# Michael Lira (racing driver)

Michael Lira (born July 16, 1997) is a Peruvian-American professional stock car racing driver.

## Early life and early career

Lira was born in Daytona Beach, Florida (Volusia County). He began his motorsports career racing quarter-midgets at Little New Smyrna Speedway, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. When he turned 12, Lira started racing in the FASCAR Pro Trucks Series. When he was 15, he competed in both the FASCAR Pro Truck and Florida United Pro Truck Series. He was the 2012 New Smyrna Speedway Pro-Trucks Track Champion, and he tied for the Pro-Truck Track Championship at Orlando Speedworld.

## ARCA Racing Series

Lira began competing in the ARCA Racing Series in 2013, at the age of 16. He drove for Kimmel Racing, making his debut at Berlin Raceway on August 10. Lira competed in a total of four races with Kimmel Racing in 2013, and another 11 races with the team in 2014. His best finish in those two years was 7th at Salem Speedway. His best qualifying effort in those two years was 4th at Pocono Raceway.
Although not permitted to race in events at tracks over one mile in length due to track age restrictions, Before his 18th birthday, Lira participated in multiple ARCA Racing Series test sessions at Daytona International Speedway and one test at Talladega Superspeedway.
Switching to his family owned team of Lira Motorsports in 2015, Lira plans on competing in 16 of the 20 races on the ARCA Racing Series schedule. Age restrictions do not allow him to race at 4 of the tracks that have races scheduled before his 18th birthday. Through the first 10 races of the year, Lira's best finish was 8th at Mobile International Speedway, and he qualified 4th at three different tracks (Nashville Speedway, Toledo Speedway and New Jersey Motorsports Park).

## IMSA and SCCA road course racing

Lira competed in a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) road-course event at Daytona International Speedway in May 2014. In his first official SCCA start, he finished 8th overall and 4th in class.
In January 2015, Lira made his International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Tudor United SportsCar Championship debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway driving for Muehlner Motorsports America. The car suffered from mechanical issues during the race and was brought to the garage four separate times for more than eight hours of race time. The car finished 17th in the Daytona-GTD Class.
Also in January 2015, Lira competed in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge BMW Performance 200 at Daytona International Speedway. In that race he started 8th and finished 13th. He competed in a second IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge event, the Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in May 2015. In that race, he started 15th and finished 14th with co-driver Nick Galante. Michael's third and final IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race of 2015 was at Road Atlanta on October 2. In that race, Lira finished 10th along with co-driver David Levine.

## Family

Lira's father, Carlos Lira, is an accomplished sports car racer. He has been racing since the age of 18. He has earned five national championships in SCCA Ford Mustang road course competition. He also has experience in Grand Am, Rolex Sports Car Series and Pirelli World Challenge competition. Carlos Lira is a native of Lima, Peru.

## Motorsports career results
### NASCAR

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

#### Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | NXSC | Pts | Ref |
| 2016 | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | 15 | Ford | DAY | ATL | LVS | PHO | CAL | TEX | BRI | RCH | TAL | DOV | CLT | POC | MCH | IOW | DAY | KEN | NHA | IND | IOW 26 | GLN | MOH | BRI | ROA | DAR | RCH | CHI | KEN | DOV | CLT | KAN | TEX | PHO | HOM | 71st | 15 | |
$^*$ Season still in progress $^1$ Ineligible for series points

### ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Menards Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | AMSC | Pts |
| 2013 | Kimmel Racing | 69 | Ford | DAY | MOB | SLM | TAL | TOL | ELK | POC | MCH | ROA | WIN | CHI | NJE | POC | BLN 12 | ISF | MAD 13 | DSF | | | | | 41st | 670 |
| 2013 | Kimmel Racing | 68 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | IOW 18 | SLM 7 | KEN | KAN | 41st | 670 |
| 2014 | Kimmel Racing | 68 | Ford | DAY | MOB 9 | SLM 18 | TAL | TOL 9 | NJE 12 | POC | MCH | | | | | POC 10 | | | | | SLM 27 | KEN 16 | KAN | | 20th | 1750 |
| 2014 | Kimmel Racing | 69 | Ford | | | | | | | | | ELK 14 | WIN 17 | CHI | IRP 12 | | BLN 12 | ISF | MAD | DSF | | | | | | | 20th | 1750 |
| 2015 | Lira Motorsports | 58 | Ford | DAY | MOB 8 | NSH 9 | SLM 11 | TAL | TOL 17 | NJE 19 | POC 26 | MCH | CHI | WIN 24 | IOW 25 | IRP 31 | POC | BLN | ISF | DSF | SLM | KEN | KAN | | 23rd | 1220 |
| 2016 | Lira Motorsports | 36 | Ford | DAY | NSH | SLM | TAL | TOL 12 | NJE | POC | MCH 29 | MAD | WIN | IOW | IRP | POC | BLN | ISF | | | | | | | 58th | 415 |
| 2016 | Lira Motorsports | 6 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | DSF 14 | SLM | CHI | KEN | KAN | | 58th | 415 |
| 2017 | Lira Motorsports | 6 | Ford | DAY 37 | NSH 18 | SLM | TAL | TOL | ELK | POC | MCH | MAD | IOW | IRP | POC | WIN | ISF | ROA | DSF | SLM | CHI | KEN | KAN | | 83rd | 185 |
| 2022 | Josh Williams Motorsports | 60 | Ford | DAY 21 | PHO | TAL | KAN | CLT | IOW | BLN | ELK | MOH | POC | IRP | MCH | GLN | ISF | MLW | DSF | KAN | | | | | 66th | 50 |
| 2022 | Josh Williams Motorsports | 60 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | BRI 17 | SLM | TOL | | 66th | 50 |

#### ARCA Menards Series East

ARCA Menards Series East results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | AMSWC | Pts | Ref |
| 2022 | Josh Williams Motorsports with Lira Motorsports | 60 | Ford | NSM | FIF | DOV | NSV 7 | IOW | MLW | | 28th | 64 | |
| 2022 | Josh Williams Motorsports with Lira Motorsports | 60 | Chevy | | | | | | | BRI 17 | 28th | 64 | |