HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional
stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
driver. He competes full time in the
Camping World Superstar Racing Experience Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), officially known as the Camping World SRX Series, is an American stock car racing series founded by Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and George Pyne (business executive), George Pyne. The formation of the ...
. He won the 1988 Winston Cup Championship and garnered 44 wins in that series, including two Daytona 500 victories in 1985 and 1987, three
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
victories in 1985, 1988, and 1994, one Winston 500 victory in 1985, one
Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...
victory in 2002, one "The Winston All-Star Race" (non-points race) win in 1986, and a record four consecutive wins at
Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track ...
between 1985 and
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
(7 wins overall at Michigan, the most at any one racetrack in his career). He holds the track record for fastest qualifying speed at Talladega at and
Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...
at , both of which were set in 1987; the mark at Talladega is the fastest qualifying speed for any
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
race ever. With the current usage of restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega beginning since 1988, it is highly unlikely that these two qualifying speed records will ever be topped. Elliott also holds the distinction of recording a track record at Talladega Superspeedway of 6 consecutive pole positions from 1985 to 1987. In 1985, Elliott made history by winning the first-ever
Winston Million Winston may refer to: Places Antarctica * Winston Glacier Australia * Winston, Queensland, a suburb of the City of Mount Isa United Kingdom * Winston, County Durham, England, a village * Winston, Suffolk, England, a village and civil pari ...
, a million-dollar bonus to any driver that could win three out of the four crown jewel races of NASCAR: The Daytona 500 at Daytona, the Winston 500 at Talladega, the World 600 at Charlotte, and the Southern 500 at Darlington. In a year dominated by Elliott, Bill went on to win 11 races (with 4 "season sweeps": Atlanta, Pocono, Michigan, and Darlington) and 11 poles, with three of those 11 wins being in the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, and the Southern 500, earning Bill the "Winston Million Dollar Bonus" and earning him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill". Elliott won
NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award is awarded to the most popular NASCAR driver in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series every year since 1956. It started as a poll of the drivers and then all NASCAR Cup Series comp ...
a record 16 times (1984-1988, 1991–2000, 2002). He withdrew his name from the ballot for that award after winning it in 2002. In 2005, the Georgia State Legislature declared October 8 as Bill Elliott Day in the state of Georgia. Elliott was named one of
NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers is an alphabetical list of NASCAR drivers. In 1998, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration, NASCAR gathered a panel to select the "50 Greatest NASCAR Drivers of All Time." It was inspired in part by the NBA's dec ...
in 1998, and has been inducted into numerous racing and motorsports Halls of Fame, including being inducted into the
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...
in 1998, and being an inaugural inductee into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, ...
on August 15, 2007, inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame at Darlington in 2015, and into the 2015 class of the
NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...
. Elliott has also been honored by the state legislature with a stretch of roadway (the entirety of
Georgia State Route 183 State Route 183 (SR 183) is a state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Dawson County in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway extends from its southern terminus at SR 53 west of ...
) in his native Dawson County renamed Elliott Family Parkway. Elliott's son
Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...
was the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion. The Elliotts became the third father-son NASCAR champions in history, along with Lee and Richard Petty, and Ned and
Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champi ...
.


Personal life

William Clyde Elliott was born in
Dawsonville, Georgia Dawsonville is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,536 at the 2010 census, up from 619 in 2000. Dawsonville is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
on October 8, 1955. According to his autobiography, many generations of Elliotts resided there. He was named after two relatives and is the youngest of three boys. His parents were Erving "George" Elliott Jr. (1924-1998) and Mildred Reece (1921-1991) His father George created a lumber company and loved racing, and later created a speed shop where Bill's brothers, Ernie (born 1947) and Dan (born 1951), worked. His father was also a Ford person and later created a Ford dealership as there were none in the area. Elliott has two daughters, Starr and Brittany, and one son, William Clyde II (nicknamed "Chase"). The 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports in the No. 9 Chevrolet. Brittany Elliott joined the Air Force Security Forces.


NASCAR career


Elliott/Melling years


Elliott Racing

Driving a car owned by his father, George Elliott, Elliott made his first
Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...
start at Rockingham in
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. He qualified 34th in a field of 36 cars, and finished 33rd; Elliott only lasted 32 laps that day before the oil pump failed in his
Ford Torino The Ford Torino is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company, Ford for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. It was a competitor in the mid-size car, intermediate market segment. The car was named after the city of Turin ( ...
. Elliott toiled for five years in the Winston Cup Series without corporate sponsorship, and along the way showed flashes that he could compete with the established veterans of the sport. In mid- 1977, Elliott bought a
Mercury Montego The Mercury Montego is a nameplate that was applied to three separate generations of vehicles marketed by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company. Taking its name from Montego Bay, Jamaica, the nameplate made its first appearance for 1967 ...
from
Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...
after his split from
Penske Racing Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organizati ...
to replace the inferior Torino, and the move paid off. He soon earned his first Top 10 finish in the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
(10th), and his first top-5 finish 2 years later in the same race, finishing 2nd to race winner (and Elliott's boyhood hero) David Pearson. In the fall of 1980, Elliott gained his first major sponsor in the form of $500 from Harry Melling of
Melling Racing Melling Racing was a Championship-winning NASCAR Winston Cup Series race team owned by Harry Melling and his son Mark Melling. Harry Melling ran the team from its inception in 1982, to mid-1999. When Harry died after a heart attack in mid-1999, ...
in the 1980
National 500 The Bank of America Roval 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race that is held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the race. As of the 20 ...
at
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
. Melling would extend his contract and give the team enough sponsorship to run a 12 race schedule in 1981. In the 1981 season, he had one Top 5 and seven Top 10 finishes in 13 races, including the team's first pole in the spring race at Darlington.


