Fans Get Chance To Get Up Close With Top NASCAR Stars and Cars
NASCAR fans in the south Florida area will have a unique chance to get up-close with some of the sport's biggest names, including Bill Elliott, when the South Florida Ford Dealers host Ford Racing Fan Appreciation Day Thursday, November 11, 1999, at the Pro Player Stadium in Miami.
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Rocky Day at the Rock for Elliott
October 24, 1999 - The North Carloina Speedway, located in Rockingham, NC, is called "The Rock." For Elliott on Sunday, "the rock" had a completely different meaning. A mishap with a rock from the race track was very costly for Elliott and the Drive-Thru Crew, eleminating any shot of a decent finish.

Elliott did not have a stellar qualifying run on Friday afternoon, turning only the 31st quickest lap. Elliott stood on his time during second-round qualifying and would be regulated to the 34th starting position.

From the drop of the green flag, Elliott dropped back almost immediately, by lap number eight, Elliott was back in the 38th position. Elliott then worked his way up to 33rd on lap 22. At lap 32, Elliott was 32nd, and his position would coinside with the lap number over the next few laps. On lap 33, he was 33rd, on lap 34, he was 34th, and on lap 35, you guessed it, he was 35th, where he would settle in for the next 23 laps.

Elliott was battling an extremely loose race car and went a lap down when leader Dale Jarrett passed him on lap 61, while he was running 34th. After Jarrett got around the McDonald's Ford, so did two other cars fighting to remain on the lead lap, putting Elliott back to 36th.

The race had been caution-free up to this point and green flag pit stops started around lap 69. With cars in front of him making stops, Elliott would run as high as 28th.

Then the situation got a little rocky. The throttle was sticking on the 94 Taurus and Elliott dove into the pits on lap 79. The hood would go up on the car and the Drive-Thru Crew would find that a rock was wedged in the throttle linking. Elliott would loose four laps in the pits and return to the race dead last, five laps down.

Elliott would use attrition to finish in the 33rd position, eight laps down.

Elliott remains in the 20th position in the Winston Cup point standings with a total of 3000 points, 55 points behind 19th place Jimmy Spencer.

Drive-Thru Crew Sixth
October 23, 1999 - The McDonald's Drive-Thru Crew of Bill Elliott finished sixth place in the Union 76 Rockingham World Pit Crew competition.

Elliott Finishes 20th at Talledega
October 17, 1999 - Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew were able to miss the lone wreck at Talledega and come home mid-pack. Elliott was able to stay out of trouble to gain 18 positions over his provisional starting spot.

Elliott's day at the Talledega track on Friday was a forgettable one. After sitting at the bottom of the speed charts in the first practice, Elliott qualified a mere 45th. Elliott would use a provisional to make the race and start the Winston 500 in the 38th position.

Like so many times at restrictor-plate tracks, Elliott just couldn't seem to find a friend to draft with. From his 38th starting spot, Elliott had worked his way up to 35th by lap five, but Elliott would get hung out to dry only ten laps later and drop to the rear of the field.

Elliott would work from the rear of the field to 37th place at the race's first caution of the day on lap 48. Elliott would enter the pits for four tires, gas, and needed changes on the car. Elliott would restart the event in 36th.

By lap 64, Elliott had moved up to 33rd and passed for 32nd on lap 78. The only wreck of the day happened on lap 81 and involved five cars. This moved Elliott up to 28th before the pit stops. Elliott and Wayne Orme called for a two-tire stop to gain needed track position. The quick stop would place Elliott in the 12th position for the restart.

Elliott could not hold the draft and dropped back quickly, by lap 94, Elliott was back in the 21st position, about two seconds behind the lead pack. Elliott would then fall back into 25th on lap 100, where he would swap the 25th and 26th positions over the next 34 laps.

The third and final caution flag of the day would fly on lap 140, while a majority of the leaders were entering pit road. This would move Elliott to 11th before he would make his pit stop. The Drive Thru Crew would give Elliott a great stop and the 94 Ford would restart in the 13th position.

Again, with no parteners, Elliott dropped like a rock. Within one lap, Elliott had fallen from 13th to 20th, two laps later, he was 23rd and out of the lead draft. Elliott finally found a friend in the lapped car of Geoffrey Bodine and was able to catch back up to the lead pack.

On lap 158, Elliott made the pass for 20th, where he would run for the remainder of the event. Elliott was able to gain a spot in the Winston Cup point standings, he now sits in the 20th position with 2936 points.

