PRO MOD CHAMP: Rickie Smith

Veteran racer Rickie Smith made more history this year: The seven-time IHRA champion and NHRA Pro Stock and Pro Mod event winner not only collected his first NHRA championship, but he also joined his son, NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Smith, in a historic father-son title year.

Smith, who drives a nitrous-oxide-assisted Chevy Comoro with a monster engine that displaces 903 cubic inches, was the first NHRA champion crowned in 2013 when he locked up the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series crown at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis in late September. A month later, his son joined him as a champion after his victory at the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas.

The King, N.C., racer's season got off to a slow start with secondround losses at the first three events before he reached the semifinals in Englishtown. He posted his first win in Bristol, where his name is enshrined at the track as part of its Legends of Thunder Valley program, then scored again in Norwalk, where he also shared the winner's circle with his son.

A runner-up at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals boosted his score, and another runner-up in St. Louis sealed the title with one race left on the schedule.