first round of eliminations. Force would ultimately win 1,460 rounds before his retirement.

Bob Glidden went unbeaten from the 1978 Summernationals through the 1979 Springnationals, winning five straight to end 1978 in his Ford Fairmont, then continuing in 1979 with four wins in his new Plymouth Arrow before red-lighting in round two of the NHRA Mile-High Nationals. He scored 35 straight round-wins during that span.

John Force made history on April 14, 2002, at the NHRA SpringNationals when he became the first NHRA driver to record 100 national event victories. Force defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. in the Funny Car final at Houston Raceway Park and would go on to win 57 more times before his retirement in late 2025.

At the NHRA World Finals, Don Garlits not only won the world championship but also became the first driver to exceed 250 mph, and his 5.63-second pass was more than a tenth and a half quicker than his own national record of 5.784 seconds and stood as the quickest of all time for nearly seven years.

A call to action in Hot Rod magazine led to the founding of the National Hot Rod Association in March 1951, unifying a nation of hot rodders in a common cause. Hot Rod editor Wally Parks became NHRA’s first president, Marvin Lee was named vice president, and former SCTA president Ak Miller was secretary.

John Force clinched his 10th consecutive NHRA Funny Car world championship to cap a decade of near-total domination. Driving his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang tuned by legendary crew chief Austin Coil, Force won five national events that season and reached nine final rounds. His 2002 title extended a streak that began in 1993.

For years, flagmen started drag races, but they were unpredictable and had their “tells” that drivers could take advantage of. At the 1963 Nationals in Indy, NHRA introduced an electronic device with multi-colored lights counting down to a green light that soon became known as the Christmas Tree, a method that has been in use ever since.

At the NHRA World Finals, Don Prudhomme made the sport’s first five-second Funny Car pass (5.98) in the semifinals. Prudhomme, who earlier in the event had run the class’ first 240-mph pass, won the event to clinch his first of four world championships. No other driver ran in the five-second zone for nearly three years.

In a rare case of the Funny Car class beating its nitro-fueled Top Fuel brethren to a performance barrier, Austin Prock ran the class’ first 340-mph at the NHRA Finals en route to claiming his first world championship. His teammate, Brittany Force, would make the first 340-mph Top Fuel pass the next season.

In April 1997 in Richmond, Va., during Friday night qualifying under prime atmospheric conditions, Warren Johnson, “the Professor of Pro Stock,” broke the 200-mph speed barrier in Pro Stock with a 200.13-mph pass in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac, earning $25,000 and becoming the first member of the Speed Pro 200-mph Club.

After winning four Funny Car championships in the 1980s, Kenny Bernstein won the Top Fuel crown in his Budweiser King dragster in 1996, becoming the first driver in history to win world championships in both nitro classes, and would win the Top Fuel crown again in 2001. Gary Scelzi and Del Worsham have since matched that feat.

On Oct. 3, in Topeka, Kan., Jim Epler made history by becoming the first Funny Car driver to exceed 300 mph with a speed of 300.40 mph in the first round of eliminations. Only eight Top Fuel drivers before him had exceeded 300 mph, and he became the only Funny Car driver in the Slick 50 300-mph Club.

In 2012 at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, Erica Enders made history by becoming the first woman to win in the Pro Stock category, defeating four-time world champion Greg Anderson in the final round with a 6.627-second pass at 207.40 mph. Up through the end of 2025, she had recorded 49 Pro Stock victories.

Erica Enders became the first woman to win the NHRA Pro Stock world championship, clinching the title with her sixth season victory at the NHRA Finals. This landmark achievement placed her alongside Shirley Muldowney (Top Fuel) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) as the only women to secure NHRA Pro-class championships.

Following the lead of local tracks, NHRA outlawed the use of nitromethane fuel from 1957-1962 out of rising safety and cost concerns. When nitro returned for the 1963 NHRA Winternationals, where Don Garlits won the newly designed Top Fuel class, the fan response was overwhelming and Top Fuel became a regular part of the NHRA beginning in 1964.

In an emotional finish at the year’s biggest drag race, Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen, still mourning the death of his son, Jamie, just weeks earlier, defeated archrival Don “the Snake” Prudhomme in the final round to score the biggest win of his career. The moment became the basis of the 2013 Hollywood movie Snake & Mongoose.

With her victory in Top Stock at the 1966 NHRA Winternationals, Shirley Shahan became the first of more than 100 women to win an NHRA national event. Shahan, already the most accomplished woman in the sport at the time, helped open the door for women to realize that they could be successful in what at the time was a male-dominated sport.

Courtney Force made history in Topeka by securing the 100th Professional victory by a female driver in NHRA history. This milestone win was Force’s first of the season and fourth of her career. As the youngest daughter of 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, her achievement added to her family’s storied legacy in drag racing.

