NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

#StumpBob: Which driver has the most wins at any NHRA national event?

In the latest installment of our new Stump Bob feature, NHRA historian and statistician Bob Frey answers the challenge to name which drivers have excelled at one particular event or track.
06 May 2021
Bob Frey
Stump Bob
Stump Bob

Stop me if you’ve heard this before but this could be a trick question. You see, if you wanted to know which driver won the most races at a specific track you would have to figure in the fact that Pomona has hosted two races a year since 1984. That would seemingly make John Force a winner since “The Champ” has won at the fabled track 16 times (7 Winternationals, 8 NHRA Finals, and the special, one-time-only anniversary race there in 2001).

Now if you’re talking about wins at a single event a lot of folks would look to Force’s 11 wins at Brainerd or Bob Glidden’s 11 wins at the NHRA Finals (at two different tracks). But as impressive as those numbers are they still wouldn’t be at the top of the list, that honor goes to Frank Manzo. The recent Hall of Fame inductee won at his home track in Englishtown, N.J., a staggering 13 times between 1982 and 2011 and that’s the most wins for one driver at a single event.

And, just to throw another scenario at you, Josh Hart won the Gatornationals this year in his first and only start in Top Fuel there, so he has a 100% winning record at Gainesville. Hey, you did say “percentage” in your question, didn’t you?

Glad I could clear that up for you!!

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(No easy questions here like "Who was the first to run 300 mph?" or "Which racer is nicknamed "Big Daddy"?)