Take a look at this, this is the First Woman to Win 3 Top Fuel Championships!
A Woman Who Didn’t Just Join the Sport — She Rewrote It
When Shirley Muldowney first stepped onto a drag strip, the sport wasn’t ready for her.
Fans weren’t ready.
Sanctioning bodies weren’t ready.
Male competitors certainly weren’t ready.
But none of that mattered.
Because she didn’t come to fit in —
she came to win.
And in one of the most incredible careers in motorsports history, she became the first woman to win not one, not two… but THREE NHRA Top Fuel Championships.
A record that still commands respect decades later.
The Early Fight: Before the Championships Came the War
The NHRA didn’t even want women competing in the top classes at the time.
Shirley had to:
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Fight sanctioning bodies
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Fight public backlash
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Fight for licensing
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Fight for sponsorship
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Fight for credibility in an all-male arena
Many promoters refused to book her.
Some racers refused to stage next to her.
Others openly mocked or dismissed her.
But Shirley’s response was always the same:
Line me up — and watch.
1977 – The First Championship (The One Nobody Thought She’d Win)
Shirley Muldowney earned her first Top Fuel Championship in 1977, becoming the first woman to ever win an NHRA professional title.
It wasn’t a fluke.
It wasn’t a feel-good story.
She dominated the season with brutal consistency and fearless driving, proving she wasn’t a token racer — she was the fastest in the world.
1980 – The Second Championship (The One That Proved She Was the Real Deal)
If anyone thought the first title was luck, 1980 silenced them forever.
Her second Top Fuel Championship established her as a true powerhouse.
This wasn’t luck — this was mastery.
She was no longer an underdog.
No longer an outsider.
She was the most dangerous driver in the sport.
1982 – The Third Championship (The One That Made Her a Legend)
By 1982, she had nothing left to prove…
but she proved it anyway.
Winning her third NHRA Top Fuel Championship, Shirley became the first and still only woman to ever accomplish this feat.
Three titles.
All in Top Fuel.
All earned the hard way.
Her dominance forced the entire sport to evolve — not just socially, but competitively.
The Crash That Should Have Ended Her Career
In 1984, Shirley suffered one of the most violent, career-ending-looking crashes in NHRA history.
Her dragster broke in half at high speed.
She nearly lost her legs.
Doctors told her she’d never race again.
The sport quietly wrote her obituary.
But they didn’t understand her.
Shirley went through 18+ surgeries, years of rehab, and unimaginable pain — and came back to professional Top Fuel racing.
That comeback alone would be a full Hall-of-Fame career for most people.
For her, it was just another chapter.
Why Shirley Muldowney Still Matters Today
Shirley isn’t just a “female racer.”
She’s one of the greatest drag racers of all time — male or female.
Her accomplishments paved the way for future stars like:
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Leah Pruett
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Brittany Force
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Erica Enders
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Angie Smith
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Ashley Sanford
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Alexis DeJoria
Every woman who competes in NHRA today stands on the foundation she built.
And every man who straps into a Top Fuel dragster knows the record books still hold her name.
Legacy: The Princess of Speed, the First Lady of Drag Racing
Shirley Muldowney didn’t just break barriers —
she crushed them at 300 mph.
She forced the sport to evolve.
She proved that gender had nothing to do with talent.
She became the first woman to win three Top Fuel Championships…
…and she did it in an era when the world told her she shouldn’t even be allowed behind the wheel.
Her story isn’t just racing history.
It’s racing royalty.
