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We're the first to admit that the subject here doesn't
often turn to discussions of racing or race car drivers.
When it does, though, the image conjured up is usually either a grease-smeared
old-timer or a suave
European guy with a perfectly-creased uniform. Even if the stereotypes are overturned and a woman is pictured on the track,
she'll generally take the form of Danica
Patrick or Sarah
Fisher or Ashley Force,
attractive and talented women, no doubt, but not exactly reeking of exhaust,
racing fuel,
and burning rubber.
But today we celebrate a woman who overcame all the odds to become the first
woman inducted
into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. A woman who, in her own way,
was like the Jackie Robinson of auto racing, overcoming prejudice and stereotypes
about "women drivers."
A woman who took on male drivers in even competition and beat them fair and
square. Today we celebrate the 69th birthday of Shirley Muldowney,
queen of the race track.
From funny cars
to dragsters
to match races, Muldowney has done it all, competing even after a
debilitating 245 mph crash
(from which it took her three years and multiple surgeries to recover) and
into her 60s, when she finally retired
from competition in 2003. Overcoming the scoffers by taking on male drivers
on their own terms -- and by literally making
them eat her dust -- Muldowney was talented and successful enough that ESPN ranked
her the 21st-greatest driver of all time.
Her determination, grit, and sheer talent
proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that a woman's place is on the track --
especially if she can do a mile in under five seconds.
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