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Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 1,000th Top Fuel race in NHRA national event history at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, and that’s an awful lot of burned nitro since the 1963 NHRA Winternationals formally introduced the class to NHRA competition.

If you had to venture a guess about how many different Top Fuel drivers have strapped into a dragster, both with the engine at their feet and at their back, at an NHRA national event, what would your guess be? I know what my seemingly generous guess was, and it was woefully low. I’ll give you a chance to wrap your mind around that as I keep the gas down on this topic. 

I don’t have to guess anymore because Bob Frey, one of the greatest statistical historians in drag racing history, did the hard work for us. Frey didn’t set out to rewrite NHRA history, he just wanted to get it right.

What began as a casual project has grown into perhaps the most comprehensive database of Top Fuel competitors in the sport’s history. Not just winners. Not just famous names. But every driver who has ever staged a Top Fuel car at an NHRA national event and attempted to qualify, successful or not.

Frey already had compiled a definitive list of Pro-class results that date back to the 1955 NHRA Nationals in Great Bend, Kan., complete with qualifying orders and round-by-round results — it has become an integral source for some of the work I do here — but as Frey found out, reports from the weekly magazines like NHRA National Dragster and Drag News didn’t always list every qualifier, especially when there were dozens of DNQs. Frey spent two days at NHRA HQ, going through old photo contact sheets and thousands of images trying to match car numbers to entry lists, and he also pored over the online photo archives from Petersen Publishing from every event.

To close more gaps, Frey hit the road — literally. When he was announcing full time for NHRA, he visited local libraries in cities that hosted national events, combing through microfilm and newspaper archives.

“Gainesville, Pomona, Columbus, Dallas … basically everywhere we had a major event,” he said. “I spent time going through this stuff. Sometimes I’d find a name or something in a local write-up. A guy that nobody remembers tried to make the show — that’s gold to me.”

Sometimes the work came to him from hardcore fans who had scribbled notes on notepad paper in the stands. "I have some sheets from Indy that show seven runs that a guy tried to make over the course of a weekend — all handwritten stuff,” he marveled.

Without this help, drivers like Gary Essman nearly fell through the cracks at the 1970 Winternationals.

"He ran there one day, got on the qualifying sheet, but got bumped so far down he's not mentioned in anything. If I hadn’t come across that sheet with his name on it, Gary wouldn’t be acknowledged as having been at the race," he said.

He also credits photographers like Dave Kommel, Richard Shute, and the late John Shanks, who sent him five complete qualifying sheets — not copies; the actual sheets — from old Winternationals.

And sometimes, photo evidence in National Dragster and some caption sleuthing were the only clues.

“Tom Christianson didn’t qualify at the 1976 Fallnationals, but he was there," said Frey. "There’s a shot of him in the photo pages waiting for his next run. That’s how he made the list.”

Another oddity? A mystery driver was listed on an official sheet as driving the Gold Digger car at the Winternationals.

“I called Bob Muravez, whose number was on the car. I said, ‘You drove the Gold Digger?’ He said, ‘Never drove it in my life.’ So I go hunting, and dial 4-1-1 — yeah, it still exists — and get a number for Curtiss Huffer in Kentucky. I called him. He says, ‘Yeah, that was me. Didn’t qualify. Got fired that weekend.’ That was his only race. I was tickled to death. 

“It’s marvelous. You talk to someone like Curtiss Huffer or Tom Christianson, and they’re thrilled that someone remembered they were even there. That somebody cares,” he said.

Working from Frey’s final database, Chris Miller, a team member for Jim Head Racing, compiled the list of every qualifier, piecing together a story that had never fully been told — not in magazines, not in record books, and not even in the dusty vaults of drag racing folklore.

“I'm certainly not saying it is the definitive list,” Frey said. “I'm sure there are a couple that I've missed, but there can't be a whole lot. National Dragster says over 60 cars tried to qualify at the '76 Winternationals. I’ve only got 46, so there are 14 unknown cars still out there.”

OK, so how many names are on Frey’s list of Top Fuel drivers to compete at an NHRA national event?

A whopping 798!! Wow, right?

And, of that two-shy-of-800 list, 589 of them qualified for at least one race or, in the half-half-empty view, more than 200 Top Fuel drivers tried but never qualified for eliminations.

I’ve posted the entire list right here, but here are a few quick takeaways.

Not surprisingly, as it’s one of North America’s most common last surnames, there are nine Smiths on the list (Smith has topped every census surname list since such statistics were first tabulated in the 19th century), with seven Williams and six Johnsons the next most common. Not unexpectedly, there also were more “S” last names (78) than any other, although M (76) and B (72) were surprisingly close.

We had last names for every letter of the alphabet except for Q and X. (Shocker, right?)

The A Team (36 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Joe Amato. With five world championships and 52 wins in the class, was there any doubt?