Melling Racing and the Beginning Years

Melling bought the team from Elliott's father George on December 1, 1981. In 1982, Elliott continued to show more and more flashes, and continued to flirt with victory lane more and more, as he finished the season with eight Top 5 finishes, and nine Top 10 finishes which included three runner-up finishes in the
World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...
at
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
to Neil Bonnett, the
Firecracker 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series cir ...
at Daytona to
Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...
, and the fall race at Charlotte to Harry Gant. In 1983, Elliott picked up four more 2nd place finishes in the season, which included finishing runner-up in the Daytona 500 to Cale Yarborough, runner-up at Rockingham to Richard Petty, runner-up to
Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was name ...
in the summer race at the road course
Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
, and runner-up to
Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...
in the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
at Darlington. After 115 starts beginning in 1976, and eight 2nd-place finishes between 1979 and 1983, Elliott finally broke through and won his first Winston Cup race in the final race of the 1983 season — the
Winston Western 500 The Winston Western 500 was an annual NASCAR Winston Cup race held at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, United States, in January, and then in later years, November. From 1963 to 1981, the race was held in January and was ...
at
Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
. With his first win to go along with 12 Top 5s and 22 Top 10 finishes, Elliott finished the season in 3rd place in the final championship point standings of 1983. Elliott gained full sponsorship from Coors in 1984 to the tune of $400,000 and won three races – the
Michigan 400 The NASCAR Cup Series has held stock car races annually at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan since 1969. Traditionally, the track held two Cup Series races, one in June, around Father's Day weekend and another in August. The ...
at Michigan, the Miller High Life 500 at Charlotte, and the American 500 at Rockingham. He also collected four poles and finished 3rd in the final points standings for the second year in a row. The 1984 season also brought Elliott his first season of winning
NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award is awarded to the most popular NASCAR driver in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series every year since 1956. It started as a poll of the drivers and then all NASCAR Cup Series comp ...
, and would begin a stretch of five consecutive years, from 1984 to 1988, where he would win that award.


The 1985 Season: Winning the Winston Million

The 1985 season was undoubtedly the best season of Bill Elliott's career. He scored 11 wins and 11 poles out of 28 races and also won the first ever
Winston Million Winston may refer to: Places Antarctica * Winston Glacier Australia * Winston, Queensland, a suburb of the City of Mount Isa United Kingdom * Winston, County Durham, England, a village * Winston, Suffolk, England, a village and civil pari ...
in the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
at Darlington. This would give him the nicknames "Million Dollar Bill" and "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville". Elliott started the 1985 season first with a dominating victory in the Daytona 500, leading 136 of the 200 laps, starting from the pole position. This was the "first leg" of the Winston Million promotion that Elliott captured. His 2nd win of the season came three weeks later at his hometrack of Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading 129 of 328 laps. He would win again two weeks later, his 3rd of the season, with a win in the spring race at Darlington. Going into the "second leg" of the Winston Million promotion, which was the Winston 500 at Talladega, Elliott completed one of the greatest and most memorable comebacks in NASCAR history. Elliott was leading the race when he had to pit due to a broken oil fitting, which would then put him back about 2 laps. He completed one of NASCAR's greatest comebacks by making his way through the field, making up both laps under green flag conditions, and winning the race, his 4th of the season, and capturing the "second leg" of the Winston Million promotion. The following week, Elliott captured his 5th win of the season at
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
. Despite losing power-steering in the car, he led 336 of the 500 laps, and won the race being the only car finishing on the lead lap. Going into the "third leg" of the Winston Million promotion, which was the
World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...
at Charlotte, Elliott had a chance to capture the million dollar prize. Elliott had a strong car, leading 84 of the first 155 laps, but mechanical failures relegated him to an 18th place finish. This was the only major of the four, that Elliott would not win in 1985 (a driver needed only to win a "small slam" of the four majors to win the bonus; Elliott, since he retired in 2013, would not finish a Career Grand Slam. However, Elliott had won twice at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1984 and 1987, and had finished runner up in the World 600 twice, in 1982 and 1990). After the disappointing finish in the World 600, Elliott rebounded with a 6th place finish at Riverside. He would then go on a tear during the summer months of 1985, first winning back-to-back races, his 6th and 7th of the season, at Pocono and Michigan. Elliott would then lead the most laps, 103 of 160 laps, and finish 2nd in the
Pepsi Firecracker 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...
at Daytona to
Greg Sacks Greg Sacks (born November 3, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka. Sacks has spent most of his career as ...
. He followed that up with his 8th win of the season at Pocono, then leading 100 of 188 laps at Talladega and finishing 4th, and then leading 90 of 200 laps and winning at Michigan, his 9th of the season. It was also during this stretch, Elliott would set an unprecedented NASCAR record of winning five consecutive pole qualifying sessions in 1985; the June Pocono race, the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, the July races in Pocono and Talladega, and the August Michigan race. That did not include the June Michigan race where qualifying was rained out, and the July Pocono race pole was where he started second, but further investigation led NASCAR to throw out the winning pole time for illegal fuel additives, retroactively awarding Elliott the pole award, money, and credit towards the season-long award for most poles won. After a 5th place finish at
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, Elliott had a chance to clinch the Winston Million Dollar Bonus in the next race, which was the 4th and "final leg" of the Winston Million Dollar promotion: the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
at Darlington. Multiple media outlets went to cover the race, as Elliott had the chance to collect the million dollar purse which at that time had never been done in stock car racing. Elliott started the race strong, but had to fend off tough competition throughout the race which included serious threats by Harry Gant and Dale Earnhardt, who dominated the early and middle portions of the race. Harry Gant led 84 laps before the engine gave way on his car, and Dale Earnhardt who dominated most of the race leading 147 of the 367 laps, crashed out at around lap 318. In the final stages of the race, Elliott was leading and had to fend off a hard charging Cale Yarborough who was battling an ill-handling racecar after he broke a power-steering line. None the less, Elliott led 100 of the 367 laps and crossed the finish line first, winning the Southern 500 at Darlington, capturing his 10th win of the season, and winning the first ever Winston Million Dollar Bonus, which at the time was the largest single race payday in motorsports history. After the race, Elliott took a victory lap in a Pontiac Grand Am convertible with the President and CEO of Winston Tobacco Products at the time Gerald H. Long and NASCAR Hall of Famer
Ned Jarrett Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932) is an American retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR Grand National Series champion. Because of his calm demeanor, he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett". He is the father of former drivers Glenn J ...
conducting the victory interview. In victory lane, Long presented Elliott with the Winston Million Dollar Bonus while being showered with "Million Dollar Bills", which would then end up being one of Bill Elliott's infamous nicknames he would carry throughout his illustrious career. After the race, Elliott became the second NASCAR driver to be featured on the cover of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'', following Cale Yarborough after his win in the
1977 Daytona 500 The 1977 Daytona 500, the 19th running of the event, was held on February 20, 1977, as the second race of the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season.
. After winning the Southern 500 at Darlington along with the Winston Million, Elliott had built a 206 point lead in the championship standings with eight races to go. However Elliott would lose the point lead after a string of poor finishes, which included a 12th a Richmond, 20th at Dover, 17th at Martinsville, and the transmission failing at North Wilkesboro, finishing 30th. In contrast, Darrell Waltrip won at Richmond, finished 2nd at both Dover and Martinsville, and finished 14th at North Wilkesboro, thus overtaking the points lead over Elliott. Elliott did come within 20 points of the championship lead after his 11th win of the season at Atlanta with one race to go. However in the season finale at Riverside, a 31st place finish due to a broken oil pump and a 7th place finish by Darrell Waltrip ended Elliott's championship hopes, as he finished in 2nd place in the final championship standings, 101 points behind Waltrip. The 1985 season was still historic for Elliott. Along with winning the Winston Million, he set a NASCAR modern-era record of 11 superspeedway victories in one season, and another modern-era record for completing the season sweep at 4 different tracks in one season: Pocono, Michigan, Darlington, and Atlanta. At the end of the season, Elliott was voted the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year for 1985.


