Ryan Ellis (racing driver)
American stock car driver and host of Not Another Racing Podcast.
Ryan James Ellis, born November 29, 1989, is an American stock car racer. He currently drives the No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro SS full-time for Young's Motorsports in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. His past experience includes starts in both the NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Ryan James Ellis
- Born
- 29 November 1989
- Birthplace
- Torrance, California, U.S.
- Weight
- 160 lb / 72.6 kg
- Achievements
- 2005 Virginia State Legends Pro Champion
- 2009 Teen Mazda West Coast Champion
- 2011 NASA SU National Champion
- Total cup races
- 6
- Years in cup
- 3
- First cup race
- 2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (Phoenix)
Facts from the source article.
Racing career
Ellis began driving Quarter Midgets at age four and nearly won the first QMA Dirt National Championship race he entered. Over seven years in Quarter Midgets, he became Virginia's all-time QMA leader and one of the state's most successful open-wheel racers. At twelve, he moved to INEX Legends Cars, winning Young Lion and Semi-Pro titles in 2002, 2003, and 2004. In 2005, as a member of the Legends Pro division, he captured the Virginia State Pro Championship and finished fourth in the National Pro Series, winning dozens of features on bullrings in Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
He still races his Legends Car several times each year. In 2006, Ellis entered NASCAR as a Late Model Stock Car rookie at Old Dominion Speedway, competing sparingly in Virginia and North Carolina. That same year, he raced his Legends Car in NASA road racing events, winning the Hyperfest/Summit Point event and the NASA Mid-Atlantic Legends Road Racing Championship, and losing the inaugural NASA National Championships at Mid-Ohio by two feet. He was invited to the second annual Performance Racing Industry National Invitational at Orlando Speedworld, where he qualified in the top ten and ran fifth in the televised event.
Personal life
Ellis lives in Huntersville, North Carolina, with his wife Allison, who is recognized in the area for her charity work and fondness for dogs. His parents, Jane and Jim Ellis, reside in Ashburn, Virginia, and he has a younger sister named Kara. After graduating from Stone Bridge High School in 2008, he studied at George Mason University and later completed his degree at Appalachian State University. He is a Kappa Sigma fraternity member and previously worked as a resident Pro Racing Instructor at Allsports Grand Prix in Sterling, Virginia.
Ellis also hosts the podcast Not Another Racing Podcast. Away from racing, he is an avid hockey player, having skated professionally for the Potomac Mavericks in the PIHA and for GMU’s college team; he now plays for a Charlotte-based squad. A devoted Washington Capitals fan, he put an anti-Pittsburgh Penguins logo on some helmets and later designed a Capitals-themed helmet in 2018 to mark the team’s first Stanley Cup win.
More in American Motorsport Podcasters
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced