Elliott to drive No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers in 600

No, it's not 1987, but Bill Elliott will be back in Charlotte next weekend driving a Ford in the Cup Series.

Elliott has agreed to a race-to-race deal to drive the No. 21 Ford Fusion for the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, beginning with the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. More races are expected to follow, but the team did not disclose a schedule.

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"I was pretty honored to get a call from the Wood Brothers to drive the 21 car," said Elliott, who spent 25 years of his career driving under the Ford nameplate. "I've seen them struggle the last few weeks, being outside the top 35, and it breaks my heart to see them miss races."

Ken Schrader, who is splitting time behind the wheel with Jon Wood this season, has failed to qualify for two of the last three races and the team has fallen to 39th in owner points, 163 behind 35th place. Only the top 35 are guaranteed a starting position in each week's race.

That's where Elliott comes in.

The 1988 Cup champion brings with him to the team six past champion provisional starting positions. And with former champion Dale Jarrett having already used up his allotted six provisionals, Elliott is the default recipient of the final starting spot each week should he not qualify based on speed.

"We owe it to our sponsors to be in every race," said Tad Geschickter, president of Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. "This gives us the best opportunity to move the No. 21 team higher in the Nextel Cup points."

Geschickter went on to say that the team's drivers and sponsors were on board with the decision.

"I see the need for it at this time," said Schrader, whose average finish this season is 31.9 in his eight races. "I want to see this team move forward as quickly as possible and I think the plan we have in place will allow that to happen."

Said Wood: "I look at this as an opportunity rather than a disappointment. Bill is a tremendously successful driver and the fact that no pressure will be on anybody in terms of making the race is what makes this a sound decision at this time."

Wood will drive the car in this weekend's Nextel Open. His only start this season came at Las Vegas, where he finished 29th.

"Ken Schrader and Jon Wood are the ultimate team players," said the team's co-owner, Eddie Wood. "They are looking beyond their own interests toward what is best for the company right now."

Elliott has 55 starts at Lowe's Motor Speedway, including two victories -- 1984 and 1987 -- and 22 top-10 finishes.

The marriage between the Wood Brothers and Elliott reunites an old friendship between the two racing families. But what most NASCAR fans will latch on with is that Elliott will be back in a Ford for the first time since he sold his own team to Ray Evernham at the end of the 2000 season and helped Dodge make its entrance into the Cup Series.

Forty of Elliott's 44 career victories came while driving a Ford, including an 11-win campaign in 1985 and his championship in 1988, both while driving for owner Harry Melling.

"We're excited that Bill Elliott is finally coming back home to a Ford racecar," said Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology. "There are still a lot of Ford fans who remember fondly what Bill meant to our program for so many years."

Eddie Wood said it was more than just putting Elliott in one of his family's cars or even getting him back in a Blue Oval.

"We certainly welcome Bill Elliott back to the Ford Racing camp, where he's had so much previous success," Wood said. "Bill, his family and our family have been great and close friends for over 30 years and it's more special to us than we can put into words that he'll be getting behind the wheel of the 21 car."