Ben Hess

Ben Hess
Born (1964-12-20) December 20, 1964
Wadsworth, Ohio
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career
12 races run over 7 years
Best finish 37th (1989)
First race 1988 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham)
Last race 1995 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
9 races run over 4 years
Best finish 58th (1990)
First race 1982 Mountain Dew 300 (Hickory)
Last race 1990 Pontiac 200 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0

Ben Hess (born December 20, 1964) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he was a regular on the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) series in the early 1990s, and also competed in twelve NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) races between 1988 and 1995.

Racing career

A native of Wadsworth, Ohio,[1] Hess began racing in 1982; in 1983, he sold a service station that he owned to raise money for his racing career. He moved from competing primarily on dirt tracks to the ARCA series in 1986.[2] He made his first start in the series in 1988; between 1988 and 1996, he competed in 63 races, winning four times.[3] Hess won the ARCA 200-mile (320 km) event at Daytona International Speedway, the series' most prestigious race, in 1989 and 1991.[4]. In 2001 he made his 64th and final start in the series at Daytona International Speedway, finishing 37th after an accident.[3]

Between 1988 and 1995 Hess made twelve starts in NASCAR's top series, then known as the Winston Cup Series; his first race was at North Carolina Motor Speedway in October 1988, where he finished 20th in a family-owned car; he would run for his family team in ten of the twelve Cup Series races he qualified for.[5] He would also attempt races for owners Henley Gray, Jim Spicuzza, Tom Winkle, and Sadler Brothers Racing,[6] qualifying in a single race for Winkle in 1990.[5] While racing for the Sadler Brothers, Hess was among 86 drivers who attempted to qualify for the 1994 Brickyard 400;[6] after failing to make the top 20 in first-round qualifying, he was injured in a practice crash while preparing for the second round of time trials and was forced to withdraw from the event.[7] Hess would make his final start in the Winston Cup Series at the 1995 Daytona 500, racing for RaDiUs Motorsports;[8] Hess finished 28th in the race, four laps down.[5]

Hess also ran in nine NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division (now Xfinity Series) races between 1982 and 1990, posting a best finish of ninth in his first start during the series' inaugural season of 1982 at Hickory Motor Speedway.[9] In 1988, he won a qualifying race in the series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Hess wins ARCA 500K". The News-Press. Fort Myers, FL. March 19, 1989. p. 9. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  2. ↑ Woolford, Dave (June 19, 1992). "Slim, fast: Hess has Toledo backing". Toledo Blade. pp. 21, 23. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  3. 1 2 "Ben Hess- ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  4. ↑ "Daytona, an ARCA tradition since '64". ARCA Racing. February 9, 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  5. 1 2 3 "Ben Hess – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  6. 1 2 "Ben Hess – NASCAR Winston Cup / Nextel Cup / Sprint Cup / Monster Energy Cup DNQs or WDs". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  7. ↑ Siano, Joseph (August 5, 1994). "Nascar Beats the Heavy Brickyard Traffic". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  8. ↑ "ARCA: Daytona opening practice". Motorsport.com. February 9, 1995. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  9. ↑ "Ben Hess – NASCAR Xfinity Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  10. ↑ "Elliott hopes to hold things together". The Times. Shreveport, LA. October 9, 1988. p. 14. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  • Ben Hess driver statistics at Racing-Reference
  • Ben Hess driver statistics at 51's Third Turn
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