SPEEDWAY — We introduced you to a 27-year-old professional Sprint Car Racer McKenna Haase a week ago. She's making her dreams come true in the racing world, but she'll be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a very different reason this week.
Our Amber Grigley met with Haase to share how she's getting attention for her drive on and off the track this May.
Her Sprint Car Racing career may have her stuck in the fast lane. But her entrepreneurship goals have been in the fast lane since she was a little girl selling lemonade.
"It's just really cool that all these years later, I can kind of combine my grown-up lemonade stand, in a sense with my passion for racing and via the Indy 500," Haase said.
Haase purchased her mobile coffee trailer in 2021, nearly a year after a life-changing moment behind the wheel.
"I had been in a car accident in 2020 on interstate-65 here in Indy. And I was hospitalized on Stop 11 road," said Haase. “That's actually where I thought of the idea for the name."
Three years later, Stop 11 Coffee Co. is making major moves.
"Thankfully, I’ve been able to build a relationship with Doug Boles over the years and was able to reach out to him and ask him if there were any opportunities and they connected us and here we are," Haase said.
Right in the middle of the Pagoda at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fans will be able to try Stop 11's many delicious coffee creations during the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.
"Sometimes you know, it takes losing something in life or having a drastic change in your life to lead you to something better,” Haase said.
A huge blessing catching the attention of Roger Penske, who stumbled upon Haase's trailer at IMS.
"I got a text from the speedway asking if they can meet and I was pretty stressed out about it because I thought for sure, maybe it was something bad or that we were doing, you know, something wrong," said Haase. "When I got here the next day, they said that Roger had asked about the trailer and asked if they could spruce it up for us. So, they were going to paint it replace some shingles, and have it looking fresh for the 500. So super grateful for that."
A new look and determination show many who are watching Haase on and off the track, that anything is possible.
"Sometimes you feel like you can struggle for years and only take one day, one phone call, one something that changed everything for the better. And so, I think we just kind of have to have faith that it's going to come," Haase said.
Haase tells Amber she was fortunate to be a vendor at IMS during the eclipse, so she knows how to prepare for thousands of fans during race weekend.
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