Global InformationBill Elliott information
| Bill Elliott | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Elliott at Richmond Raceway in 2017 | |||||||
| Born | William Clyde Elliott Sr. October 8, 1955 Dawsonville, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1] | ||||||
| Achievements | 1988 Winston Cup Series Champion 1985, 1987 Daytona 500 Winner 2002 Brickyard 400 Winner 1985, 1988, 1994 Southern 500 Winner 1985 Winston 500 Winner 1986 The Winston Winner 1987 Busch Clash Winner 1985, 1986, 1992, 2000 Gatorade Twin 125 Winner 1985, 1986, 1987, 2001 Daytona 500 Pole Winner Won record 11 superspeedway races in 1985 Led NASCAR Winston Cup Series in wins in 1985, 1988 (tie), and 1992 (tie) 7 wins at Michigan International Speedway (including 4 wins in a row 1985-1986) 6 Consecutive Poles at Talladega Superspeedway (1985-1987) Recorded the fastest qualifying speed in NASCAR history at 212.809 MPH for the 1987 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway | ||||||
| Awards | 1984–1988, 1991–2000, 2002 Winston Cup Series Most Popular Driver (16 times) National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year (1985) Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (1998) Inaugural Inductee into Georgia Racing Hall of Fame (2002) Motorsports Hall of Fame of America[2] (2007) National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (2015) NASCAR Hall of Fame (2015) Named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023) | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 828 races run over 37 years | |||||||
| 2012 position | 49th | ||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1988) | ||||||
| First race | 1976 Carolina 500 (Rockingham) | ||||||
| Last race | 2012 Coke Zero 400 (Daytona) | ||||||
| First win | 1983 Winston Western 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
| Last win | 2003 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 (Rockingham) | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 44 races run over 13 years | |||||||
| 2018 position | 64th | ||||||
| Best finish | 29th (1993) | ||||||
| First race | 1983 Mello Yello 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last race | 2018 Johnsonville 180 (Road America) | ||||||
| First win | 1993 Fay's 150 (Watkins Glen) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of May 7, 2020. | |||||||
William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience part-time in 2022. His accolades include the 1988 Winston Cup Championship and garnering 44 wins in that series, including two Daytona 500 victories in 1985 and 1987, three Southern 500 victories in 1985, 1988, and 1994, one Winston 500 victory in 1985, one Brickyard 400 victory in 2002, one "The Winston All-Star Race" (non-points race) win in 1986, and a record four consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway between 1985 and 1986 (7 wins overall at Michigan, the most at any one racetrack in his career).
Elliott holds the track record for fastest qualifying speed at Talladega at 212.809 miles per hour (342.483 km/h) and Daytona International Speedway at 210.364 miles per hour (338.548 km/h), both of which were set in 1987; the mark at Talladega is the fastest qualifying speed for any NASCAR race ever. With the usage of restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega since 1988, it is highly unlikely that these two qualifying speed records will ever be topped. Elliott also holds the distinction of recording a track record at Talladega Superspeedway of 6 consecutive pole positions from 1985 to 1987.
In 1985, Elliott made NASCAR 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 in a single season: The Daytona 500 at Daytona, the Winston 500 at Talladega, the World 600 at Charlotte, and the Southern 500 at Darlington. In a year dominated by Elliott, Bill went on to win a "NASCAR modern-era single season record" of 11 superspeedway races (with 4 "season sweeps": Atlanta, Pocono, Michigan, and Darlington) and 11 poles, with three of those 11 wins being in the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, and the Southern 500, earning Bill the "Winston Million Dollar Bonus" and earning him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill".
Elliott won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times (1984-1988, 1991–2000, 2002).[3] He withdrew his name from the ballot for that award after winning it in 2002. In 2005, the Georgia State Legislature declared October 8 as Bill Elliott Day in the state of Georgia.[4] Regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, 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. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007,[5] 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. Elliott has also been honored by the state legislature with a stretch of roadway (the entirety of Georgia State Route 183) in his native Dawson County renamed Elliott Family Parkway.
Elliott's son Chase was the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion. The Elliotts became the third father-son NASCAR champions in history, along with Lee and Richard Petty, and Ned and Dale Jarrett.[6]
- ^ "Bill Elliott – NASCAR – Yahoo Sports". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
- ^ Bill Elliott at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
- ^ "The Official Website of Bill Elliott". Archived from the original on 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
- ^ "Bill Elliott Day".
- ^ "Rathmann, Elliott lead way". The Indianapolis Star. February 20, 2007. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- ^ Bieler, Des (November 8, 2020). "Chase Elliott wins first Cup Series title, joins father Bill as NASCAR champion". Washington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2020.