Special Motorsports Event - McIntosh Advances To Mashable Finals In Must-Follow Athlete On Social Media Category

PALO ALTO, Nov. 23, 2011: Mashable, an American news site and Internet news blog with over 50 million monthly page views, announced today the seven finalists in the "Must-Follow Athlete on Social Media" category as part of the fifth annual Mashable Awards presented by Buddy Media. Shannon McIntosh, a 22-year-old racecar driver in INDYCAR's "Mazda Road to Indy" developmental ladder system, is among the cast of professional athlete finalists.

"I'm so excited to have made it to the finals in the Mashable Awards contest," said McIntosh, fresh off an appearance at the LA Autoshow on behalf of Mazda North America. "Being the only racecar driver in the finals, I'm truly honored and know the racing community will rally to help us win this award to represent the entire motorsports industry."

Mashable editors announced McIntosh along with a cast of professional athletes that included: professional tennis player Rafael Nadal, Olympic figure skater Yuni Kim, professional wrestlers CM Punk, Zack Ryder, and John Cena, and figure skater Johnny Weir.

For roughly a month, Mashable readers have been submitting hundreds of thousands of votes recognizing the companies, people and projects in 28 different categories that made the biggest impact on the digital landscape this past year, covering four of Mashable's core content areas: Social Media, Tech, Business and Entertainment.

McIntosh is a finalist in the "Must-Follow Athlete on Social Media" category as demonstrating a best practice for her uses of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or other mainstream social networking sites.

Of the seven finalists in her category, McIntosh is the only distinguished member of WhoSay.com, the invite-only content platform of nearly 900 taste-making public figures that includes Tom Hanks, Anderson Cooper, Chelsea Handler, Eva Longoria and Cristiano Ronaldo, amongst many other A-List names.

To vote for McIntosh through Dec. 16, in the "Must-Follow Athlete in Social Media" category, please visit: http://mashable.com/follow/contests/mashable-awards-2011/

Mashable winners will be announced on Mashable.com on Dec. 19, and will be honored at MashBash CES on Jan. 11, 2012, during the 2012 International CES convention at 1OAK, the hot new nightclub at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas.