Let’s stop tiptoeing around it. The shortlist for the greatest female racing driver isn’t long, but it’s lethal. Rally assassins, drag-strip dominators, oval pioneers, and sports car surgeons — they’ve all left tire marks across motorsport history. And yes, we’re naming a number one. Bring the outrage. Bring the stats. The queens of speed came to play, and some sent the rest back to karting school.
Context matters. Era, machinery, access, and opposition decide legacies. Some fought the stopwatch. Others fought the system. The best did both and still took home silverware. That’s greatness, not marketing fluff.
The podium: one legend, two monsters
Want a punchline up front? Fine. The greatest is Shirley Muldowney. The competition? Reduced to expensive spectators. Why? Three Top Fuel championships in the NHRA — ’77, ’80, ’82 — the first person to win two, then three. Not the first woman. The first person. File that under: dominance.
Right behind her? Michèle Mouton and Danica Patrick. Different continents, different weapons, same fearless DNA. Mouton hunted WRC wins with Audi’s Group B sledgehammer. Patrick broke through IndyCar’s glass ceiling with a race win and made NASCAR kneel for a pole at Daytona. Three titans. One queen.
1) Shirley Muldowney: the drag racing supernova
You don’t luck into three Top Fuel championships. You batter physics until it gives up. Muldowney became the first woman licensed to drive Top Fuel, then stomped the class flat in ’77, ’80, and ’82. Eighteen NHRA wins later, the “First Lady of Drag Racing” had already rewritten the rulebook. The plot thickens like everyone else’s excuse list.
Pushback? Constant. She won anyway. That’s not participation medal greatness — that’s apex predator energy. Lights out and away we… oh wait, Muldowney already won.
2) Michèle Mouton: the WRC’s Group B assassin
Mouton didn’t just show up in rallying’s most savage era. She nearly took the whole WRC championship in 1982, finishing runner-up to Walter Röhrl with four rally wins. She also grabbed a Le Mans class win and finished runner-up in the European Rally Championship with FIAT. That résumé has bite marks.
On gravel, tarmac, and ice, she pulled out her trademark late-braking precision — you know, the one that makes other drivers question their career choices. Somewhere, Sébastien Ogier is nodding in respect.
3) Danica Patrick: the modern era needle-mover
Patrick is polarizing. Good. So are winners. She’s the only woman to win an IndyCar race, owns a Daytona 500 pole, and leads women’s records in NASCAR Cup starts, top-tens, and laps led. She also hauled a tidal wave of fans into the sport and kept them there. Impact matters. Big time.
Would you like more wins? Sure. But she cracked fortresses IndyCar and NASCAR couldn’t be bothered to open. The door? She kicked it off the hinges.
The elite tier: pioneers, champions, and serial disruptors
This group didn’t just make up the numbers. They wrote chapters. They forced revisions to the script. And in some cases, they were the script. Grab your popcorn — the list is stacked.
- Janet Guthrie: First woman in both the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 (1977), earned Top Rookie honors at Daytona. Also first woman to lead a lap in NASCAR Cup. Sponsorship walked; her talent didn’t. File this under: yikes for corporate courage.
- Lella Lombardi: The only woman to score a Formula 1 championship point — sixth at the 1975 Spanish GP. Minimal seat time, maximum output. Efficiency Ferrari’s strategists could study. Again.
- Maria Teresa de Filippis: First woman to race in Formula 1. Five starts for Maserati in ’58–’59. No blueprint, no safety net, no nonsense.
- Lyn St. James: Indy 500 Rookie of the Year in ’92. Seven Indy 500 starts. Two Daytona 24 wins, a Sebring win, and a Nürburgring class podium. Endurance queen with a V10 soundtrack.
- Sarah Fisher: Nine Indy 500 starts — the most by any woman. Then she owned a team and won as an owner. When the driving gloves came off, the headset went on. Ruthless versatility.
- Christina Nielsen: First woman to win a major North American pro sports car championship — IMSA GTD in 2016, then again in 2017. Back-to-back titles. Consistency that hurts feelings.
- Simona de Silvestro: Full-time in IndyCar and Formula E points-scorer. Nearly sealed an F1 race seat with Sauber before funding evaporated. The wind played favorites that year — apparently it was a banker.
- Brittany, Courtney, and Ashley Force: Drag racing royalty with results to match. Brittany snagged a Top Fuel title in 2017. Ashley and Courtney stacked wins and firsts in Funny Car. The family trophy cabinet needs structural reinforcement.
- Denise McCluggage: Class winner at Sebring and Monte Carlo Rally, and a heavyweight in automotive journalism. Drove, won, wrote, influenced. A triple threat with a polka-dot helmet.
- Sara Christian: NASCAR’s first woman driver, debuting in the very first Strictly Stock race in 1949. Two top tens. Day one trailblazer.
- Jamie Chadwick: Triple W Series champion and Williams development driver. Building the case in real time. The ceiling? Probably somewhere around the moon.
Comparing greatness: different cars, same courage
Cross-discipline comparisons are messy. Top Fuel isn’t WRC isn’t IndyCar. But the core ingredients are universal: wins, titles, breakthroughs, and longevity. Stack those, and patterns emerge. The best didn’t just flash; they sustained and evolved.
Muldowney’s triple crown beats everyone on raw championship haul at the highest level of her discipline. Mouton sits at the sharp end for outright pace and era difficulty. Patrick’s case blends peak achievements with seismic cultural impact. That combo is rare air.
Historical callbacks that bite
Lombardi’s point in ’75? That defense was pure Schumacher — minus the success part for the teams around her. She maximized chaos. Smart drivers always do. Sainz’s spins are dramatic, but Mouton’s pace under pressure? Somewhere, Grosjean is taking notes.
And when Patrick grabbed pole at Daytona, it was 2016 Mercedes energy — except nobody else got the memo. The plot thickened. The spotlights followed. So did the criticism. She wore it and kept swinging.
Weather, pressure, and the chaos factor
Rally weather shows up like that friend who always causes drama at parties. Mouton thrived in it. On days when fog ate the stage notes, she found time in shadows. That’s not luck — that’s talent with teeth.
Meanwhile, drag racing heat hits track temps that would make Hell consider air conditioning. Muldowney managed it with surgical throttle and ice-cold staging. Pressure tried to play mind games. She played to win.
So, who’s the greatest?
It’s Shirley. No committee needed. Three Top Fuel championships, 18 NHRA wins, first licensed woman in the class, and a legacy carved into concrete. She didn’t open doors; she detonated walls. The rest? Forced to recalibrate what “possible” looks like.
Mouton stands as the greatest all-surface attacker. Patrick, the modern era’s lightning rod who delivered real results under a microscope. Together, they’re the holy trinity. Everyone else? Legends, contenders, and worthy chaos agents chasing the same mountaintop.
One last lap: the depth chart of greatness
Mountains don’t move overnight. But this field is shifting fast. Chadwick’s climbing. De Silvestro’s still dangerous. The Force dynasty keeps rewriting drag racing. And sports car titles from Nielsen prove consistency beats hype nine times out of ten.
Somewhere, a PR manager just had a minor stroke reading this. Good. Racing isn’t polite. It’s ruthless. And these women mastered it.