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Friday, July 13
Robinson fails to qualify in Chicago
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com
JOLIET, Ill. -- Even though she didn't qualify for Sunday's inaugural Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, Shawna Robinson is not giving up in her attempt to become a full-time Winston Cup driver.
Robinson knows there is a great deal of attention focused on her for both being a woman, as well as driving a car sponsored for this race by the primary event sponsor, Tropicana Orange Juice.
|  | | Shawna Robinson has only qualified for the Kmart 400 at Michigan International Speedway. |
Still, she feels at home on the Cup circuit and at the brand new 1½-mile raceway.
"Being in this area is great," Robinson said. "I come from Iowa, and to be in the Midwest and having a track in the Chicago area is great. I think it's good for fans, bringing them out from everywhere. The fans really want it here. It's a really nice racetrack. I think it's fast to get around, but it'll take a while for everybody to figure out where the right grooves are race-wise."
Robinson has admittedly struggled in her attempts to become a Cup regular. She has now attempted to qualify for four races this season and made the field only once, starting 32nd and finishing 34th at the Kmart 400 at Michigan International Speedway five weeks ago.
"We're just struggling," Robinson said. "In practice here, we didn't really get any laps to tell where we were. The ones we had yesterday were good, but today we weren't that good."
While it's difficult to build any consistency when you're not racing from weekend to weekend, learning more and getting to know the nuances of the variety of tracks on the circuit and the other full-time Cup drivers, Robinson is making do the best way she can.
"I'm where I want to be at right now," she said. "I'm in a situation where you have so many opportunities and you want to make the most of them. You always seem to be behind a little bit when you're not on a full rhythm of running every weekend. That might hurt us a little bit, but we'll just do whatever we can do here. It's just up to me to get the car around the racetrack."
Originally, Robinson had planned to make qualifying attempts for six or seven races this season, but that plan may be shortened or lengthened.
"We honestly don't really know how many more races we'll try to qualify for this year," Robinson said. "We plan on going to Indianapolis to qualify for the Brickyard 400, but after that we're not really sure what we're doing."
Robinson is adamant that the races for which she attempts to qualify this season will lead to a make-or-break situation for her in 2002. It's either going to be an all or nothing proposition for her.
"I'll be racing full-time or not at all," Robinson said. "That's just the way I'm going to do it. I still feel we'll like we'll get a sponsorship deal for next year full-time and I'll be running for Rookie of the Year next year in Winston Cup."
Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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