Was at Firebird Raceway this weekend and my ticket was to one of the "Special" areas and grandstands (P) area. Was there watching all the happenings and went down to get a coke. Jim Dunn and Cha Cha were there signing posters and flyers. When the line thinned down, I got in line to once again thank Jim and Shirley for all the exciting times and for their contributions to the sport and they both said thanks too. After it was all over, I went up to Cha Cha and said "If all the stories, rumors and the movie were correct, she would appreciate the pics of my Cad powered 40 as she had owned a Cad 40 early in her life". I showed her the pics and her comments were real positive and we talked some about Cad 40s. The last thing she said to me as we finished our discussion was, "DONT YOU EVER SELL THAT CAR", I wish I still had mine!! GOOD ADVICE, I thought and I assured her, it would not be sold as it has been promised to my dau, CARI, many years ago.
Hot rod Ron and I were there all day Saturday as guests of Kenny Bernstein/Coparts racing... I hadn't been to big national event like that in probably ten years. Absolutely cool! We even ended up on the starting line with the Fueler staging and taking off a couple of feet away!!! Between that and all the free food and watching the teardowns and rebuilds on the fueler, we sort of forgot to go find Shirley and Don Gartlits. We both looked at each other at the same time rolling out of the gates in Ron's deuce and said "Shit, I know what we forgot"!! What a day though... And good advice she gave on your '40! Been a little partial to that car myself since the Street Rodder article about 30 years ago!
Ahhh... I remember having such a crush on Shirley growing up! That's cool you got to chat her up. Also, I always get stoked to check out your '40. It seems I only get to see it at Goodguys every year. Such a beautifully bad ass car...
A lot of those old Drag Racers were Hot Rodders first. Garlits once told me that by 1952 the only reason you had a flathead was because 'you were unemployed'. He was a big Olds fan, showed me pics of his hot rods from that time and talked for hours about them. Dunn got ahold of me one night and got highly animated talking about his Chrysler powered VW bug he ran at Santa Ana. Had pics in the trailer from the 50's. Some neat people from the Drags.
Mike Rickman was telling me last week, her name is Shirley "Don't Call Me Cha-Cha" Muldowney . That goes back to the days when she broke up with Connie. The women drag racers of the 60's were pioneers-They played a tight game, Judy Lily and Shirley Shahan (may not have spelled that right?) and paved the way for the Force Girls and others to come.
met Shirley a few years ago in Sacramento. very nice person, and easy to talk to. know that it is not all accurate but, still like to watch the movie "Heart Like A Wheel" about her.
The Jalopy Journal
