To say it was an unusual decade in the NHRA Top Fuel class might just be the understatement of the decade. Longevity doesn't guarantee success, but success over a long period of time can elevate a person to the top of his or her profession. She has eight career wins in the class. Consider the winningest driver in the class, Tony Schumacher, missed the entire 2019 season because he was unable to secure a sponsor. While both drivers and fans would have to show some serious patience for the explosive 2021 National Hot Rod Association to begin, and it was worth the wait. He also won the U.S. Nationals in both 2012 and 2016.Schumacher, who turned 50 on Christmas Day, is determined to return in 2020 and add to his record 84 career victories in the class. NHRA - Drivers Listing - The NHRA, the largest auto racing organization in the world. NHRA'S 50 GREATEST DRIVERS -- NO. Despite nosediving profits, NHRA managers made an average of $140,000 in 2007, or about $153,000 adjusted for 2011 inflation. Leah Pritchett – Top Fuel Kalitta also finished runner-up in 2016. Leah Pritchett burst onto the NHRA Top Fuel scene in 2013 and had a decade that included fourth place season finishes in both 2018 and 2019 to close out the decade.Pritchett, part of the Don Schumacher Racing stable, is the youngest driver on this list at 31. Doug Kalitta did not win a championship in the 2010s, but he did reach a career milestone with a win at the 2019 U.S. Nationals in his 22nd try. Antron Brown won 42 races and three championships during the 2010s, a tremendous achievement that served as a true coming-out party for the former Pro Stock Motorcycle rider. Brittany has 10 career NHRA Top Fuel victories. He’s one heck of an easy rider: Andrew Hines made it look easy in 2019 – although it was far from it … © Copyright 1996-2021, NHRA. Langdon likely would have been further up this list, but he spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons in the Funny Car class. Brown, winner of the 2011 U.S. Nationals, was one of just two drivers (Doug Kalitta was the other) to finish in the top 10 in the final season standings each year of the decade. Apr 26, 2019 Facebook. Top Fuel driver Austin Prock earns 2019 NHRA top rookie honors. As we close out the decade, let's take opinion out of the equation and rank the decade's best based squarely on results. Torrence has 33 career victories in the Top Fuel class. By Susan Wade; Photos by Roger Richards, Mike Burghardt Mon, 2019-09-02 18:08 : EVENT RESULTS (final) TOP FUEL ... ONE BUT MAYBE NOT DONE – No active Top Fuel driver has more than one victory at this event. Indeed, where is “The Sarge” – a.k.a. Here's our breakdown of the decade's top 10 in Top Fuel: Antron Brown covers the field here at the top spot, thanks to championships in 2012, 2015 and 2016. The last two years of the 2010s did not treat Brown as kindly, as he brought home just one Wally over the 2018-19 seasons. Shawn Langdon had a dream season in 2013, winning both the Top Fuel championship and the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. Torrence, the 2017 U.S. Nationals winner, finished in the top 10 in nine seasons, only missing the cut in 2011. The racers are competing at the NHRA New England Nationals this weekend in Epping, N.H. Antron Brown, a three-time Top Fuel world champion – 2012, 2015-16 – started his Top Fuel career in 2008 and raced half that season to 1,320 feet before the switch to 1,000-foot was made. His .0562-second reaction time average is the best of anyone in the category over the past decade, albeit in a significantly smaller sample size. To say it was an unusual decade in the NHRA Top Fuel class might just be the understatement of the decade. She also had season finishes of fifth, sixth, seventh and 10th in the decade. The rest of his decade included a pair of fourth place finishes in the standings, two fifths, a sixth, a seventh and a ninth. Racers like Shawn Langdon and Spencer Massey also demonstrated spectacular driving ability (and the former won a championship) but spent less time in the category. Josh Hart will make his Top Fuel debut this weekend at the historic Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the culmination of a long dream for the homestate Florida racer. He also won a championship while racing with Alan Johnson and excelled while driving a less consistent car with Kalitta Motorsports. Tony Schumacher, the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history, with eight championships and 84 national event wins? He finished third twice in the decade, fifth twice, six twice and eighth twice to join Antron Brown as the only two drivers in the top 10 every season. When active, Massey was tough to beat. He finished third in both 2012 (just 50 points shy of champion Antron Brown) and 2014. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series is a drag racing series organized by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). A Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger funny car won every single event during the shortened 2020 NHRA racing season, with Matt Hagan taking home the class championship as Team Mopar teammates Tommy Johnson Jr, Jack Beckman and Ron Capps finished second, third and fourth in the championship race. Prock scored his lone Top Fuel victory on the way to earning his 2019 NHRA rookie-of-the-year status. Browse through latest information on your favorite NHRA drivers, including full biographies, latest news, high-res photos and high quality videos Top events Formula 1 He enters the 2020s on a streak of 12 consecutive years qualifying for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Tony Schumacher and Doug Kalitta both did their fair share of winning during the 2010s, but neither came particularly close to Brown. His driving never faltered as he led the category in reaction time in 2018 and was finally surpassed by Rookie of the Year Austin Prock in 2019. It was a breakout rookie season for Top Fuel driver Austin Prock, who not only won his first career NHRA national