The Elliotts

Fancy suits and black-tie dinners do not excite Bill Elliott at all.

He is a blue jeans and tennis shoes kind of guy. And his simple approach has not only won him over with NASCAR's fans, but it has also helped him to win a lot of races. The proof is in the numbers.

In 2000, the spectators voted Elliott NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for the 10th straight year and 15th time in the last 17 seasons.

Meanwhile, in 25-plus years of competing at the Winston Cup level, he has taken the checkered flag 42 times -- twice at the Daytona 500 (1985 and '87) -- and won the series points championship in 1988. For Elliott's part, he could have never imagined he would have had success like this when he started competing in the Cup ranks with his family-owned Elliott racing machine in 1976.

"I would have never thought I would do this well," said Elliott. "I am a realistic person and with what we started with wasn't much. I would have thought our chances of winning in Winston Cup were about a million to one at that time with the equipment we had."

Back in '76, Elliott made eight Cup starts and won $11,635 in prize money. Following the 2000 campaign his career winnings totaled $23,688,157.

The Elliott family's place in NASCAR's spotlight is truly one that was earned.

George Elliott always had his hands in the racing business and he helped get Bill and his brothers Dan and Ernie involved in the sport. As a family, they built cars from used bodies, rebuilt engines and used second-hand tires to compete on dirt tracks around Georgia.

"Our ages are far enough part that we grew up different," said Bill. "But we all were a part of racing."

By 1976 Bill and Ernie were trying to win races with their family-owned operation against the likes of Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough -- but it wasn't easy, especially since both of them were working endless hours at their dad's dealership and in their race shop, which was an old elementary school in Dahlonega, Ga.

"People just don't understand how it was then," said Bill. "Back in those days, Ernie and I did all the work. He built the motors and I did the cars. We had no employees, just family. We tried to make enough money at the track to come back and race the next week. In the first couple of years, we were able to make eight to 10 races a year."

Ernie echoed Bill.

"We just wanted to race," Ernie said. "Being able to go to Winston Cup was the ultimate in motorsports. We did whatever we had to do to get to the race. We were all volunteers. Most of the guys had other jobs and they paid their own way. That's all we focused on -- racing."

Although Bill and Ernie were racing on a shoestring budget, it didn't show in their results. During limited Cup seasons from 1977-81, Bill recorded 21 top-10 finishes.

"I'm proud of the way we did it," Bill said. "We nurtured it and grew it and we won. Nobody can take that away from you. Our big break came when Harry Melling offered us $500 to sponsor the team. Daddy was glad to accept it. It was $500 more than we had."

Actually, Ernie thought buying Roger Penske's race stuff in the late 1970s helped put him and Bill down the right path.

"First, our father spent what he could so we could race," said Ernie. "Then, in 1977 or 1978, Roger Penske sold us his race stuff. He didn't realize it, but he did us a huge favor. It was like we were going up a flight of stairs step by step, and he allowed us to jump four steps. That got us to a point where we could attract attention from people like Harry Melling. That was like skipping two or three flights of stairs. Each break contributed to the next one."

By 1982, Melling provided Bill with a Cup ride with the all-important financial backing he and Ernie had been lacking. Melling didn't regret his decision.

During that '82 slate, Elliott won one pole, finished runner-up three times and had eight top-5 efforts in only 21 starts. A year later, Bill reached Victory Lane for the first time in the Winston Cup Series, winning the Winston Western 500 at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway.

He coupled that with 11 other top-five finishes to place third in the season's final points standings. The next season, he tripled his victory total and took home four poles en route to taking third in the points again. Then, came the magical 1985 season.

Bill won 11 races and 11 poles, including a million dollar bonus from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, thanks to taking checkered flags at the Daytona 500 and Talladega, earning him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill."

He pocketed an amazing $2,433,187 in prize money and was named the American Driver of the Year.

"Short of winning the championship, it was the ultimate season," Ernie said. "You couldn't ask a race team to do any more than what we did. I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Bill's performance fell off in 1986 as he only won twice and came in ninth in points.

However, in 1987 he was back in the groove, capturing six wins and eight poles, which left him second in points to Dale Earnhardt.

It is worth noting that his 1987 lap of 212.809 mph at Talladega remains the fastest qualifying lap in Winston Cup history.

Finally in 1988, Bill made the trek all the way to the top of the Cup summit in his No. 9 Ford Thunderbird by virtue of his six wins and six poles.

In the process, Bill became the first Ford driver to win a championship since David Pearson in 1969. Elliott was with Melling for three more seasons, coming in sixth, fourth and ninth in the points.

Elliott moved on to Junior Johnson's team in '92 and he nearly won his second championship.

He won the season finale -- the Hooters 500 at Atlanta, but led only 102 laps, while Alan Kulwicki the second-place finisher was ahead for 103 laps.

That was a huge factor since had Elliott led one more lap than Kulwicki, he and Kulwicki would have tied for the season points championship. Elliott would have been declared the winner since he won more races that season than Kulwicki.

Instead, Elliott lost the title by a mere 10 points, the closest margin ever in a Winston Cup points race.

The next two seasons -- his last two with Johnson -- saw Elliott drop to eighth and 10th in the points. The following year, Elliott made a bold move, partnering with Georgia businessman Charles Hardy to begin his tenure as a driver/owner. As his own boss, Victory Lane eluded Elliott and he was eighth in points in 1995 and '97.

Following an 18th-place points effort in '98, coupled with back-to-back 21st place showings in '99 and 2000, Elliott was left searching for a new direction. And Ray Evernham, who had led Jeff Gordon to prominence, gave Elliott a deal he could not refuse in 2001.

He signed Elliott to be his driver for Dodge, which was making its first appearance in Winston Cup since 1985. What's more, Evernham brought in Elliott to be a teammate to rising young star Casey Atwood.

"All the Dodge teams are starting to come together," said Elliott. "We are all proving that we are capable of winning races and that should only get better in time. And, my goal is to have us finish in the top 15 in points this season."

Elliott stunned the NASCAR world in 2002 with back-to-back victories at Pocono and Brickyard and a total of 13 top-10 finishes. Still, a late-season slump sent him to 13th in the final standings.

Although many critics have wondered when Elliott is going to retire from driving, he doesn't plan on that happening anytime soon.

"Racing in Winston Cup has gotten a lot more physical the last 10 to 15 years, and you have to be in better shape," said Elliott. "But, I don't read what people write about me. I just go to the track every Sunday and try to be the best driver I can be."

As for Ernie, he is still actively involved in the Winston Cup scene as well, building engines for drivers.

"I don't get to see Dan as much as I used to because he doesn't come to the races anymore," Bill said. "But Ernie and I still travel together almost all of the time."

No matter what Bill and Ernie do with the rest of their careers, their family name has been etched into the NASCAR history books forever.