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Joe Bessey
Joe Bessey
Born	June 25, 1961 (age 63); Scarborough, Maine
Achievements	2003, 2004 Busch North Series Champion (crew chief)
Awards	1988 Busch North Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
	1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	64th (2000)
First race	2000 Dura Lube 300 (Loudon)
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
	163 races run over 15 years
Best finish	17th (1993)
First race	1988 Pennsylvania 300 (Nazareth)
Last race	2002 Stacker 2 200 (Nazareth)
First win	1997 MBNA 200 (Dover)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
	4 races run over 3 years
Best finish	62nd (1995)
First race	1995 Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic (Phoenix)
Last race	1997 GM Goodwrench/Delco 300 (Phoenix)
	Statistics current as of November 24, 2012.

Joseph W. Bessey (born June 25, 1961) 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, he won 21 races and two championships. Bessey is also a businessman, having started his own trucking companies in his 20s.

Racing career

Busch Series

Bessey made his Busch Series debut in 1988 at the Pennsylvania 300 at Nazareth Speedway in the No. 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 eight starts in 1991. Driving his No. 9 Pontiacs and the No. 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 third at Rockingham and added on a fourth at Rougement. He also had an eighth and a pair of 10ths. Bessey also earned his best career start of fourth at the inaugural race at Talladega.

With his success in 1993, Bessey focused more on the Busch North Series, but did manage to make 11 Busch Starts in 1994, three of which resulted in top-10s. Driving his No. 97 Bellsouth Chevy, Bessey finished sixth at Atlanta and 10th at Dover and Charlotte. He also had three top-10 starts.

Bessey returned for 1995. He had two top-10s: a ninth at Rockingham and a 10th at Nazareth. (driving for Jimmy Spencer) However, Bessey continued to struggle in finishing races, only running at the end of half of his starts.

In 1996, he drove the No. 9 Delco Remy America Chevy in 12 races. For the first time since 1992, Bessey did not finish in the top-10 in any race, but did have five top-19 finishes. At Rockingham, Bessey made his debut for Power Team; a sponsorship deal resulted in a two-year deal to go Busch Racing full-time.

Bessey returned full-time 1997, driving the No. 6 Power Team Chevy. Bessey picked up his first win at the MBNA 200, despite being ill that day. He also had four other top-10 finishes, the best being a sixth at South Boston. He also earned his first career pole in the inaugural event at Gateway, and finished 18th in points, the best run of his career.

Bessey did not win a race in 1998, but had four top-10s, the best being a fifth at Nazareth. He had a solid weekend at New Hampshire, where he won the pole and led 107 laps. However, in a late race fight for the lead with Buckshot Jones, Bessey crashed while Jones won the race. Bessey had 14 top-10 finishes to finish 18th in standings.

With Bessey going full-time Cup racing in 1999, he only made a few starts that season. His best run was a 17th at Nazareth driving for Geoffrey Bodine and an 18th at Dover (back in his No. 6). He did not finish his other three starts.

Bessey and the No. 6 only returned for one race in 2000. He started 26th at New Hampshire, but crashed on the first lap and finished 43rd.

Bessey made three starts in 2001, with a 17th at Daytona, 43rd at Talladega and a 22nd at New Hampshire (where he started in the 8th position).

Bessey made his last two starts: a 25th at New Hampshire and an 18th at Nazareth. Afterward, Bessey moved back full-time to Busch North Series as an owner, where he continues to this day.

Winston Cup Series

Bessey moved his operation up to Winston Cup in 1999, fielding the No. 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 10 of the next 14 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. He 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,^[1] Bessey closed down his Cup team, and ran selected Busch races after that.

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 fifth and finished fourth in the No. 30 Taylor Togs Dodge. His other start in 1995 resulted in a 38th at Phoenix.

At NHIS in 1996, Bessey's lone run resulted in a fourth place start. Once again, he ran a solid race at his home track and drove the No. 9 Chevy to a sixth-place finish.

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

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.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup 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	34	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1994	Gray Racing	62	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA DNQ	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL				NA	-	^[2]
2000	Joe Bessey Motorsports	60	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA 27	DOV DNQ	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL	64th	82	^[3]

