Drag racing is and always has been a sport defined by performance and the pursuit of milestone, barriers, and the immortality that goes along with it. Sure, the glory of victory is sweet, but it’s the numbers on the scoreboards that have embodied this great sport, from top to bottom, for more than 60 years. Many fans would be hard-pressed to remember who won Indy or the world championship in any particular year, but the records, the milestones, are forever seared into the memory of every hardcore drag racing fan in the world.

The 2012 racing season had it all, from incredible triumph to gut-wrenching tragedy, and it also saw a barrage on the record books across the vast spectrum of the sport unlike any season in recent memory. With the closing of another year just days away, we take this opportunity to look back at the greatest performances of season, in no particular order, along with our pick for the single best run of the year.

Carey Bales

The Experimental categories within the Super Stock division have always produced some of the most unique car/engine combinations in the sport, capable of some of the most impressive runs in the sport, and Indiana native Carey Bales displayed that fact with authority at the U.S. Nationals in his backyard in early September. Bales, driving a 2004 Honda S2000 in the SS/DX (D/Experimental) class, ripped off a 7.923, 174.39 mph lap during time trials at the “Big Go”, marking the quickest run in Super Stock history. Making Bales’ feat more impressive is the powerplant: an inline-four cylinder Honda F22 with only an 88mm Borg Warner turbocharger.

Peter Svensson

In August, European Top Fuel Motorcycle rider Peter Svensson fired the shot heard ’round the world when he clocked the quickest wheel-driven pass in the history of motorcycle drag racing at 5.709-seconds at what can only be assumed as a an early shutoff 220.89 mph. This pass had implications clear to the United States, as it unseated the heralded Larry “The Spiderman” McBride as the world-beater of the nitro bike class.

Mark Carlyle

Just two years ago, Mary Carlyle’s Atomic Orange Corvette was a street-driven ride running in the mid- to high-eight second range. Fast forward a couple of seasons, and that very same car has pushed the boundaries of what once believe possible with an Independent Rear Suspension-equipped vehicle. After posting a couple of records earlier in the fall, Carlyle dropped a bomb on every other LSX and IRS car in the world in Maryland in November when he stormed to an unreal 6.829 at 223.28 mph from his twin turbo C6.

Tim Lynch

Following a turbocharger explosion and ensuing fire last fall, crowd favorite and many-time world record holder Tim Lynch was forced to sit out for much of the early half of the 2012 season while his fellow Outlaw 10.5 comrades chipped away at the record books. Upon his return, Lynch wasted little time reassuming his throne, carding a 4.02-second elapsed time at the Shakedown Nationals; the quickest eighth mile pass in Outlaw 10.5 history.

John Clegg

Prior to Carey Bales’ run at Indy, the quickest Super Stock run ever belonged to John Clegg, who had rolled to a 7.964 at 171.08 mph in his SS/AM (A/Modified) ’88 Chevy Camaro at the NHRA Division 4 opener in Houston back in March.

Antron Brown

Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Since the NHRA switched to the 1,000 foot race format for the Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars in 2008, fans of the sport have been hard to impress when it comes to the record books, due to their disdain for the shortened format and the inability to compare the numbers to anything they’d known prior. That has gradually begun to change, however, and its safe to say the drag racing world was collectively stunned when Antron Brown blasted to the quickest pass in Top Fuel history with his 3.701-second lap in the cool, fall air of Maple Grove Raceway in October.

Don Fezell

At the NHRA Four Wide Nationals in April, Stock Eliminator racer Don Fezell made history when he recorded the first eight-second pass in the long and storied history of the class with his 2008 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet. Fezell lit the zMAX Dragway scoreboards up with an 8.954 at 153.88 mph on his 10.00 AA/S index. Fezell’s run came 11 years after Bobby DeArmond made the first nine-second run in Stock Eliminator history.

Jose Gonzalez

At the Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas in November, Jose Gonzalez traded blows with Don Walsh Jr. in pursuit of the all-time doorslammer record with his Proline-powered, twin turbo Camaro, ultimately clocking a 5.730 to put his name in the history books. Gonzalez’s run, impressive as it was, wasn’t quite uncharted territory, as Scott Cannon, the son of legend Scotty Cannon, had gone as quick as 5.738 back in 2008.

OUR PICK

Jim Whiteley

Bob Frey’s signature “Oh Baby!” is still reverberating around Los Angeles County after Jim Whiteley, the newly crowned Top Alcohol Dragster national champion, made the quickest and fastest pass ever recorded by a blown alcohol dragster at the Auto Club Finals in Pomona. Not only did he reset the all-time mark, but he lowered it three times over the course of the weekend.

The blown alcohol engine combination had been largely stalemated in performance gains over the last decade, leaving the ‘teens as unheard-of territory and seemingly unlikely at this point in time. So when Whiteley’s Norm Grimes-tuned YNOT Racing dragster reeled off a 5.178 at 277.43 mph in the semifinals at the Fairplex, it was an absolute jaw-dropper…one of those runs you have to check the scoreboards twice to make sure you read it right.