With most of the motorsports world on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve decided to highlight some of the sport’s legends on a daily basis. We begin each story within the pages of National Speed Sport News.
Known by a generation of racing fans as “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville,” Bill Elliott was one of the most successful and most popular racers in NASCAR history.
During a 37-year driving career, Elliott compiled a list of accolades that put him near the top of a number of NASCAR all-time lists and earned him election into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Elliott made his first Cup Series start in 1976 and made 828 starts, with his final Cup Series race coming in 2012. Elliiott posted his first victory in 1983 during what was his second season driving for car owner Harry Melling. Elliott drove cars owned by Melling and prepared by his brothers Ernie and Dan through the 1991 season.
During his time with Melling, Elliott won 34 races. The team claimed the Cup Series championship in 1988 after winning six races that season. However, his best season came in 1985 when he won an unbelievable 11 races and finished second in the championship to Darrell Waltrip.
Later, Elliott drove three years for Junior Johnson, but became his own car owner in 1995. Elliott sold his team to Ray Evernham after the 2000 season and stayed with the team as a driver. When the Evernham team debuted its new Dodge race cars at Daytona in 2001, it was the first time Elliott had raced anything other than a Ford.
Elliott earned 44 victories and 55 poles in his 828 NASCAR Cup Series starts.
He also earned a record 16 Most Popular Driver Awards. He won the Daytona 500 twice, the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway three times and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway once.
In 1985, he won both of those along with the Winston 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, earning him the “Winston Million” — a $1 million bonus for winning those three of four marquee events.
Elliott’s son, Chase, drives the No. 9 Cup Series machine for Hendrick Motorsports.