After winning a staggering 76 times in the 1990s, John Force entered the new millennium with 81 wins, just four behind Pro Stock icon Bob Glidden’s record of 85 victories. After four early-season wins tied Glidden’s once-unassailable total, Force defeated Tony Pedregon in the final round in Chicago for win No. 86 to become the sport’s all-time wins leader.

NHRA introduced a new Professional racing category to kick off its 1970 “Super Season,” adding Pro Stock to the lineup at all national events. Dubbed “factory hot rods,” these high-powered reproductions of Detroit’s best, born from the Super Stock class, made their debut at the NHRA Winternationals, where class icon Bill Jenkins collected the first win.

Seven years after making the class’ first 240-mph pass in 1975 en route to his first of four straight Funny Car world championships, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme added another barrier-breaking moment to his Hall of Fame career as he powered his Pepsi Challenger Pontiac Trans Am to the sport’s first 250-mph Funny Car pass in Baton Rouge, La.

Just three years after making his NHRA Professional debut in the Funny Car class, Matt Hagan made drag racing history by recording the first-ever three-second Funny Car pass, clocking a 3.995-second run during qualifying at zMAX Dragway. Hagan would go on to win his first of four Funny Car world championships that season.

At the NHRA Gatornationals, Joe Amato and crew chief Tim Richards debuted a tall, laid-back rear wing on their Top Fueler that lowered drag and increased downforce. The wing immediately paid dividends as Amato broke the 260-mph barrier and won the event, signaling a new aerodynamics era with a design that remains a staple in the class.

John Force captured his 15th NHRA Funny Car championship, completing an emotional comeback from a devastating 2007 crash that left his racing future in doubt. He made a triumphant return to the sport the next season after overcoming serious leg injuries and extensive rehabilitation, and then, at age 61, he became the then-oldest champion in NHRA history.

Brittany Force made history by clinching her first NHRA Top Fuel championship, becoming the first woman to win the title since Shirley Muldowney in 1982. Driving the Monster Energy dragster for John Force Racing, she secured the championship on the strength of a four-win season and would win the championship again in 2022.

In qualifying at the 1986 NHRA Summernationals, Don Garlits experienced one of the most iconic blowover wheelstands in history when his revolutionary Swamp Rat XXX entry abruptly lifted off the ground, rotated almost fully backward, and pirouetted before landing back on its wheels. Garlits was not injured and was able to shut down without further incident.

Sixteen-time NHRA Funny Car world champion John Force suffered major injuries in a crash at the Virginia NHRA Nationals in June. Force suffered a traumatic brain injury, a broken sternum, and hand injuries, but overcame big odds to return to the track as a spectator later that year to root on his teams, then announced his retirement from driving in November 2025.

On May 20, 1994, Kurt Johnson made NHRA history by recording the first six-second pass in Pro Stock drag racing. During night qualifying for the NHRA Mopar Parts Nationals at Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., Johnson piloted his Oldsmobile Cutlass to a 6.988-second, earning $25,000 as the inaugural member of the Holley 6-Second Pro Stock Club.

In 2017, at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., homestate favorite Clay Millican achieved an emotional milestone by securing his first Top Fuel victory after 254 starts, defeating Leah Pritchett with a 3.825-second pass at 316.38 mph on Father’s Day, a poignant moment following the loss of his son, Dalton.

R.J. Reynolds’ Winston brand signed on as the first title sponsor of NHRA’s premier series. The partnership boasted $20,000 points fund prizes for each of the Pro categories plus Sportsman bonus money to 35 division champions and world champs. Don Garlits (Top Fuel), Don Prudhomme (Funny Car), and Bob Glidden (Pro Stock) were the season champions.

In 2012, Antron Brown made history by becoming the first African-American to win a major U.S. auto racing championship, clinching the NHRA Top Fuel world title in a dramatic season finale in Pomona. Despite a first-round loss, Brown’s points lead over Tony Schumacher held, securing his groundbreaking championship by a narrow seven-point margin.

Garlits introduced Swamp Rat XXX, a streamlined Top Fuel dragster designed with an aerodynamic nose and cockpit canopy, at the NHRA Gatornationals, then shattered the 270-mph barrier with an eye-popping 272.56 mph and went on to win the event and, ultimately, the world championship. Swamp Rat XXX earned it a place in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in October 1987.

Gary Scelzi stepped into the Top Fuel dragster seat for the Johnson family — replacing the late Blaine Johnson, who died the previous year in Indianapolis— and delivered a storybook season: winning the championship with Blaine’s brother and crew chief, Alan Johnson, making his title not only a professional triumph but an emotional tribute to Blaine’s legacy.

NHRA held its first-ever Nationals in Great Bend, Kan., establishing the blueprint for organized national drag racing competition. The event was a huge hit, as entries poured in from coast to coast and major automobile industries dispatched engineering, sales, production, and public relations experts to the event. Calvin Rice won Top Eliminator and thus NHRA’s national championship.

