In 1980, she won the World Barrel Racing Champion title at the NFR, the highest barrel racing title in professional barrel racing. With the horse Jetonfer Pay, Josey won the Pro Tour Circuit in 1985, went to the NFR again, and was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Josey and Swen Sir Bug, aka "J.C.", competed in the 1987 NFR. At the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary, Alberta, she participated in a barrel racing exhibition as an Olympic special event where she and J.C. earned a gold medal. In June 1988, Josey suffered a serious accident at a rodeo in Austin, Texas. Doctors discovered two skull fractures, a broken pelvis, six broken ribs, and a punctured lung. Though told she might not walk again and certainly never ride, she proved her doctors wrong. She worked out daily in the swimming pool with the help of her husband, and regained enough strength to not only ride again, but also to compete professionally. After her accident, however, Josey became a strong advocate of equestrian helmet use and endorses Troxel riding helmets and safety gear. After her successful recovery, her next horse, Mr. Revolution Bars, accompanied her to the 1989 and 1990 NFR, making her one of only two barrel racers to ever compete in the NFR in four consecutive decades. After that, Orange Smash carried her to a championship in the NBHA Senior World Championship 1997 and to the NFR in 1998. In 1999, she was received the Dennis D. High Lifestyle Achievements Award and was chosen as the Women's Sports Foundation AQHA Female Equestrian of the Year. In addition, Orange Smash received 1999 AQHA "Best of America’s Horse Award" and was created as a model horse by Peter Stone. In 2000, she entered her fifth decade of competition with the horse, Joe B Jammin, and in that year ran the fastest time at the Lone Star Finals. They went on to be the Go Round Winner at the 2001 Copenhagen Cup Finale in Dallas, Texas. In 2002, she placed first and second in the NBHA Holiday Classic in Jackson, Mississippi, riding Joe B. Jammin and Sweet Sailin' Six, and 2003 ended with a championship in the "Equus" America competition in Houston, Texas, as well as a reserve championship in the AQHA World rodeo event in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2004, she obtained Red Man Bay, and the pair won the 2004 NBHA Holiday Classic Sr. 1 D Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, and went on to win the 2004 and 2005 NBHA Sr. Division Reserve World Championships.