Shawn Buckley grew up in Claremont, New Hampshire. At age 14 he moved with his family to Southern California where he attended Chaffey High School in Ontario, California.  After graduation, he attended Cal Poly Pomona and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. 

Shawn started his career with Rockwell International in Downey, California where he worked on Space Shuttle life support systems.  After Rockwell, he moved into automotive engineering and designed aftermarket parts and accessories for trucks and sport utility vehicles.  Shawn then moved to Wilwood Engineering and designed brakes for a variety of vehicles.  While at Wilwood, he received a patent for one of his brake designs.  Wanting to move back into the aerospace industry, Shawn got a job with a small aerospace company where he designed and built rocket engines. Currently, Shawn works at Aerojet Rocketdyne where, during the Space Shuttle program, he provided support for the Space Shuttle main engines.  Now he works as a project manager.

Shawn began racing in the modified division at Irwindale Speedway in 2005 and finished 10th overall with second place as his highest finish.  In 2007, Shawn began racing in the USAC Ford Focus series (now know as the Honda HPD Midgets).   

Shawn is the 2014 Western HPD Overall Midget Champion and the 2014 Western HPD Pavement Midget Champion.  He finished second in the Western HPD Dirt Midget Championship.