Joe Mooney’s racing roots run deep.

Growing up in a racing family, the Lehighton native knows success doesn’t come easy.

But Mooney’s blue collar work ethic has paved the way for a career that has taken him around the country and beyond, all while he’s carved his own path both on and off the track.

“I started out, my dad raced, my uncle raced and was an engine builder, uncle on the other side of the family raced, just kind of born into it,” said Mooney. “I helped out of my uncle’s engine shop a little bit in high school, on and off summer jobs, just filling gaps. I always loved racing, but the start of it was always, had to drive, wanted to drive, always wanted to drive. And my other cousin, second cousin, actually went to NASCAR like right out of high school, and I always kind of thought that was a path, but I never could get myself to give up driving. I was decent on the local level, won races, actually got a ride for a little bit, after my grandfather and parents were on the cars, and actually got a ride for a little bit. I had a good two seasons with the Jeffersons, and in the meantime I had a buddy who started dirt racing. Everything in my side of the family is asphalt, asphalt, asphalt. With Mahoning (Valley Speedway) two miles away, Evergreen, going around New York a little bit, but not traveling much.

“I started helping my buddy with dirt racing. I always enjoyed going to dirt races as a fan, go down to Grandview for the weekday shows, any midweek sprint car race, modified race, that I could get to. I was always a fan of the dirt racing side, but it just wasn’t feasible for my family. So then after I had the ride with the Jeffersons and that came to an end, my grandfather was kind of done. If I was going to spend my own money and buy my own car I was going to go dirt racing, so that’s when I made the jump to dirt racing.”

It was an eye-opening experience for Mooney - and one that was ultimately a detour he never knew he needed.

“I ran Big Diamond a little bit. Probably my biggest problem with driving was I always wanted to compete above my budget,” said Mooney. “I always had a street stock budget trying to run modified. I messed around a couple years at Big Diamond, Speedster at Kutztown, and I had a job change and really wasn’t happy with it, and honestly, I wrecked my car one night at Kutztown and wasn’t happy with my job, and sitting there at work one day, I think Swindell’s SpeedLab had an ad up, and Shark Racing had an ad up ... so, sent a couple emails out and heard back from Shark, and that’s how I got there.”

Changing gears

It proved to be a way for Mooney to continue racing, even if it meant hanging up his helmet.

“Obviously, it’s one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken in my life. I didn’t like my job, but it was a good, solid job, making a good income and basically threw it away to make probably a third of the money that I was making in my nine-to-five job,” said Mooney. “But it was something I loved and, just the passion for it, growing more and more, and it was basically finally getting over that mindset that, I can’t financially be behind the wheel, so now I get paid to turn wrenches.

“We had some success with Shark Racing, and you could see the growth. I don’t think I realized how big the sport was. And even since that time, in the last five years it has really grown, with the streaming services and everything. It’s definitely in a good spot. I think what saves me with sprint car racing, it isn’t something that I’ve ever done. I don’t know if I could. Those guys are crazy. With asphalt racing, I still struggle with that because I feel like I could be behind the wheel, and I could do it better than someone if I had their budget. But I don’t have that problem going to a sprint car race because I never drove a sprint car, and I don’t feel like I’m better than those guys. Now I’ve found the challenge of giving the driver the best car possible to go out there and win a race. As much as I want to be behind the wheel, now I still get kind of that same thrill without doing it.”

His first event with Shark Racing took him to historic Eldora Speedway in Ohio.

“Through the years, helping my cousin and friends, I really worked on pretty much every type of race car there was, except for sprint car,” said Mooney. “I met up with one of their guys that was going out from Hanover, drove to Hanover and the next thing you know I’m living in my camper outside their shop. I worked with them for a year and a half, basically learned the ropes of sprint cars. I really had no intentions of ... it was toward the end of the year, I thought it was a good excuse to look for something new, it’s probably nothing major. I thought I would go see a little bit of the country until the end of the year, probably come back and find a real job, in my mind at that time.

“Then it turned out that they had a sponsor that was trying to help them out a little bit and it all just worked out. They ended up being able to pay me more money than they thought they were originally going to be able to. So I stuck around for the next year and had a great time. That led to everything at KKR (Kasey Kahne Racing), and that led me to here.”

Mooney, who was in his late 20s at the time, only had one regret.

“I wish I would have done it when I was 21,” he smiled.

A new role

At Kasey Kahne Racing, Mooney served as the car chief for driver Brad Sweet.

“My responsibility was to basically make sure nothing mechanically went wrong with the car, and make sure it was maintained and any set of changes that the crew chief would want to make, I executed physically,” he said.

They achieved incredible success, winning four straight World of Outlaws championships while racking up several other significant wins along the way.

“Winning the Kings Royal (at Eldora Speedway) with Brad, winning the championships with Brad, every championship,” said Mooney. “I mean, the first one was crazy, but then to do it four times in a row was awesome. We had a great team there at KKR from Kasey at owner, all the way through everybody. It’s pretty crazy to be part of that operation, especially being two to three years into sprint car racing.”

That success, along with Mooney’s drive to challenge himself, led to a position with rising sprint car star Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, York County, where he is in his third year as crew chief, going after big paydays across the country and frequenting the tracks in Pennsylvania that the World of Outlaws and High Limit Racing series attend, such as Port Royal, Grandview, Lincoln and Williams Grove.

“At Macri (Racing), we really don’t have a car chief, so actually I split the responsibilities,” said Mooney. “Now I have fueling the motor, setting the race car up – basically making sure it goes fast – maintaining it, booking hotels, travel, order parts. The crew chief role is really like a whole other level of responsibility. I have a good tire guy that kind of takes some of the car chief stuff off as well, but most teams are structured, especially on a national level of three guys – crew chief, car chief, tire guy. I’ve had some, we had a buddy from Australia come over and help us a little bit during the summer, during the busy time, but most of the time on the road, we function as a two-man team, well, three-man with the driver.”

Mooney has developed relationships and forged bonds out of mutual respect in a close-knit racing community who see him more for the type of person he is than racer he ever imagined he could become.

“Honestly, it is kind of crazy. I didn’t know anybody outside of Pennsylvania or New Jersey before,” said Mooney. “Now I have friends in California, Texas, Australia. I got to go to Australia with Brad (Sweet). I went with Brad even though I had already left KKR and was going to Macri, but went over there and ran a few races with Brad.

“It’s crazy that 80 percent of the relationships that I have today are through racing. It was always kind of like that, but even more now, doing it as a professional. A lot of the guys you meet, no matter how much money they have or stardom they have, they’re just regular dudes who just love racing. That’s everybody’s common bond. They don’t walk around like they’re any better than anybody else. They’re just there to have fun and drive sprint cars, work on them or be involved somehow.”

Family matters

Mooney will never forget where he came from, or why he started. And he’s happy to inspire the next generation looking to get into the sport, including sister Jasmine, who is working for World Racing Group doing fan engagement.

“She was so wrapped up in volleyball the time I was racing, she would always come but she never really got into racing,” Joe said of Jasmine, who had a standout career at Marian and East Stroudsburg University. “I was able to help her get basically a summer job through SRX (Superstar Racing Experience) and she did that for one year, and she just kind of fell in love with the industry as well through that job, and met a lot of people.

“I see her at most of the big races. She actually moved to North Carolina. I moved back (to Pennsylvania), and she lives three miles away from where I used to be when I was with KKR. It’s pretty crazy. But she’s enjoying it. I’m glad she did it younger than I did. Get to see the country, stuff that you never would have done otherwise.”

It’s a racing life that’s given Joe Mooney so much.

And one he’s happy to always give back to.