Journalist, author

"There's a lot of junk out there today. If you want it straight, read Kirby." So told the late Paul Newman about one of the world’s most experienced and accomplished racing writers. Kirby has covered more than 1,000 events over the past 45 years for magazines and newspapers around the world, including Road & Track, Car and Driver, Autoweek, Racer and Autosprint. Kirby was Autosport’s American correspondent from 1973-2005, Motor Sport’s U.S. editor from 2010-2017, and founding editor-at-large of OnTrack, Indy Car Racing and Racer. The hallmark of Kirby’s work has been access, based on trust and credibility. Even people like Newman, who steered clear of journalists, talked to Kirby. Among his 15 books are Mario Andretti: A Driving Passion, winner of the 2002 Motor Press Guild Dean Batchelor Award and the 2002 Independent Publishers Book Award. He also won the Miller Award of Excellence for the best motorsports magazine story of 2004. Today, Kirby is a staff writer for Joe Freeman’s Racemaker Press in Boston, focusing on books about the history of American automobile racing.