Maddi Gordon is in her rookie season as a Top Alcohol Funny Car racer. A funny thing happened to her on the rookie road to keeping the car in the groove, not hitting anything and trying to win rounds; she sealed her place in drag racing history.

Gordon, the daughter of three-time NHRA world champion Doug Gordon, became the 100th female drag racer to win an NHRA national event. The 20-year old drag racer defeated Brian Hough in the NHRA Northwest Nationals final round to claim the historic number. This countdown began nearly 60 years ago when Shirley Shahan won in Stock eliminator at the 1966 Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

"This is amazing. It doesn't get any better than this," Gordon said. "My sister's at home, and I've been at every race with her, but she's not here. This is just a dream. I couldn't dream any bigger than this. And everybody stuck by me."

Between the 100 female winners, there have been 196 victories, led by six-time Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders, who has 49 of them. Angelle Sampey (Pro Srock Motorcycle, 46 wins), Shirley Muldowney (Top Fuel, 18 wins), Leah Pruett (Top Fuel, Pro Mod, and Factory Stock, 18 wins), and Brittany Force (Top Fuel, 16 wins) round out the top five most successful female winners in NHRA history.