The Following 1986 Season

In
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
, Elliott won only two races, both being the
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
races. With the season sweep at Michigan, Elliott became the first driver in NASCAR history to win 4 straight superspeedway races at one track (the record would later be tied by
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...
at Talladega in 2003). He also won four poles during the season, and he finished 4th in the championship standings. He also won The 1986 Winston All-Star race, held at
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. Ironically, Atlanta is his hometown track, being the closest to Dawsonville in the circuit. Also ironic, is that Elliott would remain the only winner of the All-Star race held somewhere other than Charlotte, until 2020 when his son
Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...
won his All-Star race at
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
.


The 1987 Season: Battling Dale Earnhardt, and setting the All-Time Fastest Qualifying Records

In the 1987 season, Elliott won six races, including his second Daytona 500 in dominating fashion, starting from the pole position (his 3rd consecutive Daytona 500 pole position), and leading 104 of the 200 laps. His other victories included the
Talladega 500 The GEICO 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of ...
, another win at Michigan, and winning three of the final four races at Charlotte, Rockingham, and Atlanta. Elliott also won eight poles, and finished 2nd in the final point standings again, this time to Dale Earnhardt by 489 points. Elliott and Earnhardt were essentially the only two championship contenders all year in 1987, as both battled and tangled with each other all year. They both combined for winning 17 of the 29 races in 1987 (Earnhardt with 11 wins, Elliott with 6 wins), and finishing 1-2 four times that season, which included Earnhardt beating Elliott on a last lap pass in the spring race at Darlington, the
TranSouth 500 The Goodyear 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. A race was held in May at the track in 1952, however the event did not become a regular one on the NASCAR schedule until 1957, as a race in th ...
, when Elliott ran out of gas on the last lap. Elliott beat Earnhardt to the checkered flag three times in 1987 at Michigan, Rockingham, and the season finale at Atlanta. The most infamous moment between Elliott and Earnhardt occurred in The 1987 Winston All-Star race, when Elliott and Earnhardt tangled on the front-stretch at Charlotte, in what has become known in NASCAR lore as "The Pass In The Grass". However, Elliott's most lasting accomplishment that year was setting two NASCAR qualifying records, which stand to this day. At
Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Da ...
for that year's Daytona 500, he set the NASCAR speed record with an average speed of . He broke his own record later that year at Talladega for that year's Winston 500, with an average speed of ; the previous record he set in 1986 was . In both races, he used a
Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pr ...
which contained an engine built by his brother Ernie Elliott. However, at Talladega,
Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...
was spun and went airborne into the catch fence, tearing a large section away and injuring several fans. After this incident, NASCAR mandated the use of
restrictor plate A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to li ...
s at Daytona and Talladega. As a result, Elliott's speed records will likely never be broken.


The 1988 Winston Cup Championship Season

In 1988, Elliott had one of the greatest seasons of his career when his captured his first and only
Winston Cup Championship The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
in NASCAR. In 29 races, Elliott won another six races, won another six poles, had a string of 16 consecutive Top 10 finishes, and did not have a race where he finished outside the Top 20. His first win of the season was at Bristol, where he was spun out by
Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florid ...
late in the race, but after pitting made his way back in the final 4 laps and won the race. Elliott won his second race of the season at Dover, leading 203 of 500 laps. In the June race at Pocono, Elliott finished 10th and would begin a string of 16 consecutive finishes inside the Top 10. During that run, Elliott finished runner-up in the first Michigan race, then won back-to-back races in the summer, the first one being his first
Pepsi Firecracker 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...
win at Daytona, followed by the July race at Pocono. After back-to-back 3rd place finishes at Watkins Glen and Michigan, Elliott overtook the points lead for the first time in the season with a 2nd place finish in the second race at Bristol. Elliott followed up taking the points lead after Bristol, by winning two of the next three races, both in dominating fashion; the first being his second
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
victory at Darlington leading 154 of 367 laps, and then leading 392 of 500 laps completing the season sweep at Dover. Going into the season finale, Elliott looked to win his first NASCAR Winston Cup championship at his home track of Atlanta. His only threat to the championship was
Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...
, who entered the race winning three of the last four races and was 79 points behind Elliott. Elliott started 29th, but needed to finish 18th or better to clinch the championship regardless of what Rusty Wallace did in the race. Rusty dominated the race, starting on the pole, leading 166 of the 325 laps, and winning the race. Elliott drove careful and conservatively through the field and finished 11th to claim the 1988 Winston Cup Championship by 24 points over Rusty Wallace. Elliott finished the season with six wins, six poles, 15 Top 5s, 22 Top 10s (including at one point 16 in a row), and an average finish of 6.6.


The Final Years at Melling Racing

Following his championship season, Elliott broke his
wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the Carpal bones, carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known ...
in a crash during testing at Daytona and required relief by
Jody Ridley Jody Ridley (born May 19, 1942) is a former NASCAR driver. He won the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award and one race at Dover International Speedway the next year, the only Cup victory for Donlavey Racing. His career statistics ...
during several races in the first part of the 1989 season. Elliott won two poles and three races, at Michigan, Pocono, and Phoenix, and finished 6th in the championship standings. In
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, Elliott won one race, at Dover, and two poles and finished 4th in the championship standings. In the 1990
race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
at
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Elliott's rear tire changer Mike Rich was killed when
Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was name ...
lost control of his car, spun, and slammed the crew member between his car and Elliott's. As a result, NASCAR restricted the cars' speed on pit road. The
1991 season File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...
saw Elliott's sponsorship change to
Coors Light Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Ca ...
and the familiar red on the car was replaced with blue. Elliott would only win once that year in the
Pepsi 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...
at Daytona and won two poles. After a year of struggle, Elliott finished a disappointing 11th in the championship standings, causing him and Coors to part ways with the Mellings. That lone win in 1991 would be the only time in his career that Elliott won in a car that was not painted red. Overall, in 10 seasons from 1982-1991, Melling Racing set several NASCAR records, winning the Winston Million in 1985, winning the 1988 Winston Cup Championship, and winning a total of 34 career races, all of these accomplishments with only Elliott. The success of Melling Racing may have come to an end after Elliott left at the end of 1991, but Elliott would be more successful in the years to come.