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: (brothers), Mike and Justin Ashley (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: , Khalid alBalooshi, “Wild Bill” Alexander, Blake Alexander, , Shelly Anderson, Justin Ashley, Pat Austin

DIDJA KNOW: Although he’s best known as a Funny Car driver, Mike Ashley qualified for Top Fuel in his one and only race, at the 2011 Winternationals, where he qualified 16th in Dexter Tuttle’s dragster and lost in round one to Del Worsham. ... John Andretti, the nephew of famed Mario Andretti, competed in three races in 1993 in baseball slugger Jack Clark’s Taco Bell-sponsored dragster and qualified in his debut in Atlanta and beat Joe Amato and Tommy Johnson Jr. before losing to Mike Dunn in the semifinals. He qualified 16th in Denver and DNQ’d in Indy. … Germany’s Rico Anthes and Sweden’s Viveca Averstedt are two on the never-qualified list. Anthes missed in his lone attempt at the 1992 Houston event, while Avertsedt missed in four tries between 1995 and 1998.

The Killer B's (71 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Kenny Bernstein and Antron Brown. Although Bernstein is best remembered for his all-conquering Budweiser King Funny Cars, he actually won more of his races (39 to 30) in Top Fuel, plus two world championships in the class and four in Funny Car, making him one of just two drivers to win championships in both nitro classes (Del Worsham being the other). Of Brown’s 81 career wins, 65 have come in Top Fuel, along with four championships.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Dennis and David Baca (father-son), Bobby and Krista Baldwin (father-daughter), and Chris Karamesines and Krista Baldwin (grandfather-granddaughter); Kenny and Brandon Bernstein (father-son), Jim and Mike Bucher (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Gary Beck, Frank Bradley, Michael Brotherton, Bob Brooks, Kelly Brown, Rob Bruins

DIDJA KNOW: Three-time Funny Car world champ almost won the 1972 Top Fuel championship at the NHRA World Finals in Amarillo, Texas. He drove Prentiss Cunningham's car to the semifinals before losing to eventual race winner/world champ Jim Walther. He also reached the quarterfinals in Cunningham’s car at the ‘71 91���� Finals, red-lighting there to Don Garlits. … Similarly, although he’s best known as a 20-time Funny Car winner, Whit Bazemore competed in Top Fuel in 2007 in the pre-Antron Brown David Powers-owned Matco Tools car. He was runner-up that year in Dallas (behind Bob Vandergriff Jr.’s first win) and finished a respectable eighth despite not running the season’s final two events. … Other Funny Car guys who you forgot/didn’t know also raced in Top Fuel: “Fast Jack” Beckman, Clarence “Bugaloo” Bailey, Gary Bolger, and Dale “Iron Eagle” Barlet. … Before he became famous for slinging wrenches, renowned nitro crew chief Lee Beard raced in Top Fuel from 1972 to 1977, but only at a few national events, and yet qualified an impressive No. 10 and won a round in Indy in 1973 (then DNQ’d the next year as he also did at the ’77 Winternationals).

The Super C's (63 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Ron Capps. Even though he only won once in Top Fuel, his 75 Funny Car wins and three championships certainly count towards that fame.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Jeg Coughlin Sr. and Troy Coughlin Jr. (grandfather-grandson), Graeme and Andrew Cowin (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Terry Capp, Steve Carbone, John Carey, Steve Chrisman, , , , Dave Connolly, Richie Crampton

DIDJA KNOW: Although Graeme Cowin is best known for his Aussie Raider Funny Car, his NHRA debut came in Top Fuel at the 1984 NHRA U.S. Nationals in the wild quad-cam-engine entry of fellow countrymen Phil and Chris McGee; they did not qualify, making Cowin another of those 210 non-qualifiers. … Another driver better known for his Funny Car histrionics. Scotty Cannon qualified at one of three Top Fuel events he ran in 2007 in Evan Knoll’s Seelye Wright Automotive entry. … Long before it became fashionable, Tony Ceraolo’s young daughters were his crewmembers on his “Traveler” dragster in the late 1970s and early 1980s. … Add Top Alcohol Funny Car hero Chuck Cheeseman to the “lifetime Top Fuel DNQ” list as he failed to make the show at the 1979 NHRA Springnationals in fellow Ohioan Mark Campbell’s heads & Tails dragster.

The D Train (42 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Larry Dixon Jr. With three world championships and 62 wins, he’s hands-down the most dominant D.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Larry Dixon Sr. and Jr. (father-son), Jim and Mike Dunn (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Pat Dakin, Danny Danell, Preston Davis, Danielle DePorter, Maurice Dupont, Don Durbin

DIDJA KNOW: Although he was way more successful in Top Alcohol Dragster, Al DaPozzo ran Top Fuel in Chuck Seyler’s wild Ford-powered dragster and failed to qualify in his lone race at the ’86 NHRA World Finals in Pomona. … Jim and Mike Dunn ran in different Top Fuel eras — Jim in the 1969s and Mike in the 1990s — so they never raced one another, but the duo are just one of three father-son combos to qualify for the same event in Funny Car (the others being Tim and Daniel Wilkerson and Chad and Hunter Green, the latter coming at the recent NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. … There were two Jim Dunns competing at the 1966 Winternationals, the one we know (who was runner-up in the Dunn & Yates entry to Mike Snively) and the other who did not in the Santa Maria, Calif.-based Poole & Dunn entry.

