Background and career
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 Superstar Racing Experience part-time in 2022. His accolades include the 1988 Winston Cup Championship and garnering 44 wins in that series, including crown jewel victories in two Daytona 500s (1985, 1987), three Southern 500s (1985, 1988, and 1994), one Winston 500 (1985), and one Brickyard 400 (2002). In 1985, Elliott became the first driver to win the Winston Million bonus, earning him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill". Elliott achieved a NASCAR record four consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway between 1985 and 1986, and seven wins overall, the most at any one racetrack in his career. Elliott also won an additional six exhibition (non-points) races in his career, including one Winston All-Star Race win in 1986, one Busch Clash win in 1987, and four Daytona Duel wins in 1985, 1986, 1992, and 2000. 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 won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times (1984–1988, 1991–2000, 2002). He withdrew his name from the ballot for that award after winning it in 2002. Regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, Elliott was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2015. Elliott's son Chase Elliott is 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.
William Clyde Elliott was born in Dawsonville, Georgia on October 8, 1955. According to his autobiography, many generations of Elliotts resided there. He was named after two relatives and is the youngest of three boys. His parents were Erving "George" Elliott Jr. (1924-1998) and Mildred Reece (1921-1991) His father George created a lumber company and loved racing, and later created a speed shop where Bill's brothers, Ernie (born 1947) and Dan (born 1951), worked. His father was also a Ford person and later created a Ford dealership as there were none in the area. Elliott has two daughters, Starr and Brittany, with the wife from his 1st marriage, Martha. Bill and his current wife Cindy, have one son together, William Clyde II (nicknamed "Chase"). The 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports in the No. 9 Chevrolet. Brittany Elliott joined the US Air Force Security Forces.
Driving a car owned by his father, George Elliott, Elliott made his first Winston Cup Series start at Rockingham in 1976. He qualified 34th in a field of 36 cars, and finished 33rd; Elliott only lasted 32 laps that day before the oil pump failed in his Ford Torino. Elliott toiled for five years in the Winston Cup Series without corporate sponsorship, and along the way showed flashes that he could compete with the established veterans of the sport. In mid-1977, Elliott bought a Mercury Montego from Bobby Allison after his split from Penske Racing to replace the inferior Torino, and the move paid off. He soon earned his first top-ten finish in the Southern 500 (tenth), and his first top-five finish two years later in the same race, finishing second to race winner (and Elliott's boyhood hero) David Pearson. In the fall of 1980, Elliott gained his first major sponsor in the form of $500 from Harry Melling of Melling Racing in the 1980 National 500 at Charlotte. Melling would extend his contract and give the team enough sponsorship to run a twelve race schedule in 1981. In the 1981 season, he had one top-five and seven top-ten finishes in thirteen races, including the team's first pole in the spring race at Darlington.
On December 1, 1981, Melling bought the team from Elliott's father George. In 1982, Elliott continued to show more and more flashes, and continued to flirt with victory lane more and more, as he finished the season with eight top-five finishes, and nine top-ten finishes which included three runner-up finishes in the World 600 at Charlotte to Neil Bonnett, the Firecracker 400 at Daytona to Bobby Allison, and the fall race at Charlotte to Harry Gant. In 1983, Elliott picked up four more second place finishes in the season, which included finishing runner-up in the Daytona 500 to Cale Yarborough, runner-up at Rockingham to Richard Petty, runner-up in the summer race at the road course Riverside to Ricky Rudd, and runner-up in the Southern 500 at Darlington to Bobby Allison. After 115 starts beginning in 1976, and eight second place finishes between 1979 and 1983, Elliott finally broke through and won his first Winston Cup race in the final race of the 1983 season — the Winston Western 500 at Riverside. With his first win to go along with 12 top-fives and 22 top-tens, Elliott finished the 1983 season third in the final championship point standings. Elliott gained full sponsorship from Coors in 1984 to the tune of $400,000 and won three races – the Michigan 400 at Michigan, the Miller High Life 500 at Charlotte, and the American 500 at Rockingham. He also collected four poles and finished third in the final points standings for the second year in a row. The 1984 season also brought Elliott his first season of winning NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award, and would begin a stretch of five consecutive years, from 1984 to 1988, where he would win that award.