2000-Model Ford Taurus Launched in Atlanta
When NASCAR Driver "Awesome Bill" Elliott crosses the end of the assembly line today in a red, 2000-model Ford Taurus, customers will be the winners. The redesigned Taurus -- built at Ford Motor Company's Atlanta Assembly Plant (AAP) in Hapeville, Ga. -- has even more safety enhancements, room, quality and durability than its "double five star" safety-rated predecessor.
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Just Missed a Top-Ten at Charlotte
October 11, 1999 - Bill Elliott ran well in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. Elliott finished 11th, two laps down. Elliott remains in the 21st position in the Winston Cup point standings, with a total of 2833 points.

Sorry for the lack of a race report this week, but I, like most of you, had to work. Please vistit the McDonald's web site for more details.

Charlotte Qualifying Quotes
"We hadn't run good in practice and we hadn't run good in qualifying. I think we'll race OK, it's just disappointing. We need to be better and we're gonna have to get some things changed around here to get better."

Not a Good Day at Martinsville
October 3, 1999 - Bill Elliott gave his fans an idea of what to expect for the NAPA AutoCare 500 at Martinsville on Friday afternoon. After qualifying 33rd, Elliott stated, "I always have a problem here. I just don't have my shock package right or something, I'm just on top of the race track." That was evedent in the ensuing practices, where Elliott was at or near the bottom of the speed charts, and the race on Sunday.

Once the race started, Elliott started loosing positions almost immediately. After eight circuits, Elliott had dropped back into 36th. Elliott did manage to work his way back up into the 33rd position by lap 47.

With only 93 laps on the board, Elliott went a lap down to leader Kenny Wallace. Elliott worked up into 30th place by lap 104, as green flag pit stops started. With many cars pitting under the green flag, Elliott was able to move up the scoring pylon, to a top position of 16th on lap 132, when the caution came out. Elliott would restart the race in the 24th position and soon see another caution. This time, he would be in 21st when the green flag would drop.

Elliott would loose another lap to the leaders and continued to fall back into the field. By lap 231, Elliott found himself 27th. Then on lap 264, lost his third lap, this time to Mike Skinner. Elliott would run back in the 32nd positon on the 276th lap.

Elliott would use attrition to move up into the field over the remainder of the race. Elliott stayed out of trouble and finished 20th, four laps down.

Elliott remains in the 21st position in the Winston Cup point standings with 2703 points.

Note: Following the race, Elliott was treated in the infield care center for heat exhaustion.

Martinsville Qualifying Quotes
"I always have a problem here. I just don't have my shock package right or something, I'm just on top of the race track. I need to work on that a little harder. If I go out on heated tires, I'm pretty good."

Did You Know?
Bill Elliott ranks second on Ford's all-time individual win list. Elliott's career total of 40 wins behind the wheel of a Ford ranks just below Ned Jarrett's 43 Ford wins.
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September 26, 1999 - Dover a Monster for Elliott
Bill Elliott and the McDonald's team had a good day go sour on them at Dover Downs. Elliott and the team brought a brand new car to Dover with hopes of bringing home a top finish. The number 94 Ford Taurus would run well for most of the day, but a problem with 71 laps to go would regulate Elliott near the bottom of the finishing order.

Elliott had a good qualifying effort on Friday, turning the sixth fastest lap during the qualifying session. Thanks to outside pole sitter Jerry Nadeau's Happy Hour crash, Elliott would be able to start the MBNA Gold 400 from the fourth position.

Elliott started the event rather well, but would loose a couple of positions early. By lap 33, he had slipped to the 10th position. On lap 41, while running 15th, Elliott dodged a bullet. Elliott was on the inside of David Green and Dave Marcis when the two got together and spun to bring out the first caution of the day. Elliott would miss the spinning cars and then head for the pits under the yellow flag.

The pit stop was not an impressive one, as Elliott would restart the event back in 19th. The 94 would slip back to 24th on lap 101 but by the 111th lap, made it back to 18th. On the 145th circuit, leader Tony Stewart would put Elliott a lap down.

Many good cars were being lapped and the more cars lapped, the more cars Elliott picked off. Elliott was running 15th when the third caution flag of the day would fly and was able to beat Stewart to the stripe to regain his lost lap. This time, the Drive Thru Crew had a good stop and got Bill out in the 12th position.

Elliott then spent the next 60 or so laps swapping the 12th and 13th positions, until he finally made the pass for 11th on lap 193. Once again, Elliott would go a lap down, this time on lap 226. After loosing the lap, it was time for a green flag pit stop. The Crew gained Elliott one spot on pit road and gave Elliott a car that he was pleased with.

