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Hubert Hensley Raced For The Love Of The Sport

Charlotte, NC (April 11, 2010) – Hubert Hensley’s name won’t show up on any NASCAR honor rolls or Hall of Fame ballots, but anyone who ever knew the Ridgeway, Virginia gentleman would rank him among the sport’s all-time great car owners.

Hensley passed away at Memorial Hospital of Martinsville/Henry County last Thursday. The longtime NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series car owner was 78. From 1982-2002, Hensley fielded 528 Busch Series entries winning 11 times. Fourteen poles, 52 Top-5 and 127 Top-10 finishes – along with a division championship with Chuck Bown behind the wheel in 1990 – completed Hensley’s statistical record as a car owner. Statistics, however, don’t define Hensley’s impact on the sport.

Hensley was a hard core racer who knew how to make cars go fast despite never having the budget other teams possessed. Hensley hit the new Busch Series – an outgrowth of the old NASCAR Modified Sportsman division – in its inaugural year in 1982. With Jimmy Hensley, and later son Jeff doing the driving, Hensley’s teams competed in 58 races over the next five seasons. The team broke into the win column for the first time on August 9, 1987 when Larry Pollard won the Busch 200 at Langley Field Speedway in Hampton, VA.

Hensley hit the jackpot in 1989 when he took a chance and put a young West Coast driver, Chuck Bown, in the seat of his No. 63 Nescafe/Nestea Pontiac. Over the next three seasons, the team would notch nine wins, 27 Top-5, 44 Top-10 finishes and three Top-10 championship points’ performances – including the 1990 Busch Series title.

Bown left the Hensley stable for a Cup ride with Bobby Allison in 1994 and Hensley’s fortunes waned in the coming years. With the sport becoming more and more expensive, shoe-leather racers like Hensley were slowly being forced out of the sport.

In 1999, it was this reporter’s honor to spot one of the most iconic cars in the history of NASCAR – the No. 63 Exxon Superflo tiger-striped painted Pontiacs and Chevrolets – fielded by Hensley Racing.

With Rich Bickle handling the driving and Jeff Hensley calling the shots on the pit box, we competed in four races that year with an 11th-place effort at Richmond as our best finish. Only a decision to not pit for tires late in the race cost us a shot at the win and a Top-10 finish.

Despite the disappointment, I can clearly remember how happy everyone was after the race- especially Hubert. These were guys who worked their guts out for the love of the sport, not for fame or fortune, and to run well and compete for the win was good enough for them. It was a lesson I never forgot and that Richmond event was – and still is – one of my most cherished memories in racing. It is with that memory that I will always fondly remember Hubert Hensley, a great racer who had one shining public moment with a championship in 1990 and a lifetime of private triumphs like our 11th-place finish at Richmond in 1999.

Racing lost a great man in Hubert Hensley last Thursday. Our condolences go out to his wife, Pauline Shelton Hensley, his son Jeff and wife Debbie, and the rest of the Hensley family.

Memorials may be made to the Victory Junction, 4500 Adams Way, Randleman, NC 27317.

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