Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Muldowney to compete at LVMS in October

Thursday, June 20, 2002 | 10:10 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Drag-racing legend Shirley Muldowney, who never has competed in an NHRA national event in Las Vegas, will run her U.S. Navy Blue Angels Top Fuel dragster at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals Oct. 24-27 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Las Vegas race is one of five NHRA national events in which Muldowney will compete this season. Muldowney, who turned 62 on Wednesday, has run match races in Las Vegas but has not driven in the previous four NHRA events at The Strip.

Muldowney, the first woman in NHRA history to obtain a Top Fuel license, is a three-time NHRA Top Fuel champion (1977, '80 and '82) who has 18 career victories. She stopped racing full-time in the NHRA following the 1990 season because of a lack of sponsorship and has limited herself to occasional NHRA national events and a full schedule of match races and exhibitions during the past decade.

"We have not been able to make an impact since 1990 and I question that -- that makes me wonder where are our sponsor dollars nowadays," Muldowney said in an interview last summer.

"It all boils down to deep pockets and being in the right place at the right time or knowing someone or daddy's got a lot of money. It just hasn't seemed to be in our corner for a number of years."

Muldowney proved last weekend in the Pontiac Excitement Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, that she still can compete at the sport's highest level. After qualifying ninth at National Trail Raceway at better than 316 mph, Muldowney upset pole-sitter Kenny Bernstein in the quarterfinals.

"I think they may have been counting their chickens too soon," Muldowney said after beating Bernstein.

But Bernstein, who lost more ground to Larry Dixon in the Top Fuel standings, said his Budweiser King dragster dropped a cylinder early in the run.

"We dropped a cylinder at 1.4 seconds and it was over with," Bernstein said. "We felt good all weekend and ... we thought we had a real handle on it.

"The dropped cylinder was unexplained; it didn't show us any advance warning or we would have fixed it. The engine just revved up a little bit higher than it should have on that (quarterfinal) run and dropped a cylinder and that was the end of the day."

By contrast, Funny Car points leader Gary Densham's lead over ninth-place Johnny Gray is 251 points while 251 points separate front-runner Jim Yates and eighth-place Bruce Allen in Pro Stock.

Andrew Hines has worked as a crew member on his brother's Eagle One Suzuki between school commitments. Andrew will test a second Vance & Hines Suzuki at Bandimere Speedway this weekend and if all goes as planned, Andrew will make his NHRA debut at the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals in July.

The first Midnight Mayhem, which was run on March 29, attracted 212 cars and an estimated 1,500 spectators. The fourth installment, held June 7, drew 399 cars and 2,751 fans.

"Illegal street racing is a dangerous problem -- not only in Las Vegas but all over the country," Chris Blair, LVMS' director of drag racing operations, said. "We'll never completely put an end to it, but Midnight Mayhem certainly helps.

"The previous Midnight Mayhem drew 399 cars and that means that those 399 drivers were not racing on the streets of Clark County that night. It's become wildly popular and hasn't stopped growing. And what else can you do for four hours on a Friday night in Las Vegas for only five or ten dollars?"

Any licensed driver with a registered car or motorcycle, and proof of insurance, can take part in Midnight Mayhem. All vehicles must be driven to the track and not towed. Drivers under the age of 18 are allowed to compete but must have a signed parental consent form. The entry fee is $10 for car and driver and admission for spectators is $5.

The fifth edition of Midnight Mayhem will be held Friday night. Gates open at 10 p.m. and racing is held from 11 p.m. to approximately 3 a.m.