FANTASY NASCAR Racin

also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville or Million Dollar Bill, is a former champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Elliott's father George Elliott owned a Ford Dealership outside Dahlonega, GA. so the team naturally always raced Fords. Most NASCAR Cup teams were located in the Charlotte, NC area, but the Elliott's kept their race team in the North Georgia Mountains. In years to come this would prove to be a benefit as they were away from all the other race shops, without all the other teams looking over their shoulder. Elliott made his first NASCAR 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 #9 Ford Torino, earning him $640. He ran in eight Cup races in 1976 with a best finish of 19th in the Fire Crackers 400 at Daytona. 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.

compete with the established veterans of the sport. Elliott bought a Mercury Montego to replace the inferior Torino, and the move paid off. He would pick up his first top 10 finish at Darlington in 1977's Southern 500. 1979 saw more improvement as he would get his first top 5 finish (again at Darlington) almost pulling off the upset win finishing second to race winner David Pearson. He would post five top 10 finishes in 13 starts. 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. Melling would extend his contract and gave the team enough sponsorship to run a 12 race schedule in 1981. After a 1981 season Melling bought the team from Elliott's father George on December 1, 1981. 1982 saw more improvement as Elliott was able to post eight top 5 finishes; including three second place results.

They would come at Charlotte in the World 600; Daytona in the Fire Cracker 400 and Charlotte in the National 500. Twice just getting edged out of the win by a couple car lengths. In 1983 Elliott earned his first Cup win in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside in the final race of the 1983 season. He would start tenth; have a competitive car and keep it up inside the top five all day long. Elliott would take the lead late in the race and be in the right place at the right time as the rain began to fall. He would lead the

final five laps to take his first win; after finishing second eight times. He gained full sponsorship from Coors in 1984 to the tune of $400,000 and won three races. In 1985, Elliott earned 11 wins and 11 poles out of 28 races. The season dawned bright and Elliott had one of the best Fords on the NASCAR circuit. Having stayed to themselves in the mountains of north Georgia the team had learned how to squeeze ever ounce of power out of their motors; and the new sleek Thunder-bird bodies showcased that. Elliott won the pole for the Daytona 500 at then record speed. He would dominate the race leading 136 of the 200 laps and edge Lake Speed for his first win in "the Great American Race". This also was one leg of their efforts to win "The

Winston Million". This was a new program offered by RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company that if any drivers could win three of four selected races they would get a One Million Dollar bonus. Elliott would post wins at Atlanta and Darlington before coming to Talladega to race in the Winston 500. Talladega was the second leg of the Winston Million. It looked like RJ Reynolds million dollars would stay safely tucked away in their checking account when on lap 36 while leading the race; Elliott's car erupted in smoke. He came to the pits; apparently done for the day. A quick look under the hood showed that a power steering

line had blown off and the motor was fine. The crew quickly clamped off the line and Elliott roared back onto the track. No yellow had flown and as he pulled onto the track the leaders were just coming up to put him two laps down. Elliott stayed out front and as the race went on Elliott and his stout T-Bird started pulling away from the pack. Unbelieveable; a single car out running the whole drafting pack. The race was clean and fast. Pit stops were made over and over still without a yellow flag flying. The lead swapped hands over and again. There would be 25 lead changes in the first 135 laps and no yellow flags. All the while Elliott would get as much draft as he could off of each car he caught up with. It took about 50 laps; but Elliott was able to run a full lap faster than the entire field and get back onto the lead lap. Still no yellow flew and on lap 145 Elliott motored by leader Cale Yarborough to

streak. This race, The Worlds 600 was the third leg of the Winston Million and Elliott certainly had a great shot at wrapping up the million dollar bonus without even having to go to the final leg at Darlington. Elliott won the pole and looked like the man to beat. He led 81 of the first 155 laps; but he would have mechanical problems forcing him to have to go to the garage for repairs. He finished 18th. Over the next eight race Elliott would post a worst finish of sixth; and claim four more wins. They headed into Darlington determined to make sure they won that Million Dollar Bonus offered by Winston. The crew secluded themselves as much as possible; including having some

security officers provided to avoid any distractions. Once again he would win the pole. Dale Earnhardt dominated with Elliott close behind; but Earnhardt spun out on lap 318 and slid across the nose of Bill's car; Elliott just missed being collected. Elliott's competition still proved stout as Cale Yarborough was as fast as Elliott. At one point on the race Yarborough's car puked out a huge plume of smoke and Elliott was right in his tire tracks. Elliott was just barely able to get by Yarborough as he struggled to keep it pointed in the right direction. Turns out Yarborough had suffered the same misfortune as Elliott had at Talladega; and had blow off a power steering line. Elliott would lead all but one lap from 319 until the checkers flew on lap 367. The crowd was wildly rooting for the most

popular driver on the NASCAR circuit; as their cheers drowned out the roar of the motors. He had won the first Winston Million in the Southern 500 at Darlington. This earned him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill", and "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville." After Darlington the team had a let-down and had finishes of 12th, 20th, 17th and 30th over the next four races and saw his points lead plummet to where he now trailed Darrell Waltrip by 30 points. Elliott would rebound and finish second; fourth and first the next three races; but still trail Waltrip by 20 points. The show down would come at the final race at Riverside; the place Elliott had collected his very first race win two years before. Elliott qualified fifth for the race while

