Carol Cox
| Carol Cox | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Super Stock | |
Carol Cox was a pioneering American woman drag racer. She was the first woman to win at a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national event.
History
Cox was based in Whittier, California.[1]
"Women had been competing at local tracks for years -– often in a “Powder Puff" class", but never in a national event.[1] At the time, of course, single women were denied credit cards, and all women were banned from jury duty.[1]
Cox followed her husband, Lloyd, an engineer who also raced Oldsmobile stockers (and got sponsorship from a car dealership in Whitier), into racing, encouraged by racer Peggy Hart after they met at the Santa Ana Drags.[1]
After switching to Pontiac in 1958, Lloyd had so many problems with the factory Hydramatic automatic transmission, he had to take night classes. In time, his skill at tuning them reached the point he opened his own shop, which helped finance Carol's racing.[1]
Her racing at Lions Dragstrip, which Mickey Thompson ran at the time, earned Lloyd a job working for him.[1] Early in 1961, Lloyd bought a
At the time, NHRA banned women from national events. Cox disagreed, as did a number of other women racers, notably
). Lloyd drove the Ventura, instead.Cox responded by contacting the
The win attracted a lot of local media attention.[1]
Several months later, the family loaded the Ventura, and a Hayden Proffitt-built A/FX Pontiac Tempest (owned by Thompson), on their hauler and drove again to Indianapolis. Cox won S/SA again, at the Nationals, NHRA's most prestigious event.[1] Lloyd also won, in A/FX.[1]
In subsequent competition, Cox was frequently accused of cheating.[1]
Private life
Cox was married to Lloyd, and has a daughter, Karen, who did race for a while, a son, Steve, who has also been a successful racer, driving a '68 Camaro bracket racer capable of 10-second passes.[1] Her granddaughter, Crista, also once raced in Jr. Dragster.[1]
In 2018, at age 90, Cox was suffering dementia.[1]
In August, 2022, at age 95, Carol Cox passed in Minnesota [1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Burgess, Phil, National Dragster editor. "Carol Cox: NHRA's first class winner", written 4 May 2018, at NHRA.com (retrieved 16 September 2018)
- ^ "Mustang Funny Cars through the years". NHRA. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ Burgess, Phil, National Dragster editor. "Carol Cox: NHRA's first class winner", written 4 May 2018, at NHRA.com (retrieved 16 September 2018): text and photo. Ultimateracinghistory (retrieved 20 September 2018) credits Don Nicholson with the Stock Eliminator win.