Shirley Shahan: The Drag-On Lady

INTRODUCTION

When Shirley Shahan put the hammer down during the last race of the first March Meet ever at the Famoso Racetrack just outside of Bakersfield, California, she made history. Not only was she the first winner of the first March Meet but she was also a woman competing in a man’s world.

The Famoso March Meet had been advertised as an East-versus-West showdown with the best California drag racers as well as some heavy-hitters from the East. Then, a slender blonde girl with a bright smile ended up beating them all. As history shows, it wasn’t a fluke.

Shirley was young and pretty with blonde hair. She otherwise might have spent her entire life as a stay-at-home mom, but both she and her husband, H.L., loved drag racing, and she enjoyed going to watch him race at the track. One day, fate stepped in, and she had to do the driving instead of H.L. That was when the couple realized a shocking truth: she was the better driver—by far. The rest, as the old saying goes, is history. And Shirley made a lot of history.

Shirley Shahan, a.k.a. the Drag-On Lady, is a legend in the world of professional drag racing. She’s in the history books as the first woman to win a major NHRA drag racing event: the 1966 Winter-nationals in Pomona, California, in which she out-raced such greats as Dyno Don Nicholson, Hayden Proffitt, Tom Sturm, and Arlen Vanke. However, her career encompassed much more than that. Shirley drove for Dodge, Plymouth, and American Motors (AMC), and she was a winner with all of them.

I don’t actually recall when I first heard of Shirley Shahan, but it was many years ago. I do remember being reminded of her when toy maker Ertl released a ¹/18-scale replica of her AMX/SS drag car back in the 1990s. In addition, I’m pretty sure it was shortly after that when she and I were introduced at an AMC club car show. She struck me as a pert, very good-looking lady with lots of spunk and a good attitude toward life.

After that first meeting, I saw her at other AMC shows around the country, where, like me, she met fans and signed autographs. Often, the show organizers set us up in booths next to each other, which made it easier to get to know her better. Her husband, Ken Bridges, a really nice man, was always with her, and we would chat sometimes as Shirley handled the fans who were lined up to meet her.

Thus, when Bob Wilson of CarTech Books approached me with the idea of writing a book about Shirley, I jumped at the chance. I’ll always be grateful to Bob for this wonderful opportunity. In addition, I’m grateful to Shirley for allowing me to relate the story of her amazing career in racing.

So, sit back, pop open a cold one, and enjoy the story.

CHAPTER 1

A California

GIRL (1938–1955)

Shirley Shahan was the first woman to win a major NHRA drag racing event, but her career in professional drag racing encompasses much more than that.

She was a tough competitor, setting records at tracks across America.

(Photo Courtesy Chrysler. Chrysler is a trademark of FCA USA LLC.)

Before there was a Shirley Muldowney, there was Shirley Shahan. Shirley Shahan blazed a trail for women in drag racing as the first woman to win an NHRA national event when she raced at the 1966 NHRA Winternationals. Shirley Shahan is what’s commonly known as a living legend. But where do legends come from?

The answer is that they come from all over— from big cities to small towns and from north and south to east and west. That’s because a legend is a person, not the place in which he or she was born and not the family in which he or she grew up. A legend is a person who has accomplished something noteworthy or great—something that people will talk about for years to come. Shirley Shahan (universally known as the Drag-On Lady) is a true legend.

Diminutive, quiet, and friendly, she now looks like someone’s grandmother, which she is by the way. But in her time, she was a fierce competitor at drag strips across the country. She was a spunky little chick in a short miniskirt and go-go boots with a blonde beehive hairdo, and she regularly showed the guys what competitive drag racing was all about.

Shirley won scores of races, set records, and kicked butt so often that many of the male drivers who couldn’t believe that they could actually lose to the petite woman with the bright smile ended up filing protests against her—usually to no avail. Shirley didn’t smile her way to fame and success, and she didn’t cheat. She was just a faster, better driver than many of her contemporaries, and she has shelves of awards and trophies to prove it. It’s been a great life. In fact, it’s been one for the record books.

The Beginning

Shirley Shahan was born Shirley Jean Epperson in Visalia, California, on June 2, 1938, to Jacob and Beatrice Epperson. Visalia back then was a pleasant little town with oak-lined streets, situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley. Jack was a roofer and general contractor, and Beatrice was a housewife.

The family hailed from California because decades earlier Shirley’s great-great-grandfather John Jordan captained a wagon train of settlers from Texas to California. John Jordan was an interesting character. He was a former Texas Ranger, and he once owned a salt company called Jordan’s Saline that lent its name to the town that grew up around it. Jordan’s Saline eventually was renamed Grand Saline, which today is part of the Morton Salt company.

