98 Facts About Shawna Robinson

Shawna Robinson was born on November 30,1964 and is an American former professional stock car racing driver.

Shawna Robinson started competing in her childhood and, after graduating from high school in 1983, she began racing in semi-tractors.

Shawna Robinson achieved early success with 30 victories, and moved into the GATR Truck Series becoming the championship's rookie of the year for 1984.

Four years later, Shawna Robinson started competing in stock car racing where she became the first woman to win a top-level NASCAR-sanctioned race that same year, finishing a career-high third place in the points standings.

Shawna Robinson moved to the NASCAR Busch Series in 1991 where she struggled to perform well but achieved one pole position in 1994.

Shawna Robinson left a year later to start a family and began an interior decorating business.

Shawna Robinson returned to NASCAR in 2001, and made her debut in the Winston Cup Series but was unable to compete successfully.

Shawna Robinson retired from racing four years later to focus on her family and concentrate on running her interior design and furniture business.

Shawna Robinson was born on November 30,1964, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Shawna Robinson 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 promoted 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.

Shawna Robinson went with her father to help him promote local races.

Shawna Robinson persuaded him to let her compete in racing, and started off at Toledo Speedway driving a 1976 International semi-tractor.

Shawna Robinson participated in a five-lap sprint race where she finished second after leading for four laps, and took third position in the feature event.

Shawna Robinson's father acted as her mentor although her mother was against her racing because she felt she would be hurt in a crash.

Shawna Robinson was sponsored by her father for the remainder of the season after achieving her first race victory.

Shawna Robinson was voted the 1984 GATR Rookie of the Year.

Shawna 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.

Shawna Robinson was victorious in the GATR Big Rig race at Flemington Speedway in 1987.

Shawna Robinson garnered the attention of the Global Marketing Sports Group owned by Pat Patterson who found her a race seat with car owner David Watson, and drove a Pontiac Sunbird.

Shawna Robinson became the first woman to win a top-level NASCAR Touring Series race with a victory in the AC Delco 100 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway on June 10,1988, after starting from 13th position and taking the lead seven laps before the finish.

Shawna Robinson finished third in the Drivers' Championship, and was awarded the series' Rookie of the Year accolade as the highest-placed first season driver.

Shawna Robinson later started first and won the Dash Series race at Myrtle Beach Speedway; earlier in the year she took the victory at the Lanier National Speedway event and clinched two more pole positions during the season.

Shawna Robinson secured fourth position in the race, and took third in the points standings.

That same year, Shawna Robinson was one of eight professional women athletes nominated by the Women's Sports Foundation for the Sportswoman of the Year Award.

Shawna Robinson started competing in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series in 1991, driving the No 77 Huffman Racing Buick.

Shawna Robinson failed to qualify for the race at Martinsville Speedway.

Shawna Robinson finished 54th in the Busch Series points standings.

Shawna Robinson began the season with a 34th-place finish in the Goody's 300, and was involved in an accident after completing 67 laps.

Shawna Robinson finished 38th 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.

Shawna Robinson went to the No 35 Chevrolet for Laughlin Racing for the 1993 Busch Series, and drove in twenty-four races.

Shawna Robinson took her best finish of the season with an eleventh-place result in the Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Shawna Robinson did not qualify for four races in the 1993 season.

Shawna Robinson finished the year 23rd in the final points standings, the highest of her Busch Series career.

Shawna Robinson made her first start in the Busch North Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where she qualified, but finished in 34th position after her engine failed.

Shawna Robinson returned to Ferree Racing to drive the No 46 Chevrolet for the 1994 Busch Series season.

Two races later, Shawna Robinson won her first career pole position in the Busch Light 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Shawna Robinson continued with heavy damage to the front-end of her car, but retired after completing 63 laps with radiator damage.

Shawna Robinson attempted to qualify for the Busch North Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway but did not record a fast enough lap time to start the race.

Shawna Robinson achieved her first top-ten finish in the Busch Series later in the season with a tenth-place result in the Fay's 150 at Watkins Glen.

Shawna Robinson took time off to rebuild her psyche and self-confidence, and worked on interior decorating as a hobby.

Shawna Robinson married engine builder Jeff Clark in November 1994.

Shawna Robinson went to drive the No 99 Ford Thunderbird, owned by the poorly-funded Colburn Racing team for the 1995 season, and planned to run five races in the Winston Cup Series along with a full season in the Busch Series.

Shawna Robinson attempted to enter the Daytona 500, but failed to qualify after finishing 26th in the first Gatorade Twin 125s event.

Shawna Robinson secured two top-20 finishes in the Busch Series in the team's No 36 car, but retired from racing after four events to start a family with her husband Jeff Clark.

Shawna Robinson declined an offer to test at Daytona International Speedway while in the early stages of pregnancy.

Shawna Robinson consulted with other drivers and received positive feedback about her.

Shawna Robinson became the first woman to compete full-time in an American national stock car racing series.

Shawna Robinson surpassed the previous track record at Michigan International Speedway where she clinched her first pole position in the series.

