NASCAR Legend: Bill Elliott

BY BEN WHITE

Bill Elliott began his driving career on the north Georgia dirt tracks near his home in Dawsonville. He won 44 Cup Series races from 1976 to 2012, logging 320 top-10 finishes and 55 pole positions.

Born Oct. 8, 1955, Elliott began driving makeshift race cars in his father’s junkyard against the likes of his brothers, Ernie and Dan. Of the three siblings, Bill emerged with the most desire and talent to drive cars on a local level.

Success on short tracks in the Southeast led to an eight-race NASCAR Cup Series effort in 1976 aboard a Ford owned by his father, George. Over the next seven seasons, the fledgling family team entered 71 races, recording eight top-five finishes, nine top-10 results and earning one pole.

At the start of the 1983 season, the Elliott family sold its team to Michigan businessman Harry Melling and collected their first Cup Series victory in the season finale at California’s Riverside International Raceway. Three wins in 1984 set the stage for a phenomenal 1985 season that featured 11 victories, including the 1985 Daytona 500 as well as the Winston Million bonus paid by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for winning three of the four premier races on the schedule.

Elliott collected 18 additional victories as well as the 1988 Cup Series championship before leaving Melling Racing in 1991 to join Junior Johnson and Associates. After seven victories and a second-place finish in points through 1995, Elliott started his own team but did not break into the win column.

Elliott eventually joined forces with former crew chief and upstart team owner Ray Evernham. Together, they won three times, including the 2001 Brickyard 400. Elliott retired from the Cup Series in 2012.

Best Season

DURING THE 1985 SEASON, ELLIOTT ENTERED 28 Cup Series races and won 11 times, with superspeedway victories coming at Daytona, Talladega, Dover, Atlanta (2), Darlington (2), Pocono (2) and Michigan (2). Elliott logged 16 top-five finishes and 18 top-10 results with an average start of 4.9 and average finish of 8.7.

Record Setter

IN QUALIFYING FOR THE 1985 DAYTONA 500, Elliott posted a record pole speed of 205.114 mph. Then, on May 5, 1985, he turned another record lap of 209.398 mph at Talladega Superspeedway. Finally, on May 3, 1987, Elliott ran 212.809 mph at Talladega, a record that may never be broken.