Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, through the assistance of a key group of Pro Modified historians and enthusiasts, has compiled a list of the Top 20 all-time drivers based on their contribution to the class, historic achievements, statistics and fan appeal.

Starting on Friday, January 8, 2010, the electronic magazine began revealing those names on the list, and will announce two drivers per week, until the No. 1 driver is unveiled on Saturday, Mar. 20, during the ADRL Dragpalooza in Houston, Texas.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com narrowed the list from hundreds of drivers down to 20. Today, we reveal No. 10 on the list.

On a weekend in which NHRA paid tribute to its rich history during the 50th running of the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals, NHRA legend John Force turned back the clock himself by winning for the first time in a year-and-a-half.

The other winners at the season-opening event in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock). All three final rounds featured drivers who ranked in the top-10 on the all-time wins lists in their respective classes.

The holeshot win for Force (4.124 at 298.67 to Capps’ 4.123 at 305.08), who had a .016 advantage (.057 to .073) on the tree, was the NHRA-record 127th in his legendary career, but his first in 40 races dating back to Topeka, 2008.

Final round-by-round results from the 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the first of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the first of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Larry Dixon, 122; 2.  Doug Kalitta, 96; 3.  Cory McClenathan, 86; 4.  Tony Schumacher, 81; 5. Shawn Langdon, 55; 6.  (tie) Brandon Bernstein, 52; Antron Brown, 52; Troy Buff, 52; 9.  Morgan Lucas, 36; 10.  (tie) Thomas Nataas, 34.

Sunday's final results from the 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The race is the first of 23 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

The second round of NHRA Winternationals Funny Car eliminations produced one of the oddest scenarios as a parachute malfunction, a broken rear-end and a 14-time champion all converged in one race.

As John Force and Ashley-Force Hood rolled through the water box to do their burnouts, the second-generation drag racer’s parachute deployed before she nailed the throttle. Meanwhile, Force did his usual long burnout.

Instead of throwing in the towel, Force-Hood’s crew thrashed frantically to repack the parachute. Force backed up slowly from his burnout.

There’s a generation gap of sorts in drag racing.  It’s not among the teams out there racing, but the gap is evident in the spectator seats here at the 50^th Anniversary Winternationals – and it’s not a problem.  Sometimes with generation gaps we’re talking about one generation’s inability to politely converse and interact with another.  Put another way, it’s like when you turned 13 and realized your old man didn’t know anything, and certainly had nothing whatsoever to tell you about life, your friends, your music or the electronic wizardry that packed your bedroom.  By the time you were 18 or 19 it was amazing how much the old guy had learned in those five or six years.

In this instance, however, we’re talking about how some younger drag racing fans don’t have much appreciation for the sport’s early cars and even some of its stars. That was evident this afternoon when a half dozen nostalgia Funny Cars came up to make demonstration runs.  A lot of younger fans bailed out of the grandstands, while the more mature among the crowd stuck around to be once again thrilled by cars like the Candies & Hughes ‘Cuda, Twig Ziegler’s Satellite, the Pisano & Matsubara Vega and the topless Beach City Corvette.

Mike Edwards believes one of the great things about the NHRA Winternationals is its ability for teams to see where they stack up after an off-season chock full of relentless work. The defending NHRA Pro Stock champion could only smile to see that not much has changed since the last time he raced in Pomona.

He’s still an arm and a leg ahead of the competition.

“Ran a really good run the first run today,” said Edwards, who was .013 seconds ahead of second-ranked Jeg Coughlin. “We kinda tried some things tonight but didn't feel like we got what we needed. I am just really, extremely really proud of guys and the effort they put in. It feels real good to come out here and run good starting out the year.”

Robert Hight, 2009 NHRA Funny Car world champion, understands that being the champion has its privileges. Case in point, when you’re sitting in your

Funny Car, you can look up and see an airplane towing a banner of your likeness across the Southern California sky.

“That was pretty cool,” Hight said of the sponsor AAA Auto Club of Southern California’s sponsorship/championship activation. “Flying banners around and buying USA Today ads. All of the big papers on Thanksgiving.”

It’s called a slingshot and Top Fuel racer Cory McClenathan plans to perfect it this season.

Trailing behind Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon, two drivers apparently running at peak power, McClenathan pulled out of line to slingshot past them for the 34^th No. 1 qualifying effort of his career.

“We saw the air getting better and better as time went on, and then we just figured, ‘what did we have to lose?'” McClenathan admitted. “We knew Tony would run good, just a tick above us, and we knew that Larry would too.”