Hoss Ellington
Encyclopedia
Hoss Ellington is a retired 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.
in his self-owned #61 Mercury, finishing 31st 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 to focus on being a team owner.
. 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.
In 1973, Ellington hired Ramo Stott
, Charlie Glotzbach
, and Gordon Johncock
to drive for him, and the team again ran 11 races between the three drivers, but only scored one Top 5 and Top 10, with Johncock finishing fourth at the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. 1974 was much better for the team, with A. J. Foyt
, Charlie Glotzbach
, Bobby Isaac
, and Sam McQuagg
spltting up 15 races. Foyt and Glotzbach both scored a single top 5, Isaac finished in the top 10 three times with the team, and McQuagg scored two top tens. The team scored 2 top 5s and 7 top 10s in 15 races.
made his first start with the team. He ran two races with Ellington, finishing third at Talladega in his first race with the team. A. J. Foyt ran seven races with Ellington, scoring an additional top five finish. Glotzbach, Isaac, and Johncock both returned for one race each, but the only top ten was with Glotzbach at Lowes Motor Speedway. The team competed in 12 races, and scored 2 top 5s and 3 top 10s. In 1976, Allison scored Ellington's first win as a team owner at Lowes Motor Speedway in the #1 car, a second team, as A. J. Foyt
drove the familiar 28 in that race. Foyt also scored the first pole for the team in that year.
For 1977, Allison was hired as the sole driver for the team, with the main car renumbered #1. Allison repaid Ellington with three pole positions, as well as two wins and 10 top 10s in 17 starts. He finished 24th in points despite running a partial schedule. 1978 was another successful year, with Allison winning at Atlanta and finishing 25th in points, again despite running a part-time schedule. The Atlanta win would be his last career win. Allison did not win at all in 1979, but he became a part of NASCAR history when he and Cale Yarborough
crashed while racing for the lead on the last lap of the Daytona 500
, when, after the wreck, Allison, Yarborough, and Allison's brother Bobby
got into a fistfight in the grass infield in front of what was then the largest televised audience for a NASCAR race.
drove 15 races, scoring 9 top 10 finishes and Pearson drove 1 race, finishing 8th. Four different drivers (Benny Parsons
, Kyle Petty
, Buddy Baker
, and Donnie Allison
) drove for Ellington including Donnie Allison for one race. Of the 14 races the team ran, they only scored 2 top 10 finishes and one pole, all by Buddy Baker. In 1983 and 1984, Lake Speed drove for the team. He ran 18 races in 1983 and 17 in 1984. Overall during Speed's time with Ellington, he scored 4 top 5s and 12 top 10s. Pearson returned for 8 races in 1985. Donnie Allison's nephew Davey
ran 3 races, while Rick Wilson and Pancho Carter
each ran 1 race. In 1986, Sterling Marlin
ran a partial schedule for Ellington scoring 2 top 5s and 4 top 10s, including the Firecracker 400 where he led 6 laps and almost won, coming in second. In 1987, Brett Bodine and Ron Bouchard shared the car, with Bouchard scoring the only top 10 for the team all year. The team's last season was in 1988, when Dale Jarrett
drove 8 races for Ellington, with a best finish of 11th and. In the team's last race the season finale at Atlanta, Jarrett qualified 34th but finished 41st after crashing on the fifth lap. The team shut down after attempting to qualify for the 1989 Daytona 500 in an unsponsored Buick with driver, Doug Heveron. Unfortunately, a blown engine on lap 1 of the Gatorade 125 Qualifying race forced the team to miss the race.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
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
Donnie Allison
Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey 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
Fred Lorenzen
Fred Lorenzen , nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Flyin Freddy, is a former NASCAR driver active between 1958 and 1972. He won the 1965 Daytona 500. Lorenzen was born in Elmurst, Illinois.-Early career:Lorenzen first caught the car bug young, and had built his first...
, Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...
, A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt , is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won...
, Donnie Allison
Donnie Allison
Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...
, David Pearson, Kyle Petty
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty is a former American NASCAR driver and is currently a co-host for NASCAR RaceDay and panel member for NASCAR Smarts which are both on SPEED. He also commentates for TNT in the summer. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of the late Adam...
, and Dale Jarrett
Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett is a former American race car driver and current sports commentator known for winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship...
, among others.
Driver Years
In 1968, Ellington made his NASCAR Grand National debut at Atlanta Motor SpeedwayAtlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...
in his self-owned #61 Mercury, finishing 31st after suffering suspension failure after only 80 laps. He competed at two other races that year, at Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition"...
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 to focus on being a team owner.
Early years as a team owner
In 1972, Ellington began fielding cars as an owner for Fred LorenzenFred Lorenzen
Fred Lorenzen , nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Flyin Freddy, is a former NASCAR driver active between 1958 and 1972. He won the 1965 Daytona 500. Lorenzen was born in Elmurst, Illinois.-Early career:Lorenzen first caught the car bug young, and had built his first...
. 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
Junie Donlavey
W.C. "Junie" Donlavey , is a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner with a team based in Richmond. Rarely fielding a car without his familiar #90, he began fielding his team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers...
. Later in the season, Ellington had Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...
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.
In 1973, Ellington hired Ramo Stott
Ramo Stott
Ramo Stott is a retired American stock car driver from Keokuk, Iowa. He competed in NASCAR Winston Cup, USAC stock car, and ARCA.-USAC:...
