Girls can do anything guys can do...

Contrary to what many may think there are several significant women drag racers in NHRA history that have broken down barriers and paved the track for women in a primarily male dominated sport.

In fact two weeks ago at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nations held in Las Vegas, Nev., Ashley Force, daughter of NHRA icon John Force, made history by becoming the first woman to lead the POWERade points in the Funny Car class.

“She represents more than just the Force family, she represents women everywhere,” said Christopher Bowman an Upland resident and a dedicated NHRA fan and follower.

“NHRA has been a benchmark for diversity in motorsports for years,” said Karen Stoffer, a Pro Stock Motorcycle racer, in an emailed statement.

In the 2008 season there is a total of nine female competitors in each of the four pro categories.

“This might be the most women ever to compete in a pro season,” Bowman said. “I think it’s great these girls give the guys a run for their money.”

In the Top Fuel class driving the KB Racing dragster, Hillary Will is the only female competitor.

As for the Funny Car class Melanie Troxel and Ashley Force bring the estrogen to the track. Troxel who switched classes from Top Fuel to Funny Car this season is currently driving the Pro Care RX Funny Car. She is the quickest and fastest woman in NHRA history, clocking a time of 4.458 seconds (Oct. ’05, Dallas) with a career-best speed of 332.51 mph (Feb. ’07, Pomona 1). Troxel (TF) also holds the record for most consecutive final round appearances for a woman in a professional category, at six (’05 Pomona 2 – ’06 Las Vegas 1). She also holds the record for most consecutive final rounds by a Top Fuel driver of any gender to start a season in NHRA history, at five in 2006.

As for Force, she can be found behind the wheel of her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang and was the first female driver to advance to a final round in Funny Car (’07 Las Vegas 2); She advanced to her second career final at Houston 2008 and third at Las Vegas 1. After her performance two weeks ago, Force is on the right path to becoming the first female driver to ever win a Funny Car event.

“She just keeps getting better and better,” Bowman said. “I think it’s in their blood.”

Erica Enders has been drag racing since the age of eight and is currently the only female Pro Stock competitor in her Enders Racing LLC Dodge Stratus R/T. Enders became the first woman to advance to a final round in Pro Stock at the 2005 Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago and advanced to her second career final in March 2006 at Gainesville, Fla., where she posted a runner-up finish. She became the first woman to qualify No. 1 in Pro Stock history at the 2006 O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, Kan. and is the only female to ever qualify for the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special bonus event for Pro Stock drivers.

For the 2008 season, the Pro stock Motorcycle class has a total of five out of 35 female competitors. These women include Connie Cohen riding atop of the Buell V-Twin, Peggy Llewellyn with an undetermined sponsor, Angie McBride with her Smith Racing Buell, Angelle Sampey and her Rush Racing Products S&S Buell and Karen Stoffer with her Geico Motorcycle Suzuki. Sampey is the first female to win a championship in Pro Stock Motorcycle (3-time champ-- 2000, 2001, 2002). She is also is the female pro competitor with the most victories, 41. In 2007 Llewellyn won her first career final round appearance, becoming the first woman to win an NHRA POWERade event.

“It is no longer a man’s sports but that’s not a bad thing,” Bowman said. “They work hard, go fast and know what they are doing.”

Although these may be the names that come to mind when people think of women in drag racing but in reality it started long before them in the 1960’s. In 1964, Barbara Hamilton became the first female to receive an NHRA license but it was Shirley Muldowney who proved that women could do anything they wanted, including driving a 200-mph racecar.

“NHRA also had some great women that successfully broke down many barriers years ago, allowing the continued growth of diversity within our sport,” Stoffer said in an emailed statement. “The most popular being Shirley Muldowney.”

Nobody including NHRA and the fans wanted a woman to race Top Fuel or Funny Car at this time. Reguardless Muldowney followed her dreams and opened up a whole new world of opportunities for women. Shirley Muldowney was the first woman to get her license in Top Fuel and became the first woman to clock a four-second run 1989 at the NHRA Keystone Nationals in Reading, Pa. (4.974 seconds). She was the first female to advance to a final round in Top Fuel, 1975at Columbus, Ohio. She earned 18 career victories, second all-time for females behind Angelle Sampey (41). Muldowney was the first female to qualify No. 1 in a pro category in 1976 at Columbus, Ohio, with a performance of 6.031 seconds, 229.00 mph. Additionally she was the first driver of any gender in NHRA history to repeat as Top Fuel champion after her initial title in 1977 ('80 & '82). Muldowney was the only female driver to be included in NHRA's list of top 50 drivers as part of its 50th anniversary celebration in 2001. She was ranked No. 5 on the prestigious list.