from
Franklin ,
Wisconsin was born
December 18 ,
1955 . He drives the #9
Toyota Tundra in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series .
Musgrave fell in love with racing as his father, Elmer, was a famous short-track racer in the Midwest. Despite getting a late start in his driving career (he began when he was 18), he became well known on the short tracks of Wisconsin. In
1987 he went national to the
American Speed Association (ASA) series and became the rookie of the year, finishing fifth in points.
In
1990 , Musgrave was called upon by
Winston Cup team owner
Ray DeWitt to replace
Rich Vogler , who had been killed at a wreck at
Salem Speedway . Musgrave had four starts in Cup that year, his best finish being a 22nd at the
Checker Auto Parts 500 . From
1991 to
1993 he raced the #55 for the DeWitt/Ulrich team. He was runner-up to
Bobby Hamilton for
Rookie Of The Year in 1991 and had twelve top-ten finishes. In
1994 , he was hired by
Jack Roush to race for
Roush Racing in the #16
Family Channel Ford Thunderbird . In his first season, Musgrave had three poles, and finished fifteenth in points. Musgrave's best points finish came in 1995, when he finished 7th. In
1998 , Musgrave got full sponsorship from
Primestar , and was 18th in points when he was suddenly replaced by rookie
Kevin Lepage , to the shock of many. There was even some speculation that Musgrave's teammates
Mark Martin and
Jeff Burton regularly got better equipment than Musgrave and teammates
Johnny Benson and
Chad Little . Still, Musgrave filled out the year by doing by running part-time for
Bud Moore Engineering and
Bill Elliott Racing , as well as doing substitute duty for
Travis Carter and
Jasper Motorsports . He only ended up missing one race that year.
In
1999 , Musgrave was signed by
Butch Mock Motorsports to run the #75
Remington Arms Ford. Musgrave struggled mightily however, and only put together two top-ten finishes before finally quitting the team after the
Pennzoil 400 .
He began
2000 without a ride, but soon caught on with
Joe Bessey Motorsports filling in for the injured
Geoffrey Bodine , and ran five races with that team. After a one-race return to the #15, Musgrave finished the year with
Team SABCO , driving the #01 for
Kenny Irwin Jr. , who had died in a practice accident at
New Hampshire International Speedway . Musgrave has run seven Cup races since then, six of them with
Ultra Motorsports and one for
Petty Enterprises .
Musgrave made his
Craftsman Truck Series debut in 1995 at the
GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 200 , driving the #61
Ford F-150 for Jack Roush. He started and finished in fourth place. He ran two more races the next year for Roush's #99 truck, and finished fifth at Phoenix. He did not run trucks again until 2001, when he signed to drive the #1
Mopar Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports. He won three of out the first five races that year, and had eighteen top-ten finishes, but was unable to catch
Jack Sprague for the title. The next two seasons, he had three wins apiece and finished third in both season's points. During the 2003 season, Musgrave announced he had been battling
Bladder Cancer while racing. Ironically, his wife Debi has been diagnosed with
Leukemia since 2000.
In
2005 , Musgrave won just one race, but he was able to claim the Craftsman Truck Series title. Ironically, just a month after winning the championship, his team, Ultra Motorsports, closed down for unspecified reasons. Musgrave has since climbed on to Germain Racing's #9 Toyota for 2006 with sponsorship from Team ASE and finished 3rd in the first two races of the season.
In
2006 , he was chosen to drive in the
International Race Of Champions for the first time. He is the only driver representing the
Craftsman Truck Series for the 2006 season.
