At 70, Shirley Muldowney has lost none of the fighting qualities that helped her cross the gender line in top-level drag racing.

Muldowney, who began competing seriously in the mid- to late-60s, talked about her experiences as a female racer at the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association luncheon Tuesday at the Detroit Science Center (DSC).

Muldowney, who lives near Milan Dragway, was among a group of racing greats who will be guests at tonight’s 22nd annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America induction ceremony at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit.

“I was a victim of being ahead of my time,” said Muldowney, who was inducted in 1990 along with motorsports legends such as Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, Mark Donohue, Gar Wood and William France Sr. “Someone had to open the doors (for women).”

Muldowney crashed through the doors, winning NHRA Top Fuel championships in 1977, 1980 and 1982, and becoming the subject of “Heart Like a Wheel,” a 1983 movie about her career and challenges.

Muldowney never flinched in her battle to be accepted.

“I was the only girl, and I had to beat the boys,” said Muldowney, who won 18 career NHRA events and retired at 63. “They hated me. There I was when they pulled through the gates at the racetrack, and I wasn’t going away.”

Muldowney, who at one time had legendary Connie Kalitta as her crew chief and engine builder, would jump into a dragster right now if she had sponsorship, she said.

“Driving cars was natural to me,” Muldowney said. “I’d like to go back and settle a few scores. I like a good fight. It never ends.”

Muldowney wants a new drag strip built somewhere near downtown Detroit and more money invested in the sport.

“NASCAR, bless their hearts, have picked our pockets,” she said. “But we still have the best form of motorsports. You can visit and talk to the drivers in the garage, and you can sit in the stands and watch the action from 8 until 8. It doesn’t get better than that.”

Muldowney will be on hand tonight as fellow drag racer Dale Armstrong, late NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki, AMA Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath, veteran sportscaster Ken Squire, former Trans-Am winner Jerry Titus, USAC sprint and midget icon Rich Vogler and late stunt driver and Indy car star Joie Chitwood are inducted into the the Hall of Fame.

Joining Muldowney at Tuesday’s luncheon were current Hall members Mel Kenyon (midgets), Tom D’Eath (powerboats), Bob Bondurant (road racing/sports cars), Danny Ongais (Indy cars) and Elliott Forbes-Robinson (road racing/sports cars).

Former Indianapolis Motor Speedway executive and newly appointed Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III also attended the lunch, as did Jennifer Revson, sister of the late F1/Can-Am and Indy 500 driver Peter Revson, who was killed at 35 during practice for the 1974 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami.

Read more: Racer Shirley Muldowney hasn’t slowed down at 70 | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Just because Becky Jaques was the only female in the Quick 16 drag racing class Friday night at Dunn Tire Raceway Park, it didn’t stop her from defeating all the boys in the night’s eliminations.

Jaques, of North Tonawanda, powered her 1994 Chevy Lumina entry past Pete Maduri Jr. in the Quick 16 final to earn a hard-fought victory. Both Becky and her father/crew chief Mike Jaques were wearing large smiles on their faces after the triumph.

“The girl won tonight,” said an elated Becky. “It’s very exciting to come out here and do this. We just have so much fun. To do it in a door [full body] car against a dragster is cool.

“Pete [Maduri] is a good driver and it was a very close race. We were both real close on the starting tree and I ran right on my numbers and he was just a bit off on his at the finish line. For once, the girl finished first.

“Hey, I’m a girl and I got to throw that out there. I’m the only girl in the class. It’s fun that way.”

It’s easy to see where Jaques acquired her enthusiasm for drag racing. It was inherited from her dad.

“I’ve been in the garage since I can remember,” she said. “They couldn’t find me sometimes because I was always under cars. It’s in my blood and he’s given me the chance to do it. I’m very fortunate.”

Jaques’ biggest win came in 2004 when she won the Quick Rod class at an IHRA national event held at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ont.

As one might expect, Jaques earned a very big passing grade from her father Friday night.

“She was on tonight and that’s all it was,” said Mike. “She was good on the starting lights, the car was consistent. That’s all we could ask for. It’s great. She won that national event up in Canada in 2004 and it’s been a long dry spell since then. This is pretty cool. I’m a very proud dad.”

