Ben Hess Explained

Ben Hess
Birth Date:	December 20, 1964
Birth Place:	Wadsworth, Ohio
Total Cup Races:	12
Years In Cup:	7
Best Cup Pos:	37th (1989)
First Cup Race:	1988 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham)
Last Cup Race:	1995 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Cup Wins:	0
Cup Top Tens:	0
Cup Poles:	0
Total Busch Races:	9
Years In Busch:	4
Best Busch Pos:	58th (1990)
First Busch Race:	1982 Mountain Dew 300 (Hickory)
Last Busch Race:	1990 Pontiac 200 (Darlington)
Busch Wins:	0
Busch Top Tens:	1
Busch Poles:	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 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 200miles 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 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]

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		Pts	Ref
1988	Hess Racing	40	Olds	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	POC DNQ	TAL	GLN	MCH DNQ	BRI	DAR	RCH DNQ	DOV DNQ	MAR	CLT DNQ	NWS	CAR 20	PHO	ATL			67th	103	^[11]
1989				DAY 22	CAR 22	ATL 17	RCH 24	DAR 23	BRI DNQ	NWS 15	MAR 17	TAL 22	CLT 20	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL			37th	921	^[12]
1990	Winkle Motorsports	48	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH 31	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL			88th	70	^[13]
1992	Gray Racing	62	Ford	DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL			NA	-	^[14]
1993				DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL DNQ	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL		NA	-	^[15]
1994	Sadler Brothers Racing	95	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL DNQ	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT DNQ	CAR	PHO	ATL	NA	-	^[16]
1995	RaDiUs Motorsports	66	Ford	DAY 28	CAR DNQ	RCH DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	59th	79	^[17]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1989	Hess Racing	Oldsmobile	32	align=center style="background:#CFCFFF;"	22
1992	Gray Racing	Ford	align=center colspan=2 style="background:#FFCFCF;"	DNQ
1995	RaDiUs Motorsports	Ford	26	align=center style="background:#CFCFFF;"	28

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		Pts	Ref
1982				DAY	RCH	BRI	MAR	DAR	HCY	SBO	CRW	RCH	LGY	DOV	HCY 9	CLT	ASH	HCY	SBO	CAR	CRW	SBO	HCY	LGY	IRP	BRI	HCY	RCH	MAR	CLT	HCY	MAR			112th	138	^[18]
1988	Hess Racing	4	Olds	DAY	HCY	CAR	MAR	DAR	BRI	LNG	NZH	SBO	NSV	CLT	DOV	ROU	LAN	LVL	MYB	OXF	SBO	HCY	LNG	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR 22	RCH	DOV	MAR					59th	270	^[19]
			Pontiac																												CLT 20
		04	Olds																													CAR 22	MAR
1989		40		DAY 22	CAR	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI	NZH	SBO	LAN	NSV	CLT	DOV	ROU	LVL	VOL	MYB	SBO	HCY	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR			83rd	97	^[20]
1990	Falcon Racing	9	Chevy	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR 33	MAR 21	HCY 25	DAR 22	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	HCY	CLT	DOV	ROU	VOL	MYB	OXF	NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NHA	CAR	MAR	58th	349	^[21]

Notes and References

1. News: Hess wins ARCA 500K. March 19, 1989. The News-Press. Fort Myers, FL. 9. 2017-12-22.
2. News: Slim, fast: Hess has Toledo backing. Woolford. Dave. Toledo Blade. 21, 23. June 19, 1992. 2017-12-22.
3. Web site: Ben Hess- ARCA Racing Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. 2017-12-22.
4. Web site: Daytona, an ARCA tradition since '64. February 9, 2017. ARCA Racing. 2017-12-22.
5. Web site: Ben Hess – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. 2017-12-22.
6. Web site: Ben Hess – NASCAR Winston Cup / Nextel Cup / Sprint Cup / Monster Energy Cup DNQs or WDs. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. 2017-12-22.
7. Web site: Nascar Beats the Heavy Brickyard Traffic. Siano. Joseph. August 5, 1994. The New York Times. 2017-12-22. New York.
8. Web site: ARCA: Daytona opening practice. February 9, 1995. Motorsport.com. 2017-12-22.
9. Web site: Ben Hess – NASCAR Xfinity Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media Network. 2017-12-22.
10. News: Elliott hopes to hold things together. October 9, 1988. The Times. 14. 2017-12-22. Shreveport, LA.
11. Web site: Ben Hess – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
12. Web site: Ben Hess – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
13. Web site: Ben Hess – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
14. Web site: Ben Hess – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
15. Web site: Ben Hess – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
16. Web site: Ben Hess – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
17. Web site: Ben Hess – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
18. Web site: Ben Hess – 1982 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
19. Web site: Ben Hess – 1988 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
20. Web site: Ben Hess – 1989 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.
21. Web site: Ben Hess – 1990 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 21, 2020.