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch 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	34	NBSC	Pts	Ref
1988	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Pontiac	DAY	HCY	CAR	MAR	DAR	BRI	LNG	NZH 38	SBO	NSV	CLT	DOV 19	ROU	LAN	LVL	MYB	OXF 21	SBO	HCY	LNG	IRP 27	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH 21	DOV 24	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR					48th	428	^[4]
1989		09		DAY	CAR 20	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI																													45th	573	^[5]
		19								NZH 17	SBO	LAN	NSV	CLT									IRP 34	ROU	BRI	DAR		DOV 14	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR
		9													DOV 20	ROU	LVL	VOL	MYB	SBO	HCY	DUB					RCH 30
1990		9		DAY	RCH 22	CAR	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	HCY	CLT	DOV	ROU	VOL	MYB	OXF 35	NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV 39	MAR	CLT							66th	256	^[6]
1990		19																														NHA 36	CAR	MAR				66th	256	^[6]
1991		9	Olds	DAY 14	RCH	CAR 31	MAR	VOL	HCY	DAR	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH 26	CLT	DOV	ROU	HCY	MYB	GLN		NHA 36	SBO	DUB	IRP													44th	623	^[7]
		91	Olds																		OXF 34
	Shoemaker Racing	64	Pontiac																							ROU 30	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV 32	CLT
	Shoemaker Racing	64	Olds																													NHA 24	CAR	MAR
1992	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Pontiac	DAY 35																	NHA 21	TAL	IRP	ROU	MCH	NHA 17	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	MAR						42nd	922	^[8]
		7	Pontiac		CAR 11
	Joe Bessey Motorsports	91	Pontiac			RCH 10
	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Olds				ATL 23	MAR	DAR	BRI	HCY	LAN	DUB
	Shoemaker Racing	64	Pontiac											NZH 24	CLT	DOV 26	ROU	MYB	GLN	VOL
	Joe Bessey Motorsports	93	Pontiac																														CAR 15	HCY
1993		97	Olds	DAY 18		RCH DNQ			HCY 12	ROU 4	MAR 13			DOV 22	MYB 15																							17th	2834	^[9]
			Pontiac		CAR 21		DAR 23	BRI 30				NZH 29	CLT			GLN 24	MLW 18		IRP 16			BRI 12	DAR 14	RCH 8	DOV 10	ROU 10		MAR 20	CAR 3	HCY DNQ
			Chevy															TAL 20		MCH 16	NHA 23						CLT 16				ATL 25
1994			Chevy	DAY 16	CAR 28		ATL 6	MAR	DAR 29	HCY	BRI 31	ROU	NHA 15	NZH	CLT 10	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	SBO	TAL DNQ	HCY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV 10	CLT 24	MAR	CAR 11							37th	1152	^[10]
1994			Olds			RCH 36																																37th	1152	^[10]
1995	Davison Motorsports		Chevy	DAY 23	CAR 9																																	44th	733	^[11]
	Davison Motorsports		Pontiac			RCH 29	ATL	NSV 37	DAR	BRI	HCY
	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Pontiac									NHA 25									IRP 14	MCH	BRI 24	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT
	Moroso Racing	20	Ford										NZH 10	CLT	DOV	MYB 24	GLN	MLW	TAL	SBO
	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Chevy																									CAR 31	HOM
1996	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Chevy	DAY 11	CAR 28	RCH 18	ATL 43	NSV 17	DAR 27	BRI 36	HCY 19	NZH	CLT 33	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NHA 13	TAL 29	IRP DNQ	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT											44th	1023	^[12]
1996	Martin Racing	92	Chevy																									CAR 26	HOM DNQ									44th	1023	^[12]
1997	Joe Bessey Motorsports	6	Chevy	DAY 29	CAR 23	RCH 22	ATL 29	LVS 37	DAR 28	HCY 22	TEX 27	BRI 36	NSV 32	TAL 28	NHA 21	NZH 6	CLT 36	DOV 20	SBO 10	GLN 26	MLW 19	MYB 27	GTY 9	IRP 19	MCH 41	BRI 17	DAR 23	RCH 42	DOV 1	CLT 18	CAL 16	CAR 22	HOM 9					18th	2835	^[13]
1998				DAY 40	CAR 30	LVS 12	NSV 12	DAR 36	BRI 37	TEX 43	HCY 25	TAL 21	NHA 35*	NZH 5	CLT 19	DOV 28	RCH 17	PPR 28	GLN 28	MLW 9	MYB 7	CAL 9	SBO 19	IRP 31	MCH 34	BRI 33	DAR 27	RCH 23	DOV 16	CLT 28	GTY 35	CAR 42	ATL 16	HOM 30				18th	2763	^[14]
1999				DAY DNQ	CAR 38	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	NSV	BRI	TAL DNQ	CAL	NHA DNQ	RCH			DOV 33	SBO	GLN	MLW	MYB	PPR	GTY 39	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV 18	CLT	CAR	MEM	PHO	HOM			71st	380	^[15]
1999	Shoemaker Racing	64	Chevy													NZH 17	CLT																					71st	380	^[15]
2000	Joe Bessey Motorsports	6	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSV	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA 43	CLT	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NZH	PPR	GTY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAR	MEM	PHO	HOM			120th	34	^[16]
2001			Pontiac	DAY 17	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL 43	CAL	RCH																								77th	243	^[17]
2001			Chevy												NHA 22	NZH	CLT	DOV	KEN	MLW	GLN	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	PHO	CAR	HOM		77th	243	^[17]
2002			Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA 25	NZH 18	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	85th	197	^[18]

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck 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	NCTC	Pts	Ref
1995	Grandaddy Racing	30	Dodge	PHO 4	TUS	SGS	MMR	POR	EVG	I70	LVL	BRI	MLW	CNS	HPT	IRP	FLM	RCH	MAR	NWS	SON	MMR								62nd	209	^[19]
1995	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Chevy																				PHO 38							62nd	209	^[19]
1996	Joe Bessey Motorsports	9	Chevy	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	TUS	CNS	HPT	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	I70	IRP	FLM	GLN	NSV	RCH	NHA 6	MAR	NWS	SON	MMR	PHO	LVS			87th	150	^[20]
1997	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	50	Ford	WDW	TUS	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	I70	NHA	TEX	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	CNS	HPT	IRP	FLM	NSV	GLN	RCH	MAR	SON	MMR	CAL	PHO 35	LVS	132nd	58	^[21]

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

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

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde 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	ABSC	Pts	Ref
1994	Joe Bessey Motorsports	7	Chevy	DAY	TAL	FIF	LVL	KIL	TOL	FRS	MCH	DMS	POC	POC	KIL	FRS	INF	I70	ISF	DSF	TOL	SLM	WIN	ATL 3					111th	475	^[22]
1995		9		DAY	ATL	TAL	FIF	KIL	FRS	MCH	I80	MCS	FRS	POC	POC	KIL	FRS	SBS	LVL	ISF	DSF	SLM	WIN	ATL 2					106th	-	^[23]
1996		7		DAY	ATL	SLM	TAL	FIF	LVL	CLT	CLT	KIL	FRS	POC	MCH	FRS	TOL	POC	MCH	INF	SBS	ISF	DSF	KIL	SLM	WIN	CLT	ATL 1	126th	-	^[24]