Jeffrey S. Hensley (born November 11, 1962) 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 and crew chief. He works as the crew chief for

GMS Racing Petty GMS Motorsports, also known as GMS Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series, is an American professional stock car racing team formed by Richard Petty and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. and operated by GMS Racing. In the NASCAR Cup Series they field t ...

on their No. 23

Chevrolet Silverado The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from th ...

in the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...

, driven by

Grant Enfinger Grant McArthur Enfinger (born January 22, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. Before moving up to the Truck S ...

. Hensley is a longtime crew chief in the Truck Series, having previously worked for GMS (two other stints with them),

ThorSport Racing ThorSport Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was founded in 1996 as SealMaster Racing and is based in Sandusky, Ohio. Owned by Duke Thorson and his wife ...

(three stints with them), Joe Denette/

NTS Motorsports NTS Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was owned by Californian Bob Newberry, coming into its current form after Joe Denette Motorsports merged with New ...

Kevin Harvick Incorporated Kevin Harvick, Inc., colloquially referred to as KHI, was a NASCAR team owned by NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana, who is the daughter of former Busch Series driver John Linville. The team owned cars in the NASCAR Natio ...

Red Horse Racing Red Horse Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was based in Mooresville, North Carolina. It was co-owned by former Mobil 1 marketing executive Tom DeLoach a ...

Xpress Motorsports Xpress Motorsports was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. The team won the Truck Series championship in 2002 and 2003 with Mike Bliss and Travis Kvapil, respectively. The team was owned by Steve Coulter until 2004, when he sold the team to then ...

, and

Bill Davis Racing Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009. The team had run Toyota-branded stock cars and trucks in the Camping World Truck Series ( Toyota Tundra) since 2004 and Sprint Cup Series (T ...

. Hensley has also worked as a crew chief in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

and is the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

championship-winning crew chief in the series when it was known as the Busch Series. Hensley was to return to the Xfinity Series in 2022 working for

Our Motorsports Our Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro SS full-time for TBA, the No. 23 Camaro full-time for TBA, and the No. TBA Ca ...

but he left the team prior to the start of the season.

Racing career

Driving career

Hensley began racing at the age of eighteen, racing in various short tracks in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. In 1982, he moved to the newly-formed

Busch Grand National Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, competing in the Nos. 2 and 63 for his family-owned team. In his first season of competition, he ran ten races, and had five top-ten finishes. His abbreviated schedule landed him twentieth in points. The following season, he ran twenty-eight of the schedule thirty-five races, and had nine top-ten finishes, and improved to tenth in standings. He had two less top-tens in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, but had a career-best eighth-place finish in points. After he dropped to three top-tens in 1985, in the No. 2 Flute's Sheetmetal car, he retired from driving.

Crew chiefing career

1987–2001: Hensley Motorsports

In 1987, Hensley became the crew chief for his family's No. 63 car in the Busch Series.

Larry Pollard Larry Pollard (born 5 May 1954) is a former Canadian NASCAR Busch Grand National Series driver. During his career, Pollard was the crew chief for NASCAR drivers Richard Petty and Phil Parsons during the 1980s before starting his Busch Series rac ...

drove the car in 1987 and

Mike Swaim Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

drove it in 1988.

Chuck Bown Richard Charles "Chuck" Bown Jr. (born February 22, 1954) is a former NASCAR champion. His last ride came in 1999. He lives with his wife in Asheboro, North Carolina. He is the brother of former fellow NASCAR competitor Jim Bown. 1970s Bown mad ...

became the driver of the No. 63 in 1989, and they won the championship together in

. They continued to work together until the 1994 season, when Bown left and was replaced by his brother

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

. Hensley continued working for the team until it was sold in 2001.

2004–2010

Following the sale, he worked for Arrington Manufacturers for three years before returning to the track when he was hired by

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

to serve as the crew chief for

Bill Lester William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 17 Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing. Lester p ...

's No. 22 truck. The following season, he was reassigned to the No. 5 of Mike Skinner, where he stayed for two and a half seasons. He and Skinner won eight races and finished second in points during the 2007 season. In the summer of 2008, he left BDR to become the competition director for

Bobby Hamilton Racing Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia is a disbanded NASCAR racing team. It was owned by four-time Winston Cup winner and 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton until his death on January 7, 2007. Bobby Hamilton Jr. was given owners ...

