Dennis Geisler made the perpetual drag racing highlight reel when he wheelied overbackward with the Hindsight rear-engine Funny Car in Saturday qualifying.

The 15th annual Winternationals marked the beginning of the Winston era in drag racing and the first time that Professional racers would compete to gather points toward what would be the first Winston championships.

Fittingly, the winners of the Winternationals — Don Garlits in Top Fuel, Don Prudhomme in Funny Car, and Bob Glidden in Pro Stock — would end up becoming the first Winston champions. Garlits and Prudhomme were given $20,000 checks at the end of the season — twice as much as Gary Beck and Shirl Greer won for their 1974 championships — and Glidden earned $12,000 for his second World Championship, up from $5,000 the previous year.

The Winternationals was also the site of two other significant debuts.

AA/Dragster Alcohol cars, now known as Federal-Mogul dragsters, were born at the beginning of the second year of Pro Comp. The supercharged methanol-burning diggers joined supercharged methanol-burning Funny Cars, altereds, injected nitro-burning dragsters, turbocharged cars, twin-engine gas-burning dragsters, and several other configurations of cars in the heads-up, no-breakout eliminator, which the diggers dominated in their first opportunity. Don Enriquez drove Gene Adams' AA/DA past John Shoemaker's similar car in the Pro Comp final.

For the rest of the Sportsman eliminators, a new index system was introduced. The index system replaced the national record as the determining handicap factor, and drivers from Comp through Stock were now allowed to go flat-out across the finish line.

Phil Featherston drove the Panella & Miner AA/GS Opel to a Comp win against Joe Williamson, Dave Andrews won Modified over Butch Leal with his A/Modified Compact Volkswagen, John Lingenfelter won Super Stock against John Tedder, and Tom Tereau defeated Nick Codrea for the Stock title.

Garlits won Top Fuel for the fourth time at the Winternationals, debuting the piston-engine dragster that he would drive to the sports first 250-mph run at the season-ending Supernationals. Garlits qualified only 12th in a 16-car field that ranged from Paul Longenecker's 5.93 to Dick LaHaie's 6.09. Garlits escaped certain defeat in the first round after spinning the tires when his opponent, Don Ewald, who was way ahead, crossed the centerline. Garlits was on his game after that and defeated Dick LaHaie, 6.00 to 6.33, and Rick Ramsey, 6.19 to 9.07, to earn a final-round shot at Dave Settles in the Candies & Hughes dragster. Just like at the 1974 season-ending Supernationals, Garlits defeated Settles, 6.23 to Settles' tire-spinning 14.08. Gary Beck, the 1974 world champion, had low e.t. and top speed at 5.937 and 244.56 mph.

Prudhomme, far lane, defeated Mike Miller, in Jim Green's Green Elephant Vega, with the new Monza that he would drive to the sport's first five-second Funny Car clocking at the year-end Supernationals.

Prudhomme debuted a Monza-bodied Funny Car and continued his 1974 dominance of the floppers. He didn't qualify No. 1 — Bill Leavitt, with a low e.t. of the event 6.21 from his Quickie Too Mustang II, did — but was No. 2 with a 6.25 before easily winning the race. Prudhomme won his first of six NHRA national titles in the eight-event 1975 season with the car that would make him the first Funny Car driver to run in the fives later that year. He defeated Billy Meyer (6.39 to 8.15), who was driving Gene Snow's car, Neil Leffler (6.37 to 12.38), and Charles Therwanger (6.28 to 6.70) to reach the final against Mike Miller.

Miller, driving Jim Green's Green Elephant, spun the tires and lost, 6.24 to 9.21, making Green the Winternationals runner-up for the second straight year. Gordie Bonin ran top speed at 233.16 mph.

Glidden, debuting his new '70 Mustang, won Pro Stock. Wayne Gapp qualified No. 1 with an 8.81 from his four-door Maverick, just ahead of Glidden, who sat No. 2 with an 8.82. Fred Shafer was on the bump with a 9.20 from his Vega.

Glidden won the first round with a national record and low e.t. 8.77 at 156.25 mph (top speed of the event) against Pete Kost. He then defeated Don Nicholson and his '70 Mustang, 8.78 to 9.02, and the Maskin & Kanners Hornet, 8.82 to 8.90, to set up a final-round match against Gapp.

Glidden and Gapp had each won two of their last four final rounds going back to the 1973 U.S. Nationals, but Glidden proved superior, getting the jump on Gapp to win on a holeshot, 8.79 to 8.78. It was Glidden's third straight NHRA national event win.