117 Facts About Bill Elliott

Bill Elliott competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience.

Bill Elliott holds the distinction of recording a track record at Talladega Superspeedway of 6 consecutive pole positions from 1985 to 1987.

In 1985, Bill Elliott made history by winning the first-ever Winston Million, 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.

Bill Elliott won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times.

Bill Elliott withdrew his name from the ballot for that award after winning it in 2002.

Bill Elliott was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, and has been inducted into numerous racing and motorsports Halls of Fame, including being inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, and being an inaugural inductee into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2002.

Bill Elliott was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America 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.

Bill Elliott has been honored by the state legislature with a stretch of roadway in his native Dawson County renamed Bill Elliott Family Parkway.

William Clyde Bill Elliott was born in Dawsonville, Georgia on October 8,1955.

Bill Elliott was named after two relatives and is the youngest of three boys.

Bill Elliott's father was a Ford person and later created a Ford dealership as there were none in the area.

Bill Elliott has two daughters, Starr and Brittany, and one son, William Clyde II.

The 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Chase Bill Elliott currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports in the No 9 Chevrolet.

Bill 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, Bill Elliott bought a Mercury Montego from Bobby Allison after his split from Penske Racing to replace the inferior Torino, and the move paid off.

Bill Elliott soon earned his first Top 10 finish in the Southern 500, and his first top-5 finish 2 years later in the same race, finishing 2nd to race winner David Pearson.

In 1982, Bill 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 at Charlotte to Neil Bonnett, the Firecracker 400 at Daytona to Bobby Allison, and the fall race at Charlotte to Harry Gant.

In 1983, Bill 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 in the summer race at the road course Riverside, and runner-up to Bobby Allison in the Southern 500 at Darlington.

Bill Elliott collected four poles and finished 3rd in the final points standings for the second year in a row.

Bill Elliott scored 11 wins and 11 poles out of 28 races and won the first ever Winston Million in the Southern 500 at Darlington.

Bill 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.

Bill 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.

Bill Elliott 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.

Bill Elliott had a strong car, leading 84 of the first 155 laps, but mechanical failures relegated him to an 18th place finish.

Bill Elliott 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.

Multiple media outlets went to cover the race, as Bill Elliott had the chance to collect the million dollar purse which at that time had never been done in stock car racing.

Bill 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.

None the less, Bill 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.

Bill Elliott did come within 20 points of the championship lead after his 11th win of the season at Atlanta with one race to go.

In 1986, Bill Elliott won only two races, both being the Michigan races.

Bill Elliott won four poles during the season, and he finished 4th in the championship standings.

Bill Elliott won The 1986 Winston All-Star race, held at Atlanta.

Also ironic, is that Bill Elliott would remain the only winner of the All-Star race held somewhere other than Charlotte, until 2020 when his son Chase won his All-Star race at Bristol.

Bill Elliott won eight poles, and finished 2nd in the final point standings again, this time to Dale Earnhardt by 489 points.

Bill Elliott beat Earnhardt to the checkered flag three times in 1987 at Michigan, Rockingham, and the season finale at Atlanta.

However, Bill Elliott's most lasting accomplishment that year was setting two NASCAR qualifying records, which stand to this day.

Bill Elliott broke his own record later that year at Talladega for that year's Winston 500, with an average speed of 212.809 miles per hour ; the previous record he set in 1986 was 209.383 miles per hour.

In 1988, Bill Elliott had one of the greatest seasons of his career when his captured his first and only Winston Cup Championship in NASCAR.

In 29 races, Bill 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.

Bill Elliott won his second race of the season at Dover, leading 203 of 500 laps.

Bill 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 victory at Darlington leading 154 of 367 laps, and then leading 392 of 500 laps completing the season sweep at Dover.

Bill Elliott started 29th, but needed to finish 18th or better to clinch the championship regardless of what Rusty Wallace did in the race.

