Jimmy Hensley

Jimmy Hensley

Jimmy Hensley is a former NASCAR driver, best known for the “Rookie of the Year honors that he won in 1992 at the age of forty seven in his fifteenth season in the Series. He was born on the 11th of October 1945 in Ridgeway, Virginia and began his racing career in 1972 at Martinsville Speedway, just ten miles away from his home town. In that season he had two races, driving the #90 Ford for Junie Donlavey, the first attempt in April, running in the Virginia 500 saw Jimmy finish in 33rd position due to engine failure but in September he ran in the Old Dominion 500 with much success, coming in at fifth position after completing all but seven laps of the event. This result was to be his best finish in the ninety eight career Winston Cup Series races. He continued to race in both events, registering a Top 10 for each season, until 1977 when he left the Series for few years. He returned to the Winston Cup Series in 1981 to drive in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville for Cecil Gordon, he finished in seventh position. The following year, 1982, he raced in a further three Winston Cup and also competed in the inaugural Busch Series where he competed in eleven events and recorded four Top 5 finishes.

1983 saw Jimmy out of the Winston Cup Series, concentrating on the Busch Series, competing in twenty nine races and finished with sixteen Top 10’s. He raced full time in the Busch Series for the next eight years, only racing occasionally in the Winston Cup Series. He came second in points in 1985 after winning at Hickory, South Boston and Indianapolis Raceway Park, driving the #00 Oldsmobile, finishing only twenty nine points behind champion, Jack Ingram, repeating the result in 1987, driving the #5 Buick for Sam Ard. His only win of the season was at Martinsville Speedway where he started and finished in first position and he won again at Martinsville Speedway just four races later in the 1988 Miller Classic. He recorded a pole at Hickory Motor Speedway whilst driving the #70 Pontiac in 1989, the same year he drove eighteen races in six different cars, finishing in sixth position in the point standings. He won his only career Winston Cup pole at Martinsville Speedway whilst filling in for Dale Earnhardt who couldn’t make it to the track for the qualifying rounds and Dale Earnhardt drove the car for the race. Jimmy won again in the 1990 season at Nazareth Speedway, driving the #25 Oldsmobile for Dick Moroso, following that up in1991 with a career-high three victories, winning at Hickory Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Orange Count Speedway, Rougemont.

Jimmy returned to the Winston Cup Series in 1992 when permanent sponsorship for the #25 car belonging to the Beverly Racing team failed to materialize for the Busch Series. He drove the #66 Thunderbird for Cale Yarborough, racing in twenty two events with four Top 10 finishes, going on to win the “Rookie of the Year” honors. Jimmy drove the #52 Ford for Jimmy Means in 1993 for the first three races of the season, finishing much of the rest of the season driving the #7 in place of Alan Kulwicki who had died. Jimmy began running in the newly formed Craftsman Truck Series in 1995 and his first full season, in 1996, was in the #30 Mopar Performance Dodge Ram where he had five Top 5’s and a pole position. Petty Enterprises employed Jimmy to drive the ’43 Cummins Dodge in 1997 for the next three seasons. In 1998 Jimmy won at Nashville Speedway and finished sixth in the final point standings and won again at Martinsville Speedway the following year, this was to be the last win of his career. His final run in the Busch Series was in 1998. In 2000, he had eight Top 10 finishes and finished thirteenth in the final point standings and in 2001 he ran most of the year filling in for Randy McDonald in the #72 before retiring at the end of the season. Jimmy finished among the top-10 in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points in all four seasons as a full-time driver.

He is among the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series elite, with more than $1 million in career winnings and is a former NCTS Most Popular Driver Award winner. Jimmy is married to Becky and they have three daughters, Karen, Amy and Melanie. Jimmy is now working, installing fire-service systems.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hensley

http://www.motorracingnetwork.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Drivers/Driver-Bio.aspx?driverID=310&SubSeriesID=1&q=Jimmy+Hensley|NASCAR+Sprint+Cup