I and my friends were privileged to be there when she was starting out. It was common to see her at the drag strip in Milton Vermont where she raced her 'vette and her husband raced his Plymouth wedge.
We also were there when Shirley drove her hubbies wedge and bested his time proving to all that she was a tough competitor and well on her way to the big show.
Still the boys were not ready for a woman in a drag rail and when she showed up in Milton with her newly fabricated rail to qualify for the big time there were many snide remarks from the male dominated crowd in and around the pits but she prevailed and later became a National Champion proving to all that women could compete in a mans World.
Shirley Muldowney (born June 19, 1940 in Burlington, Vermont [1]), also known professionally as "Cha Cha" and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is an American auto racer. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to win two and three Top Fuel titles.[2][3] She won a total of 18 NHRA national events.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Muldowney
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