Bill Elliott drove careful and conservatively through the field and finished 11th to claim the 1988 Winston Cup Championship by 24 points over Rusty Wallace.

Bill Elliott finished the season with six wins, six poles, 15 Top 5s, 22 Top 10s, and an average finish of 6.6.

Bill Elliott won two poles and three races, at Michigan, Pocono, and Phoenix, and finished 6th in the championship standings.

In 1990, Bill Elliott won one race, at Dover, and two poles and finished 4th in the championship standings.

That lone win in 1991 would be the only time in his career that Bill Elliott won in a car that was not painted red.

The success of Melling Racing may have come to an end after Bill Elliott left at the end of 1991, but Bill Elliott would be more successful in the years to come.

Bill 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.

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.

Bill Elliott would go on to win the race leading 102 of the 325 laps, while Alan Kulwicki finished 2nd to Bill Elliott, leading 103 of the 325 laps.

Bill 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 season.

Bill Elliott went winless for the first time in 10 years during the 1993 season and finished 8th in the standings.

Bill Elliott did however pick up his first, and one lone career win in the Xfinity Series in 1993, at the road course of Watkins Glen.

Bill Elliott scored just one win the following season in 1994; his 3rd win in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington.

Bill Elliott finished the 1994 season finishing 10th in the championship standings.

Bill Elliott used the No 94 in honor of his nephew, Casey Elliott, who was battling cancer at the time he formed the team and would die in 1996.

Bill 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 and 1997.

In 1996, Bill Elliott missed five races to recover from injuring a broken hip at Talladega and was replaced by Dorsey Schroeder and Todd Bodine.

Later in 1996, Bill Elliott suffered effects after an accident at Talladega earlier in the year and, Bill Elliott missed two races and was replaced by Tommy Kendall and Bobby Hillin Jr.

Bill Elliott made his first career start in the Camping World Truck Series driving for Jim Smith's team Ultra Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing 2nd.

Bill Elliott finished the season with one pole, five Top 5 finishes, 14 Top 10 finishes, and finishing 8th in the final point standings.

Bill Elliott did not win any races, but came extremely close on several occasions.

Bill Elliott was leading late in the 1997 Daytona 500, leading with less than 10 laps to go, until a late caution came out.

Elliott dominated that year's Mountain Dew Southern 500 leading 181 of the 367 laps, but finished 4th to eventual winner Jeff Gordon, who ironically, along with winning the race joined Elliott as the only winners of the Winston Million, as Jeff won the "final running" of the Winston Million promotion in 1997, while Bill won the "initial running" of the promotion in 1985.

Bill Elliott 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.

Bill Elliott asked Evernham to drive that number out of respect for his old team.

Bill Elliott finished his first season with Evernham Motorsports with two poles, five Top 5s, and nine Top 10 finishes, and one win at the Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead-Miami from the pole position.

Bill Elliott won the race by passing his Evernham Motorsports teammate Casey Atwood with five laps to go.

Bill Elliott finished 15th in the final points standings for 2001.

Bill Elliott 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.

In 2002, Bill Elliott won four poles and went to victory lane twice in memorable back-to-back races.

Bill Elliott started on the outside pole, and dominated the race leading 93 of 160 laps.

Four weeks later after a 3rd place finish in the Southern 500 at Darlington, Bill 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.

Bill 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, Bill Elliott was voted as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver.

Bill Elliott followed that up with a 4th at Charlotte, a 9th at Martinsville, and a 4th at Atlanta.

Two weeks later, Bill Elliott captured what would be the final win of his career at Rockingham.

Bill Elliott officially started 5th, but had to start dead last in the back of the field due to an engine change after qualifying.

Bill Elliott 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.

Bill 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 to score the victory.

Bill 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.

Bill Elliott officially withdrew from the ballot as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, giving the award to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In 2004, Bill Elliott drove the No 91 Dodge Intrepid for Evernham in three events.

Bill Elliott 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.

Bill Elliott did manage a 3rd-place qualifying effort at California.

In 2005, Bill Elliott continued his part-time driving duties which included driving the No 39 Coors Dodge Charger for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Budweiser Shootout and the No 91 Evernham Dodge in several events.

Bill Elliott managed to get an 11th place finish and a 10th place qualifying effort at Michigan, along with a 9th place qualifying effort at Texas.

Bill Elliott competed in select NASCAR Busch Series events for Rusty Wallace and drove the No 6 Unilever Dodge Charger in the Busch Series for Evernham at Memphis, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

However, since the driver switch was made past the entry deadline, NASCAR said that Bill Elliott was not eligible for the past champions provisional.

Bill Elliott drove the No 98 Dodge Intrepid for Mach 1 Racing in three other events in 2004 because of sponsorship issues between Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

On January 4,2006, Bill Elliott announced that he would pilot the No 36 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS for MB2 Motorsports in the 2006 Daytona Speedweeks events.

On March 17,2006, it was announced that Bill Elliott would drive the No 00 Burger King-sponsored Chevrolet for Michael Waltrip Racing in five NEXTEL Cup events which included Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Indianapolis, California, and Homestead.

Bill 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.

Allmendinger drove the car instead, Bill Elliott instead drove the No 37 Dodge at Atlanta, marking the 30th Anniversary of Bill Elliott driving at his hometown track.

Bill Elliott attempted to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500, but failed to make the race in the No 37.

Later that season, Bill Elliott signed to drive the No 21 for Wood Brothers Racing in 2007, in part due to his championship provisional, which guaranteed to start the race.

Since fellow champion Dale Jarrett had used all of his guaranteed starts in his Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Bill Elliott was the only champion eligible for the provisional not guaranteed a spot by being in the top 35 in owner's points.

Bill Elliott led the race at one point until he was involved in a wreck around lap 200.

At Michigan, Bill Elliott gave the team a much-needed 11th-place finish and was kept in the car until the fall Richmond race.

Bill Elliott returned for the final four races after the 21 fell out of the top-35 .

On September 23,2007, in an interview with Charlotte Observer, Len Wood the co-owner of the No 21 said Bill Elliott would have his own sponsor and share a ride with Jon Wood and Marcos Ambrose for 2008.

Bill Elliott returned to the No 21 to try to get the car back into the Top 35 points at Lowes Motor Speedway.

At Daytona, Bill Elliott announced that 2008 would be his final season as a Sprint Cup driver.

In 2009, Bill Elliott ran 12 races in the No 21 Motorcraft Ford for the Wood Brothers, including the Daytona 500.

On Memorial Day May 25,2009, Bill Elliott became the 7th member of the "800 club", with his 800th career Sprint Cup start at Lowes Motor Speedway.

In 2011, Bill Elliott did not return to Wood Brothers Racing, but ran 4 races for Phoenix Racing in the No 09 Chevy.

Bill Elliott was entered as the driver of the No 46 Red Line Oil-sponsored Chevrolet for Whitney Motorsports at Talladega but JJ Yeley would finish the race.

Bill 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-sponsored Chevrolet.

In 2021, Bill Elliott was a full-time driver at the inaugural season of the Superstar Racing Experience, Tony Stewart's new stock car racing series.

Bill Elliott retired with 55 career poles, which ranks 8th on the all-time poles list.

Bill Elliott won seven crown jewel races in his career, two in the Daytona 500, three in the Southern 500, one in the Winston 500, and one in the Brickyard 400.

The only crown jewel race Bill Elliott failed to win was the World 600.

Bill Elliott was one of NASCAR's most endearing and popular drivers in history, as Bill Elliott went on to win NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award a NASCAR record 16 times, a record nearly matched by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Bill Elliott set numerous NASCAR records throughout his career, many of which still stand to this day.

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, Bill Elliott was selected as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in its history, and has been honored by being inducted into numerous racing and motorsports Halls of Fame.

Bill 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.