Featured Memorial | Cotton Owens

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - NASCAR Hall of Famer Cotton Owens died Thursday morning. He was 88.

Kimberly Meesters of the NASCAR Hall of Fame confirmed Owens passing through his family. Meesters only said Owens died peacefully. She says there would be additional details this afternoon.

Owens, who lived in Spartanburg, was a NASCAR pioneer who was part of the Hall's class of 2013, announced two weeks ago in Charlotte. He'll be inducted along with Rusty Wallace, Leonard Wood and the late Buck Baker and Herb Thomas.

Owens won nine times on NACAR's top circuit. He was perhaps better known as an owner, fielding cars for Hall of Fame drivers like Junior Johnson and David Pearson. In all, Owens had 41 wins and 38 poles in 487 races as an owner.


Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.