Nascar Hall Of Fame confirms the passing of 2013 inductee Cotton Owens.
updated by @jay-coker: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Nascar Hall Of Fame confirms the passing of 2013 inductee Cotton Owens.
Our thoughts and prayers go to the kids and grandchildren. He was a great man.
Words cannot say what the racing family has lost but my thoughts and prayers are with his family-----Build them better up there Cotton!!!!!!----------------------------------------------------------------TRUE MEMORIES
Very sad, Cotton was a great friend to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.
Prayers for Cotton's family and friends.
Cotton Will be missed by everybody that met him. RIP Cotton.
Thanks
Harlow Reynolds---Lynchburg,Va.
He was a real legend and pioneer in theracing world.We will forever cherish everything he did for us.Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire family . May you rest in peace . LAVERNE ZACHARY
HISTORIC SPEEDWAY GROUP
His '64 Dodge driven by David Pearson won the first race I ever saw. Cotton, himself won the second race I saw in 1964, coming out of retirement to show David how to make pit stops and beat him.
Prayers to the family. A great racer has passed and a very nice gentleman as well.
From the Cotton Owens Garage web site, this is the photo of Cotton crossing the finish line for his final Grand National win, with flagman "Rusty" Russ waving the checkers. He beat his own driver David Pearson in a team car in September 1964 at Richmond's Virginia State Fairgrounds 1/2-mile dirt track in the Capital City 300. That race remains one of the most thrilling in my memory. The photo is misidentified as a USAC race, but it was a NASCAR Grand National.
We were so fortunate to have Cotton "assigned" to our Richmond track by NASCAR during the 1998 NASCAR 50th Anniversary celebration because of his great success at that venue. He was a delight to have as our guest and left all transfixed by his memories.
One of the last that used to race at Wilson Fairgrounds in the early 1950s.
That track used get so dusty you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you.
He seem to have a 1/6 sense on where to go.
I would try to follow him, because he was able to make it through the first couple of laps without wrecking.
Of course about 10 or 15 laps later he would be lapping me. LOL
The family of Cotton Owens released a statement Thursday morning:
"The family would like to express gratitude for the thoughts and prayers of precious friends and fans."
"While Cotton was a racing legend with an incredible racing "family" we mourn the irreplaceable great granddad, granddad, father uncle, brother-in-law and friend we have all lost. The family respectfully requests privacy at this difficult time."
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France released a statement Thursday afternoon saying, in part:
"This is a sad day for the NASCAR industry, but we are all consoled by the fact that Cotton was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame before his death. Today we have lost a portion of our past. But people like Cotton Owens are the reason our sport thrives today -- and can look forward to a promising future."
I was very saddened to hear of the passing of not only one of my heroes but a wonderful man. I met Cotton at the reunion a couple of years ago and Hillsborough and he sat and talked with me like someone I had known all my life. I can't help of think of my other hero today, David Pearson who was one of Cotton's closest friends. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and to David in what has to be a very hard day. Cotton, I for one and all the racing community will miss you terribly. You won't be forgotten.
Prayers to the family. RIP!
He will always be The King Of The Modifieds. Farewell to one of the greats.
So sorry to hear of the passing of a really great guy. He was a racing hero of mine, one of the best. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. He'll be missed by the racing community.
My thoughts and prayer are with the family, Cotton will be greatly missed, He was a racers racer!
NASCAR racing has lost one of the legends of the sport. I'm happy that he was selected and inducted into the Hall of Fame before his passing - and happy that he was able to watch the induction ceremony on TV with his family. I saw him race many times as a driver and saw many successful results from cars he put on the track. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fans. RIP, Cotton.