With just over 100 laps to go, Elliott started a strong march toward the front. By the 328th lap, Elliott had made his way up to seventh. With only five cars remaining on the lead lap and only five cars one lap down, Elliott's chances of a top ten seemed secure.

Then disaster struck with 71 laps to go. Joe Nemechek would hit the wall and a part from his car would get under Elliott's hood and puncture the radiator hose, causing the 94 Ford to overheat. Elliott would pit for the Drive Thru Crew to change the hose and loose 15 laps in the proccess. This, combined with the lap that he lost on the track, would put him a total of 16 laps down.

Elliott would finish the event in the 33rd position, 18 laps down. Elliott lost two positions in the Winston Cup point standings, he now sits in 21st with 2600 points.

Qualifying Quotes
"Not bad. We keep hammering on our program and get a little better week in and week out. These guys have really put a good car under me this weekend, so we'll just keep digging, but I'm proud of what they do. They do a heck of a job and we'll see if we can get this McDonald's Ford up front on Sunday afternoon."

Elliott Finishes 19th at New Hampshire
Making his return to the track of his top finish this season, Bill Elliott had high hopes. Things did not go as planned for Elliott and the McDonald's crew, however.

Elliott struggled with the new tire that Goodyear brought to the New Hampshire International Raceway during qualifying, posting only the 31st fastest time. With only one round of qualifying due to the rain on Friday, Elliott would start the Dura Lube/Kmart 300 back in the 31st position.

Elliott would work his way up to the 27th position before the first round of pit stops would occur. The number 94 Ford tried to stretch his fuel milage, which could have payed off at Loudon, and Elliott was able to stay out on the track while all others pitted. This turned out to be costly to for Elliott and the team. With the leaders on new tires and Elliott on very old tires, Elliott was loosing ground. Elliott then ran out of fuel on lap 94 and had to coast to his pit stall, he would return to the race in 38th position, a lap down.

Down but not out, Elliott would fight his way back through the field and eventually regain his lost lap. On lap 139, while running 30th, Elliott passed leader Rick Mast to move back onto the lead lap.

Elliott would then start to pass the cars on the lead lap and work his way into the top-twenty. Then on lap 279, while battling with Mark Martin for the 19th spot, Elliott would again go a lap down.

The race would end under the caution flag, with Joe Nemechek the winner and Elliott in 19th place, one lap down.

Elliott remains in 19th position in the Winston Cup point standings, with 2536 points.

Qualifying Quotes
"I'm just all over the place, but that's the way I've been here the whole time trying to make a qualifying run. I can't say that I was tight and I can't say the car was loose, I just didn't go anywhere. That's kind of been the consensus all morning, but I feel like this car will race very well. Goodyear has a little bit different tire here and with only an hour of practice it really doesn't give you much time to sort through stuff. It's just hard on everybody having to do it all at one time with a one-hour practice and then go at it. I see a lot of people are having problems, but it's just part of what you do."

Elliott Looks Forward to Loudon
Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 94 McDonald's Taurus, had his best finish of the season in the Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway two months ago, finishing fifth. As the NASCAR Winston Cup Series heads back to Loudon this weekend, Elliott spoke about what to expect in the DuraLube/Kmart 300.
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More Problems at Richmond
September 11, 1999 - Elliott's run under the lights at Richmond featured more problems for the McDonald's team. After a sprinkle of good luck last week at Darlington, Elliott's luck returned to form, bad.

Elliott qualified the 94 Ford in the 17th position for the Exide NASCAR Select 400. Over the first few laps, Elliott gained two spots, up to 15th. Eventual race winner Tony Stewart and third place finisher Dale Jarrett would both pass the 94 and put Elliott back where he started, in 17th.

The first caution on lap 58 would find Elliott in 16th place. Thanks to a good pit stop, Elliott would restart the race in 15th. This run was not a particularly good one for the 94, Elliott started to fade over the next few laps. Once the caution flag came out on lap 103, Elliott had slipped back into 21st place. Once again, the Drive Thru Crew gained Elliott a spot in the pits and would restart the race 20th.

The next green-flag run was more of the same for the McDonald's Ford, by lap 128, Elliott had fallen back to the 25th position. Then on lap 156, Elliott would go a lap down to leader Tony Stewart.

During caution number three, on lap 169, the pit stop would take a little longer as the crew made adjustments on the car. Elliott would restart the race back in the 29th position, but with a better handling race car than before.

