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THE DRIVERS
John Force
On June 2, 2024, at New England Dragway in Epping, a 75-year-old John Force won the 157th national event of his career – more than his two closest pursuers, Ron Capps and Robert Hight, have won combined. Three weeks later, an engine failure at 302.62 mph sent his Funny Car wall to wall at the NHRA Virginia Nationals and left him with a traumatic brain injury. It would be Force’ s last pass as a driver, but the 16-time NHRA world champion remains an integral part of the sport.
Force spent 17 months in and out of neurological rehab before announcing his official retirement on November 13, 2025.“ I’ ve said so many times,‘ Until this race car kills me, they’ re going to have to drag me out of the seat,’” Force said.“ But the truth is, I was dragged out of the seat at Richmond. They thought it killed me then. I’ m lucky I’ m back walking.”
Force stepped away from the driver’ s seat as the all-time leader in NHRA world championships, event wins, final rounds, and round wins. He’ s still building his legacy as a team owner, though, with John Force Racing and the 24 world championships to its name.
JFR has completely transformed itself in recent months. Hight, a three-time champion with 65 wins, retired in March 2025 and stepped down as JFR president after 30 years. Two-time Top Fuel champion Brittany Force stepped away at season’ s end to start a family. Then reigning Funny Car champion Austin Prock and crew chief Jimmy Prock left. Those vacant spots quickly filled up, with Josh Hart taking over the Top Fuel ride, rookie Jordan Vandergriff replacing Prock, and Alexis DeJoria adding a third Funny Car, while Jack Beckman continued his role as Force’ s replacement in the PEAK Funny Car.
When some fans wondered if the multi-car juggernaut would falter as it moved into a new season after
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such a drastic restructuring, JFR answered immediately at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals. Hart swept Top Fuel, qualifying No. 1 and winning the event, while DeJoria reached the Funny Car final round. Driving the Cornwell Tools Funny Car that won the last two world titles, Vandergriff earned his first career Wally at just the fifth race of the season, the Southern Nationals at Valdosta. Beckman got his first win of the season a few races later, defeating Vandergriff in an all-JFR final at Epping. He sat No. 2 in points heading into the final two races of the regular season.
In 2027, NHRA will host a yearlong celebrating of Force and his contributions to the sport through its“ 50 Years of Force” campaign. The tribute will include driver appearances, car displays, retrospectives of his 157 event wins, and more.
Force’ s days behind the wheel might be behind him, but the beloved fan favorite remains as influential as ever as a team owner and living legend. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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Greg Anderson
For nearly three decades, Greg Anderson has steadily worked his way to becoming one of the most decorated drag racers of all time. His 116 career event wins( and counting) are far and away the most in NHRA Pro Stock history – 19 more than Warren Johnson and 31 ahead of Bob Glidden. Anderson’ s six Pro Stock world championships is tied for second all-time with Johnson and Erica Enders, trailing only Glidden’ s 10.
His accolades go beyond just Pro Stock, however. He is the second-winningest driver in NHRA history behind John Force. In 2025, Anderson won the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, and in the process secured the 1,000th round win of his career, joining Force as the only two drivers in history to accomplish the feat.
Prior to his driving debut in 1998, Anderson took on the role of crew member, and then crew chief, for Warren Johnson for 12
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seasons, and was a part of three championships with the team. Anderson joined Ken Black( who passed away in 2025) as a crew chief and driver in 2001, forming KB Racing the following season. In 2023, KB Racing merged with Eric Latino’ s Titan Racing, forming the now powerhouse KB Titan Racing along with Latino, Jim and Annie Whiteley, and Keith Haney.
As he chases a historic seventh Pro Stock championship in 2026, Anderson is also building for the future, with his son, Cody, competing in his first season of Pro Stock competition.
“ I’ m so damn proud of Cody,” says Anderson.“ I’ ve been telling the world he’ s coming; he’ s an absolute natural talent. I couldn’ t feel better about that, but I’ m going to hold on as long as I can. As long as I can win, I’ ll still be here.” – CRAIG COOK
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Antron Brown
For nearly three decades, Antron Brown has been one of the most recognizable faces in NHRA drag racing. He burst onto the scene in 1998 racing Pro Stock Motorcycle, where he won the‘ Road to the Future Award’ and gathered 16 event wins, including two at the prestigious U. S Nationals.
In 2008, Brown transitioned to Top Fuel, winning two events in his first season and becoming the only driver to win national events in both Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel. Since then, he’ s won four NHRA world championships, including his first as a team owner in 2024.
During his offseasons, Brown has hopped behind the wheel of Manny Buginga’ s Pro Mod Lexus at the Drag Illustrated Winter Series, as well as pilot Buginga’ s Pro 275 Mustang. But it’ s his work outside of driving that makes an equally large impact on the sport.
In 2023, Brown launched his AB Motorsports Accelerate Program, a driver development initiative designed to help racers progress up the drag racing ladder, most notably helping three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion
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Angelle Sampey transition to Top Alcohol Dragster.
Brown is also investing heavily in the youth of America, partnering with Scouting America to bring STEM-related learning experiences to various NHRA national events in 2026, a program designed to“ connect Scouting’ s values with the real-world science, technology, engineering, and teamwork behind championship drag racing.”
“ This sport has given me so much, and I’ ve always believed it’ s important to give that back to the next generation,” says Brown.“ When young people walk through our pit and see how much math, engineering, technology, and teamwork goes into what we do, it opens their eyes. It’ s about showing them what’ s possible and helping them believe they can chase big dreams in any field they choose.” – CRAIG COOK
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Erica Enders
Long before she became one of the most decorated NHRA Pro Stock drivers in history, Erica Enders( along with her sister, Courtney) found her way into the homes of countless families by proxy in the 2003 Disney Channel movie, Right on Track. The film, based on a true account, chronicles the sisters’ journey during the NHRA’ s formation of the Jr. Dragster category, and their place in a male-dominated sport.
Since then, Enders has not only stepped out of that shadow – she’ s obliterated it. She is a six-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion, tied for the second most class championships all-time with Warren Johnson and Greg Anderson. Her 49 Pro Stock event victories place her sixth on the all-time wins list in the class.
She is also the winningest female in all of motorsports, as well as the winningest female in U. S. Nationals history with four wins at“ The Big Go.” Not just a heads-up racer, Enders also has a national event win in Super Gas, giving her 50 career wins.
As one of the most naturally skilled drivers in the sport, Enders
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY KRISTA ZIVCIC, NHRA, RICK BELDEN |