impinging on the spinal cord . She ’ s also had 14 broken ribs , a punctured lung , lacerated liver , fractured right hip , four metacarpals broken , plated and screwed , broken right radius and ulna , broken right femur , broken right fibula and tibia … and that ’ s just naming a few .
But it was never about the crashes for her ; it was always about getting back up . After her crash at the Texas Half-Mile in 2018 , no one thought she ’ d race again . In true Sandriana style , she proved everyone wrong . But the injuries did take a toll , and at the end of the 2019 AFT season she decided to retire from professional racing .
Still , she ’ s not done with motorcycles . “ I ’ m back to racing just for fun ,” she told us , “ learning to adapt to my latest injuries , and I plan to do most of the Steve Nace AllStar National races when we ’ re finally back racing . I ’ m also creating and managing a national-level flat track race team ( 1st Impressions Racing ) and planning to have one or two American Flat Track singles riders on the team next year .” Another comeback !
After all the adversity she ’ s faced , Sandriana has some great advice for girls and other young people who want to get involved with motorcycles . “ When you want something , ignore everyone and everything else and just do it . When I decided I was going to go Pro they said I needed $ 50K , a sprinter van and two new bikes before I could even think about it . I ignored that and did what I could with what I had . With perseverance and hard work , you literally can do anything !”
You can follow Sandriana at @ sandriana . shipman on Instagram and @ SandrianaShipman on Facebook .
— JOY BURGESS
THUNDERPRESS . NET | MAY 2020 | 65