Of course, every win and every milestone for any racer matters, regardless of their gender, color, or nationality, but in all reality, does the 100th professional victory in NHRA competition by a female really matter?

As you’ve probably seen or heard if you’ve been paying attention during the last handful of NHRA Mello Yello Series races on ESPN2, the series has been making a big to-do about the 100th win by a female in professional competition, and after Erica Enders-Stevens turned on the win light in Pro Stock at the latest event in Houston, the mark now stands just one short of the century mark, at 99. 

Images courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

What the NHRA marketing department is doing is simply leveraging their status as the most diverse major motorsports organization in the world, using the 100th win milestone as a means of promoting the unparalleled participation — and successes — of female drag racers. And that’s what the NHRA brass should be doing with that little feather in their cap, at a time when NASCAR is still searching for that first victory by a female in the top three touring series, and IndyCar boasts just one.

But thanks to the pioneering efforts of Shirley Muldowney, who captured the first-ever NHRA national event victory in a pro class by a female in June of 1976, women have been established as equals in drag racing longer than all but one of today’s active female professional competitors have been alive (the lone exception being Karen Stoffer, who was 12 years old when Shirley earned her famous win in Columbus).

With 99 wins and counting in the professional categories and countless more in the sportsman ranks and in other racing organizations, women have proven they’re just as capable as men behind the wheel, and no longer does the stigma of “getting beat by a girl” exist in the pit area as it did in 1976. If you ask us, in this day and age, drag racers are simply drag racers, regardless of their gender. And the wins…well, they’re just a number.

What are your thoughts?