NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is a drag racing series organized by the National Hot Rod Association. It is the top competition series of the NHRA, comprising competition in four classes, including Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
The champion of each category is determined by a point system where points are given according to finishing placement and qualifying effort. The season is divided into two segments. After the first part of the season, then in each pro category drivers & riders get locked in to compete in the last six races with the difference in points greatly minimized.

History

The series has four main professional classes: Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Top Fuel was the first category introduced in 1965, with Funny Cars being added in 1966, Pro Stock in 1970 and Pro Stock Motorcycles in 1987. Both Top Fuel and Funny Cars regularly see top speeds in excess of today, and one thousand foot times anywhere from 3.70 to 4 seconds. Both these cars burn fuel consisting of 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol. The Pro Stock record is, with times often in the 6.4-6.7 second range and the Pro Stock Motorcycles usually run at 190+ mph, with times in the low 7- to high 6-second range. Top Fuel and Fuel Funny Car have recently been limited to a track, instead of the historic 1/4 mile , as a means to limit top speeds and increase safety. Currently, driver and spectator safety has been enhanced even while top speeds often approach and exceed 300 mph.
Some of the popular racers to come through the series include "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, and Shirley Muldowney. Those three gained much attention from the 1960s through 1970s with their speed and personalities, a combination rarely achieved today through the political correctness of sponsorship in today's drivers. Nonetheless, there are still colorful characters today, such as 16-time Funny Car world champion John Force. His daughter, 2007 Rookie of the Year Ashley Force Hood has made appearances on Good Morning America and The Tonight Show and was voted AOL's Hottest Female Athlete in 2007.
On July 2, 2008, following the death of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, the NHRA announced that race distances for Top Fuel and Funny Car classes would temporarily be reduced to 1,000 ft from the traditional 1/4 mile. The measure was intended to be temporary while safety solutions were explored; however, the races have remained at 1000 feet since Kalitta's death. Although unpopular with the fans, the distance remains at 1,000 feet today at the request of the teams as a cost-saving measure, with no indication by NHRA officials of any intent of returning to the full quarter-mile format any time soon. By late 2012, 1,000 foot racing became globally recognized as the 2012 FIA European title in Top Fuel became 1,000-foot championships, as Santa Pod and Hockenheim made the switch, and Australian nitro racing switched to the 1,000-foot distance only for selected tracks in the world.

The Countdown

Since 2007, the NHRA implements a playoff system to determine the champion in each class, billed as the Countdown to The Championship. Each season is divided into two segments of races, with the bulk of the races making up the first segment, and the final events making up the second segment. After the first segment is complete, the drivers in each class at or above the cutoff point in the standings become eligible for the championship, while the drivers below the cutoff point are eliminated from championship contention, though they still participate in the remaining race events. The points for the advancing drivers are readjusted so that they are separated by a fixed margin, with first place receiving bonus points. The drivers then compete for the championship over the final races of the season.
The NHRA suspended the format for the 2020 season after originally rewarding all teams that attempted to make two qualifying passes per race during the regular season a bonus of automatic qualification as a reward for making all races when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in five races being removed from the schedule. The format returned for the following season.

Title sponsors

was the title sponsor of the series from 1975 until 2001, when a condition of the Master Settlement Agreement required Winston to drop either its sponsorship of the NHRA, or the NASCAR Winston Cup Series; Winston chose to retain its NASCAR sponsorship. Winston ended their sponsorship with NASCAR two years later.
The Coca-Cola Company took over title sponsorship in 2002. Until 2008, the series was branded with the company's Powerade sports drink brand. In 2009, the company changed the branding to promote its Full Throttle energy drink brand. In 2013, following Coca-Cola's most recent extension of its sponsorship, the title sponsor was changed to its citrus soda brand Mello Yello. With Mello Yello having introduced a new logo, the NHRA unveiled a new logo for the series in January 2016, as well as a new "My NHRA" marketing campaign that plays upon the logo to feature drivers and other personalities discussing what the NHRA means to them.
On September 20, 2020, Coca-Cola announced that, even though their most recent agreement with the NHRA was in effect until 2023, they would be immediately pulling their sponsorship from the sport. The NHRA responded by filing a lawsuit as it looked for a new title sponsor for its premier series.
On October 4, 2020, the NHRA announced a new sponsorship deal with Camping World. In early 2023, an NHRA representative confirmed that Camping World would not be renewing their agreement with the NHRA after the conclusion of the 2024 season, and that the NHRA was seeking a new title sponsor for the series.
Gruma S.A.B. de C.V., through their Mission Foods brand, was announced as the newest title sponsor for the 2024 season on October 25, 2023. Camping World and the NHRA renegotiated terms of their agreement which allowed Mission Foods to replace them as the title sponsor for the 2024 season, and will keep Camping World on as a "premier partner" of the NHRA through 2026.

