Name: Joey Marsala
Hometown: West Monroe, La
Birthday: May 15, 1979
One daughter: Courtney Nicole Marsala born 9-15-02
Occupation: Massage Therapist
Rookie of the year
Most Improved Driver
Driver of the week
Driver of the month
Top ten in points for 3 years
Top five in points for 2 years
Points Champion - Super Bee 1997
Points Champion - Bayou Speedway - 1999
Sportsman of the Year - Bayou Speedway - 1999
Hard Charger Award - 2000
4th in points - 2001
3 years in Sportsman
1 year in Super Stock
2 years in Ltd. Late Model
3RD year in Late Model
Graduated West Ouachita High School, West Monroe, La. 1997
Completed a series of four courses at Bobby Issac Motorsports Program in Hickory, North Carolina. These courses included Fabrication I and II, Assembly, and Motorsports Marketing.
Presently attending Career Training College, majoring in Occupational Therapy
When he races, he gets children involved. Joey loves kids, and with the help of his sponsors and family, he is able to let kids get involved in the program each week at Bayou Speedway, Super Bee Speedway and all race tracks he races, by having drawings for prizes.
He gets children to complete a registration form which includes their name, address, phone number, birthday, and favorite driver. This information is used to post birthdays at the track and the winners names on the website.
Last year, over 600 names were collected from 5 states.
Besides these drawings, he conducts special drawings during the year at Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day and on holidays such as Memorial Day and 4th of July, he hands out American Flags to the kids.
Joey and his sponsors are actively involved in such organizations as Camp Quality (cancer camp for kids), Children's Miracle Network, St. Jude's Children's Research, Ronald McDonald House, and many more.
Joey got his start in racing as a spectator, attending Friday and Saturday night races around his hometown. When his stepfather, Doyle Hodge, began racing in 1988, Joey was at his side, helping work on the race car at home and at the track. His dream - to drive a race car some day.
In 1993, at the age of 14, his dream became a reality when he was given the OK to race. After only a few races, he proved to himself and others that he was on the track to success in racing.
Now in his ninth year of racing, he has received many awards (listed above).