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World champions Doug Kalitta, Antron Brown, and Brittany Force — respective winners of the 500th, 800th, and 900th Top Fuel races in NHRA history — have their eyes set on collecting the special trophy being offered to the winner of the American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, the 1,000th race in class�� history.

The trophy will be presented to the winner by Top Fuel legend Don Garlits, who won the first Top Fuel race in history at the 1963 NHRA Winternationals.

The 65-pound metal masterpiece was built by metal craftsman Tom Patsis using measurements, photos, and details provided by 1963 Winternationals Top Gas winner Bob Muravez. Garlits’ original trophy was lost in a natural disaster several years ago.

The three milestone winners took part in a media opportunity prior to Friday’s qualifying at zMAX Dragway, each expressing their desire to lay their hands on the special trophy Sunday night.

Doug Kalitta, 500th race winner, 2002 Dallas

“It’s pretty cool to get a shot at this baby here, especially with Don being here. My car's been running pretty solid, so I'm really excited to get things going, and I've had a lot of support with, you know, my uncle Connie over the years, who started back when Don and him were racing for this, so I’m excited to see if we can put the win lights on, so it'll be cool to have a shot at this. Back when I was growing up, my buddy and I used to visit Vonnie’s shop because it was right around the corner from my house, and Don was huge back then for me.

“I’ve actually seen some of these iconic trophies in Connie’s trophy case, and my whole team is hungry to get the first win of the year, and that will definitely look good at our shop."

Antron Brown, 800th race winner, Charlotte 2015 (fall)

“What really touches my heart the most is that I was 10 years old, and ‘Big Daddy’ let me in his pit in Englishtown in 1986. When I started racing Top Fuel, he came and tapped me on the shoulder and says, ‘Antron. I remember you, that little smiley kid. You haven’t changed a bit.' That's the part that touched me about this sport, because this sport gives you all that access. It gets you around it, it makes you a part of history as a kid, to grow up to this point right now, and to be living the dream. I'm living the American dream, and to try to go after this 1,000 win, it'll be so huge to me.��

“And to have ‘Big Daddy’ [present it]; the craziest part of it is, for me, I never dreamt of a little kid that ‘Big Daddy’ will call me on my phone, and he'll call me and talk to me, so to be at the end of the track to grab a trophy like that, with ‘Big Daddy’ giving it out? I'm just living that dream, man, and it would be huge to get that trophy to imitate that trophy from back then when he won the first one, so we're gonna give it everything we got.

‘What makes it so special? Everybody remembers numbers; people remember the first, they remember the hundreds. They’ll remember the 1,000th, so to be a part of this deal right here, and to get something like that that you hold up … I have a lot of trophies. I have a lot of Wallys. I remember wishing for one, but when you put mementos like that on the trophy shelf, it stands loud and proud. It's actually taller than our championship trophy. This is going to be one of those special tributes where you cannot take it away, and whoever wins that, they're going to be a part of history.

"And that the man himself, the Michael Jordan of drag racing, gave you a memento that looked like the first thing that he won? If we could put that on the shelf, that's gonna make it 10 times as special.”

Brittany Force, 900th race winner, Las Vegas 2019 (fall)

“We haven't captured that first win [this year] yet and would love to do it here. Just seeing that trophy and that milestone marker, it's pretty cool to see all these years go by. We really want that one and this extra incentive that comes with it. Don Garlits is going to be standing down there to present it, so it’s just the whole package. It's pretty exciting, and it'll stand out. This one will stand out amongst others because of all the add-ins, all the excitement built around it. It'll be one that'll stand out, that you won't forget,

“It’s not just any trophy. It's not just a trophy that was made up, but it's a replica of the first one that Garlits achieved in 1963, so just to see where we've gone, from the first to the 1,000th, and everything that's happened in between and how far we've come — the safety on these cars, the speeds, the e.t.s, the records, everything that's happened in between — from that one to 1,000th is pretty special.”
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