“I spend a lot of my time here at the shop (Dave Mac-Barnhill Motorsports) during the week and stay busy focusing on trying to get the micros as prepared as possible. We’re really trying to build this program to help up-and-coming drivers get in the seat. We’re trying to win some races at Millbridge Speedway with some young talent and, hopefully, develop that into them running the midget, too. It’s been pretty cool. Obviously, I got to race the micro quite a bit to kick start the team and show the equipment and how good it is. I’m sure those wins have turned some heads as to what these cars can do.
“Just the micro team is in Mooresville. We rent a really nice shop. The midget team is in Tulsa and we have a pretty good setup down there. Maybe sometime down the road we’ll all end up in North Carolina,” McIntosh added. “The midget shop is actually connected to the trailer business; it’s in the other half of that building. So dad’s usually in there just about every day to check in and make sure the guys are doing good.”
As part of his work routine, McIntosh must navigate the modern-day minefield known as social media.
“I get a lot people on Twitter and stuff who may not like me and they say, ‘Daddy’s money’ – or whatever. You see it all, but I feel like I’m a little misunderstood. I feel like I’ve worked pretty hard to get to where I am.” McIntosh emphasized. “Obviously, I’ve had help from my family with their investment in a midget team, and I feel like I’ve worked in every part of that. It’s not like the team just grew out of nowhere. It started small and we’ve slowly, slowly grown. I’ve worked hard and I’ve always been focused on racing.”
McIntosh has proven he can win midget races, and now he wants to contend for a championship.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to go for a championship in both the USAC series and the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series, as those schedules don’t overlap,” McIntosh said. “We’re a little behind in the USAC standings, but we are leading the Xtreme standings (as of Aug. 22). We are looking to bring home at least one of those championships. I haven’t won a midget championship. There have been times I could have stuck around and won a POWRi championship, but we went and ran some USAC stuff instead to get better.”
Where does McIntosh see his career three years down the road?
“I would like to have at least tried the pavement side of it,” he responded. “If I’m able to get a few late model races on pavement and that pans out, then, hopefully, we could do some ARCA racing or Truck Series racing. I don’t know where the future will go, but that’s kind of the goal I have in mind. Opportunities come with performance, so I’ll just try to do what I’m supposed to do and compete at a high level.”
This story appeared in the Sept 13, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
