January 12, 2022 (Concord, NC) – Long-time ARCA Menards Series veteran driver, Tom Hessert, will make his long-anticipated return to the seat with Venturini Motorsports for three short track events in 2022. Earning the reputation as a tenacious short track competitor, Hessert returns with a tailor made schedule at Berlin Raceway, Elko Speedway and Lucas Oil Raceway.
A mainstay fixture and respected personality on tour with the ARCA Menards Series from 2007 to 2018, Hessert has compiled 186 career series starts. Finishing a career best, runner-up, in ARCA’s 2016 National Championship points standings, the second-generation driver from Cherry Hill, NJ has turned nearly 25,000 laps and accomplished 6 series wins, 55 top-5 finishes and 111 top-10 finishes.
With a lifetime of racing seemingly in his rear-view mirror, Hessert left the track in 2018 to resume his day-to-day life raising his four young children with his wife while running day-to-day operations for his family’s north Philadelphia auto dealership.
“So yeah, It’s been a minute since I was in the seat,” said Hessert laughingly when asked about coming back to the track after four years. “Our last full season was 2016 and after that we ran a couple of partial seasons. Since then, my focus has been on being a dad and growing my family with my amazing wife Meghan.”
“This whole idea kinda just came together back in September when I was talking with Billy (Venturini) about Lucas Oil being back on the ARCA schedule and how I’d love to go back one more time. Indianapolis is one of my favorite places. And after we made the decision to run, we started looking further up the schedule and found a few more races we thought would help knock off the rust,” added Hessert.
“I definitely miss the racing and being competitive, but getting back to the track and seeing everyone in the garage is going to be special. As far as the racing, there are some unknowns after being away for so long, I just know were gonna make the most of it and have some fun.”
Hessert has made 18 starts combined throughout his career at Berlin, Elko and Lucas Oil tallying 9 top-5’s and 17 top-10 finishes. By the numbers, Hessert padded his career stats racing short tracks which account for 64% of both his career top-5 (35) and top-10 (71) totals. All but one of his victories came via the bullring, with his only non-short track event win at Talladega Superspeedway in 2014.
Tom Hessert will make his return to the track in the ARCA Menards Series at Berlin Raceway on June 18. The race will air LIVE on MAVTV beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Follow Hessert on social media on Twitter @TomHessert, and Facebook @tom.hessert.3.