The E Tickets (13 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Hank Endres. A little bit of slim pickings here, but Endres had a long and distinguished career in Top Fuel, from his own Mr. Boston cars to driving for John Carey,

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Bob Edwards, Dale Emery, Don Enriquez, Rocky Epperly, Urs Erbacher, Don Ewald, Jack Ewell

DIDJA KNOW: Another well-known Funny Car shoe, Dale “the Snail” Emery, also briefly tried his hand in Top Fuel and failed to qualify in his lone attempt at the 1970 Springnationals in Dallas in the Rousin & O'Hare "Wild Cherry" dragster. … Injected wunderkind Don Enriquez failed to qualify in his lone NHRA national event appearance at the 1970 Winternationals in John Rasmussen's "Coast Chrysler" entry. ... Rocky Epperly, the brother of national event-winning Funny Car driver Craig Epperly, set the national speed record of 257.14 mph at the 1983 World Finals in airplane racer Frank Taylor's "Dago Red" dragster.

The F Troops (29 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Brittany Force. The only woman other than Shirley Muldowney to win a Top Fuel championship and owner of the quickest and fastest performances in class history; her next event victory will tie Muldowney at 18 wins.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Gordon Fabeck, Vicky Fanning, Steve Faria, Cameron Ferre, Dennis Forcelle, Doug Foley, Doug Foxworth, Sidnei Frigo, Rod Fuller, Dale Funk

DIDJA KNOW: “Hot Rod” Fuller collected seven Top Fuel wins in the mid-2000s with David Powers, including the 2007 Denver race, where he beat Powers teammate Whit Bazemore in the final. Before his Top Fuel career, Fuller scored 13 Sportsman wins in Super Comp and Super Gas. … Gina Ferraro, one of 24 women to have competed in Top Fuel, is another on the DNQ list, missing at the three events at which she competed over the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

The G-Forces (35 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Don Garlits. Do you really need a justification here?

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Dodger Glenn, , Kenny Goodell, , David Grubnic, Darrell Gwynn

DIDJA KNOW: Jere Grice, who went on to become one of the NHRA Safety Safari’s most recognized and fearless “fire divers,” jumping into burning cars to rescue drivers in his flame retardant suit, qualified for Top Fuel in his lone national event appearance at the 1967 Springnationals in Bristol in the Shreve Automotive entry out of his home state of Louisiana. … Leroy Goldstein, best remembered as the first six-second Funny Car driver in the Ramchargers entry, also drove plenty of Top Fuel, including Leonard Abbott’s early Lenco Engineering entry and Bruce Crower’s dragster (low qualifier at the 1967 Winternationals) in the mid-1960s, Jim Nicoll’s second Der Weinerschnitzel dragster in the late 1960s (No. 2 qualifier at the U.S. Nationals), the Ramchargers dragster in 1969 (a trio of top-four qualifying spots and a semifinal finish at the Winternationals), and the first Candies & Hughes Top Fueler in 1973.

Give ‘em H (60 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Eddie Hill. The class’ first four-second pilot, who began racing Top Fuel in the 1960s and returned decades later in the mid-1980s, scored 13 NHRA wins and the 1993 world championship and was a huge fan favorite in two different eras of Top Fuel.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Terry and Jenna Haddock (then husband and wife), Jeep and Ronnie Hampshire (brothers), John and (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF:: Nando Haase, Bruce Hagestad, Howard Haight, Ernie Hall, Doc Halladay, Don Hampton, Al Hanna, Clayton Harris, Josh Hart, Henry Harrison, Frank Hawley, Gary Hazen, Jim Head, Doug Herbert, Eddie Hill, Phil Hobbs, Tom Hoover, Dwight Hughes, Julius Hughes, Buddy Hull

DIDJA KNOW: Just 19 drivers have won in both Top Fuel and Funny car, and two of them were H’s: Frank Hawley and Jim Head, and either probably could have replaced Hill as “most successful” here. Hawley won seven times (and two world championships) in the famed Chi-Town Hustler in the early 1980s and then two more wins in Darrell Gwynn’s Top Fueler after Gwynn’s career-ending injury in 1990. Head’s six wins are evenly spread between the two classes, but Head is just one of just four drivers to have won the U.S. Nationals in both nitro classes (alongside Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, and Ed McCulloch).

The I’s Have It (3 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Tommy Ivo. “TV Tommy” didn’t win a national event (two runner-ups in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car), but he brought a new level of showmanship to the class and also (maybe) made the class’s first five-second pass.

The other I’s: Arthur Igleharte and Bob Ivett

DIDJA KNOW: Who were Arthur Igleharte and Bob Ivett? Igleharte’s claim to fame was qualifying the Shreve Automotive entry on the bump at the 1971 NHRA Gatornationals and then crashing, allowing Bill Wigginton into the field. ... Ivett qualified an impressive 10th at the 1970 U.S. Nationals in his John Rodeck-tuned and -powered Core Electric dragster and is the trivia answer to “Who was in the other lane when Jimmy King had his famous over-backwards starting-line wheelie in round one?” Ivett then advanced to the quarterfinals on Dennis Baca’s red-light before Don Garlits ended his Cinderella story in the quarterfinals.

