Shirley Muldowney's Tales from the Track
By Shirley Muldowney with
Bill Stephens
Reviewed by DRO staffer Caitlin Moriarity
4/8/05
"When
you hear the name Shirley Muldowney, there are certain adjectives
that instantly pop into your mind to describe the one person
who arguably had the biggest impact on the sport of drag
racing. Words such as determined, stern, passionate, and
driven certainly describe her, but I think of Shirley as
one of the toughest competitors to ever strap into a Top
Fuel car, if not the toughest."
This is how Don Prudhomme begins his foreword
in the book Shirley Muldowney's Tales from the Track.
This is high praise coming from someone who himself is considered
one of the legends of drag racing.
Shirley Muldowney's Tales from the Track
is a book that delivers exactly what its title promises
– a collection of Muldowney's stories about her careers,
life-changing events and the people around her. Through
Muldowney's matter-of-fact narrative style, the reader sees
how she has demonstrated each of the qualities Prudhomme
ascribes to her.
The essay format is great for people with
short attention spans, because no story is so long that
you get bored by it. On the other hand, it can be confusing
to follow, because the essays aren't organized chronologically.
But Muldowney covers everything you've ever
wanted to know about her – how she got into racing,
her struggle to compete at an NHRA national event, her various
relationships on the track and off, and her devastating
accident in 1984.
The only gap I noticed was that Muldowney
doesn't explain why she started racing a pink dragster.
Was it a feminist statement, a polite "screw you"
to the men who thought she couldn't cut it, or does she
just like the color pink? (Muldowney does explain that she
kept racing her pink dragster because it became her signature.)
This is a fun read for any drag racing fan.
And if you pay attention, you just might learn something.
