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She Kicked Their Asses
Shirley Muldowney made a career out of “beating the boys”
“The best argument for women’s equality is competing against men and kicking their collective asses all over the track.” — Dan Bennett
Shirley Ann Roque was born in Burlington, Vermont, on June 19, 1940. According to her, she didn’t care for school. “All I wanted was to race up and down the streets in a hot rod.”
She married the man who built her first dragster. She was 16 and he was 19.
Her husband, Jack Muldowney, taught her how to drive and was her mechanic. She said in an interview that if it wasn’t for racing, she would have been headed for trouble. She had no guidance or direction until she discovered hot rods.
In 1958, at the age of 18, she made her dragstrip debut on the Fonda Speedway. By 1965 she had her NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) pro license and competed in the U.S. Nationals in 1969 and 1970. She had earned several trophies at this point, but the racing world still didn’t take her seriously. That would change.
She was not the first woman to win a major NHRA drag racing event. However, she became the most successful. She competed at the highest levels and in the fastest professional drag racing category, Top Fuel.