The Jumping J's (15 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Blaine Johnson. Who knows how great he would have been in Top Fuel had we not lost him in that terrible Indy ’96 crash? In 1996, the four-time Top Alcohol Dragster world champ and his tuning brother Alan won three Top Fuel races and were the No. 1 qualifier at 10 of the 14 races they ran, including in his fatal run in Indy, and were leading the points.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Joe Jacono, Lori Johns, Don Johnson, Hank Johnson, Tommy Johnson Jr., Jake Johnston, Lex Joon, Rick Johnson

DIDJA KNOW: Jake Johnston, who came within two round-wins of winning two Funny Car world championships in Gene Snow’s car, competed in just one Top Fuel race, at the 1974 World Finals in the Keeling & Clayton California Charger, where he qualified ninth and upset No. 1 qualifier James Warren in round one. … Joe Jacono, best remembered as the free-spirited driver of the Rollin’ Stoned Funny Cars, qualified for three Top Fuel fields in the 1960s, including twice in Indy. … “Gentleman Hank” Johnson is one of just four drivers (and the first) to win in Top Fuel and Top Alcohol Funny Car (Top Fuel at the ’71 Supernationals. Top Alcohol Funny Car at the 1984 Winternationals); the others, in order, were Pat Austin, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Gary Scelzi. … Tommy Jr. is another of the 19 drivers with wins in both nitro classes, but only two of his 24 wins came in Top Fuel.

The Special K's (25 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Connie, Scott, and Doug Kalitta. They’re all famous. Patriarch Connie got it started in the early ‘60s and scored 10 of their trio’s 82 Top Fuel wins. Son Scott won 17 and two world championships, and nephew Doug has 55 wins and a championship. Hard to pick between the three, so I didn’t.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: the Kalittas (father-son, uncle-nephew, cousins); Tom and Junior Kaiser (brothers); Dick and Brady Kalivoda (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Pete Kalb, Chris Karamesines, Doug Kerhulas, , Jimmy King, Leland Kolb, Kenny Koretsky, Chuck Kurzawa

DIDJA KNOW: Sure, I easily could have picked “the Greek” as the most successful for his years and unforgettable antics in the class, and y’all wouldn’t have blinked an eye. Karamesines won a ton of events but, sadly, never an NHRA national event. … Kenny Koretsky is the only driver to qualify in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock at the same event, at the 1990 Phoenix race. … Pete Kalb’s biggest claim to fame was being the 10th member of the Cragar 5-Second Club after a 5.96 at the preseason Winter Classic in Phoenix in 1974.

Give ‘em L (32 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Shawn Langdon and Dick LaHaie. Pretty much a tie between these two: Langdon has 18 wins and a championship, while LaHaie had 15 wins and a championship. Langdon also has two Funny Car wins and six Sportsman Wallys.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Dick and Kim LaHaie (father-daughter), Bobby Lagana Sr. and Bobby Jr. and Dom Lagana (father-sons)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Don Lampus, Bill Leavitt, Bobby Langley, Bruce Larson, Alex Laughlin, Lucille Lee, Graham Light, Floyd Lippencott, Paul Longenecker, Morgan Lucas

DIDJA KNOW: Lucille Lee, who came from pretty much nowhere – from behind the secretarial desk at TR3 Resin Glaze – to the Top Fuel winner’s circle, won the 1982 NHRA Southern Nationals for her lone title a few weeks after winning the March Meet, where she bested Shirley Muldowney in the final. ... Bill Leavitt, like many on this list, is known more for his Quickee Too Funny Car career than his fuel dragster efforts, which consisted of exactly one NHRA national event. He qualified for the 1965 Nationals Top Fuel field but broke and couldn’t make Monday’s final eliminations, but he did go two rounds in Sunday’s AAFD class eliminations. … Bruce Larson was another flopper convert as the famed USA-1 Chevy Funny Car pilot finished his career driving Don Garlits’ monowing Swamp Rat 32 (1992-95) after Garlits had to leave the seat after suffering detached retinas after too many high-G parachute stops. … Floyd Lippencott was the alias for Bob Muravez, whose father forbade him from racing, and is best associated with Muravez’s ’63 Winternationals win, but Muravez also qualified in Top Fuel at the 1967 and 1968 Winternationals, the first in Don Johnson’s car and the second in Jim Crooke's overhead cam Ford entry.

MMMMM Good (76 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Shirley Muldowney and Cory McClenathan. Eighteen wins, three world championships, and many blazed trails later, Muldowney remains among Top Fuel’s most famous and revered drivers. Cory Mac never won a championship (finished second once), but his 34 wins are almost double that of Muldowney. Not quite a tie, but close.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: , Neil Mahr, Art Malone, , Art Marshall, Spencer Massey, Ed McCulloch, Rance McDaniel, Tom McEwen, Terry McMillen, Glenn Mikres, Denny Milani, “Diamond Dave” Miller, Clay Millican, Larry Minor, , , John Mulligan, Bill Mullins