Young Shirley watches her baby brother Jackie. When he grew up to be a young man, he was, as Shirley reported, her biggest fan. He attended every race he could and bought every magazine and newspaper that featured a story about her. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

The wagon train that took Jordan and the other settlers to California consisted of 200 hardy pioneers. They traveled the southern route to San Diego, and as they progressed along the way, Captain Jordan would go ahead of them to survey the trail that the wagon train would follow the next day. Along the way, a baby boy was born, and he became Shirley’s great-grandfather. Once the wagon train arrived in California, Jordan and his wife put down permanent roots, eventually settling near Exeter in Tulare County. It was a beautiful area with room to grow and weather that was decidedly pleasant most of the time. It was a good country in which to grow things.

Shirley’s father Jacob is pictured here as a young man. When she was still just a child, Shirley worked alongside her dad on his racing jalopies, at first handing him tools and later doing some of the wrenching herself. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

This was the only photo that we could find of Shirley’s mom, Beatrice Epperson. It was taken while she was still in high school. Shirley’s resemblance to her mother is striking. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

Learning about Cars

Years later, the Epperson family settled in nearby Tulare. Shirley was the oldest of four children: Shirley, Jackie, Jerry, and Kathleen were born in that order. There may be some significance in Shirley being the oldest child. In fact, one could argue that it probably affected how her life turned out.

Shirley’s father was an amateur automobile racer, and on weekends, he raced what were known at the time as jalopies. Jalopies were old, beat-up cars that were about one step removed from the junkyard and could be bought for next to nothing and inexpensively raced. Jack Epperson wasn’t the driver, however. Other men did the actual driving. Jack found the cars, fixed them up, and kept them running.

Jack worked on the cars in his garage at home, and at a young age, Shirley, being the oldest child, began helping her father whenever he worked on his race cars. Something of a tomboy, Shirley became a sort of mechanic’s helper to her dad on most weekends. At first, she held the work light and handed him wrenches and screwdrivers. In the process, she learned about cars and engines.

Here’s driver Bill Hester with another of Jack Epperson’s jalopies. This one looks like a 1934 Ford. Hester had just won a race, but the track had run out of trophies, so as a joke, the track officials gave him a lightbulb instead. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

At a very early age, she said with a smile, I knew the difference between a 5/8-inch wrench and a 9/16-inch wrench.

Gradually, Shirley’s dad taught her a lot about working on old cars. Jack was a very good teacher, which was not surprising because he’d served in the US Navy as a Seabee, and was very skilled with tools, and had a lot of confidence as a mechanic. Before long, Jack had little Shirley doing some of the minor wrenching as well, such as changing spark plugs, doing oil changes, etc. She quickly learned a lot about cars and the tools to fix them.

I also remember that when I was about 8 or 9 years old, I took an aptitude test at school, and the results said that I should be a mechanic when I grew up, Shirley remembered with a laugh.

She also became interested in her father’s hobby of racing. She saw racing as an exciting activity, and it was a regular part of her life.

One of Shirley’s father’s racing jalopies is shown with driver Bill Hester and a track clown. Notice the Jack Epperson name on the side of the car. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

Shortly after the previous photo was taken, Bill Hester had a serious accident with the Ford, which probably totaled the car.

He ended up being okay.

(Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

As Shirley grew older, she also helped her father with some of his roofing jobs. She often was asked to unload the truck at various jobs, hauling bundles of shingles that weighed 30 to 50 pounds along with all of the other materials, and that helped to build her physical strength. Her strength, in turn, helped her when it came to the athletic activities that she enjoyed so much in school and outside of school. To put it in plain words, Shirley was a lot stronger than most of the other girls in town.

Shirley recalled that the family moved to a new house while she was in the fourth grade. The house was badly in need of painting, so her father put a paintbrush in her hand and taught her how to paint. He himself used a spray gun for the large areas while she wielded the brush.

The family’s new home was located on a large lot with about 20 walnut trees on it, and they were the source of Shirley’s first paying job. Those walnuts needed to be harvested every fall, and her father paid her $1 for every gunny sack that she could fill with nuts. Shirley actually hated the work because it stained her hands brown, which embarrassed her when she when to school.

Shirley’s father was a very likeable character. When her brother Jackie and cousin Walter were caught smoking behind the shed, Jack made them both smoke big cigars to teach them a lesson. At first, they puffed away like big shots, inhaling the thick smoke and blowing out smoke rings like real wise guys. However, before long, they both got sick to their stomachs and had to go and lie down with pans next to their beds in case they threw up. Shirley remembered it well because she had to stay home from the jalopy races that day to take care of the two boys. Neither of the boys took up smoking after that.

