Woman racer hoping for ride

Dick Brinster

Thursday, Nov. 11, 1999 | 9:26 a.m.

Shawna Robinson believes the day will come when women are a force in NASCAR.

The pioneer? Robinson, of course.

"It's going to happen," said the driver who wants to go from decorating homes to the winner's circle. "There eventually will be a competitive female racer in Winston Cup."

That might seem unthinkable to many, but not to top stock car promoter H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, who sees Robinson as the driver who could tap a new source of income for the sport.

"The missing link in racing is females," said Wheeler, innovative president of Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. "The most dramatic surge in ticket sales I have ever seen came the day Janet Guthrie qualified for a race."

Robinson, a 34-year-old driver who took five years off to have two children, could create that kind of excitement, Wheeler says. Considering her record earlier in the decade and impressive runs in her few appearances this year, her ability to drive is not an issue.

Seven years ago, she was the second-best rookie in the NASCAR Busch series, and finished 23rd in points the next season. In 1994, Robinson became the only woman to win a pole in the series, then left to start a family.

She returned last February, and nearly became the first woman to win a stock car race at storied Daytona International Speedway, finishing second in ARCA's flagship event.

Wheeler says Robinson would be no gimmick should a multirace deal be completed with top car owner Michael Kranefuss, and that Winston Cup would not be out of the question in the near future.

"If Shawna could run in the top 10 there, she would have the largest sponsorship potential our sport has ever seen," he said. "Racing would end up on the cover of Time magazine. It would transcend the sport."

Robinson could benefit greatly from NASCAR's demographics. The sanctioning body says 38 percent of its fans are women. But not a single driver is.

Robinson realizes that, and hopes to capitalize. But she isn't planning on immediately competing with former Busch mates like Jeff Gordon at the top level of the sport.

"I will have to go through the ARCA series or truck series to get to Winston Cup," she said. "It's all about who you team with."

Robinson never had the kind of financial support Kranefuss would give her should he land sponsorship in the Busch, Craftsman Truck or ARCA series.

"I wouldn't suggest she work with us if I didn't think she could hack it," said Kranefuss, co-owner with Roger Penske of Jeremy Mayfield's Winston Cup car.

Robinson, aware of her reputation as a competent racer, says gender has not been a problem on the track.

"There are always a few dumb comments, but when they race beside me, they are comfortable," she said.

Winston Cup driver Ward Burton, who once traded paint with Robinson, won't argue that.

"Walking around the pits, she was a female," Burton said. "Strapped in the car, she was a driver. She took as good as she gave. That says a lot right there."

Mayfield, who co-owns an ARCA car, used Robinson to fill in for injured driver David Keith this year at Lowe's. He was impressed when she started 12th and finished fourth.

"With a break or two, she could have won the thing," Mayfield said. "It's hard to ask for more than that from a driver, female or male."

Robinson, now an interior designer, hopes a sponsor will recognize the value of women in the sport. The cereal box bearing a driver's image most often is picked off the grocery store shelf by a women, she points out.

"Betty Crocker does a lot with the wives of drivers, but no one has stepped forward to take a chance on a woman in a car," she said.

Wheeler believes an established Robinson would be good for business, just like pioneer driver Guthrie was when she became the first woman to qualify for a Winston Cup race 23 years ago.

"It brought the speedway to a halt," he said. "Women who didn't care about racing came out to see it.

"Now, I can just imagine the excitement we would have seeing Shawna lined up next to Dale Earnhardt Jr. five years on the front row."