NHRA's Top 50 Sportsman Racers: The Wrap-up
The list of NHRA’s Top 50 Sportsman Racers is now complete, further cementing the legacies of the great competitors in the NHRA history books.
The challenge of picking just 50 racers from the tens of thousands who have competed over NHRA’s first 75 years was daunting, and it took an elite panel of Sportsman racing legends — Dan Fletcher, David Rampy, Peter Biondo, Luke Bogacki, Justin Lamb, Gary Stinnett, Jeff Taylor, and Austin Williams, who have combined for 411 NHRA national event victories and 35 world championships — to make the selections.
NHRA’S TOP 50 SPORTSMAN RACERS | ||||
Sherman Adcock Jr. | Frank Aragona Jr. | Jeffrey Barker | Anthony Bertozzi | Peter Biondo |
Sal Biondo | Dave Boertman | Luke Bogacki | Craig Bourgeois | Bo Butner |
Brad Burton | Steve Cohen | Jeg Coughlin Jr. | Al Corda | Jimmy DeFrank |
Jerry Emmons | Mark Faul | Mike Ferderer | Dan Fletcher | Nick Folk |
Sheldon Gecker | Kevin Helms | Jeff Hefler | Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. | Jim Hughes |
John Labbous Jr. | Justin Lamb | Jeff Lane | Jody Lang | Shawn Langdon |
Jimmy Lewis | John Lingenfelter | Bill Maropulos | Bruno Massel Jr. | David Nickens |
Tommy Phillips | Brad Plourd | David Rampy | Edmond Richardson | Ed Richardson |
Scotty Richardson | Joe Santangelo II | Mike Saye | Kyle Seipel | Greg Stanfield |
Gary Stinnett | Jeff Strickland | Jeff Taylor | Bobby Warren | Austin Williams |
EVERY RACER WHO GOT AT LEAST ONE VOTE
The competition to make the esteemed list of NHRA’s Top 50 Sportsman Racers was steep, and the picks from our Elite Eight spanned the gamut from the sport’s earliest days to today. Although their group's consensus is now stamped into the history books, their lists varied, as a whopping 96 drivers received at least one vote from the panel.
Sherman Adcock Jr. | Jeff Adkinson | Frank Aragona Jr. | Jeffrey Barker | Dave Boertman |
Luke Bogacki | Tyler Bohannon | Peter Biondo | Sal Biondo | Anthony Bertozzi |
Jim Bouburka | Jim Boudreau | Craig Bourgeois | Brad Burton | Bo Butner |
Don Carlton | John Calvert | Steve Cohen | Al Corda | Jeg Coughlin Jr. |
Jimmy DeFrank | Ed DeStaute | Christopher Dodd | Matt Driskell | Jerry Emmons |
Harvey Emmons III | Mark Faul | Dan Fletcher | Brian Folk | Nick Folk |
Mike Ferderer | Lauren Freer | Steve Furr | Sheldon Gecker | Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. |
Kevin Helms | Val Hedworth | Jeff Hefler | Rick Houser | Jim Hughes |
Buddy Ingersoll | Bob Kaiser | Larry Kopp | John Labbous Jr. | Jeff Lane |
Jody Lang | Toby Lang | Shawn Langdon | Justin Lamb | Trevor Larson |
Jimmy Lewis | Grant Lewis | John Lingenfelter | Keith Lynch | Ryan McClanahan |
Bob Lambeck | Shawn Langdon | Bruno Massel Jr. | Bill Maropulos | Bob Marshall |
Ray Miller III | Larry Morgan | Jack Mullins | David Nickens | Bo Nickens |
Danny Nelson | Cotton Perry | Alan Peters | Tommy Phillips | Brad Plourd |
David Rampy | Ed Richardson | Edmond Richardson | Scotty Richardson | Kyle Rizzoli |
Joe Santangelo II | Mike Saye | Mike Sawyer | Joe Scott | Kyle Seipel |
Ted Seipel | Ronnie Sox | Aaron Stanfield | Greg Stanfield | Tom Stalba |
Gary Stinnett | Jeff Strickland | David Tatum III | Jeff Taylor | Charlie Taylor |
Val Torres Sr. | Jim Waldo | Steve Wann | Bobby Warren | Austin Williams |
Joe Williamson |
THE "OTHER" EXPERTS ALSO WEIGHED IN
Every previous "top drivers" list was the result of balloting by a hand-picked panels of experts, including journalists, historians, past NHRA officials, and more, and although the decision was made early to have the Top 50 Sportsman Racers selected by a panel of their peers, that didn't stop the "other" experts from weighing in as well, and although their votes largely mirrored those of the Elite Eight Sportsman greats, there were many notable exceptions, including the addition of drivers such as Amy Faulk, Buddy Ingersoll, Cotton Perry, Doug Lambeck, Kyle Rizzoli, Larry Kopp, Lee Zane, and Steve Williams, who did not make the official list.
Here's the expert's list:
Sherman Adcock Jr. | Frank Aragona Jr. | Anthony Bertozzi | Peter Biondo | Sal Biondo |
Luke Bogacki | Dave Boertman | Bo Butner | Brad Burton | Steve Cohen |
Jeg Coughlin Jr. | Al Corda | Jimmy DeFrank | Jerry Emmons | Amy Faulk |
Mike Ferderer | Dan Fletcher | Sheldon Gecker | Kevin Helms | Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. |
Buddy Ingersoll | Larry Kopps | John Labbous Jr. | Justin Lamb | Doug Lambeck |
Jody Lang | Shawn Langdon | Jeff Lane | Jimmy Lewis | John Lingenfelter |
Bill Maropulos | Bruno Massel Jr. | David Nickens | Cotton Perry | Tommy Phillips |
Brad Plourd | David Rampy | Edmond Richardson | Scotty Richardson | Kyle Rizzoli |
Joe Santangelo II | Kyle Seipel | Greg Stanfield | Gary Stinnett | Jeff Strickland |
Jeff Taylor | Bobby Warren | Steve Williams | Austin Williams | Lee Zane |