Ray Fox - crew chief- owner #3 Charger 500 with Buddy Baker driving...

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Ray Fox, a NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee as an engine builder, car owner and crew chief, died Sunday at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., according to a report in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

A spokeswoman for the family told the newspaper that Fox was hospitalized with pneumonia a few days ago, and two of his daughters were by his side when he passed away.

(b. 05/28/1916)

Hometown: Daytona Beach, Florida
Competed:  1962-1974
Starts: 200
Wins: 14
Poles: 16

Fox, 98, was a New England native who saw his first automobile race at a 2-mile board track at Rockingham Park near Salem, N.H. He relocated to Daytona Beach to work as an auto mechanic following service in the U.S. Army in World War II.

His engine won the 1955 Daytona Road & Beach Course race for NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts, but the win was disqualified for modified pushrods. A year later, Fox was named mechanic of the year after winning 22 of the first 26 races of the season for owner Carl Kiekhaefer.

In 1960, he worked with two future NASCAR Hall of Famers. His Chevrolet won the Daytona 500 with Junior Johnson behind the wheel, and he also won three times with that season's rookie of the year and David Pearson.

"I can't say enough about him," Pearson said. "He's the one that gave me my start."

In 1962, Fox became a car owner, winning 14 races and 16 poles in 200 starts. Johnson won nine times for him, and he also won twice with NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker, claiming the 1964 Southern 500. Other NASCAR Hall of Famers to compete for Fox included Fred Lorenzen and Cale Yarborough.

After retiring in the early 1970s, Fox returned to the garage as NASCAR's engine inspector from 1990 to 1996.