Now nearly 22 years old, McIntosh has amassed more than 100 combined victories, was the highest-ranking female on pavement in the Midwest in 2006, and was named “DARF Asphalt Driver of the Year” in the USAC Ford Focus Midget Series.
“After I won my first race at age 5, I never looked back,” McIntosh said. “I raced with my family until I was 17, and that’s when I decided to pursue it professionally.”
Racing is an expensive hobby, and McIntosh, who said her family had limited financial resources, knew that she couldn’t keep relying on them to finance her dream.
“I graduated from Miamisburg High School in 2006, and in 2007 I didn’t race at all since I had no funding,” she said.
With her eye still on her dreams, McIntosh went to the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and started thinking about how she would find sponsors.
“I knew a lot of people in racing by that time and went through Lyn St. James’ development driving program where I learned a lot about the business aspects of racing,” McIntosh said. She also worked with Ron Campbell of Miamisburg, the owner of U! Creative.
“Ron has really helped me understand how marketing works,” she said. “He has been very influential.”
With finances always a struggle, McIntosh worked three jobs during college, and had little time to devote to her love of racing.
“The first sponsorship deal I tried in 2008 fell through,” McIntosh said. “So I decided to move back home to Miamisburg and concentrate on my racing career. I didn’t want to look back and wonder what could have been if I didn’t give 100 percent to this.”
By early 2010, McIntosh had moved to Indianapolis, where she knew she could work at making additional contacts. “I was literally pounding down doors asking for sponsorship,” she said.
Today McIntosh is living in St. Petersburg, Fla., where one of her sponsors lives. “Glass Hammer Racing was developed in 2010 to help encourage young women to become involved in racing,” McIntosh said. “They are one sponsor and I have another sponsor in Florida, Dale Pelfrey, who is originally from Dayton.”
Contact this writer at (937) 475-8212 or banspach@ymail.com.
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