Champions

Before 1974, the season champion was determined by the winner of the World Finals event. The Professional categories contain the divisions of Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock & Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Year	Top Fuel	Funny Car	Pro Stock	Pro Stock Motorcycle
1965	Maynard Rupp		Gary Lawson	Classification introduced in 1987
1966	Pete Robinson	Ed Schartman		Classification introduced in 1987
1967	Bennie Osborn			Classification introduced in 1987
1968	Bennie Osborn			Classification introduced in 1987
1969	Steve Carbone			Classification introduced in 1987
1970	Ronnie Martin	Gene Snow	Ronnie Sox	Classification introduced in 1987
1971	Gerry Glenn	Phil Castronovo	Mike Fons	Classification introduced in 1987
1972	Jim Walther	Larry Fullerton	Bill Jenkins	Classification introduced in 1987
1973	Jerry Ruth	Frank Hall	Wayne Gapp	Classification introduced in 1987
1974	Gary Beck	Shirl Greer	Bob Glidden	Classification introduced in 1987
1975	Don Garlits	Don Prudhomme	Bob Glidden	Classification introduced in 1987
1976	Richard Tharp	Don Prudhomme	Larry Lombardo	Classification introduced in 1987
1977	Shirley Muldowney	Don Prudhomme	Don Nicholson	Classification introduced in 1987
1978	Kelly Brown	Don Prudhomme	Bob Glidden	Classification introduced in 1987
1979	Rob Bruins	Raymond Beadle	Bob Glidden	Classification introduced in 1987
1980	Shirley Muldowney	Raymond Beadle	Bob Glidden	Classification introduced in 1987
1981	Jeb Allen	Raymond Beadle	Lee Shepherd	Classification introduced in 1987
1982	Shirley Muldowney	Frank Hawley	Lee Shepherd	Classification introduced in 1987
1983	Gary Beck	Frank Hawley	Lee Shepherd	Classification introduced in 1987
1984	Joe Amato	Mark Oswald	Lee Shepherd	Classification introduced in 1987
1985	Don Garlits	Kenny Bernstein	Bob Glidden	Classification introduced in 1987
1986	Don Garlits	Kenny Bernstein	Bob Glidden	Classification introduced in 1987
1987	Dick LaHaie	Kenny Bernstein	Bob Glidden	Dave Schultz
1988	Joe Amato	Kenny Bernstein	Bob Glidden	Dave Schultz
1989	Gary Ormsby	Bruce Larson	Bob Glidden	John Mafaro
1990	Joe Amato	John Force	Darrell Alderman	John Myers
1991	Joe Amato	John Force	Darrell Alderman	Dave Schultz
1992	Joe Amato	Cruz Pedregon	Warren Johnson	John Myers
1993	Eddie Hill	John Force	Warren Johnson	Dave Schultz
1994	Scott Kalitta	John Force	Darrell Alderman	Dave Schultz
1995	Scott Kalitta	John Force	Warren Johnson	John Myers
1996	Kenny Bernstein	John Force	Jim Yates	Dave Schultz
1997	Gary Scelzi	John Force	Jim Yates	Matt Hines
1998	Gary Scelzi	John Force	Warren Johnson	Matt Hines
1999	Tony Schumacher	John Force	Warren Johnson	Matt Hines
2000	Gary Scelzi	John Force	Jeg Coughlin Jr.	Angelle Sampey
2001	Kenny Bernstein	John Force	Warren Johnson	Angelle Sampey
2002	Larry Dixon	John Force	Jeg Coughlin Jr.	Angelle Sampey
2003	Larry Dixon	Tony Pedregon	Greg Anderson	Geno Scali
2004	Tony Schumacher	John Force	Greg Anderson	Andrew Hines
2005	Tony Schumacher	Gary Scelzi	Greg Anderson	Andrew Hines
2006	Tony Schumacher	John Force	Jason Line	Andrew Hines
2007	Tony Schumacher	Tony Pedregon	Jeg Coughlin Jr.	Matt Smith
2008	Tony Schumacher	Cruz Pedregon	Jeg Coughlin Jr.	Eddie Krawiec
2009	Tony Schumacher	Robert Hight	Mike Edwards	Hector Arana
2010	Larry Dixon	John Force	Greg Anderson	L.E. Tonglet
2011	Del Worsham	Matt Hagan	Jason Line	Eddie Krawiec
2012	Antron Brown	Jack Beckman	Allen Johnson	Eddie Krawiec
2013	Shawn Langdon	John Force	Jeg Coughlin Jr.	Matt Smith
2014	Tony Schumacher	Matt Hagan	Erica Enders	Andrew Hines
2015	Antron Brown	Del Worsham	Erica Enders	Andrew Hines
2016	Antron Brown	Ron Capps	Jason Line	Jerry Savoie
2017	Brittany Force	Robert Hight	Bo Butner	Eddie Krawiec
2018	Steve Torrence	J.R. Todd	Tanner Gray	Matt Smith
2019	Steve Torrence	Robert Hight	Erica Enders	Andrew Hines
2020	Steve Torrence	Matt Hagan	Erica Enders	Matt Smith
2021	Steve Torrence	Ron Capps	Greg Anderson	Matt Smith
2022	Brittany Force	Ron Capps	Erica Enders	Matt Smith
2023	Doug Kalitta	Matt Hagan	Erica Enders	Gaige Herrera
2024	Antron Brown	Austin Prock	Greg Anderson	Gaige Herrera
2025	Doug Kalitta	Austin Prock	Dallas Glenn	Richard Gadson