10/19/2025
Donald McIntosh
Donald McIntosh to depart Billy Hicks Racing fresh off his 2025 #LucasDirt Rookie of the Year campaign
Fresh off his Rookie of the Year season on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Ga., says he’s decided to leave Mount Airy, N.C.-based Billy Hicks Racing. The 32-year-old racer told DirtonDirt of his plans following Saturday’s 45th annual Dirt Track World Championship at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.
McIntosh, who finished 10th in Lucas Oil points with a single top-five finish in his first national touring season, began driving for Hicks in July 2023. Declaring himself a free agent, McIntosh said he had “no hard feelings” in departing the Hicks-owned No. 79 and that “we’ve had a lot of fun together.”
“It's been a lot of work,” McIntosh added. “It’s just time. It was just one of those things that, you know, I’d love to do this again. I’m grateful for the opportunity, but, where we're at, it’s just time for a change.”
McIntosh, who had stints competing for team owners Jason Welshan and Joe Denby after a lengthy and successful run with the now-shuttered Blount Motorsports (2015-17, '19-21), isn’t sure what’s next but would like to continue national touring.
Driving for Hicks, McIntosh swept 2024’s title on the Schaeffer’s-sponsored Spring and Southern Nationals and won four Super Late Model races, including five-figure paydays in 2024 at Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway and Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C., along with Oct. 11’s Southern All Star triumph at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Ga.
On the Lucas Oil tour in 2025, he posted 11 top-10 finishes and outpointed his fellow rookies Daniel Hilsabeck (-330 points) and Dan Ebert (-550).
“I’m proud of that. It means a lot,” McIntosh said. “People don’t realize, until you’ve done it, how hard and grueling running this deal is. For the majority of the year, it was just me and (girlfriend) Shelby (Cooper) working on the race car, week in and week out. We also had Aaron (Latham) helping, too. I’m also proud the fact we’ve had two mechanical problems this year, which were out of our control.”
Oct, 19th 2025 by Kyle McFaddenof FloRacing
Submitted By: Shelby Cooper