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Jimmy Hensley

Jimmy Hensley
Jimmy Hensley 1996.jpg
Hensley in 1996
Born (1945-10-11) October 11, 1945 (age 71)
Ridgeway, Virginia
Awards 1985, 1987 Busch Series Most Popular Driver
1992 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
1996 Craftsman Truck Series Most Popular Driver
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career
98 races run over 18 years
Best finish 28th (1992)
First race 1972 Virginia 500 (Martinsville)
Last race 1995 UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 15 1
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
255 races run over 14 years
Best finish 2nd (1985, 1987, 1990)
First race 1982 Dogwood 500 (Martinsville)
Last race 1995 Detroit Gasket 200 (Michigan)
First win 1985 Mountain Dew 400 (Hickory)
Last win 1991 Texas Pete 300 (Rougemont)
Wins Top tens Poles
9 129 15
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
146 races run over 7 years
Best finish 6th (1998)
First race 1995 Pizza Plus 150 (Bristol)
Last race 2001 Auto Club 200 (Fontana)
First win 1998 Federated Auto Parts 250 (Nashville)
Last win 1999 NAPA 250 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 64 4
Statistics current as of March 6, 2012.

James "Jimmy" Hensley (born October 11, 1945) is a former NASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for his Rookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th season in the series, and for his nine career Busch Series wins. He spent most of his career working as an oil truck driver in addition to racing. He was best known as being a substitute driver for many teams.

Hensley's NASCAR career began in 1972, driving for famous owner Junie Donlavey in the #90 Ford. Both of his starts that season came at Martinsville Speedway, the track being just ten miles from Hensley's hometown of Ridgeway, 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, the Old Dominion 500, to finish fifth. This would end up being Hensley's best finish in his 98 career Winston Cup Series races.

Hensley competed again for Donlavey in the 1973 and 1974 Virginia 500 events, coming home in seventh and sixth places, respectively. For the 1974 Old Dominion 500, Hensley drove the #02 Chevrolet owned by Russell Large, finishing 19th. Beginning in 1975, Hensley drove the #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 for Cecil Gordon in the #24 Buick and bringing home a seventh-place result. Hensley raced in three events the next year—both Martinsville races, along with the September event at Richmond, in D. K. Ulrich's #40 Buick. 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.


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