Newcomer Robinson Brings History To Sebring Debut

Subtitle:Teen Is Son Of Twelve Hours Of Sebring Winner Chip Robinson

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 17, 2015) -- Skylar Robinson might be a new face in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda lineup March 18-20 at Sebring International Raceway, but his heritage carries much history in the prestigious event.

Robinson, from Augusta, Georgia, will drive a Lites 1 car fielded by Extreme Speed Motorsports at Sebring. His father, Chip Robinson, won the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1989 with Arie Luyendyk and Geoff Brabham in the iconic Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo prototype.

“Sebring has a ton of history and to kind of be following in my dad’s footsteps and to make my IMSA debut at a place where he won the Twelve Hour race overall is really cool for me personally,” Skylar Robinson said.

Chip Robinson also won the 1987 Rolex 24 At Daytona in a Porsche with Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr. He also won the IMSA Camel GTP championship that season. Despite that esteemed racing heritage, he said he never directed his son toward motorsports.

“I didn’t really push him into racing at all,” Chip Robinson said. “But he wanted to do it and bugged me enough, so we finally went and got a go-kart. I honestly wasn’t looking forward to it, but I think it’s been incredibly rewarding for both of us.

“It’s much different than what I thought it was going to be. I’m really looking forward to see him have a chance to participate in an event with the history and prestige as Sebring.”

Skylar Robinson has spent most of his young career racing open-wheel cars. But he dreams of a career in sports cars, a similar career path followed by his father.

“My dad started out in open wheel, and then an opportunity opened up in sports cars for him,” Skylar Robinson said. “He’s led me down the junior formula car route, but I’ve always really had my eye on sports cars. I’ve been going to the Daytona 24 hours since I was 3 years old. I’ve always been around endurance racing, so sports cars is what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Chip enjoys helping his son’s racing career when he can. But his most important role remains being a father.

“I do practically no coaching driving-wise,” Chip Robinson said. “To some degree, I believe kids need to figure some of it out on their own. As they get further up the ladder, they have to start figuring some of this stuff out. I don’t want him to get so used to having someone helping him all the time that he can’t figure things out on his own.

“I do try to help him a lot off the track with the business side of racing, developing sponsorship and that kind of thing.”

That lack of pressure from his father also mirrors Skylar Robinson’s attitude toward his debut. He feels no extra burden to perform due to his father’s success at the historic circuit.

“I’m trying to make my own name for myself, so I’m going to go in to do my best and do what I can do and not so much worry about what my dad’s done,” Skylar Robinson said. “I’m focused on giving my best performance and working well with ESM. This series seems like a great stepping-stone into a junior prototype.”