Joey Kourafas
From The Third Turn, a Wikia wiki
Joey Kourafas is a former NASCAR driver from Sharon, MA. He was the first champion of the Busch East Series in 1987. In addition, Kourafas competed in twelve Nationwide Series events in his career, earning three top-tens and one pole.
Kourafas' debut came during the 1987 season, when he competed at Dover. It was a tough race for the driver, blowing an engine to finish 33rd. More mechanical woes would bite him later in the year, dooming him to 34th at Dover in the fall and 41st at Charlotte. Yet, Kourafas escaped trouble enough for one race to show his talent. Starting 16th at Oxford Plains, Kourafas completed every single lap and wound up with a career-best 3rd place finish.
Kourafas had a much more consistent year during the 1988 season, competing in just races however. Kourafas finally found some redemption at Dover, staying out of trouble and the garage to finish a solid 18th. He was even better in his return to Oxford later in the year, finishing the prestigious Oxford 250 in ninth position.
Suprisingly, Kourafas only made one start during the 1989 season, and that came at ORP. Starting 29th in the field, Kourafas could only improve to 27th by day's end due to a mid-race engine failure.
Following his Midwestern adventure, Kourafas returned to the Northeast tracks for two 1990 races. It was a good call, as Kourafas rocketed to the pole for the Oxford race. He only ultimately led four laps during the race, but it was a solid afternoon none the less as Kourafas wound finishing 3rd. He also competed at Loudon for the first time late in the year, capturing a solid 18th place finish.
Kourafas' final three races then would wind up occurring during the 1991 season. It was a pretty decent start to the year for Kourafas, finishing 19th at Oxford and showing 12th at Loudon after qualifying on the outside pole. But his national NASCAR career ended on a down note, as a blown engine left him 38th in the October Loudon race.
