"I was racing on a speedway one weekend to a short dirt track the next weekend to the half-mile asphalt the next. It was a good way for me to gain experience," Robinson says.
In 1988 she moved to North Carolina to start her stock car racing career. She started competing in the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series. In only her third race, Robinson became the first woman in NASCAR history to capture a pole. In her sixth race, she became the first woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned touring series race. The 1988 season brought her a strong third-place finish in the points as well as Rookie of the Year and Most Popular Driver.
After her success in the Goody's Dash Series, Robinson started to feel "incredibly impatient" and wanted to try her hand in the NASCAR Busch Series. For the first few years, her time in a car was limited. It wasn't until 1993 that she snapped up the Polaroid sponsorship and ran the next two seasons fully sponsored.
"I went through a lot of shaky deals where the equipment wasn't there, but you still had to be there because if you weren't, you weren't racing," Robinson says.
Although female drivers attract attention from the media, Robinson says that sponsorship deals are hard to come by.
"Sponsors always seem to be there and there is always interest," she says. "But, when it comes down to signing on the dotted line, it just doesn't happen. I think women struggle a little more with sponsorship because it is considered a risk or it is not what everybody is doing-it is different. People hesitate with that."
Ask Shawna where she wants to be in five years and you have a quick answer -her goals are firm.
"In five years I hope to be a consistent Winston Cup driver, one that is there every weekend," she says. "I hope to be a spokesperson for women in a lot of areas. I hope to have my own apparel line for women, and I hope to have been on Oprah! I know exactly what I want."
What's In A NameTina Gordon Goes From Powder Puff Races To Dusting The FieldIn 1995 Tina Gordon entered, somewhat reluctantly, a Powder Puff race driving her husband Gary's green Chevy Nova Hobby Stock at Green Valley Speedway near their hometown of Cedar Bluff, Alabama-and she won.
Gordon then went on to win all of the Powder Puff events held at the track that year and the next. With five wins under her belt, Gordon decided she wanted to do this every weekend.
"Over the two-year period they only had the Powder Puff events every so often," Gordon says. "So, I thought, 'Well, I kind of like this. This is what I want to do.' I was at the track every weekend watching Gary race anyway. So, I built a car and started racing with the guys full time in 1997."
Since Gordon, who, by the way, isn't related to Jeff, first stepped on that throttle a mere five years ago she hasn't lifted.
"In 1998 I was still racing in the Hobby division and was leading the points," she recalls. "With half the year left I went to racing a Super Late Model at Birmingham International Raceway," Gordon says. "From racing a Hobby on dirt to a Super Late Model on asphalt-that was a big jump there. I finished out the 1998 season there and then in 1999 and 2000 I went to race with the NASCAR All Pro Series."
Gordon has yet to win on asphalt, however. "I still have a lot to learn," she says. "That is the thing about racing. You can't just go read a book and then do it the next day. It is something you actually have to get out there and do. You have to experience it. Get seat time, and that is what we are doing."
Gordon had a spectacular debut at Talladega during the ARCA race last October. It was the first time she had raced on a superspeedway, and the first time she had driven an ARCA car.
"We went there and tested a couple of weeks before the race and had a really good test and a lot of new feels,'' Gordon says. "I had never been that fast before. They told me I could flatfoot it because it was a restrictor plate track, but even with a restrictor plate you are still hitting 190mph.