Shawna Robinson became the first woman to lead at least one lap in the ARCA Series at Toledo Speedway that same year.

Shawna Robinson came close to winning her first ARCA race at the final round of the season, the Georgia Boot 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, having led a race-high 66 laps, but was overtaken by Bob Strait with three laps to go.

Shawna Robinson finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship standings, making her the first woman to finish within the top-six final standings in an American national oval track motor sports series.

In 2001, Shawna 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.

Shawna Robinson continued a strong run in ARCA Series with two top-ten finishes in the season's first two races.

Shawna Robinson later made her debut in the Winston Cup Series in the No 84 Michael Kranefuss Racing Ford Taurus, and planned to run six races.

The events were chosen because they were at tracks where Shawna Robinson felt comfortable, located in large markets where they would receive more attention.

Shawna Robinson's schedule was devised to allow Robinson time to test.

Shawna Robinson planned to race at Talladega Superspeedway but decided against it because of the rules regarding restrictor plate racing.

Shawna Robinson failed to qualify for the first race she attempted when her car's rear-end gearing detached causing her to collide with the wall.

Shawna Robinson finished 34th after spinning her car in the track's second turn but avoided damage.

Shawna Robinson stated that she used the season as motivation; she hoped to be driving consistently in five years, and wanted to be a spokesperson for women.

Shawna Robinson moved to BAM Racing in October 2001 and drove her sole race in the NASCAR Winston West Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that same month.

Shawna Robinson was sent to a driving school to familiarize herself with the track, and Kranefuss granted her permission to race.

Shawna Robinson retired due to a car failure while running in third position.

Shawna Robinson had been impressed with her pace at Las Vegas, and asked Robinson afterward why she had not competed in more events.

Shawna Robinson later offered her a multi-year contract which she signed in December 2001.

Shawna Robinson attempted to qualify for 24-races during the 2002 season since her team had no owner points because they were a new operation.

Shawna Robinson went to Kranefuss to terminate her contract with his team.

Shawna Robinson ran for Rookie of the Year, but was seen by the Chicago Tribune as having little chance of securing the honor.

Shawna Robinson made no further appearances for BAM Racing after the Pepsi 400, and was later released by the team.

Shawna Robinson ended the season 52nd in the Drivers' Championship, and was fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Outside racing, Shawna Robinson spoke for Women in Sports, and attended meetings of several associations and business groups while taking the time to be with her children.

Shawna Robinson separated from Jeff Clark in early 2002, but both remained on good terms.

Shawna Robinson moved to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2003, driving the No 49 Mike Starr Racing Chevrolet Silverado for three races, with a pit crew consisting entirely of women.

Shawna Robinson followed it up with consecutive 29th-place finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway but failed to finish both events, and finished the year 72nd overall.

Shawna Robinson returned to ARCA in the same year, and drove in the season's first two races.

Shawna Robinson failed to finish at Daytona International Speedway due to an engine failure, and took an 11th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Shawna Robinson finished seventh overall and fourth in her class.

Shawna Robinson drove in two Iowa State Fair dirt races in August 2003.

Midway through 2004, she entered one race in the Busch Series for Stanton Barrett Motorsports in its No 91 Pontiac after team owner Stanton Barrett made a phone call to Shawna Robinson regarding a deal which she accepted.

Shawna 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.

Shawna Robinson refused to be labelled as either a "start and park" or a "gimmick" driver because she was a woman.

Shawna 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.

Shawna Robinson focused on her family full-time, and continued to concentrate on her interior design business.

Shawna Robinson started a company called Happy Chairs in the Matthews area of Charlotte where she creates her own furniture and redesigns old chairs.

Shawna Robinson begins the process of renovating old chairs by searching for those that are in poor condition but are structurally intact and are architecturally appealing.

Shawna Robinson's work has received critical acclaim from online magazines and customers.

Shawna Robinson applied to participate in the CBS reality competition show The Amazing Race 16 with NASCAR Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb as her teammate but both were cut from the program.

Shawna Robinson was invited to donate memorabilia to the NASCAR Hall of Fame but did not send anything because of her commitment to The Amazing Race 16 audition.

Shawna Robinson was involved with the planning and decorating for Kelley Earnhardt Miller's marriage in 2011.

In March 2014, Shawna Robinson was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, which she was told had spread to her lymph nodes.

Shawna Robinson underwent treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, causing the removal of 18 lymph nodes and a lump in her breast.

Shawna Robinson was cared for by her mother-in-law for seven months.

Shawna Robinson later entered remission, and completed her final radiation treatment in September 2015.

Shawna Robinson has been described as "a competent racer" by fellow drivers.

Shawna Robinson was honored for her auto racing career with a resolution adopted by the Iowa Senate in March 2002.

Joe Dan Bailey, who worked alongside seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, stated Shawna Robinson had similar qualities to Earnhardt including how to improve the feel of her car and how it behaved.

Shawna Robinson noted in 1993 that individuals searched more for her weaknesses rather than strengths, and that there was more pressure placed upon her because of her gender.

Shawna Robinson stated that she did not try to overpower her male rivals and her career was not "a crusade for feminism".