Deborah Renshaw

Deborah Renshaw-Parker was born into a racing family and with two brothers her "tomboy" antics were encouraged. As a youngster she tried all sorts of vehicles and sports equipment that included jet skis, motorcycles, 4 wheelers and Legend race cars so it was obvious that she would grow up with a passion for racing. She competed on the tracks of the speedways at Kentucky and Tennessee where her father owned his own racing team. Deborah was born on the 28th October 1975 in Bowling Green, Kentucky where she graduated in 1997 from Northwood University in 1997 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business but instead of pursuing a career in the world of business, Deborah decided to direct her competitive personality into something that she loved - racing. This decision didn’t surprise her family or those that knew her. She attended various driving schools where she showed her obvious driving talent and, as one of her instructors said, "Deborah has the talent to drive a racecar at any level of competition that she desires. Now, all she needs are valuable seat time and a sponsorship, and she'll go far. She is a very smooth driver." In 1999 she was awarded the Rookie of the Year honours in the Late Model Stock Car division.

Her first ventures into NASCAR were in 2001/2002 when she raced in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series, during which time she posted thirteen Top 10’s and qualified for the pole position, setting a new qualifying record at Riverside Speedway. In 2002 she became the first woman to ever have led a NASCAR sanctioned race, this was at Nashville Speedway and she shared her points lead with fellow driver, Joe Buford. The same year she was in the media again after several drivers planned to enter a race to purposely finish behind her so that they could "protest" her car. This led to Deborah sitting the next two races out after which she continued the season to finish tenth in the track championship race.

In 2003 she joined the ARCA RE/MAX series and she finished three times in the Top 10. It was during the 2003 season that she was involved in an accident that ended the life of fellow driver, Eric Martin. It was during a practice session at Charlotte Speedway when Eric spun out after colliding with a wall after the fourth turn. He had radioed his team, telling them that he was OK. Three cars in front of her, although they didn’t have their spotters in the stands, managed to avoid him and his car but Deborah, turning at full speed from the third to the fourth turn, collided with him. She also didn’t have her spotter in the stands. This accident prompted that it would be mandatory for spotters to be in the stands if their driver was on the track in both NASCAR and ARCA. ARCA and Deborah earned a lot of criticism due to the unfortunate accident.

In 2004 she became the first woman to lead a race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series when she led a single lap in the Darlington 200. That season she ran in fourteen of the fifteen last races of the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Her highest position was 15th place in any of that season’s races, she joined Bobby Hamilton Racing’s driver development programme in December 2004, replacing Chase Montgomery in the #8 and she became the first woman to run a complete schedule in NASCAR’s three premier division series. For the entire season Deborah missed only one race and had two Top 10 starts, her highest was at Nashville Superspeedway where her start was 8th but she failed to gain a Top 10 finish. Her final position was 24th in the point standings. Bobby Hamilton Racing lost their sponsorship with EasyCare the following year and the team also announced that Bobby Hamilton Jr. would be returning to run a limited schedule during the 2006 season. At that time there were no announcements regarding Deborah’s future but eventually, on the 1st of February 2006 it was announced that she would no longer ride for Bobby Hamilton Racing. She married Shawn Parker, a NASCAR crew chief in November 2006 and since has two children.

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Deborah Renshaw
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