Andy Kirby (November 30, 1961 – July 18, 2002) was an American former

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver, most notably in

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

. Kirby earned his reputation as a motorcycle racer in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

. Kirby would eventually become friends with NASCAR

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

driver

Chad Chaffin Chad Chaffin (born July 20, 1968) is an American former stock car racing driver. Chaffin has raced in all three of NASCAR's major series. He was a two-time track champion at the historic Nashville Speedway USA, where he met his friend, Andy Ki ...

, who in turn would assist Kirby in enhancing his career.

Early career

Kirby turned heads by winning three track championships (1994, 1996, and 1997) at the highly competitive

Nashville Speedway USA Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Nati ...

. He raced weekly against Chaffin (the 1993 and 1995 champion).

Busch Series career

Owner Larry Lockamy offered Kirby a ride in his No. 28 Williams Travel Centers

Chevy Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

for some 1999 events. Kirby made his debut in February at Rockingham. He qualified in the 38th position, completed 157 laps, and then wrecked, finishing 31st. The next race in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, he qualified in fifth place for his second career start. However, he wrecked and finished 42nd. He was 33rd at his home track,

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, 36th at Loudon and 26th at

Dover Downs Bally's Dover Casino Resort, formerly Dover Downs, is a hotel, casino, and racetrack complex in Dover, Delaware. It has a harness horse racing track, which is surrounded by Dover Motor Speedway, a concrete track used for NASCAR motor racin ...

. His best finish came at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. After starting 34th, Kirby finished in 20th. However, due to a lack of funding and performance, the Lockamy team released him. However, Williams Travel was still intrigued by Kirby, and they got him a five-race deal in 2000 with the No. 39 Williams Chevy. He beat his

finish with a 19th at Talladega. Later on, he placed 28th (at IRP), 33rd (at Bristol), 38th (at Memphis), and received one DNQ (Did not qualify). In 2001, Andy mainly stayed at home but he had several offers during the season and got some seat time. He drove two races for

Jay Robinson Racing Premium Motorsports (formerly Jay Robinson Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team last fielded the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 LE full-ti ...

. He once again got a career-best of 16th at Talladega and finished 33rd at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. He ran three races for

Moy Racing Moy Racing, formerly PRW Racing and Bobby Jones Racing, was an auto racing team owned by former Ford Motor Company employee Joseph Reilly which fielded entries in the NASCAR Busch Series. Drivers who piloted the Moy Racing Ford include Jimmy Kitch ...

. He drove the No. 77 Ford to a 30th at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (formerly named as the Michigan Speedway from 1997 to 2000) is a D-shaped oval superspeedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. It has hosted various major auto racing series throughout its existence, including NASCAR, Cham ...

, 41st at

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, and 32nd at Homestead-Miami. He ran one race in the No. 52

Means Racing Jimmy Means Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, having last fielded the No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro part-time for Harrison Rhodes, Gar Robinson, and Brennan Poole. It was owned ...

Ford. He finished 41st at Memphis. Kirby ran well enough in 2001 to be asked back to those teams in 2002. He ran the first five races for Moy, finished 28th at Las Vegas as the best among those five. Jay Robinson asked him to come for four races. Kirby received his best career finish at Talladega once again. After avoiding a big wreck, Andy was able to come home in 6th position, his first and only top-10. In the other three races, he finished 23rd, 29th, and 32nd. Kirby ran two races for Fred Bickford. He finished 39th and 41st in those races. Kirby's final start came at

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is an inactive tri-oval intermediate speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) and ...

, where he finished 23rd.

Death

Kirby was getting ready to make a start at

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, ...

. However, he was killed in a motorcycle accident in his hometown

White House, Tennessee White House is a city in Robertson and Sumner counties in the United States state of Tennessee. The population was listed as 12,982 in the 2020 census. It is approximately twenty-two miles north of downtown Nashville. History Settlers The area ...

, on July 18, 2002. Kirby lost control of his motorcycle on a curve and crashed into a tree about away. Many teams ran decals on their cars honoring Kirby following his death.

Motorsports results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

ARCA Re/Max Series

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Andy 1961 births 2002 deaths Motorcycle road incident deaths NASCAR drivers People from White House, Tennessee Sportspeople from the Nashville metropolitan area Racing drivers from Tennessee Road incident deaths in Tennessee