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American Morning

Shawna Robinson Discusses Effort to Become First Woman to Compete for Winston Cup Since 1989

Aired April 26, 2001 - 09:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURA OKMIN, CNN ANCHOR: As little girls, we're told we can grow up to be anything -- a doctor, a lawyer, and even a sportscaster. But what about a race car driver? That's one field that still belongs to the boys.

But that could soon change as well. This week, NASCAR makes its way to California for the NAPA 500, and included in the field is Shawna Robinson, who will try to become the first woman to run a Winston Cup event since 1989. Robinson finished sixth in ARCA points last year, but this season is hoping to run six Winston Cup events, beginning this weekend.

Shawna Robinson joins us this morning as she gets ready for the big weekend.

Good morning.

Shawna, is it hard enough just to qualify for any Winston Cup race? Does it give you some added pressure this week, to have so much attention on your gender?

SHAWNA ROBINSON, NASCAR DRIVER: It does. That definitely puts the pressure on me, but I'm really used to that because I've always only raced against men. So the cameras have automatically been on me, and it's something that I know where my focus is -- it's in the race car. And this is not a bad thing for me because I am a woman, and I speak for a lot of women when I go out there to drive the race car and show all those little girls that have dreams and goals they can accomplish those dreams.

OKMIN: Such good inspiration. Shawna, you said, last season, that several men tried to spin you out in last year's ARCA circuit. Do you expect that at all on the Winston Cup level?

ROBINSON: NASCAR is extremely professional. These guys that I'll be attempting to qualify and race against have known me for a long time. I've raced against a lot of them in the Busch series, and I've been around the sport for a while. So it's not like I walked in here and decided I was going to be a race car driver. I worked at it very hard.

And I think that there are a lot of crew members, drivers, and owners that want to see me succeed, and there are those that don't. So I choose to put myself around positive people and ignore the negative, or utilize them to push me harder.

OKMIN: It's not a bench press competition, we know, so it's not about strength. Are men and women equal in a race car?

ROBINSON: Well, my obvious opinion on that is yes, we are. I don't think it has anything to do with the size of you. I think it's got more to do with your mental, physical and natural ability to be a driver. I think I was born to be a driver. I've felt that I have the ability and have focused on it many years -- and that's why I'm here. If I was here because I was a woman, I would have quit a long time ago; I'm here because I'm a race car driver, but I happen to be very feminine woman.

OKMIN: Like you said, you've been racing since you were 18 years old. You took time off, though, to start a family with your husband, Jeff Clark, who builds engines for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Now you come back to race a mommy of two: How much does safety concern you, and was that at all an issue when you decided to get back behind the wheel of a car?

ROBINSON: Well, actually, no, it wasn't an issue when I chose to get back behind the wheel. I chose to get back in just as any woman that takes a leave and then goes back to her career. The issues have been a lot more focused lately, and I think that we've all looked at those issues and made changes in the sport to look into the safety factor. We have devices now that we wear that help.

But I think there is no cure-all. We all know that it is a risk, and I think a lot of it lies in the hands of fate. But I feel very confident in that race car, very comfortable and very safe.

My children are extremely supportive of me. They're young, so they don't quite understand everything. This is something my husband and I do -- this is a family sport, and NASCAR is a very family- focused series -- and this is what our life is about.

OKMIN: Why do you think, Shawna, more women don't race?

ROBINSON: My answer to that is, obviously, sponsorship. I think that you have to be put in a situation with the right car owner and the right team, the right support, and the financial backing is what gets you there. We picked up Aaron Celzenlise (ph) for this year, to run four Winston Cup races, and really, that puts me in a position to pick up sponsorship to continue next year. Obviously, my goal is to run full time in Winston Cup.

So I think you're seeing a lot more women involved. It's just really tough to get to this level.

OKMIN: Other women have run before. Not since Janet Guthrie, in 1980, has one finished a Winston Cup race.

Shawna, good luck in qualifying, as well as in reaching that checkered flag, this weekend.

ROBINSON: Thank you so much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com