03.01
To truly understand how special it is for Bill Elliott to drive the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as he’ll do this weekend in the Kobalt Tools 500, it helps to know about one of his first-ever trips to his home track.
The year was 1973. Elliott was just a teenager. He went to the race with some high school friends from his hometown of Dawsonville, Ga. “We drove down there in a 1973 Ford Torino,” Elliott said, adding that the sporty ride came from his father’s small Ford dealership. “We parked in the infield. It was really muddy.” The boys watched a familiar scenario play out – David Pearson won the race in the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Mercury, one of the team’s league-leading 12 Cup victories at the track and one of their 11 superspeedway wins that season. Pearson and the Woods swept Atlanta that year.
So were young Elliott and his pals backing the winner that day? “Of course,” he said. “It was David Pearson. It was a Ford, and it was the Wood Brothers.” Soon Elliott was racing himself at AMS, starting out in Fords fielded by his father, the late George Elliott, a man who not only loved Fords but absolutely hated any other brand of automobile.
To date, Elliott has five wins and five poles at his home track. Throughout his Sprint Cup career, Elliott, from the north Georgia mountains, has been a crowd favorite at AMS. Many of his fans will watch Sunday’s race from the Elliott Grandstand, which was named for the popular driver and his family. “It’s always nice to race in front of the home folks,” Elliott said. “I’m fortunate to have a pretty good following there, and it’ll be good to be among them again.”
He said he also feels fortunate to be back behind the wheel of the same car he drove last fall in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In that race, he qualified ninth; fell back, then charged through the field late in the race to claim a strong 16th-place finish. Also in his favor is the fact that the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew has spent the winter tuning the car and working on its overall downforce program, which is one of the main keys to running well on an intermediate track that makes up the bulk of the team’s limited 2010 schedule.
“It’s amazing what we accomplished last year, and I look forward to getting back to work and continuing to improve what we had,” Elliott said. Elliott also looks forward to tackling the aging, abrasive asphalt surface at AMS. “The track has a lot of character,” he said. “The asphalt’s getting some age on it, and you can run the top, or the middle or the bottom groove. “That makes for a good race for the fans, and for the teams and drivers it gives us the ability to do a lot of different stuff.”
Qualifying for the Kobalt Tools 500 is set for Friday at 6:10 p.m. The 500 will get the green flag on Sunday at 1 p.m., with live coverage on FOX.
I absolutely adore Bill Elliott, and hope someday to meet him again. First time I ever saw Bill race was at Darlington, 1985……. been a big fan ever since! Met him at Charlotte Motor Speedway
1996…. was so much in awe of meeting my Hero, couldn’t even say anything! LOL
Will never forget any of the five wins at Atlanta, and I am hoping that Bill and the Woods can be competitive Sunday.
Keep thinking that Bill has a win left in him……. maybe that’s not realistic…… but I will always pull for Bill Elliott on the racetrack…… and hopefully someday I can adopt Chase as my new favorite NASCAR driver!
Give em H3ll Sunday Bill!
George Elliott was a smart man, loving Fords and hating the rest.
Bill and the Wood Brothers will put on a show real soon. Bill hasn’t lost a thing behind the wheel. If the team can ever get the car right and the pit crew do their part, watch out.
Yes I was fortunate to meet George once. He told me he went to school up here in central New York. Maybe near Cortland. Anyway it was fan appreciation day in ’96 and I still have his signature. He was smiling a lot that day… Cindy and Bill-last fall I picked up a ’93 Elliott T-bird from down south and am going to restore it. I already own a ’93 cougar and they are even both the same color-I beleive it was called electric red that year (cranberryish) . Both with the 5.0 HO..The Mercury has never been driven in the winter. Since there were only 500 I thought it would be worthwhile. The car is solid and needs some paint on the front bumper. Also the seals have taken too much heat/sun so they will need replacement too. Hope to show you someday… Yes Atlanta is a fast track and the #21 will be ready for it I’m sure ! LATER…
Looking forward to a great weekend of racing for Bill and WBR. I know everyone is up to the challange, and will do a great job. Hpoefully twitter is up and running good, because if you are not HMS or RCR, you won’t get any coverage. TV coverage just stinks. To much air time for announcers, and not enough of showing the cars running on the track. But no matter what we’ll be watching, and good luck. GO BILL!!!!