Shirley is sitting on her favorite uncle’s knee. Uncle Charlie was a pilot who volunteered for World War II and flew in what was then known as the Army Air Force. He left the service after the war but enlisted again for the Korean War. By that point, the service was known as the US Air Force, and he flew missions in Korea. He remained in the service and flew dangerous missions again, this time in the Vietnam War. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

Shirley is pictured with her cousin Chuck and her grandparents on her mother’s side of the family, Francis and Charles Coiner. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

Shirley and her younger brother, Jackie, are in the backyard of the family home in Visalia. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

Here is a slightly older Shirley pictured in front of the family home. This is the house that she and her father painted. It was originally green, and they painted it white. Her father’s advice was Never paint with a dry brush. The work helped strengthen Shirley, which later helped her when speed shifting race cars. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

Shirley and her dad ride on the family tractor. Shirley was very close to her father and helped him work on his racing jalopies. She also inherited a love of racing from her dad. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

School Days

Naturally, school was a big part of Shirley’s early life. She attended the Washington Grammar School in Visalia from kindergarten through third grade, and then she moved to Jefferson Grammar School for grades four through six. From there, she attended Visalia Junior High School for grades seven through nine, which was followed by Mount Whitney High School, where she attended the tenth and eleventh grades and part of twelfth grade.

Young Shirley is with baby Jackie and her Easter basket. Shirley thinks the car in the background is the family’s Studebaker sedan. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

As a youngster, Shirley managed to pick up a few scars. She was attacked by a big dog when she was just 11 years old and ended up getting stitches. Her father’s partner in the roofing company had three kids: Donnie, Connie, and Bonnie, and Shirley played hide and seek in the roofing company warehouse with them, hiding out among the bundles of shingles and roles of asphalt roofing paper. One time, Shirley accidently stepped on a roofing nail, which became infected and sent her to the hospital with blood poisoning.

As a teenager, Shirley was an outgoing, popular girl with many friends. As with most teens, she enjoyed going to parties and hanging out with her classmates. However, probably her biggest love during her early teenage years was fast-pitch soft-ball, which was a sport that she began playing in the ninth grade.

The team on which she played was called the Visalia Hornets, and it was part of the Valley Softball League. Because Shirley had developed a powerful right arm from helping her dad load and unload the roofing truck, she could reach home plate from center field with one throw. Because of that ability, she was the team’s centerfielder.

Grade-wise Shirley performed at a high level, although she failed to apply herself enough to be at the top of her class. She was a good kid. In fact, Shirley remembered getting in trouble just once at school, and even then it wasn’t her fault.

She was called into the principal’s office for skipping her fourth-period class, even though she actually hadn’t skipped it. When she answered the roll call, the teacher had marked another girl’s name by accident. Thinking that she was absent, the school called home to report that she was skipping class, and Shirley’s mom, not wanting her daughter to get into trouble, told them that Shirley was at home with her! When it was finally established that Shirley hadn’t skipped class, it took a little explaining on her mom’s part. Eventually, the whole story came out. Beatrice just had a lot of ’splainin’ to do.

During Shirley’s sophomore year, she helped in the attendance department, and during her junior year, she worked in the guidance counsellor’s office.

The year Shirley turned sweet 16 was an exciting one. One could go to the local theater to see such film legends as Marlon Brando and his stunning performance in On the Waterfront, Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny and Sabrina, and Jimmy Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Fans of science fiction could see the weird and scary Creature from the Black Lagoon. Rock and roll was just beginning to take hold. Kids could bop to Sh-boom by the Cords, and Shake, Rattle, and Roll by Bill Haley and the Comets, or listen to Earth Angel by the Penguins. Pop music also had some notable hit songs: Frank Sinatra had a big hit with When You’re Young at Heart, Jo Stafford sang Make Love to Me, and Tony Bennet crooned Stranger in Paradise.

Kneeling in front of her locker is teenage Shirley Epperson. Note the hairstyles as well as the long skirts. This photo was taken around 1953 or 1954, when those styles were all the rage among teenage girls. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

It’s unknown why Shirley is posed in what appears to be the girls high school shower, but here she is, already a beautiful young woman. Little did she know that very soon she would meet her first husband. (Photo Courtesy Shirley Shahan)

First Wheels

Growing up, the family car was often the roofing company truck that her father owned, but they also usually had one or two other older vehicles at hand. Somehow, it doesn’t seem surprising that Shirley began driving at the tender age of 10 years old in a 1934 Ford pickup truck that her family owned. The area where the Eppersons lived was rural, and Shirley’s dad saw no harm in allowing his young daughter to drive his truck, at least within a reasonable distance of home.

The Ford was a solid, dependable machine, but with just a flathead 4-cylinder engine that churned out a mere