By the time the fourth caution flag waved on lap 213, Elliott had worked his way up to 26th. The Drive Thru Crew turned off an excellent pit stop that put Bill in 21st, the first car a lap down.

On lap 262, a puff of smoke shot out the back of the 94 and Elliott started to slow on the track. Elliott radioed in to crew chief Wayne Orme and said that the car had a terrible vibration. Elliott brought the car down pit road and changed tires, the vibration was still there. Elliott brought the car back in the pits to check the drive shaft. Finally, they took the car behind the wall to change a broken rear-end gear.

Once repairs had been made, Elliott would return to the track, where he would finish 36th, 42 laps down. Elliott remains in 19th place in the Winston Cup points standings, with 2430 points.

Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 14    21.990  122.783
Practice 2 -  4    21.782  123.955
Qualifying - 17    21.706  124.390
Practice 1 - 13    22.260  121.293 
Happy Hour - 29    22.420  120.428     

11th at Darlington
September 5, 1999 - All in all, not a bad day for Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew at Darlington. Elliott and the team battled with a loose race car and a missed setup to salvage an 11th place finish in the Pepsi Southern 500.

I was in Darlington on Saturday and followed the 94 team exclusively during Happy Hour. I was very surprised that they missed the race setup because of the hard work that Bill and the McDonald's crew put into getting the car right during the final practice. The car was decent on new tires but was faster than most on old tires, Elliott was running mid 31s consistantly on old tires.

One other note from the track, Elliott has now filled the once vacant rear end of the car. The 94 now carries www.billelliottracing.com in the spot vacated by Service Merchandise. Not a sponsor, but it looks better than just being blank.

Elliott qualified a very respectable 10th, at Darlington, a good starting spot is important. When the green flag dropped, Elliott jumped to the eighth position on the first lap. By lap 11, two cars on their way to the front had regulated Elliott back to tenth.

Elliott saw a lot of action around him today. On lap 44, while running 13th, Elliott got into the rear end of Jerry Nadaeu, who had slowed on the track. Then on the 51st lap, Jerry Nadeau had a tire go down and hit the wall. As Bill slowed to miss the melee, he was hit slightly in the rear by Dale Jarrett (could someone keep him away from Bill's car?)

Time for the first pit stop of the day, Elliott would enter the pits 15th and emerge 14th. Once the race would return to green, Elliott became bad loose and steadily fell back in the pack. By lap 102, Elliott had fallen back into the 28th position and on the next lap, went a lap down to the leaders. Elliott would pit on lap 108 and change four tires and make a track-bar adjustment to combat the loose condition. Whith the fresh rubber and the leaders pitting later, Elliott regained his lost lap on lap 124.

Over the remainder of the race, Elliott struggled with the handling on the McDonlad's Ford. The crew made adjustments on almost every pit stop to help the problems. The Drive Thru Crew had great pit stops today, only once did Elliott loose a position in the pits, but with the car's handling woes, Elliott couldn't hold the positions.

The race was red flagged on lap 244 for rain, Elliott would restart the event in 14th, but quickly lost two positions, placing Elliott as the final car on the lead lap.

The rain returned at lap 253 and so did the caution flag, Elliott decided to pit under the caution. This move would end up gaining Elliott five positions in the final standings. The red flag came out once again for the rain. Once the rain had stopped, five drivers ahead of Elliott pitted under the yellow flag, this moved Elliott to 11th. The race never returned to green flag conditions, as NASCAR stopped the event on lap 270, 96 laps short, giving Elliott an eleventh place finish.

"I felt like I didn't start out too bad," said Elliott. "Then I got really bad loose the second run. From then on I struggled. We've been throwin' those spring rubbers in and takin' 'em out and doin' this and doin' that, heck, I just couldn't get hooked up to anything."

Elliott remains in the 19th position in the Winston Cup point standings, with 2375 points.

Qualifying Quotes
"I felt like I got through one and two really well, but I felt like I gave up just a little bit of time in three and four. It's easy to sit here and say that, but to go out and do it again would be hard enough. I really felt good in one and two. I felt like the car was really hooked up in one and two. I mean, we came here and were about 25th-fastest in second practice. Wayne asked me what I wanted to do and I told him to let's just get it ready to qualify. Ernie tuned on the motor a little bit and we got everything going, so we'll just see how it holds up. At least we'll be on the front side, that's the good thing."

