Biography

Early life and career

Robinson was born on November 30, 1964 in Des Moines, Iowa. She is the youngest of five children of former race car driver Richard "Lefty" Robinson, an amateur diesel truck racer who worked on cars in his home garage and worked on promoting races in the Midwestern United States, and his wife Lois who competed in auto racing before she flipped a car and was asked by Lefty to stop racing. She grew up in a poor family. Lefty and Lois were also known for innovative methods of entertaining crowds at stock car races which garnered national recognition. Robinson was inspired by race car drivers A. J. Foyt, Sammy Swindell and Steve Kinser in her teenage years and later found inspiration in female driver Janet Guthrie by her early twenties as she had more interest in NASCAR than open-wheel racing. She, along with her siblings, were taught they could do anything they wished and drove minibikes, motorcycles and snowmobiles.

After graduating from Saydel High School in 1983, Robinson spent the summer deciding on her career path as she worked as a department store cashier. She went with her father to help him promote local races. Robinson persuaded him to compete in racing, and started off at Toledo Speedway driving a 1976 International semi-tractor. She started in a five-lap race where she finished second after leading four laps, and took third position in the feature race. Afterward, Robinson began racing full time and won 30 feature races before moving to the super-speedway division in April 1984; she faced early resentment from her male competitors. In the same year, Robinson moved from Iowa to Pennsylvania. Lefty believed Robinson's presence helped to increase the fan's interest. Robinson's father acted as her mentor although her mother was against her racing.

In the same year, she became the first woman to win a GATR Truck Series points-scoring race on a super-speedway when she won the Milwaukee Mile Bobtail 100 at Milwaukee Mile. Robinson was also sponsored by her father for the remainder of the season after achieving her first race victory. She was voted the 1984 GATR Rookie of the Year. Robinson went to France to compete in the Paul Ricard Grand Prix Truck Race the following year, and took second in the 1986 Grand Prix of Trucks held in Mexico City. Robinson took victory in the GATR Big Rig race at Flemington Speedway in 1987.

NASCAR and ARCA

1980s and 1990s

Robinson began competing in the Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series in the spring of 1988. She caught the attention of the Global Marketing Sports Group owned by Pat Patterson who found her a race seat with car owner David Watson, and she drove a Pontiac Sunbird. Robinson started the season with a third-place finish in the Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway. She became the first woman to win a NASCAR sanctioned-race with a victory in the AC Delco 100 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway on June 10, 1988 after starting from 13th position and took the lead seven laps before the finish.

She finished third in the Drivers' Championship and was awarded the series' Rookie of the Year accolade as the highest-placed first season driver. Robinson was also voted by her fellow competitors as the Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series Most Popular Driver at the series' awards banquet in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the following year, she continued her success by clinching the first pole position by a female driver in NASCAR at I-95 Speedway, and along with setting a new track record, Robinson took pole and won the Dash Series race at Myrtle Beach Speedway. She also retained the Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series Most Popular Driver award.

Robinson started driving in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) in 1991, driving the No. 77 Huffman Racing Buick. At the time, the Busch Grand National Series was considered NASCAR's feeder circuit, a proving ground for drivers who wished to step up to the organization's premiere circuit, the Winston Cup. Early on, she struggled to find sponsorship and ran the season without an sponsor. Robinson qualified twenty-sixth fastest and finished fifteenth at her first Busch Series race, which took place at Orange County Speedway. Later that year, she finished twenty-first at Motor Mile Speedway and eighteenth at a second race held at Orange County Speedway. The final race Robinson qualified for was at Charlotte Motor Speedway driving the No. 49 Ferree Racing car, where she finished forty-first after an accident. Robinson failed to qualify for the race at Martinsville Speedway. She finished fifty-fourth in the Busch Series points standings.

