Through the performance of machines that combine technical innovation and visual spectacle, drag racing has become a popular sport that continues into the '90s. Its inherent danger is unquestionable, and in the early years of drag racing, women were altogether absent from competition. Peggy Hart, one of the operators of Santa Ana racetrack during the 1950s, cracked the gender barrier, and was soon followed by Lynn Sturmer, Fran Deggendorf, Shirley Shahan, Paula Murphy, and Shirley Muldowney. In this high-velocity landscape, human experience is gender-free, with the pure driver pursuing speed through mastery of reflexes and machinery. While the development of automotive technology has been dominated by men, racing is not ineluctably a male pursuit. With a competitive spirit, coupled with more than enough courage to support her ambition, "Cha-Cha" Muldowney, in particular, shows us that women can put the pedal-to-the-metal with the best of them. Sara Parker, a cultural historian who received her Ph.D. at Cal, and who has been studying car culture, will take us down that quarter mile in pursuit of the pure female driver.