|
|
|
|
Home Page 
 
Copyright © 2000-2002. All Rights Reserved. Winston Cup® and NASCAR® are registered trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. This web site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR®. The official NASCAR® website is "NASCAR® Online" and is located at... www.nascar.com |
The Exploitation of Shawna Robinson
By Carol Einarsson
September 4, 2002
I can't STAND it anymore! I know I'll get mail. Believe me, I know. But I also know that there are thousands of you out there that agree with me, so here we are again. Let's talk about Shawna. It seems there have been several articles written lately on the subject of Shawna Robinson, and even these articles support exactly what I maintain to be true: Shawna was NOT ready for Cup racing. Will she ever be? I don't happen to think so, but that's just my opinion. I read a stat that she started all 30 races in the Dash series, though I failed to find any such statistic at her website. Let's say she DID, though. She STARTED. Did she finish well? Did she even finish at all? She finished 23rd in points in Busch, and that stellar accomplishment was nine years ago. More "recently", though, she finished 4th in an ARCA race in 1999. Woo-hoo!! What on earth is going on here, where we look at stats like those above and think, "Oh, yeah, THIS is the kinda talent we need to put in a seat for Winston Cup!" Then -- and this is almost the BEST part -- when she fails to perform, there are accusations that her own team is trying to make her look bad?! Yeah, because she can't do that all by herself. Look at her stats, people! She's never been a huge success in ANY form of racing, she cries when she doesn't qualify, she drives slow when she does! I just don't understand how ANYone can look at her racing achievements and think she's ready for Cup. When she performs exactly as her own statistics would predict, there are accusations that her team has sabotaged her by giving her bad RPM numbers to intentionally cause her to speed on pit road. Yeah, that's SO likely. It's all an ugly conspiracy by the establishment of men just "keepin' her down". She's a huge accomplished talent, but because she's a woman, there's a "conspiracy". Yeah. That's it. We've heard of radio warnings from NASCAR telling teams that their driver needs to either speed up or get off the track. Those warnings come after a car has been wrecked and returned to the track in an attempt to pick up a spot or two. Not for Shawna, though. She's the first driver I've ever heard about that has received these warnings when no wreck ever took place! She's just driving slow! Oh, but she DESERVES this break, right? After all, she was named the Most Popular Driver of the Year in the Dash Series in the 1980s. If that doesn't scream qualifications, well, I don't know what does. Unless, of course, it's that impressive win in the 1987 Great American Truck Racing Big Rig 100 in Flemington, NJ. I get mail from people that say I should support Shawna not because of her incredible talent, but rather, because she is a woman, and after all, it's my duty as a fellow woman. The same day I get that email, a lovely man by the name of Daytona Bob who identifies himself as a Shawna fan, calls me the most vile word a woman can be called (and yes, it DOES begin with the same letter as my first name). This is surely a shining example of the finest of fans rooting for a driver for all the right reasons. She's a woman, so we should cheer for her, but yet we're not above using the most degrading term imaginable to describe OTHER women. Someone noted that BAM racing has no problem showing off Shawna. Dress her up and let her sign autographs and peddle some diecasts at her website. The same women that are rooting for her based solely on gender are blinded to the fact that she is being used and exploited. NASCAR wants her in so they can appear diverse and they can market to a wider audience. BAM wants here there for the same reason. It seems to me if women are rooting for her because of her gender, they ought to be spending more time in a fit of outrage that she is being used and exploited just to make money. There’s a word for that, folks. It’s not a pretty word, either. I believe it’s called prostitution. There is a proven path into Cup racing that we know has been tried and accomplished. It's what's known as the ABC plan where a racer drives in ARCA, then Busch, then Cup. Something important needs to be included in that explanation, however. The driver is expected to do reasonably well in each of those series. A fourth place ARCA finish (in a race, not overall points), and a 23rd points finish in Busch does NOT merit moving up to Cup, no matter HOW you rationalize this. Blame her owner, blame her team, blame the rain. Blame her car, blame her engine builder, blame the under-funding of the mostly unsponsored car. Blame everyone and everything but by golly, close your eyes to the real truth of the matter. Don't you dare look at her stats that would explain her poor performance, because then you might have to open your eyes and admit where the real problem lies. Maybe -- just MAYBE -- it's in the driver's seat.
You can contact Carol at.. Insider Racing News
illnesses through research and teatment
|
