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Shawna Robinson

Slow Season

By the fall of 2002, at age thirty-seven, Robinson had begun to feel her career was in jeopardy because she was driving so few races. The constant search for a sponsor and the introduction of new drivers to BAM had given her less time in the driver's seat. She told Tim Packman of Turner Sports Interactive that she was spending lots of time with her two children, becoming involved in their sports and school activities. She also continued to serve as a speaker for women's associations and business groups and had made several television appearances. BAM was planning to put her into some Busch Series races as well. "I really just want to race," she told Packman. "I would love to run the Busch Series, Truck Series or even the ARCA Series. I know I can drive."

Awards and Accomplishments

1984	Voted Great American Truck Racing (GATR) Rookie of the Year
1986	Second place finish in Grand Prix of Trucks Mexico City Race
1987	Won GATR Big Rig 100 at Flemington (New Jersey) Speedway
1988	Won AC Delco National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) race in Asheville, North Carolina; third place finish in overall Dash point standings; named NASCAR Dash Series Rookie of the Year and Most Popular Driver; her winning Pontiac Sunbird was donated to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
1989	First woman to win a NASCAR pole position, in the Goody's Dash Series at Florence, South Carolina; set new track record, captured pole, and won at Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) Speedway; named NASCAR Dash Series Most Popular Driver for second year in a row; was nominated for Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation
1990	Qualified second for Florida 200 at Daytona
1992	Runner-up in Busch Series Rookie-of-the-Year standings
1994	Captured outside pole in Goodwrench 200 at North Carolina Speedway on February 26; set new Busch Series track-speed record of 174.330 mph at Atlanta Motor Speedway, qualifying for Busch Light 300-in that race on March 12 she became the first woman in NASCAR history to win a pole position in Busch Series, Grand National Division; finished in top ten on June 25 at Watkins Glen, New York
1999	Second place finish in FirstPlus Financial Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) 200 at Dayton, Florida; fourth place finish at ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series in Charlotte, North Carolina; won STP-Prestone Highest Finishing Rookie honor
2000	Voted Highest Finishing Rookie at Xenia, Ohio, on May 26; won Talladega Pole Award at ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Event at Michigan Speedway on June 10, breaking track-speed record with speed of 184.606 mph; won Prestone Highest Finishing Rookie Award at Talladega, Alabama, on October 14
2001	Was first woman to start a Winston Cup race since 1989 when she began race at Brooklyn, Michigan, on June 10; was first woman to finish a NASCAR Winston Cup race since Janet Guthrie did so in July 1980

Robinson has indeed proven she can drive. With the ambition and focus to become not just a great woman racecar driver but a great driver regardless of gender, she has overcome many barriers in her twenty years behind the wheel. She told Kesa Dillon of Sports Illustrated Women in November 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."

Related Biography: Racing Executive Michael Kranefuss

Michael Kranefuss is one of the racing business's top executives. He spent twelve years as head of Ford Motor Company Europe's international racing programs, directing races in national programs as well as in Formula One, the World Rally Championship, and International Sports Car Racing. He helped to establish Ford as a winner in every motorsport in which it competed.

After leaving Ford, Kranefuss became an executive in the United States, as co-owner, with Ken Anderson, of MK Racing. His drivers, which included Jeremy Mayfield, have participated in numerous successful NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch Grand National Series, and ARCA races.

In his mid-sixties and following numerous attempts to retire, in 2001, Kranefuss and three-time Winston Cup champion Cale Yarborough, along with several other investors and directors, created the Team Racing Auto Circuit (TRAC), a new major stock car series to begin racing with the 2003 season. Two-car teams will be represented by cities and race on oval tracks.

MK Racing has also announced that it will be one of only three chassis builders to supply Falcon Cars to the Indy Racing League for 2003-2005 specifications. The step toward manufacturing race cars is a natural one for both Kranefuss and Anderson.

When Shawna Robinson was offered a contract with Kranefuss after returning to racing in 2000, following the birth of her second child, she reentered the arena as part of his ARCA RE/MAX race team. By the spring of 2001, she was ready to race a Kranefuss car in the Winston Cup.

Robinson stayed with Kranefuss until October 2001, when she was offered a car by BAM Racing and asked to be released from her contract.

Additional topics

Famous Sports StarsAuto RacingShawna Robinson Biography - Racing Family, Dash Division Debut, Chronology, Pole Position History And Crash, Arca Comeback - Temporary Retirement, CONTACT INFORMATION