NASCAR fan from the 60′s
..Bill fan since 82 .. have a lot of respect for what these drivers can do….but only two guys I would wait in line for an autograph from is Bill and the King
Bill your the kind of race driver you always want to see on the track. Your longevity in this sport speaks for itself, along with the talent and sportsmanship you always display.
Your one of a kind, I wish you well wherever you race and away from the track.
Go get’em at Atlanta, show’em what that Ford can do!
Tim
Hey 21 team, start up front and stay up front its just that easy!!! We all know that Bill is Awesome, so now its the teams turn to shine!! GO 21 GO!!!
Cindy to your past comment. Yes, I do look forward to what Bill still has to do in Winston Cup. Bridging his career with that of Chase and the others . I think the Elliott name will grab headlines for years to come. The great thing about it is, he starting it as a family thing. Just a reminder of how he started his career. I know you all work hard as a team to do Bill Elliott racing. All of your hard work will enable all the Elliott Nation Ha Ha to enjoy Elliott racing in our golden years. Wouldn’t it be something to someday have two Elliotts as Winston Cup Champoins….As a fan, I can’t wait to see the happines of you and bill hard work and dedication as parents in your son..Go get em Sunday Bill, hope you still giving it hell when you hit your last turn. Show the feild how to knock off that Jimmy Johnson streak…
Go get em Awesome Bill!
Hi Bill, long time no see. Since Peach State Ford in 01 or 02 I think.. when you bought a truck with the Cummins engine with low horsepower. Remember that ? Then I saw you at Atlanta motor speedway winning the pole on a Friday night a couple of years later . I’m a Dawsonville boy like you. My grandfather and father used to buy building materials from your dad. My sister was in your class (1973) I believe. I’m from the 1976 class. Still got your H-1 ? I’m in Roswell at the GMC dealership now. Come see me some time. Good luck in Atlanta this week..
Good luck this weekend Bill.Looking forward to watching you race on sunday.Hopefully your car will be good at the beginning of a run it seemed like last year that was what the car was lacking but the car was really fast at the end of a run.Your still the best driver out there.
Pulled out a tape of the 2003 Rockingham race last night watched Bill have to go to the back, and come to the front fast to take the win. Just might be a good omen of things to come this weekend. Could just be an AWESOME WEEKEND END.
I think the H -1 is the Hummer and no we do not have that any longer. Only had it a short few months actually before we sold it. Thanks for the good wishes.
That would truely be something.
i went to my first nascar race in 1969 at south boston, yes they had the big boys runing there back then. i was pulling for david pearson in the holman and moody ford. after david retired i had a hard time finding a driver to pull for untill bill came around. i saw bill win alot of races in person incluinding the winston milion at darlington and he came to our ford dealership in roanoke to sign autographs. bill and david are the only drivers i have ever called my faviot drivers in the 41 years i have been watching nascar. i now pull for any ford driver but don’t have a fraviot. can anyone tell me why in 1985 bill won 11 races and the rules where changed 3 times to slow the fords down and earnhart won the same amount of races in 1986 and no rule changes. also chevys win everything now and no rule changes. also think about this, toyota dose not have production vehicle with a pushrod engine. the rules used to state that the manufacture had to sell 500 production cars for an engine to be elligble
I think we all know that Bill has never been considered the “fair haired boy by NASCAR”. All I know is life isn’t what I would call fair and you do the best you can but it is nice that others do notice the same type of things that I do. Makes me feel like maybe I’m right and not just impartial. There is a fine line there and I have to be careful with my opinions of both Bill and Chase’s circumsatnces. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.