Before the beginning of the 1985 season, the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and its core brand sponsor Winston began the Winston Million promotion. It offered a US$1 million bonus to any driver who could win three out of the four crown jewel races of NASCAR (a "Small Slam") in a single calendar year season; the Daytona 500 at Daytona (NASCAR's most prestigious race), the Winston 500 at Talladega (NASCAR's fastest race), the World 600 at Charlotte (NASCAR's longest race), and the Southern 500 at Darlington (NASCAR's oldest race). If there was no million-dollar winner, a $100,000 consolation bonus would be given to the first driver to win two of the four races. The 1985 season was the best season of Elliott's career. He scored 11 wins and 11 poles out of 28 races and also went on to win the first ever Winston Million in the Southern 500 at Darlington. This would give him the nicknames "Million Dollar Bill" and "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville". Elliott started the 1985 season first with a dominating victory in the Daytona 500, leading 136 of the 200 laps, starting from the pole position. This was the "first leg" of the Winston Million promotion that Elliott captured. His second win of the season came three weeks later at his home-track of Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading 129 of 328 laps. He would win again two weeks later, his third of the season, with a win in the spring race at Darlington. Going into the "second leg" of the Winston Million promotion, which was the Winston 500 at Talladega, Elliott completed one of the greatest and most memorable comebacks in NASCAR history. Elliott was leading the race when he had to pit due to a broken oil fitting, which would then put him back about two laps. He completed one of NASCAR's greatest comebacks by making his way through the field, making up both laps under green flag conditions without the aide of a caution, and winning the race, his fourth of the season, and capturing the "second leg" of the Winston Million promotion, which also guaranteed Elliott at the very least the $100,000 consolation bonus in the Winston Million promotion. The following week, Elliott captured his 5th win of the season at Dover. Despite losing power-steering in the car, he led 336 of the 500 laps, and won the race being the only car finishing on the lead lap. Going into the "third leg" of the Winston Million promotion, which was the World 600 at Charlotte, Elliott had a chance to capture the million dollar prize. Elliott had a strong car, leading 84 of the first 155 laps, but mechanical failures relegated him to an 18th place finish. This was the only major of the four that Elliott would not win in 1985 (a driver needed only to win a "small slam" of the four majors to win the bonus; Elliott, since he retired in 2013, would not finish a Career Grand Slam. However, Elliott had won twice at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1984 and 1987, and had finished runner up in the World 600 twice, in 1982 and 1990).
After the disappointing finish in the World 600, Elliott rebounded with a 6th place finish at Riverside. He would then go on a tear during the summer months of 1985, first winning back-to-back races, his 6th and 7th of the season, at Pocono and Michigan. Elliott would then lead the most laps, 103 of 160 laps, and finish 2nd in the Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona to Greg Sacks. He followed that up with his 8th win of the season at Pocono, then leading 100 of 188 laps at Talladega and finishing 4th, and then leading 90 of 200 laps and winning at Michigan, his 9th of the season. It was also during this stretch, Elliott would set an unprecedented NASCAR record of winning five consecutive pole qualifying sessions in 1985; the June Pocono race, the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, the July races in Pocono and Talladega, and the August Michigan race. That did not include the June Michigan race where qualifying was rained out, and the July Pocono race pole was where he started second, but further investigation led NASCAR to throw out the winning pole time for illegal fuel additives, retroactively awarding Elliott the pole award, money, and credit towards the season-long award for most poles won. After a 5th place finish at Bristol, Elliott had a chance to clinch the Winston Million Dollar Bonus in the next race, which was the fourth and "final leg" of the Winston Million Dollar promotion: the Southern 500 at Darlington. Multiple media outlets went to cover the race, as Elliott had the chance to collect the million dollar purse which at that time had never been done in stock car racing. Elliott started the race strong, but had to fend off tough competition throughout the race which included serious threats by Harry Gant and Dale Earnhardt, who dominated the early and middle portions of the race. Harry Gant led 84 laps before the engine gave way on his car, and Dale Earnhardt, who dominated most of the race leading 147 of the 367 laps, crashed out at around lap 318. In the final stages of the race, Elliott was leading and had to fend off a hard charging Cale Yarborough who was battling an ill-handling racecar after he broke a power-steering line. Nonetheless, Elliott led 100 of the 367 laps and crossed the finish line first, winning the Southern 500 at Darlington, capturing his 10th win of the season, and winning the first ever Winston Million Dollar Bonus, which at the time was the largest single race payday in motorsports history. After the race, Elliott took a victory lap in a Pontiac Grand Am convertible with the president and CEO of Winston Tobacco Products at the time, Gerald H. Long, and NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett conducting the victory interview. In victory lane, Long presented Elliott with the Winston Million Dollar Bonus while being showered with "Million Dollar Bills", which would then end up being one of Bill Elliott's infamous nicknames he would carry throughout his illustrious career. After the race, Elliott became the second NASCAR driver to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, following Cale Yarborough after his win in the 1977 Daytona 500. After winning the Southern 500 at Darlington along with the Winston Million, Elliott had built a 206 point lead in the championship standings with eight races to go. However Elliott would lose the point lead after a string of poor finishes, which included a 12th at Richmond, 20th at Dover, 17th at Martinsville, and the transmission failing at North Wilkesboro, finishing 30th. In contrast, Darrell Waltrip won at Richmond, finished 2nd at both Dover and Martinsville, and finished 14th at North Wilkesboro, thus overtaking the points lead over Elliott. Elliott did come within twenty points of the championship lead after his 11th win of the season at Atlanta with one race to go. However in the season finale at Riverside, a 31st place finish due to a broken oil pump and a 7th place finish by Darrell Waltrip ended Elliott's championship hopes, as he finished in 2nd place in the final championship standings, 101 points behind Waltrip. The 1985 season was still historic for Elliott. Along with winning the Winston Million, Elliott overall scored eleven wins, eleven poles (including five in a row), sixteen top-five finishes and eighteen top-ten finishes out of 28 races, while having an average starting position of 4.9 and an average finish of 8.7. His eleven superspeedway victories in 1985 set a NASCAR modern-era single season record which stands to this day, and he also tied another NASCAR modern-era record for completing the season sweep at 4 different tracks in one season: Pocono, Michigan, Darlington, and Atlanta (Darrell Waltrip had 4 "season sweeps" in 1982 at Bristol, North Wilkesboro, Talladega, and Nashville). At the end of the season, Elliott was voted the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year for 1985.