Junior Johnson and Associates


The 1992 Season and the Hooters 500 Season Finale

Elliott left Melling to join
Junior Johnson & Associates Junior Johnson & Associates (formerly Johnson Hodgdon Racing) was a NASCAR team that ran in the Winston Cup Series from 1953 to 1995. The team was run by former driver Junior Johnson and was best known for fielding cars for legendary talents such ...
in
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, replacing
Geoffrey Bodine Geoffrey Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florida ...
in the No. 11
Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...
-sponsored Ford. Elliott would find success almost immediately in 1992. After a disappointing 27th place finish in the Daytona 500, Elliott would then win the next four consecutive races at Rockingham,
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
, Atlanta, and Darlington. Elliott's strong season would continue, which included a 2nd place finish at Talladega, leading the most laps at Sonoma finishing 5th, leading the most laps at the second Michigan race finishing 3rd, and leading the most laps, 261 of 500 laps, in the fall race at Dover and finishing 2nd. After the fall Dover race, Elliott found himself with a 154 point lead in the championship standings with six races remaining. However, much like the ending of the 1985 season, Elliott would lose the point lead after a string of poor finishes. Elliott's lead disappeared thanks to a batch of poor finishes, which included mechanical problems beginning with an engine failure at Martinsville leading to a 30th place finish, a 26th place finish at North Wilkesboro, a broken sway bar while running in the Top 5 with less than 40 laps to go at Charlotte leading to a 30th place finish, and a cracked cylinder head leading to another engine failure at Phoenix, finishing 31st. The string of poor finishes dropped Elliott out of the points lead to 3rd place, 40 points behind 1st place
Davey Allison David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
and 10 points behind 2nd place
Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...
, with one race to go. The season finale in 1992 was the
Hooters 500 The Ambetter Health 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. William Byron is the defending race winner. This race was originally Atlanta's second race of the season and was run as a late-se ...
at
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, and is regarded by many as one of the greatest races in NASCAR history. It was the final career race for NASCAR legend Richard Petty, while future NASCAR legend
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
was making his first career start. Six drivers had a mathematical shot to win the championship, with the points leader Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, and Bill Elliott being the primary contenders. Harry Gant,
Kyle Petty Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash d ...
, and
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...
also had long shots to win the championship. After Davey Allison crashed out late in the race, the championship came down to Elliott and Kulwicki who ran 1-2 together throughout the later stages of the race. The championship would be determined between the two, by whoever picked up the five extra bonus points for leading the most laps in the race. Elliott would go on to win the race leading 102 of the 325 laps, while Alan Kulwicki finished 2nd to Elliott, leading 103 of the 325 laps. Kulwicki picked up the five point bonus for leading one single lap more than Elliott, and by finishing 2nd was able to maintain and keep his 10 point cushion on Elliott to win the 1992 Winston Cup Championship. Had Kulwicki not led the most laps, Elliott would have finished tied with him for the points lead and would have been awarded the championship on a tiebreaker due to him having more wins in 1992 (Elliott had won five races that year, to Kulwicki's two). Elliott finished the 1992 season with five wins, three poles, 14 Top 5s, 17 Top 10s, and finishing 2nd in the final championship standings for a 3rd time, this time by only a mere 10 points which remained the closet margin in NASCAR history until 2004, and eventually the
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
season.


The Final Years at Junior Johnson & Associates

Elliott went winless for the first time in 10 years during the 1993 season and finished 8th in the standings. Elliott did however pick up his first, and one lone career win in the
Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
(formerly known at the time, as the Busch Grand National Series) in 1993, at the road course of Watkins Glen. Elliott scored just one win the following season in
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
; his 3rd win in the
Mountain Dew Southern 500 A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
at Darlington. It was the 40th win of Elliott's career, and would be the last win Elliott would capture in NASCAR until 2001, more than six years later. It also eventually became the final win for the team of
Junior Johnson & Associates Junior Johnson & Associates (formerly Johnson Hodgdon Racing) was a NASCAR team that ran in the Winston Cup Series from 1953 to 1995. The team was run by former driver Junior Johnson and was best known for fielding cars for legendary talents such ...
. Elliott finished the 1994 season finishing 10th in the championship standings. After his Darlington victory, Elliott announced he would be leaving Junior Johnson & Associates, and start his own team with sponsorship from
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
(leaving Johnson's other car, the No. 27 of Jimmy Spencer) beginning in
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
.


Driver/Owner


Elliott-Hardy Racing

After leaving Johnson's team, Elliott fielded his own Winston Cup race team from
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
to
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. He used the No. 94 in honor of his nephew,
Casey Elliott Casey Elliott (February 13, 1974 – January 14, 1996) was an American stock car racing driver. The nephew of 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott and the cousin of 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott. He raced in the NASCAR Slim Ji ...
, who was battling cancer at the time he formed the team and would die in 1996. The team also fielded entries in the Busch Series and Truck Series. Elliott failed to win a race during this time, though he did manage two top-ten finishes in the championship standings, with 8th-place finishes in
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
and 1997. In 1996, Elliott missed five races to recover from injuring a broken hip at Talladega and was replaced by
Dorsey Schroeder Dorsey Schroeder (born February 5, 1953) is an American race car driver. Since August 2015, he has served as Race Director for the Pirelli World Challenge series and since 2018 Race Director for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli SCCA Pro R ...
and
Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and current racing ...
.


