June 2, 2007
By Allen Madding

Allen Madding

Joe Bessey was born June 25, 1961 in Scarborough, Maine. Bessey began racing on the short tracks of New England and then moved into competing in the NASCAR Busch Grand National North Series.

Bessey made his debut in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series in 1988 driving the No.9 Pottle’s Transportation Pontiac at Nazareth, Pennsylvania. He qualified eighth but was involved in a crash on the first lap relegating him to a 38th place finish. Bessey went on to make a total of 6 Busch Series starts for the year. His best finish was a 19th place at Dover. Bessey returned to the Busch Series in 1989 for another six starts in the No.9 and No.19 Cola Transport Pontiac. His best finish was a 14th place showing at Dover. Bessey made another four Busch starts in 1990 but suffered three DNFs. 1991 also proved bleak for Bessey in the Busch Series. He recorded eight starts but was plagued with six DNFs. 1992 was the year that Bessey’s fortune in the Busch Series began to turn around. He made nine starts with sponsorship from Auto Palace, finished 11th at Rockingham and 10th at Richmond, and he reduced his DNFs to three.

In 1993, Bessey signed Auto Palace to sponsor his self-owned team for 25 Busch Series events. Bessey recorded a fourth place finish in the Roses Stores 300 at Orange County Speedway at Rougemont, North Carolina and a third place finish in the AC-Delco 200 at Rockingham. Bessey had two top-5s, five top-10s in 25 starts.

Unable to secure sponsorship for the entire 1994 season, Bessey was left to negotiate sponsorships for individual events and made 11 Busch Series starts in Davison Motorsports No.97 Chevrolet. He charted three top-10 finishes including a sixth place finish in the Busch Light 300 at Atlanta.

In 1995, Bessey made 10 Busch Series starts driving three different cars. Bessey drove the No.97 Davison Motorsports Chevrolet and Pontiac in four events, his No.9 Chevrolet and Pontiac, and the No.20 Fina Lube Ford in two events. He recorded two top-10s, a ninth place finish at Rockingham and a 10th place finish at Nazareth. Bessey made his debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finishing 4th in the Copper World Classic at Phoenix. When the series returned to Phoenix, Bessey again competed in the Truck Series, but suffered an engine failure on the 22nd lap.

In 1996, Bessey entered his No.9 Delco-Remy Chevrolet in 12 Busch Series events but failed to record a top-10 finish. For his final event of 1996, Bessey signed sponsorship with Power Team to sponsor his No.6 Chevrolet for the 1997 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. Bessey competed in one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in 1996, the Pennzoil / VIP Tripleheader at Loudon where he finished sixth.

Bessey qualified on the pole for the Gateway 300 at Gateway International Speedway in 1997 and won his first Busch Series event, the MBNA 200 at Dover. Bessey closed the 1997 season recording 30 starts, one pole, one win, one top-5, and five top-10s. Bessey made one Truck Series start driving A. J. Foyt’s No.50 Ford at Phoenix but suffered an engine failure on lap 28.

Power Team re-signed with Bessey for 1998 and Bessey qualified his No.6 Chevrolet in all 31 Busch Series events. He qualified on the pole for the Gumont Long Life Formula 200 at Loudon, New Hampshire. He recorded one top-5 and four top-10 finishes.

Power Team only provided sponsorship for Bessey in four Busch Series events. He drove Dennis Shoemaker’s No.64 Luxury Travel Motor Coaches Chevrolet in a fifth event. In the five starts, Bessey failed to record a top-10 finish. Bessey also fielded a NASCAR Winston Cup Series car for Geoff Bodine with Power Team sponsorship. As a car owner, Bessey logged 34 starts, one top-5, and two top-10s.

In 2000, Power Team provided sponsorship for Bessey to enter the Busch 200 at Loudon. Bessey crashed on the first lap of the event and finished 43rd. Power Team also provided sponsorship for Bessey in one event in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series the same weekend at Loudon and Bessey finished 27th. Bessey fielded the Winston Cup car for 24 events with Rich Bickle, Geoff Bodine, Ted Musgrave, and Dick Trickle driving, but failed to record a top-10 finish.

In 2001, Whelen Engineering provided Bessey sponsorship for twp Busch events and Bessey ran a third event unsponsored. His best finish of 2001 was a 17th place finish at Daytona. By May of 2001, Bessey was forced to release all but three team employees and began to seek buyers for his Winston Cup equipment.

In 2002, Aubuchon Hardware sponsored Bessey’s Busch efforts in two events, but he failed to gain a top-10 finish.

Career Accomplishments: