Only four queens in herstory have managed to win four maxi challenges during a single season of RuPaul's Drag Race, and some of them didn't get to snatch the crown in the end. There is no magic formula for winning Drag Race, but the fans do look out for certain things in a potential winner. Historically, queens that arrive at the grand finale without any maxi challenge wins stand no chance at taking home the crown. In turn, winning a beloved challenge like the Snatch Game is usually something that the fans like to .
Sometimes, the competition on Drag Race is so close that selecting one winner becomes a matter of technicalities. For instance, a queen that never landed in the bottom could turn out to win her season if she doesn't have the most maxi challenge wins. Otherwise, landing in the bottom is completely forgiven if a contestant has that good of a track record in the competition. Moreover, since season 9, there is also the Lip Sync For The Crown format, which means that the finale can be anyone's game to win. After all, even the best overall track record wouldn't excuse a really bad lip sync performance at the finale.
In all of RuPaul's Drag Race herstory, only four queens have managed to win four maxi challenges during a particular season. The first contestant to do so was Sharon Needles, who went on to win season 4. Sharon won episodes 1, 3, 9, and 11 of the season. Then, it took a few years for this record to be repeated. In season 9, Shea Coulée won the maxi challenges in episodes 4, 5, 9, and 11. Alas, Shea lost part two of the Lip Sync For The Crown to Sasha Velour. The third queen with four maxi challenges was Gigi Goode in season 12. Gigi won episodes 4, 6, 7, and 12, but lost the crown to Jaida Essence Hall. Now that Symone has won four challenges in season 13, she is ing this very select group of queens. We can also count Bimini Bon-Boulash in, as they recently won four maxi challenges on RuPaul's Drag Race UK season 2.
There are also very few queens who managed to win four maxi challenges during their time on RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. The first contestant to do so was Alaska on All Stars 2. In the end, she was indeed crowned the winner of that season. Then, Trinity The Tuck also won four maxi challenges on All Stars 4 and entered the Drag Race Hall of Fame alongside Monet X Change. It is also worth mentioning that BenDeLaCreme won five maxi challenges on All Stars 3, which puts her ahead of all of these other queens.
There's a lot of Drag Race coming our way in 2021 and beyond, so there's always room for these records to be broken. The fans will keep tuning in to find out what happens next!
RuPaul's Drag Race season 13 airs Fridays at 8pm EST on VH1.