St. Petersburg Resident Shannon McIntosh Will Compete For Cape Motorsports With Wayne Taylor Racing This Weekend
USF2000 rookie driver Shannon McIntosh won’t have to go far to make her first attempt in a street race where she is set to compete in downtown St. Petersburg just blocks from her residence. McIntosh made her first start for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing just last week at Sebring International Raceway in her first ever road course race event in her No. 2 Mazda. She returns this weekend to the cockpit of her No. 2 Mazda for rounds three and four of the 2011 USF2000 season.
“For St. Pete this weekend, I need to keep the car clean and out of trouble,” said McIntosh. “I want to learn the track quickly seeing as we only have two twenty minute sessions before qualifying (all on the same day). I plan to focus on concentration and patience as well as pushing the limit of the car and really continuing to learn how I can be in control of the car. As much as I struggle with this (being a front runner my entire career), my focus won't be so much on where I finish this weekend but more on the improvements each time I go out on the track.”
McIntosh was the only driver in the field of men in the USF2000 opener at Sebring that had not competed in a road course event prior to the season-opener.The 5’1 racer entered the “Mazda Road to Indy” program after a 16-year background racing strictly on ovals, most recently in the USAC Midget regional series under the guidance of legendary team owner Bob East, where she captured four top-10 finishes, including two podium and three top-five results.
While her learning curve was far from trifling at Sebring, McIntosh managed to pick up at least a second in each of her outings during practice, qualifications and ultimately the two race events in support of the 59th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“My first two races at Sebring were huge simply for seat time,” said McIntosh. “I learned a ton about the dynamics of how open wheel formula cars work, and how to drive them on the limit; by driving under and over the limit! I also was able to make use and get more comfortable with the aerodynamics and I improved significantly in my braking and shifting techniques. Understanding the racecar and how it works is essential before expecting to be a contender and I feel that this week I'll be able to put my gained confidence to the track at St. Pete and keep knocking down the learning curve I have coming from a strictly oval-racing background.”
The Miamisburg, Ohio native, McIntosh and her team are both based in St. Petersburg and the opportunity to race in front of their home crowd in their backyard is very exciting for everyone involved.
“On Sunday morning, I actually got asked to leave the course while running it,” continued McIntosh. “I have been running on the course as often as I can lately; I actually live only two streets over from it. I've been trying to gain some visuals and ideas of how I'm going to drive it. It's amazing the amount of elevation change and crests that a street course has. Although there is still quite a bit of construction going on, I think that being able to see the corners and details in the street 'at my leisure' will come in handy when we get on track the first time this weekend.”
Glass Hammer Racing (beatbyagirl.org) and the book Indy 500: An American Icon have teamed to support McIntosh’s No. 2 USF2000 Mazda entry for 2011 in addition to Arai Helmets.
Sanctioned by INDYCAR, the USF2000 National Championship, presented by Cooper Racing Tires and powered by Mazda, is one of three series part of both INDYCAR’s “Mazda Road to Indy” ladder system and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver program.
For more information, please visit www.ShannonMcintosh.com, www.CapeMotorsports.com or www.USF2000.com.
About Shannon McIntosh
Shannon McIntosh is a 21-year-old autoracing driver who competes in INDYCAR’s ‘Mazda Road to Indy’ USF2000 National Championship Series for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing, the most successful team at that level. McIntosh began her racing career at age 5, and has amassed over 100 combined victories through Quarter Midgets and USAC Midgets. With over 16 years of racing experience under her belt, she brings a wealth of oval track knowledge unlike most drivers entering the series with little or no oval experience. She was the highest-ranking female on pavement in the Midwest in 2006 and named “DARF Asphalt Driver of the Year” in the USAC Ford Focus Midget Series. Some of McIntosh’s other accolades include being awarded the coveted Kara Hendrick Memorial Scholarship while attending the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program as well as being named a recipient of the 2010 Pitfit scholarship. For more information, please, http://www.shannonmcintosh.com, http://www.twitter.com/shannon_mac, or http://www.facebook.com/shannmcintosh.
About Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing
Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing was formed in 2010 as a partnership between two successful racing entities. With leadership from brothers Nicholas and Dominic Cape, and along with Wayne Taylor and his organization in Indianapolis, the team campaigns cars in the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda. The Cape Brothers have recorded multiple USF2000 championships and have fielded a team every year since the series’ inception in the early 1990’s.