Consider Josh Hart to be the champion for the underdog. You can also consider him to be the underdog with the most vicious bite. 

Sunday at zMax Dragway, in the most improbable fashion, the soft-spoken Hart stepped up in the final round to beat the seemingly unstoppable Brittany Force in the Top Fuel final round at the DeWalt Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals. 

Hart spoke volumes with his actions on a day that many could consider the epitome of the "Any Given Sunday" mantra. 

"I think the biggest thing I want to prove is that even if you grew up in a trailer park, anything is possible," Hart said. "You can come out here and race a Top Fuel car and win races just like everyone else if you work hard enough. We are in this for the long haul."

Hart's victory marked his second in his first eight races as a Top Fuel driver. This record, in addition to 16 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series wins, including his regional victories. 

Not bad for a driver who planned to run a limited schedule in 2021. 

"We never really planned on doing a full season this year," Hart admitted. "We just wanted to get our feet wet and build the team. That has obviously been accelerated by moving to Indianapolis. The team seems to have gelled together right away. We revamped all of our parts inventory. We keep buying more stuff and investing in NHRA."

Well, there was the whole winning his Top Fuel race in his debut event back in March at the NHRA Gatornationals, which also lit a fire under Hart. 

"After winning our first race, we thought we'd be chasing our tail for a little bit. I'm glad to be back out there. The real magic happens in the pits, not on the track. Those guys are awesome. Watching them is like a well-orchestrated symphony. That's where the praise needs to go. Happy that I could return the favor for them in the finals."

Hart entered eliminations as the No. 7 qualifier and earned his way to the final, beating Alex Laughlin, Mike Salinas, and a surging Justin Ashley. 

Hart has had to overcome a stretch of misfortunes, including a batch of bad blower belts and, yes, even COVID-19. This can be attributed to costing the team a spot in the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship. 

"Everything for a stretch of time that could have gone wrong for us went wrong," Hart explained. "We sat out a few more races than I would have liked to with COVID issues. We were moving things to Indy. I felt like we really should have been in the top ten. We could have if we would have attended those races. That's all behind us now. We are willing to make the commitment to fix all of those issues. We are in this for the long haul."

And all of a sudden, with two race wins, Hart finds himself back in the mix for the NHRA Rookie of the Year honors. 

"Rookie of the Year would be a great honor," Hart said. "I want to represent my team and my sponsors as well as possible. I'm trying to bring a lot of new things to NHRA. R&L Carriers have never really dabbled in NHRA before. We donate all of our contingency money to young racers to help them get to where they need to go. It's expensive. Rookie of the Year would be extremely important to me and my team and everybody we support down the ladder."

Hart doesn't take offense to the notion he's a spoiler since he's not in the Countdown. It's a role he's prepared to play to the fullest. 

"Somebody called me the wildcard at Reading," Hart said. "I want to win every race. Whether I help someone or hurt someone, it's not our objective. We just want to go out there and win like everyone else."

Sunday, he did just that with little or no regard for just how much the odds were stacked against him.