Mike Jaques has been involved with drag racing for many years and is best known as a past crew member of the Persico Brothers Racing team. The elder Jaques is also a former driver. He turned the wheel over to Becky earlier this decade.

“She started driving in 2000 when I got out of it,” said Mike. “I helped Dave [Persico] for many years. It’s been a lot of work and fun. Certain nights like tonight are special.”

Becky defeated Brian Hitchcock, Wes Cayea and Andy Gregoire Friday before her final. Gregoire is a multi-time track champion and Maduri has been one of the stronger competitors at the Lancaster strip the last few seasons.

Meanwhile, not many drivers have been involved with drag racing at Lancaster for as long as Carey Hodge. Friday, Hodge picked up another win, this time downing Dale Eckert in the Mod ET final. Hodge was very consistent with his reaction times to the green light in each round.

“I was able to hit lights all night,” said Hodge. “I was able to string together good reaction times. I had to race tough competitors like Dale in the final and Jeff Kerl in the first round so it was an all-around good night.

“I’ve been racing here 15 years now. I don’t get out as much as I used to. I had a big win up in Cayuga two weeks ago so I think over the last couple weeks I’ve gone about 14 rounds or so straight without losing.”

Dunn Tire Raceway Park drag motorcycle veteran Ken Babiak Sr. said he had a weird feeling beforehand that he would make it into Friday night motorcycle class final and emerge victorious. It turned out he was right. He just didn’t know that the fellow competitor he would beat in the final would be his son, Brian.

“I hope I get this feeling every Friday afternoon,” Babiak Sr. said.

“This was the first time I’ve raced against any of my sons in the final and it’s a great feeling for both of us to make it that far. I’ve been racing since 1981 when I got out of the military. Brian has been racing about three years now. Another son, Ken Babiak Jr., is the 2006 motorcycle champion here and now he drives cars. That leaves Brian and I to do battle.”

Mike Nowak was not on the track Friday as his race car is still being rebuilt after suffering a vicious crash earlier this season. He’ll be back in about three weeks.

“Six weeks ago I had a brand new car and the radiator hose blew out and got water under the slicks,” said Nowak. “Before I could correct it and pull the chutes the car did a couple of flips and slid all the way down to the end. I went across the finish line at 125 mph on my roof.

“The roll cage did its job and the safety safari got me out and now it’s just a matter of rebuilding.”

Just because Becky Jaques was the only female in the Quick 16 drag racing class Friday night at Dunn Tire Raceway Park, it didn’t stop her from defeating all the boys in the night’s eliminations.

Jaques, of North Tonawanda, powered her 1994 Chevy Lumina entry past Pete Maduri Jr. in the Quick 16 final to earn a hard-fought victory. Both Becky and her father/crew chief Mike Jaques were wearing large smiles on their faces after the triumph.

“The girl won tonight,” said an elated Becky. “It’s very exciting to come out here and do this. We just have so much fun. To do it in a door [full body] car against a dragster is cool.

“Pete [Maduri] is a good driver and it was a very close race. We were both real close on the starting tree and I ran right on my numbers and he was just a bit off on his at the finish line. For once, the girl finished first.

“Hey, I’m a girl and I got to throw that out there. I’m the only girl in the class. It’s fun that way.”

It’s easy to see where Jaques acquired her enthusiasm for drag racing. It was inherited from her dad.

“I’ve been in the garage since I can remember,” she said. “They couldn’t find me sometimes because I was always under cars. It’s in my blood and he’s given me the chance to do it. I’m very fortunate.”

Jaques’ biggest win came in 2004 when she won the Quick Rod class at an IHRA national event held at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ont.

As one might expect, Jaques earned a very big passing grade from her father Friday night.

“She was on tonight and that’s all it was,” said Mike. “She was good on the starting lights, the car was consistent. That’s all we could ask for. It’s great. She won that national event up in Canada in 2004 and it’s been a long dry spell since then. This is pretty cool. I’m a very proud dad.”

Mike Jaques has been involved with drag racing for many years and is best known as a past crew member of the Persico Brothers Racing team. The elder Jaques is also a former driver. He turned the wheel over to Becky earlier this decade.

“She started driving in 2000 when I got out of it,” said Mike. “I helped Dave [Persico] for many years. It’s been a lot of work and fun. Certain nights like tonight are special.”

