TrueCar Set To Provide Primary Sponsorship For McIntosh In Multi-Year Program
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. - TrueCar, Inc., creators of the intelligent automotive marketplace that benefits both buyers and sellers has announced an extensive, multi-year commitment to support "Mazda Road to Indy" driver Shannon McIntosh in INDYCAR's USF2000 National Championship Series beginning in 2012.
"TrueCar is built upon the foundation of empowering individuals with the tools and resources they need to become expert car buyers," said TrueCar Founder and CEO Scott Painter. "The "Women Empowered" initiative is an exciting extension of that philosophy - empowering women in racing by giving talented female drivers everything they need to dominate their sport."
TrueCar Racing is leveraging their self-made "Women Empowered" initiative as an extension of the company's efforts to help women enjoy the best possible car buying experience. With over 80% of car buying decisions influenced by women - and 50% of all car purchases made by women - this impactful audience is a significant part of the automotive retail landscape which will be marketing through associations like the one with McIntosh.
McIntosh, 22, began her racing career at age 5, and has amassed over 100 combined victories through Quarter Midgets and USAC midgets under the guidance of the likes of Bob East. In 2011, the Miamisburg, OH native made the transition to formula cars through the USF2000 National Championship Series where she captured a best result of fifth place in the inaugural Grand Prix of Baltimore.
Beginning in 2012, TrueCar will support McIntosh, a finalist in SEVENTEEN magazine's "Pretty Amazing" cover contest, in her quest to one day compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series and attempt to qualify for the famed Indianapolis 500. McIntosh must first complete a three-step developmental ladder system, designed to bring up-and-coming drivers to the forefront of American open-wheel racing. She'll compete in 2012 in the USF2000 National Championship Series with backing from TrueCar.
"I'm truly honored to be apart of the TrueCar racing initiative," said McIntosh, who is a finalist for the Must-Follow Athlete on Social Media through Mashable.com. "Coming from a very modest background with many years of struggle, I'm humbled at this opportunity. I celebrate this new partnership with my family whom has sacrificed so much over the years and also thank my management at BRANDed and advisors for believing in me and helping me get to this point in my career. Thank you to Scott Painter, Charles Kim, and the entire TrueCar family for believing in me and giving me this platform to empower others to live by NinTai."
Together with TrueCar, McIntosh and her management at BRANDed are working to finalize and announce the team component of this program in the near future.
For more information, please visit www.TrueCar.com or www.ShannonMcintosh.com.
About TrueCar:
TrueCar, Inc. has changed how cars are sold by providing a significantly better customer experience -- helping qualified dealer partners gain incremental market share and reduce costs. As a transparent, visual publisher of new car transaction data, TrueCar.com price reports help both dealers and consumers agree on the parameters of a fair deal by providing an accurate, comprehensive and simple understanding of what others actually paid for the identically equipped new car over the last 30 days both locally and nationally.TrueCar, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and has offices in San Francisco and Austin. The company was founded in 2005 and has been profitable since 2009. With 131% annual growth since 2006, TrueCar has driven over 400,000 sales and is developing a suite of transaction oriented products and services centered on transparency and radical clarity as a result of comprehensively analyzing market data and information. You can follow TrueCar on Twitter and become a fan of TrueCar on Facebook. For more information, please visit www.TrueCar.com.
About Shannon McIntosh:
Shannon McIntosh is a 22-year-old autoracing driver who competes in INDYCAR's 'Mazda Road to Indy' USF2000 National Championship Series. McIntosh began her racing career at age 5, and has amassed over 100 combined victories through Quarter Midgets and USAC Midgets. With over 17 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. McIntosh is currently the sole female driver in the USF2000 National Championship Series and the only American female driver in the developmental "Mazda Road to Indy" pipeline. McIntosh has been a guest or profiled on a variety of platforms including, MTV's The Seven, MTV News, E! News, SportsIllustrated.com, USA Today, Just Jared, Jr., ESPN.com, AOL.com, SEVENTEEN, Girl's Life Magazine, TLC's Sarah Palin's Alaska, and Indianapolis Woman, among others. For more information, please, http://www.shannonmcintosh.com, http://www.twitter.com/shannon_mac, or http://www.facebook.com/shannmcintosh.