NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Former U.S. Nationals-winning Top Fuel driver Johnny Abbott died May 20. He was 79.

Abbott, who began his Top Fuel career in the early 1960s and continued competing into the mid-1980s, had the greatest day of a fine career at the 1981 U.S. Nationals, where he captured the sport’s biggest prize with a final-round defeat of David Pace.

Abbott, who also scored NHRA national event runner-up sat the 1979 U.S. Nationals and 1978 Le Grandnational, also captured Top Fuel wins in AHRA, IHRA, and UDRA competition.

He was inducted the Colorado Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, the NHRA Division 5 Hall of Fame in 2007, and the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2014.