Nhra U.S. nationals

CLERMONT, Ind. - Shirley Muldowney hates using her credit card.

"People say, `Oh, wow! You're Shirley Muldowney!' " the legendary drag-racer said. "Then they ask me how to repair their cars. I tell them what my husband says: Take it to the dealership. If it doesn't run nitro, I don't know how to work on it."

Candid, comical and committed to NHRA drag racing, Shirley Muldowney still knows how to command an audience.

Her last NHRA national-event appearance came in October 1997 at the Texas Motorplex, near Dallas. Her last NHRA victory was in Phoenix in October 1989.

But Muldowney is back at Indianapolis Raceway Park for the U.S. Nationals, trying to win the $2.6 million race 18 years after she became the only woman to win this richest, most prestigious jewel of the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.

And she'll try to do it with the help of three crew members from the Puget Sound area. Two of them - Darren Capps, of Sumner, and Dana Kimmel, of Puyallup - are former crew members for Tacoma native Pat Austin, an NHRA Federal Mogul Funny Car driver. Johnny Look is from Seattle.

"Big Daddy" Don Garlits, who beat her in the 1975 finals in Indianapolis, volunteered to twist wrenches for her this weekend. So crew chief Rahn Tobler, Muldowney's husband, has capable help.

In 1982, Muldowney beat Connie Kalitta, who's tuning the dragster of his nephew, Doug Kalitta.

She said once she got that elusive Indianapolis victory, she felt she had accomplished everything, run "my best, over and above anything." But she admitted winning today "would be just a dream."

It could be a nightmare for the 15 other drivers in the Top Fuel field.

"I have the attitude that I'm as good as I ever was, as good as anyone else. I'm not satisfied with a little bit," she said. However, she isn't so brash to predict a victory: "I'm not guaranteeing it."

She knows better. If she hadn't, yesterday's qualifying session would've been especially cruel.

She had defeated Tony Schumacher, the reigning NHRA Winston Top Fuel champion, in a recent match race in Cordova, Ill. And she - penning a book titled "Beating The Boys" - mused Friday, "I wonder how Tony felt, getting spanked by a 60-year-old woman."

The No. 10 qualifier with a 4.779-second elapsed time (306.53 mph) after Friday night's opening session, Muldowney slipped to 14th with runs of 10.75 and 9.46 seconds. Meanwhile, Schumacher sat third heading into today's final qualifying sessions with an afternoon pass of 4.662, just .007 of a second off the track record.

Muldowney kept it in perspective and moved on.

"I'm not one of those who says I'd rather be lucky than good. Huh-uh. You have to know what you're doing," she said.

When people ask, "Are you still racing?" she flashes one of those why-I-oughta looks like Moe from the Three Stooges. "The only reason we haven't been going all along is we didn't have the money," she said.

Ashley Power is the 15-year-old Southern Californian who owns Goosehead.com and sponsors Muldowney's dragster in this venture. She also has persuaded her role model to run the NHRA Finals at Pomona in November.

Talk is that Muldowney might run an expanded schedule next year, but she defers to her husband: "I don't know if I have 24 races in me, but it's going to be Rahn's call."

Right now, she'd like to scramble the dynamics among point leader Gary Scelzi and top challengers Schumacher and Larry Dixon.

"I would like nothing better than to have an impact on this year's points race. It'd be fun to mix up the points," Muldowney said. Pressed to reveal the scenario she's envisioning, she said slyly, "I do have my list - but it will remain a secret."

Shirley Muldowney might be bridging the gap between youth and experience. "I can do that," she said readily. However, she's not carrying a banner for either women or sixtysomethings.

"I don't think of myself as a woman racer. I'm just a racer," she said. Then, with that saucy resolve that made her triumph through tough times, she added, "And I'd like to think I'm a pretty tough one."