Eighteen-year-old Ty Gaynor made history when he earned the victory in both Top Dragster and Super Stock at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Seattle. Doubling at the national event level is a rare feat: only 31 other drivers have hoisted two Wally’s at the same event, and Gaynor is by far the youngest to ever pull it off.
Despite his young age, Gaynor’s success isn’t all that surprising, at least not to those who’ve followed his career to date. Ty’s father Tommy is a multi-time national event winner, and the younger Gaynor proved precocious behind the wheel of a Jr. Dragster at an early age.
Nonetheless, to double?!
At 18 years old?!
Pretty impressive stuff.
More impressive? Seattle marked just the eighth national event that Gaynor had ever competed in, and only the third time he’d even entered multiple categories at the same event! The wins were no fluke: in Top Dragster specifically, Gaynor closed eliminations with three consecutive .00 reaction times.
As if securing victories in two of the most divergent categories in NHRA sportsman competition weren’t enough of a showcase of young Gaynor’s versatility, it’s also worth noting that his double victory came on the heels of a big dollar bracket win just a week prior at Woodburn Dragstrip’s annual Nightfire Nationals.
Gaynor isn’t the first driver to double in 2026: Phil Unruh duplicated the feat just a month prior in Norwalk, winning Super Comp and Super Gas. While multiple double winners in one season certainly isn’t unprecedented, it is uncommon. Back in 1991, Pat Austin became the first driver to win two classes in one event when he secured the Top Fuel crown along with the Top Alcohol Funny Car title in Topeka. A year later, he did it again in Phoenix. Just months after that, Edmond Richardson replicated that feat in Atlanta, winning in Super Comp and Super Street. In more than 3 decades since, we’ve seen nearly as many seasons (11) pass without a single double winner as we’ve had that featured multiple double winners (12).
In 2017 five drivers doubled – the most in any season. That year even saw two doubles at the same event: Nick Folk won Super Stock and Super Comp, while Jeff Strickland claimed the title in Top Dragster and Stock at Norwalk. Believe it or not, that marked the second time two drivers doubled at the same event (both in the state of Ohio, ironically): Todd Frantz and Jeg Coughlin, Jr. shared those honors at the Columbus SportsNationals in 2015.
While several drivers have flirted with a double at the most prestigious event on the NHRA tour (Rampy, Austin, and Scotty Richardson come to mind), to date the only driver to double at the US Nationals is Aaron Stanfield, who accomplished the rarest of feats just two years ago when he won both Pro Stock and Factory Stock at the “Grandaddy of ‘em all.”
Edmond Richardson is the undisputed king of the double. Over the course of his illustrious career, Edmond has hoisted 49 national event Wally’s – including double victories on a whopping five different occasions. David Rampy has four doubles to his credit. No other driver has done it more than twice. In fact, that’s a fun trivia question… To date, 32 drivers have tallied 48 double victories. You know that Richardson and Rampy account for 9 of those occurrences. And you know that Pat Austin has two to his credit. There are only 8 other drivers who’ve doubled on more than one occasion – and the list reads like a “Who’s Who” of sportsman racing! How many of the 8 can you name? I’ll share the answer at the end of the column.
Interestingly, Ty Gaynor wasn’t the only driver threatening to double in Seattle. Three-time NHRA World Champion Brad Burton also advanced to the final round in both Super Stock and Stock. Obviously Gaynor got the better of Burton in the Super Stock final, and Burton also fell victim to the .009 total package of Gary Gandee in the Stock Eliminator final. Believe it or not, Burton’s double-runner-up is actually a rarer feat than Gaynor’s double win. Burton’s double runner-up marked just the 17th time that one driver has earned two runner-up finishes in the same event.
I think it goes without saying, but despite the sting of losing twice, the simple act of taking two cars to the final round at an NHRA national event is no small feat. In fact, the short list of racers who have been defeated in two final rounds at the same event reads like a Hall of Fame roster in itself. Need proof? The first to do it was Peter Biondo, perhaps the greatest sportsman driver of all time. He took runner-up honors in both Super Stock and Stock in Reading in 2002. Some other drivers on the list include world champions Rampy (twice), Anthony Bertozzi, Ryan McClanahan, Jerry Emmons, Kevin Helms, Mia Tedesco, and Justin Lamb.
I guess it’s reasonable to assume that when a driver advances to two final rounds in the same race, the most logical outcome is for that driver to split the two decisions (you win some, you lose some, right?). That logic bears out. One driver has advanced to two finals in the same event on 160 occasions. Almost 60% of the time (95 occurrences), that driver has won one, and lost one.
The first driver to advance to two final rounds? How about Mike Schmidt, way back in 1966?!? You read that correctly: 25 years prior to Pat Austin’s historic feat, Schmidt came within one round of pulling the first double at the Springnationals in Bristol. There, Schmidt won the Street class, and was runner-up in Stock. The most recent driver to split final round decisions? Shane Oakes won Super Stock and was runner-up in Stock at Epping earlier this season.
Gaynor and Unruh joined the 30% of drivers who kept their incredible streak going and achieved ultimate glory. Burton’s less glorious feat is the least likely result: with just 17 of those 160 occurrences (a little more than 10%) resulting in a double runner-up.
A few more double-up tidbits… Lauren Freer is the only female to date to earn a national event double (Norwalk, ‘23). The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has played host to the most national event doubles – 6 (which makes sense, it’s one of the few facilities that hosted two national events each year for decades). The only facility on the NHRA tour (excluding the four tracks that will host/have hosted their first national event – or first national event in decades – this season) that hasn’t played host to a double is Bristol Dragway. The most common class involved in national event doubles? Super Stock. Twenty two doubles have included a Super Stock triumph: that’s nearly half of the 48 doubles to date! The least common (sportsman) class to double? Top Sportsman. Ed Olpin is the only driver to date to win Top Sportsman and another category: he earned the rare Top Sportsman/Super Gas double at the 2017 Winternationals. Gaynor’s Super Stock/Top Dragster double was just the second of its kind: Anthony Bertozzi won the same two classes at the 2023 Winternationals.
I promised closing with the list of those drivers who have doubled on multiple occasions (did you make your list?). As I mentioned above, Edmond Richardson has accomplished the feat a record 5 times. David Rampy has 4 double victories to his credit. The nine drivers who’ve done it twice include the aforementioned Pat Austin, along with Jeff Taylor, Peter Biondo, Tommy Phillips, Jody Lang, Jimmy DeFrank, Anthony Bertozzi, Jeff Strickland and Aaron Stanfield.
