Muldowney ends storied career in NHRA Top Fuel

Shirley Muldowney went out with a loss in the Auto Club NHRA Finals.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shirley Muldowney has finally slowed down.
The first woman to win a major motorsports championship ended her long and storied career Sunday with a loss in the second round of the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway.
Muldowney, a three-time Top Fuel champion, lost to Corey McClenathan, completing her last run in 4.70 seconds and 317.12 mph.
People stood and cheered as Muldowney deployed her famous pink parachutes and drove slowly past the grandstands waving to her fans for the last time.
"It was very heartwarming and very rewarding," Muldowney said. "It was a nice way to go out."
Pioneer among women
Her penchant for speed was equaled only by her drive to break into the testosterone-filled world of drag racing, where Muldowney not only became a pioneer among women drivers but a fierce rival who enjoyed beating the boys at their own game.
But at age 63, Muldowney said she has become tired of crisscrossing the country for National Hot Rod Association events, where she often has hundreds of people waiting in line for an opportunity to meet her. She doesn't have any immediate plans to make public appearances around the drag racing circuit except to watch her husband, Rahn Tobler, work as a crew chief.
"I long for him to have an easier day," Muldowney said of her husband, whom she hired in 1978. "I will support him and come to races occasionally. I'll saunter in when no one is looking."
She also has an interest in animal rights and said she might open an adoption home on her ranch in Michigan.
Muldowney's final race was well-planned. She announced earlier this year that she would compete in six races during a tour named "Last Pass -- 30 Years in Top Fuel."
Muldowney spent more than 40 years in the racing industry and was the first female to obtain a Top Fuel license. She also was the first woman to win the NHRA championship in 1977, winning it again in 1980 and '82.
Her storied career was depicted in the 1983 film "Heart Like a Wheel," starring actress Bonnie Bedelia, and she'll be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame next April.
Muldowney's last NHRA final-round victory came in 1989 in Phoenix, where she beat Darrell Gwynn in one of the most dramatic drag races in history.