Gary Arnold Bradberry (born January 27, 1961) is an American professional

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. He raced in the

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 ...

All-Pro Series, and had top-ten points finishes from 1990–1993. After that, Bradberry made the jump to major NASCAR leagues. His younger brother was fellow NASCAR driver Charlie Bradberry, who died in an automobile accident in 2006.

Racing career

Winston Cup Series

Bradberry made his

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the 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. In 1971, ...

debut at

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

in 1994, starting 12th and finishing 30th in a

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

owned by

Jimmy Means James Means (born May 29, 1950) is a retired American racing driver and owner, who competed in the Winston Cup Series as an owner-driver. He is currently an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Jimmy Means Racing. He compe ...

. Bradberry ran four races in 1995, with the first two for his own team. However, he struggled, with a 41st at

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and 43rd at

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. Then, for the other two races, Bradberry replaced

Ward Burton John Edward Burton III (born October 25, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has five career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500. He is the older brothe ...

in the No. 31 Hardee's Chevy, with finishes of 35th and 29th. Bradberry's next job was at

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 rep ...

, driving the No. 95

Shoney's Shoney's is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It operates restaurants in 17 states, primarily in the South with additional locations in the Midwest and lower Mid-Atlantic states. Founder Alex Schoenbaum opene ...

Chevy in nine 1996 races, with a 23rd-place finish at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

being his best finish, albeit his best career finish to that point. Bradberry's largest season was in 1997, when he ran a career-high 16 races. At first, he was running for

Tri-Star Motorsports TriStar Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that used to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The team competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series primarily during the early to mid 1990s, suspending racing oper ...

. However, in eight races, all Bradberry could manage was a 31st at Charlotte, causing him to lose his ride. Bradberry moved to

Triad Motorsports Triad Motorsports was a motorsports team that competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and ARCA Menards Series from 1993 to 1999. The team was owned by Jim Wilson. The team's drivers included Gary Bradberry, Billy Standridge and Randy MacDonald ...

and the No. 78

Hanes Hanes (founded in 1900) and Hanes Her Way (founded in 1985) is a brand of clothing. History Hanes was founded in 1900 by John Wesley Hanes (one of Winston-Salem's wealthiest and most influential business men) at Winston, North Carolina under th ...

Ford. His best finish in that ride was a 25th at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

being the best run. His 44th in points would prove to be his best career year. He began 1998 with backing from

Pilot Corporation Pilot Company (or simply Pilot) is an American petroleum corporation headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pilot operates the Pilot Food Mart convenience stores in Tennessee. Along with Berkshire Hathaway and FJ Management, Pilot is joint-owner ...

starting the year. However, Bradberry only qualified for 13 races and only had two top-25 finishes, his best run a 23rd at

California Speedway Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previo ...

, matching Bradberry's best career finish. He also qualified 8th at Charlotte, his first career top-10 start. In addition to twelve races for Triad, Bradberry drove the No. 35 Pontiac for

ISM Racing ISM Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Bob Hancher. The team fielded entries in the Indy Racing League and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Indy Racing League ISM fielded cars in the IRL from 1997 to 1999. In 1998, Jeff Ward finished 6t ...

at New Hampshire, after Triad chose to skip that race, finishing fortieth. He went on to a 48th-place finish in points. In 1999, Bradberry's new associate sponsor PHARB Hangover Relief did not fulfil their obligations, and Pilot left soon after, causing the team to close its doors before even running a race. Bradberry's lone start in 1999 was at the season finale for

Larry Hedrick Motorsports Larry Hedrick Motorsports (LHM) was a NASCAR team. It was owned by businessman Larry Hedrick and always fielded the No. 41 Chevrolet in both the Winston Cup and the Busch Series. The team ran from 1990 until its closure in 2001. Beginnings L ...

operation. He started 9th, but engine problems relegated him to 35th. Bradberry made two more starts for Hedrick in 2000, finishing 41st at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and 33rd at

Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in ...

, and failing to qualify at

. After those races, Hedrick closed its doors and Bradberry was left without a ride. Bradberry was unemployed until 2002, when he ran at

with

Donlavey Racing Donlavey Racing was a stock car racing team that competed from 1950 until 2002 in the NASCAR NASCAR Cup Series, Winston Cup Series. It was owned by Junie Donlavey and ran a total of 863 races in NASCAR. Donlavey Racing used a number of makes and n ...

, finishing 43rd due to handling problems.

Busch Series

Bradberry made four races in his Busch career, all coming in 1999. His debut came at Darlington, where he started 23rd and finished 32nd. Bradberry tacked on a 21st at Charlotte (best career start of 15th), 20th at

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest ...

before having a hard crash at Michigan, finishing 43rd.

ARCA SuperCar Series

Bradberry was the 1994

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

Rookie of the Year, and won a race at

Flat Rock Speedway Flat Rock Speedway is a race track in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Ash Township just south of the city of Flat Rock along U.S. Route 24. Opened in 1953, it is owned by ARCA and is the sister track to Toledo ...

that season after his race car and equipment was recovered early on race day from thieves who stole it the night before the race.

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 results

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

(

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradberry, Gary Living people 1961 births People from Chelsea, Alabama Racing drivers from Alabama NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers