NHRA legend Shirley Muldowney speaks out against Bernie Ecclestone
When speaking about female motor racing legends, you can never leave out the name Shirley Muldowney.
A three-time NHRA Top Fuel champion, Muldowney was, in fact, the first driver to win more than one title in that class.
So, when Bernie Ecclestone made some comments earlier in the week about female race drivers - stating that he didn’t “know whether a woman would physically be able to drive an F1 car quickly, and they wouldn’t be taken seriously” - Muldowney had a few things to say:
“Someone who says some of the things I read that he said, it's pretty degrading, really,” the 75-year-old told BBC World News.
“I'm a 50-year veteran in the sport of NHRA drag racing. I've won four championships (three NHRA and one AHRA) and I've had the pole position 18 times in my career, and to listen to this man just degrade everything that any other woman has done out there, myself included, is a little bit of a put-down.
“I'm not out there because I'm a woman, I'm not out there because I am trying to prove anything, and I'm not out there because I want to prove Mr. Ecclestone to be a bonehead, but winning is the bottom line. That's what it's all about.”
Muldowney continues to do a lot in the racing community, running the non-profit Shirley’s Kids charity which helps children in need at various NHRA markets. The charity recently presented a $5,000 check to the Rossman family of Orlando, Florida, to help their 12-year-old son, Jaeden, who has cystic fibrosis.
When asked if she foresaw a movement of racing series encouraging female drivers to come out and race, Muldowney responded: “It already has happened. It happened back in 1971 when the NHRA, the first to accept women on an equal basis, allowed me to come into the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis and get my feet wet.
“I reached the top of our sport. I wanted to go out there and teach them the right way to do it, show the fellas the way home, and no one gave me a quarter. I did it… with great crewmembers, and I always had my own equipment. I was the boss, and it kinda looks like I called the right shots when you look at history.
“Most (female drivers) are not just drivers, they don't just show up with their helmet in one hand and a first-class boarding pass in the other. They come with their own equipment, they build their cars and engines, they maintain things, they tune it, and they drive it. They are kinda like a one-man band, and what a great job our drivers do. That's the foundation of the NHRA. You must start at the bottom and work your way on up to the top.
“I started with the sport in its infancy and I grew with it. I was the first woman, and they hated me. They did everything they could to outwit me, to make life difficult, but you know, I didn't go to the corner and cry, I just got even. And I'll tell you where I got even: right on the starting line and on the finish line. That was my taste of glory, and I dwell on it. I love the way I did it because if I had done it any other way, I would not have made the grade.”
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