Bill Elliott Racing

In July 1996, the partnership between Elliott and Hardy was dissolved, the team being renamed Bill Elliott Racing. Later in 1996, Elliott suffered effects after an accident at Talladega earlier in the year and, Elliott missed two races and was replaced by Tommy Kendall and Bobby Hillin Jr. Elliott also made his first career start in the Camping World Truck Series driving for Jim Smith's team
Ultra Motorsports Ultra Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series racing team. Jim Smith helped start the team and the Craftsman Truck Series. It ran full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 1995 to 2005, earning 31 series wins and a ch ...
at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...
, finishing 2nd. The 1997 season, was undoubtedly Elliott's best season as a driver/owner statistically. He finished the season with one pole, five Top 5 finishes, 14 Top 10 finishes, and finishing 8th in the final point standings. Elliott did not win any races, but came extremely close on several occasions. He was leading late in the 1997 Daytona 500, leading with less than 10 laps to go, until a late caution came out. On the ensuing restart, he would then get ganged up by the Hendrick Motorsports teammates of eventual winner
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
,
Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A tw ...
, and Ricky Craven, ultimately finishing 4th. Elliott's best finish during his six year run as a driver/owner was at Michigan in 1997, finishing 2nd to
Ernie Irvan Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A retired NASCAR competitor, he is best remembered for his comeback after a serious head ...
. Elliott also dominated that year's
Mountain Dew Southern 500 A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
leading 181 of the 367 laps, but finished 4th to eventual winner Jeff Gordon, who ironically, along with winning the race also joined Elliott as the only winners of the
Winston Million Winston may refer to: Places Antarctica * Winston Glacier Australia * Winston, Queensland, a suburb of the City of Mount Isa United Kingdom * Winston, County Durham, England, a village * Winston, Suffolk, England, a village and civil pari ...
, as Jeff won the "final running" of the Winston Million promotion in 1997, while Bill won the "initial running" of the promotion in 1985. In 1998, Elliott teamed up with Dan Marino to form a multi-car team, the team was renamed Elliott-Marino Motorsports, adding the No. 13 and keeping the No. 94, Marino owned the No. 13 while Elliott owned the No. 94. The year was marked with sadness for Elliott when he had to miss the fall Dover race to attend the funeral of his father.
Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He drives the No. 8 car in the Superstar Racing Experience. (SRX) Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and won track cha ...
drove Elliott's No. 94 and finished sixth in his Cup debut. After a disappointing 1999 season which saw Elliott's multi-car operation dissolve back into No. 94, Elliott announced in early 2000 he was selling his equipment to championship-winning crew chief Ray Evernham to become part of Dodge's return to NASCAR. The team would also switch to No. 9, which was owned by Melling, his championship-winning team. Even though he struggled the entire six years as a driver/owner and did not win a single race, Elliott's fans still voted him as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver. He would hold the record for 10 straight years as a most popular driver from 1991 to 2000, a record that would stand until 2013, when
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...
would win his 11th straight award. Earnhardt would win the award for 15 straight years from 2003 to 2017, a NASCAR record.


Evernham Motorsports


The 2001 Season: Dodge's return to NASCAR and Elliott's first win in 7 years

In
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, Elliott sold his team to Ray Evernham and began driving the No. 9
Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
Dealers/
UAW The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American Labor unions in the United States, labor union that represents workers in the Un ...
-sponsored
Dodge Intrepid The Dodge Intrepid is a full sized front-wheel drive four-door sedan that was produced by Dodge for model years 1993 to 2004. It is related to the Chrysler 300M, Chrysler Concorde, Chrysler LHS, Chrysler New Yorker, and Eagle Vision which were a ...
the following year.
Melling Racing Melling Racing was a Championship-winning NASCAR Winston Cup Series race team owned by Harry Melling and his son Mark Melling. Harry Melling ran the team from its inception in 1982, to mid-1999. When Harry died after a heart attack in mid-1999, ...
, who ran the No. 9 for Bill Elliott from 1981 to 1991, yielded that number to Ray Evernham for 2001. Elliott asked Evernham to drive that number out of respect for his old team. Elliott and Evernham however found success in its very first race in the No. 9 Dodge, as Elliott won the pole for the 2001 Daytona 500. It would also be the 50th pole of his career. By winning the pole, Bill Elliott would become the first, and as of 2018, the only driver in NASCAR history to score his 50th career pole in the Daytona 500. He would finish the race in the Top 5, bringing home a 5th-place finish, though the race will forever be remembered for the death of fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt. Elliott finished his first season with
Evernham Motorsports Evernham Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing organization that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 2000 by former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Ray Evernham, entering full-time competition as a two-c ...
with two poles, five Top 5s, and nine Top 10 finishes, and one win at the
Pennzoil Freedom 400 The Dixie Vodka 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The inaugural race was held in 1999 and was the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 2002 until 2019 M ...
at Homestead-Miami from the pole position. Elliott won the race by passing his Evernham Motorsports teammate Casey Atwood with five laps to go. This was his first win since the Southern 500 in 1994, 7 years and 226 races. As of 2022, the 226 race winless streak is the longest drought, between wins, in NASCAR history. However, after Melling yielded the No. 9 for 2001, Bill Elliott would win at Homestead driving that number, but this time, with Evernham Motorsports. It was the team's first-ever win. In another ironic twist, Elliott winning at Homestead would be the first time since Melling Racing and Bill Elliott himself at the Pepsi 400 in 1991, that the No. 9 went to victory lane. Elliott finished 15th in the final points standings for 2001. Elliott also withdrew from the ballot as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, and encouraged his long-time fans to vote for his friend and long-time rival Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was posthumously voted as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for 2001.


The 2002 Season: Back-to-Back Wins at Pocono and Indianapolis

In 2002, Elliott won four poles and went to victory lane twice in memorable back-to-back races. The first of those wins included the
Pennsylvania 500 The Unannounced Sponsor Pocono Cup race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Starting in 2022, it is the only Cup Series race at the track after the other Cup Series race at Pocono, the Poco ...
at Pocono, which at the time made Elliott the winningest driver at Pocono Raceway with five career wins (
Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...
and
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
have since surpassed him at 6 wins each). A week later, Elliott had one of the most memorable and dominant victories in the history of the
Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...
at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...
. He started on the outside pole, and dominated the race leading 93 of 160 laps. In the closing laps, he and
Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...
battled it out for the lead, with Elliott passing Rusty with 12 laps to go, en route to victory. After the back-to-back victories at Pocono and Indy, Elliott was 6th in points. Four weeks later after a 3rd place finish in the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
at Darlington, Elliott then found himself 7th in points with 11 races to go, and on his way to finishing the season in the Top 10 in points for the first time since 1997. After a 5th place finish at Kansas, and a 19th place finish at Talladega, Elliott was 8th in points with six races to go. However, a string of five consecutive finishes of 30th or worse, which included a 42nd place finish after a crash at Martinsville, and a bad water pump leading to a 39th place finish at Rockingham, ultimately dropped Elliott from 8th to finishing a disappointing 13th in the final points standings. Elliott finished the 2002 season with two wins, four poles, six Top 5 finishes, 13 Top 10 finishes, and for the 16th and final time in his career, Elliott was voted as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver.


The 2003 Season: Final Full-Time Season

The 2003 season ultimately became Elliott's final full-time season. It was a struggle through the first 26 races of the season, as Bill only had five Top 10 finishes and was 16th in points. In the final 10 races, Elliott went from 16th in points to finishing 9th in the overall standings, as he finished in the Top 15 in all 10 races, had five Top 5 finishes, seven Top 10 finishes, and led the most laps in three of the final seven races which included Elliott's final victory of his career. In the final seven races of the season starting at Kansas, Elliott started 8th and led the most laps, 115 of 267 laps, and finished 2nd to Ryan Newman who won on fuel strategy. Elliott followed that up with a 4th at Charlotte, a 9th at Martinsville, and a 4th at Atlanta. Two weeks later, Elliott captured what would be the final win of his career at Rockingham (Ironically enough, at the same track where he made his first career NASCAR start back in 1976). Elliott officially started 5th, but had to start dead last in the back of the field due to an engine change after qualifying. He still managed to climb through the field and lead the most laps of the race, leading 140 of the 393 laps, en route to capturing his 44th and final NASCAR race win over future seven-time NASCAR champion
Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
. A week later in the season finale, Elliott came within a lap of winning his final race as a full-time driver in the
Ford 400 The Dixie Vodka 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The inaugural race was held in 1999 and was the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2002 until 2019, as well as the final race of the ...
at Homestead-Miami. Elliott dominated the entire race, leading 189 of the 267 laps and was on his way to victory, but a cut tire on the final lap in turn 2 allowed
Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. L ...
to score the victory (his last and most recent win to date). Elliott still finished the race in 8th place and maintained his 9th place position in the final points standings, his best points finish since finishing 8th in the 1997 standings. Elliott officially withdrew from the ballot as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, giving the award to
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...
, who would go on to win for 15 straight years from 2003 to 2017, a NASCAR record. A few weeks later after the 2003 season ended, Elliott announced that he was relinquishing the No. 9 car to
Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
and switching to a part-time schedule driving R&D cars for Evernham.


Semi-retirement years


Evernham Motorsports

In 2004, Elliott drove the No. 91
Dodge Intrepid The Dodge Intrepid is a full sized front-wheel drive four-door sedan that was produced by Dodge for model years 1993 to 2004. It is related to the Chrysler 300M, Chrysler Concorde, Chrysler LHS, Chrysler New Yorker, and Eagle Vision which were a ...
for Evernham in three events (along with the
Budweiser Shootout The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 20 ...
). While he only made three starts during his first part-time season with Evernham, he still managed to have some success which included 2nd and 10th-place qualifying efforts at
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, and also a 9th-place finish at
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
which ended up being the 320th and final Top 10 finish of Elliott's career. He also brought back the Bill Elliott Racing moniker when he drove the 98 car twice in 2004, one with Coke C2 Sponsorship and one with McDonald's. The reason is that Evernham fielded cars with sponsorship with
PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...
's Mountain Dew. He did also manage a 3rd-place qualifying effort at
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. In 2005, Elliott continued his part-time driving duties which included driving the No. 39 Coors Dodge Charger (in a paint scheme reminiscent of his 1987 Coors Light Ford) for Chip Ganassi Racing in the
Budweiser Shootout The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 20 ...
and the No. 91 Evernham Dodge in several events. Although he made three more starts than the previous season, he did not have the same amount of success. He managed to get an 11th place finish and a 10th place qualifying effort at
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, along with a 9th place qualifying effort at Texas. He also competed in select NASCAR
Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
events for
Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...
and also drove the No. 6
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...
Dodge Charger in the
Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
for Evernham at
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of '' A Charlie Brown Christmas''. For the 2006 season, the 2005 owners' points for the No. 91 team went to the new No. 10 Evernham team and driver
Scott Riggs Russell Scott Riggs (born January 1, 1971) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the 92 for RBR Enterprises in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Racing career Early career Riggs was born in Bahama, Nort ...
and the 91 team was discontinued. On August 8, 2006, Evernham Motorsports announced that Elliott would return to the organization for the race at Watkins Glen driving the No. 19 Dodge previously driven by
Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Allen Mayfield (born May 27, 1969) is an American stock car racing driver. He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas. In 2009, he drove for ...
. The team fell out of the top-35 in owners' points after Indianapolis, leading to the firing of Mayfield, and Evernham assumed that Elliott would guarantee a starting spot in the field by being a past champion. However, since the driver switch was made past the entry deadline, NASCAR said that Elliott was not eligible for the past champions provisional.


Mach 1 Racing

Elliott also drove the No. 98 Dodge Intrepid for
Mach 1 Racing Mach 1 Racing was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team. It was owned by Hollywood stuntman Hal Needham and actor Burt Reynolds. The team made its debut in 1981, fielding the No. 22 Skoal Pontiac driven by Stan Barrett. Barrett ran ten races for t ...
in three other events in 2004 because of sponsorship issues between
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
(Elliott's sponsor) and
Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...
(Evernham's sponsor). but Evernham leased the car to him. Although he only made three starts during his first part-time season as a driver, he still managed to have some success which included a third-place qualifying effort at
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
respectively.


MB2 Motorsports

On January 4, 2006, Elliott announced that he would pilot the No. 36 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS for
MB2 Motorsports MB2 Motorsports was a NASCAR Cup Series team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, near the sport's hub in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte. The team was founded by Read Morton, Tom Beard, and Nelson Bowers, from which the original team name ...
in the 2006
Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Da ...
Speedweeks events. This included the
Budweiser Shootout The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 20 ...
, the
Gatorade Duel The Bluegreen Vacations Duel, formerly known as the Twin 125s, is a NASCAR Cup Series preliminary event to the Daytona 500 held annually in February at Daytona International Speedway. It consists of two races, which both serve as a qualifying rac ...
, and the Daytona 500, which Elliott had not competed in since 2003.


Michael Waltrip Racing

On March 17, 2006, it was announced that Elliott would drive the No. 00
Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...
Chevrolet for Michael Waltrip Racing in five NEXTEL Cup events which included
Chicagoland The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hint ...
,
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
,
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and
Homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...
.


R&J Racing

For the race at
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
, Elliott teamed up with R&J Racing to drive the No. 37 Dodge. Elliott finished a season-high 16th at the
Banquet 400 The Hollywood Casino 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. This race is the second of ten races in the Cup Series playoffs; since 2022, it is the second race of the Round of 16. NBC has the r ...
at Kansas but did not qualify for the
Bank of America 500 The Bank of America Roval 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race that is held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the race. As of the 201 ...
at Charlotte two weeks later. Elliott was scheduled to be the Team Red Bull entry for Atlanta, but
A. J. Allmendinger Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. Allmendinger's professi ...
drove the car instead, Elliott instead drove the No. 37 Dodge at
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, marking the 30th Anniversary of Elliott driving at his hometown track. Elliott attempted to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500, but failed to make the race in the No. 37.


