Everett "Cotton" Owens was an American NASCAR driver.
24 Facts About Cotton Owens
1.
2.
For five straight years, Owens captured at least one Grand National Series win.
3.
Cotton Owens was known as "the King of the Modifieds" for his successes in modified stock car racing in the 1950s.
4.
Cotton Owens's career began after his tour in the US Navy in 1946, in the Modified division that would eventually be organized by NASCAR and pre-dated their Stock Car division.
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Cotton Owens earned the nickname "King of the Modifieds" by claiming over 200 feature wins, including the prestigious Gulf Coast championship race.
6.
Cotton Owens was the 1950,1953, and 1954 Modified champion.
7.
Cotton Owens entered a few races over the next several seasons without a win.
8.
Cotton Owens had his next trip to victory lane in 1958 at the Monroe County Fairgrounds near Rochester, New York.
9.
In 1959, Cotton Owens finished second to Lee Petty in the race for the championship, although he did not enter many Grand National races, as he preferred the Modified circuit which at this time had bigger crowds, faster cars, and higher purses to be won.
10.
Cotton Owens attempted 37 races that season, with 22 Top 10s and 13 Top 5s.
11.
Cotton Owens had a win at his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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Cotton Owens Garage earned 6 victories during these years, as well as 31 Top Fives and 38 Top Ten finishes, and 5 Pole Positions.
13.
Cotton Owens started his relationship with fellow Spartanburg resident David Pearson.
14.
Cotton Owens came out of retirement in 1964 to prove that he could beat Pearson.
15.
Cotton Owens beat Pearson in his final career win.
16.
Cotton Owens mentioned to Gail Porter that Chrysler had a powerplant in the old Hemi engines of the 1950s and suggested that they convert them for modern racing.
17.
Cotton Owens built a new 20,000 square foot garage behind his home, which would be the epicenter of racing in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
18.
Cotton Owens was in the Top Five 26 times, including thirds in the Daytona 500 and Southern 500.
19.
The end of the 1960s saw the Cotton Owens Garage campaigning Dodges in a variety of form factors designed specifically for maximum performance at different tracks, including the Charger 500 and Charger Daytona that turned NASCAR racing on its head and forever changed the way aerodynamics would affect motorsports competition.
20.
Baker's lone win in a Cotton Owens Dodge was at the Darlington Southern 500 in 1970, a race which had eluded Cotton as a driver and owner for more than 20 years.
21.
Cotton Owens's cars were built and maintained by Cotton Owens up until he died in 1982, although he did drive Buicks for Junior Johnson shortly at the end of his career.
22.
Cotton Owens was fortunate to have some of the biggest names in the sport drive his cars over the years.
23.
Drivers for Cotton Owens included many legends: David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Pete Hamilton, Marty Robbins, Ralph Earnhardt, Bobby Isaac, Junior Johnson, Benny Parsons, Fireball Roberts, Mario Andretti, Charlie Glotzbach, and Al Unser.
24.
Seven years after being diagnosed with lung cancer, Cotton Owens died on June 7,2012, at the age of 88, just a few weeks after it was announced he would be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame's 2013 class.