In this article we generalize the $q$-difference operator due to Carlitz in order to derive explicit sum formulae for several extensions of Stirling numbers of the second kind, including complete homogeneous symmetric functions, complementary symmetric functions, $r$-Whitney numbers and elliptic analogues of rook, Stirling and Lah numbers. Furthermore, we generalize Carlitz' $q$-Eulerian numbers to a Lagrange polynomial extension. We define them by generalizing Worpitzky's identity appropriately, and derive a recursion and an explicit sum formulae. Special cases include $r$-Whitney Eulerian numbers and elliptic Eulerian numbers.