Five more sensational talents added to NHRA's Top 25 Alcohol Drivers list
NHRA’s 75th Anniversary salute to its racers continues with the next collection of great racers, a list of NHRA’s Top 25 Alcohol Drivers.
Much in the same way as the previously released Top 75 Drivers and Top 50 Sportsman Racers lists, the celebration of more than two dozen of the sport’s greatest Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car racers was created by a panel of racing experts from all walks of the sport, including journalists, historians, and former racers.
These amazing talents will be celebrated with a special medallion presented at future NHRA national events.
The list will be unveiled on five consecutive Tuesdays, continuing today, with five drivers added each time. Here's the third group, presented alphabetically.
TONY BARTONE
“T-Bone” netted 38 wins in a driving career that caught fire when he paired with tuner Steve Boggs in 1992. The 1996 world champion compiled a lion’s share of his wins during the competitive 1990s era. His impressive statistics within the alcohol categories were stunted slightly by his dalliances in the nitro Funny Car ranks to which he dedicated his time to Jerry Toliver’s entry in 2001-2002 and Jim Dunn Racing from 2004 to 2008.
Among Bartone’s many feats behind the wheel, the greatest standout performances include a streak of 33 consecutive rounds won in 1996-1997 — a mark that held for 13 years — and simultaneously holding the national elapsed time record in both alcohol categories.
After setting the Top Alcohol Funny Car record at Maple Grove Raceway in 2000 at 5.549 seconds, which lasted three years, he set the record in Top Alcohol Dragster at 5.227 seconds during his win at the 2003 NHRA Winternationals.
SEAN BELLEMEUR
Even after winning his fifth world championship, Sean Bellemeur continues to pile up for one-third of the “Killer B’s” that include car owner Tony Bartone and Hall of Fame tuner Steve Boggs. Already a Nostalgia Top Fuel champion driving for Tom Shelar, he cut his teeth in an Alcohol Funny Car entry owned by father Gregg, then became a Division 7 champion driving for Ron Meer in 2007 and reached his first final at the 2007 NHRA Winternationals.
He would score five more runner-ups before he finally broke through for his first national event at the 2015 event in Dallas as a fill-in driver for Bartone, which turned out to be a successful audition for one of the winningest combinations in class history.
Since then, Bellemeur has earned 50 national event wins and five season championships. He is currently favored to win a sixth title as he tops the 2026 standings. His renowned starting-line prowess and car control have complemented Boggs's horsepower and Bartone’s drive to win in a manner that has led to pure domination.
FRANK MANZO
Frank Manzo is the most accomplished Top Alcohol driver in NHRA history by just about every metric. The class' first world champion in 1981 after the Pro Comp category split into the two Top Alcohol classes, Manzo retired from the driver's seat at the top of his game at the end of 2013 with 105 national event wins and a record 17 world championships.
Manzo became the fourth Top Alcohol driver to record a perfect 10-win season on his points scorecard in 2000 and went on to do it again in 2008, 2009, and 2011. He won 11 NHRA U.S. Nationals and was the second driver in NHRA history to surpass 100 wins.
From 2006 through 2013, Manzo compiled a mark that will perhaps never be beaten by going unbeaten in 42 consecutive final-round appearances. Manzo won the JEGS Allstars specialty event 10 times, qualified No. 1 100 times, and earned 21 Northeast Division championships.
KEN VENEY
Ken Veney excelled as both a driver and crew chief. As a driver, he retired in 1985 as drag racing's seventh-winningest racer, trailing only legends such as Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, and Bob Glidden.
After dominating Southern California injected Funny Car competition, Veney built his own Vega Funny Car, went undefeated in 1972, added nitro in 1973, and shattered the A/Funny Car national record with a 7.45. He qualified No. 1 at the inaugural Pro Comp event and, in 1974, made NHRA's first six-second pass in a Funny Car. He won the 1974 AHRA championship, claimed his first NHRA national event at the NHRA Summernationals in 1975 with a record 6.76, and dominated the 1976 Pro Comp season.
Returning after brief retirements, Veney won again with both Funny Cars and Top Alcohol Dragsters, capturing the 1980 NHRA championship and the 1981 NHRA U.S. Nationals. As an engine builder, he hand-machined innovative cylinder heads that powered numerous national event victories, including all four of Kenny Bernstein's Winston Funny Car championships, cementing his legacy as one of drag racing's greatest innovators.
BILL WALSH
In the mid-1980s, there was no stopping Bill Walsh’s reign of terror in the Top Alcohol Dragster class as the Scranton, Pa., pipefitter won three straight championships, 1984-86. Walsh began racing in the class in 1981 after buying a dragster from a friend who had crashed it but didn’t win a national event until 1983, with his first of 12 career wins coming at the NHRA Springnationals.
In 1984, the team won twice on its way to a first championship in 1984, then an amazing five Wallys — including the prestigious NHRA U.S. Nationals — in becoming the class’ first multitime world champion. Walsh and company added a trio of wins in 1886 to claim a third straight, a feat that wasn’t matched (and then broken) until Blaine Johnson won four straight 1990-93. Walsh also won 22 divisional events and four Division 1 championships.
During this time, Walsh was closely aligned with then-rising Top Fuel star Joe Amato and his crew chief, Tim Richards, who had a penchant for building powerful blown-alcohol engines. Walsh became an official teammate with the addition of TRW/Hurst/Keystone Automotive Warehouse sponsorship carried by Amato. After Walsh retired, his younger brother and one-time crewmember, Jimmy, went on to great acclaim as a nitro crew chief.
Previously named
Group 1
Pat Austin
Bucky Austin
Doug Gordon
Blaine Johnson
Joey Severance
Group 2
Shawn Cowie
Cy Chesterman
Vern Moats
Bob Newberry
Shane Westerfield