Ladies in Drag (Racing, that is)

Written By Arlene Karidis

When Maria Willingham pulls up to the starting line at Mason Dixon Dragway in Hagerstown, some male spectators and racers think it is funny, but those who know her do not laugh. The Superpro Class competitor does a quarter mile in nine seconds, placing third among the 40 top contenders last season.

This year should be at least as good. Instead of the souped up Nova she drove for eight years, she will be in a 1988 Camero that really kicks.

It is a fleeting moment from the time she smashes her foot on the gas until she careens past the finish line, hoping to see the flash of the white win light at the end of her lane.

“It’s the biggest adrenaline rush you could ever feel,” she said.

The 40-year-old Westminster resident and IRA specialist at a bank says it is all about staying focused and keeping your cool.

In fact, she has been so focused that she has spun down the black asphalt dragway in her five-layer suit, helmet and gloves in 100-degree weather, too fixed on the track and her competitor to think about the heat.

Willingham admits to being nervous before races but has learned not to panic, even on the day she watched her husband Mitch, who also races, just miss flipping over.

Overall, it is a sweet thrill. “If I know I have the race in the bag I’ll start screaming in the car. If I win enough I don’t have a voice left at the end of the day.”

Westminster boasts two other female drag racers who, like Willingham, do bracket racing, a one-on-one competition for points and cash. Mary Peters and Lisa Dustin frequent the Mason Dixon Dragway from April into November when the stands are packed and relatives and friends (their “racing families”) sit by their trailer trucks along the track for the day-long event.

For 13 years, Peters only watched from the sidelines. On her 40th birthday, her husband Danny, born and raised in a racing family, encouraged her to get behind the wheel. He bought her a 1970 Chevelle.

“When I went out in the driveway and saw it, I said, ÔThat’s my birthday present?’ It had been a heap of junk, but Danny worked on it every night for six months. He built the car from the frame up, and it’s won some races,” she said.

On a good day Peters typically goes five one-on-one rounds out of seven.

“I have shown guys who’ve been doing this for 10, 20 years that yeah, I can do this,” said Peters, a school nurse at East Middle in Westminster who has also impressed the students, especially the boys. At first they think she is kidding when she says the blue Chevelle in the picture in her office is her race car.

“When I’m in the burnout box [where racers spin their tires before taking off] all I can think of is cutting a good light; that is, anticipating when it will turn green and letting off the brake a split second ahead of it. It’s like a charge from the brain to the foot, and in seconds you’re crossing the finish line.”

Peters’ goal this year is to make it to bracket finals. “You have to get to every race to make it, so I’ll be in Hagerstown every weekend.”

Dustin became accustomed to the sound of revving engines years back when she used to baby-sit near the 75-80 Dragway in Monrovia. It intrigued her, but nothing like when her brother Jim, who also races, pulled her into his Mustang years later and took off.

He had an old Ford LTD and was going to smash the windows out and put it in an Enduro race. But he gave it to Dustin to race instead. Today she drives a 1968 Mustang with a mind of its own.

“Sometimes it’s hard to predict what she will do. She’ll pick up a 10th of a second here and there, and I can’t figure out why, but I’m not complaining,” said Dustin.

Married to a racer (Steve) and mother to a five-year-old (Stevie) who will soon race in junior brackets, and a three-year old (Lacey) who may also have the racing gene, Dustin recalled one of her first seasons:

“I lost the first round 13 times. The last time, I got in the truck we load my car onto and slammed the door. I told myself, this isnÔt happening next week.”

Dustin has since beat tough contenders. One of them had friends in the crew pit who did a double take when she pulled up.

“They said, ÔRocky, [you’re racing a girl.] You’ve got this one,’” laughed Dustin, recalling her competitor’s account of the scene. “Rocky told them, ÔShe’s not just some girl – you don’t understand.’”