A graduate of
New York City's
Barnard College in 1983, Clarke lives in
Washington, D.C. She had been a sportswriter for
The Washington Post since 2001 and until 2023. Clarke spent four seasons as a
Washington Redskins beat writer for
The Post, and has written extensively about the
Olympics, tennis and college sports. Clarke also was a weekly "side-chick" on
The Tony Kornheiser Show, and served as Mr. Tony's motorsports translator. She was an occasional panelist on
Comcast SportsNet's Washington Post Live, an interactive sports roundtable covering the stories, trends and topics in the news and on the minds of sports fans throughout the Mid-Atlantic area. Over the course of her career, she has twice been awarded as NASCAR's top print journalist with the Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism (1996 and 2003). Her first book,
One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation, was released on February 12, 2008. In the book, Clarke brings people closer to the sport and business of NASCAR. Clarke chronicled NASCAR's transition from regional obsession to national phenomenon; while also profiling the sport's dynasties, the
Allisons,
Pettys and
Earnhardts. ==References==