Shirley Muldowney achieved a career-defining victory by defeating her former crew chief and longtime rival Connie Kalitta, in the Top Fuel final. Muldowney, who had earned the No. 1 qualifying spot, won the NHRA U.S. Nationals for the first time after first runner-upping to Don Garlits at the Big Go in 1975.

Capps clinched his long-awaited first NHRA Funny Car world championship at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, securing the title during qualifying with a 92-point lead over Matt Hagan. This victory ended years of near-misses for Capps, who had previously been the winningest driver without a championship, amassing 50 career wins prior to this breakthrough.

Anderson has long been a dominant force in Pro Stock, but with his milestone 1,000th round win, he’s officially entered legendary territory. With his victory in the semifinals in Bristol, Tenn., the six-time world champion joined John Force as the only drivers in NHRA history to reach the elusive 1,000-round win mark.

Funny Car veteran Dunn made drag racing history when he became the first Funny Car driver to win an NHRA national event in a rear-engined Funny Car. Dunn drove his Barracuda to victory at the 1972 Supernationals, making him first — and still only (and undoubtedly ever) — national event winner in a rear-engine Funny Car.

The Winston Showdown at Bristol Dragway featured a rare clash between the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, racing under a unique handicap format that gave the Funny Cars a two-tenths head start. John Force, driving his Superman-themed Castrol GTX Mustang, advanced to the final where he defeated Top Fuel’s Bob Vandergriff Jr.

No professional-class drag racer has ever had a perfect season, though Prudhomme came tantalizing close in 1976, winning seven of the eight national events and runner-upping at the eighth with his U.S. Army-sponsored Chevy Monza en route to his second of four straight world championships. The previous best was a four-win campaign by Ed McCulloch in 1972.

In early 1967, Garlits was in one of the worst droughts of his career, had DNQ’d at two NHRA national events, and hadn’t yet run in the six-second zone as many of his peers had and vowed not to shave until he did. He then not only won the Nationals, but did it with a 6.77-second run in the final against James Warren, leading to an iconic starting-line shave.

In the minds of some, Garlits’ best years were behind him when, backed by good friend Art Malone, he showed up at the U.S. Nationals in an outdated Swamp Rat 26 with a crew of volunteers, but “Big Daddy” upset them all for his sixth Indy win. Garlits defeated Connie Kalitta in the final, resurrecting his career and leading to world championships in 1985 and ’86.

Three months after running the sport’s first 250-mph Funny Car pass, Prudhomme took away everyone’s breath again during qualifying at the U.S. Nationals where he powered his Pepsi Challenger Trans Am to a stunning pass of 5.637 seconds, a run nearly two-tenths of second quicker than the 5.82 that was the best-ever run entering the event.

On Oct. 6, just six months after Eddie Hill accomplished the feat at an IHRA event, nitro veteran Gene Snow delivered NHRA’s first four‑second NHRA Top Fuel pass at the inaugural NHRA SuperNationals. Snow roared down the brand‑new Houston Raceway Park strip in a stunning 4.997 seconds to record the first official NHRA four‑second elapsed time.

Schumacher delivered the most dominant season in NHRA Top Fuel history, winning 15 of 24 events, reaching 18 final rounds, and securing his fifth consecutive world championship. His performance set multiple NHRA records, including most wins in a season, most consecutive event wins, most consecutive final-round appearances, and most consecutive round wins.

Sampey etched her name in the history books by becoming the second female NHRA world champion, following Shirley Muldowney’s groundbreaking Top Fuel titles. Competing in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class aboard her Winston/Star Racing Suzuki, Sampey delivered scored seven national event wins in 10 final-round appearances.

Doug Kalitta defeated Leah Pruett in a winner-take-all Top Fuel final round at the NHRA Finals to win the Top Fuel world championship, ending one of the most notorious streaks of frustration in the sport’s history. The victory finally gave the six-time championship runner-up a label that can never be removed: NHRA Top Fuel world champion.

Anderson dominated the 2004 NHRA Pro Stock season, racking up a record 15 victories, clinching the championship with races to spare, and earning Speed Channel’s Driver of the Year honor. Anderson reached the final round in 19 races of the 23-event season, record 16 No. 1 qualifying efforts, and finished with a remarkable 76-8 win-loss record.

In a landmark moment for women in drag racing, Muldowney beat Lee in the Top Fuel final of the 1982 Springnationals. Muldowney, then a two-time world champion and the first female to win in Top Fuel, had been upset by newcomer Lee at the March Meet in Bakersfield, Calif., but Muldowney got even in a big way.