Pepsi Southern 500 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 11    29.419  167.157    
Practice 2 - 20    29.368  167.447
Qualifying - 10    28.916  170.065 

Banged up at Bristol
August 28, 1999 - Have you ever heard the saying, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all?" Well, that about sums up Bill Elliott's 1999 season. In what is begining to sound like a broken record, bad luck bites Elliott again, this time at Bristol.

Elliott had a decent qualifying effort for the Goody's Headache Powder 500, 23rd place, making the field in the first round. With only 21 pit stalls on the front strecth at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elliott would be regulated to the ever dreaded back pits.

The caution would fly early when Robert Pressley hit the wall on lap two. By the time the race would return to green, Elliott would move to 22nd on lap nine, paitently picking his spots to pass. On lap 42, Elliott picked up the 21st position, looking for more.

Elliott's number 94 Ford was strong and seemed to be handling well. Elliott turned a 110.926 mph lap on the 63rd circuit, the second fastest lap on the track. Then on lap 68, Elliott worked his way into the top twenty.

After completing lap 75, Winston Cup point leader Dale Jarrett spun by himself. Jarrett spun to the bottom of the apron and then came back up the track right in front of Elliott. Elliott ran hard into the side of the 88 car and got hit all around as other cars tried to check up.

"Jarrett just lost it," said Elliott. "The problem is I got hit from behind, and then I was out of control. I kept thinking I might have could have dodged him, but I was just out of control."

The damage was enough to put the 94 car behind the wall for repairs. Wayne Orme and the Drive Thru Crew worked on the McDonald's Ford and returned Bill to the track in the 42nd position, many laps down.

Elliott would be able to pick up six positions and finish 36th, 97 laps down.

By coming back out on the track and gaining those six positions, Elliott only lost one spot in the Winston Cup point standings. Elliott now sits in 19th with 2245 points.

Qualifying Quotes
"It was decent. I feel pretty good about the lap. I just hated going out that soon. I think that's a little bit of a negative. Right now we're just ready to race. Wherever we end up, we end up. I think we'll have a good race car come tomorrow night."

Goody's Headache Powder 500 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 40    15.832  121.198 
Practice 2 - 22    15.625  122.803 
Qualifying - 23    15.583  123.134 
Practice 3 - 42    16.417  116.878  
Happy Hour - 21    16.299  117.725  

More Bad Luck at Michigan
August 22, 1999 - For Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew, their day at the Michigan Speedway for the Pepsi 400 was not all bad, just middle part of it was. Elliott was very strong throughout the first half of the race and appeared to have, at least, a top five car. Then our old nemesis, bad luck, hit the team hard once again.

Elliott qualified the number 94 Ford Taurus in the 14th position, starting on the outside of row seven. Once the green flag dropped, Elliott took off like a rocket. By the fifth lap, Elliott had worked his way up to the eighth position, hungry for more. Pretty soon, Elliott would find himself running sixth with a very strong car.

The first caution of the day would come at lap 47, time for the first round of pit stops. Elliott would enter the pits in sixth and emerge in fifth.

Once the race would restart, something happened that might have made you think that Elliott had rid himself of bad luck. On lap 51, Ward Burton spun in front of Elliott, missing the 94 by inches and hitting the wall hard. For Elliott to miss the spinning 22 was a huge break for the McDonald's team.

Elliott would restart the race in fourth, his top spot of the day. Jeff Burton would take the fourth position from Elliott on lap 67. Elliott would run solidly in fifth place until he would make the first green flag stop of the race on lap 101.

After all pit stops had been made Elliott would revert back to the fifth position, but this time, he had a problem. Elliott reported a bad vibration in the car, he told the crew that he belived that he had a loose lug nut on the left side. On lap 111, Elliott dove back into the pits to change the left side tires, loosing a lap in the process. Once Elliott returned to speed, the vibration was still there and getting worse. Elliott would come back onto pit road on lap 119, this time to change right side tires.

The good news was that the vibration was gone, the bad news was that Elliott now sat in 38th place, two laps down.

Elliott's car then returned to form, as he worked his way back up into the field. Elliott made up a lap on lap 160 and continued to gain positions on the track. When the checkered flag would fly, Elliott would cross the finish line in the 19th position, one lap down.

Elliott remains in 18th position in the Wisnton Cup point standings with 2190 points.

Qualifying Quotes
"I hate to be the first guy out. You don't know really where you stand because it seems like so much has changed when we practiced last. The Busch cars went out there and then we ran again and you don't really know where you're at when you sit down to really go. I feel like that was a good time, we'll just wait and see where it ends up. I know it won't be good enough to be on the pole or anything like that, but if we can be in the top 25 we'll be where we need to be." THIS WAS A GOOD PLACE FOR YOU IN THE SPRING. "We had a good run here in the spring and we just have to keep digging at these places. The biggest thing is we're trying to turn this deal around and if we can just keep nibbling at it week in and week out we'll be in good shape."

