Robinson proves she can take pain

Dick Brinster

Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 8:51 a.m.

Shawna Robinson has proved she can drive a race car as well as many of the men she's trying to beat.

Unknown is whether the rookie can endure the rigors of long races and a lengthy schedule.

With half of the ARCA season completed, Robinson can only speculate on her future. She does know one thing: She can handle pain.

"Oh, childbirth is a heck of a lot worse than this is," said the 35-year-old mother of two, who broke her right shoulder and two ribs earlier this month at Michigan Speedway.

The wreck was just the latest bit of bad luck that began last month when she crashed with a lapped car at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

In the Michigan race, Robinson had the pole, but a broken transmission cost her many laps at the start. As she worked her way toward the leaders, a tire blew and she hit the wall.

Was she pretending to be on the lead lap, racing for the first major touring series victory of her life?

"That's exactly what I was doing," she admitted. "To sit there and go out and take off like we did, we showed that we were good."

But she wound up in the wall, and met it again five days later while practicing at Pocono International Raceway. She was one of several drivers to crash that day.

Robinson was in the car only because she would have to start the race to pick up points in the championship chase. The plan was for her to give way to Winston Cup driver Ed Berrier, which she did, and he finished fourth last Saturday.

The only injury from the Pocono crash was to her pride.

"I was so mad I wouldn't have felt anything," said Robinson, fifth in the ARCA points race.

She will continue her quest for rookie of the year when she races twice this weekend in Ohio, where she will try to finish what she starts.

Robinson got some attention last season when she returned after five years off to start a family. In her first race for James Finch, she finished second in the Daytona ARCA 200.

A year later, she is in a well-funded car owned by driver Jeremy Mayfield and his Winston Cup boss, Michael Kranefuss.

Mayfield believes the ARCA series, a step below NASCAR's Busch series, is important to Robinson's development and that she has a shot at rising to the top level of the sport, Winston Cup.

"I'd put her up against just about anybody in ARCA and up against most in Busch," Mayfield said. "She probably has some Winston Cup guys beat, too."

Kranefuss, who once headed Ford's racing effort, looks at Robinson's potential on and off the track.

He says she is an impressive racer, despite some disappointments. He is using this season as a test for Robinson but confesses to being enthusiastic about her chances.

"She obviously has a good bit of talent, her gender can be exciting for some sponsors, and that works to her benefit," Kranefuss said. "It's her driving talent which tends to excite those in the racing community, though."

Frank Kimmel, the 1998 series champion, likes having Robinson in the series.

"Quite frankly, because of Shawna, more people are paying attention to ARCA," he said.

Some women have had problems getting lucrative sponsorship deals in the sport, but not Robinson, whose benefactor is Kmart.

She says the faith of Kranefuss and his willingness to take a chance on an unheralded short-tracker has given her a confidence boost.

"I had the talent but had never been given a chance," she said. "There's not a lot of owners that would do that."

Robinson says she and other women were ahead of their time trying to break through and she probably won't have an opportunity for a long career, unlike 19-year-old IRL driver Sarah Fisher, who raced in the Indianapolis 500.

Still, Robinson finds comfort in knowing she has been given a chance. But there's a hint of anxiety to dull all the enthusiasm.

"I haven't won yet," she said. "And until I do, none of that matters."