Meet Joey Wirth — Race Car Driver

Meet Joey Wirth. Joey is a summer intern with Daugherty working alongside Annette Fog and the Corporate Training group in St. Louis. Joey and the team are currently kicking it into high gear as they prepare to launch a new enterprise-wide Learning Management/Employee Engagement platform in the coming months. And while Joey’s just a sophomore at Murray State, getting his first taste of the fast-paced business environment here at Daugherty, he’s more than comfortable moving at lightning speed. That’s because once Joey is done racing around the halls, sprinting from one meeting to another, he’s kicking up dirt, his true love, as he tears around the oval track as a Micro Sprint Car racer.

Joey first got into racing in the spring of 2009 but you could say it was always in his blood. Both his father and his uncles were involved with racing back in the late 70’s and early 80’s before turning their attention toward school and career. It was Joey’s first encounter with racing, a weekend trip to the track that got him hooked. He’s never looked back.

If you’re unfamiliar with Micro Sprint Car racing (as I was) and the style of a Micro Sprint Car (pictured below), think of it as an extremely souped-up, fat wheeled Dune Buggy with a large winged spoiler attached to the hood. It’s no child’s toy. Micro Sprint Cars run a 600cc motorcycle engine which allows racers to reach speeds over 100mph down the straightaways. They are also open-wheeled, which means a higher risk of flipping, crashing or spinning out if competitors happen to tap each other, or ‘trade paint’ during a race. Given the higher risk of a major crash coupled with a crowded field and the ever-changing conditions of a dirt track, these small-statured speedsters are not for the faint of heart.

For Joey at this point, it’s still unclear to what degree racing will remain a part of his life — whether as a hobby, a second job, a full-time endeavor or just a spectator and fan in the grandstand. Despite a relatively short run as a Micro Sprint Car racer, he has already enjoyed major accomplishments on the track. Joey’s crowning achievement came last August when he won one of the biggest nationally recognized races of the year, narrowly edging out a fellow racer with a last-lap pass and photo finish. Regardless of whether Joey decides to pursue racing in the future, that night can never be taken away from him. He pocketed a nice paycheck, some wonderful memories and a great big hug from his dad. Priceless.

If you’d like to follow Joey and his racing journey you can find him on Facebook or Twitter.