Joey Hand

Joey Hand, American race car driver

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Born: February 10, 1979
Age in 2026: 47
Zodiac sign: Aquarius
Birth year: 1979

About Joey Hand

Joseph Alan Hand is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring GT class for BMW Team Rahal, and the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro class for Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA driving the Ford GT. Moving up to the Star Mazda Series in 1998, Hand won nine races in the series, winning the rookie of the year award in 1998 and the series championship in 1999. Hand won the second stage in that race for his first career stage win in the NASCAR Cup Series. The following month, the BMW Motorsport team he drove for won the GT class of the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring. He again won the GT class at the 12 Hours of Sebring and took three podiums out of seven appearances.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Joey Hand timeline

1998Moving up to the Star Mazda Series in 1998, Hand won nine races in the series, winning the rookie of the year award in 1998 and the series championship in 1999.
2011The following month, the BMW Motorsport team he drove for won the GT class of the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring.
2011A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring GT class for BMW Team Rahal, and the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro class for Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA driving the Ford GT.

The world when Joey Hand was born

Joey Hand was born in 1979. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1979

#1 song"My Sharona" – The Knack
Top movieKramer vs. Kramer
Top TV showLaverne & Shirley
Best-selling bookThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

Headlines and milestones

Major sports moment"Miracle on Ice" (1980 — actually)
Top headlineIran hostage crisis begins
Technology milestoneSony Walkman released — portable music goes mainstream
Defining fadSony Walkman — portable music revolution
Notable inventionSony Walkman
World population4.38 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderJimmy Carter
Sports championPittsburgh Pirates (World Series)
Also wonSeattle SuperSonics (NBA)
U.S. population225.1M

1979 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Joey Hand's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1979	2026
Gas	$0.86	$3.45/gal
Average home	$62,900	$435,000
Average income	$19,554	$67,500
Minimum wage	$2.90	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$2.51	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.15	$0.73
Population	225.1M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Driver Database. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.