Pepsi 400 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 11    38.610  186.480
Qualifying - 14    38.630  186.384 
Practice 2 - 15    39.383  182.820 
Happy Hour - 13    40.091  179.591 

Elliott Stories

Elliott Finishes 28th @ the Glen
Same story, different track.

Bad luck go away! Hasn't Bill had enough?

Once again, Bill Elliott and the number 94 McDonald's Ford were in position to come home with a top ten finish, only to have that notorious bad luck rear its' ugly head.

Elliott started on the fourth row in the eighth position and held on to that spot briefly over the opening laps. Dale Jarrett would make the pass on Elliott, followed by Joe Nemechek, to move Elliott into tenth position. Elliott would remain tenth until he would make his first pit stop under the caution that flew on lap 18.

Because a number of cars had "short-pitted," Elliott would return to the track in the 21st position. Elliott would loose two spots on lap 22, which put him back into the 23rd position. By the time the caution flag would come out on lap 27, Elliott had worked himself up into 20th.

Many of the cars were on different pit schedules, so Elliott would restart the race in 11th, while remaining on the track. Elliott would gain two more positions under the next yellow and restart in ninth.

On lap 54, Elliott would reach his highest point of the day, taking the sixth position while Dale Jarrett made a green-flag stop. Elliott would then make his green-flag stop on lap 56, where he would return to the track 25th.

Elliott would then slowly work the number 94 Ford back towards the front, finding himself in 14th position on lap 68. With ten laps to go, Elliott was in tenth and on lap 84, moved up to ninth.

A late-race caution would restart the event with only two laps to go and Elliott solidly in ninth. It seemed a solid top ten finish was in the cards and Elliott would gain two spots in the point standings. Our nemesis over the past few seasons, bad luck, eleminated all of that.

Elliott was not satisfied with ninth and attempted to pass Joe Nemechek on the final lap. Elliott got a nose under the 42 and had the prefered line going into the inner-loop, when Nemechek came down on him and spun both cars. Elliott would end up in the 28th position.

Instead on gaining two positions, Elliott lost a spot in the point standings. Elliott now finds himself in 18th with 2084 points.

Frontier @ the Glen Notes

             Pos   Time     Speed
Practice 1 - 20   1:31.102   98.790           
Practice 2 - 12   1:13.772  121.997 
Qualifying -  8   1:13.515  119.976 
Practice 3 - 43   1:14.524  118.351

23rd at Indy
Bill Elliott's day at the Indianapolis Speedway did not go as planned. Elliott and the number 94 McDonald's Code Name Game Ford struggled with the overcast conditions at the Brickyard, which tightened up the car, and fell back into the pack after starting in eighth place.

The car was not good at the start, as Elliott lost several positions over the first 20 laps. Elliott was in 15th on lap 20, over 18 seconds behind the leader. The car was obviously off and needed the attention of Wayne Orme and the Drive Thru Crew.

Elliott was among the first to pit on lap 34, and found himself 16th after all stops had been made, 27.753 seconds behind the leader.

The event's first caution flag would fly at lap 43, while Elliott had held on to the 16th position. Because the car was still not up to snuff, Elliott chose to pit again, after only pitting nine laps earlier. When the race would go green, Elliott would restart back in the 32nd position.

Two laps later, on lap 51, Elliott posted the fastest speed on the track, turning a lap of 168.095 mph. Then Elliott started picking off cars and moving up in the field. Elliott had worked his way back to the 27th position when the second caution flag would come out on lap 73.

Elliott would loose a position in the pits and would restart the race 28th. Elliott continued to pass cars on the track, moving up to 24th on lap 106. Elliott would pit on lap 111 and find himself 21st after all stops had been made.

On lap 121, Elliott was passed, putting him in 22nd position, where he ran most of the remainder of the race. Elliott would eventually loose a lap to Dale Jarrett and end up finishing the race in the 23rd position.

"Missed it. Missed it big time," said Elliott. "We're fighting a lot of different things. I don't think the aero is right on this car, and we missed the set-up. The car was just ultra tight all day long. But hey, we'll come back next week."

Elliott remains in 17th place in the Winston Cup point standings, with 2005 points.