DIDJA KNOW: started his career in Top Fuel in the 1960s but never ran an NHRA national event in the class until the 1992 Winternationals after a 40-year, 18-win career in Funny Car. ... The other flopper-famous Mc — Tom McEwen — ran a bunch of Top Fuel national events in the 1960s before moving to Funny Car, but he didn’t win his first Wally in Top Fuel until his Funny Car career ended and he drove Jack Clark’s Mobil 1 dragster to victory in Englishtown in 1991. … Clyde McCaba is another driver who never qualified in his NHRA national event Top Fuel career, which in the case of the Massachusetts driver was just two events in Myron Pickard’s front-engine car, missing at both the Summernationals and U.S. Nationals at a time when the slingshot was a rapidly disappearing dinosaur. … Speaking of slingshots, Art Marshall was the last guy to win Top Fuel in one when he conquered the field at the 1972 Grandnational outside of Montreal. … A year before he drove Roland Leong’s Hawaiian Funny Car to victory at the U.S. Nationals, Butch Maas qualified Tony Waters’ car at the 1969 Winternationals and U.S. Nationals.

N is for nitro (18 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Jimmy Nix and Bob Noice. Both had just one Top Fuel win, and each also had a Top Gas win. The difference was that Noice’s Top Gas win came at the 1968 World Finals in Tulsa, Okla., making him that year’s world champ. Eleven years later, he won the Winternationals in Top Fuel. Nix, “the Smilin’ Okie,” won Top Gas at the 1965 Winternationals and Top Fuel the following year at the Springnationals in Bristol.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Thomas and Julie Nataas (father-daughter)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Tony Nancy, Julie Nataas, Jim Nicoll, Mark Niver, Satch Nottle, Luigi Novelli, Lou Novotny.

DIDJA KNOW: A lot of long-timers know Mark Niver as an innovative veteran in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, but he also drove fellow Arizonian Johnny Loper’s Top Fueler — a sister car to Tripp Shumake’s Funny Car — in 1982. After a DNQ at the Winternationals, he qualified at both the Gatornationals and Cajun Nationals but lost in the first round at both to Shirley Muldowney. … Walt “Satch” Nottle had a checkered career. He qualified Fred Forkner's car on the bump at the 1973 World Finals and missed at the 1974 Gatornationals. He was set to drive the Jade Grenade at the 1975 Gatornationals until his wife dropped a dime on him to the car owner Bill Flurer that he had suffered a heart attack a few weeks previous and was relieved of his duties. … Canadian Lloyd Noxell, who raced Top Fuel for a decade (1965-75) in his “Canadian Contender” entry, only ran two national events and missed at both. At the 1970 U.S. Nationals, where 56 cars attempted to qualify, he DNQ’d, finishing 52nd. He also missed the eight-car field at the 1972 Grandnational, where he was the third alternate. .... Julie Nataas, the reigning Top Alcohol Dragster world champion, is the newest Top Fuel pilot, driver No. 798, following her debut last fall in St. Louis.

O, I remember them ... (15 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Gary Ormsby. Ormsby began racing Top Fuel in the 1960s and sat out for a decade before returning in the mid-1980s. He went on to win 14 national events and the 1989 world championship.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Gary Ormsby Sr. and Jr. (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Richard Ogg, Carl Olson, Dwane Ong, , Bennie Osborn, Butch Osmon, Jack Ostrander, Mark Oswald, Yuichi Oyama

DIDJA KNOW: Contrary to popular belief, Don Garlits wasn’t the first to win in a rear-engine dragster in 1971; Dwane Ong had a moderately successful one a year earlier that he debuted at the 1970 March Meet and won the AHRA Nationals later that year … was Top Fuel's first two-time champ, winning the World Finals at his hometown track in Tulsa in both 1967 and '68. ... Half a dozen years after Kenji Okazaki made headlines as the first Japanese national to win a major event (Funny Car at the 1996 Englishtown event), fellow countryman almost pulled off the same, scoring a runner-up at the 2002 Finals. Driving Robert Reehl’s ex-Prudhomme car, Oyama qualified at all eight events he attended — almost always No. 11 or 12, but a career-best No. 5 at the spring Las Vegas event — and won six rounds. He has the honor of being the last driver to send Kenny Bernstein to the showers in Top Fuel — in round one of the Finals — and also was the guy who bumped Don Garlits from the U.S. Nationals field. … Gary Omlin, who had been racing on the Northwest since the 1970s, is best remembered for his car from the 1980s, the wingless “Sugarman” entry — when I say it was wingless, I mean without a rear wing; instead, it had an aerodynamic foil near the cockpit to provide downforce. He qualified an impressive No. 7 at the 1979 Winternationals but bombed the blower. Don Garlits was the first alternate and, according to a story told by Omlin, hovered around Omlin’s pit Sunday morning to see if he was going to be able to fix it. He did, and “Big” ended up a spectator. Omlin tried again a decade later but DNQ’d at both the 1987 and 1988 Winternationals.

