Bill Elliott

Bill Elliott started racing on short tracks in Georgia with his brothers, Dan and Ernie. He started in the Sportsman division in 1970, made his Cup debut in 1976 and competed in his first full Winston Cup season in 1983. His first win came in his 117th start, in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside, Calif., in 1983. His first pole came in his 56th attempt, in the 1981 Rebel 500 at Darlington, S.C. In 1992 Elliott won four consecutive races to tie the modern-era record. He won a single-season record 11 superspeedway races in 1985. That year, he won the Winston Million, from which came the nickname "Million Dollar Bill."

He owns the fastest recorded time in a stock car, qualifying for the 1987 Winston 500 at Talladega with a speed of 212.809 mph. His lengthy list of career accomplishments includes being one of only 10 drivers to top $20 million in career winnings in Winston Cup racing, joining Jeff Gordon, the late Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, Ricky Rudd and Jeff Burton in that elite club. He was named the driver of the decade for the 1980s in a fan poll conducted by ESPN Speedweek. He was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers of all time and was the first Winston Cup driver on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

After becoming a driver-owner in 1995 with little success, Elliott sold his team to Ray Evernham and bean driving for Evernham Motorsports in 2001. He continued to scratch and claw his way back toward the elite ranks in Winston Cup racing, earning his first victory in seven years in the first-year program. Elliott rebounded from two straight seasons of finishing 21st in the points to finish 15th. More importantly, Elliott proved he could still win by capturing the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Elliott, who was strongest through the middle portion of the 36-race schedule, scored five top-fives and nine top-10 finishes and won $3,618,017 after scoring only two DNFs.

Elliott began the 2001 season with a bang, winning the Bud Pole for the Daytona 500 and finishing fifth in the "Great American Race." But several erratic stretches through the year, including a 13-race stretch before he scored his second top-10 of the year, hurt his chances for a better finish in the points.

Elliott's best point finish since 1997 only could have improved the Dawsonville, Ga., native's already immense popularity. Elliott, however, removed himself from the running for the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award early in 2001.

In 2002, fans voted him as NASCAR's most popular driver, the 16th time that he had won the honor in the previous 18 seasons.

Fans had good reason to cheer Elliott in 2002. He won back-to-back races at Indy and Dover in August and finished 13th in the final standings with 13 top-10 finishes in 36 starts and $3,753,490 in earnings.

Elliott ran his first reduced race schedule in an Evernham Motorsports Dodge in 2004 as NASCAR Busch Series standout Kasey Kahne stepped in for Elliott as the driver of the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. His best finish in seven starts was a ninth-place finish at Indianapolis.

Elliott's greatest loves, aside from family and racing, are snow skiing and flying. He has multi-engine rated and helicopter-rated pilot's licenses.