was born on
December 18 ,
1955 in
Waukegan ,
Illinois . He drives the #9 Team ASE
Toyota in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for
Germain Racing .
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. Although oringally from Illinois Ted ran short tracks in Wisconsin residing in
Grand Marsh, Wisconsin until 1987 when he moved to Franklin, Wisconsin.
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
1992 , driving for Dewitt/Ulrich, he led all Winston Cup drivers in laps completed.
In
1994 , he was hired by
Jack Roush to race for
Roush Racing in the #16
Family Channel Ford Thunderbird as a teammate with
Mark Martin . In his first season, Musgrave had three poles, and finished fifteenth in points.
In
1995 , Musgrave had a breakout year of sorts, posting 7 top-five finishes (including two second-place finishes) and 13 top-tens. At one point in the season, he was third in
Winston Cup points. He slumped late in the season and finished 7th, but most felt his first race win was just around the corner.
1996 turned out to be a disappointment for Musgrave. He usually ran well in most races, but could never find what he needed to get his first win. He had several top-tens early in the season, but once again slumped in the second half and wound up 17th in points. He did, however, win the pole for the final
Winston Cup race ever held at
North Wilkesboro Speedway.
In
1997 , Roush vowed to give Musgrave whatever he needed to win his first race. The #16 car now had dual sponsorship from
Family Channel and
Primestar . Once again, he started off well, and came very close to his first win at
Darlington Raceway . Musgrave was running second late in the race and clearly had a faster car than leader
Dale Jarrett in the closing laps. At one point, he was side by side with Jarrett, but Jarrett held him off for the win. Critics of Musgrave would say after the race that he should have been more aggressive and bumped Jarrett out of the way to get his first win. Later in the season at
Pocono Raceway , Musgrave had a strong car and was running second late in the race with a chance to win when his car went unexpectedly loose. He ended up 4th. Musgrave was in the top 10 in points for most of 1997, but a bad final race at Atlanta caused him to fall to 12th for the year.
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 . However, most racing experts conclude that Musgrave was replaced because of lack of results and that he was basically a middle-of-the-pack driver who lacked the aggression and killer instinct to run up front and win.
Still, Musgrave filled out
1998 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 ended up missing only one race that year and gave Elliott's team its only top-10 finish with a fifth-place run at Phoenix.
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. Musgrave appeared to be in position to win the Truck championship that year, but in the season-ending
Ford 200 , Musgrave was penalized for attempting to pass a slower truck low on the final restart past the start/finish line, and surrendered the championship to fellowe Wisconsinite
Travis Kvapil .
In
2005 , Musgrave won just one race, but he was able to claim the Craftsman Truck Series title. Musgrave moved on to Germain Racing's #9 Toyota for 2006 with sponsorship from Team ASE after Ultra Motorsports closed the doors following the 2005 season. Musgrave finished sixth in points in 2006.
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.
In
2007 , Musgrave was parked for one race after hitting
Kelly Bires out of anger under a caution at the
Milwaukee Mile . He was parked, fined, and docked points, ending any legitimate shot he had to make a run at the championship.
Brad Keselowski was named the replacement driver at
Memphis Motorsports Park . This marks the first time in
Craftsman Truck Series history that a driver has been suspended from a race.
