No, she’s not a traveling businesswoman or a truck driver—although she does have her CDL license.  Crosby spends a large amount of her time in traffic because during the week she is a part-time toll collector for the New York State Thruway.

But her weekends are no EZ-Pass either, because in addition to working in the middle of a traffic jam on the New York State Thruway, she also works in the middle of a traffic jam at the drag strip as a part-time member of the NHRA Safety Safari.

But when speaking with Crosby, one senses that she is still working her part-time job as a toll operator for the New York State Thruway.  Her sentences are as short and direct as the distance between a car and a toll booth; unnecessary words are eliminated from her vocabulary as a matter of necessity, not rudeness.  When working two fast-paced jobs as Crosby does, brevity is certain to be a byproduct.

As a part-time NHRA Safety Safari worker since 2000, Crosby’s duties over the race weekend include: parking all the pro vehicles in the staging area, operating the Power Boss (a piece of equipment that cleans oil and debris off the track), operating the track sweeper, and, if need be, driving one of the Safety Safari trucks to the next race.

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So what qualifications does Crosby believe that one needs to become a Safety Safari worker?

"Probably a love of the sport would be the first thing," Crosby said.  "The second thing would be a willingness to do anything and everything that’s asked of you.  Even if you don’t know how to do it, just try to do it to the best of your ability and somebody will help you along the way."

Crosby sees drag racing as not only an opportunity to spend time around the sport she loves, it’s also a chance to work next to her love of nearly thirteen years—her husband John.  Also an NHRA Safety Safari worker, John is involved in track preparation and is a truck driver.

In fact, Crosby recalls that meeting her future husband for the first time automatically drew her into the sport.

"A girlfriend of mine set us up on a blind date," Crosby said "and he had a race car at the time, so that’s how I got involved in it."

Crosby and her husband’s involvement in the sport of drag racing is nothing new.  Over a decade ago, she was the track manager at Lebanon Valley drag strip in upstate New York, while her husband John was the track maintenance supervisor.  They also used to work divisional races, but the hectic schedule left little time for paying bills and house maintenance, so they’ve limited themselves to only working national events.

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One must wonder if their lasting working relationship has placed a significant strain on their personal relationship.

"Actually, it’s quite good," Crosby said.  "We’ve always worked good together."

And while Crosby enjoys working with her husband on a regular basis, she also enjoys the change of scenery that the race season affords her and her husband. 

"Every track is different," Crosby said.  "Every atmosphere is different.  Each place has its own uniqueness."

But if there is one thing that Crosby doesn’t like about the job, it would sometimes be the long hours that accompany drag racing weekends.  One day she could be working 9AM to 5PM, and the next she could be working 5AM to 9PM. 

"This past year at Indy we got there at 5AM and we didn’t get to leave until midnight," Crosby said.  "So the long hours kind of kill you after a while—especially when they are stacked one day after the next.

So with these long days at the race track, is it easy for her to become bored or distracted helping to park the pro vehicles or maintaining the track?

"No, it’s something different at all times," Crosby said.  "You meet different people as you are helping them park their cars, and I’m a people person.  Anyway, when people are parking their cars, most of the time they are not in a bad mood.  They haven’t had anything bad happen to them yet."  

Crosby describes her job as a combination between customer service and construction.  One minute she might be answering questions from drivers or crew members, and the next she could be constructing a safe, smooth surface for the drivers.  Crosby is aware that her constant presence at national events makes her an ideal candidate for asking all sorts of questions.

"When people see the same face at the race, they will come over and ask you questions like, ‘Where is this?’  ‘Where can I get that?’  ‘How’s the track?’," Crosby said.  "If they see you day in and day out, they are more apt to come over and ask you how things are because you can compare the track at Topeka compared to last week at Columbus.  Sometimes the drivers come to me and ask, ‘How do I find the return road?’  ‘Where do I find water at in this facility?’ or ‘Where’s the tech building?’"

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Her close proximity to the drivers and crew members gives Crosby a unique perspective that many fans don’t have the opportunity to enjoy.  Despite the ubiquitous coverage of ESPN2 and the drag strip’s big screen monitor, she gets to witness moments that would otherwise be lost.  

She recalls one instance when Scott Kalitta lost in the first round of competition, but still came out to the starting line to cheer for his cousin and teammate Doug Kalitta.

"The fans don’t usually get to see that side of the driver," Crosby said.  "Even though Scott was out of competition, and he might have been a little upset, he came out to pull for his cousin.  People don’t usually see that part of the person.  People think that they are all pissed off because they lost and now they are going to pack up and just sit around."

Another benefit of being so close to the action is that Crosby is able to witness the unselfish cooperation and friendship of all the drag racers—regardless of their point standings or rivalry.

"It’s nice to see the camaraderie between all of the racers, whether they are pro teams or not," Crosby said.  I think it was two years ago in Memphis when Dean Skuza’s car burned to the ground, and all the other team members pulled together and helped him out to get back to the final round.  Everybody was in his pits helping him out.  You saw Prudhome’s team over there and you saw Force’s team over there.  Everybody’s team members were over there helping out trying to get things done.  It’s not like NASCAR racing where everybody is out for themselves; here, they are out to put a show on for the fans, which is nice." 

Nothing pulls drivers closer together than when they lose one of their own.  And with the death of Darrell Russell in 2004, the family got a little bit smaller.  But through that tragedy, Crosby said that NHRA has learned from that dreadful event and has used that knowledge to make drag racing a safer sport.

"NHRA is more safety conscious," Crosby said.  "Not that they weren’t before, but since the situation with Darrell Russell, they are more into solving what cut that tire, what made that motor blow up, or what made something happen.  And then make rules and regulations or institute other things that need to happen in order to make it a safer playing field for the racers."

When thinking of women in NHRA, names like Shirley Muldowney, Angelle Sampey, and Erica Enders immediately come to mind.  But there are also women behind the "women"—like Robin Crosby—who are responsible for insuring that the race weekend runs as smoothly and flawlessly as possible.  But Crosby doesn’t expect to be rewarded for her role in drag racing, she says that the job is reward enough.

"Everybody thinks that the Safety Safari is glorified and stuff like that," Crosby said.  "I don’t feel that it’s a glorified position.  I just feel that it’s a normal, everyday day job like everybody else.  It’s a job that I do love, and that makes it easier to go to work.  If you love your job, you don’t consider it a job, you just consider it a good time.  And that’s basically what I consider this job."