Thomas Hessert III (born May 22, 1986) is an American professional
stock car racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the
ARCA Menards 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 nation ...
, driving the No. 55
Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...
for
Venturini Motorsports
Venturini Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West. Founded in 1982 by Bill Venturini Sr., Venturini Motorsports is th ...
and the No. 22
Ford Fusion for
Chad Bryant Racing. He has raced in the series for over a decade and also made two
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors 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 t ...
starts in 2010 for
Germain Racing
Germain Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was owned by Bob Germain, whose family owns many car dealerships across the United States as Germain Motor Company. The team last fie ...
. In his eight full-time seasons in ARCA, he has finished in the top-10 in points every year, including in the top-5 in five of those eight years. He finished second in the ARCA point standings in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, his most recent full-time season in ARCA.
Racing career
Early career
Hessert became the youngest driver to compete in the
Rolex 24
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...
when he drove in the event in 2003 at age 16 alongside his father Tom Jr.
Both of them shared the No. 68 for
The Racer's Group
The Racer's Group, or TRG, is a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing team located in Petaluma, California, owned by Kevin Buckler and his wife Debra. TRG has competed professionally in road racing since 1995. The team formerly competed in N ...
.
ARCA career
![ARCA 77 Tom Hessert III Road America 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/ARCA_77_Tom_Hessert_III_Road_America_2013.jpg)
Despite coming off the heels of a second-place points finish, Hessert decided to only run part-time in 2017 to spend more time with his family but left the door open to returning full-time in the future.
He ended up running five races that season, sharing the Venturini No. 25 with
Spencer Davis
Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...
,
Raphaël Lessard,
Natalie Decker
Natalie Marie Decker (born June 25, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. She last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 33 Toyota Supra for Reaume Brothers Racing, the No. 28 Ford Mustang for RSS ...
,
Tanner Thorson
Tanner Delbert Thorson (born May 7, 1996) is an American professional dirt track racing driver. He competes in the United States Auto Club (USAC) and World of Outlaws. Thorson has also competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, last driv ...
and
Christopher Bell.
He returned to Venturini for the season-opener at Daytona in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
, this time in the No. 55 as Decker was driving the No. 25 full-time that year. Hessert's next start and only other of 2018 did not come until the race at
IRP, where he drove the No. 22 for
Chad Bryant Racing at that race as a replacement for
Chase Briscoe
Chase David Wayne Briscoe (born December 15, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. He also owns a World of Outlaws sprint ...
, who could not compete after the race was rescheduled a month later than it was supposed to be run due to rain, and the new race date conflicted with his Xfinity schedule. CBR is the successor team to
Cunningham Motorsports
Cunningham Motorsports (operating at various points in its history as CSG Motorsports and CHS Motorsports) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, but also in the NASCAR Camping Worl ...
, who Hessert drove the No. 77 for full-time previously.
After having not competed in any races in the series in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, Hessert returned to ARCA in their January 2020 preseason test session at
Daytona, where he drove the No. 2 car for Chad Bryant Racing.
Personal life
Hessert is the son of former
sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...
driver
Tom Hessert Jr., who won the 1988
IMSA GT Championship
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada.
History
The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill ...
, and three times in both the
24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...
and the
12 Hours of Sebring. His family is involved in the auto industry, owning several car dealerships in the
Philadelphia metropolitan area
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...
, including Cherry Hill Classic Cars, which has sponsored Hessert during various points of his career, particularly during his time driving the Cunningham No. 77 in ARCA.
He was raised in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey and attended
Cherry Hill High School East
Cherry Hill High School East (also known as Cherry Hill East or CHE) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Cherry Hill, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, operating a ...
. Hessert currently lives in Cherry Hill with his wife and young children, his eldest being named Tom Hessert IV.
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.)
Camping World Truck Series
K&N Pro Series East
ARCA Menards Series
(
key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessert, Tom III
NASCAR drivers
ARCA Menards Series drivers
Racing drivers from New Jersey
1986 births
Living people
Cherry Hill High School East alumni
People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey
USAC Silver Crown Series drivers