Wood Brothers Racing

Later that season, Elliott signed to drive the No. 21 for
Wood Brothers Racing Wood Brothers Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was formed in 1950 by eponymous brothers Glen and Leonard Wood. From 2006 to 2008, the team was merged with Tad a ...
in 2007, in part due to his championship provisional, which guaranteed to start the race. Since fellow champion
Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champi ...
had used all of his guaranteed starts in his Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Elliott was the only champion eligible for the provisional not guaranteed a spot by being in the top 35 in owner's points. His first race for the team was the
Coca-Cola 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...
at
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, which he qualified without needing one of his six provisionals. He led the race at one point until he was involved in a wreck around lap 200. At
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, Elliott gave the team a much-needed 11th-place finish and was kept in the car until the fall Richmond race. The car then fell out of the top 35 again but at Bristol got back into the top 35 in points.
Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...
returned to the No. 21 replacing Elliott at a testing session at
Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...
due to the team being back in the top 35 in owner's points. He returned for the final four races after the 21 fell out of the top-35 once again. On September 23, 2007, in an interview with Charlotte Observer, Len Wood the co-owner of the No. 21 said Elliott would have his own sponsor and share a ride with
Jon Wood Jonathan Wood (born October 25, 1981) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He is the grandson of Glen Wood, one of the famous Wood Brothers who founded what has become the NASCAR Cup Series' longest continuously active t ...
and
Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 and 2004. In 2006, Ambrose relocated to the Un ...
for 2008. Elliott returned to the No. 21 to try to get the car back into the Top 35 points at Lowes Motor Speedway. Elliott qualified for ten races that season, with a best finish of 20th in the Sunoco Presents: The American Red Cross
Pennsylvania 500 The Unannounced Sponsor Pocono Cup race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Starting in 2022, it is the only Cup Series race at the track after the other Cup Series race at Pocono, the Poco ...
at
Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...
. At Daytona, Elliott announced that 2008 would be his final season as a Sprint Cup driver. But in an interview on NASCAR Raceday at Kansas, Elliott was asked about him racing and said "We will be at Lowe's, and do a few more races. Then we will see how things go." In 2008, his best starts were 5th at
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and 7th at
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. His best finish was 12th at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2009, Elliott ran 12 races in the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford for the Wood Brothers, including the Daytona 500. His best finish in 2009 was 15th place at Lowe's Motor Speedway. On Memorial Day May 25, 2009, Elliott became the 7th member of the "800 club", with his 800th career Sprint Cup start at Lowes Motor Speedway. Elliott ran for the Wood Brothers in 2010. He also drove at Talladega for
Latitude 43 Motorsports Latitude 43 Motorsports is a disbanded NASCAR team that competed in the Sprint Cup Series in 2010. They last fielded the No. 26 Ford Fusion for Boris Said, Bill Elliott, David Stremme, and Patrick Carpentier. The team was started after Vermont b ...
.


Phoenix Racing

In 2011, Elliott did not return to Wood Brothers Racing, but ran 4 races for Phoenix Racing in the No. 09 Chevy. Bill stepped out of the ride to assist his son
Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. He won the 2014 NASCA ...
in the
K&N Pro Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and ...
.
Landon Cassill Landon Douglas Cassill (born July 7, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Early career Cassill was born in Cedar R ...
would take over the car for the fifth race of the season, which was eventually renumbered to No. 51.


Whitney Motorsports

Elliott was entered as the driver of the No. 46
Red Line Oil Red Line Synthetic Oil is a manufacturer of Synthetic oil, synthetic lubricants based in Benicia, California, in the United States. The company operates as a subsidiary of Phillips 66 Spectrum Corporation. History Red Line Synthetic Oil Corpora ...
-sponsored
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
for
Whitney Motorsports Whitney Motorsports was a NASCAR team that competed in the Sprint Cup Series. It was based in Huntersville, North Carolina. Sprint Cup Series Car No. 46 History Dusty Whitney, owner of Whitney Motorsports, was involved with K-Automotive Motorsp ...
at Talladega but
J. J. Yeley Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J. J." Yeley (born October 5, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 13 and 66 cars for MBM Motorsports and part-time in ...
would finish the race.


NEMCO Motorsports

For the 2012 season, Elliott joined
Joe Nemechek Joseph Frank Nemechek III (born September 26, 1963) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second mos ...
at
NEMCO Motorsports NEMCO Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team is owned by driver Joe Nemechek and his family. NEMCO Motorsports has had success, winning the 1992 Busch Se ...
to drive the No. 97 Toyota in the 2012 Daytona 500, but failed to qualify for the race. Elliott successfully qualified for the Sprint Cup race at Talladega driving the 97, but finished in 37th.


Turner Motorsports

Elliott made his third start of the 2012 season driving for Turner Motorsports in the July race at Daytona International Speedway, in the No. 50
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
-sponsored Chevrolet. Elliott qualified 5th, and ran in the top 10 throughout the first half of the race, but finished 37th after being involved in an accident. This was his 828th and final start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.


GMS Racing

On August 4, 2018,
GMS Racing Petty GMS Motorsports, also known as GMS Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series, is an American professional stock car racing team formed by Richard Petty and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. and operated by GMS Racing. In the NASCAR Cup Series they field ...
announced that Elliott would return to NASCAR, driving the No. 23
Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro ...
at Road America in the
Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
on August 25. It was Elliott's first Xfinity start since 2005 and first National Series start since 2012. He finished in 20th on the lead lap. After the race, he quipped "I feel like I hit everything but the lottery, I mean it was a great day."


Superstar Racing Experience

In 2021, Elliott was a full-time driver at the inaugural season of the
Superstar Racing Experience Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), officially known as the Camping World SRX Series, is an American stock car racing series founded by Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and George Pyne. The formation of the series was announced on July 13, ...
,
Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...
's new stock car racing series. His best result was third at the
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Natio ...
, and he finished 9th in points. Elliott entered two rounds of the 2022 season.


NASCAR video games

In 1990,
Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
released the first officially licensed NASCAR game, '' Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge'' for
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
. The game was released for the
NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
and
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
in 1991, and ''Bill Elliott's NASCAR Fast Tracks'' was released for the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
at the same time.


