WORST MOMENT
Her 247-mph, full-speed contact with a dirt berm crash at the NHRA
Le Grandnational Molson gets the biscuit. She was badly hurt. What
was amazing, though, was her recovery. It took two years from what
many viewed as a career ender, but as early as the 1989 NHRA ATSCO
Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Arizona, Shirley won a national-event
Top Fuel title.
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Garlits and Shirley have "feuded" through
the years but when Garlits was trying to get his four-second.
300-mph pass back in the late 80's Shirley and husband Rahn Tobler
graciously put the "Old Man" in their car and allowed him to make
laps at the Texas Motorplex to try and get the job done. Rick
Shute/Auto Imagery photo. |
BEST RUN
This one is subjective as hell (as is most of this piece), but one
of the few times that I really stood and applauded and even jumped
around about a run came at the 1984 Coors Super Bowl in January. Shirley
had been booked in a best of five, two-day Top Fuel match with Don
Garlits.
She whipped in round one on Saturday, and that evening they raced
again. Garlits launched okay, but Shirley's mount went into a wheelstand,
the front end a good four feet or so above the asphalt. She feathered
the throttle, landed the car, and ran down Garlits to record a 5.84/248.61
win. There are racers who have that kind of feel for their cars, but
that run just cemented the fact that Shirley was the equal of anyone
I'd seen in this category.
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Shirley brought this edition of her car
to Cordova Dragway for an IHRA event in 2000. Jeff Leonard photo. |
As far as e.t and mph, I'd go with her 2000 IHRA Summer Nationals
run at Cordova Dragway. Her 319-mph speed was 11-mph better than any
other IHRA Top Fuel racer.