Becky defeated Brian Hitchcock, Wes Cayea and Andy Gregoire Friday before her final. Gregoire is a multi-time track champion and Maduri has been one of the stronger competitors at the Lancaster strip the last few seasons.

Meanwhile, not many drivers have been involved with drag racing at Lancaster for as long as Carey Hodge. Friday, Hodge picked up another win, this time downing Dale Eckert in the Mod ET final. Hodge was very consistent with his reaction times to the green light in each round.

“I was able to hit lights all night,” said Hodge. “I was able to string together good reaction times. I had to race tough competitors like Dale in the final and Jeff Kerl in the first round so it was an all-around good night.

“I’ve been racing here 15 years now. I don’t get out as much as I used to. I had a big win up in Cayuga two weeks ago so I think over the last couple weeks I’ve gone about 14 rounds or so straight without losing.”

Dunn Tire Raceway Park drag motorcycle veteran Ken Babiak Sr. said he had a weird feeling beforehand that he would make it into Friday night motorcycle class final and emerge victorious. It turned out he was right. He just didn’t know that the fellow competitor he would beat in the final would be his son, Brian.

“I hope I get this feeling every Friday afternoon,” Babiak Sr. said.

“This was the first time I’ve raced against any of my sons in the final and it’s a great feeling for both of us to make it that far. I’ve been racing since 1981 when I got out of the military. Brian has been racing about three years now. Another son, Ken Babiak Jr., is the 2006 motorcycle champion here and now he drives cars. That leaves Brian and I to do battle.”

Mike Nowak was not on the track Friday as his race car is still being rebuilt after suffering a vicious crash earlier this season. He’ll be back in about three weeks.

“Six weeks ago I had a brand new car and the radiator hose blew out and got water under the slicks,” said Nowak. “Before I could correct it and pull the chutes the car did a couple of flips and slid all the way down to the end. I went across the finish line at 125 mph on my roof.

“The roll cage did its job and the safety safari got me out and now it’s just a matter of rebuilding.”

[News Source]

[Picture Source]

The boys weren’t paying nice with Angie McBride on Sunday.

McBride has been a strong player of late, most recently scoring a semi-final finish at the NHRA Fallnationals in Dallas, Texas.

Those kinds of performances will make the competition take notice.

In her first round match against Steve Johnson, the two-time 2008 winner rolled in and lit both bulbs. He sat and even stared over McBride. She never wavered in her routine. Neither did she stage.

Once he backed out of the second bulb, shortly thereafter McBride rolled in and lit her top bulb. Johnson fouled.

McBride let it be known from the start that she knew what Johnson was doing and wasn’t going to fall for it.

“Today, we are going to run my race,” McBride added.

She met up with Andrew Hines in the quarters and the two engaged in a lengthy staging battle. Hines eventually broke the :58 second battle of determination and staged first. He also red-lighted.

This marked the second time in as many races that she’s beaten Hines in the early rounds.

Her tactics of beating the competition at their game led Hines to utter the telltale phrase at the end of the track as he quipped, “You don’t give a damn about anybody.”

She responded, “I just do what I am told.”

McBride made her way into the semi-finals for the second consecutive week, but her raceday however would soon come to an end as Craig Treble, eventual race winner beat her in round three.

“The last few weeks have been amazing,” said McBride.  “I knew I had to just focus on the job at hand and whatever happens would just happen.  I was going to give it all I could and hopefully things would turn out in my favor, and they did.  We have taken out some big hitters the last few weeks and it is the greatest feeling ever.  To sit with Andrew in a staging battle that long and come out on top is just the greatest feeling ever.  I am so excited and I can’t wait for Vegas.”

Under the colors of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Hillary Will, driving KB Racing’s Top Fuel dragster, will give the car its inaugural appearance at this weekend’s NHRA event at Charlotte, NC.

Wilson Manifolds’ associate Scott Revell wanted the North American motor sport world to learn about their new partner in the Middle East. “The Royal Family of Bahrain has been highly supportive of our operations,” said Revell. Wilson and Revell are building a state-of-the-art $200-million dollar auto parts manufacturing facility in Bahrain.  This news comes as the drag racing world prepares to experience the magnificent new zMax Dragway facility at Concord, NC, the venue of this year’s NHRA Carolina Nationals.

