JACKSONVILLE, NC – Isabella Robusto is looking forward to returning to the zMAX CARS Tour on Saturday night and is heading to New River All American Speedway for the first time with plenty of optimism.
Robusto, 19, from Fort Mill, South Carolina, garnered a lot of buzz earlier this year after a strong showing in her ARCA Menards Series debut at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona. Now, she is ready to return to the CARS Tour for the first time since being injured in a crash at Hickory Motor Speedway in April 2023.
“I’m excited to get back into a Late Model,” Robusto said. “It’s been since April 22nd last year since I’ve run a Late Model. Looking forward to running with Lee [Pulliam] and Butterbean [Brenden Queen]. It will be very good experience and I think I’ll be able to run up in the front and be competitive. I’ve been looking forward to getting back in there for a while now and kind of put last year behind me and look forward now.”
Saturday will mark her first trip to New River All American Speedway, a gritty and abrasive track surface that maximizes tire degradation. Tire management is a skill Robusto mastered at Florence Motor Speedway en route to a third-place finish in the 2022 South Carolina 400, and has won races at both Hickory and Tri-County Speedway.
“[New River] is going to be a good test, running with Lee Pulliam and having that as our first race,” Robusto stated. “It’s going to be a good test of our communication. Having Butterbean as my teammate will be a huge help. He’s won there a couple times and I think I’ll be able to use him.”
Pulliam is one of the most decorated racers in the history of Late Model Stock Car racing with 176 feature race wins and numerous championships on the national and regional level. Throughout his career, Pulliam mastered every type of track surface. As a car owner, he has been equally successful – especially at New River, with his cars winning the last two races they’ve run with Queen. Robusto knows Pulliam’s accomplishments and hopes to lean on his experience to continue evolving into a formidable contender.
“It’s super exciting to work with Lee,” Robusto commented. “I’m hoping he can teach me a lot of what he’s learned. Having another racer help me is going to help speed up my learning, especially in the Late Model for the CARS Tour. Everyone is super close in speed so it’s all about the little things, and Lee and Butterbean can both teach me something.”
Robusto was poised for a breakthrough year before a last lap accident at Hickory early last season.
Robusto was mired in a side-by-side battle for the lead in the closing laps of a CARS Pro Late Model race when contact caused her car to break loose, sending her careening into the frontstretch pit road barrier. Days later, Robusto was diagnosed with a concussion, sidelining her for the remainder of the 2023 season.
A few months after the incident, Robusto began her journey back.
“The recovery had a lot of unknowns, concussions are very unknown for everyone,” Robusto recalled. “Especially with females, it’s a lot more severe. Lots of working with doctors. The whole Toyota Racing Development team helped me a ton initially and throughout the entirety of my recovery. We had a lot of sensory training to go along with the healing and recovery.”
Robusto, who was an accomplished athlete in high school, has always focused on being physically active and conditioned so she can be as sharp as a razor’s edge. That athleticism helped her during her recovery.
“I think staying active, or as active as I could during the recovery, helped,” Robusto explained. “I wasn’t able to do a lot of physical activity for the first six months. The last six months have been rebuilding. I’m back to 100 percent of what I was before the crash. All the physical activity has helped me a bunch, and I think it helps me during the race in the car. With the heat and, at the end of the races, I’m able to stay more mentally and physically sharp.”
Robusto finally made her debut in the ARCA Menards Series, a NASCAR feeder series, earlier this year – racing her way up to third place before finishing sixth in a rain-shortened race at Phoenix. Her performance drew praise on social media and from the Fox Sports broadcast team.
“I think Phoenix was a really good start for my ARCA career,” Robusto said. “Once I get some more ARCA races under my belt, I think I can compete for wins every week. That’s going to help show everyone I can run up front and run with all the boys. It just helps, boosts my overall driving profile now that I’ve taken the next step from Late Models to ARCA and continuing my steps up the ladder of NASCAR.”
The attention Robusto drew comes during a moment when female athletes have taken the spotlight, but Robusto doesn’t see herself as just a female racer.
“I’ve always considered myself a good racecar driver, not just a good female racecar driver,” Robusto remarked. “If you’re able to run up front and gain respect from competitors and fans, and not just there because you’re a girl but you’re there to run competitive, is the most important part.”
Away from the track, the 19-year-old is majoring in Aerospace Engineering through Arizona State University’s online degree program. She graduated from high school a year early.
Saturday’s zMAX CARS Tour race at New River All American Speedway will go green at 8:30pm and will be broadcast live on FloRacing.
