Bill Elliott won only one all-star race.

Bill more awesome than Dale intimidating in '86

Elliott beats Earnhardt in only all-star race not held at Lowe's

It was a different time, different attitude and definitely a different place -- and the year Bill returned to being Awesome again.

The only time NASCAR's mid-season all-star exhibition was held outside of North Carolina, it was home state hero Bill Elliott who steamrolled the field to win The Winston in front of 27,000 fans on a Mother's Day afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1986.

The outcome was in doubt only from the time the 10 cars took the green flag until Elliott raced past Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt in Turn 3 of the first lap.

2001 FLASHBACK Jeff Gordon reigned supreme on a rainy night at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2001, tying Dale Earnhardt with his third all-star race victory.  Gordon's win spanned nearly four hours, two days and two No. 24 Chevrolets, after NASCAR allowed drivers to use their backup cars following a rain-caused crash soon after the green flag.  •   Complete story, click here 1996 FLASHBACK For Michael Waltrip, 1996 was the perfect season. A perfectly historic season.  Ten years ago, Waltrip cracked $1 million in earnings for the first time, posted a then career-high 11 top-10 finishes and finished 14th in the Cup standings, also a career high at that time.  But nothing compares to what happened in that season's all-star race (then called the Winston Select), when Waltrip became the first -- and only -- driver to transfer from the Open race and win the weekend's main event.  •   Complete story, click here 1991 FLASHBACK There was something about NASCAR's annual all-star race that got into Davey Allison's system and jolted it to a new level.  The event's no-points, win-at-all costs format tended to fire up Allison to no end, and that was a big reason behind his back-to-back victories in 1991-92.  The feat hasn't been matched.  •   Complete story, click here 1986 FLASHBACK It was a different time, different attitude and definitely a different place -- and the year Bill Elliott returned to being Awesome again.  The only time NASCAR's mid-season all-star exhibition was held outside of North Carolina, it was home state hero Elliott who steamrolled the field to win The Winston on Mother's Day afternoon at Atlanta in 1986.  The outcome was in doubt only from the time the 10 cars took the green flag until Elliott raced past Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt in Turn 3 of the first lap.  •   Complete story, click here

"We knew what we were going to be up against before we ever started, so it was no surprise the way it finished," Waltrip said. "I never was in it, but neither was anybody else."

Even after a NASCAR official stepped out in front of the leaders as they exited pit road on Lap 40, all it did was give Earnhardt one final chance to see Elliott's Ford in his rear-view mirror.

Earnhardt was hoping to block Elliott's momentum as the two cars returned to the track after green-flag stops, and was surprised to see a pedestrian in the way.

"I'd have liked to jump right in front of [Elliott], make him slide or hit me or something," The Intimidator said. "But when it was time for us to go, there stood a NASCAR official right in the middle of the pit road."

"I saw the official standing there, too," Elliott said. "But I figured if I kept coming, he'd move."

That was as close as Earnhardt would get, as Elliott steadily pulled away from the rest of the 10-car field, coasting to the checkers 2.55 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Chevy.

How awesome was Awesome Bill? He lapped three of the 10 cars during the 83-lap event and was bearing down on seventh-place Geoff Bodine in the closing laps.

"He went by me one time and I think I saw him then," Terry Labonte said. "But he was going so fast, I didn't get a real good look."

Elliott, who set the all-time Talladega qualifying record of 212.229 mph the previous week only to lose the race when his motor expired 15 laps from the finish, won $240,000 plus lap money, which worked out to about $5,000 a minute -- or $2,222 a mile -- only slightly more expensive than a Manhattan taxi ride.

"The car was just super," Elliott said. "But I didn't count it won until I crossed the finish line. Too many things have happened to us this year for me to do anything else."

The more interesting race of the day was the preliminary 100-lap Atlanta Invitational, as a field of 14 took the green, including such luminaries as Buddy Arrington, Jimmy Means, J.D. McDuffie and Trevor Boys.

Tim Richmond was reeling in leader Benny Parsons with 20 laps to go when he ended up in a doorhandle-banging contest with the lapped car of Dave Marcis, which killed Richmond's momentum and allowed Parsons to capture the $75,000 first-place check.

Both drivers were unrepentant following the fracas.

"He had no right to be where he was," Richmond said. "He wouldn't move out of the way, then he drove into me in the first turn."

Marcis felt he had the right to race as hard then as at any time of the day.

"I don't care if I'm five laps down, I came here to race," he said. "You don't get laps back by just sitting there.

"He just ran into me, period. My car was loose and I was running up high. He had the whole bottom of the racetrack."

The winner of the Invitational was given a free pass to next season's The Winston instead of moving to the main event, so Parsons had to be content with his first Victory Lane celebration since 1984.