FOUNDING OF NHRA AND SCHUMACHER’S ‘THE RUN’ UNVEILED SATURDAY AS THE NOS. 3 AND 4 GREATEST MOMENTS IN NHRA’S 60-YEAR HISTORY
That leaves 2 moments – John Force’s comeback to win his record 15th title and Don Garlits’ debut of the rear-engine dragster; top moment will be unveiled Sunday
GLENDORA, Calif. (Nov. 12, 2011) – NHRA’s 60th anniversary season is down to its final climactic day. And so is its season-long quest to determine the greatest moment in its 60-year history.
NHRA announced the 60 Greatest Moments in its 60-year history back in January, and then it turned the job over to its fans, via its Facebook page, to identify the greatest of the Greatest Moments. The list was narrowed down to 20, then 10 and five entering this final race weekend of the season.
After unveiling the No. 5 Greatest Moment on Friday (Kenny Bernstein’s breaking of the 300-mph barrier at the 1992 Gatornationals), NHRA announced the Nos. 3 and 4 Greatest Moments – the Founding of NHRA and Tony Schumacher’s “The Run,” respectively – on Saturday, and that now sets the table for the unveiling of the fans’ choice to be remembered as The Greatest in NHRA’s 60-year history.
The two remaining Greatest Moments (voting is closed), which will be part of a special presentation before the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona crowd during Sunday’s Auto Club NHRA Finals pre-race Finals, are (in chronological order):
1971: Don Garlits debuts the rear-engine dragster – and wins.
2010: John Force’s Comeback (from devastating accident) to win record 15th title
The Nos. 3 and 4 Moments were announced Saturday, beginning with “The Run.”
Schumacher frequently talks about seizing the moment. Well, it’s hard to imagine a driver seizing the moment any more than he did at the 2006 Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Needing to win the race and set the national record on the final pass of the 2006 season, he did exactly that to deliver what has to have been the most dramatic, most incredible, most unbelievable finish to any season in the 60-year history of NHRA.
The No. 3 Greatest Moment – the Founding of NHRA – set in motion a pursuit of speed, on safe and sanctioned drag strips, as well as a pursuit of competition from the grassroots levels on up to the highly polished multi-million dollar professional teams. Along the way, NHRA would become the world’s largest motorsports organization.
The quest for NHRA’s Greatest Moment has been one of a number of programs NHRA created during this historic 60th anniversary season to celebrate the sport’s rich tradition.
It began with the announcement in January 2011 of the 60 Greatest Moments in NHRA history, as selected by a panel of drag racing experts. From there, it was turned over to the fans who responded in huge numbers during the first two stages of the program – more than 7.5 million impressions and more than 31,000 fan interactions – to trim the original list of 60 Greatest Moments to the Top 20 Greatest Moments (on Aug. 22) and the Top 10 Greatest Moments (Sept. 5).
Here is the complete list of the Top 10 Greatest Moments (remaining moments in chronological order):
Don Garlits debuts the rear-engine dragster — and wins (Pomona, 1971)
John Force completes comeback, wins 15th championship (2010)
No. 3: The Founding of NHRA (1951)
No. 4: Tony Schumacher’s “The Run” (2006)
No. 5: Kenny Bernstein makes NHRA’s first 300-mph run (1992)
No. 6: Shirley Muldowney is NHRA’s first woman to win a world title (1977)
No. 7: Don Garlits makes NHRA’s first 200-mph run (1964)
No. 8: Ashley Force Hood is first woman to win in Funny Car (2008)
No. 9: John Force is first to win 100 career races (2002)
No. 10: Shirley Muldowney is first woman to win in Top Fuel (1976)
Fans can visit the 60 Greatest Moments Web page for complete program details as well as to view historical photos and videos that retrace every step in NHRA rich and storied history. The page also includes links to view a preview of / purchase NHRA’s “60 Greatest Moments” DVD.
