Everett “Cotton” Owens, a pioneering NASCAR driver, mechanic, and team owner, has passed away. He was 88.

Owens, a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, drove his first NASCAR race in 1950 in the Modified division, eventually collecting over 100 feature wins and two championships. In 1957 he won the Daytona beach race in a Pontiac. He eventually earned nine Grand National victories behind the wheel, and in 1998 he was selected as one of NASCAR’s 50 all-time greatest drivers. Still, he might be best known for the highly competitive Dodge race cars he prepared for David Pearson, Buddy Baker, and Pete Hamilton.

Last month, NASCAR announced that Owens was elected as one of five members of the 2013 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Owens and his fellow enrollees — Buck Baker, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace, and Leonard Wood — will be formally inducted on February 8, 2013.