Page 7 - March 2019 IWMA News Interactive

Hannah’s goal for her racing future is to make a career doing what she loves - racing!
Hannah’s favorite part of being a race car driver is the speed, the competition, and the adrenaline rush. “When I race my mind is very focused, to the point I don’t really think about it consciously, except for maybe race strategy. I have been driving and racing as far back as I can remember and it is pretty natural to me, kind of like walking. To be a successful race- car driver, it means much more than going fast. As I progress I realize you need a lot of pas- sion. You have to be an inspiration to those around you. You need to care about your team
and your community. You need to be a good sport. You need to be a role model at all levels, and you need to be grateful of so many things. Success ultimately means that others also care about you.”
Hannah’s car is #8. She picked this number because when she was younger in school they would line up in alphabetical order by their last name, and she was always number 8. Since moving to cars, her team ran her as number 32 due to a superstition they had about numbers that are the same upside down. They have recently run the number 787 in tribute to the famous Mazda that won at LeMans. Before every race the team manager tells Hannah to have fun.
Hannah graduated from Glendora High School and is currently a fresh- man at San Diego State University. Other than racing, she likes to hang out with friends and family, snowboard, dirtbike, fish, and camp. Her favorite vacation destination that she has been to is Zion National Park in Utah. “It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and has some of the coolest hikes.”
A great piece of advice that has stuck with her would be to “keep your head up and keep smiling”. As a child, Hannah can’t remember play- ing with dolls. She has always been a tomboy and not very girly.
As a kid one of her favorite things to do was to go to the indoor go-kart track by her house with her dad. When she was 3, she started riding dirt bikes and buggies. Hannah does not watch a lot of television, but she does like Shameless, and Game of Thrones. Her favorite holiday is Christmas because of the atmosphere it brings, like family, friends, Christmas music, and Christmas trees.
One thing most people don’t know about Hannah is that she is a two sport varsity athlete, in swimming and water polo.
Last summer Hannah worked a full time job at a car dealer- ship (go figure) and pretty much all her co-workers that knew she raced thought that it was awesome.
Hannah is a freshman at San Diego State University, studying to be a business major. After college she hopes to be racing as her job, but if not she will do something with either business marketing or business financing, perhaps even in the field of motorsports.
If they made a movie of her life, she would want Ricky Bobby to portray her. Some of her favorite drivers include Lyn St. James, Malcolm Smith and Travis Pastrana because they all paved new paths in motor- sports and are all genuine, caring people.
Hannah asks our readers, that during this holiday season, please support the City of Hope at CityofHope.org. You can follow Hannah on social media at:
Instagram: Hannahgrishamracing
Facebook: Hannahgrisham Linkedin: Hannahgrisham
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