In the 1992 Busch Series, Robinson moved to Silver Racing, driving the No. 21 Oldsmobile. Robinson began the season with a thirty-fourth place finish at the Goody's 300 and was involved in an accident after completing sixty-seven laps. Before the Champion 300, Robinson moved to the Pharo Racing No. 33 car after she was released by Silver Racing, and later moved to the No. 25 car owned by Laughlin Racing. Although she struggled during her rookie season, she performed well in July and August at Volusia County Speedway where she finished eleventh (her best of the season) in the Firecracker 200, and she equalled the result at Michigan International Speedway. Robinson finished thirty-eighth in the final Busch Series championship standings, and was second in the NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year behind Ricky Craven despite her abbreviated schedule.

Robinson switched to the No. 35 Chevrolet for Laughlin Racing for the 1993 Busch Series to run twenty-four races. At the season-opening Goody's 300, she retired after seventy-one laps due to a blown engine; her team also switched manufacturers during the season to Oldsmobile and Pontiac. She took her best finish of the season with an eleventh place in the Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. She did not qualify for four races in the 1993 season. Robinson finished the year twenty-third in the final Busch Series points standings, the highest of her career. She made her first start in the Busch North Series (now the K&N Pro Series East) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where she qualified and finished in 34th position after her engine failed. Robinson returned to Ferree Racing to drive the No. 46 Chevrolet for the 1994 Busch Series season.

At the season's second race (at Rockingham Speedway), she started second but finished 36th after being involved in a crash. Two races later, Robinson won her first career pole position at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Busch Light 300, which made a a track record in the Busch Series. On the race's first lap, she battled with Joe Nemechek and Mike Wallace through the track's third turn when Wallace collided with Robinson which sent her into Nemechek. Robinson continued with heavy front-end damage, but retired after completing sixty-three laps with radiator damage. She attempted to qualify for the Busch North Series race at New Hampshire but did not qualify. Robinson achieved her first top-ten finish later in the season by securing a tenth-place finish in the Fay's 150 at Watkins Glen. However, she was released from the team shortly afterward, and ended year the 47th overall.

She went to drive the No. 36 Colburn Racing Ford for the 1995 season. Robinson attempted to enter the Daytona 500, but failed to qualify after finishing 26th in the first Gatorade Twin 125s event. Robinson secured two top-20 finishes in the Busch Series, but retired from racing after four races to start a family with her husband Jeff Clark, a car engine builder. She declined an offer to test at Daytona International Speedway while in the early stages of pregnancy. Shortly before the birth of her two children, Robinson started an interior-decorating business from her home and painted murals for homes and businesses. She said of her decision to have children: "Racing is part of who I am, If I became a different person because I had kids, then the kids were not going to know who I was my whole life before them." Robinson returned to racing in 1999 in the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series with car owner James Finch. At her début at Daytona, she took a second-place finish in the FirstPlus Financial 200, the best for a female driver in the championship. Afterward, Robinson moved into a car owned by Winston Cup Series driver Jeremy Mayfield, and finished in fourth-place at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Robinson clinched the season's highest finishing rookie award.

2000s

Following her results of the previous year, Kranefuss-Haas Racing owner Michael Kranefuss supported Robinson having seen her compete at Daytona. He consulted with other drivers and received positive feedback about Robinson. Kranefuss and Mayfield elected to give her a full-time seat for the 2000 season. She suppressed the previous track record at Michigan International Speedway where she clinched her first pole position in the series. At the race's start, she crashed after leaving a turn and was briefly hospitalized with two broken ribs and injured her right shoulder. During the season, Robinson took top-ten finishes in half the races she entered, and reclaimed the series' highest finishing rookie award. She became the first woman to lead at least one in the ARCA Series at Toledo Speedway that same year. Robinson finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship standings, which made her the first woman to finish in the top ten final standings in a national oval track motor sports series.

In 2001, Robinson returned to NASCAR to drive the No. 99 Michael Waltrip Racing car for three races in the Busch Series with the objective of obtaining a season-long drive in 2002. The seat materialized when she met Tim Butler and Ken Butler of Aaron's Rents at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the fall of 2000. She later received a phone call from team owner/driver Michael Waltrip who arranged a three-race agreement, but did not answer due to being under contact with Kranefuss. Bobby Kennedy acted as Robinson's crew chief. In her three races, she achieved one top-20 finish, and did not finish the first two events due to crashes. She continued a strong run in ARCA Series with two top-ten finishes in the season's first two races.