Give P's a chance (51 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Don Prudhomme. “The Snake” began and ended his Hall of Fame career in Top Fuel, first with the nearly unbeatable Greer-Black-Prudhomme entry and winning five times in national event competition — including three times at the U.S. Nationals — before launching his amazing Funny Car career and then nine more after returning to the class in 1990.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Don and Mark Prudhomme (cousins); Frank Sr. and Cruz and Tony Pedregon (father-sons); Casey and Cristen Powell (father-daughter)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF:: David Pace, Scott Palmer, Jim Paoli, Rob Passey, Dan Pastorini, Todd Paton, , Austin Prock, Leah Pruett,

DIDJA KNOW: Herb Parks, best remembered as Don Garlits’ long-time tuner, qualified in his one event in Top Fuel at the 1976 U.S. Nationals; after a respectable 12th-place start in his unique 3-speed-equipped dragster, he lost in round one to 1974 Indy winner Marvin Graham in round one. … “Flaming Frank” Pedregon ran in Top Fuel in a slew of different cars in the mid-1960s to 1970, and two of his three sons followed a few decades later in Larry Minor’s dragsters in advance of their respective Funny Car careers. … Dan Pastorini, the former NFL quarterback, was actually a pretty decent Top Fuel driver in his five-year tenure, 1985-90, highlighted by winning the 1986 Southern Nationals. He scored his first career round-win at the 1986 Gatornationals over class icon Shirley Muldowney en route to a semifinal finish, then won the Atlanta event a few weeks later. Throughout that 1986 campaign, he defeated other legends like Don Garlits, Darrell Gwynn, and Connie Kalitta.

Keeping the R's up (45 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: and Pete Robinson. As hard as it is to believe, “the King” only won three NHRA national event Top Fuel titles, but one of them, at the 1973 World Finals in Amarillo, crowned him a world champ. Ruth won a ton of Northwest divisional/regional events, including a couple of double-ups with his Funny Car. “Sneaky Pete” was one of the most innovative drivers in the class history, gone long before he truly made his mark, but one of his two Top Fuel wins, at the 1966 World Finals in Tulsa, also made him a Top Fuel world champ.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Mike and JoAnn Reynolds (husband-wife)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Tom Raley, Rick Ramsey, Sue Ransom, Shawn Reed, Robert Reehl, Ed Renck, Walt Rhoades, Dan Richins, Dan Rightsell, Gary Ritter, Ron Rivero, John Rodeck, Paul Romine, Maynard Rupp, Darrell Russell

DIDJA KNOW: Sue Ransom was just the fourth female (after Shirley Muldowney, Jo Ann Reynolds, and Lucille Lee) to compete in an NHRA Top Fuel race. She was a well-respected road-racing driver in Australia in the 1970s and ‘80s before beginning a short stint in the McGee quad-cam-powered Top Fueler of fellow Aussies Phil and Chris McGee. She and the team made five NHRA national event starts, from 1983 through 1987, but only qualified once, at the 1986 NHRA Arizona Nationals, where they broke against Gary Ormsby in round one. … Jim Read made NHRA Top Fuel history at the 1982 Winternationals when he became the first Australian to qualify No. 1 in Top Fuel. Read, of Sydney, and partners Russell Jones and Gary Phillips borrowed California racer R.J. Trotter's dragster and shocked the Top Fuel troops at the season opener with a 5.698 pass that was three-thousandths ahead of Gene Snow’s 5.701, but lost to reigning world champ Jeb Allen in round one. … Tom Ridings, best known as a reliable Southern California flopper shoe for the likes of Joe Pisano and others, tried but failed to make the 1983 Winternationals Top Fuel field. He was third alternate (out of 24 alternates!) in the former Fisher’s Fever entry, dubbed California Kid.

S is for super (79 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Tony Schumacher. He may not be the most famous in the class (see Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney), but with 88 career wins and eight world championships, he’s far and away the most successful Top Fuel driver in history. Second place belongs to Antron Brown with 65 wins and four championships.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Jasmine and Mike Salinas (father-daughter); Paul and Mike and John Smith (father-sons); Rhonda Hartman-Smith and John Smith (husband-wife)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Kenny Safford, , Gary Scelzi, George Schreiber, Joe Schubeck, Denver Schutz, Marvin Schwartz, Sid Seeley, Dave Settles, , Stan Shiroma, Travis Shumake, Bob Simmons, Clive Skilton, , Mike Snively, Gene Snow, , Rachelle Splatt, , Rick Stewart, Tony Stewart, Grant Stoms, , Ray Stutz, , Connie Swingle

DIDJA KNOW: ���Բ������Ի�’s , the first to record seven-second (1969), 200-mph (1971), and six-second Funny Car (1975) passes in England, was runner-up to Shirley Muldowney at the 1977 Springnationals. "No Jive Clive" and crew chief Bernie Lewis were assisted in the final by Don Garlits, who had lost to Muldowney in the semi's, but revenge was not forthcoming for “Big Daddy.” Skilton was also a semifinalist at that year’s U.S. Nationals field. It was another 30-plus years (until Houston 2008) before another European (Urs Erbacher) won another round of Top Fuel. … Thirteen years after his stunning win in his Funny Car debut at the 1990 Winternationals, K.C. “Hollywood” Spurlock tried his hand in Top Fuel (he called it the “Hell Freezes Over tour”) but failed to qualify at the final two events of the 2003 season in the Carrier Boyz entry. … Before he became better known as the owner of the Bear Town Shaker Funny Car, Bill Schifsky raced Top Fuel and qualified at the 1966 Nationals. Three years later, Doc Halladay qualified Schifsky’s car in Top Fuel at the 1969 Nationals. He switched to Funny Car in 1970 with Tom Hoover in the saddle. … Not to be confused with Don Garlits’ Florida crony “Starvin’ Marvin” Schwartz, Marty Schwartz failed to qualify for Top Fuel at the 1971 Winternationals in the Marquez & Schwartz. He was the 24th of a whopping 44 alternates for the 32-car field (76 Top Fuelers in attendance … wow!).