Legacy and Honors

At the time of Bill Elliott's "semi-retirement", he ranked 14th on NASCAR's all-time win list with 44 wins. As of 2022, he ranks 19th on NASCAR's all-time wins list. His 44 career wins does not include six exhibition wins, which include one " Winston All-Star Race" win in 1986, one "
Busch Clash The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 2022, ...
" win in 1987, and four Gatorade Twin 125 wins at Daytona in 1985, 1986, 1992, and 2000. He retired with 55 career poles, which ranks eighth on the all-time poles list. Elliott won seven crown jewel races in his career, two in the Daytona 500 (1985, 1987), three in the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
(1985, 1988, 1994), one in the Winston 500 (1985), and one in the
Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...
(2002). The only crown jewel race Elliott failed to win was the
World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...
(he had a pair of second-place finishes in 1982 and 1990). The majority of Elliott's success came in the 10 seasons from 1982 to 1991 with Melling Racing and owner Harry Melling, along with Bill's two older brothers, crew chief and engine builder Ernie Elliott and transmission specialist Dan Elliott. Together, they won 34 of Bill's 44 race wins, set numerous NASCAR records, won the
Winston Million Winston may refer to: Places Antarctica * Winston Glacier Australia * Winston, Queensland, a suburb of the City of Mount Isa United Kingdom * Winston, County Durham, England, a village * Winston, Suffolk, England, a village and civil pari ...
in 1985, and won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship in 1988. Elliott was one of NASCAR's most endearing and popular drivers in history, as Elliott went on to win
NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award is awarded to the most popular NASCAR driver in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series every year since 1956. It started as a poll of the drivers and then all NASCAR Cup Series comp ...
a NASCAR record 16 times (1984-1988, 1991-2000, 2002), a record nearly matched by Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won the award for 15 straight years from 2003 to 2017. Elliott set numerous NASCAR records throughout his career, many of which still stand to this day. They include the following: * Fastest qualifying speed at Daytona International Speedway; 1987 Daytona 500 - 210.364 MPH (338.548 km/h) * Fastest qualifying speed at Talladega Superspeedway; 1987 Winston 500 - 212.809 MPH (342.483 km/h) * Modern-era record of 11 superspeedway victories in one season; 11 in 1985 * Modern-era record of 4 season sweeps in one season; 1985 - Pocono, Michigan, Darlington, and Atlanta (The next closest is 3 season sweeps by Dale Earnhardt in 1987, at Bristol, Richmond, and Darlington and
Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
in 2007, at Atlanta, Martinsville, and Richmond) * 4 consecutive wins at one superspeedway; Michigan from 1985-1986 (Tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Talladega from 2001-2003) * Modern-era record 4 consecutive race wins; 1992 at Rockingham, Richmond, Atlanta and Darlington (Tied with Cale Yarborough in 1976, Darrell Waltrip in 1981, Dale Earnhardt in 1987, Harry Gant in 1991,
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...
in 1993,
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
in 1998, and
Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
in 2007) * Most career Daytona 500 poles; 4 in 1985-1987, 2001 (Tied with Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough) * 3 consecutive Daytona 500 poles; 1985-1987 (Tied with
Fireball Roberts Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer. Background Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He was ...
1961-1963 and
Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...
1988-1990) * Most career pole positions at Talladega Superspeedway; 8 (2×1985, 2×1986, 2×1987, 1990, 1993) * 6 consecutive pole positions at Talladega Superspeedway; 1985-1987 * Longest winless drought between wins; 226 races (1994 Southern 500 at Darlington - 2001 Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead-Miami) Bill Elliott is widely considered as one of the greatest and most well-respected racecar drivers, not only in NASCAR history, but in motorsports history as a whole. In 1998, Elliott was selected as one of
NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers is an alphabetical list of NASCAR drivers. In 1998, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration, NASCAR gathered a panel to select the "50 Greatest NASCAR Drivers of All Time." It was inspired in part by the NBA's dec ...
in its history, and has been honored by being inducted into numerous racing and motorsports Halls of Fame. They include: *
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...
inductee in 1998 * An inaugural inductee into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2002 (Along with Elliott, the inaugural Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Class of 2002 also included
Red Byron Robert Nold "Red" Byron (March 12, 1915 – November 11, 1960) was an American stock car racing driver, who was successful in NASCAR competition in the sanctioning body's first years. He was NASCAR's first Modified champion (and its first c ...
,
Tim Flock Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two-time NASCAR series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and Bob and Fonty Flock. NASCAR career Tim F ...
, Roy Hall, Raymond Parks,
Lloyd Seay Carl D. "Lightning" Lloyd Seay (December 14, 1919 – September 2, 1941) was an early stock car racing driver from Georgia. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. described Seay as the "best pure race driver I ever saw". He was shot to death by his c ...
,
Gober Sosebee Gober C. Sosebee (October 15, 1915 – November 11, 1996) was an American racecar driver. He won on the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1949, 1950, and 1951. He was born in Dawson County, Georgia, and began his career in 1940 at Atlanta's Lake ...
, and Red Vogt). Elliott's father George (Class of 2011), and his two older brothers Ernie (Class of 2010), and Dan (Class of 2018) would also become inductees into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. *
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, ...
inductee in 2007 * National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame inductee in 2015 *
NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...
Class of 2015 (inducted along with
Fred Lorenzen Frederick Lorenzen Jr. (born December 30, 1934), nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Fearless Freddy, is a former NASCAR driver from Elmhurst, Illinois. Active from 1958 to 1972, he won 26 races including 1965 Daytona ...
,
Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was one of the first African-American drivers in NASCAR and the first African-American to win a race in the Grand National Series, NASCAR's h ...
,
Joe Weatherly Joseph Herbert Weatherly (May 29, 1922 – January 19, 1964) was an American stock car racing driver. Weatherly was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009 after winning NASCAR's Grand National Series championships i ...
, and
Rex White Rex White (born August 17, 1929) is a retired auto racer and NASCAR champion. White was one of the drivers who competed for the original Chevrolet racing team. He began racing in 1956, grabbing fourteen top-ten finishes. After a part-time run in ...
). Elliott was presented into the NASCAR Hall of Fame by his former Evernham Motorsports car owner, and future NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2018 inductee, Ray Evernham, and the driver who followed Bill in the famed #9 car,
Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
. Elliott has been honored by the State of Georgia and the city of Dawsonville, Georgia in Dawson County with a number of roads renamed in honor of him and his family, as well as a date named in his honor. * In 2005, the Georgia State Legislature declared October 8 (Elliott's birthday) as Bill Elliott Day in the state of Georgia. * In downtown Dawsonville, East 1st Street N & S (North and South) was renamed "Bill Elliott Street N & S", which is also conveniently, where the famous Dawsonville Pool Room is located (at the address of "9 Bill Elliott Street S"), along with the infamous "siren" that traditionally went off when Bill Elliott won a race. Today, the tradition continues with Bill's son Chase, as the siren goes off every time Chase wins a race. * Elliott was also honored by the state legislature with a stretch of roadway (the entirety of
Georgia State Route 183 State Route 183 (SR 183) is a state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Dawson County in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway extends from its southern terminus at SR 53 west of ...
) in his native Dawson County renamed "Elliott Family Parkway".


Motorsports career results


NASCAR

(
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)


Cup Series


=Daytona 500

=


Xfinity Series


Craftsman Truck Series


Winston West Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points


International Race of Champions

(
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)


Superstar Racing Experience

(
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
* – Most laps led. 1 – Heat 1 winner. 2 – Heat 2 winner. Season still in progress


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Bill 1955 births Living people People from Dawsonville, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) NASCAR drivers NASCAR Cup Series champions NASCAR team owners International Race of Champions drivers American members of the Churches of Christ American Speed Association drivers Evernham Motorsports drivers Michael Waltrip Racing drivers NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees