Until 1982, when drag race fans talked about women in Top Fuel, they talked exclusively about Shirley Muldowney. But in 1982, a former executive secretary who thought it might be fun to drive a Top Fuel car and got her wish, turned into the year's biggest story. Lucille Lee turned the class on its ear with a terrific season, highlighted by victories at the prestigious March Meet (see below) and her first national event victory, at the Southern Nationals.
Her victory at the Southern Nationals was even more memorable because it came in a final-round defeat of another relative unknown, her teammate, Steve Hodkinson, in the first all-team Top Fuel final in NHRA history.