Doing the strip T’s (26 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Steve Torrence. The four-time Top Fuel champion got his start in Top Alcohol Dragster (where he also won a world championship) and is hands-down the most successful Top Fuel racer of the last decade-plus, with 55 wins since 2012.

FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Billy and Steve Torrence (father-son); Gordon and Tripp Tatum (father-son)

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Mike Tarter, Dennis Taylor, , Dale Thierer, Billy Tidwell, J.R. Todd, Rudy Toepke, Terry Totten, Melanie Troxel

DIDJA KNOW: Steve Torrence is the only driver in NHRA history to sweep the Countdown to the Championship playoffs with six straight wins to end the 2018 season. … Melanie Troxel is the only female Top Fuel driver to also win in Funny Car. After four wins in Top Fuel, she won Funny Car at the 2008 Bristol event. She also has national event wins in Top Alcohol Dragster and Pro Mod. … Everyone knows J.R. Todd today as a Funny Car world champion, but his first taste of nitro was in Top Fuel, back in 2006. Nine of Todd's 21 event wins came in Top Fuel before he switched to Funny Car in 2017. ... San Jose, Calif.’s Jim Trillo was well known behind the wheel of the Trillo Bros. Fuel Altered but had little success with nitro in the tank in other ventures. He was 26th of 30 Top Fuel alternates at the 1972 Winternationals and 25th of 31 alternates at the 1973 event in his Redeye Express machine. He switched to Funny Car but DNQ’d at the 1978 Winternationals in the Trillo & Tate Monza, where he was eighth alternate.

The U-turns (2 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Dave Uyehara. The self-proclaimed “World’s Fastest Living Kamikaze Pilot” only reached one national event final, runner-upping to Rob Bruins in Seattle in 1978 but had a long and successful car in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, then went on to be a legendary chassis builder of record-breaking Top Fuel cars.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Ric Uribe

DIDJA KNOW: There are only two drivers with a U surname who tried to qualify in Top Fuel? Ric Uribe, who lived not far from NHRA’s North Hollywood, Calif., headquarters, tried but failed to qualify for the 1973 Supernationals in the Donovan-powered Uribe Brothers/New Generation entry. He also missed at the 1975 Winternationals (well down the list of 50 alternates for the 16-car field) but was a respectable second alternate at the 1975 Fallnationals in Seattle.

The V formation (6 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Bob Jr., Chris, and Jordan Vandergriff. Brothers Bob and Chris had opposite experiences in Top Fuel. Bob won three times (after 13 runner-ups!) in more than 300 races, while Chris ran just two events, qualifying in his debut in Atlanta in 2003 and then suffering a blowover during qualifying in Indy and was never heard from again. Their nephew, Jordan, ran 11 races in 2019 and was runner-up in Dallas, ironically, the site of Uncle Bob’s breakthrough win. Jordan is expected to drive again in the future.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: George Van, Jerry Vargas,

DIDJA KNOW: �ʱ�ԲԲ���������Ծ���’s George Van wheeled the Joe Nocentino-owned Nocentino-Van-Kulp Outlaw II in Sunday’s AA/FD class eliminations at the 1964 U.S. Nationals. He lost to Don Garlits in round two after advancing on Maynard Rupp’s foul in the first round. He also qualified an impressive fourth for Monday’s showdown but lost in round one to Norm Weekly. … Jerry Vargas had been racing Top Fuel since the mid-1960s, but I can only find him entered at one national event, the 1971 Winternationals, where he was 20th alternate (four spots ahead of the previously mentioned Marty Schwartz) in Dennis Hollingsworth's Dennis the Menace dragster.

WWW.TopFuelDrivers.com (50 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: and Del Worsham. Two drivers from different eras had standout careers. Warren, the “Ridge Route Terror,” was just that in Top Fuel for a decade spanning the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. Although he won just two NHRA national events (1968 Winternationals and 1975 Gatornationals), he ruled the West Coast with an iron fist and dominated his hometown March Meet three straight years (1975-77). Worsham won the Top Fuel championship in 2011 and the Funny Car crown in 2015 to become just the third driver (behind only Kenny Bernstein and Gary Scelzi) to win titles in both nitro classes.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Mike Wagoner, Bruce Walker, Bill Walsh, Jim Walther, , Scott Weis, Lee Weller, Johnny West, Don Westerdale, Hank Westmoreland, , Garth Widdison, , Bill Wigginton, Dale Wilch, Norm Wilcox, Hillary Will, Bob Williams, Jack Williams, Mark Williams, , Audrey Worm, Del Worsham, Kyle Wurtzel

