Joe Bessey

He was 42nd in the points, his highest showing to that date.

However, he did not finish his other two starts, but finished 45th in points.

The next season, he only started four races, finishing just one of them.

Joseph W. Bessey (born June 25, 1961) is a former NASCAR owner/driver.

Driving his No. 9 Pontiacs and the No. 64 Pontiacs, Bessey finished six of his eight starts, and managed his career best finish with a 14th place at Daytona International Speedway.

He also had three top-10 starts, the best being at Nazareth.

Bessey made his Busch Series debut in 1988 at the Pennsylvania 300 at Nazareth Speedway in the No. 9 Pontiac.

Despite an eighth place starting spot, he finished last after a crash on the opening lap.

He made five other races in 1988, his best finish being 19th at Dover.

He also finished his remaining five races.

Bessey made six more starts in 1989 and finished in the top-20 in four of the six races, with 14th at Dover, a 17th at Nazareth and had a pair of 20ths.

He also had a top-10 start at Richmond.

In his driving career in that series in the mid-1990s, he won 21 races and two championships.

Bessey is also a businessman, having started his own trucking companies in his 20s.

Bessey made eight starts in 1991.

Bessey made nine starts in 1992.

For the first time since 1992, Bessey did not finish in the top-10 in any race, but did have five top-19 finishes.

At Rockingham, Bessey made his debut for Power Team; a sponsorship deal resulted in a two-year deal to go Busch Racing full-time.

Bessey planned to run the full season in 1993.

With his success in 1993, Bessey focused more on the Busch North Series, but did manage to make 11 Busch Starts in 1994, three of which resulted in top-10s.

Bessey returned for 1995.

In 1996, he drove the No. 9 Delco Remy America Chevy in 12 races.

Driving his No. 97 Bellsouth Chevy, Bessey finished sixth at Atlanta and 10th at Dover and Charlotte.

He also had three top-10 starts.

Bessey returned full-time 1997, driving the No. 6 Power Team Chevy.

Bessey picked up his first win at the MBNA 200, despite being ill that day.

He also had four other top-10 finishes, the best being a sixth at South Boston.

Bessey did not win a race in 1998, but had four top-10s, the best being a fifth at Nazareth.

He had a solid weekend at New Hampshire, where he won the pole and led 107 laps.

However, in a late race fight for the lead with Buckshot Jones, Bessey crashed while Jones won the race.

He won one career Busch Series race before heading back to the Busch Grand National North Series in 2001, where he continues to field teams.

He also had an eighth and a pair of 10ths.

Bessey also earned his best career start of fourth at the inaugural race at Talladega.

He had two top-10s: a ninth at Rockingham and a 10th at Nazareth.

(driving for Jimmy Spencer) However, Bessey continued to struggle in finishing races, only running at the end of half of his starts.

Bessey garnered an 11th-place run at Rockingham and then his first top-10 at Richmond.

He also closed the year with three straight top-21 finishes.

He made all but three races en route to a 17th-place points finish.

Bessey had a best finish of third at Rockingham and added on a fourth at Rougement.

He also earned his first career pole in the inaugural event at Gateway, and finished 18th in points, the best run of his career.