1on1: Bill Elliott (cont'd)

Q: Second-year Cup driver David Ragan, a fellow native of Georgia, was born in 1985 when you won the Winston Million. What do you think about him and racing against guys his age?

Elliott: I'm proud of him. He's done a good job. A lot of these kids -- win, lose or draw -- they work hard. A lot of them have gotten opportunities that a lot of us never would have at that point in time, but I can't say anything negative about that because they've been able to come in and either win races or run competitively and that's the name of the game.

Q: Brian France has talked about the sport getting back to its roots this year. What's your take on that?

Elliott: I've kind of felt that NASCAR has gotten away from its grass-roots fans. There are a lot of grass-roots fans who have gotten off in other directions, for whatever reason. And I think they need to get back on that. I think losing some of the racetracks we've lost in [the North Carolina] area hasn't helped things. You go to California and it's hard to build the same kind of fan base that we've had in the Southeast and East. I don't know why, but it just is. You need to get back and try to get that grass-roots fan back at the racetrack. I totally agree with that.

Q: As the last guy to win an unrestricted race at Daytona, can you comment on the differences between restricted and unrestricted racing at Daytona International Speedway?

Elliott: Back then you had to work so hard on the handling of the racecar because that was the most important part. The motor was part of it, but the way the racetrack was and bias-ply tires and cars with no downforce, it didn't take long to use it up. That's the thing that I thought about more than anything -- trying to get my car to where I could run it as hard as I could as long as I could because that was the biggest key to winning this deal.

Q: So that's the main difference?

Elliott: When restricted racing came, you could pretty much run it flat-out the whole deal. It eventually got slick enough that you had to give up some as the race went on, but, really, when these things were unrestricted it was like crazy-fast when you got to the corner at that point in time. I've said it several times and I'll say it again today: If I looked at everything in my career that most impressed me -- not of things that I've accomplished, but what most impressed me as far as what we did as a race team -- I think to come down here and run 210 [mph] around this racetrack and sit on the pole here in '87 and win this race is the most impressive thing to myself that I've ever done.

Q: So Daytona is your kind of track?

Elliott: I enjoy running here. I enjoy the calculating side of how to race here, but sometimes that doesn't play a part in what you can do at the end of the day. Today, with NASCAR not being afraid to throw the caution as frequently as they do -- where in the past they never threw a caution -- it's different. So you really have to be strategic in where you place yourself as the race progresses. What I keep coming back and saying is that in the '80s you could have a lot of problems and overcome it, whereas today if you have any problem, you're probably not gonna overcome it. You've got to have the best stops on pit road. You've got to have the fastest times on pit road. You've got to have an awful good racecar. You've got to have somebody that will help you get to the front. You've got to have somebody that will stick with you through some moves that you do on the racetrack, and if you don't have that, you're not gonna run well.

Q: Could you talk a little bit more about winning the Daytona 500 in 1985, and then again in 1987, basically as a family based team with limited financial backing from Melling Racing?

Elliott: It was more than a dream come true for me. If I look back on my career and look at the opportunity that we had at that point in time, there is no way we could have made it today like we made it back then. We couldn't have done it. We didn't have the money; we didn't have the people. In 1985 -- I keep going over the list -- we had 11 of us, total, in the shop. That's counting the engine shop and the chassis shop. And I was one of the 11 guys who worked there 24/7, whatever it took. Sometimes we were so tired when we showed up at the racetrack.

"But still, the proudest accomplishment of what the family was able to do at that time was when we were able to go to the Daytona 500, compete in the Daytona 500, and win the Daytona 500. I think that says a lot about the effort and dedication and all that we put into it. It's so funny, you look at it here some 20-odd years later and it's so different. Your goal all winter long is still to win the Daytona 500. But when reality comes in, Daytona comes and goes and now you have to go to California and go on and on and on. ... The drivers are the ones who kind of get put up on a pedestal, but there are so many people that it takes now to get it done."