NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

In a sport decided by milliseconds, where scores of individual parts need not only to survive brutal conditions but produce predictable results, where a series of infinitesimal tuning decisions have to be spot-on correct, where the driver has to be flawless behind the wheel, and where the track and weather conditions can confound any best-laid plan, it's quite amazing that any drag racing car can be consistent over any period of time.

Shawn Langdon’s third straight Top Fuel victory at last weekend's FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs is a pretty amazing feat, a sure sign that crew chief Brian Husen has figured out the quick way down Firebird Motorsports Park under a variety of conditions, but the sport’s history is packed with drivers and teams who found the magic recipe for momentum.

Let’s take a look at some of NHRA Drag Racing’s most remarkable success streaks:

MOST CONSECUTIVE VICTORIES, SINGLE EVENT

The amazing Dave Schultz won Pro Stock Motorcycle at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta an astounding seven straight years, 1990-96, owning a single event like no one in history. Schultz rode his Kawasaki Ninja to victory the first three years before switching to his Sunoco Suzuki ahead of the 1993 win.

Not surprisingly, the opponent in six of those seven final rounds was his great 1990s rival, John Myers (Michael Phillips was the runner-up to Schultz in 1995), and it was against Myers that Schultz finally lost, red-lighting against him in the semifinals of the 1997 to end a 30-round Atlanta winning streak.

John Force (shocker) holds the record in Funny Car with five straight NHRA Gatornationals wins (1992-96), while the late, great Bob Glidden also has a five-pack of wins at the NHRA Springnationals (1979-83), a mark that stood as the gold standard for years.

In Top Fuel, three drivers have won an event four straight years, and Tony Schumacher has done it twice, first winning the NHRA Finals 2004-07 (included in that streak was the fabled "The Run" victory in 2006) and then, more impressively, dominated the NHRA U.S. Nationals four straight years (2006-09). Joe Amato won the NHRA Mile-High Nationals four straight years (1987-91; there was no event in 1988 while the track was closed for improvements). Antron Brown won St. Louis four straight (2012-15), and Steve Torrence won the Charlotte NHRA 4-Wide Nationals four times between 2017–21 (no event in 2020 due to COVID-19).

MOST CONSECUTIVE VICTORIES 

You don’t have to travel back too far to know this one, with Gaige Herrera winning 11 straight Pro Stock Motorcycle Wallys spanning the 2023 and 2024 seasons, racking up 46 straight round-wins from the fall Charlotte event in 2023 until losing in the final round of the 2024 Seattle event.

Bob Glidden also had a two-season-spanning winning streak of nine Pro Stock events across the 1978 and 1979 seasons, from the 1978 Summernationals until his red-light in the semifinals of the 1979 Mile-High Nationals, illuminating 35 straight win lights.

The dueling Army-backed cars of Tony Schumacher in Top Fuel (2008) and Don “the Snake” Prudhomme (1975-76) both scored seven straight victories.

MOST CONSECUTIVE FINAL ROUNDS, SINGLE SEASON

This one belongs to Bob Glidden with 17 straight final rounds spanning the 1977-79 seasons, beginning with a win at the 1977 Le Grandnational and, of course, ending in Denver in 1979. He lost just three final rounds in the span: 1977 Indy to Don Nicholson, 1978 Gainesville to Frank Iaconio, and 1978 Columbus to Richie Zul. Lee Shepherd was a close second with 16 straight finals over the 1981-82 season.

Don Prudhomme appeared in 13 straight finals spanning the 1975-77 seasons, beginning at the 1975 Grandnational and ending at the 1977 Gatornationals, losing just two final rounds in that span, both at the U.S. Nationals, to Raymond Beadle (1975) and Gary Burgin (1976).

Gaige Herrera had 12 straight finals in 2023-24 — his 11 straight wins and the Seattle runner-up — and Tony Schumacher reached 11 straight final rounds in 2008, from Denver through Las Vegas, in which he lost just once, to J.R. Todd, in Dallas.

MOST CONSECUTIVE ROUND-WINS

Most of these are explained above, but to save you the mathematical gymnastics, here are the records:

• Top Fuel: Tony Schumacher (31, 2008)
• Funny Car: Don Prudhomme (30, 1975-76)
• Pro Stock: Bob Glidden (35, 1978-79)
• Pro Stock Motorcycle: Gaige Herrera (46, 2023-24)

I did a detailed column on this subject a few years ago that you can find here.

MOST CONSECUTIVE FINAL ROUNDS, SINGLE EVENT

The U.S. Nationals will always be the granddaddy of all drag races and the toughest to win, so for Bob Glidden to make the Indy final for 13 straight years (1977-89) is a stupendous feat. He won seven of them and ended with a total of nine.

John Force appeared in nine straight Atlanta finals (1992-00), winning the first four and the last two, with three runner-ups in the middle. Tony Schumacher, like Glidden, had a good run in Indy with eight straight finals, 2002-09, that led to seven wins, with only his 2005 loss to Larry Dixon breaking up the streak.

Dave Schultz’s seven Atlanta wins (1990-96) are also the class record for most consecutive finals at an event.

MOST CONSECUTIVE NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITIONS

You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you that is another record that Bob Glidden owns, with a stunning 23 straight pole positions spanning the 1986-88 seasons, from the final eight events of 1986 (starting in Englishtown), then all 14 events of the 1987 season, and then the 1988 NHRA Winternationals before Warren Johnson grabbed No. 1 at the 1988 Gatornationals, where Glidden incomprehensively stumbled to the No. 11 starting spot.

Gaige Herrera’s jaw-dropping 2023-24 Pro Stock Motorcycle campaign featured 11 straight No. 1s, while Gary Beck’s reign of terror in the Larry Minor machine in 1982-83 was responsible for a still-standing Top Fuel class-record nine No. 1 starts (Brainerd 1982 through Columbus 1983).

Don Prudhomme (1976-77) and John Force (1994-95) share the Funny Car mark at seven straight No. 1s.

MOST CONSECUTIVE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The GOAT, 16-time world champ John Force, owns this one with 10 straight championships,1993-02, during his reign of terror in the Funny Car class. Toss out Cruz Pedregon’s 1992 championship, eked out over Force, and he’d have had 13 straight from 1990 through 2002.

(Although we’re not looking outside the Pro ranks, it's worth noting Top Alcohol Funny Car kingpin Frank Manzo had a run of eight straight championships, 2006-13, and an earlier skein of seven straight, 1997-2003.)

After that, Tony Schumacher’s six straight Top Fuel crowns (2004-09) stand mighty high with only Steve Torrence’s four straight (2018-21) even in the same zip code.

Bob Glidden’s five straight Pro Stock titles (1985-89) are tops in that class, just ahead of Lee Shepherd’s four (1981-84).

Finally, four riders —  Andrew Hines (2004-06), brother Matt Hines (1997-99), Matt Smith (2020-22), and Angelle Sampey (2000-02) — share the record in Pro Stock Motorcycle with three-peats.

Thanks for taking a ride back with me through some amazing stats and success streaks. While it's easy to understand how many of those streaks were forged decades ago, when drivers were able to dominate years and even eras, it's cool to see that they're even still happening more recently when the magic lines up and lightning continues to strike in the same place.

Phil Burgess can be reached at pburgess@nhra.com

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