Waltrip would start fourth. With 40 laps to go Elliott broke a two dollar part in his transmission and would be relegated to a 31st place finish. This handed Waltrip his third and final Cup Championship and the last one for owner Junior Johnson. In 1986, Elliott won both Michigan races, four poles and finished fourth in the championship standings. He also won The Winston II (All Star Race), held at Atlanta, the only year the race was run somewhere other than Charlotte. He won six races in 1987, including his second Daytona 500. Elliott's most lasting accomplishment that year was setting two NASCAR qualifying records, which stand to this day. At Daytona, he set the NASCAR speed record with an average speed of 210.364 miles per hour. after a lot of whining from General Motors teams; NASCAR made rules changes to try and slow down Elliott's Ford. But the changes were to no avail as Elliott break his own record at Talladega with an average speed of 212.809 miles per hour. In 1988 Elliott won another six races, including the Southern 500 and the Pepsi Firecracker 400, six poles, and his only NASCAR Cup Championship. Rusty Wallace would finish second; 24 points behind. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a distance 232 points back. In the 1990 race at Atlanta, Elliott's rear tire changer Mike Rich was killed when Ricky Rudd lost control of his car, spun, and slammed the crew member between his car and Elliott's. This resulted in NASCAR restricting the speed of cars on pit road. Elliott left Melling to join Junior Johnson and Associates in 1992. With the move Elliott went from racing for one beer sponsored car to another as Johnson's team at the time was sponsored by Coors rival Budweiser. He did win the season finale at his home track

in Atlanta, but lost the championship by 10 points to Alan Kulwicki. The difference was that Kulwicki gained the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps in the race. Kulwicki led one more lap (103 vs 102) than Elliott. The 10 point difference was the closest point differential until NASCAR changed to the Chase for the Cup points format 12 years later. 1995 saw Elliott leave Junior Johnson Racing to form his own team. Elliott has very little success as an owner / driver. He went win-less all six years; posting only one second place finish (Michigan) and only managed 13 top 5 finishes in that period. In 2001, Elliott started driving for Ray Evernham and began driving the #9 Dodge. He would wheel the Dodge to his first win since 1994 in a race

at Homestead; breaking a 226 race win-less streak. 2002 would see Elliott and Evernham pair up to win twice. It would come on back-to-back weekends at Pocono and Indianapolis. He would also post nine top 5 finishes. 2003 would see Elliott claim his final career win. The event was held at Rockingham NC. Elliott would start fifth and lead 140 laps in route to a hard fought victory over Jimmie Johnson. The next week was the season finale' held at Homestead. Elliott had a stout car and in the race he looked like the Bill Elliott of old. He qualified poorly starting 20th; but it didn't take him but 47 laps to get to the point. He would lead 189 of the final 220 laps and have a comfortable lead as he took the white flag. Half way down the back straight he ran over a piece of debris shredding his left rear tire. Before he could limp

back around to the checkered flag Bobby Labonte would bypass Elliott to grab the win and Elliott would finish eighth. Elliott would finish the season ninth in points this season. He raced part time in 2012 and he made his final Cup start at Daytona in the Coke Zero 400. He would sign up to drive a single event for owner Steve Turner driving the #50 Wal-Mart sponsored Chevy. The number 50 was significant because it was Wal-Mart's 50th anniversary and they requested a high profile talented driver to wheel their car. So Bill was tabbed as the guy. The next several years Elliott took time away from full time NASCAR driving to help his son Chase with his racing career. In 2011 Chase signed a development contract with Rick Hendrick Motorsports, driving the #9 his father made famous. Bill Elliott was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007, and was voted as one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. He had 44 career wins, winning on all types of tracks. He won his first race on a road course; and won at Bristol in his Championship season. His major wins included the Daytona 500 (1985 &

1987), Southern 500 (1985, 1988 & 1994), Brickyard 400 (2002), The Winston (1986). Bill Elliott won the "Most Popular Driver" award a record 16 times, and the Award will be renamed for Elliott when he officially retires from the sport. He was leading in the Most Popular Driver balloting by a large margin in 2001 when he had his name removed from the ballot so that Dale Earnhardt Sr would win the award that season (the year of his death at Daytona). Bill was elected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Jan. 30th, 2015; just as his son Chase Elliott is making in-roads into the Cup series - Chase started driving full time

in the Cup series for Hendrick Motorsports in 2016. Bill never "officially" announced his retirement. In 2018, on a whim, Bill jumped back into a NASCAR race vehicle. The NASCAR world was shocked when GMS Racing announced the Bill would drive the #23 Chevy in the Aug. 25 Xfinity race at Road America. Bill is the first person to come back and compete in a NASCAR event AFTER being voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. GMS Racing unveiled his throwback paint scheme for the race; it was the paint scheme is inspired by the No. 11 Budweiser Ford that Elliott drove to his win in the 1994 Southern 500 while racing for Junior racing for Junior Johnson. “I’m trying to figure out which one threw me under the bus here for this dang thing,” Elliott joked after the reveal, which was done with GMS Racing President Mike Beam, who was a crew chief for Elliott throughout the 90s, including in his 1994 win. Bill Elliott hadn’t competed in NASCAR since the July 2012 Cup race at Daytona. He was asked a simple question at one point. "WHY do it". “How do you know if you don’t try?” Elliott replied. “Whether you lose, win or draw, you always try to do things extra at the end of the day. I think from this standpoint, just go out and have a good time with it … “There’s a lot of deserving guys that could be in this thing. They want me to do it, I’ll do my

best.” When practice opened, it was ironic to see a NASCAR Hall of Fame driver have a yellow rookie stripe applied to the rear of his car. The reason: - it was because he had never raced at this track. At this race he practiced about 20th and qualified 21st. He raced in that position the early part of the race. But as the race wore on and he got his feet under him he moved up though the field; at one point running in seventh place. Late in the race, on a restart, he got spun around and fell to the back of the pack. He was only able to recover and finish 20th when the checkered hankie waved. Some info from Wikipedia

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

WILLIAM CLYDE "BILL" ELLLIOTT - 10/08/1955