Formed by NHRA founder Wally Parks, the four-man Safety Safari traveled the country for three years, instructing car clubs how to organize and run drag racing events, from safety inspection through trophy presentations. They brought with them not only a trailer loaded with timing and announcing equipment but also the expertise on how to use it.

At the NHRA FallNationals, Funny Car champion John Force suffered a severe crash, resulting in injuries to both legs and hands. He underwent reconstructive surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and began a lengthy rehabilitation process. Despite the severity of his injuries, Force made a remarkable recovery and returned to competition in the 2008 season.

“Jungle Jim,” one of Funny Car’s most popular personalities in the 1960s and ‘70s, electrified fans at the 1974 Summernationals with a long wheelstand in the final, showcasing his daring style and showmanship. Although he lost the round to Al Segrini, fans walked away stunned by the performance of Liberman, who would in the race the following year.

The legendary “Snake” claimed his first of what would become 49 NHRA national event wins at the 1965 Winternationals, marking the rise of a future drag racing legend. Driving the famed Hawaiian dragster of lifelong friend Roland Leong, Prudhomme defeated Bill Alexander in the final round; the team also went on to win the Nationals that year.

After previously being staged in Great Bend, Kan. (1955), Kansas City (1957), Oklahoma City (1958), and Detroit (1959-60), NHRA’s oldest and most prestigious event moved to brand-new Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1961. An initial three-year initial pact with the track became a lifelong association with an event that has continued without fail for more than 60 years.

In Topeka, Kan., Austin achieved a historic milestone in NHRA Drag Racing by becoming the first driver to win in two classes at a single national event. Austin first secured the Top Alcohol Funny Car victory by defeating Chuck Cheeseman and moments later bested three-time champion Joe Amato to add the Top Fuel crown.

Torrence made NHRA history by becoming the first driver to sweep all six Countdown to the Championship playoff races, culminating in his first Top Fuel world championship to cap an 11-win season. Torrence, who previously won the Top Alcohol Dragster championship in 2005, would go on to consecutively win three more Top Fuel titles 2019-21.

With his ninth victory, Tony Schumacher broke Don Garlits’ record for the most NHRA U.S. Nationals Top Fuel victories. Garlits had won the event eight times (1964, 1967, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1984, 1985, and 1986) before Schumacher scored his first in 2000 and then won the race nine times over the next 12 years.

At the NHRA Northwest Nationals, third-generation Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Maddi Gordon became the sport’s 100th different female winner, adding to the legacy of the sport’s success by first female winners first established by Shirley Shahan, who won Top Stock at the 1966 NHRA Winternationals.

After years of being known predominantly as a match race entry, driver Frank Hawley and crew chief Austin Coil put the famed Chi-Town Hustler Funny Car in the winner’s circle at the NHRA Gatornationals. This win marked the beginning of a successful partnership, leading to back-to-back NHRA Funny Car world championships in 1982 and 1983.

After winning in the semifinals at the NHRA Southern Nationals, Bob Glidden’s Thunderbird barrel-rolled at more than 180 mph. Glidden emerged uninjured and had the presence of mind to cover his now exposed intake manifold with his fire jacket.

Joe Amato became the first driver to sweep the NHRA Western Swing, a grueling series of three consecutive national events held in Denver, Seattle, and Sonoma. Crew chief Tim Richards’ ability to tune the car perfectly for each unique environment helped him dominate the Western Swing and led to their 1991 Top Fuel world championship.

The long-assailed five-second barrier was finally broken in the semifinals at the 1972 NHRA Supernationals by Mike Snively in “Diamond Jim” Annin’s dragster. The barrier-breaking run came in a losing semifinal race with Vic Brown. While other drivers had claimed to have accomplished the feat first, Snively’s was the first to be recorded at an NHRA national event.

In front of a national television audience on ABC’s popular Wide World of Sports program, Don Prudhomme scored a scary victory when Jim Nicoll’s dragster was cut in two at the finish line and, thinking his friend had died in the accident, tearily said he thought it was time to retire. Nicoll emerged virtually unhurt.

At the 2005 NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., Andrew Hines recorded the first-ever six-second pass in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition. Hines piloted his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod to a 6.991-second run, breaking the elusive seven-second barrier and becoming the inaugural member of the Mickey Thompson Six-Second Pro Stock Motorcycle Club.

In 2018 at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Hector Arana Jr. made history by becoming the first Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to break the 200-mph barrier, clocking a 200.23 mph run during qualifying and later improving to 201.01 mph, earning a $10,000 prize from Denso Spark Plugs and ushering in a new era of speed for the class.

In June 1984 at the NHRA Grandnational in Montreal, Muldowney suffered one of the most terrifying crashes in Top Fuel history. Traveling at nearly 250 mph, her dragster went off track and into a drainage ditch, where it disintegrated. Despite sustaining catastrophic injuries, Muldowney returned to racing by 1986.