Shirley Shahan

Shirley Shahan (nicknamed the "Drag-On Lady") is a pioneering American woman drag racer.

Shahan in 1965 became the first woman to win an NHRA pro event. Her husband, H. L., prepared the cars she drove. was born and raised in Visalia, California, daughter of a racing driver. The eldest of four children, she learned to drive at 10, and served as mechanic for her father when he went racing.

Before she began racing, Shahan was a passionate player of fastpitch softball, with an ability to throw to home plate from center field.

Her ability to beat the men frequently created friction. The Chrysler deal forced her to learn to drive an automatic transmission for the 1965 season, over her objections; (The win put her on the cover of National Dragster. ) She had been preceded by the likes of Roberta Leighton, Bunny Burkett, and the first woman to win at an NHRA national event, Carol Cox, who won in Stock in 1962. On 15 April 1966, she quit her day job to concentrate on Super Stock racing, continuing all summer, match racing all over the U.S., into Mexico, and as far away as Hawaii, winning more often than she lost. In addition, she was paid a salary and a given personal car.

The AMX gave Shahan a class win at the 1970 NHRA Winternationals, and allowed her to set low e.t. and top speed records for the class over the course of the season.

Shahan reached the semi-final at the 1971 AHRA Gateway Nationals, being eliminated by the 1970 Dodge Charger of event winner Tom Haller.

At the 1971 U.S. Nationals, Shahan and husband H.L. got two AMCs into the Pro Stock field, hers in the thirty-first slot; both were eliminated in Round One, Shahan losing to "Fast Eddie" Schartman's Mercury Comet. It would be twenty-one more years before another woman would win a round in Pro Stock. AMC quit drag racing in 1972, and when her husband got an opportunity to build racing engines full-time, his attention was diverted, so Shahan quit racing.

Shahan has three children.

In her spare time, Shahan plays softball and golf. She still lives in Tulare, California.

In 1997, Shahan was inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

As of 2008, at 70, Shahan still competed in some nostalgia drag racing events.