Ken Black commented, “Hillary’s racecar not only promotes the Kingdom of Bahrain to our American audience, its involvement in the motor sport manufacturing plant with Wilson and Revell but also highlights the close ties between the USA and Bahrain—America’s vital friend in the Middle East.”  Bahrain, an Island in the Persian Gulf is now recognized as the foremost financial hub of the Middle East and the home of F1 and drag racing in the Gulf.

About a week ago, Erica Ortiz e-mailed me to let me know that she picked me as one of her top 5 favorite blogs for Blog Day 2008. I was honored and thanked her for reading my blog.

My day job, I am a marketing and events coordinator for a company that manufactures broadcast equipment. I do some side consulting for the motorsports industry as well. But on the weekends and every other second of my spare time, my passion is drag racing. Drag Racing is the all out acceleration from a dead stop, as fast as you can go in a 1/4 mile or 1320ft. distance. I have been racing since 1998, and turned PRO in 2006.

Normally, people who race came about it through a family member that races, or some other mechanical aspect. My parents could hardly change a tire, so they find it very puzzling

that I ended up having this passion for racing. I can remember being little and looking out the window of our painfully practical and all-around boring sedan at all the Mustangs and other hotrods on the road, and really being in awe of them. My favorite toys when I was little were little cars, not the Barbies my Mom wanted me to play with. When I got in my teen years, that passion for cars really grew. I was a 3 sport Varsity athlete in high school- Volleyball, Basketball, and Track. I actually had a full scholarship for Volleyball, but a severe auto accident the summer before my freshman year in college sidelined me from sports. The only release I had was to compete in cars, so after I graduated high school, I bought my first car- a Mustang GT, and started taking it out to the local track for Street Night. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Shortly after that, I started hanging out at a local speed shop with local star racer, Dennis Lugo. I ended up working there with him, and he taught me how to work on my engines, and really taught me the ropes of racing. My car progressively got faster. I started competing in a racing series, and ended up finishing #2 in my class in 2003, my first full year on the tour. I decided to move up to PRO in 2006, and finished #2 for the season in my rookie year there as well.

Though more women are out there today than when I started back in 1998, Drag Racing is still very much a male-dominated sport. Because it usually is such a unique story, women racing do tend to get more media attention. For the most part, that is a very good thing. However, as we have seen with IRL driver, Danica Patrick, you also tend to be scruntized much more and criticized for your every action. What that means is that as you are going through the learning curve process, they have a microscope on you. Any mistake you make (and believe me, all drivers make mistakes- male or female) spurns all the negative criticism that you can’t “cut it as a driver”. The truth is, all rookies make mistakes, the men just don’t have the magnifying glass over them for theirs.

The great thing about motorsports is that its the one sport where men and women can compete evenly…. the cars know no gender. But these cars are extremely expensive, and require the help of corporate and product sponsorships as you move up the ranks. Better equipment means faster times and makes you more competitive, so obviously the better funded racer has more chances of winning. Being a woman and also hispanic, I am able to offer a very different demographic to my sponsors. Because we are so rare in the sport, women tend to get more coverage and more mainstream appeal than male counterparts. This is a big selling point to sponsors…. win or lose, their car will make the press and thus reach their audience in a big way.

Sponsorships in drag racing are some of the most beneficial marketing dollars companies can spend because it provides them with a very wide array of marketing and promotional abilities. Everything from signage on the car (viewed by spectators, TV, magazines, etc), apparel, corporate hospitality, on-site event promotion, endorsements, printed promotions and hero card handouts, etc. are used as tools to give sponsors exposure and a ROI. My team makes sure that we are very proactive in getting exposure for the companies we represent. We have been featured in countless magazine articles (http://www.horsepowerandheels.com/Media/Print/Index.htm), we created our own TV Series (http://www.horsepowerandheels.com/TV/index.htm), and we stay active promoting the team, and our sponsors on a daily basis. BRISK USA (http://www.briskusa.com/), my main sponsor for 2008, started off as a product sponsor in 2006 and we really worked to get them exposure for their products. They were so impressed by the results, they decided to step up in 2007 to help us bring out a more competitive car. We work very hard to make sure ALL our sponsors are getting a very worthwhile response out of their association with Horsepower & Heels.

