Ben Hess

For baseball player, see Ben Hess (baseball).

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.

Ben Hess
Born	(1964-12-20) December 20, 1964 (age 60) Wadsworth, Ohio, U.S.
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

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-twenty 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	NWCC	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	22
1992	Gray Racing	Ford	DNQ
1995	RaDiUs Motorsports	Ford	26	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	NBSC	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]