The “Invisible” Woman Who Drove a 215 MPH Nitro Funny Car — Then Vanished For 30 Years? | Nellie Goins

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The “Invisible” Woman Who Drove a 215 MPH Nitro Funny Car — Then Vanished For 30 Years?

In April 1971, somewhere in the Midwest, a mother of four strapped into a fiberglass-bodied nitro Funny Car, lit off a supercharged 481ci Chrysler Hemi, and ran 215 mph down the quarter mile — with no sponsor, no team manager, and her own children working as her pit crew. Her name was Nellie Goins. She was the first African American woman to drive a Funny Car at the top level of drag racing. And for thirty years, the sport forgot she ever existed.

This is the story of “Nitro Nellie” and the Goins and Goins “Conqueror” — a self-funded family operation out of Gary, Indiana that ran on a steelworker’s paycheck and munitions-plant overtime while the NHRA’s professional teams pulled away on Hot Wheels money. It’s a story about who drag racing chooses to remember, who it leaves in the shadows of the match-race circuit, and how one old race car sitting in a garage finally brought a forgotten pioneer her roses before it was too late.

We dig into the real history that the record books left out: the 481 Chrysler Hemi and its 6-71 blower, the Lee Austin chassis built around her measurements, championship tuner Ken Hirata, the Barracuda that became a Challenger that became the legendary ’71 Mach 1, the Bristol crash that ended it all, and the decades-later restoration that finally put the Conqueror in front of tens of thousands of fans at the Gatornationals and the US Nationals — with Nellie sitting next to Don Garlits, signing autographs at 75.

This is a forgotten chapter of American drag racing — nitro Funny Cars, the AA/FC class, and a 1970s match-race world that the history books almost erased completely.

If you love forgotten motorsport history, vintage Funny Cars, and the stories that never made the highlight reel, subscribe and hit the like button — it genuinely helps these stories reach more people who’d never otherwise hear them.

#DragRacing #FunnyCar #NHRA #MotorsportHistory #NitroNellie

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Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

All historical images and footage are used for educational and documentary purposes under fair use. This video is a work of historical commentary and research. While every effort has been made to verify the facts presented, some details of match-race-era drag racing remain incomplete in the historical record. If you own the rights to any material featured and would like it credited or removed, please contact us and we will respond promptly.