Although it would seem that after years of competing and especially how much more marketing appeal we have, that sponsorships would be easy for female drivers. However, I found out the hard way that the glass ceiling is still strongly in place. I’ve been told before that a sponsor still feels that he isn’t sure a woman could handle “a beast of a car like that” and that they are looking for a champion and to win races. Doesn’t matter that women have proven they can win…. the mental thought is still that a man can “get the job done”. Unfortunately, its a double-edged sword. Because you rely on sponsorships to fund a competitive car, women can only be as succesful as their funding allows. Until one is given the chance with a championship budget, we’ll always be running for 2nd best.

When I started racing, I very much wanted to be accepted, wanted to prove that I was able to compete with the men and be good at what I do. But after awhile, I found myself trying to “be one of the boys” to be out there competing with them. It was almost as though I was apologizing for being me… for being feminine and girly and still wanting to be a fierce competitor at the track. I didn’t like that…. and one day, when a fellow racer expressed his absolute disbelief that I wore heels to a dinner banquet it came to me: Who says Horsepower & Heels don’t mix?!? There is nothing wrong with being a fierce competitor and still being true to what I am…. I am very proud of being a woman in such a male dominated sport.

My friends laughed and really appreciated the name, and after launching my website (http://www.horsepowerandheels.com/) to the public, I received comments and notes from all across the world from other women who could relate. Its allowed me to meet so many great and supportive people.

I started the blog as an experiment in March of 2005 when I launched my website. I had just heard the word “blog” and wanted to learn more about the blogosphere and to have a place to talk about things that were important to me. It started off as a journal, keeping my family and friends informed with how the racing was going, but over the years has expanded to include all things important to me. I love the open communication it allows, and though my niche tends not to be as active in the social media area and don’t comment as much as I’d like, my blog still is the highest read section of my website, and brings 10,000 unique visitors and more each month.

I have readers of all types on Horsepower & Heels: men, women, other racers, and people who don’t race at all. Men thinks its cool, and love to chat cars. Women think its empowering, and kids like to see what’s possible when you put your mind to it. All of that is important. And I try to make sure that there is something for everyone, and that its easy to understand. I also think its important to use my blog for good causes too, that’s why you’ll see a lot of special causes posts (http://www.horsepowerandheels.com/blog/labels/Special%20Causes.html) in the mix too. Its important to give back.

After my rookie PRO season, my crewmate Debbie and I were laughing at all the funny things that happen behind the scenes getting to the races. Some of those stories just don’t make good blog posts, and some of them would have made me money on America’s Funniest Home Videos. So, we decided to start carrying around a camera for PNN.com and record what its like behind the scenes being to women on the road and at the races. So far, we’ve been struggling to get the car back together, but once the race season kicks back in for us, there’s sure to be hilarity to follow.

This goes back to what created Horsepower & Heels to begin with. People see you out there in racing t-shirts and tanks, and a firesuit, and they begin to forget that you’re still a woman and capable of being girlie and attractive. I haven’t been racing recently, and I still get the comments of awe and shock when I wear dresses and skirts, as if being a racer by default means I can’t be girlie too. Its not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it can get a little undermining… like, do people even see me as girl anymore? Am I really that transparent? I’ve been “just one of the guys” so long that sometimes I just want someone to open a car door for me, or comment on my new outfit, and not the size of my engine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m way more comfortable in a shop getting greasy than I am in the kitchen or garden, but still.

11) I’ve seen quite a bit of objectification of women in the male sports blogosphere. They seem to only cover women’s sporting events if the girls are “hot.” What are your thoughts on this? Do you see this as a challenge for bloggers like you and me?

You always get the jerks who make rude and lude comments, that’s just part of it. But I think that as a whole, I’ve found men to be very respectful and complimentary of the actual talent of women athletes, a pretty face just is the very sweet icing on the cake. It breaks the stereotype that women who succeed in athletics are manly and ugly…. just look at Ashley Force or Danica Patrick. Beauty AND Brains AND talent to boot!

