Mishey living his dream on the track

Kevin Wannemacher/special to the VW independent

CONVOY – At the age of seven years old, young boys dream about what the future entails with most dreaming of being a police officer, a firefighter, a teacher, a pilot or a professional sports player among many things.

For one youth in rural Van Wert County, though, he had a different idea.

Cody Mishey, a freshman at Crestview High School, raced for the first time at the age of seven years old and has done it ever since.

“My love of racing started when I was seven years old when I began racing a 50 Cobra,” stated Mishey. “The adrenaline rush from my very first race had me hooked.”

Starting out running a Cobra 50CC motorcycle at a young age to now operating a Honda 450cc motorcycle, Mishey has enjoyed success in racing both on and off the track.

However, the journey from seven to 15 has not always been easy.

At nine, Mishey broke his tibia in a crash in 2019. The following year saw him suffer a dislocated shoulder and a shattered elbow. But neither could stop him from doing what he loved.

“My passion for racing has allowed me to overcome both of those injuries,” the young racer said.

Despite the challenges of being a young racer, the county native has enjoyed tremendous success on the racetrack in 2025.

In the open singles at AMA Grand Championship Worlds, he took fourth place overall while placing third in the 450 modified. Mishey also finished fourth in the open heavyweight class and was the first American finisher in each of the three classes.

Mishey won the Grand Championship Worlds 450 modified short track as well.

Currently, the Van Wert County native sits first in the RPM Promotion Series in 450, Open Amateur, Pro Outlaw Singles and Pro Outlaw Open.

Even more impressive than his feats on the track are what Mishey does off the track.

Like racing programs at other levels, Mishey must manage his racing team to include sponsor recruitment and commitments, budgeting, repairs and communication at all levels. He also must juggle the responsibilities of racing in with the business side of the sport.

“I am responsible for getting my sponsors and the business relationships with them,” noted the Crestview freshman. “My parents are always there for me, but they really do not say anything when I need to talk business with the sponsors. They have let me talk for myself and take care of things that way.”

“He does it all on the business side,” commented Sandy Mishey, Cody’s mother. “I think it has made him mature quickly. He has learned from an early age how to communicate with people, and he has run his own race program since age nine. He gets his own sponsors by talking to businesses and manages his own budget. He has learned mechanical skills by work with his dad on the bikes and maintains them every week. He also understands the risk he is taking every time he goes on the track.”

“We are very, very proud of him,” stated Cody’s father, Brian. “He is the only kid out here that does 100 percent of the work on the business side and we are so proud of what he has done and continues to do. He does primarily all of his own maintenance and repairs during the week in the evenings. While we want him to be successful in the races, it is more important in the lessons he has learned in dealing with sponsors and taking care of things away from the track. Those are the lessons he can take forward after his race career and will allow him to be successful moving forward.”

One other side note to the sport of racing is travel, which is virtually an every weekend activity. Despite all that travel, Mishey says he has been able to keep up with the schoolwork side as well.

“It definitely is a struggle keeping all of my schoolwork done with all of the traveling,” Mishey noted. “But, so far at least, I have never missed any work due to the traveling.”

But, despite his success, Mishey wants to do more than just make a name for himself.

“My ultimate goal in flat track motorcycle racing is to definitely go pro,” commented the Van Wert County teen. I want to grow the sport to the upcoming generations and show people the thrill of excitement you can receive in the sport.”

“We want to him to be respectful to the fans, sponsors and the sport in general,” added his mom, Sandy. “I want him to be humble and be respectful whether he wins or loses and to learn the responsibility of taking care of the business side. To achieve his goals, he is going to have to work hard.”

“I think one of the things is that he has been able to make a lot of connections in this industry and that will benefit him in the future,” concluded Brian. “It is something he has done exclusively as neither Sandy nor I have done the legwork in getting him a sponsorship.

It is a role he learned to do and does it by himself and he knows that if he wants to be a part of this, he is going to have to have the work ethic to do it. Both Sandy and I are proud of the young man he has developed into, and we are excited to see where it takes him in the future.”

Mishey says one of the biggest lessons he has learned in all of this is to just not give up, not matter the circumstance.

“I think the biggest life lesson racing has taught me is that no matter what the circumstances are you never give up,” concluded Mishey. “You will fail time and time again but what a true champion does is they do not ever give up. Even if you succeed, you must push yourself to find a new goal and strive to be better.”