Qualifying Quotes
"I feel good about it. That's three-and-a-half tenths faster than we practiced and that's what you have to do. You have to keep picking it up. I'm sure a lot of these other guys are gonna pick up, but, still, from the standpoint of where we unloaded to where we were at, these guys worked their rear-end off on this thing. They just make my job easier every week. That's what we have to keep working toward. We're pretty much a fresh group here and if we just keep digging, I think we'll be in good shape." YOU GUYS HAVE PICKED IT UP. "We have. We've come a long way and we've still got a lot to learn and a lot to do, but if we keep picking away at it week in and week out we'll be where we want to be."

Brickyard 400 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 26    50.753  177.329
Qualifying -  8    50.407  178.547 
Practice 2 - DNP
Practice 3 - 41    52.370  171.854
Happy Hour - 12    52.488  171.467

Did you know?
Of the drivers who have competed in all five Brickyard 400 races at Indy, Bill Elliott has the highest average point total. The top five are...

1. Bill Elliott    149.60
2. Jeff Gordon     149.40
3. Mark Martin     140.60
4. Dale Earnhardt  139.80
5. Bobby Labonte   136.80

Elliott Finishes 39th at Pocono
July 25, 1999 - What can you say? Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew were not good at the first of the race, but near the end had the McDonald's QPC Code Game car at the front with a chance to win. Then a lapped car ended Elliott's chances of even finishing the race.

Elliott started in the 37th position, using the first available provisional. Elliott's car was not working all that well early, but on the first caution, he would emerge from the pits in the 20th position. Continuing to struggle, the 94 Ford fell back to 27th.

When the second caution flag would fly on lap 38, Elliott would enter the pits 24th and emerge 32nd. After another caution, Elliott would then start making his way toward the front of the field. He would find himself 19th when the next caution came out on lap 78.

On lap 108, Elliott reached the 13th position and the car was working a lot better. Dale Jarrett started a round of green flag stops on lap 119, Elliott was in 12th place. Once all the cars had made stops and cycled around, Elliott remained 12th.

Elliott cracked the top ten on lap 138 when he made the pass for the 10th position. The caution would come out on lap 142 for rain, Elliott and Wayne Orme decided to short pit and go ahead and make a stop before the race returned to green. This was excellent strategy, as it would give the 94 the gas it needed to make it the rest of the way, while most other cars would have to pit for fuel. Elliott would restart in 21st but knowing that, once the others made stops, he would be near the front with a shot to win.

The strategy worked like a charm, on lap 152, the leaders would pit under caution and Elliott would restart the race in 3rd place.

The luck that has become synonymous with Elliott over the past few years bit him once again. Elliott was racing with the lapped car of Jerry Nadeau, who was 23rd at the time, Nadeau bumped the 94 car in the left rear and put Elliott hard into the wall on lap 158.

Elliott had this to say of the ordeal, "I feel fine. My feelings are hurt worse than I am. It's just kind of one of those days. You struggle all day long and you get pretty decent there at the end and, man, I don't know, you race these cars that are a lap down harder than you do the leaders and it just ain't worth it."

Nadeau offered his view of the accident, "I was on the inside of him and I was trying to stay on the inside when it looked like he started coming down. He just caught my right-front quarter-panel. I feel bad about what happened. I thought he saw me on the inside. I apologize for that."

Elliott and the crew put the car in a position to win but was foiled again by circumstances beyond their control. The team seems to be producing cars that can finish in the top ten every week but has had their share of bad luck.

While down because of the wreck, Elliott offered hope because he was running in the third position, contending for the win. "At least it's a trend in the right direction. We fought all day long from the back and finally had something going good. The car was pretty decent. When it got overcast my car just got better and better."

Elliott's car was severely damaged and done for the day, Elliott would end up in the 39th position. Elliott lost two positions in the Winston Cup points standings, Elliott now finds himself 17th, down from 15th.

Pennsylvania 500 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 -  6    53.310  168.823
Qualifying - 35    53.814  167.243 
Practice 2 - 38    54.949  163.788 
Starting   - 37*   53.814  167.243  
Happy Hour - 28    55.247  162.904 

One on One With Bill Elliott
Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 94 McDonald's Taurus, comes into this weekend's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway in 15th place in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings. Elliott, the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, qualified fourth in last month's Pocono 500 and was a contender much of the afternoon until he blew an engine 15 laps from the finish and ended up 31st.
Full Story

Fifth at Louden
Bill Elliott finished fifth in the Jiffy Lube 300, this is Elliott's best finish since Sept. 29, 1997 when he also finished fifth at Martinsville. "I am tickled considering how we began the weekend," said Elliott. "The credit goes to the guys for making excellent pit stops and having excellent strategy. The fuel mileage was key. The car was not good in the beginning but we kept on making the right adjustments and it sure paid off. The car felt good in the end and I knew we had a shot at a high finish. My big concern was having enough fuel, but my crew assured me that I had. They were right. When you start 40th and finish fifth, that means everyone earned their pay. This is the kind of finish we need to give us that boost of confidence."