I do think that regular coverage of women sports is lacking. We are lucky in motorsports, because we’re the only sport that women and men compete together, so we already have media representatives there and grab their attention. But if it were an all-woman series, I don’t think we’d get the billing or the coverage at all, and that’s sad. Its the same for all the other sports…. womens’ basketball only is talked about when there’s a fight, etc.

I do think its very important to show support for our female athletes, and that especially includes corporate sponsorship. By allowing them the same means to achieve in their sport, you are not only giving them the chance to be the best, but you are lending credibility to them in the eyes of people who subconsciously or even consciously view them inferior.

I don’t neccesarily consider myself a feminist, but I’m all about empowering women to achieve anything they set out to do. I believe that by not conforming to this centuries old idea of what a woman is supposed to do, act, and be, we are redefining what we are. That includes sports….

Media coverage such as ….Because I Played Sports, more support from sponsors, more personalization into the lives of the women. How much more impressive is it to see these awesome athletes, and know that many of them are mothers, career women, etc. Most women athletes right now are not making their living from their sport, unlike male counterparts. That’s what makes their successes that much more impressive.

[Source]

Topeka, KS–Following a successful outing at the recent LODRS event at Houston Motorsports Park, the Drag Strip Girl and Applied Tool Supply-backed TA/FC Team of Nancy Matter would like to keep the momentum rolling through the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan.

“Our team has learned an awful lot since our last trip here in 2006″, said Matter. “I’m pleased with the job my crew has done since I debuted this car two years ago. They have absorbed a lot of data and tuning suggestions from other prominent crew chiefs, which allows me to focus on driving. You have to keep in mind that I have an all-volunteer crew that’s spread out over a few states. The only time we are all together is when we’re at a race.” Matter continued, “Jeremey Mitchell handles most of the between-race servicing by himself. I am extremely grateful to my entire crew, Eugene & Kelly Rowson, Jeremy Lowe and Desmond, for taking time off from their ‘day jobs’ to come moonlight with me at the drags.”

“We continue to creep up on the tune-up, thanks in part to the behind-the-scenes support of Tom Conway, and have now gotten to the point where we feel confident of qualifying for the show. Our goal is to qualify solidly in the field at Heartland Park Topeka, get a couple of more round wins under our belts, and move up in the national points standings.”

Matter added, “We especially want to thank Karl and Marty Belt from Applied Tool Supply of Austin for coming onboard with associate sponsorship for this event. They attended their first drag race at Houston Motorsports Park and had a fantastic time.” Obviously, we left a good impression on them”, concluded Matter.

For more information about Nancy Matter Racing, log on to: http://www.NancyMatterRacing.com?http://www.MySpace.com/NancyMatterRacing
For more information about Drag Strip Girl Apparel, log on to: http://www.dragstripgirldesigns.com
For more information about Applied Tool Supply, log on to: http://www.apptool.com

TOPEKA, Kan.– The question of “when” for Hillary Will has been answered – It’s today. Sunday at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kans., Top Fuel rising star Hillary Will, driver of the 8,000-horsepower KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster, picked up the first NHRA national event of her young career at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals, the 9th event of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, with a final round victory over Larry Dixon, 4.744 seconds, 304.53 mph to 4.960 seconds, 281.42 mph.Will becomes the eighth female Top Fuel winner in NHRA history and now joins other auto racing female winners in what has become the year of the woman racer so far in 2008. Recently, Ashley Force became the first female event winner in the NHRA Funny Car class, and Danica Patrick became the first woman to win in the Indy Car Series earlier this year. Two weeks ago Melanie Troxel became the first woman to win event titles in both of the NHRA’s nitro-fueled classes – Top Fuel and Funny Car.

Will’s KB Racing, LLC team’s, led by crew chief Jim Oberhofer and co-crew chief Troy Fasching, last trip to the finals was at the event in Memphis in 2006. The event in Topeka was the 55th NHRA national event of Will’s career.

“Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Will, a 28-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., said. “I have dreamed of this day for so long, and it’s finally here. My KB racing, LLC team is awesome. They’ve given me such a great race car all year long, and I can’t thank them and my team owners Ken Black and Kenny Black enough for everything that they have done for me and this wonderful opportunity, “We knew we had everything to win, and today everything went our way. Thank you to all of our sponsors and everyone who has supported us and stuck with us. Now that we have gotten a win, I’m sure it’s just going to make us hungrier for more.

“This is definitely the year of the woman racer. It’s an honor for me to be mentioned with all of the great women who have raced and won.

En route to the landmark win and the second final of her three-year Top Fuel career Will defeated Doug Herbert in round one, Morgan Lucas in the quarterfinals, and Cory McClenathan in the semifinals.

With her victory, Will moves up to 4th in POWERade championship points standings. It’s the highest points placement for Will in her career.

Will and the KB Racing, LLC team have now won 13 rounds of eliminations so far in 2008, four more rounds than they won in all of the 23 events last season.

Will’s Kalitta Motorsports teammate Dave Grubnic, driver of the DHL Top Fuel dragster, also got his first NHRA event win in Topeka in 2005.

At the first two events of this season’s 24-event NHRA national event schedule, Will set the track record for speed, for either gender, at both of the quarter-miles at Phoenix Int’l Raceway (334.32 mph) and at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.) (334.56 mph). Will’s speedy blast in California established her as the fastest woman ever in drag racing. She and the KB Racing, LLC team were also the fastest of the racing weekend (tie) at the third event in Gainesville, Fla., with a 330.63-mph lap. They were again the fastest team of the fifth event in Las Vegas, 331.85 mph.

A former standout in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, Will moved up to the quickest and fastest NHRA professional class, Top Fuel, in 2006 behind the wheel of a newly formed team owned by Las Vegas businessman Ken Black and managed by Kalitta Motorsports, the multi-car team founded and owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. She won her first Top Fuel event trophy in Norwalk (IHRA) in her rookie season and made her first NHRA final-round appearance in Memphis. She finished the season in tenth place in Top Fuel championship points in ‘06.

TOPEKA, Kan.,– NHRA rising star Hillary Will, the fastest female in the history of professional drag racing and driver of the KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster, is eager to climb back behind the wheel of her 334 plus-mph, nitro-fueled rail runner for this weekend’s, May 30-June 1, annual running of the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kansas.

Will, along with several other NHRA stars, spent this past Memorial Day weekend not only remembering those who have fought and gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep the United States free, but also helping to promote the inaugural national event that will take place in Concord, N.C., just a few miles from Charlotte, in September.

“I can never get enough of racing, so for our weekend off, I went to the Coca-Cola 600 (NASCAR) at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte,” Will, a 28-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., said. “Being there made me miss the smell of nitro and the sound of an 8,000-horsepower race car. It also made me miss being in the driver’s seat. I was there watching those cars go around in circles, but I was actually thinking about driving our dragster down the quarter-mile.”

Due in part to consecutive semi-final showings at the previous two NHRA nationals events, Will enters the event in Topeka in 5th place in POWERade Top Fuel championship points, the highest points placement of her career so far. She is 271 points shy of the points leader.

“Even though we’ve only had one weekend off since the previous event in Bristol, it seems like it’s been too long. I can’t wait to get back in the race car, especially because our KB Racing, LLC dragster is running better than ever right now. I’m really glad we have back-to-back races coming up. I look forward to continuing our upward momentum.”

At the first two events of this season’s 24-event NHRA national event schedule, Will set the track record for speed, for either gender, at both of the quarter-miles at Phoenix Int’l Raceway (334.32 mph) and at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.) (334.56 mph). Will’s speedy blast in California established her as the fastest woman ever in drag racing. She and the KB Racing, LLC team were also the fastest of the racing weekend (tie) at the third event in Gainesville, Fla., with a 330.63-mph lap. They were again the fastest team of the fifth event in Las Vegas, 331.85 mph.

A former standout in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, Will moved up to the quickest and fastest NHRA professional class, Top Fuel, in 2006 behind the wheel of a newly formed team owned by Las Vegas businessman Ken Black and managed by Kalitta Motorsports, the multi-car team founded and owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. She won her first Top Fuel event trophy in Norwalk (IHRA) in her rookie season and made her first NHRA final-round appearance in Memphis. She finished the season in tenth place in Top Fuel championship points in ‘06.

