Hoss Ellington
| Hoss Ellington | |||||||
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| Born |
May 12, 1935 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
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| Died | May 31, 2014 (aged 79) Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S. |
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| Cause of death | Liver cancer | ||||||
| Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 21 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 30th (1969) | ||||||
| First race | 1968 Dixie 500 (Atlanta) | ||||||
| Last race | 1970 American 500 (Rockingham) | ||||||
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Hoss Ellington (May 12, 1935 – May 31, 2014) was a NASCAR driver and team owner. He made 31 starts as a driver between 1968 and 1970 in the Grand National (now Sprint Cup), finishing in the top 10 four times, all in 1969. He later became a successful team owner, with five wins, four of them by Donnie Allison and the other one by David Pearson. His team also collected 52 top fives and 92 top ten finishes. He fielded cars for drivers such as Fred Lorenzen, Cale Yarborough, A. J. Foyt, Donnie Allison, David Pearson, Kyle Petty, and Dale Jarrett, among others.
Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ellington made his NASCAR Grand National debut at the 1968 Dixie 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway while driving his self-owned #61 Mercury; he finished in 31st place after suffering suspension failure after only 80 laps. He competed at two other races that year, at Darlington Raceway and Lowes Motor Speedway, finishing 17th and 34th, respectively. He ended up 61st in points.
In 1969, he made his first start of the season at Rockingham, scoring his first career top ten with a tenth-place finish. He competed in 15 races, finishing in the top ten four times, including two career-best 7th-place finishes. In 1970, he made three more starts, at Charlotte, Darlington, and Rockingham, with a best finish of 13th that year. He then retired as a driver after the 1970 American 500 race in order to focus on being a team owner.
In 1972, Ellington began fielding cars as an owner for Fred Lorenzen. The car was numbered 28. Lorenzen ran seven races with the team. In Lorenzen's first start with the team, at Darlington, he finished 29th due to an engine failure. Lorenzen would later gather two top 5s and 3 top 10s, plus another top 5 finish for Junie Donlavey. Later in the season, Ellington had Cale Yarborough ran three races in the Ellington car, earning two top 10s, and John Sears ran one race for the team, finishing 5th. Between the three drivers, the team competed in 11 races, scoring 3 top 5s and 6 top 10 finishes.
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