, Charlie Glotzbach
Charlie Glotzbach
Charles "Charlie: Glotzbach is a former ARCA and was a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. Charlie holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He was also known as "The Chargin' Comet" and "Chargin' Charlie"....
, and Gordon Johncock
Gordon Johncock
Gordon Johncock is a former racing driver, best known as a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion. Johncock was most often simply referred to as "Gordy."...
to drive for him, and the team again ran 11 races between the three drivers, but only scored one Top 5 and Top 10, with Johncock finishing fourth at the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. 1974 was much better for the team, with A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt , is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won...
, Charlie Glotzbach
Charlie Glotzbach
Charles "Charlie: Glotzbach is a former ARCA and was a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. Charlie holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He was also known as "The Chargin' Comet" and "Chargin' Charlie"....
, Bobby Isaac
Bobby Isaac
Bobby Isaac is a former NASCAR Grand National champion.-Early life:Isaac grew up on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina, the second youngest of nine children...
, and Sam McQuagg
Sam McQuagg
Samuel "Sam" McQuagg was an American former NASCAR Rookie of the Year driver. He died of cancer on January 3, 2009 at the age of 73...
spltting up 15 races. Foyt and Glotzbach both scored a single top 5, Isaac finished in the top 10 three times with the team, and McQuagg scored two top tens. The team scored 2 top 5s and 7 top 10s in 15 races.
Racing with Donnie Allison
1975 was when Donnie AllisonDonnie Allison
Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...
made his first start with the team. He ran two races with Ellington, finishing third at Talladega in his first race with the team. A. J. Foyt ran seven races with Ellington, scoring an additional top five finish. Glotzbach, Isaac, and Johncock both returned for one race each, but the only top ten was with Glotzbach at Lowes Motor Speedway. The team competed in 12 races, and scored 2 top 5s and 3 top 10s. In 1976, Allison scored Ellington's first win as a team owner at Lowes Motor Speedway in the #1 car, a second team, as A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt , is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won...
drove the familiar 28 in that race. Foyt also scored the first pole for the team in that year.
For 1977, Allison was hired as the sole driver for the team, with the main car renumbered #1. Allison repaid Ellington with three pole positions, as well as two wins and 10 top 10s in 17 starts. He finished 24th in points despite running a partial schedule. 1978 was another successful year, with Allison winning at Atlanta and finishing 25th in points, again despite running a part-time schedule. The Atlanta win would be his last career win. Allison did not win at all in 1979, but he became a part of NASCAR history when he and Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...
crashed while racing for the lead on the last lap of the Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
, when, after the wreck, Allison, Yarborough, and Allison's brother Bobby
Bobby Allison
Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....
got into a fistfight in the grass infield in front of what was then the largest televised audience for a NASCAR race.
Later Years and End of Team
Donnie Allison only drove 3 races for the team in 1980 before he left to join Kennie Childers's team. David Pearson ran 9 races that year, winning once. It was the last win for both Pearson and Ellington's team. in 1981, Buddy BakerBuddy Baker
Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...
drove 15 races, scoring 9 top 10 finishes and Pearson drove 1 race, finishing 8th. Four different drivers (Benny Parsons
Benny Parsons
Benjamin Stewart Parsons was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst on TBS, ESPN, NBC and TNT...
, Kyle Petty
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty is a former American NASCAR driver and is currently a co-host for NASCAR RaceDay and panel member for NASCAR Smarts which are both on SPEED. He also commentates for TNT in the summer. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of the late Adam...
, Buddy Baker
Buddy Baker
Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...
, and Donnie Allison
Donnie Allison
Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...
) drove for Ellington including Donnie Allison for one race. Of the 14 races the team ran, they only scored 2 top 10 finishes and one pole, all by Buddy Baker. In 1983 and 1984, Lake Speed drove for the team. He ran 18 races in 1983 and 17 in 1984. Overall during Speed's time with Ellington, he scored 4 top 5s and 12 top 10s. Pearson returned for 8 races in 1985. Donnie Allison's nephew Davey
Davey Allison
David Carl "Davey" Allison was a NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the #28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Winston Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was the eldest of four children born to Bobby Allison and wife Judy...
ran 3 races, while Rick Wilson and Pancho Carter
Pancho Carter
Duane "Pancho" Carter, Jr. is a retired American race car driver. He is most famous for his participation in CART races.-Background:...
each ran 1 race. In 1986, Sterling Marlin
Sterling Marlin
Sterling Marlin is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. He is the son of late NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin. He is married to Paula and has a daughter, Sutherlin, and a son, Steadman, who sometimes races in the Nationwide Series....
ran a partial schedule for Ellington scoring 2 top 5s and 4 top 10s, including the Firecracker 400 where he led 6 laps and almost won, coming in second. In 1987, Brett Bodine and Ron Bouchard shared the car, with Bouchard scoring the only top 10 for the team all year. The team's last season was in 1988, when Dale Jarrett
Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett is a former American race car driver and current sports commentator known for winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship...
drove 8 races for Ellington, with a best finish of 11th and. In the team's last race the season finale at Atlanta, Jarrett qualified 34th but finished 41st after crashing on the fifth lap. The team shut down after attempting to qualify for the 1989 Daytona 500 in an unsponsored Buick with driver, Doug Heveron. Unfortunately, a blown engine on lap 1 of the Gatorade 125 Qualifying race forced the team to miss the race.