Tommy Ellis
Ellis' 1984 car atPocono Raceway
Born	(1947-08-08)August 8, 1947 (age 78) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Achievements	1981NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series Champion 1988NASCARBusch Series champion
NASCARCup Series career
78 races run over 12 years
Best finish	23rd (1986)
First race	1976Delaware 500 (Dover)
Last race	1991Budweiser 500 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 6 0
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
235 races run over 14 years
Best finish	1st (1988)
First race	1982Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Last race	1995Detroit Gasket 200 (Michigan)
First win	1982Gene Lovelace 200 (Langley Field)
Last win	1990Budweiser 300 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles 22 108 28
Statistics up to date as of March 4, 2012.

Tommy Ellis (born August 8, 1947) is an American formerstock car racing driver who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Often referred to as "Terrible" Tommy Ellis for his rough tactics, he won the last national late model sportsman championship in 1981, the final year before the format changed from "points chasing" late model sportsman racing at various short tracks across the country (now known as theWhelen All-American Series) to the current touring format, currently known as theXfinity Series, the next year. He won the successor series in 1988.

Ellis's success (twelve poles and eight wins) in the first two seasons of the Busch Series earned him a shot at a Winston Cup ride. Driving for most of three seasons in the Chevrolet camp, his best finish was an eighth at Dover in 1986. He was also considered an excellent sub-driver in the Cup Series, filling in forNeil Bonnett in 1989 and replacing a suspendedGeoff Bodine atJunior Johnson Motorsports two years later.

After his release from Freedlander Racing in 1986, Ellis returned to the Busch Series with J&J Racing. Between 1988 and 1990 Ellis won nine poles and seven races. He was the Busch Series champion in 1988 in an unsponsored Buick. In 1991, he competed inthe Winston atCharlotte Motor Speedway, replacing Bodine.

Ellis' Busch Series career totals are 28 poles (second all-time behindMark Martin) and 22 wins (tied for thirteenth all-time withSam Ard).

Ellis's last Busch Series start was in 1995.

Ellis was a stunt driver for the filmDays of Thunder along withBobby Hamilton and drove race cars numbered 51 and 18 in selected races.

In 2010, Ellis and his wife Brenda were sentenced to eighteen months in prison after pleading guilty to federal tax-evasion charges. They had underreported the income generated by their car-wash business by over $300,000 between 2003 and 2007.^[1]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Tommy Ellis driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• 1947 births
• Living people
• NASCAR drivers
• NASCAR Xfinity Series champions
• Racing drivers from Richmond, Virginia
• ARCA Menards Series drivers
• Hendrick Motorsports drivers
• Daytona 500 drivers
• Coca-Cola 600 drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Short description is different from Wikidata