Kevin Harvick’s Crew Chief Reacts as the Hidden Gem of 80s NASCAR Passes Away

When we talk about NASCAR’s history, a lot of names come to mind. But have you ever heard of the name Billy Hess?

Billy Hess built cars to race in NASCAR during its 80s golden era, back when NASCAR introduced the wheelbase change from 115 to 110 inches. Here is a glimpse of Jeff Gordon’s 1990 Baby Ruth Ford Thunderbird, which was built by Hess.

There are not many mentions of Billy in the media. But he was also a racing driver, who raced in the Sportsman Series (Xfinity) in the early 1980s. He even built himself his own car for his brief racing career. Moreover, his cars were driven by the likes of Jeff Gordon and Butch Miller.

Meanwhile, Rodney Childers, a former NASCAR driver, and current crew chief at Stewart-Haas Racing, took to Twitter to inform fans about Hess’ passing on the morning of July 8th, 2022.

Back in 2017, in an interview, Billy said mentioned how once, former NASCAR driver Butch Miller came to his shop with a car that needed changes, as it was being called illegal by NASCAR. After taking on rebuilding duties right there and then, he was able to deliver the car back on time. “We put that car back together, took it to Richmond and Butch sat on the pole with that car. So boom! I was the flavor of the week all the sudden. That really helped me get my business off the ground,” he said.

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The news of Billy’s passing strikes a profound woe for the people who knew him. To those who knew him, he was a hero.

Rodney Childers comments on Kevin Harvick’s Road America race

As for Kevin Harvick, 2022 has not been a great season. But his recent showing was a promising one.

Rodney and Harvick have had a rocky season so far with no wins on the board. But after their encouraging performance in Road America, Childers decided to write a motivational message for the team on Twitter.

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With just a few races to go before the playoffs, we hope Kevin can muster up the performance to make it in.