It was 1983 in Montreal when Shirley Muldowney had the most horrendous wreck of her career. It was a crash that nearly killed her, mangled her legs, and virtually snuffed the career of one of drag racing’s greatest drivers instantly. But see, it didn’t. The arduous therapy lead to an amazing recovery and drag racing’s iron lady was back by the time the middle 1980s rolled around. She had to be scrappy and smart. Rebuilding her career by relentlessly match racing and running with the IHRA along with other places, it would be 1989 when Muldowney and her husband/tuner Rahn Tobler would garner sponsorship from Performance Automotive Warehouse and return to NHRA competition.
Their return was an immediate shock to the established system with the car qualifying number one in Maple Grove and nearly winning the race before going on a multi-race streak of #1 spots and culminating in Phoenix with an event victory that is as impressive as it is emotional.
Other awesome moments from this race include Darryl Gwynn running the first 4-second pass in Arizona history, Bruce Larson locking up the funny car championship, breaking Bernstein’s streak, and the pro stock action was hot and heavy as well.
This was a great event and we’re going to be cranking it back up, Arizona style this weekend with the NHRA Magic Dry Arizona Nationals at the same track they ran at 30 years ago!
