Shawna Robinson (born November 30, 1964) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver.
She retired from racing four years later to focus on her family and concentrate on running her interior design and furniture business.
Lefty and Lois were also known for innovative ways of entertaining crowds at stock car races which garnered national recognition.
[1][3] 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.
[1] She 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.
[1] She 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.
[8] In the following year, she continued her success by clinching the first pole position by a woman driver in NASCAR at I-95 Speedway.
[13] Heading into the season's final race at Langley Speedway, Robinson stood third, 86 points behind championship leader Gary Wade Finley.
[17] Robinson qualified 26th fastest and finished 15th at her first Busch Series race, which took place at Orange County Speedway.
[20] At the season-opening Goody's 300, she retired after 71 laps due to a blown engine; her team also changed manufacturers during the season from Oldsmobile to Pontiac.
[20] She 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.
[24] 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.
At her debut race in the FirstPlus Financial 200 at Daytona International Speedway, she took a second-place finish, the best for a woman driver in the championship.
[n 1] Afterward, Robinson moved into a car owned by Winston Cup Series driver Jeremy Mayfield, and finished fourth at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
[31] She qualified in eighth place at the final race of her year in Talladega Superspeedway but was involved in a crash after completing 66 laps and retired from the event.
[1] Following her results in the previous year, Kranefuss-Haas Racing owner Michael Kranefuss was interested in Robinson having seen her compete at Daytona.
[33] During the season, Robinson took top-ten finishes in half the races she entered, and competed alongside the series' points leaders.
[1] Robinson surpassed the previous track record at Michigan International Speedway where she clinched her first pole position in the series.
She later received a phone call from team owner/driver Michael Waltrip who arranged a three-race agreement, but did not reply because she was under contract with Kranefuss.
[38] Robinson failed to qualify for the first race she attempted (at California Speedway) when her car's rear-end gearing detached causing her to collide with the wall.
[47] Team owner Tony Morgenthau first noticed Robinson at an ARCA race at Pocono Raceway the previous year when she made contact with his driver Matty Mullins who was sent into the wall.
[48] 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.
[47] 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.
[54] Outside racing, Robinson spoke for Women in Sports, and attended meetings of several associations and business groups while taking the time to be with her children.
[58] Robinson competed in the annual ten-lap Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach, California, as one of five drivers in the "Pro" category.
[55] 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.
[64] She 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.
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.
"[72] 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.
[74] In an interview with USA Weekend in 2002, Robinson stated that her success was down to an intensive training regime which allowed her to maintain her focus.