Hoss Ellington Passes

Sadly, longtime Nascar driver and owner Hoss Ellington has passed away after a battle with cancer, according to the Star-News Online.

Hoss Ellington Passes

The North Carolina native died Saturday after a battle with cancer, according to an obituary from Andrews Mortuary.

Born on May 12, 1935, Charles Everett Hoss Ellington moved to Wilmington in 1961 to start an insulation business.

He attended a race at the Carolina Beach Speedway one weekend night in 1963, according to a 2009 StarNews profile.

By the next weekend, he had built a car and entered the race. Leading the race but afraid his engine was going to overheat, Ellington coasted to the finish line and finished second.

The next week he came back and won the race. Over the next several years he won 17 of 21 dirt track races.

He was a NASCAR driver from 1968 to 1970 and a NASCAR car owner from 1968 to 1988. During that time, he was known for his quick wit, one-liners and a stable of drivers that included Donnie Allison, Davey Allison, David Pearson, Buddy Baker, A.J. Foyt and more. In 262 races, the 21 men who took the wheel for Ellington won $1.3 million, eight poles and five races, including the 1977 Talladega 500.

Ellington was inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 2009, he told the StarNews he spent many mornings on his tractor tending to his garden.

It's been a good life for me, he said at the time. If I had it to do over again, I would do the same thing.

He is survived by his wife, three children, two step-children and four grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Andrews Market Street Chapel at 1617 Market St.

To this day, in my top five paint schemes ever. That 1 with the star in it is just plain awesome.

A well known and well respected man. May he rest in peace. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

My thoughts are with his family and friends. Thank you for posting this evening.

It is awesome. Cool photo. Looks like the car is on land sitting in front of a ship. Do you happen to know the ship in the background?

A great loss to our sport. Look at the drivers he built front running cars for.And over a period of 20 years.

He will be greatly missed but never forgotten. The great track in the sky has another great in Gods infield so remember the next time you hear thunder in a distance it just may be another great motor being fired. God Speed my friend

I'll bet it is the Battleship U.S.S. North Carolina, docked at Wilmington. However, that is strictly a guess.

A great loss of a link to Cup racing's real glory days. Prayers to family and friends.

That's a great guess, Dave. Makes sense being the ship was/is docked in Wilmington and that being his home area. I've never been there. Thank you.

I should also mention that another longtime fixture in the Cup garage- Norman Koshimizu- who was a part of Bobby Allison's Winston Cup Championship crew in 1983 as gasman, and again with Rusty Wallace in 1989- passed away earlier this month, again with a battle with cancer. He was 69.

Thoughts and prayers for family and friends.

Norman was also the truck driver and gas man at Robert Yates Racing when Davey Allison was driving for Robert and I had Plasti-Kote Spray Paint sponsorships and personal service contracts with them. Here is a link to funeral home obituary and guestbook:

http://jamesfuneralhomelkn.com/norman-toshio-koshimizu

A hilarious story about Hoss, as told by Coo Coo Marlin:

The ship in the background is the USS North Carolina. Hoss' shop was out on N Kerr Avenue in his hometown of Wilmington, NC.

Fifty years ago, in the summer of 1964 Hoss was a dirt-track demon at the old Carolina Beach Speedway

Hoss Ellington, 2nd on the outside, Richard Brickhouse inside ('55 chevy) chase Stan Grimsley at Carolina Beach Speedway in 1964