Muldowney, Shirley (1940—)

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Muldowney, Shirley (1940—)

American drag racer who was the first woman to win a National Hot Rod Association event title. Name variations: Cha Cha Muldowney. Born Shirley Rocque in Schenectady, New York, on June 19, 1940; daughter of a Teamster steward and laundry worker; married Jack Muldowney, in 1956 (divorced 1972); children: one son.

Was the first woman to qualify for a national event in Top Fuel (1974); was the first woman to win a National Hot Rod Association event title (1976); was the first woman to be selected for Auto Racing All American Team.

Shirley Muldowney's pink dragster was a familiar sight to racing crowds throughout America, but she had to struggle to get to the starting gate. In order to compete, Muldowney had to overcome discrimination by fellow drivers, sponsors, and racing fans, but once her day-glo dragster was at the starting line, she consistently demonstrated her skill and daring on the racetrack.

She was born Shirley Rocque in Schenectady, New York, on June 19, 1940, and was fascinated with racing cars by the time she was 14. Her boyfriend Jack Muldowney, who had a '51 Mercury with a standard shift, might have been partially responsible. Behind the wheel of the hot little car, she was hooked; she quit school at 16 to marry Jack and race cars. The couple, who had a son, formed a team—he was the mechanic and she was the driver. Her first car was a rebuilt 1940 Ford Coupe she bought for $40. Although she began racing in 1959, Muldowney did not win a major race until 1971, when she took first prize at the track in Rockingham, North Carolina. A year later, she and Jack divorced, so Shirley had to hire a new crew chief. She found Connie Kalitta, a man with an excellent reputation in the racing world.

At the beginning of her career, Muldowney raced in the Funny Car class, surviving three fiery crashes. The danger of fire is more common in this category because engines are mounted in front of the driver. At the '73 Indy, "my blower broke 1000 feet from the finish line," she said later. "I was going about 230 mph. I knew something was wrong before it blew, but it was such a good run—you can flat tell a good run—that I just didn't want to lift my foot off the accelerator." When she finally did, the car exploded. "It poured fuel all over me and set me on fire. I knew I was in a bad situation. I hit the fire bottle and then pulled my parachute, but it burned right off. I drove behind the guy in the other lane, past a guard rail into a field and came to a stop. I got out with my helmet still blazing. My eyes were burned shut again."

Convinced that the Top Fuel class, where the engines are mounted behind the driver, was slightly safer, Muldowney became the first woman in the United States licensed to drive Top Fuel dragsters. In 1974, she was the first woman to qualify for a Top Fuel national event. Two years later, she was the first woman to win the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) event title at the Spring Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. She broke the six-second barrier on the quarter-mile track, the first woman to do so. In 1977, she won three consecutive national events and gained the 1977 NHRA world championship title.

Despite her obvious success on the track, drag racing was difficult for Muldowney. Racing was considered a man's sport and no one

would sponsor her. As far as the racing world was concerned, she owed her wins to Connie Kalitta, her male crew chief. When Kalitta walked out in 1978, Muldowney had to prove he was not the reason for her success. She and her young crew were winless on the NHRA circuit for almost two years, but by 1980 driver and crew jelled. Muldowney set a record at the Winter Nationals quarter-mile track in Pomona, California, at 255 miles per hour. She then went on to break the six-second barrier at the Gator Nationals in Gainesville, Florida, where she clocked 5.705 seconds to win. In 1980, Muldowney won her second NHRA Top Fuel world championship, the first driver to win the world title more than once. The following year, she defeated her former crew chief, Kalitta, at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. She also set a new drag-racing record of 5.57 seconds on the quarter-mile track, winning her first U.S. national title and a third world championship.

Muldowney survived many crashes, but a crackup in 1984 nearly took her life. As she blasted down the Sanair Speedway near Montreal at 250 miles an hour, her front tire blew out. The car flew 600 feet, breaking into pieces before stopping on an embankment. Both of Muldowney's legs were shattered, as were her pelvis, right hand, and five fingers. Her right thumb and left foot were nearly cut off. She spent almost a month in the hospital and then had to withstand five more operations. But the accident, as she said, did not kill her will to win (it also spurred the industry into making wheel and tire improvements). When the pink dragster once again pulled on to the raceway, at the 1986 Firebird International in Phoenix, Arizona, 20,000 spectators cheered Muldowney on. She had finally earned her place on the track and in the fans' hearts. In this comeback season, she had her career-best time of 5.42 seconds, racing over 267 miles per hour.

For 33 years, Shirley Muldowney was a pioneer in the racing world. She fought for opportunities, sponsors, and first place in a maledominated sport. When she qualified for her dragster's license in 1965, the NHRA refused to accept it. When they finally had to issue the license, they refused to let her race in NHRA national events. But Muldowney kept lowering her elapsed times, increasing her top speed, and moving up from class to class. Even so, it took the NHRA three more years before it gave in. In 1982, the story of her amazing career was told in the film Heart Like a Wheel, starring Bonnie Bedelia .