TORRANCE, CA - Alpinestars, the world-leading manufacturer of professional racing products, announced they have added USF2000 driver Shannon McIntosh to their athlete lineup. To kickoff the partnership, McIntosh will be part of Alpinestars “Q&A STARS” social media chat this Wednesday.

"I’m very honored to be a part of the Alpinestars line-up alongside such notable athletes and in particular, top racecar drivers,” said McIntosh. “I hope this is the start of a lasting relationship."

Alpinestars outfits some of the most famous athletes in the world by testing design and research under extreme conditions, and its involvement in Formula 1, the World Rally Championship, AMA and World Motocross and MotoGP has led to the creation of advanced technical equipment for racing's top athletes.

McIntosh, a 22-year-old racecar driver as part of INDYCAR’s USF2000 National Championship Series, joins other Alpinestars athletes including, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Danica Patrick, Travis Pastrana, Sebastian Vettel, Jr Hildabrand, and Josef Newgarden, to name a few.

To help celebrate the partnership, Alpinestars will feature McIntosh in their recently launched “Q & ASTARS” chat this week. Their weekly Facebook comment thread allows fans to have the opportunity to interact live with their favorite Alpinestars athletes. Alpinestars will open a comment thread on www.facebook.com/alpinestars for fans to post questions and comments. Each week a designated Alpinestars athlete is made available to answer these questions and interact live with fans, as the athlete spends time contributing to the thread from their own Facebook account.

Each week prior to the “Q&A STARS chat,” Alpinestars will poll Facebook fans to determine what the kick-off question will be for that week. On the day of the session, the Alpinestars athlete will start by answering the winning questions, followed by a live open forum.

McIntosh’s “Q&A STARS chat” will be live on Alpine’s Facebook page on June 13, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

In her last road course race, McIntosh was awarded the “Hard Charger” award for passing the most number of cars during the race event on the Streets of St. Petersburg, and she returns for her next road course event on Aug. 3 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Alpinestars is added to an impressive lineup of other McIntosh supporters including TrueCar, TAG Heuer timepieces, Arai Helmets, CLEARBook, Mazda North American, Cooper Tires, CrossFit9, Anytime Fitness St. Pete, and YogaBlu Studio.

Sanctioned by INDYCAR, the USF2000 National Championship, presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda, is one of three series of INDYCAR’s “Mazda Road to Indy” ladder system and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver program.

For more information, please visit www.Alpinestars.com or www.ShannonMcIntosh.com.

ABOUT ALPINESTARS:
Alpinestars was established in 1963 and has grown into a world-leading manufacturer of professional racing products, high-performance apparel, technical footwear and sportswear. Alpinestars understands that the best design and research is achieved under extreme conditions, and its involvement in Formula 1, the World Rally Championship, AMA and World Motocross and MotoGP has led to the creation of advanced technical equipment for racing's top athletes. For more information about Alpinestars high-performance products, go to www.Alpinestars.com.

ABOUT SHANNON MCINTOSH:
Shannon McIntosh is a 22-year-old TrueCar-sponsored autoracing driver who competes in INDYCAR's 'Mazda Road to Indy' USF2000 National Championship Series, an important open-wheel stepping-stone to a career in the IZOD IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. McIntosh began her racing career at age 5, and in 2011, was named as one of SEVENTEEN magazine's five "Pretty Amazing" girls. Tech giant, Mashable.com, listed her among a taste-making group of seven "Must-Follow Athletes on Social Media" while TAG Heuer timepieces depicts McIntosh in their "Time for Rebels" campaign. With over 17 years of racing experience under her belt ranging from USAC midgets to formula cars, McIntosh is the recipient of the 2006 "DARF Asphalt Driver of the Year" in the USAC Ford Focus Midget Series as well being awarded the Kara Hendrick Memorial Scholarship while attending the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program. 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, Girl's Life Magazine, and TLC's Sarah Palin's Alaska, among others. For more information, please visit, www.ShannonMcIntosh.com, www.twitter.com/shannon_mac, or www.facebook.com/shannmcintosh.