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Shirley Muldowney

1940-

American race car driver

Professional drag racing driver Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney is not just "good for a girl." Though she was the first woman to accomplish many feats in the sport, many of her records and claims are for the sport as a whole, regardless of gender—she is one of the most successful drag racers in history. She is second all-time in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history winner with seventeen titles, including three Top Fuel world championships. In her prime, she was a threat to many of the greatest names in drag racing, including Conrad "Connie" Karlitta, Don Garlits, and Tommy Ivo. In her sixties, she continues to race, though not competitively. As a fan favorite and history maker, she is popular at exhibition races.

Muldowney was born Shirley Roque on June 19, 1940, in Burlington, Vermont. She grew up in Schenectady, New York, with her father, Belgium Benedict, a taxicab driver and professional boxer, and mother, Mae, who worked in a laundry. As a girl, she showed no indication for her penchant for racing. Though she was agile and well coordinated, Muldowney was more interested in dancing, dating, and wearing pretty clothes than she was in any sport, let alone car racing. In fact, she dropped out of high school at age sixteen and married Jack Muldowney, a drag racer and mechanic, in 1956. When she married, Shirley Muldowney did not even know how to drive a car.

Like Husband, Like Wife

Jack Muldowney's longtime interest in high-performance cars began to wear off on his young bride. She began by attending races with her husband, and cheering him on when he raced. He taught her to drive after they were married, and Shirley became intrigued with the world of drag racing, and very familiar with all aspects of the sport, from the technical requirements of driving to the particulars involved with getting a car on the track. Drag races usually run on a quarter-mile track, and are paired head-to-head; the faster of two racers wins the race, which is over in less than fifteen seconds. The cars come to a stop with the aid of a parachute that ejects from behind to slow them down. Drag racing is so-named because drivers "drag" out through each gear shift.

Muldowney soon asked her husband to let her race, and he gave her her first car, a 1940 Ford running on a Cadillac V-8 engine. She entered local competitions in the regular stock car category and, though she did not win, she occasionally made it to the finals. She became more competitive in the early 1960s with her next two cars, a 348 tri-powered Chevrolet and then a 1963 Super Stock Plymouth. She hit just over 100 mph when racing, while drivers who raced low slung, specially-outfitted drag cars were reaching speeds of 170-180 mph. Her husband built her a Chevy-powered dragster and she soon caught up.

Muldowney had no problem proving herself on the track in amateur races. But drag racing's sanctioning bodies, including the NHRA and American Hot Rod Association (AHRA), had reservations about granting professional status to a woman. Muldowney and fellow female racers Judi Boertman, Paula Murphy, and Della Woods launched a campaign to be allowed to race professionally. In 1965, Muldowney was the first woman to receive her license to drive dragsters. There were naysayers who predicted one serious crash or fire would spook Muldowney off the track, but after several, she was always ready to get back in the car. She escaped what could have been a very serious crash in 1967 at the Orange County International Raceway without a scratch, and with a great deal of respect in the sport.

Funny Cars—Not So Funny

Toward the late 1960s, cars were being designed from scratch specifically for drag racing. Because of their odd proportions—a long, skinny front end and a jacked-up behind—the cars are called "funny cars." In the driver's seat of her own Plymouth, Muldowney was finishing at the front of the pack in funny car races in the early 1970s, reaching speeds over 200 mph and finishing the quarter-mile track in seven or eight seconds.

In 1971, Muldowney held her own against the best funny-car drivers, beating many of them. In September, she made the finals of the prestigious NHRA Nationals held at Indianapolis Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Any driver who could cover the track in less than seven seconds was considered elite at the time, and Muldowney did it in 6.76 seconds, reaching 215.31 mph. Her car broke down in the final round, but Muldowney was considered a threat to any driver on the track.

The Muldowneys divorced in 1972, and Shirley moved to Mt. Clemens, Michigan, to be closer to the Midwestern racing scene. Funny cars are inherently dangerous and fire prone, so Muldowney chose to switch to the top drag racing category, called Top Fuel. She won the 1974 U.S. Nationals at 241.58 mph, and was the first woman to advance to the finals in Top Fuel, coming in second place at the 1975 NHRA Spring National in Columbus, Ohio, and at the NHRA U.S. National. She was the first woman to break the five-second barrier with 5.98 seconds at the Popular Hot Rodding Championships in August. A successful season ended with her being voted to the prestigious "All-American Team" by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA).

Comeback of the Year

In 1976, Muldowney became the first woman to win a Pro class at an NHRA event when she won the Spring Nationals. She also won the World Finals that year and finished the season fifteenth in the points. The next great obstacle before Muldowney was to win the NHRA Winston Top Fuel Championship, which she did in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to claim more than one title. Muldowney's competitive nature and fierce determination were captured in the 1983 feature Heart Like a Wheel.

In 1984, a front-tire failure caused her car to veer off the track and into a ditch at 250 mph during qualifying at Le Grandnational in Montreal, Canada. Her legs were so badly broken they required numerous surgeries and months of grueling physical therapy before she could even walk again. She won the AARWBA's "Comeback Driver of the Year" award in 1986 after her triumphant return to the track. 1989 marked Muldowney's final NHRA win, at Fall Nationals. She also broke the four-second barrier with a time of 4.97 seconds at 294.98 mph.

Muldowney then switched her focus to the match race scene, where contestants are guaranteed a fee. She drives in events for the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), and is swarmed by autograph-seeking fans wherever she goes. She married Rahn Tobler—her former crew chief—in 1988, and lives in Armada, Michigan. She continues to set track records on racing circuits around the world.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: webmaster@muldowney.com.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Stambler, Irwin. Women in Sports. New York: Doubleday, 1975.

Periodicals

Kovac, Maria. "Women of Detroit." Hour Detroit. (November 1999).

Other

"No. Five, Shirley Muldowney." National Hot Rod Association Web site. http://www.nhra.com (January 15, 2003).

Offical Shirley Muldowney Web site. http://www.Muldowney.com (January 15, 2003).

"Shirley Muldowney: A Lifetime of Devotion." Racerchicks.com. http://www.racerchicks.com (January 15, 2003).

Sketch by Brenna Sanchez