| Jimmy Hensley | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hensley in 1996 | |||||||
| Born | James Edward Hensley (1945-10-11)October 11, 1945 (age 79) Horsepasture,Virginia, U.S.[1] | ||||||
| Awards | 1985, 1987Busch SeriesMost Popular Driver 1992Winston Cup SeriesRookie of the Year 1996Craftsman Truck Series Most Popular Driver | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 98 races run over 18 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 28th (1992) | ||||||
| First race | 1972Virginia 500 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| Last race | 1995UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte) | ||||||
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| NASCARXfinity Series career | |||||||
| 255 races run over 14 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 2nd (1985,1987,1990) | ||||||
| First race | 1982Dogwood 500 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| Last race | 1995Detroit Gasket 200 (Michigan) | ||||||
| First win | 1985Mountain Dew 400 (Hickory) | ||||||
| Last win | 1991Texas Pete 300 (Rougemont) | ||||||
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| NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
| 146 races run over 7 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 6th (1998) | ||||||
| First race | 1995Pizza Plus 150 (Bristol) | ||||||
| Last race | 2001Auto Club 200 (Fontana) | ||||||
| First win | 1998Federated Auto Parts 250 (Nashville) | ||||||
| Last win | 1999NAPA 250 (Martinsville) | ||||||
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| Statistics current as of March 6, 2012. | |||||||
James Edward Hensley (born October 11, 1945) is an American formerNASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for hisRookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th season in the series, and for his nine careerBusch Series wins. He spent most of his career working as an oil truck driver in addition to racing.[2] He was best known as being a substitute driver for many teams.
Hensley's NASCAR career began in 1972, driving for famous ownerJunie Donlavey in the No. 90Ford. Both of his starts that season came atMartinsville Speedway, the track being just ten miles from Hensley's hometown ofRidgeway, VA. Though an engine failure in his first start relegated Hensley to a 33rd-place finish, he completed all but seven laps of the fall event, theOld Dominion 500, to finish fifth. This would end up being Hensley's best finish in his 98 careerWinston Cup Series races.
Hensley competed again for Donlavey in the 1973 and 1974Virginia 500 events, coming home in seventh and sixth places, respectively. For the1974 Old Dominion 500, Hensley drove the No. 02Chevrolet owned by Russell Large, finishing 19th. Beginning in 1975, Hensley drove the No. 63 Chevrolet for part-time owner Billy Moyer, competing in both Martinsville races each year until 1977 and registering a top ten each season. It would be last Cup race for several years.
In 1981, Hensley returned to the Winston Cup Series, driving in the fall Martinsville event forCecil Gordon in the No. 24Buick and bringing home a seventh-place result. Hensley raced in three events the next year—both Martinsville races, along with the September event atRichmond, inD. K. Ulrich's No. 40Buick. That same year, Hensley also competed in the inaugural Busch Series season, competing in 11 events and recording four top five finishes. Hensley spent the 1983 season out of Cup and in the Busch Series, where in 29 starts, he registered 16 top ten finishes.
For the next eight seasons, Hensley competed on-and-off in the Winston Cup Series and raced full-time in the Busch ranks. Behind the wheel of the No. 00Oldsmobile in 1985, Hensley came home second in points, just 29 points behind championJack Ingram, after a season with three wins atHickory,South Boston, andIRP. Hensley again finished second in points in 1987 driving the No. 5Advance Auto Parts Buick forSam Ard, starting and finishing first in the season finale at Martinsville for his only win of the season. Just four races later, Hensley won again at Martinsville in the 1988Miller Classic.
In 1989, Hensley drove 18 races in six different cars, recording a pole at Hickory in the No. 70Dirt Devil Pontiac but finishing no better than sixth. In addition, he won his only career Winston Cup pole atMartinsville Speedway, filling in forDale Earnhardt, who was unable to make it to the track at that time due to the effects ofHurricane Hugo. Earnhardt would drive the car at the race.[3] The pole gave Hensley a berth in the 1990Busch Clash, in which he started on the front row but fell back with mechanical issues.[4] Hensley returned to victory lane the next season driving the No. 25Crown Petroleum/Fast FareOldsmobile for Don Beverly, winning atNazareth Speedway; he followed that up in 1991 with a career-high three victories, winning at Martinsville, Hickory, andRougemont.
Hensley started the1992 with the No. 25 Beverly Racing team, but they were unable to locate permanent sponsorship. They parted ways and Hensley moved to the Cup Series, driving the No. 66 TropArticFord Thunderbird forCale Yarborough. Hensley ran in 22 races with four top-ten finishes with the group, and won Rookie of the Year honors at the age of 47, due to the other competitors that season running part-time schedules.
He began1993 in the No. 52NAPA/Hurley Limo Ford forJimmy Means, running the first three races of the year. He then spent most of the season driving the No. 7 car in place of the deceasedAlan Kulwicki per Kulwicki's will. After the team was bought byGeoff Bodine, he drove one race forRichard Petty before closing the season in the No. 4Eastman Kodak/Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet.
Beginning in 1995, Hensley began to compete in the newly formedCraftsman Truck Series, driving in his first two seasons for owner Grier Lackey. His first full season was in the No. 30Mopar PerformanceDodge Ram in 1996, where he had five top-fives and a pole position. In 1997, however, Hensley joinedPetty Enterprises, piloting the No. 43Cummins Dodge in the next three seasons. At age 52 in 1998, Hensley found victory lane atNashville and finished sixth in the final points standings. The next year, he finished first at Martinsville, recording what would be the last win of his career. That year, he made his final run in the Busch Series, filling in forWayne Grubb.
He was replaced at Petty, and signed with the No. 16Team Rensi MotorsportsChevrolet Silverado group. With sponsorship coming fromLance Snacks, Mobile Max2, and eLink, he had eight top-ten finishes and finished thirteenth in points. He began2001 without a ride, but ran a majority of the year filling in forRandy MacDonald in the No. 72 truck. Hensley retired after that season, and now works installing fire-service systems.[5]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Jimmy Means Racing | Ford | 38 | 40 |
| 1994 | RaDiUs Motorsports | Ford | 25 | 15 |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ATSC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | Thomas Brothers Racing | 00 | Olds | ATL | DAY | ATL | TAL | ATL | SSP | IRP 1 | CSP | FRS | IRP | OEF | ISF | DSF | TOL | 93rd | - | [47] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year 1992 | Succeeded by |