She later made her début in the Winston Cup Series in the No. 84 Michael Kranefuss Racing Ford and planned to run six races. The events were chosen because they were at tracks that Robinson felt comfortable, and they were located in large markets where they would receive more attention. Her schedule was devised to allow Robinson time to test. She planned to race at Talladega but decided against it because of the rules regarding restrictor plate racing. Robinson failed to qualify for the first race she attempted (at California Speedway) when her rear-end gearing broke off her car which caused her to crash into the wall. Four races later, Robinson started from 32nd in her first race at Michigan. Robinson finished 34th after spinning her car in the track's second turn but avoided damage, and she became the first woman to start a NASCAR Cup Series race since Patty Moise in 1989. After she failed to qualify for her next two races, she was unable to complete her schedule due to sponsorship issues. Robinson stated that she used the season to garner motivation, and hoped to be a consistent driver in five years and wanted to be a spokesperson for women.

She moved to BAM Racing in October 2001 and drove her first (and only) race in the NASCAR Winston West Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that same month. Robinson was sent to a driving school to familiarize herself with the track, and Kranefuss granted her permission to race. She retired due to a car failure while running in third position. Team owner Tony Morgenthau first noticed Robinson at a ARCA race at Pocono Raceway the previous year when she made contact with his driver Matty Mullins who was sent into the wall, and Morgenthau had been impressed with her pace at Las Vegas. He spoke to Robinson after the race and asked her why she had not competed in more races; he later offered her a multi-year contract which she signed in December 2001 and would attempt to qualify for 24-races during the 2002 season since her team had no owner points because they were a new operation. Robinson went to Kranefuss to terminate her contract with his team, and her crew chief was former Busch Series driver Eddie Sharp.

At the season-opening Daytona 500, Robinson qualified in 36th place making her the second woman to start the race; she finished 24th despite spinning into the track's infield, and avoided a pit road collision with Bobby Labonte. After Daytona, Sharp left BAM Racing and car chief Teddy Brown became Robinson's new crew chief. She struggled during her rookie season and was unable to attend most races due to sponsorship issues along with her team hiring new drivers which limited her on track experience. Robinson was later released by BAM Racing after the season's second event at Daytona. She ended the season 52nd in the Drivers' Championship, and was fourth in the rookie of the year standings. Outside of racing, Robinson spoke for Women in Sports and attended meetings of several associations and business groups while taking the time to spend time with her children. She separated from Jeff Clark in early 2002 and both remained on good terms.

Robinson switched to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2003 and drove the No. 49 Mike Starr Racing Chevrolet Silverado for three races with an all-female pit crew. At her first race at Texas Motor Speedway, she finished 18th after inccuring two race penalties which placed her five laps behind race winner Brendan Gaughan. Robinson followed it up with consecutive 29th-place finishes at Las Vegas and Talladega but failed to finish both events, and finished the year 72nd overall. She returned to ARCA in the same year and drove in the season's first two races. Robinson failed to finish at Daytona due to an engine failure and took an 11th place finish at Atlanta. Robinson competed in the annual ten-lap Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach. California as one of five drivers in the "Pro" category. She finished seventh overall and fourth in her class. Robinson later returned to drive in two Iowa State Fair dirt races in August 2003.

Midway through 2004, she entered one race in the Busch Series (the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway) for Stanton Barrett Motorsports in its No. 91 Pontiac but failed to qualify. Robinson left auto racing at the end of 2005 after poor performances driving six races for the No. 23 Keith Coleman Racing team in the Busch Series, and vowed that if she returned, she would do it by herself and refused to be labelled as either a "start and park" or a "gimmick" driver because of her gender. She dealt with successive crew chiefs and team owners who collaborated against her to give her poor results, and was labelled as "emotionally unstable" when she attempted to stop sexism towards her. Robinson is one of 16 women to have participated in the NASCAR Cup Series, and one of three to have driven in the series' premier event, the Daytona 500.

Post-racing career

Robinson focused on her family full-time, and continued to concentrate on her interior design business where several of her clients came from the NASCAR community. She also started a company called Happy Chairs in the Matthews area of Charlotte where she creates her own furniture and redesigns old chairs. Robinson names designer Trina Turk and several clothing companies as her influences. She applied to participate for the CBS reality competition show The Amazing Race 16 with NASCAR Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb as her "Race" teammate but both were cut from the programme. Robinson was invited to donate memorabilia to the NASCAR Hall of Fame but did not send anything due to her commitment of auditioning for The Amazing Race 16. She was involved with the planning and decorating for the marriage of Kelley Earnhardt Miller in 2011.

In March 2014, Robinson was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, which she was told had also spread to her lymph nodes. She underwent treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy which caused 18 lymph nodes and a lump in her breast to be removed, and was cared for by her mother-in-law for seven months. Her friends ran her businesses on her behalf, and Earnhardt Miller along with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., ran fundraising events to help Robinson pay her medical bills.

Legacy

Robinson has been described as "a competent racer" by fellow drivers. She told Sports Illustrated for Women in 2002: "I'm an athlete. I've always wanted to compete, and I want to win. Whatever car I'm in, whatever series I'm running, whatever track I'm racing—I want people to know Shawna Robinson was there." Robinson felt she carried on the work of Janet Guthrie in "opening doors for a lot of women" in auto racing and other male-dominated sports.

In an interview with USA Weekend in 2002, Robinson stated that her success was down to an in intensive training regime which allowed her to keep her focus. She noted in 1993 that individuals searched more for her weaknesses rather than strengths, and that there was more pressure placed upon her due to her gender. Robinson stated that she did not try to overpower her male rivals and her career was not "a crusade for feminism". Although Robinson holds a number of "firsts" for women in American motorsports, she said that they do not hold a large significance for her.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * - Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1995	Colburn Racing	99	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL						N/A	-
2001	Michael Kranefuss Racing	84	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MAR	TAL	PHO	CAR	HOM	ATL	NHA	66th	61
2002	BAM Racing	49	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	52nd	361

Daytona 500 results

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1995	Colburn Racing	Ford	DNQ
2002	BAM Racing	Dodge	36	24

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NBSC	Pts	Ref
1991	Huffman Racing	77	Buick	DAY	RCH	CAR	MAR	VOL	HCY	DAR	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	CLT	DOV	ROU	HCY	MYB	GLN	OXF	NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV				MAR					54th	400
	Ferree Racing	49	Buick																												CLT	NHA	CAR
1992	Silver Racing	21	Olds	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	MAR	DAR	BRI	HCY	LAN	DUB	NZH																									38th	1099
	Pharo Racing	33	Olds												CLT	DOV	ROU	MYB	GLN
	Laughlin Racing	25	Olds																	VOL	NHA	TAL	IRP	ROU	MCH	NHA	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	MAR	CAR	HCY
1993		35	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	DAR	BRI	HCY	ROU				DOV				TAL		MCH		BRI		RCH			CLT												23rd	1950
			Olds								MAR
			Pontiac									NZH	CLT		MYB	GLN	MLW		IRP		NHA		DAR		DOV	ROU		MAR	CAR	HCY	ATL
1994	Ferree Racing	46	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	MAR	DAR	HCY	BRI	ROU	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	SBO	TAL	HCY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	MAR	CAR								47th	742
1995	Colburn Racing	36	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	NSV	DAR	BRI	HCY	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	TAL	SBO	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAR	HOM										69th	227
2001	Michael Waltrip Racing	99	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	KEN	MLW	GLN	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	PHO	CAR	HOM			82nd	186
2004	Stanton Barrett Motorsports	91	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM		N/A	-
2005	Keith Coleman Racing	23	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	NSH	BRI	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	79th	384

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCTC	Pts	Ref
2003	Mike Starr Racing	49	Chevy	DAY	DAR	MMR	MAR	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	CAL	LVS	SBO	TEX	MAR	PHO	HOM	72nd	261

[ Source: Wikipedia ]