Joe Bessey

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Joe Bessey bigraphy, stories - American racing driver

Joe Bessey : biography

June 25, 1961 –

Joe Bessey (born June 25, 1961 in Scarborough, Maine) is a former NASCAR owner/driver. He won one career Busch Series race before heading back to the Busch Grand National North Series in 2001, where he continues to field teams. In his driving career in that series in the mid-1990s, when he won 21 races and won two championships. Bessey is also a businessman, having started his own trucking companies in his 20’s.

Sources

Category:1961 births Category:American racing drivers Category:Living people Category:NASCAR drivers Category:NASCAR team owners Category:People from Scarborough, Maine Category:Racing drivers from Maine

Craftsman Truck Series

Bessey has also made four career starts in the Truck series. His best run came in his debut at Phoenix in 1995, where he started 5th and finished 4th in the #30 Taylor Togs Dodge. His other start in 1995 resulted in a 38th at Phoenix.

Bessey’s lone run in 1996 resulted in a 4th place start at NHIS. Once again, Bessey ran a solid race at his home track and drove the #9 Chevy to a 6th place finish.

His sole race in 1997 came at Phoenix, driving for A.J. Foyt. There he started 19th, but struggled home to a 35th after his engine blew.

Winston Cup Series Team

Bessey moved his operation up to Winston Cup in 1999, fielding the #60 Power Team Chevy driven by Geoffrey Bodine. Bodine was eighth in the second race of the year at Rockingham. Bodine also earned a third place finish late in the year at Martinsville Speedway. Also, Bodine was able to qualify in every race in 1999, earning the team a 27th-place finish.

Bodine, however, was injured in the season opening Craftsman Truck Series race of 2000, and Bessey was sent scrambling for a driver. The team missed the Daytona 500, but Bessey’s new driver, Ted Musgrave made the next five races. After a best finish of 16th, Musgrave left and Bessey moved onto Dick Trickle, who made three starts for Bessey, before Bodine returned to the team at Richmond. Bodine had a solid run of 13th in his return, but the team continued to struggle to qualify. Bodine only made ten of the next fourteen races. Even with a best finish of 12th, Bessey released Bodine after a 41st at Richmond.

Bessey then made his Cup debut the next week at NHIS. Bessey barely made it in with a 42nd place starting position at his home track. He finished 27th.

Bessey then used drivers Trickle and Rich Bickle to finish out the year. However, the team began to struggle to qualifying with Bessey’s team only making a handful of the final eight races.

After a failed attempt to get Hermie Sadler to drive his car with The Rock sponsoring in 2001, Bessey closed down his Cup team, and ran selected Busch races after that.

Busch Series Career

Bessey made his Busch Series debut in 1988 at the Pennsylvania 300 at Nazareth Speedway in the #9 Pontiac. Despite an eighth place starting spot, he finished last after a crash on the opening lap. He made five other races in 1988, his best finish being 19th at Dover. He also finished his remaining five races.

Bessey made six more starts in 1989 and finished in the top-20 in four of the six races, with 14th at Dover, a 17th at Nazareth and had a pair of 20ths. He also had a top-10 start at Richmond. However, he did not finish his other two starts, but finished 45th in points. The next season, he only started four races, finishing just one of them.

Bessey made 8 starts in 1991. Driving his #9 Pontiacs and the #64 Pontiacs, Bessey finished six of his eight starts, and managed his career best finish with a 14th place at Daytona International Speedway. He also had three top-10 starts, the best being at Nazareth.

Bessey made nine starts in 1992. Bessey garnered an 11th place run at Rockingham and then his first top-10 at Richmond. He also closed the year with three straight top-21 finishes. He was 42nd in the points, his highest showing to that date.

Bessey planned to run the full season in 1993. He made all but three races en route to a 17th place points finish. Bessey had a best finish of 3rd at Rockingham and added on a 4th at Rougement. He also had an eighth and a pair of tenths. Bessey also earned his best career start of 4th at the inaugural race at Talladega.