The film begins in 1956 in Schenectady, New York, where waitress Shirley Roque marries mechanic Jack Muldowney. Despite the objections of her father, a singer named Tex who encouraged her to be self-sufficient, Shirley initially settles into life as a housewife. Her entry into motorsports begins when she convinces Jack to let her drive his hot rod during late-night street races on deserted roads. Following a series of local wins, a meeting with professional driver "Big Daddy" Don Garlits motivates her to seek professional sponsorship, a goal met with skepticism due to the lack of female drivers in the 1950s.
By 1966, Shirley attempts to secure a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) license. To obtain the required three signatures from established drivers, she relies on the support of Garlits and funny car driver Connie Kalitta. After setting a track record in her first qualifying attempt, she begins a successful weekend racing career. However, her ambition to compete year-round by purchasing Kalitta's funny car leads to the dissolution of her marriage to Jack.
The film follows her subsequent romantic and professional involvement with Kalitta. Following a 1973 accident that destroys her funny car and leaves her with serious burns, Shirley transitions to the Top Fuel category with Kalitta serving as her crew chief. This partnership results in her first NHRA national event win in 1976 and the World Championship in 1977. After a period of separation caused by Kalitta’s personal conduct, the two reconcile during the 1980 NHRA championship final, where Shirley defeats Kalitta to secure the title.
Bonnie Bedelia as Shirley Muldowney
Beau Bridges as Connie Kalitta
Leo Rossi as Jack Muldowney
Hoyt Axton as "Tex" Roque
Bill McKinney as "Big Daddy" Don Garlits
Anthony Edwards as John Muldowney
Tom Duffield as Rahn Tobler
The film featured the debut of character actor Leonard Termo in the role of Good Joe. Shirley Muldowney served as a creative consultant on the production.
Critical response to the film was generally positive, with Rolling Stone describing it as "flawed but energetic." Reviewer Michael Sragow noted that while the depiction of drag racing lacked some conventional cinematic drama, it remained true to life, suggesting the film would particularly appeal to racing enthusiasts. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore provided an average grade of "B+."
Shirley Muldowney expressed mixed feelings regarding the final product. While she believed the film was "very, very good for the sport," she felt it did not capture her life accurately. Muldowney criticized the casting of Bedelia, stating she would have preferred Jamie Lee Curtis for the role, and claimed Bedelia lacked an affinity for the racing environment during the film's promotion.
The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2008 AFI's 10 Top 10 list in the sports category.
A video game adaptation was developed for the Atari 2600 by Micro Computer Technologies. Programmed by Jim Collas, the game was cancelled by publisher Fox Video Games due to concerns regarding the film's box-office performance. The existence of the game was only confirmed years later by Collas after a prototype surfaced without identifying information.