Information AboutBill Elliott |
William Clyde "Bill" Elliott (Born October 8 , 1955 in Dawsonville, Georgia ) is a part-time driver and former champion of, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. It was announced on February 20 , 2007 that Elliott will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame Of America on August 15 , 2007 . The ceremony will take place in Detroit . NASCAR CAREER IN BRIEF The winner of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship , Elliott garnered 44 wins in that series, including two Daytona 500 victories, and a record four consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway during 1985-86. Elliott also holds the track record at both Talladega and Daytona International Speedway with speeds of more than 200 mph. Elliott won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times. He withdrew his name from the ballot for that award after winning it in 2002 . The award will be renamed for Elliott when he officially retires from the sport. NASCAR CAREER IN DEPTH Early career Elliott made his first Winston Cup Series start at Rockingham in 1976 , qualifying 34th in a field of 36 cars. Elliott only lasted 32 laps that day before the oil pump failed in his Ford Torino , earning him $640. Elliott toiled for five years in the Winston Cup Series without 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 Cougar from Bobby Allison after his split from Penske Racing to replace the inferior Torino, and the move paid off. He earned his first top-10 finish in the 1977 Southern 500 (10th), and his first top-5 finish 2 years later in the same race, finishing second to race winner and boyhood hero David Pearson . With Melling Racing In the fall of 1980 , Elliott gained his first major sponsor in the form of $500 from Harry Melling of Melling Racing in the 1980 National 500 at Charlotte . However, Bill's father George was on the verge of shutting the team down after the 1980 Atlanta Journal 500 due to lack of a full time sponsor. In what was supposed to be the #9 car's final race, Elliott qualified on the outside pole at Atlanta (the first front row start of his career) in a car that still had Melling's name on the side of it (Elliott's team couldn't afford to repaint the car after the Charlotte race, so they left the sponsor's name on the car.) Unfortunately, the clutch failed in the car during the race, but Bill returned to the race and finished a strong 18th. The team's effort was noticed by Melling, and as a result he gave the team enough sponsorship to run a 12 race schedule in 1981 . After a 1981 season that consisted of one top-5 and seven top-10 finishes in 13 races, including the team's first pole in the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 , Melling bought the team from Bill's father George on December 1, 1981. In 1983 Elliott earned his first Winston Cup win in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside in the final race of the 1983 season. He gained sponsorship from Coors the following year and won three races, four poles and finished third in the championship standings. 1985 season In 1985 , Elliott earned 11 wins and 11 poles out of 28 races and also won the first Winston Million 2 in the Southern 500 at Darlington . This earned him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill," and "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville." He won the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega and the Southern 500 to earn the Winston Million. This led to him becoming the first NASCAR driver to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated . Elliott finished second in the championship standings by 101 points, losing the Winston Cup Championship to Darrell Waltrip after a string of poor finishes in the last quarter of the season. 1986, 1987 and 1988 seasons In 1986 , Elliott won two races and eight poles and finished fourth in the championship standings. He also won that years all-star race, The Winston . In 1987 Elliott won six races including his second Daytona 500, seven poles, and finished second in the final point standings. However, Elliott's most lasting accomplishment that year was setting the NASCAR speed record at Talladega with an average speed of 212.809 mph in his Ford Thunderbird which contained an engine built by his brother Ernie. In 1988 Elliott won another six races, six poles, and his only Winston Cup Championship . Despite winning only one championship, Elliott has managed to finish in the top ten in the points 14 times, including 1992 when he finished ten points shy of champion Alan Kulwicki . Last years with Melling Following his championship season, Elliott broke his wrist in a crash during testing at Daytona and required relief by Jody Ridley during several races in the first part of the 1989 season. Elliott won two poles and three races and finished sixth in the championship standings. In 1990 , Elliott won one race and two poles and finished fourth in the championship standings. The year 1991 saw Elliott's sponsorship change to Coors Light beer and the familiar red car was replaced by a blue one. Elliott won once in the Pepsi 400 and won two poles and finished eleventh in the championship standings during his last season with Melling. With Junior Johnson Elliott left Melling to join Junior Johnson And Associates in 1992 . Elliott's sponsor during his time with Johnson was Budweiser . In 1992, Elliott won five races and three poles, but much like his 1985 season he finished a disappointing second in the championship standings after squandering a large lead in the standings with a late season string of poor finishes. The team never seemed to recover from the disappointing loss, with Elliott going winless in 1993 and finishing eighth in the standings and only scoring one win the following season in the 1994 Southern 500 while finishing 10th in the championship standings. After winning the Southern 500, Elliott announced he would be starting his own team with sponsorship from McDonalds in 1995 . Operating as an independent driver and later with Evernham Racing After leaving Johnson's team, Elliott fielded his own Winston Cup race team from 1995 to 2000. Elliott suffered a long winless streak during this time, though he did manage two top ten finishes in the championship standings. In 1996 , Elliott suffered a broken leg during an accident and missed several races that season. Elliott sold his team to Ray Evernham in 2000 and began driving the #9 Dodge Dealers / UAW Dodge Intrepid the following year. In his first qualifying effort while driving the #9 Dodge, Elliott won the pole for the 2001 Daytona 500 . Later in the season, he won the Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead from the pole (with then-teammate Casey Atwood starting second and finishing third), which was his first win in over seven years. In 2002 he won twice, including that year's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and won four poles. His last win came in 2003 at Rockingham . During the 2003 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway , Elliott led 189 of 267 laps and was on his way to victory, but a cut tire on the final lap gave the win to Bobby Labonte . He still finished the race and maintained his ninth-place position in the final points standings. A few weeks later, Elliott announced that he was relinquishing the #9 car to Kasey Kahne and switching to a part-time schedule driving R&D cars for Evernham. In 2004 , Elliott drove the #91 Dodge Intrepid for Evernham in three events (along with the Budweiser Shootout ) and also drove the #98 Dodge Intrepid in three other events because of sponsorship issues between Coca-Cola (Elliott's sponsor) and Pepsi (Evernham's sponsor). Elliott was listed as the owner of the #98 car, but Evernham leased the car to him. Although he only made six starts during his first part-time season, he still managed to have some success which included a ninth-place finish at Indianapolis and second and third-place qualifying efforts at Texas and California respectively. In 2005, Elliott continued his part-time driving duties which included driving the #39 Coors Dodge Charger for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Budweiser Shootout and the #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 eleventh-place finish and a tenth-place qualifying effort at Michigan , along with a ninth-place qualifying effort at Texas. He also competed in select NASCAR Busch Series events for Rusty Wallace and also drove the #6 Unilever Dodge for Evernham at Memphis , which celebrated the 40th anniversary of '' A Charlie Brown Christmas ''. For the 2006 season, the 2005 owners' points for the #91 team went to the new #10 Evernham team and driver Scott Riggs . On January 4 , 2006 , Elliott announced that he would pilot the #36 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for MB2 Motorsports in the 2006 Daytona Speedweeks events. This included the Budweiser Shootout , the Gatorade Duel , and the Daytona 500, which Elliott had not competed in since 2003. On March 17 , 2006 , it was announced that Elliott would drive the #00 Burger King Chevrolet, ironic because of his many years driving for McDonald's , for Michael Waltrip Racing in five NEXTEL Cup events which included Chicagoland , New Hampshire , Indianapolis, California, and Homestead. Team Red Bull later announced that Elliott would drive the #83 Dodge for the team for three races as the team prepared for a full-time entry into Cup racing with Toyota in 2007 . On August 8 , 2006 , Evernham Motorsports announced that Elliott would return to the organization for the Watkins Glen race driving the #19 Dodge previously driven by Jeremy Mayfield . 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. For the race at Kansas , Elliott teamed up with R&J Racing to drive the #37 Dodge. This was special for Elliott as the engine was one from his brother, Ernie Elliott, and the Melling Auto Parts paint scheme resembled the paint scheme from Elliott's car in 1982. Elliott finished a season-high 16th at the Banquet 400 at Kansas, but did not qualify for the Bank Of America 500 at Charlotte two weeks later. Elliott was scheduled to be the Team Red Bull entry at Atlanta and Texas, but A. J. Allmendinger drove the car instead (though he did not qualify for either race). Elliott instead drove the #37 Dodge at Atlanta, marking the 30th Anniversary of Elliott driving at his hometown track. 2007 Elliott attempted to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 , but failed to make the Daytona 500 in the #37. Elliott signed to drive the #21 for Wood Brothers Racing for at least two events for 2007, in part due to his championship provisional, which guaranteed starting the race. Because fellow champion Dale Jarrett used all of his guaranteed starts in his Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Elliott was the only champion eligible for the provisional and not already guaranteed a spot by being in the Top 35. His first race for the team was the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte , which he qualified without needing one of his six provisionals. He lead the race at one point until he was involved in a wreck around lap 200. At Michigan, Elliott gave the team a much needed 11th place finish. Bill continues to drive for the Wood Brothers, though road-course ace Boris Said got the car into the top-35 in owner's points at the Watkin's Glen track. NASCAR VIDEO GAMES See Also: Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge In 1990 , Konami released the first officially-licensed NASCAR game, '' Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge '' for MS-DOS . The game was released for the NES and Amiga in 1991, and ''Bill Elliott's NASCAR Fast Tracks'' was released for the Game Boy at the same time. Elliott continued to appear in most NASCAR games until the release of '' driving the #91 Stanley Tools Dodge. However, he was removed from the game before its release and the #91 was removed from the Custom Car Garage feature for NEXTEL Cup. Ironically, Elliott's then-teammate Jeremy Mayfield was also absent from ''NASCAR 2005'' (though he reappeared in ''NASCAR 06'') and an official explanation was never given for Elliott's absence in 2006. Jeremy Mayfield was originally going to be the cover of Nascar 2005: Chase for the Cup, but when that was given to Kevin Harvick, he refused to be in the game. Unlike Elliott in ''NASCAR 06'', Mayfield had not been seen in any screenshots or videos for ''NASCAR 2005''. However, Kasey Kahne was featured in the #9 Evernham Dodge, and Mayfield and the #19 Evernham Dodge had been featured in previous NASCAR games. TEAMS AND SPONSORS Teams
RACES WON Winston/Nextel Cup (44 career wins)
Busch Series (1 career win )
International Race Of Champions (2 career wins) TRIVIA Only driver in NASCAR history to win the pole, make up two laps at Talladega Superspeedway under green, and win the race. Has won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times. EXTERNAL LINKS
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