Matt Hagan, Erica Enders gunning for 50th career victories at Arizona Nationals
Matt Hagan and Erica Enders each need just one win to become the 17th pro driver with 50 tour victories and, obviously, we could get Nos. 17 and 18 within a few minutes of one another at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
In Funny Car, Force, Robert Hight, and Ron Capps currently are the only Funny Car drivers to have reached that plateau. Hagan has won at least three tour events for 11 consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Enders would become the sixth Pro Stock driver to do it after Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Greg Anderson, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Jason Line.
Here's the order of reaching 50 Pro wins:
1. | Bob Glidden | Pro Stock | 1986 Dallas |
2. | Warren Johnson | Pro Stock | 1995 Seattle |
3. | John Force | Funny Car | 1996 Gainesville |
4. | Kenny Bernstein | Funny Car/Top Fuel | 1998 Chicago |
5 | Joe Amato | Top Fuel | 1999 Reading |
6. | Greg Anderson | Pro Stock | 2007 Sonoma |
7. | Tony Schumacher | Top Fuel | 2008 Brainerd |
8. | Larry Dixon | Top Fuel | 2010 Pomona 1 |
9. | Jeg Coughlin | Pro Stock | 2010 Atlanta |
10. | Antron Brown | Top Fuel/Pro Stock Motorcycle | 2015 Englishtown |
11. | Ron Capps | Funny Car/Top Fuel | 2016 Seattle |
12. | Andrew Hines | Pro Stock Motorcycle | 2019 Charlotte 1 |
13. | Robert Hight | Funny Car | 2019 Sonoma |
14. | Jason Line | Pro Stock | 2019 Reading |
15. | Steve Torrence | Top Fuel | 2021 Las Vegas 2 |
16. | Doug Kalitta | Top Fuel | 2023 Reading |
It's worth noting that these marks reflect only the count to 50 professional-class wins. Amato reached 50 combined wins (Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Fuel) in Memphis in 1998; Coughlin reached 50 total wins (Pro and Sportsman) in Bristol in 2007; Line hit 50 combined wins (Stock and Pro Stock) at the fall Charlotte event in 2018; and Torrence reached 50 combined wins (Top Fuel and Top Alcohol Dragster) in Sonoma of 2021.