Shirley Muldowney - Grand Marshal of March Meet

When you talk about tradition and history in drag racing, the March Meet at Famoso ('the Patch') is one of the most traditional and oldest racing events in history. When you talk about somebody who broke the barriers and made history and is one of drag racing's most historical figures, you're talking Shirley Muldowney. These two icons are matched up this year as Shirley Muldowney will be hosted at this years March Meet as its Grand Marshal. Upwards of 100,000 race fans are expected.

What took so long

It's amazing that it took this many years before Shirley finally became a Grand Marshal since the inception of the accolade some 17 years ago. Shirley Muldowney is one of sports great race drivers and this particular year marks the 30th anniversary of her win at the March Meet. By the way, the following year, Shirley made it to the finals at the March Meet only to lose to Lucille Lee - an all-woman final, which was a first (source - National Dragster).

There were many women who broke barriers in motorsports but none were as huge as Shirley Muldowney, who was the first drag racer to win three (3) Top Fuel NHRA championships. Shirley was voted in the Top 5 All-time great drag racers; a tribute to her tenacity as well as her talent and business acumen. Her memorabilia is still as popular as ever. Shirley Muldowney was inducted into the the Motorsports Hall Of Fame in 1990 (source - Wikipedia) and she's in so many other Hall of Fame's, there are too many to list. Another interesting fact is that Wally Parks of the NHRA pulled her license for a dragster initially, when he learned she was, well, a she. He quickly reinstated it when the press gave him heat (source - Book, Tales from the Track).

Before she became famous with her Top Fueler, she drove a Funny Car successfully. Shirley was already famous enough that by the early 1980's, a movie was made about her called Heart Like A Wheel, with a great performance by and starring Bonnie Bedelia in 1983 (source - IMDb). Shirley was never enthralled with the movie or Bonnie Bedelia. A year later, Shirley would have a hellacious race crash in Montreal Quebec that broke several bones in her body and put her out of the sport for a couple of years.

Shirley brought in a non-endemic sponsorship (rare 4 decades ago); English Leather, which ironically was men's cologne and won her first major event in 1976 with them on board (source - National Dragster). Between the late 70's and the mid 80's, Shirley Muldowney was as dominant a racecar driver as any in history. She truly deserves these awards in life like the Grand Marshal of the 53rd edition of the March Meet and here's hoping we continue to see this iconic figure grace Famoso in the years to come.

Under any name, she's the "First Lady Of Drag Racing"

Oh yeah, and the story about Shirley hating her nickname 'Cha Cha'? In fact she actually liked it but wanted people to know her full name. Check her website out, as the front page has Cha Cha emblazoned right there for all to behold. But call her Cha Cha or Shirley, she will be at the March Meet (March 19-21) in Bakersfield, Ca as the Grand Marshal and will be available almost the entire weekend. So if you want to see a true legend, here's your chance.

See you at the Patch.