When he was younger, Phillip Ramirez frequently butted heads with his late stepfather, Jeff Kirby. Nowadays, he races with Kirby in his heart. This weekend won’t be any exception. Then he’ll take on the Dirt Rich TV American All-Star Series Presented by PPM Racing Products.
Ramirez’s road to racing started as a spectator at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
“I was that guy in the stands who said, ‘It can’t be that hard. All they do is turn left,’” Ramirez said. “The next week I found a hornet car for $900, and I bought it. My first race at Lawrenceburg, the right-rear wheel fell off, ripped the axle right out of the car. I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t think this is as easy as I thought it was.’”
Meanwhile, Ramirez’s relationship with his stepfather had a major blowup after years of pent-up anger. Ramirez thought the race car might be a good way to patch things up.
“To make it up to him and build our relationship, I was like, why don’t I buy this car, work on our relationship?” said Ramirez. “I didn’t really have a dad to help me work on cars. With him being into NASCAR so much, this would be a good opportunity to grow our bond.”
It surprisingly worked. The two worked through their issues and Ramirez found himself with his biggest supporter in the sport as he went from sport compacts to late models.
Sadly, in October 2022, Jeff Kirby passed away from pancreatic cancer. The man Ramirez at one point heavily hated now left a huge void in his life.
“I told myself, ‘I can’t stop,’” Ramirez said. “I’m just going keep going … and I’m going to save a spot in victory lane for him, if I ever make it there.”
In the meantime, his stepfather holds a special place in Ramirez’s heart.
“[I think of him] every time I’m in the car,” said Ramirez. “In the staging lanes, I’m asking him to ‘guide me to finish the race.’ That’s all I ever asked for. There have been many times I’ve finished dead last, lapped two or three times, but the car drove the best it ever did, and I’m excited. This is awesome.”
Hopefully, Phillip Ramirez does more than just finish the race this weekend. He intends to compete in the Dirt Rich TV American All-Star Series Presented by PPM Racing Products opening weekend. It starts on Friday, April 11, at Mountain Motor Speedway in Isom, Kentucky. Then it concludes the doubleheader on Saturday, April 12, at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Burnside, Kentucky.
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Outside Groove is a sponsor of the American All-Star Series. The American All-Star Series paid for the production of this article. The content is not subject to the approval of the American All-Star Series.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
