41 Replies to “Heart Like A Wheel”

  1. Thanks for acknowledging the accomplishments of three-time NHRA Drag Racing world champion, Shirley Muldowney. However, that photograph is of Don “Big Daddy” Garlits’ dragster. 🙂

  3. I seem to remember Shirley was a champion, not just a race winner. Also broke both legs once. She is a tough lady.
    I don’t remember any other woman winning in Champ cars before. There hasn’t been hardly any female participation in stock cars at the top level for many years.
    You would think that there could be more successful women in racing, after all they always rate better for driving insurance, so there should at least be more consistent finishing.

  4. Quite right Kate. And I believe her Daddy was the team leader,or what ever you call them.

  5. Met Shirley @ an IHRA NAtional Event in Grand Bend Motorplex.http://www.grandbendmotorplex.com/index2.php
    She signed all of our jackets that we were going to give away at an event we were sponsoring.
    She was running in and out of the motor home making sandwiches for her crew and then getting into her dragster and fired it up for them to check things over.
    Must also make mention of the newest LADY in drag racing.
    Ashley Force. She won her first Funny Car Wally last weekend.
    http://www.nhra.com/content/race_results.asp?articleid=28472&zoneid=93&y=2008&navsource=6

  6. Crap, fooled by a google search. You’re right – the color is wrong.
    I’ve even watched Garlits race. Duh. In my defense, it’s been a very long day…

  7. Shirley “Cha-Cha” Muldowney in her hotpink AA Fuel car was a fantastic racer. Grit and determination in spades. The biggest deal was that she made no big deal about beating the boys. She just went out and did it. It actually became almost ho-hum when she won. Kind of like John Force in funny car the last few years. But all these years later, she’s been all but forgotten. And for those of you who don’t remember, Shirley Muldowney was every bit as easy on the eyes as Danica. That may be sexist, but it shows the difference in media hype in a relatively short span.
    Shirley just won consistently. Danica has won once. She’ll be better with a couple of chamioships under her belt.. Until then, she’s a talented publicity stunt.
    Good call Kate!

  8. I remember seeing Heart Like A Wheel – kind of a corny movie, but must admit to gettin’ some kind of lump in my throat at times. Must have been the popcorn.
    Good stuff, Kate.

  9. Dragging isn’t race car driving. Drag racer’s have to hold the wheel straight, the mechanics make it go fast. Slightly higher on the food chain are stock car drivers, they learn to turn left. Real Race car drivers learn to turn Right AND Left, thus Danica is the first female race car driver.and since she can turn right and left is far superior to anyone in NASCAR….eat that Kirton!

  10. Don’t bother. I KNOW there are 2 road courses in nascar, however most teams bring in a driver that goes both ways for these races. Of course no replacement is required for Jeff Gordon, he goes both ways.

  11. My dear Bart. Ever Sat in, let alone driven a sub-10 second quarter mile time car? I don’t think so, or you never would have typed such an asinine comment. Once you get to sub 6 second times, you’d best be really good at keeping a horizontal missle going straight. 95% of people would fill their drawers in a sub 10 second car, let alone sub 6.
    Oh, and for the record, I used to race roundy round. Used to drag race too. Both take a lot of skill. They just use totally different skill sets. Roundy round was way easier.

  12. Real Race car drivers learn to turn Right AND Left, thus Danica is the first female race car driver
    When Danica, or any other driver can turn right AND left at 320 mph come back to discuss their accomplishment, so far their lagging behind Shirleys’ straight line accomplishments by about 100 mph.

  13. By that reckoning Bart, off-road racing trumps all, they don’t even have a race track.
    Drag racing isn’t the simple thing you think, dude. Particularly when you get into the top levels of NHRA. Top fuel cars do the quarter in four seconds and top out at 300+ mph. You name me one other race, on road or off, where they compete head to head at >300mph.

  14. Driving a TF or FC fuel car requires a lot of skill. As stated above most would be scared in a sub 10 second car and others would likely feint ina sub 6 second ride. Add trying to launch and not shake the tires on an 8000hp car. Not many could manage that I suspect.
    A buddy of mine recently had a ride in a NASCAR car on the Charlotte Speedway. He said entering the corners at 170 mph is interesting to say the least. He came away from that ride with newfound respect for the NASCAR drivers.

  15. Are you still riding that little yamahappy Kate?
    Just my opinion but maybe you should be going a little faster these days too!

  16. Kate,
    I’m not a big fan of sport but please, don’t confuse steering a male built, male designed machine with anything resembling female parity with males in this particular area.
    I don’t want to appear mean but otherwise, male built, male designed, male steered sewing machines would be kicking but in the quilt making competitions.
    Women have a lot to be proud of. This isn’t one of them.

  17. Kate,
    I’m not a big fan of sport but please, don’t confuse steering a male built, male designed machine with anything resembling female parity with males in this particular area.
    I don’t want to appear mean but otherwise, male built, male designed, male steered sewing machines would be kicking butt in the quilt making competitions.
    Women have a lot to be proud of. This isn’t one of them.

  18. ****** Warning … Warning … Sexist remark (Racial, bigot maybe) … do not read ******
    Meh … almost any womens can do 4-5 seconds before a “pit stop”. Does you know any womans that can outlast as tank of gas? … like Danica did!!!!
    anonymous

  21. Ural,
    “Meh … almost any womens can do 4-5 seconds before a “pit stop”. Does you know any womans that can outlast as tank of gas? … like Danica did!!!!”
    Yeah, sure. But did she ask for directions?

  22. “Yeah, sure. But did she ask for directions?”
    They got all that GPS mapping stuff in minivans … they gotta have the same stuff in race cars.

  23. Ural,
    “They got all that GPS mapping stuff in minivans … they gotta have the same stuff in race cars.”
    And those rocket scientists were male, right?

  24. If memory serves me Jim, Kate rides a RD. Plenty of the “hang on!!” factor with Yamaha’s infamous two stroke. The only other bike that kicked you in the tail like that was Kawi’s triple two 750. That beast was just scary.
    Ahhhh, the smell of two stroke in the morning!
    And thanks for the reminder about Muldowney Kate. She was actually the first person I thought of when I heard about Patrick’s win.
    And to all the whiners, drippers and nay sayers about the different types of racing? Feel free to speak up AFTER you have strapped a helment on in any form of motor racing.

  25. “”””The only other bike that kicked you in the tail like that was Kawi’s triple two 750. That beast was just scary.”””””
    and U put an 8-10 kit in the sucker, and you gots a screemin devil:-)))))
    the two types of racing don’t equate, even slightly
    Shirley is in a league of her own, don’t even need to qualify that with “as a woman”, but you can’t take anything a way from Dancia as even most men don’t have iether the physical stamina nor the mental/intellectual stamina to race in such a demanding race for such a length of time

  26. GYM,
    I agree, most of the 2 strokers RD/RZ 350/500 and the H1/H2 were girls bikes … the TZ750 was in a class of its own.

  27. Someone hand ural a Shoei…….. he just called Kate’s bike a girl’s bike……..

  28. “Someone hand ural a Shoei”
    Need one with ear flaps … with AGW it’s to cold to ride in the lower mainland.

  29. My mama warned me about “fast” women 😉
    Seriously, I’m not hung up on the first female thing but Danica does look better in a jumpsuit than Mario Andretti.
    Also if you want to compare racing modalities, consider air racing. Those guys are nuts.

  30. Couple of things. Kate, if you have a hankerin’ for a bigger vintage sickle, got one for sale (750 Kaw LTD, 18,000 KM, mint.) Somewhere in my racing memorabilia collection is a hat autographed by Shirl the year she came back from that terrible wreck in Montreal. As for road racers being top of the heap, well, let me tell ya. Several years ago, I watched a show about Junior Johnson and the story went on about how one of Juniors’ corporate sponsors talked him into letting one their “Euro” drivers run some hot laps at Atlanta in a stocker. Guy went out, got some speed, and radioed in that this was pretty easy. “Jooner” told him to keep it running and sent Neil Bonnett and DW out to give him a taste of running in traffic. Seems he didn’t like that quite as much. When he came in a camera crew caught a picture of Junior leaning down and talking in the window of the car. Next thing the guest shoe is out of the car and tosses the helmet pretty hard at Junior and storms off. The TV guys turn to Harry Hyde who had watched the whole affair with some amusement and ask for an assessment of what just transpired. Harry just laughed and said “I think ol’ Jooner jus’ tole ‘im if ya cain’t run wi’ the big dawgs, jus’ stay on th’ porch.”

  32. Fun thread. I really can’t see why any female can’t beat a guy at motorsports (except, maybe, bladder control).

  33. Err … make that “alleged bladder control” … don’t want to get sued for being racist.

  34. No worries, Kate. 🙂
    By all means, get your hands on a copy of “Heart Like a Wheel”. Shirley had huge obstacles to overcome, including the sanctioning body (NHRA). She blazed the trail for which all female racers should be grateful.

  36. These two Ladies did not have a problem holding it at all Ural… Maybe you would like to go for a ride with them…
    The first women team to win a rally race, Michele Mouton and co-driver Fabrizia Pons, who won the Italian rally in San Remo in 1981 in an Audi Quattro.
    They too had to turn left and right, navigate, as well as keep the car on the road, not some fancy track.

  37. UHH. Kids? Having never ridden an RD350, I can’t comment on its handling, but since it was designed as a roadracer, I’ll give Yamaha the benefit of the doubt and believe it turns corners at speed.
    For all those extolling the virtues of the Kaw 500 and 750 triples, while they were scary quick in a straight line, their ability to put the fear of God into an atheist if you attempted any spirited riding with corners was just as legendary. I can assure you That you only tried to ride a Kaw triple through the twisties fast once.
    Their styling may have been inspired by the Triumph Bonneville, their handling sure wasn’t. Having said that, there’s nothing quite like the sound of a Kaw triple at redline to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck! Ah, sweet memories of youth.
    My Norton may have lost in the drag race, but was never behind where the road had curves.

  39. sober
    I used to ride a 650 bonny (my younger bro’s), owned a H2, and an 850 commando, and was paired witha young lady to race a 350 RD in Cali, (was not to be as sponser backed out), I the one I wished I still owned is the old 45 flathead harley trike:-))))
    PS; owner a couple of other bikes as well:-))))

  40. Kudos to Shirley Muldowney but what percentage of the public really follows drag racing – mind you, IRL isn’t much better.
    Bart says:
    “Of course no replacement is required for Jeff Gordon, he goes both ways.
    Not sure what to make of that statement.

  41. As much as I am a Danica fan when she is behind the wheel … and as much as I consider her to be most appealing to the male eye (mine)…. I can’t get over disappointment of her platitude dispensing, sound bite camera presence.
    Although I’ve seen her in more indepth situations offer some reasoned responses.

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