DIDJA KNOW: There were actually two James Warrens in Top Fuel, the famed Bakersfield, Calif., driver cited above and James Warren from Ocala, Fla. The “other James Warren” competed in Top Fuel in NHRA and IHRA in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s but never qualified for an NHRA event. He jokingly named his dragster “Sun For Sale” — a cheeky reference to his counterpart’s fabled “Rain For Rent” entry — and they actually paired off in qualifying at the 1977 Gatornationals (California qualified, Florida did not). Warren also owned the unique honor of having the last front-engine Top Fueler to qualify at a national event, the 1974 IHRA event at Rockingham Dragway, where he also won a round. That same year, he finished fourth in the NHRA Division 2 standings. … Mike Wagoner’s name would not be remembered were it not for a spectacular 1974 season where the Oklahoman won the AHRA Winternationals, defeating Don Garlits in the final (after admittedly being lucky and reinstated in the field via the break rule in round two), and somehow managed to finish ninth on that year’s NHRA championship race after second-round finishes at the Gatornationals and Springnationals and a victory at the Division 5 meet in Marion, S.D. … Bill Walsh, who famously won three straight Top Alcohol Dragster world championships (1984-86) as a semi-team car to Top Fuel star Joe Amato and later wrenched on Amato’s Top Fueler, qualified for three Top Fuel events more than a decade later, starting at their home-state NHRA Keystone Nationals in 1998, where he drove Amato’s second dragster. He also ran at the fall 2000 events in Houston and Dallas, subbing for Tony Schumacher in the U.S. Army car following Schumacher’s leg-breaking crash in Memphis, Tenn. Oddly enough, at all three events, Walsh qualified 15th and lost in round one.

Y am I alone? (1 driver)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: Don Yates. Californian Yates had been racing dragsters since the mid-1950s with flathead machines and was on the ground floor of Top Fuel after the nitro ban ended. He qualified at both of the two events he entered, the 1963 and 1965 Winternationals, the former in his own Orange County Metal Processing entry, where he lost to Don Reed in round one. At the 1965 race, he substituted for an ill Don Westerdale in the Ramchargers dragster and lost in round one to Connie Kalitta.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: (insert chirping crickets sound here)

DIDJA KNOW: Two other drivers with the Yates surname have won national events. Jim Yates was a two-time 91���� Pro Stock world champion (1996-97) who won 25 events, but never the U.S. Nationals. Bill Yates, meanwhile, won just three events, but won the U.S. Nationals twice, in 1996 in Super Comp and last year in Top Dragster.

Z best (5 drivers)

MOST SUCCESSFUL: T.J. Zizzo. Everyone’s favorite second-generation Chicagoland paint and body man struggled for years as a privateer driver, and while he’s still waiting for his first national event win (he has one runner-up), he has made performance inroads thanks to a close relationship with world champion tuner Rahn Tobler, notching his first two No. 1 qualifying efforts last season.

OTHERS YOU PROBABLY HEARD OF: Ken Zeal, John Zendejas, Ida Zetterström, Cliff Zink

DIDJA KNOW: Cliff Zink was an accomplished Midwest nitro journeyman who drove Top Fuelers for Chris Karamesines and Funny Car's Don Schumacher. He qualified five times in Top Fuel and won a pair of rounds at both the 1968 Nationals and 1969 Winternationals. …. Ken Zeal was a Nevada-based A/Fuel Dragster pilot who got his shot in Top Fuel in 2002 in fellow Silver Stater Bill Miller’s dragster and qualified at seven of nine races he attended (including the U.S. Nationals) and even won a round, beating David Grubnic in Phoenix. …  John Zendejas had a short Top Fuel career, DNQ'ing in his lone attempt at the 1974 Supernationals in Jim Thomas’ Genuine Suspension entry, but left his mark in the sport as the first guru of track spraying, laying down by hand gallons of sticky VHT at Ontario Motor Speedway that helped create the amazing performances at the 1975 World Finals, and also was a key member of NHRA’s early Historical Services division that helped collect the cars of yesterday that ended up being the basis of the NHRA Motorsports Museum. .... Ida Zetterström, of course, won the FIA Top Fuel championship in Europe in 2023 and came to the U.S. to face off with the best in the world, enjoying a comfortable get-acquainted eight-race rookie season last year.

OK, so that’s it … an A to Z look at NHRA Top Fuel drivers from 1963 through 2025; again, the full list is here if you want to take a deeper dive. If you raced Top Fuel at an NHRA event and somehow we missed you, drop me a line at the email address below.

And, before we go, here’s one last Top Fuel stats bomb from the Frey Files:

• 22 women have qualified for a Top Fuel race
• 40 Top Fuel drivers have won 100 or more rounds
• 21 have won 200 or more rounds
• 11 have won 300 or more rounds
• 8 have won 400 or more rounds
• 7 have won 500 or more rounds
• 4 have won 600 or more rounds
• 2 have won 800 or more rounds (Tony Schumacher, 896; and Doug Kalitta, 807)
• 112 Top Fuel drivers have won an event
• 171 Top Fuel drivers have been to a final round
• 59 Top Fuel drivers have been to a final round and never won a race
• 15 Top Fuel drivers won in their only final round

Thanks again to Bob for sharing this great list with us. Hey Bob, how about a Funny Car list?

Phil Burgess can be reached at pburgess@nhra.com

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