Shawna Robinson

More than just a pretty face, Shawna Robinson was born to be a racer. Having driven everything from snowmobiles to diesel trucks, Shawna made her NASCAR debut in the Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series, Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway, in 1988. She finished third in the race and became the first woman to win a NASCAR Touring event. She won the checkered flag at New Asheville Speedway in 1988, her rookie season.

In her rookie season itself, Shawna also won her first race in the Goody's Dash Series. She further won the Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series "Most Popular Driver Award" and the "Rookie of the Year" award. Repeating history, Shawna won the "Most Popular Driver Award", in 1989 as well, becoming the second driver to win the award in two consecutive years.

Her first two years in NASCAR were highly impressive, where she started all 30 races in the Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series, went on to win three races and finished in the top 10 an astounding 21 times.

In the year 1991, Shawna moved into the Busch Series, Grand National Division. Three years later, Shawna gave her Busch Series best at Atlanta Motor Speedway. She became the first woman to win the pole position, with the speed of 174.330 mph, a track record at that time.

Everything however was not perfect during the weekend, for Shawna. During the race, in the first lap itself, Mike Wallace moved alongside Shawna's car, making it three abreast in the third turn of the course. Wallace's car disrupted the air around Shawna's car, which resulted in her car coming in contact with Joe Nemechek. In the Busch Series, Shawna's best finish was 10th, which happened a year before her last race in the year 1995.

Following this period, Shawna retired as a driver, temporarily, especially due to her first pregnancy. She remained in touch with NASCAR, designing interiors for many NASCAR drivers and car owners.

In 2000, Shawna made a return to racing, in a Ford, for Michael Kranefuss, former Cup Series car owner. She returned for the ARCA RE/MAX Series and finished in the top-10 in points. The next year, Shawna made her Cup Series debut, once again in a car owned by Kranefuss, at Michigan. She qualified 32nd for the event and finished 34th.

In the year 2002, Shawna made seven Cup Series start, with her best finish being 24th at the Daytona 500, in the month of February. She finished the year at the 52nd position in the Cup standings, with four finishes of 40th or worse.