Charles Hardy, who founded an automobile dealership in Dallas, Georgia, in 1978, and whose holdings now include Hardy Chevrolet in Gainesville, has died. Hardy was also involved with NASCAR as a team owner, at one time with former NASCAR champion Bill Elliott.
Hardy, who was 82, died Tuesday at his Hiram, Georgia, home.
Hardy founded Hardy Chevrolet Buick GMC in Dallas in 1978 and Hardy Family Ford in 1985. His wife, Jeanette, is the Dealer Principal of Hardy Chevrolet in Gainesville. Prior to getting into the automobile dealership business, Hardy was a home builder, mobile home dealer and operator of Southeastern International Dragway.
During the mid-1990s, he owned a NASCAR team and later partnered with Elliottt, a Dawsonville native, to form the Elliott-Hardy Racing Team, in which Elliott drove the #94 McDonald’s Ford. Later, Hardy owned a team in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series under sponsorship by Ortho.
According to his obituary, he was widely recognized for his philanthropic contributions, especially to the Shriners’ Hospitals for Children and WellStar Paulding Hospital. He was a charter member of Paulding County Shrine Club.
The funeral will be Friday at 2:00 at West Ridge Church in Dallas. Interment will follow in Paulding Memorial Gardens.
(A full obituary can be found here.)
