NHRA Drag Racing is one of the most gender-inclusive sports in the world, as male and female competitors go head to head without handicaps. As the world salutes National Women's History Month in March, here's a look back at some major accomplishments by females in NHRA Drag Racing history.

Women in NHRA – Records, milestones, and notes 

• Barbara Hamilton (pictured, right) was the first female to receive an NHRA license, 1964. 
•  Shirley Shahan was the first woman to win an NHRA national event, 1966, Stock at the Winternationals, Pomona, Calif.
• Paula Murphy was the first woman in NHRA history to receive a nitro license, in 1966 for Funny Car competition.
• Shirley Muldowney was the first woman to get her license in Top Fuel and became the first woman to clock a four-second run, 1989 NHRA Keystone Nationals, Reading, Pa., 4.974 seconds.

• Muldowney was the first female to advance to a final round in Top Fuel, 1975 in Columbus, Ohio, lost to Marvin Graham.
• Muldowney was the first female to win in Top Fuel, 1976 in Columbus, Ohio, defeating Bob Edwards; she earned 18 career victories, second all-time for females behind Angelle Sampey (43).
• Muldowney was the first female to qualify No. 1 in a Pro category, 1976 in Columbus, Ohio, with a performance of 6.031 seconds, 229.00 mph.
• Muldowney was the first driver (either gender) in NHRA history to repeat as Top Fuel champion after her initial title in 1977 (‘80 & ‘82).
• Muldowney was the only female driver to be included in NHRA’s list of top 50 drivers as part of its 50th-anniversary celebration in 2001. She was ranked No. 5 on the prestigious list ahead of Kenny Bernstein (No. 6) and Joe Amato (No. 9).

• Muldowney vs. Lucille Lee was the first all-female Top Fuel final in NHRA history, taking place in 1982 in Columbus. Muldowney won. In 2016, Leah Pruett defeated Brittany Force in Phoenix for the second all-female Top Fuel final. There have been two other all-female finals in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, both coming in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Both of those finals featured Angelle Sampey vs. Karen Stoffer (Reading 2002 and Norwalk 2015). Sampey won Reading, and Stoffer drew even in Norwalk.
• Only five females have won the NHRA U.S. Nationals: Muldowney in Top Fuel (1982); Sampey in Pro Stock Motorcycle (2001 & 2002); Ashley Force Hood (2009 & 2010), Alexis DeJoria (2014) in Funny Car, and Erica Enders (2015 & 2020)

• Sampey (pictured, right) is the first female to win a championship in Pro Stock Motorcycle (three-time champ — 2000, 2001, 2002); Sampey also owns the most NHRA victories, 42, for a female.
• Erica Enders is the first female to win a championship in Pro Stock (2014).
• Rachelle Splatt was the first female to clock a 300-mph run in NHRA history, posting a speed of 300.00 mph in Houston in 1994. On that run she became the 16th and final member (only female member) of the Slick 50 300-MPH Club.
• Enders was the first female to ever qualify for the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special bonus event for Pro Stock drivers. In 2013, in Las Vegas, she also became the first female to advance to the final round of the K&N Horsepower Challenge. In 2014, she became the first female in history to win the K&N Horsepower Challenge and first female to also win the NHRA Sweep Bonus. She also won the K&N Horsepower Challenge in 2015 and claimed the sweep bonus as well by winning the race.
• Troxel became the first female to qualify No. 1 in Funny Car in Chicago in 2008.
• Enders became the first female to win in Pro Stock in Chicago in 2012.
• Enders became the first woman to advance to a final round in Pro Stock in Chicago in 2005. She defeated Ron Krisher, Mike Edwards, and Warren Johnson in early rounds before losing to Jason Line on a red-light start in the final.

• Force Hood became the first female driver to advance to a final round in Funny Car at Las Vegas 2 in 2007.
• Force Hood (pictured, right) became the first female driver to win in Funny Car in Atlanta in 2008, beating her father, John Force, in the final round of eliminations.
• Enders became the first woman to qualify No. 1 in Pro Stock history in Topeka in 2006.
• Force, Enders, and Sampey became the first three women to earn No. 1 qualifying positions in Pro categories at the same event (Reading 2019).
• Troxel (TF) and Enders (PS) became the first women to earn No. 1 qualifying positions in Pro categories at the same event (Topeka 2006); Stoffer (PSM) and Force Hood (FC) also qualified No. 1 at the same event (Sonoma 2008); Courtney Force (FC) and Enders (PS) also qualified No. 1 at the same event in Indy in 2012. In 2014, in Topeka, sisters Courtney Force (FC) and Brittany Force (TF) qualified No. 1 at the same event, the first time sisters accomplished the feat. The sisters also qualified No. 1 in Sonoma in 2014 as well. Alexis DeJoria (FC) and Enders (PS) qualified No. 1 at Charlotte 2 in 2014. Courtney Force (FC) and Enders (PS) qualified No. 1 at Pomona 1 in 2015.

• Troxel (pictured, right) became the first woman in NHRA history to post victories in both nitro categories in May 2008. She won her first Top Fuel race at Pomona 1 in 2006 and first Funny Car race in 2008 in Bristol. She is the 14th driver in NHRA history to win in both nitro categories.
• Lucinda McFarlin, of Victoria, Texas, and Erica Enders, of Houston, are the only female Pro Stock drivers to win a round of eliminations in the 200-mph category. McFarlin defeated Don Beverley in the first round of the 1992 national event in Memphis, Tenn., for her only round-win, and Enders earned her first-round victory by defeating Rickie Smith in the first round in Reading in 2005. Judy Lilly, Shirley Shahan, Shay Nichols, and Grace Howell have all qualified in Pro Stock but did not win a round of eliminations.
• For the first time in NHRA history, different women won at three consecutive events in 2016, including Pruett in TF in Phoenix, Brittany Force in TF in Gainesville, and DeJoria in FC at Las Vegas 1.
• Troxel holds the record for most consecutive final-round appearances for a woman in a Professional category, at six (’05 Pomona 2 – ’06 Las Vegas 1).
• Troxel holds the record for most consecutive final rounds by a Top Fuel driver (any gender) to start a season in NHRA history, at five (2006).

• With her victory in Dallas in 2007, Peggy Llewellyn (pictured, right) became the first woman of color to win in a Pro category in NHRA history.
• Troxel has won in four NHRA categories, the most for a female in NHRA history, including, in order, Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Modified.
• The most female drivers in Professional categories to compete in a single NHRA Camping World Series event is nine, at the 2008 U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis and the 2015 NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
• The most women to advance to final rounds at a single event is three, first accomplished in Gainesville in 2006. Sampey won in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and Troxel (TF) and Erica (PS) posted runner-up efforts in their categories. At 2015 Norwalk, Courtney Force was runner-up in Funny Car, and Stoffer beat Sampey in Pro Stock Motorcycle. In 2017, in Epping, N.H., Brittany Force won Top Fuel, Courtney Force was runner-up in Funny Car, and Enders won Pro Stock.
• The first time two women won at the same event was in Seattle 2012 when Courtney Force won in Funny Car and Enders won in Pro Stock. In 2014, DeJoria (FC) and Enders (PS) also accomplished the feat at Las Vegas 1. In 2017, Brittany Force and Enders did it in Epping, and Pruett and DeJoria did it Brainerd, and in 2018, Pruett and Courtney Force both won in Atlanta. In 2019, Brittany Force (TF) and Enders (PS) both won at Las Vegas 2, and Enders and Stoffer became the first Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle to win the same event in St. Louis in 2019.

• On May 25, 2014, at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan., Funny Car racer Courtney Force (pictured, right) earned the landmark 100th victory for females in the NHRA Camping World Series, 38 years after legendary Top Fuel driver Shirley Muldowney won the first one in 1976 in Columbus, Ohio. Fifteen different female drivers contributed to the 100 wins. On Nov. 3, 2019, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Pro Stock racer Enders became the 150th woman to win a NHRA Camping World Series event.
• Brittany Force became the first woman to win the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in 2016.
• For the first time in NHRA history, two female drivers led the series points standings in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Sisters Brittany and Courtney Force led the series standings in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively, following the 2016 Houston event.
• Pruett won the first two Top Fuel races to start the 2017 season. It was the first time a female Top Fuel racer won back-to-back events since Lori Johns in 1990. It was the first time any Top Fuel racer won the first two season-opening events since Gary Scelzi in 1997.

• At the 2018 NHRA Southern Nationals Powered by Camping World, Pruett won in Top Fuel and Courtney Force won in the Funny Car category. It was only the second time in NHRA history that female racers swept the Nitro categories.
• At the 2018 Dodge NHRA Nationals, Courtney Force qualified No. 1 for the 11th time in the season. She became the first woman and only the third Funny Car driver to qualify No. 1 for the 11th time in a season, joining her father, John Force, who did it four times. Cruz Pedregon did it once in his career.
• In 2019, at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals in Houston, John and Brittany Force became the first father-child duo in NHRA history to lock in No. 1 qualifier positions together. B. Force then went on to win the event with her John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight.

• At the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals in Reading, Brittany Force made history by setting the national Top Fuel elapsed time record. She then went on to claim the national speed record at the Dodge NHRA Nationals.
• Pro Stock driver Enders (pictured, right) locked in her third NHRA world championship to close out the 2019 season.
• In 2020, Angie Smith added her name to the Denso 200-mph Club list and became the only female to go 200 mph on a Pro Stock Motorcycle.
• In 2020, Enders earned four NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series world championships, giving her the most wins of any NHRA female driver.