Inducted 2000 – Competitor – Stock Car Racing
Originally from Prince Edward Island, there are many who say that stock car racer Earl Ross put Ailsa Craig, Ontario, on the map. Ross’s racing career stretched back to the 1960s. Along the way, he became the first (and so far, only) Canadian to win a NASCAR Winston Cup race (then Grand National) when he went to victory lane following the Fall race at Martinsville Speedway, in 1974. He’s also the only Canadian to be named Rookie of the Year in NASCAR’s Cup series. Ross was also one of the first Canadians to race in the Daytona 500, the sport’s biggest event.
After honing his craft racing on Canadian short tracks, Ross made his mark in 1970 when he won nine of 10 international stock car races held in Ontario that featured drivers from across Canada and the United States. In 1973, Ross won the Export A Series, a stock car series that was run in Eastern Canada.
He qualified for his first Daytona 500, in 1973, and finished third in his first superspeedway start, the ARCA Daytona 200, a race he thought he could have won. In 1974, a banner year, he competed in 21 Winston Cup races, won the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway and was named Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.
In ’75 and ’76 he qualified for his second and third Daytona 500s. In 1982, he won the inaugural McKerlie-Millen 200 at Delaware Speedway Park. In 1994, he finished second in the CASCAR Performance Fibreglass Series. And in 1995, qualified in the top 12 at most CASCAR events and finished 13th in the points. In 1996 he finished 13th in the CASCAR Eastern Series points and in 1997 he finished 15th in CASCAR Super Series Points. Earl Ross passed away in 2014.