Ah children, children - what is the world coming too? Shirley Muldowney has made her feelings known and it's just too much for your little ears to handle. As I always preface these comments, everyone is entitled to their opinions however make sure you recognize the overall scope of things before forming your opinions.
You have to realize that the National Guard people approached Shirley, not the other way around. To lead somebody on like they did - and then to turn around and dump the whole deal is just classless in my opinion. This is not how to treat people - esspecially Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey. It has to do with your integrity. You just don't do this.
There have been several compairisons made here between Kenny Bernstein's approach to sponsors and Shirley's approach to sponsors. True, Kenny Bernstein has done some remarkable things in bringing sponsors to the sport and keeping them satisfied. But so has Shirley - you may recall some of the sponsors she had over ther years: English Leather, Fredricks of Hollywood, Pioneer Stereo, and Chrysler/Mopar - to name a few. And let's not forget the Zantrex / Strivecten deal. They approached Shirley after she had retired from driving. They begged her to come back but she said no. So what did she do? Shirley gifted the sponsor (which included a pretty big check) to the kalitta team. The Zantrex / Strivecten people agreed to go with kalitta only if Shirley would be involved with the team. The bottom line is that THE SPONSOR WANTED HER!!! Trust me, Shirley knows how to work with sponsors and I have seen her work with them. I was a guest of hers up in the Strivecten Suite up in the tower at Joliet in 2006. It was a wonderful time and I must say, the wine and hors derves were fantasic. As I'm sure you're aware, the Zantrex / Strivecten people have left Drag Racing and I'm told they are never coming back. I can only hope their departure had nothing to do with how they were treated by the team they got involved with.
Did any of you consider that the way Shirley handled the National Guard was maybe a warning to other potential victims. Both Shirley and Angelle have been lead to believe they've had sponsors in the past only to get screwed by them. Does anybody remember the clowns from PetroMoly? Or how about that RC car company that screwed Angelle when she was with George Bryce? There have been several Race Teams that have been led to believe they had a sponsor and actually began ordering parts. Only to find out there was no deal. Shirley is probably doing other team owners a favor by letting everyone know the who, what where, and when.
I feel that the National Guard has made a major mistake. This would have been a wonderful opportunity to target females to sign up for the National Guard. Both Shirley and Angelle are great role models for young women. They have both dealt with adversity and struggles in their personal and public lives yet through hard work and a never give up additude, they succeeded. That's one hell of an example for young women of today and it would have been a perfect fit for the National Guard.
You people are so quick to dump on Shirley because she speaks the truth. In today's world that is so over blown with all of the politically correct BS, I find it refreshing to here the truth from somebody. You will ALWAYS get the truth from Shirley. I would much rather hear the truth than some canned load of crap about how everything is so wonderful even though you've just been screwed royally. Maybe that's part of the problem with the world. Nobody has the balls anymore to stand up and speak the truth, they just go on believing all is well.
The fact that the National Guard decided to give more money to Rick Hendrick than to a Legend in Drag Racing really speaks volumes of how poorly the image NHRA and the sport as a whole is perceived. Honestly, the fact that the National Guard would rather get in bed with a convicted felon, than support a no BS figure like Shirley Muldowney is beyond me. And by the way, why they hell did one of our former Presidents pardon Hendrick anyway?
I have read some comments about why Shirley is now supporting Angelle rather than another female driver. Someone mentioned why it appears that Shirley was no longer interested in supporting Hillary Will's drivng efforts. Shirley was right there to help Hillary in any way she could. I was there, I saw it. The trouble in this situation is when the student feels that they have aquired enough knowledge and the help from the teacher is no longer wanted. It is sad how it turned out but I guess it falls under the catagory of live and learn. Or maybe it's live, learn just enough, and then lose your ride - but hey, what do I know.
There is a sponsor out there for Shirley's team, it just has to be found. Now that it's out there that Shirley and Angelle have teamed up, I doubt the sponsor hunt will take much longer.
Bring it on!!!
Dave
