That leaves a prestigious list of the Top 5 Greatest Moments that will vie for the fans’ choice as The Greatest Moment in NHRA’s 60-Year History
GLENDORA, Calif. (Oct. 30, 2011) – Shirley Muldowney was, by all accounts, one of the toughest drivers – male or female – to ever stage a car at an NHRA drag race. She was, too, a quick study.
Just one year after recording the first win by a woman in a Top Fuel dragster – a moment that was identified by NHRA fans as the No. 10 Greatest Moment in NHRA’s 60-year history – Muldowney ripped her way through the Top Fuel competition in 1977 to become the first woman in the history of the NHRA Full Throttle Series to win a world championship.
That trailblazing Muldowney would go on to win two more titles in her career (in 1980 and 1982), but it was the first title that earned her the greatest recognition and it’s a Moment that will be forever etched in the history books as the fans’ choice for the No. 6 Greatest Moment in NHRA’s 60-year history.
Muldowney is one of three drivers – with Don Garlits and John Force – to have two moments in the Top 10. Garlits (debuting the rear-engine dragster – and winning) and Force (the comeback from a life-threatening accident to win his record 15th world championship) still have two of the five moments that remain eligible to be remembered as the fans’ choice for The Greatest Moment in NHRA’s 60-year history.
The other three moments from the original list of 60 moments that remain in contention for the ultimate fan acknowledgement are: Kenny Bernstein’s 300-mph run in Gainesville in 1992; Tony Schumacher’s epic “The Run” at Pomona in 2006; and the founding of NHRA in 1951.
Voting has resumed on the NHRA Facebook page, via the “Vote 4 Greatest Moment” tab, and fans will have until Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit one additional vote for the one moment from the remaining Top 5 Moments that they believe is The Greatest Moment in NHRA’s 60-year history.
At midnight ET on Wednesday, Nov. 9, the final votes will be tallied and the Top 5 Moments will be announced in reverse order during the running of the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals – Moment No. 5 will be announced prior to the pro qualifying session on Friday; Moments No. 4 and 3 will be announced prior to pro qualifying sessions 3 and 4 on Saturday; and The Greatest Moment in NHRA history will be unveiled during pre-race on Sunday, Nov. 13, the final Sunday of NHRA’s 60th anniversary season.
The quest for NHRA’s Greatest Moment has been one of a number of programs NHRA created during this historic 60th anniversary season to celebrate the sport’s rich tradition.
It began with the announcement in January 2011 of the 60 Greatest Moments in NHRA history, as selected by a panel of drag racing experts. From there, it was turned over the fans who responded in huge numbers during the first two stages of the program – more than 7.5 million impressions and more than 31,000 fan interactions – to trim the original list of 60 Greatest Moments to the Top 20 Greatest Moments (on Aug. 22) and the Top 10 Greatest Moments (Sept. 5).
As difficult as that must have been for NHRA fans – narrowing the original list of 60 Greatest Moments down to just 10 – consider the challenge that lies ahead for fans in selecting the single Moment that they believe is the greatest moment in NHRA History. How do you pick just one of these five remaining Greatest Moments in NHRA History?
Here are the Top 10 Greatest Moments (remaining moments in chronological order):
- Founding of NHRA (1951)
- Don Garlits debuts the rear-engine dragster — and wins (Pomona, 1971)
- Kenny Bernstein makes NHRA's first 300-mph run (1992)
- Tony Schumacher's "The Run" (2006)
- John Force completes comeback, wins 15th championship (2010)
No. 6: Shirley Muldowney is NHRA’s first woman to win a world title (1977)
No. 7: Don Garlits makes NHRA’s first 200-mph run (1964)
No. 8: Ashley Force Hood is first woman to win in Funny Car (2008)
No. 9: John Force is first to win 100 career races (2002)
No. 10: Shirley Muldowney is first woman to win in Top Fuel (1976)
No. 7: Don Garlits makes NHRA’s first 200-mph run (1964)
No. 8: Ashley Force Hood is first woman to win in Funny Car (2008)
No. 9: John Force is first to win 100 career races (2002)
No. 10: Shirley Muldowney is first woman to win in Top Fuel (1976)
To participate, fans can go to NHRA’s Facebook page, easy to find at Facebook.com/NHRA, and click on the “Vote 4 Greatest Moment” tab. Once there, fans will be instructed to select just one (1) of the five remaining Moments and click ‘Submit’ (after submitting their vote, fans will have the chance to enter to win one VIP package or one of five pairs of full-event tickets to the 2012 event of their choice).
Fans can visit the 60 Greatest Moments Web page for complete program details as well as to view historical photos and videos that retrace every step in NHRA rich and storied history. The page also includes links to view a preview of / purchase NHRA’s “60 Greatest Moments” DVD.
