Bill Elliott says Kasey Kahne's success driving his old No. 9 Dodge makes him feel better about scaling back. Credit: Autostock
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
June 23, 2004
3:05 PM EDT (1905 GMT)
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- To paraphrase a cliche, Bill Elliott has been racing less in 2004, but enjoying it more.
And make no mistake about it; the driver who won three races in the last two years for owner Ray Evernham has kept himself busy.
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| Elliott will run at Indianapolis this year. Credit: Autostock |
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Elliott's diverse existence consists of a busy family life; racing on dirt and in the Nextel Cup Series; starting another race team; testing for Evernham and mentoring his young driver, Kasey Kahne; and trying to establish a brand of snack foods.
Elliott launched his race team over the weekend at Michigan International Speedway in the ARCA RE/MAX Series with North Carolina dirt track driver Ray Cook and also spent time in the Nextel Cup garage at the Evernham Motorsports haulers.
On Friday afternoon, Elliott sat down with NASCAR.com senior writer Dave Rodman to talk about his latest Nextel Cup driving plans, re-starting his own race team, "Bill Elliott's Awesome" snacks and the beginning of his son's racing career.
Q: It's been an off-again, on-again season for you but you're keeping busy. You just made an announcement about running a No. 91 Visteon Dodge for Evernham Motorsports at Indy, where you won the Brickyard 400 in 2002 so that's got to be pretty exciting?
Bill Elliott: Well, it is, like I think it is anytime we're putting a program together. It's an ideal situation. We were hoping to run eight to 10 races this year and right now I've just got two under my belt.
We just need to try to solidify some things for the second half of the season. We've got a lot of opportunities working and with the way Kasey (Kahne) and Jeremy (Mayfield) are running right now with the 9 and the 19, that just opens up more opportunities as far as what I can do on a limited basis.
It's helping Ray with his plans to bring on a third team, either from a part-time standpoint to maybe where eventually he's going to grow the deal to a full-time (program) down the road.
 | ALSO | | STATESVILLE, N.C. -- Bill Elliott will drive the No. 91 Visteon Dodge for Evernham Motorsports at the Brickyard 400 on Aug. 8, it was announced Tuesday. |
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I'm not looking to run a full-time deal right now. If I could run 10, 12, 14 races next year that would kind of be where I would like to be. To do it full-time anymore, I think I've done outgrown that.
I still enjoy a lot of parts of racing. I still enjoy seeing the people and the guys that I grew up with for all the years. That's just a special part of this sport.
Q: With the experience you had running your own team, including at times the frustration, how does it feel to not be able to put together a deal to run a limited number of races with Ray?
Bill Elliott: I'll say that's just the way it is. It's a little frustrating from one aspect. But the way I look at (running more races) is that it's not critical to my career.
Because in my career I've won Daytona, I've won Indy -- I've won all these races and I've won a championship. So I realize that my career is starting to wind down a little bit, so to speak.
I still feel physically well enough to run all of the races, but I just don't want to keep closing that window of opportunity up for me to go do other things, not only with my family but also as far as other opportunities that might come along.
I feel like now is the prime time to look at and to do different things.
Q: A few weeks ago you had a two-day test at Daytona where you ran in the heat of the day working on a night race, the Pepsi 400. You had some success working with Kyle Petty and Petty Enterprises on different aerodynamic situations so did you feel like it was a successful test?
Bill Elliott: I feel like it was an excellent test. You know, Jeremy and Kasey both kind of struggled in February (at Daytona's Speedweeks). But even though the race is run at night under a little cooler condition, it's still a handling racetrack.
You know, A -- you've got to handle and B -- you've got to have the power. We were doing several different options to try to help the whole organization because I'm still going to spin off and try to do my own thing down there.
Still, from the standpoint of where we need to be and where I need to be -- I still like to run Daytona.
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| Elliott's win at The Brickyard in 2002 was his 43rd Cup victory. Credit: Autostock |
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Daytona to me is always a unique racetrack, with the transition to the banking and the tightness of the corners. But you've still gotta run it flat-out for the full run before you come in to get tires and fuel.
Q: Do have plans to run the Pepsi 400 or is "demon money" still keeping you from running the 91 car there?
Bill Elliott: We're going to run the 400, with Coca-Cola sponsorship under my name, Bill Elliott Race Team, LLC.
Q: Your schedule this year has not had as much racing, but you've still been busy. You've been home more, so have you driven your wife, Cindy crazy and is your son, Chase glad to have you around?
Bill Elliott: Well, Chase likes me being there a lot, and so does Cindy. Now, I'm doing different things around the house. I'm doing more organizing stuff and instead of leaving on Thursday and being gone for Friday, Saturday and Sunday; now I might be gone just a day and spend one night away and I'll be back Sunday.
I've got such a different style, as far as what I do. And I've enjoyed having a lot less stress and pressure, especially dealing with having to perform on the Cup side and being so up every week.
I mean, if you get out of the car and -- I'll give you the perfect example. You take Kasey Kahne at Dover. Less than 20 laps to go, leading the race and he crashes and loses the race.
