Drag Racing Tried to Stop Her. Then the Crash Nearly Did. Shirley Muldowney | Shirley Muldowney

Video Description from YouTube:

On June 29th, 1984, Shirley Muldowney crossed the finish line at Sanair, Quebec at more than 247 miles per hour — and then the dragster left the track. The injuries demanded multiple surgeries and a long rehabilitation, and for almost any driver it would have been the end. She had already been the first woman to win a professional NHRA event, the first woman to win the Top Fuel championship, and the first to win it three times. She had nothing left to prove. About eighteen months later, she climbed back into a dragster anyway.

This is the full story of how Shirley Muldowney went from a driver they said didn’t belong in Top Fuel to a three-time world champion — and then returned to the exact stretch of asphalt that nearly killed her. From a first pass at Fonda Speedway to the historic 1976 win, the three championships, the Hollywood spotlight of Heart Like a Wheel, the 1984 crash at Sanair, the long road back, and the last national victory of her career, we trace the runs, the rivalries, and the decisions that made her one of the most important figures the sport has ever produced.

CHAPTERS
0:00 — The night everything changed
0:53 — Before the pink dragster
3:08 — Breaking into Top Fuel
5:00 — Three championships
6:51 — Hollywood comes calling
7:39 — Sanair, 1984
9:58 — The road back
11:05 — The last win and the legacy
13:15 — What she left behind

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Archival footage and images used for documentary commentary and criticism under fair use. All rights remain with their respective owners.

#ShirleyMuldowney #DragRacing #TopFuel #NHRA #MotorsportHistory