View source for Joey Arrington

{{short description|American racing driver}}
{{Infobox NASCAR driver
| name               = Joey Arrington
| image              = 
| caption            =
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1956|7|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Rocky Mount, Virginia]], U.S.
| achievements       = 
| awards             = 
| Total_Cup_Races    = 9
| Years_In_Cup       = 5
| Best_Cup_Pos       = 84th ([[1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series|1980]])
| First_Cup_Race     = [[1974 in NASCAR|1974]] [[Federated Auto Parts 400|Capital City 500]] ([[Richmond International Raceway|Richmond]])
| Last_Cup_Race      = [[1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series|1980]] [[Toyota Owners 400|Richmond 400]] ([[Richmond International Raceway|Richmond]])
| First_Cup_Win      =
| Last_Cup_Win       =
| Cup_Wins           = 0
| Cup_Top_Tens       = 0
| Cup_Poles          = 0
}}

'''Joey Arrington''' (born July 25, 1956) is an American former [[NASCAR]] driver, team owner, and [[Crew chief (auto racing)|crew chief]] from [[Rocky Mount, Virginia]].<ref name="RacingReferenceDriversStats">{{cite web|title=NASCAR Drivers Statistics|url=http://racing-reference.info/driver/Joey_Arrington|publisher=Racing Reference|access-date=22 December 2010}}</ref> He made nine [[Winston Cup Series]] starts with a best finish of 12th.<ref name=RacingReferenceDriversStats /> He made his first start in 1974 as a 17-year-old and raced until 1980.<ref name=RacingReferenceDriversStats />

He was the owner of Race Engines Plus LLC<ref>{{cite web|last=King |first=Randy |title=Arts and Craftsman: Arrington finds NASCAR niche |url=http://www.roanoke.com/sports/racing/wb/27123 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201145954/http://www.roanoke.com/sports/racing/wb/27123 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-01 |work=www.roanake.com }}</ref> and is the son of former NASCAR driver [[Buddy Arrington]]. Arrington was a partner in [[Bobby Hamilton Racing]]. He started Arrington Manufacturing and Arrington Engines in 2000. After selling his interests in both entities, he moved the majority of his business ventures to [[Concord, North Carolina]], before founding  anew [[NASCAR Camping World Truck Series]] team in 2012.

==Biography==
Arrington is the son of [[Buddy Arrington|Buddy]] and Jeanette Arrington, and often was present at his father's races. His interests in engines and car tuning were sparked by [[Petty Enterprises]] engine builder [[Maurice Petty]], and Joey would tweak his skills in the Petty shop in [[Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina|Level Cross]]. After graduating high school in 1975, the younger Arrington became the crew chief and engine builder for his father's racing efforts.<ref name=Joey-Arrington-Bio>{{cite web|title=Racing Engine Builder Joey Arrington|url=http://joeyarrington.com/|website=joeyarrington.com|publisher=joeyarrington.com|access-date=8 October 2014}}</ref>

Arrington was an integral part of [[Dodge]]'s return to stock car racing, building engines and providing parts for Dodge teams for their return to [[Automobile Racing Club of America|ARCA]] in 1991, [[Trans-Am Series|Trans-Am]], and the [[Craftsman Truck Series]] in 1995.<ref name=Joey-Arrington-Bio />

==Arrington Manufacturing / Race Engines Plus==
{{Infobox company
| name             = Arrington Performance<br>Race Engines Plus<br>ShopHemi| industry         = [[Automotive]]
| foundation       = {{Start date|2000}}
| founder          = Joey Arrington
| defunct          = {{end date|2023}}
| successor        = Speed Engines
| location_city    = [[Martinsville, Virginia|Martinsville]], [[Virginia]]<br>[[Concord, North Carolina|Concord]], [[North Carolina]]
| area_served      = [[United States]] worldwide
| key_people       = Joey Arrington<br>[[Buddy Arrington]]
| brands           = Toyota, GM, Dodge, Ford
| services         = [[Engine]] building and parts
| homepage         = [http://www.raceenginesplus.com/ Race Engines Plus]<br>[http://www.shophemi.com/ ShopHemi.com]
}}
In 2000, Arrington founded '''Arrington Manufacturing, Inc.''' in [[Martinsville, Virginia]], also operating as '''Arrington Engines'''. Arrington built engines for Dodge truck teams [[Bobby Hamilton Racing]] and [[Ultra Motorsports]], winning championships in 2004 and 2005 with [[Ted Musgrave]] and [[Bobby Hamilton]].<ref name=Joey-Arrington-Bio />

In 2009, with Dodge pulling support from the Truck Series, Arrington shifted its focus and expanded into the aftermarket parts industry.<ref name=Martinsville-Arrington-Toyota>{{cite web|last1=Buck |first1=Johnny |title=Arrington shifts gears to Toyota |url=http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=17395 |website=[[Martinsville Bulletin]] |publisher=[[Martinsville Bulletin]] |access-date=8 October 2014 |location=[[Martinsville, Virginia]] |date=January 18, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141009011847/http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=17395 |archive-date=9 October 2014 }}</ref> That same year, they began providing engines to rookie Cup team [[Tommy Baldwin Racing]], a team he had worked with in the [[NASCAR Nationwide Series]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Newton|first1=David|title=Stars align for new team owner Baldwin|url=https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/cup/columns/story?id=3816973|website=[[ESPN|espn.go.com]]|publisher=[[ESPN]]|access-date=8 October 2014|location=[[Charlotte, North Carolina]]|date=January 7, 2009|quote=Tommy Baldwin could be rolling the dice by starting a new Sprint Cup team in this depressed economy. But the longtime crew chief is feeling awfully lucky, writes David Newton.}}</ref>

In 2011, Arrington began his new entity, called '''Race Engines Plus''' and located in the auto racing hub of [[Concord, North Carolina]].<ref name=About-REP>{{cite web|title=About Race Engines Plus |url=http://raceenginesplus.com/about_race_engines_plus.htm |website=raceenginesplus.com |publisher=raceenginesplus.com |access-date=8 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017114401/http://www.raceenginesplus.com/about_race_engines_plus.htm |archive-date=17 October 2014 }}</ref> Headquartered on Weddington Road, the company built race engines for teams in NASCAR, NHRA, and SCCA, and also provided engine building contract services for businesses and individuals. REP and the shop were purchased by [[Robby Gordon]] in 2023, who rebranded the company to Speed Engines.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nguyen|first=Justin|url=https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2023/08/robby-gordon-opens-engine-division-on-former-evernham-motor-campus/|title=Robby Gordon opens engine division on former Evernham motor campus|publisher=The Checkered Flag|date=August 19, 2023|access-date=May 19, 2024}}</ref>

Arrington's association with Dodge remains, providing customized [[Hemi engine|HEMI]] engines for street cars. Buddy Arrington, Joey's father, was a 2015 Mopar Hall of Fame inductee.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{MBM Motorsports}}
{{Toyota in NASCAR}}
{{Bobby Hamilton Racing}}
{{Arrington Racing}}
{{Gray Racing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrington, Joey}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:NASCAR drivers]]
[[Category:NASCAR team owners]]
[[Category:People from Rocky Mount, Virginia]]
[[Category:Racing drivers from Virginia]]