NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It’s hard to believe that a full season of Funny Car racing can come down to just two points, but that’s what happened in 2012 when Jack Beckman eked out his first Funny Car championship by denying Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps his first.

Perennial Top Fuel powerhouse Tony Schumacher won his sixth straight and seventh overall Top Fuel championship in 2009 by just two points, the closest finish in Top Fuel history.

After an unprecedented victory sweep of all six playoff events en route to a runaway first Top Fuel world championship — winning by an unheard-off 304 points — Steve Torrence found the sledding tougher en route to a second straight title.

Hector Arana Sr.’s long pursuit of a Pro Stock Motorcycle championship finally reached the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with a thrilling, narrow points conquest at the end of the 2009 season.

Jason Line earned the distinction of being crowned the first Pro Stock champion of the electronic fuel injection era after a season-long battle with teammate Greg Anderson that came down to the semifinals of the season finale and a three-point margin.

L.E. Tonglet became just the third rookie to win an NHRA Pro championship after coming from behind to steal the Pro Stock Motorcycle title from Andrew Hines, who surprisingly fouled in the first round.

Eddie Krawiec became just the second NHRA world champion to win the title without a race win, and he did it from behind, knocking off reigning champ Matt Smith to collect the title.

Following a semifinal loss at the season’s penultimate race in Las Vegas, Matt Smith was prepared to concede the 2007 Pro Stock Motorcycle title to Andrew Hines, then a funny thing happened, and before he knew it, Smith was in a winner-take-all final-round battle with Chip Ellis for the title.

Bo Butner came into the 2017 season without a win but exited the year as the world champion after his fourth and final win of the year — over future champ Tanner Gray in a weird final round — allowed him to eke past teammate Greg Anderson for the championship. Second in a series

Antron Brown made history as the first African-American to win a major motorsports championship when he won the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel championship, but it sure didn’t come easy. First in a series.