Tommy Ellis

Tommy Ellis / Morgan-McClure Motorsports, 1984

Tommy Ellis (born August 8, 1947 in Richmond , Virginia ) is a retired American NASCAR racing driver. In 1988 he was champion of the Busch Grand National Series , now the Nationwide Series.

Career

Ellis was an expert on short oval courses. On these he almost always had a chance of winning the race. In 1981 he won the championship in the Late Model Sportsman Division , the predecessor of today's Nationwide Series. In the successor series founded in 1982, which was initially called the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series and was renamed the Busch Grand National Series in 1984, Ellis was one of the drivers who regularly competed for victories. In the first two years he won eight races. In 1982 he was third and in 1983 fourth in the overall ranking.

The good performances in the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series brought Ellis the offer to drive for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in the Winston Cup , today's Sprint Cup, in the 1984 season . There he drove the number 4 Chevrolet. He finished the season in 31st place overall. From 1985 he started for Eric Freedlander's team. At the end of the 1986 season his contract was canceled due to a lack of success and his career as a full-time driver in the Winston Cup was ended after only three years. In 1989 and 1991 he returned to the Cup for a few races to represent other drivers who could not compete due to injuries or bans. During his entire career in the Cup, he contested 78 races, six of which he finished in the top 10.

After his contract termination as a full-time driver in the Winston Cup, Ellis drove again increasingly in the Busch Grand National Series from the 1987 season. In the 1988 season he won the championship in this Buick with starting number 99 from J&J Racing . In 1990 he drove his last race for this team. After that he was only active as a part-time driver in the Busch Grand National Series. On August 19, 1995, he contested his last race in the Busch Grand National Series at Michigan International Speedway . He finished it in 34th place. In his Busch Grand National Series career, Ellis contested a total of 235 races. He won 22 times, 70 times in the top 5 and 108 times in the top 10.

Web links

• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info