. However, Hensley left BHR a few months later to return to crew chiefing, and for the last few races of 2008 and all of 2009, Hensley was the crew chief for

Brian Scott Brian Joseph Scott (born January 12, 1988) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Beginnings Scott has been racing competitively since the age of 12. One of his early career highlights came at the 360 Nationals ...

's No. 16 truck for

. After Xpress closed down in 2010, Hensley moved to

, working as the crew chief for the No. 17 of

Timothy Peters Timothy J. Peters (born August 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado for Rackley WAR. He was a member of the Bob ...

, and won the season-opener at Daytona.

2011–2014

Hensley left RHR after 2010 to work for

. Though he initially served as Ron Hornaday's crew chief, he moved to crew chief for

Nelson Piquet Jr. Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...

and the No. 8 truck, before joining

Joe Denette Motorsports NTS Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was owned by Californian Bob Newberry, coming into its current form after Joe Denette Motorsports merged with New ...

for the final race of the season. In 2012, he started the year with JDM, reunited with Hornaday, before moving to

Turner Scott Motorsports Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), formerly Turner Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, the Camping World Truck Series, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series ...

to crew chief for

Miguel Paludo Miguel Paludo (born July 26, 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes full-time in the Porsche GT3 Carrera Cup Series. Paludo formerly competed in NASCAR full-time in the Camping World Truck Series, driving for Red Horse Racin ...

halfway through the season, a role he reprised in 2013. At the start of the 2014 season, Hensley moved to

as crew chief for the team's No. 20 truck.

2014–present: ThorSport Racing & GMS Racing

Hensley left NTS midway through the 2014 season for

where he would be the crew chief for

Johnny Sauter Jonathan Joseph "Johnny" Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 47 Toyota Tundra for G2G Racing, the No. 13 Tundra for Th ...

's No. 98 truck. In 2015, ThorSport moved him to

Cameron Hayley Cameron Hayley (born July 21, 1996) is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series, driving the No. 7 Ford Fusion for Jefferson Pitts Racing. Hayley won the K&N Pro Seri ...

's No. 13 truck. He left the team in 2016 for

where he would be the crew chief for their No. 23 truck driven by

Spencer Gallagher Spencer Gallagher (born November 20, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, driving the No. 23 Toyota Camry for BK Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity S ...

. Hensley went back to ThorSport in 2017 and was the crew chief for

and their No. 98 truck for four years (from 2017 to 2020). He returned to

in 2021 and became the crew chief for the No. 23 truck of

Chase Purdy Chase R. Purdy (born November 11, 1999) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He has competed for MDM Mot ...

. After the 2021 season, Hensley left GMS to be the crew chief for

Brett Moffitt Brett B. Moffitt (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 25 Ford Mustang for AM Racing. He won Rookie of the Year Honors in 2015 in the NASCAR ...

's No. 02 car for

in the Xfinity Series in 2022. It would have been Hensley's first time crew chiefing in the Xfinity Series since

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

when he was the crew chiefing for his family team's No. 63 car driven by Shane Hall. However, on February 3, 2022, ''

NASCAR on Fox ''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox television network in the United States since 2001. Speed, a motorsports-focused cable channel ...

'' reporter

Bob Pockrass Robert Pockrass is an American motorsports journalist and on-air talent for Fox Sports who covers NASCAR. Early life Pockrass grew up in Indianapolis and attended Indiana University Bloomington, initially being a business major before graduating ...

revealed in a tweet that Hensley had already left Our Motorsports before the start of the season and would instead go back to ThorSport to crew chief

Matt Crafton Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is a three-time champion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2013, 2014, 2019), in which he competes full-time, driving the No. 88 Ford F-150 ...

's No. 88 truck. Crafton's crew chief for the previous ten years, Carl "Junior" Joiner, had retired. Before the race at Mid-Ohio, Hensley would leave ThorSport to return to GMS and the No. 23 truck, which was now driven by Enfinger, who Hensley previously crew chiefed at ThorSport.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hensley, Jeff Living people 1962 births People from Ridgeway, Virginia Racing drivers from Virginia NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers NASCAR crew chiefs