NASCAR's Bill Elliott
NASCAR's Bill Elliott - From boy to Superstar
William
Clyde Elliot was born on October 8 in 1955 in Dawsonville, Georgia. His love
for racing was brought upon by his father's insistence on taking young Elliot
and his two brothers to the racetrack to make sure that they stay away from the
back roads. His father thought it would be wiser to go hunger for speed on the
racetrack rather than on dangerous terrain. It was there that George Elliot saw
young Elliot's potential on the track as they traveled from one track to
another. By the time Elliot was 19, he had already started burning up the
rubber on the tracks.
The Elliots began
joining races and soon found themselves being a consistent participant in a
great many races. It won't be until 1976 that Elliot was a competitor for his
first Winston Cup and although it was once difficult for the family to fork out
the money to join the races, they were soon one of the toughest racing forces
to join the NASCAR family. Although Elliot only managed to finish 32 laps
during that first race, he did not let that stop him. He went on to win his
first pole in 1981 at the Darlington Raceway. He had his first top ten finish
in the 1977 Southern 500 and managed to seal his first top five finish 2 years
later at the same race with his hero David Pearson in first place.
Although Elliot's father George was close to cutting the team in 1980, Elliot
went on gunning for the coveted spot in the following years. His team was
bought over by Melling in 1981 and two years later, Elliot won his first
Winston Cup. 1985 proved to be one of his more fruitful years when he won the
first Winston Million which earned him the "Million Dollar Bill"
nickname. His winning the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 and the Southern 500
lead him to the road of the Winston Million which prompted the cover story on
the 1985 Sports Illustrated. However, he only finished second during the
championship standings when he lost the Winston Cup Championship to Darrell
Waltrip. He went on to add an additional six wins, six poles, 11 top fives and
22 top ten finishes in 29 races during those years and finally managed to bring
home the Winston Cup Championship.
However, tragedy struck for Elliot when his rear tire changer was killed. Ricky
Rudd's car spun and fatally wounded Elliot's car member. This saw an immediate
change in NASCAR policy when it came to the speed of cars on the pit road. In
1992, Elliot lost the championship cup to Kulwicki although he won the final
race of that season. The 10 points difference was the smallest margin between
the top spot and second place ever recorded in NASCAR history before NASCAR
officials changed the points format for the Chase for the Cup over a decade
later. Elliot and team seemed to bear the burnt of that loss for the year to come
as Elliot didn't have any wins in 1993 and was only able to bring home one win
in the 1994 Southern 500.
Elliot decided to change things around when he decided to start his own team in
1995 and took on sole ownership of the team a year later. Another tragedy
struck in 1996 when he was left with a broken leg from an accident and as a
result of that, he lost out on several races. He sold his team in 2000 and when
he pole in the 2001 Daytona 500, it looked as though things turn took a turn
for the better. The year 2001 proved to be one of his best years since 1941
with his one win, two poles, five top-fives, nine top-tens and he finished in
15th place in points. He had more wins and was winning more fans on and off the
circuit.
Elliot has won the NMPA's "Most Popular Driver" Award 16 times and
withdrew his name in 2003.
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