The O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals is the 9th of 24 national events in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Following three rounds of qualifying, Nancy Matter qualified in the seventh spot of the eight-car field. Matter Racing had very little data to work with, as the car never performed to its potential, encountering severe tire shake on each pass. “On our second qualifier, we shook so hard that it sheered all but one blower stud off and lifted the supercharger”, noted Matter. “We softened the car a lot for the third run just to get it down the track. We went a little too far, however, we were still in the field, so we were pretty happy to be running on Sunday”.

Mother Nature’s weather conditions drastically changed from qualifying for Sunday’s eliminations, creating a roll of the dice for all competitors at the third of six Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Events. The track temp jumped from 87 degrees during qualifying to 138 degrees for race day, so it was anyone’s race.

Matter knew that Sunday would be no easy task as she was going to race her good friend and #2 qualifier Lee Callaway in the first round. Matter had a decent .029 light and won on a hole shot with a 6.04 over the defending Div 4 champ’s 6.01, after both cars were shaking and skating around their respective lanes.

In the semi-final match up, Matter had a .059 light against opponent Steve Burke’s .053 light and narrowly missed making it to her first final round appearance. “I saw his motor eating itself up, trailing smoke and slowing, but I short-shifted when the car started to shake and it killed enough of our time, that I was about to the back of his car when we passed the stripe”.

“We’d like to thank Mark and Dawn Mazi-Hovsepian from Drag Strip Girl Apparel, as well as Karl and Marty Belt from Applied Tool Supply of Austin for their support at this race. I also want to thank Tom Conway for his continuing educating ways and, most of all, my crew Jeremy Mitchell, Eugene & Kelly Rowson, Jeremy Lowe and Desmond. We all work so well together and it’s such an honor to be surrounded by so much talent”.

Melanie Troxel, who has three NHRA victories in top fuel competition, won the funny car title at the 8th O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.

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With her victory in the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, she becomes the first woman to win NHRA races in both the funny car and top-fuel classes.

Before Ashley Force made drag-racing history last month by becoming the first woman to win a funny car race in the NHRA’s top-tier Powerade Series, Melanie Troxel was one of the sport’s established female stars.

Troxel, 35, won four times driving top-fuel dragsters in 2006-07, then switched to funny cars this season — where her husband, Tommy Johnson Jr., also competes.

Not to be outdone by Force, Troxel on Sunday won the funny car race at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., becoming the first woman in NHRA history to win races in both the funny car and top-fuel classes.

And Troxel had to defeat Force, 25, in one of the elimination rounds to get her Gotham City Racing Dodge Charger to the finals, where she beat Mike Neff with a pass of 310.27 mph to win the event.

Troxel’s win again underlined the driver diversity in the National Hot Rod Assn., arguably the most notable among the premier levels of professional motor sports.

Before the historic victories by Troxel and Force, Antron Brown, an African American who switched from the pro stock motorcycle class to top-fuel dragsters this season, in March won the top-fuel race at Baytown, Texas — making him the first driver to win races in top fuel and motorcycles.

Troxel said she was concentrating too much on her elimination runs and dealing with intermittent rain at Bristol Dragway to give much thought to history.

“That’s kind of like icing on the cake,” she said. “I haven’t given that any thought. We were so focused on going out there and getting some round wins and getting a [race] win.”

Troxel, a Denver native who now lives in Indiana, grew up playing in pit areas at racetracks where her late father was a drag racer and her mother helped out as a mechanic. Troxel drove in her first race at 16 in a car with an engine she built as a high school project.

With her victory Sunday, she joined 13 other drivers who have won in both funny cars and top-fuel dragsters — her husband among them.

Johnson said that when Troxel switched to the funny car ranks this year, he “wasn’t the biggest fan of it right away” because of the “added pressure” of racing against his wife.
“But I knew there was a point in time when she wanted to run funny car,” Johnson told the Associated Press in March.

The win didn’t come easy Sunday for Troxel.

In her first round of eliminations against reigning funny car champion Tony Pedregon, the two drivers repeatedly came to the starting line only to have rain delay their run.

“It was crazy out there,” she said. “I think I was in the car five times and did three burnouts” — that is, spun the rear wheels before the start to gain added traction — before she finally was able to eliminate Pedregon and keep moving toward the finals.

But Troxel said driving funny cars was “getting easier every week — I’m feeling more comfortable in the car and I’m back having fun driving the car.”