From Broken Beginnings to Building a Race Team | Buttonwillow
At Buttonwillow Raceway Park, we believe racing isn’t handed down — it’s built. It’s built in garages, in late nights, in setbacks, and in the relentless decision to keep going.
This month in Winning Ways, The Apex caught up with Shawn Sarbacker — founder of Aqualine Performance and Aqualine Racing Development — a young entrepreneur and open-wheel driver building his racing career from the ground up.
Every driver who enters our gates carries a different story. Some inherit a legacy. Others create one. For Shawn, the journey toward the grid began long before his first lap — rooted in resilience, fueled by ambition, and driven by a vision far bigger than a single race weekend.
Built Through Adversity
Shawn grew up in a home defined by instability — financial hardship, uncertainty, and life-threatening moments that shaped his early years. By his own account, his path could have gone very differently.
But at 12 years old, everything changed when his stepfather — a lifelong mechanic and fabricator — entered his life.
That’s when cars became more than transportation.
They became direction.
His first projects weren’t race cars. They were family cars — a Lincoln Town Car, a Mustang GT — learning brakes, suspension, maintenance. Working. Saving. Reinvesting.
What started as mechanical curiosity evolved into obsession.
The Moment
In 2018, Shawn watched a Formula 1 championship highlight video — Lewis Hamilton vs. Sebastian Vettel.
“That’s what I want to do with my life.”
The next year, standing in front of a Mercedes F1 car at a convention in Atlanta, he posted:
“I have a dream to drive one of these one day.”
Most people scroll past moments like that.
Shawn built toward it.
The First Race Car
In 2020, as the world slowed during COVID, Shawn’s life did the opposite. He lost his top sales position and faced a season of uncertainty and personal setbacks.
He could have stepped away from the dream.
Instead, he posted a simple question online:
“Is there anyone who can help me build a formula car?”
That question led him to a 1995 Van Diemen Formula Continental chassis sitting in California — incomplete, raw, and far from race-ready.
He didn’t have the money.
So he made it happen.
He sold his Mustang. Borrowed what he couldn’t cover. Hitched up a trailer and brought the car home.
Almost exactly one year after posting about his dream of driving an F1 car, he purchased his first open-wheel chassis.
It wasn’t polished.
It wasn’t turnkey.
It wasn’t glamorous.But it was his.
And more importantly — it was a beginning.
From Dream to Business
In 2023, after years of personal and legal challenges, Shawn received a financial settlement that could have easily been spent.
Instead, he chose discipline over impulse.
He paid off debt.
He helped his family.
He reinvested in his future.
That investment became Aqualine Performance LLC — a mobile detailing company built not just to generate income, but to fund a larger vision.
What started as one service van quickly became three.
What started as a side operation evolved into a growing brand serving recognized companies such as U-Haul, Best Buy, and Dream Racing.
As credibility grew, so did partnerships — attracting sponsors and support aligned with performance culture.
Alongside the detailing business, Shawn formally launched Aqualine Racing Development Corporation, creating a structure that connects entrepreneurship with competition.
Today, the dream isn’t just a race car in a garage.
It’s a developing ecosystem — business supporting racing, and racing fueling the next chapter.
Why This Matters
At Buttonwillow Raceway Park, we believe racing is more than lap times.
It’s about:
- Growth.
- Discipline.
- Data.
- Community.
- Long-term vision.
Shawn’s story is a reminder that racing isn’t reserved for the privileged. It’s built by those willing to commit — financially, emotionally, spiritually — to the process.
And that’s exactly the kind of passion that fuels our paddock.
The Long Game
Shawn’s vision doesn’t stop at the next race weekend.
Over the next decade, he plans to compete at the highest levels of motorsport, manufacture performance vehicles, and develop his own formula platform — not just as a driver, but as a builder shaping the future of racing.
Ambitious?
Absolutely.
But ambition is what moves this sport forward.
In a time when racetracks across California have closed their gates, Buttonwillow chose to invest in the future — expanding, building, committing to the long road ahead. The same mindset drives racers like Shawn.
Winning Ways isn’t about instant success.
It’s about the discipline to play the long game — to build when it’s hard, to invest when others hesitate, and to keep showing up.
And that’s exactly the kind of competitor we’re proud to see grow at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
