NHRA Women

Erica's car

Women have changed the course of history in many aspects of life including the NHRA. Shirley Muldowney, who was born in 1940, was a mother with a career in racing Gas Dragsters. She received her license in 1965. Ten years after making history as the first woman to do so, Shirley also became the first woman to break the six second barrier. In 1984, she nearly perished in a crash that left her in rehabilitation for eighteen months. Shirley claimed eighteen championships and nine runner-up titles in her career. Erica Enders was the first girl to race in Junior Drag Racing, a class for racers ages eight to seventeen. She started racing at the age of eight. In 2006, fourteen years later, she became the first woman to qualify number one in pro-stock. That same year, Erica became a team owner when she bought her car from Don Schumacher. She was the inspiration for the 2003 Disney movie "Right on Track." John Force's second oldest daughter, now Ashley Force Hood, earned her NHRA competition license in 2002. She was named Rookie of the Year in 2004. In 2006, Ashley received her Funny Car license, and in 2008, she became the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event when she beat her father in Atlanta. The fact that it was a woman beating her father was also a first. Without these women, Drag Racing would not be what it is today.

Ashley Force Hood

Shirley's Top Fuel Car