Shea Holbrook (born April 10, 1990) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional racing driver, entrepreneur and spokeswoman. Currently, she is in retirement starting a family. Drafting with

Denise Mueller-Korenek Denise Mueller-Korenek (born ) is an American cyclist. she holds the world record for paced bicycle land speed and is considered "the fastest cyclist on earth". She set the record on September 16, 2018, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, by t ...

, Holbrook drove a dragster supporting world record for paced bicycle land speed at the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...

in 2018. The two traveled an average of . Denise Mueller-Korenek set the world record.

Early life

Holbrook was raised in

Groveland, Florida Groveland is a city in Lake County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,729 at the 2010 census. Between 2000 and 2010, Groveland's population increased by 189%, making it the fastest growing place in Florida. However, its land area incr ...

. She graduated from the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in 2012, earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in communication with a minor in marketing. She grew up a nationally ranked competitive

water skier Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

. At a young age, she saw much success on the water and also learned how to fly her father's plane however never officially took any lessons or required training or obtain a Private Pilots license. An adrenaline seeker, Holbrook wasn't quite satisfied until she was introduced in motor racing.

Racing

Holbrook began her professional racing career with the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

in 2010. She became the first woman to win the

Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...

in a touring car during the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge season, and is one of only four women to ever win at the track. Holbrook says that she became interested in racing after attending Richard Petty’s Driving Experience. Holbrook received her first taste of international motorsport having qualified for the

2019 W Series The 2019 W Series was the inaugural motor racing season of the W Series, an all-female Formula 3-level racing series. Driver selection 55 drivers were initially entered in a qualifying longlist for the 2019 season, with a further six added l ...

, a

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

championship for women. One of two Americans in a European-based series (alongside

Sabré Cook Sabré Cook (born May 21, 1994 in Grand Junction, Colorado) is an American female racing driver and mechanical engineer. She has previously competed in the W Series. Biography Cook started her professional motorsport career with an invitatio ...

), she struggled heavily for pace and often found herself at the back of the field with inexperienced Canadian

Megan Gilkes Megan Gilkes (born 6 November 2000 in Richmond Hill, Ontario) is a Canadian former racing driver who last competed in F1 Academy. She previously competed in the now defunct W Series in 2019. Biography A third-generation racer, Gilkes began ka ...

– highlighted by qualifying 8 seconds away from the pole time in the opening round at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...

. She finished the championship 18th and as the only driver to have contested all races to not score points, with 12th place in

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

her best result.

Other

In 2016 Holbrook was the pace vehicle driver when

set a women's world record for the fastest speed on a paced bicycle with an official speed of 147.75 mph on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats; no woman had ever attempted the mark before. Mueller-Korenek is the official record holder, with Holbrook only listed in articles a support driver. Holbrook again paired with Mueller-Korenek in 2018 to break the world record for paced cycling, reaching a speed of .

Business

Holbrook is involved in many aspects of the motorsport and automotive industries including, keynote and panel public speaking, television, automotive experiential and marketing programs, professional driver coaching, hospitality and marketing management. Companies she's developed programs and have worked alongside include,

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

Mercedes AMG Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles. The company has its headquarters in Aff ...

Performance Racing Industry {{primarysources, date=May 2010 Performance Racing Industry was started in 1986 by Steve Lewis (racing), Steve Lewis, owner of Laguna Coast Publishing, based in Laguna Beach, California. Now based in Aliso Viejo, California, the company operates PR ...

SEMA Sama ( tr, Sema, Persian, Urdu and ar, سَمَاع - ''samā‘un'') is a Sufi ceremony performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice dhikr. Sama means "listening", while dhikr means "remembrance".During, J., and R. Sellheim. "Sama ...

, Women in Automotive,

’s Track Night in America,

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

, and the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

among others.

Achievements

* 2017 – Two Top Five's in the North American Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series * 2017 – Top Ten in Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championship * 2016 – Top Five in Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championship * 2015 – Top Three in IHRA Jet Dragster Championship * 2014 – 2nd Place in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car A Championship * 2014 – Recipient of the Women’s Sports Foundations Project Podium Grant * 2013 – 7th place in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B Championships * 2012 – 4th place in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championships * 2012 – Shea received the “Living Legend Honoree Award” for her on and off track efforts, and was honored in the “Women in Motorsports”, SuperCars Super Show Exhibit and was featured in Teen Vogue and Jalopnik * 2012 – Shea became a member of the all-female TRUECar Racing Women Empowered Initiative * 2011 – Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car 1st Place – first female driver to win a Touring Car race * 2010 – First professional year of racing taking 6th place in the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge Touring Car Championships * 2009 – Central Florida Region SCCA Champion for H1 * 2009 – Track Record 1:30.027 at West Palm International Raceway class P2 * 2008 – Women in the Winners Circle (Lyn St. James Foundation) received Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Scholarship * 2008 – 25 Hours Of ThunderHill 2008, team DivaSpeed, 6th in class, 31st overall of 68 * 2008 – First female alternate for the 2008 VW Jetta TDI Cup * 2007 – Sobre Rodas Talent of the Year award (another winner

Helio Castroneves Helio may refer to: * Helio AU-24 Stallion * Helio (wireless carrier), a defunct American wireless communications provider (2005–2010); originally a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, purchased by Virgin Mobile USA in 2008 * He ...

)

Racing record

Complete W Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

*
Denise on Bicycling and the Law
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holbrook, Shea 1990 births Living people University of Central Florida alumni American female racing drivers Racing drivers from Florida Women's Sports Foundation W Series drivers 21st-century American women Lamborghini Super Trofeo drivers Racing drivers from Jacksonville, Florida