Growing up and living through her teen years in New York, Shirley discovered early she had a penchant for speed and competition.  In fact she became somewhat of a notorious local street racer in the early days, but was quickly drawn to a growing form of auto competition called drag racing.  Reportedly, it was so-named because competitors would "drag" out through each gear shift.  Drag racing is done on a straight course (normally one-quarter mile) in pairs with the lower elapsed time from start to end measured in seconds determining the winner.

After marrying former husband Jack Muldowney. She continued to pursue what was still considered a "men's game".  Shirley began racing (and winning) in a variety of sportsman entries through 1964, including a brief stint in a factory experimental car during 1963.  Indeed, she discovered there were a few things in life more satisfying than winning, and soon gained a reputation as someone who had no intention of backing down especially in gender-related issues.

Her willingness to buck the system would change the sport forever in 1965, as she was successfully licensed that year to compete in the supercharged gasoline dragster category by drag racings largest organization the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).  The upper Gas divisions were professional categories, and no other women had ever been permitted this qualification up to that time.  She proved it was no passing thing by match racing (exhibitions for a guaranteed fee) throughout the East and Midwest for the next four years, as well as making selected national event appearances on both NHRA and rival AHRA (American Hot Rod Association) sanctioning bodies. 

However, in 1971, NHRA decided to eliminate the Top Gas category due to the introduction of new divisions, and Shirley chose to move into the popular new "funny car" category.  There is nothing funny about funny cars.   The car makes several thousand violent horsepower running on nitro methane fuel, and can be very difficult to drive.  Undaunted, Muldowney stepped right up to the plate, posting a win on her first time out at a match race in Lebanon Valley, New York.

She also entered the record books for the first time when the upstart International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) held it's first-ever season.

Muldowney would post her first national event win at the sanctions Southern Nationals in Rockingham, North Carolina in 1971, and a runner-up finish at the same race a year later.
 

However, while the popularity of the funny cars is unquestioned, they were very dangerous in those days.  Fire was the worst enemy, and Muldowney would be involved in at least four bad fires during her three years in the machines irreverently referred to as "fiberglass infernos."  In a funny car, the driver basically straddles the motor, with the seat mounted only three feet behind the rear of the engine.  Should the engine explode, as the nitro methane was prone to detonation, the engines oil and fuel would spill down on to the red-hot exhaust headers, instantly setting a car ablaze at speeds over two hundred miles per hour.  The net effect: a blow torch to the drivers face while traveling the equivalent of a football field every second.  The safety equipment of the era was not enough, and after a particular nasty fire at the 1973 NHRA U.S. National (the sports biggest event) that nearly destroyed the race car and required serious burn recovery Shirley Muldowney had enough if them.

There is only one category above funny cars, Top Fuel.  These are the kings of the sport, machines created with only one purpose in mind-go from point A to point B in the least possible time.  Though also fueled by "nitro," in top fuel dragsters, the engine is mounted behind the driver.  In 1973, only men drove them, but once again Shirley was not going to let that stand in her way.  She had already made the required licensing qualifications, driving a dragster owned by Poncho Rendon of Detroit, with noted Top Fuel drivers Conrad "Connie" Kalitta, Don Garlits and Tommy Ivo approving her ability in writing, thus becoming the first woman ever to license in the NHRA top fuel category.

Shirley Muldowney returned to the U.S. National the following year in 1974, posting the top speed of the meet at 241.58 mph using her own car and race team, with Kalitta doing the engine tuning.  She also scored a Semi-final finish at the PRO-backed National event in Long Island, N.Y., posting elapsed time as quick as 6.09 seconds.

On June 15, 1975, she added more to her accolades when she became the first woman to advance to the finals in Top Fuel, posting a runner-up to Marvin Graham at the NHRA Spring National in Columbus, Ohio.  Two months later, on August 24 at the Popular Hot Rodding Championships in Martin, Michigan, she blasted a 5.98 second elapsed time to become the first woman to break the 5 second barrier.  Then, back at NHRA U.S. National, she again went to the final round only to come up short against Don Garlits.  These season long accomplishments earned her a place on the prestigious ten member, "All American Team" by the AARWBA.

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