Sometimes things just work out … eventually ... and seemingly jet-black clouds end up having a blindingly bright silver linings.
For example, there has to be an easier — let alone less painful — redirection from water skiing to motorsports than herniating two lumbar vertebrae. And driving a rented car that “won’t turn left and right” doesn't exactly maximize your chances of winning.
The Butt Dial that Changed Everything
Holbrook, the 20th Woman of pressdog®, was at work a couple of months ago when she started getting calls from an acquaintance in racing, Charles Kim. Kim called Holbrook a few times but she couldn’t answer because she was at work, and he didn’t leave voice mails.
“I figured he had to be butt dialing me,” said Holbrook with a laugh, using the slang term for an unintended call from a cell phone caused by carrying it in your pocket. “So I didn’t call him back. He didn’t leave a voice mail, so I didn’t call him back.”
The next day — again at work — there were more calls, to which Holbrook responded with a text. That set off a series of texts and calls that resulted in Holbrook becoming one of several women in various forms of racing being sponsored by TrueCar®, a website (truecar.com) that answers the question "What should I pay for a new car?"
TrueCar has gotten into racing in a big way, announcing a multi-million-dollar "Women Empowered" initiative that will sponsor six women in 2012, including Holbrook’s fellow Women of pressdog Ashley Freiberg (Star Mazda) and Shannon McIntosh (USF2000) along with Verena Mei (Rally America) and Emilee Tominovich (MX-5 Cup). TrueCar will support a yet-to-be-named IndyCar driver and an all-female Baja 1000 team in 2012. (Read more.)
Holbrook will carry the TrueCar colors in the Pirelli World Challenge, a North American auto racing series that is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Holbrook will race in the touring car division in 2011, as she did in 2010.
“I was never going to give up on my career, but there have been times when it’s been difficult and you think it’s never going to happen, it’s never going to happen,” said Holbrook, age 21, who has been racing competitively since 2007. “This just proves that you should never to give up on your dreams because you never know what’s just around the corner. For me, I can’t take the credit and say I found TrueCar to partner with. They came to me. They found all these other women. They have been in the market and they have been looking at us for a year; we just didn’t know it. I have to thank TrueCar Motorsports and (director of motorsports for TrueCar) Charles Kim because they are the ones who have really given me the opportunity. I just have to do my portion, my job, now.”
It Started with a Wipeout
Way back in 2004, it looked like Florida-native Holbrook’s job was destined to be a pro water skier. But after a bad landing during ski jumping national championships herniated two lumbar vertebrae, Holbrook (then 14) entered a lengthy period of rehab. While her water skiing was on hold, Holbrook’s father, Jeff, got into club racing. Daughter Shea often tagged along.
Then lightning struck at Daytona when Jeff arranged for Shea (then 16) to get a ride in the Richard Petty Driving Experience. She was too young to drive, so she had to ride shotgun. “I was in big trouble,” said Shea, “because even as a passenger I fell in love with the sport and the driving and the environment. I knew from that day that was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”
Goodbye skiing, hello racing. Holbrook recovered from her injury and could have resumed skiing, but by then racing had overtaken skiing as P1 in her life. “I loved the sport of water skiing,” said Holbrook. “I still love water skiing for fun, but it’s not my passion. It’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Soon a race-ready Acura Integra had replace the boat and skis as Shea’s objects of affection. Holbrook tired to get as much seat time as possible, hitting the track a couple weekends a month, doing club racing, driving front-wheel-drive cars and Mustangs, Skip Barber and even some late model oval track racing.
The beloved Acura was sold in favor of a Honda Civic Si as Holbrook turned pro in the World Challenge in 2010.
Just when things looked good — Holbrook had a quick car for her first race of 2010 at St. Petersburg — she got collected in a multi-car cash at St. Pete. Her regular car was trashed, so Holbrook rented a car for the second race and drove from last to seventh in her class. With not enough money and time to fix her regular car for the second race of the season at Long Beach, Holbrook rented another car.
“It was very difficult because the guy who owned and drove the car had a completely different setup than I use,” she said. “I couldn’t get the car to turn left and right. I was really disappointed. I was happy to be at St. Pete, but at the same time I was extremely frustrated. I was one-and-a-half seconds of the pace I should have been at.”
Cue the Change in Aura
The second race of the weekend rolled around. “I remember setting in the (rental) car and saying, ‘OK, I just need a break.’ I’m thinking in the car, 'Give me a break. If I was going to win a pro race this year, this would be a really cool race to win.' ”
Right on cue, some fans started yelling “GO SHEA, GO SHEA.”
“It was really a boost because I heard fans in the grandstands screaming for us. I got into the car something changed in me. I gotta figure it out because it’s gotta happen like every time I get in the car now. Something happened and my whole aura changed and everything.”
She avoided a pileup in front of her early (“part of that was skill and part of that was pure luck”), overtook some cars during the race and thought she finished third. Actually she was second … and the winner was disqualified.
“I dropped two seconds (off my time) during the race. I was on my A game, I guess. We finish the race and I was pretty excited and my dad actually came on the radio and saying ‘You know, some people have a good race weekend; some people don’t have a that great of a race weekend ... Well kid you just had the best race weekend … You just won.’"
“On the cool down lap I almost wrecked that car 10 times,” Holbrook said. “I was crying and so excited. Couldn’t believe it. I was screaming over the radio probably busting all of my crew’s eardrums. My hands were up in the air my hands back down on the wheel it was extremely emotional for us.
"The coolest part was, a lot of these drivers I had actually been racing against for two or three years so they know me and they know I have kind of struggled ... I was just the underdog, really. Three of my fellow competitors who are my buddies came over congratulated me and hugged me and said 'You deserve this. We’re happy for ya. We’ll beat you the next time, but we’re happy for ya today." "
Now that she’s tasted victory, Holbrook said “you want it every single time. I’ve always wanted to win; now to a different degree. I will do anything to win.”
Holbrook hopes to announce what car she’ll be driving and her team for World Challenge soon.
For more on Shea, including her work fighting Duchenne muscular dystrophy, check the video below or visit her site, www.shearacing.com. Follow Shea on Twitter @shearacing. For the full roster of Women of pressdog®, go here.
Shea Holbrook Female Racecar Driver from RCE VIDEO PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.
Congratulations to you guys!
Posted by: classic restoration | December 25, 2011 at 11:46 PM
That's the spirit women in the racing industry should have. However, once a person has tasted winning, he or she must still be aware that there is still the chance of losing! Racing is fun, especially because of the fact that you can achieve great things afterwards.
Posted by: Tari Ledsome | February 14, 2012 at 11:37 AM