event, he was named the sport’s rookie of the year on Monday. Schumacher won a single championship while Kalitta came very close on multiple occasions. Pruett was racing as Leah Pritchett while she was married to Gary Pritchett, a tuner for the current Top Fuel championship driver, Steve Torrence. NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence was roundly booed by the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona crowd Sunday after he … Shocked, hurt and angered by the NHRA’s treatment in the wake of an ongoing dispute regarding his two-seat exhibition dragster, three-time Top Fuel … At 43, Brown has plenty of time to add to his already impressive 66 NHRA wins (50 in Top Fuel, 16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle). Top Fuel driver Brittany Force drives through the shutdown area during the final round of qualifying at the 55th annual NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway in Pomona Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019. His 2019 season ended with a championship—plus a $25,000 fine and a ticket to anger management classes after a race-day incident during the finals at Pomona. 1: DON GARLITS . Erica Enders (on right) took home the 2019 Pro Stock World Championship, making her a “thrEEtime” champion. The 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Season was announced on July 25, 2018.. Prock has already asserted himself as an incredible talent, and that’s after only one year. Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (2) – 1218 3. The win at Indianapolis was part of a 2019 season that saw him finish second in the championship, just three points back of winner Steve Torrence. Brown’s ability has never been determined by the tune-up in his dragster, but even the greats can only overcome so much. NHRA. Gregg Lawrence, owner of Gregg Racing, has named Trevor Larkin as the driver of the team’s A/Fuel Dragster for the 2021 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season. Brittany, the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year, finished third in the championship in 2019. Antron Brown led Top Fuel in championships and wins in the 2010s. Share this: Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) 16 Mar 2021 Posted by NHRA.com … Brown drives for Don Schumacher Racing. Autoweek may earn money from the links on this page. Steve Torrence is the best competition for Brown thanks to 36 wins and now back-to-back championships. He also finished sixth twice and 10th twice to give him five top 10 finishes in the decade. Top Fuel in the 2010s featured a litany of great drivers who danced in and out of the category, though not always by choice. Millican has three career wins in the class, including two in 2018. Clay Millican finished a decade-best third in the 2018 Top Fuel standings. NHRA Earnings. Don Schumacher Racing's Antron Brown rules the 2010s. Steve Torrence ended the decade on some kind of roll, winning back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019. NHRA officials announced the schedule for the 10-race 2019 Mickey Thompson Tires NHRA Top Fuel Harley Drag Racing Series, which is set to feature the sport’s only nitromethane-powered two-wheeled bikes at some of the most breathtaking racing facilities across the country. Torrence rose to the height of excellence in 2017 just as Brown was coming off his peak and it showed in the form of eight wins for the Texan and three for the New Jersey native. And yes, drivers are rewarded for 10 years of excellence—and dinged for leaving early (or starting their Funny Car run a little later in the decade or missing seasons altogether). Dave Connolly, whose name also came up in the Pro Stock Driver of the Decade article, is one of the best drivers in NHRA. Then there was the curious case of three-time champion Larry Dixon, who was all but run out of the sport because of an unapproved sticker on a car. He averaged a .0637 reaction time in the limited seat time he got in Top Fuel, making his nitro career one of the great what-ifs of NHRA Drag Racing. By Jerry Bonkowski Nov 19, 2019, 11:31 AM EST. Schumacher won 23 times and Kalitta bagged 16 Wallys while neither touched Brown when it came to reaction time average. The 2020s will be a fascinating decade with the prominence of Austin Prock and the continued excellence of the Capco Contractors team. The 19th annual NHRA Dodge HEMI® Challenge takes center stage Thursday and Friday, August 29-30, to open the U.S. Nationals. Langdon has 14 career wins in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car. Brittany Force, the youngest and last racing daughter of NHRA Funny Car legend John Force, gave the boss (and her dad) a Top Fuel championship in 2017. He was runner-up in 2017, finished third once, sixth once, eighth twice, ninth once and 10th once. Autoweek participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Top Fuel Dragster round four qualifications at the 2019 NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals drag race at Bristol Dragway. There were 24 Top Fuel and Funny Car events, 22 Pro Stock events (18 Championship NHRA Formula and 4 Non-Championship Mountain Motor Formula), and 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle events. In 2019, he broke an 11-year-old track record in qualifying at Virginia Motorsports Park. For this numbers-driven Autoweek Driver of the Decade competition, drivers earned 14 points for each championship, nine points for finishing second in the points, eight points for third, seven points for fourth, all the way down to one point for 10th place. Who will be NHRA's next first-time Pro national event winner? He was also top qualifier at Epping this past season. Curious best describes three-time Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon's decade—and his relationship with the NHRA.Dixon, who opened the decade with the 2010 championship, was suspended indefinitely in 2017 for adorning a two-seat exhibition Top Fuel dragster he was developing with an unapproved NHRA sticker.