That was just like me at Homestead last fall (where Elliott cut a tire and lost on the last lap). It's tough and so emotional. You get so emotionally involved in this sport and that's such a tough letdown.
You work all your life to put yourself in that position and one little thing takes you out.
Q: What kind of a revelation has it been to work with Kasey, a kid with limitless potential who's made the commitment and is running so well? How neat has it been to be involved with him?
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Bill Elliott: Well, it's been fantastic from my side, because it keeps me feeling so well about the decision that I made. A -- giving him an opportunity, B -- because I feel like, yeah, I could continue to do it, but is your heart into it?
If you started another year and it might be a little bit of a rocky road and things might not go right, well I couldn't take another year like that.
Being able to see (Kasey) come in and do well and to be able to continue that on, is not only important to me but it's also important to Ray and the whole of Evernham Motorsports.
Q: As you say, you've diversified into different areas, including your own line of snack foods, "Bill Elliott's Awesome Beef Jerky" and pork rinds, among other items. How much of an eye-opener has that been?
Bill Elliott: It's been pretty incredible. I didn't realize what it is. I mean, I can tell you all the ins and outs as far as bringing a racecar to the racetrack and everything else.
But I'm going to tell you, to start in a different line, with all the political things you have to do to get the store space and to do this and to do that. We're making a lot of headway now.
It's taken probably a little bit longer than we realized it would, but we're starting to get into some grocery stores around home. I know there are some Ingles that are taking us in and there are some more stores that have started to do it.
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| Elliott is now not only a race car driver, but also a businessman. Credit: Autostock |
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Little by little we're starting to get our way into the door. What I can say to the fans is if you have a particular store you go into and you want to see the products, go to the store manager or write to the home office and say look, you want to see the products in their stores -- you know, try to help us out.
I'm trying to build a brand name, kind of like a (Paul) Newman, and to take care of charities and things from that standpoint with the brand. I'm trying to do several things for a long-term opportunity.
Q: Have you considered putting the products, such as Bill Elliott's Awesome Beef Jerky, on one of the racecars as a co-promotional deal with Winn-Dixie or Publix or another grocery chain?
Bill Elliott: Well, we have thought about it and talked about it but we never have gotten that far along to where we know what we want to put together.
I'm sure there'll be some opportunities as we continue to roll this forward, to what we can do and how to re-strategize and re-think where we're going to go as far as marketing it.
Q: Have you been able to do much pleasure flying? You used to enjoy flying model airplanes with Chase. Do you still get to do much of that?
Bill Elliott: No -- I'm doing that (model airplanes) less and less anymore. I really enjoy doing that but now I find my time so busy doing other stuff.
Chase is starting to race go-karts a little bit and I find myself going with him and trying to help him out a little bit.
I'm still trying to do a little bit of dirt racing here and there and a little part-time Cup stuff. You know, between all that it's kind of cut into my other time (to do model flying).
As far as pleasure flying, I still do it some, but right now my main flying is for business.
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Q: Has the dirt car been running much, even if you're not there to race it? I know you had Ray Cook running it some.
Bill Elliott: No, it's not been running much. Usually, if I don't run it I'm just hanging out with it and it's not running. The next few weeks I'll be doing different things and just going from here to there and just basically having a good time.
Q: What's your thought on the 2005 Nextel Cup Series schedule? Even though you're not directly involved, do you feel the changes were inevitable?
Bill Elliott: I think if you look in your crystal ball, down the road at the future of the sport, in order to attract the type of sponsorship you need to have you can't be in the Southeast forever.
I think that's one thing with the growth of the sport in that it might suffer in some ways, but I think as far as the long term is concerned, it'll probably be what the sport needs.
Q: What do you think will be the next earth-shattering development in Nextel Cup racing -- the 311 cubic-inch engine, a New York City street race, or do you not really care?
Bill Elliott: You know, I really don't know where it's going to go. The next thing I think we'll have to focus on, and who knows how many years it is down the road, but what are we going to do about alternate fuels and things, as far as where the evolution of where these cars has gone?
I mean, in the past three or four years, these guys have taken them to such another level as far as what they're doing aerodynamically and chassis-wise and so on and so forth.
It's just been totally incredible and you can see it from the lap times that they run.
Q: As the holder of the all-time NASCAR lap record, what's your take on the lap Rusty Wallace made at Talladega Superspeedway last week in which his top speed was 228 mph and his average, over 221?
Bill Elliott: Well, I think that's what we'd expect, with the evolution of these cars. I look back at the car that I ran 212 (mph) in and I didn't know anything.
With the bias ply tires we were using then, we gained three-quarters of a second when we went from bias ply to the radial tires. That was three-quarters of a second just with less rolling resistance.
You know, these cars with unrestricted engines are making more than 800 horsepower. They should run 230 (mph).
Q: Do you have any hankering that it was you that had run that lap, and not Rusty?
Bill Elliott: Oh, I'd have loved to have (been the one to have) tried it. Put me in it and let's go!
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