John Shoffner
American fiber-optic entrepreneur, commercial spaceflight participant
About John Shoffner
Born 1955. John Shoffner is an American astronaut, entrepreneur and racing automobile driver.
Biography Shoffner was born in Fairbanks, Alaska. He spent most of his career in Knoxville, Tennessee. Before creating his own motorsports team J2-Racing in 2012, Shoffner was a businessman. He had a 21-year career with Kentucky-based telecommunications manufacturer Dura-Line. He retired as president in 1997.
Shoffner, an air show pilot, has over 8,500 flight hours in fixed-wing aircraft, decommissioned military aircraft, and helicopters. Shoffner owns a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt named "Wicked Wabbit".
Shoffner has competed in multiple sports including water skiing, cycling (crossing the U.S. in 18 days without support), white water kayaking, hang gliding, and making over 3,000 skydives and base jumps.
Motorsports career Shoffner has competed several times in the NĂŒrburgring 24 Hours. In 2016 he finished 19th overall and second in his class (SP7) with a Porsche 991 GT3 Cup. In 2017 he finished 32nd overall and third in his class (SP7) with a Porsche 991 GT3 Cup.
Shoffner has competed with Team GetSpeed since the 2019 VLN Series, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT. He finished in 13th place in 2019 and 10th in 2020.
Shoffner was second in the 2019 NĂŒrburgring Endurance Series Carrera Cup Class Championship. He holds a total of three in-class victories in the Carrera Cup Class. He was also the back-up pilot of Axiom Mission 1.
During their week-long mission, Shoffner and Whitson conducted single-cell genome sequencing demonstrations on the International Space Station for 10x Genomics.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped John Shoffner's
Frequently asked questions
Who is John Shoffner?
American fiber-optic entrepreneur, commercial spaceflight participant
When was John Shoffner born?
John Shoffner was born on 25 July 1955 in Fairbanks.
What is John Shoffner's occupation?
John Shoffner is an astronaut, entrepreneur and racing automobile driver.
What nationality is John Shoffner?
John Shoffner is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). John Shoffner. https://biography.guide/john-shoffner/
MLA: "John Shoffner." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/john-shoffner/.
Chicago: "John Shoffner." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/john-shoffner/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
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