Ben Hess (born December 20, 1964) is an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver. Now retired, he was a regular on the

Automobile Racing Club of America The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager, who took over the position in 1996 following the death of Bob Log ...

(ARCA) series in the early 1990s, and also competed in twelve

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

races between 1988 and 1995.

Racing career

A native of

Wadsworth, Ohio Wadsworth is a city in Medina County, Ohio, United States. It is counted as part of the Cleveland metropolitan area, although it functions mainly as a suburb of Akron. Founded on March 1, 1814, the city was named after General Elijah Wadsworth, a ...

, 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. He made his first start in the series in 1988; between 1988 and 1996, he competed in 63 races, winning four times. Hess won the ARCA event at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...

, the series' most prestigious race, in 1989 and 1991. In 2001 he made his 64th and final start in the series at

, finishing 37th after an accident. 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 Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...

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. He would also attempt races for owners Henley Gray, Jim Spicuzza, Tom Winkle, and

Sadler Brothers Racing Sadler may refer to: * Sadler (surname), people with the surname ''Sadler'' * James Sadler and Sons Ltd English pottery manufacturer * Sadler, Kentucky, United States; an unincorporated community * Sadler, Texas, United States; a city * Sadler repo ...

, qualifying in a single race for Winkle in 1990. While racing for the Sadler Brothers, Hess was among 86 drivers who attempted to qualify for the

1994 Brickyard 400 The 1994 Brickyard 400 was held on Saturday, August 6, 1994, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race marked the nineteenth race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. It was the first NASCAR stock car race at the famous Speedway and ...

; 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. Hess would make his final start in the Winston Cup Series at the

1995 Daytona 500 The 1995 Daytona 500, the 37th running of the event, was held on February 19 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Dale Jarrett won his first career Winston Cup pole. Sterling Marlin won the race for the second straight yea ...

, racing for RaDiUs Motorsports; Hess finished 28th in the race, four laps down. 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 Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as the "World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars". The tr ...

. In 1988, he won a qualifying race in the series at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

Busch Series

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Ben Living people 1964 births People from Wadsworth, Ohio Racing drivers from Ohio NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers