As a kid Bill Elliott was my hero and there is a saying never meet your hero’s because you will be disappointed, I actually got to meet him on pit road at Pocono before qualifying and he was the nicest, down to earth, and easy to talk to, no attitude or cocky ness, it was a amazing experience
I always wondered what might’ve been had Bill Elliott’s first Cup win didn’t come on a road course? Would Chase still dominate on road courses? Because knowing that, Chase has 7 RC wins to date.
Chase has been good at road course racing in every series he has been in. I can't remember exactly but I think in K&N, ARCA, Trucks, Xfinity and Cup he has like 33 starts, 9 wins, 23 top 5s and 28 top 10s. I may be a off a little but you can go to Racing Reference and look. I counted them a few weeks ago, I know those numbers are pretty close to the right stats.
@@brianbooher7318 I don’t know, I mean he made up two laps under green on a 2.6 mile track. That’s an ass kicking right there. Who else has come close to that, being down 2 with no caution help. Either way if your an B Elliott fan all the wins are awesome. 🏁😎
My Top 10 All-Time Favorite Bill Elliott Wins: 10. 2001 Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead-Miami (First win in over seven years at the time, and breaking a 226 race winless streak) 9. 1988 Valleydale Meats 500 at Bristol (The "spin and win" ... Geoff Bodine spins Bill out with about 5 to go, Bill pits, comes back to win anyway) 8. 1983 Winston Western 500 at Riverside (His first career win) 7. 1987 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Sheer DOMINANCE ... leading 104 of 200 laps) 6. 2003 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at Rockingham (Last career win, and 4th win at Rockingham ... Matt Kenseth wins last "Winston Cup" title) 5. 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta (Won race at Atlanta, lost championship to Alan Kulwicki by 10 points ... J Gordon's 1st race, R. Petty's last race) 4. 1985 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Sheer DOMINANCE ... leading 136 of 200 laps) 3. 1985 Winston 500 at Talladega (Making up 2 laps under green without the help of a caution, and winning) 2. 2002 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis (Dominance again, leading 93 of 160 laps ... A great "Elliott vs Wallace" battle at the end) 1. 1985 Southern 500 at Darlington ("Million Dollar Bill" is born)
Bill Elliott is an enigma. How he didn't win the 1985 and 1992 Winston Cups I will never know. He strolled to 11 wins in 85 and lost to Darrell Waltrip. In 1992 he easily had the fastest car, won 4 races in a row at the start of the year and should have wrapped it up before Phoenix. Instead he lost because Alan Kulwicki avoided a lap 2 wreck and led one more lap in the last race. His sole Cup in 1988 was by only 24 points, after Rusty Wallace won 4 of the last 5 races. Elliott led by 117 points after Richmond in September.
He didn't win in 1985 because the points system was stupid and ill-conceived. The system rewarded consistency, and top 5s and 10s, over great performances. The same thing happened to Gordon in 1996. He won 10 races, but lost to Terry Labonte who had only 2 victories.
Mechanical failures kept him from winning the 85 and 92 Titles. The 85 Title I can understand losing because Bill was young and relatively new along with his brothers and his team, and Bill has even said himself ... at that time, they only cared about winning races that year, and really weren't smart enough yet to win a championship. He had a string of poor finishes after winning the Winston Million ... mainly North Wilkesboro went the transmission went, and then in the finale at Riverside something broke on that car, which ultimately gave the title to Darrell Waltrip. But its okay ... when people think of NASCAR in 85, they don't mention or remember DW's title. They always mention Elliott's dominance and his Winston Million. 92 was WAY MORE heartbreaking for me, in my opinion. Elliott had this title in the bag. He had a 154 pt lead with 6 races to go, after a 2nd place finish at Dover. Mechanical failures once again cost him in the ensuing 4 out of the next 5 races. In my opinion, the BIG ONE, the big race that ultimately cost Elliott the 92 title that year was the fall race at Charlotte. Bill was running in the top 5 with about 30 laps to go, until a sway bar broke on his car, and he finished I think 31st. That KILLED his point lead with 3 races to go ... he had another bad finish two races later at Phoenix which knocked him out of the points lead. But that bad finish at Phoenix, it really wouldn't have mattered if that sway bar didn't break at Charlotte. Charlotte was the KILLER more so than Phoenix. Even so, despite the troubles at Charlotte and Phoenix, Bill still had a chance at the title ... and we all know what happened in that season finale at Atlanta - the 92 Hooters 500. Perhaps the greatest race in NASCAR history. Elliott and Kulwicki battled it out for the title after Davey Allison crashed, and Bill lost the title LITERALLY by ONE SINGLE LAP. Still stings to this day.
As much as it sucks to see Elliott not get those titles in particular, I’m glad he at least got one. I think of guys like Mark Martin who were extremely good and never even got one. That 92 year was absolutely crazy how much history happened in one race at the Atlanta finale. Petty’s last race, Gordon’s first start, and the Championship decided by 1 single lap. I always wished that Bill could’ve gotten a win in his McDonald’s car of the late 90’s.
After reading BE biography (Fastest Man Alive) -- and learn how much he and his family loved FORD vehicles --, is hard to see he driving for another carmaker. One more thing: too bad he couldn't deliver a victory or two, behind the #21 Ford.
I know it's crazy, but as a kid, I remembered Bill Elliott as the guy that drove the factory Dodge car, and it was the coolest thing because it was red, Dodge, and a winner.
Wrong, before this the fastest nascar race was Cale Yarborough at Daytona in 1970. Cales record of 183+ still stands as the fastest points race ever at daytona.
Wow, they should have included the 1988 Firecracker 400 here. But it was on ABC Wide World of Sports😄and the coverage was terrible, so maybe that's why it's so overlooked and forgotten today
No wonder this guy's name is on the title of an old NASCAR game. Tough game too, despite being on Gameboy, with car tuning, engine and vehicle selection and such. There was even a driving tutorial where Bill teaches you the maneuvers and tricks.