Elliott Saturday Quotes
Elliott will be forced to his back-up car for tomorrow's race after suffering damage to the frame and rear-end of the car when he hit the wall during second-round qualifying. The damage was sustained along the right-rear quarter panel.

YESTERDAY YOU SAID YOU GO FOR IT AND YOU EITHER GET IT OR YOU DON'T. WHAT HAPPENED TODAY? "I tried it again today and I didn't make it. I didn't think I got that hard into three, but I just got loose and could never catch it." IS THE TRACK PRETTY SLICK? "Yeah, but the problem I've got is I can't get any heat in the tires and if I can't get any heat in the tires I don't have any grip right off the bat. That seems to be my biggest problem. You're not too bad if you go out and run a lap, and then go back and run again on warm tires. The car is pretty stable and predictable, but the way it is there (with qualifying), it's just not predictable." HOW BAD IS THE CAR? "I don't know. They're over there looking at it trying to see what we're gonna do." DID YOU GO INTO THREE AS HARD AS YOU DID YESTERDAY? "No, I didn't think so. I've been fighting loose in and I've been able to get by with it, but today I couldn't do it. It's a wonder I hadn't done that before now."

Elliott Qualifying Quotes
"I got a little high in one and two, got out of the groove and I couldn't get back down. Then when I went into three I went in just a little too hot and got up, but that's what you do. Some days you get it and some days you don't. Today wasn't our day."

Jiffy Lube 300 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 22    29.506  129.085  
Practice 2 - 36    29.470  129.243
Qualifying - 45    30.304  125.686 
Practice 3 - 15    29.559  128.854
Starting   - 40

Elliott to Unveil Mcdonald's Code Name Game Car
Bill Elliott's McDonald's Ford Taurus will showcase a new paint scheme for three consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup races, starting with the July 11th Jiffy Lube 300 in Loudon, N.H. Elliott will drive the QPC Code Name Game Car which will tie-in with McDonald's unique nationwide Code Name Game summer promotion, offering customers the chance to win one of three $1 million grand prizes.
Full Story

Dissapointment at Daytona, Elliott Finishes 23rd
July 3, 1999 - What started out as an evening of promise, turned out to be an evening of dissapoinment for Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew. Much like the race last week at Sanoma, pit action erased any chance of a good finish.

After a solid qualifying effort, Elliott would start the Pepsi 400 in the 14th position. At the green flag, Elliott would glue himself to eventual race winner Dale Jarrett's back bumper and take the ninth position on lap number two. Still drafting with Jarrett, Elliott would take eighth on lap 13.

Elliott and the number 94 Ford were running high in the corners. On lap 17, when Jarrett went low to pass, Elliott was left on the outside and without a partner, causing Elliott to fall back into 12th. Elliott would make his way back up to ninth by lap 19, the only problem was that the first eight cars had started to pull away from the field.

Elliott and the second pack would eventually catch up with the lead cars and Bill would take the seventh position on lap 30. Elliott would then dive under Ricky Rudd to make a pass for sixth place, the cars behind Bill decided to follow the 10 car of Rudd and leave Elliott alone on the bottom of the track, causing him to fall back to 11th.

Elliott started to fade around lap 45, where he would run in the 18th position. On lap 47, Elliott would be the first, and only, car to pit under the green flag, this would hurt the team's chances, big time. The crew changed four tires and fueled the car, and sent Elliott back out on the track. With no drafting help, it would take the 94 longer to get up to speed, causing many lost positions. Elliott would find himself in 41st position, one lap down.

After all teams would make green-flag stops and cycle through, Elliott was running in the 28th position. Elliott would run by himself for the most part of the next 30 laps, on lap 73, he was 30.167 seconds behind the leader.

The caution flag would fly on lap 85 for rain, Elliott was running in the 27th position. This would allow for pit stops, Elliott would fall back to 29th after the stop for for tires and gas.

Over the next few laps, Elliott would run some five seconds behind the lead draft. After finally getting some drafting help, Elliott would be able to catch the pack in front of him at lap 115. By lap 140, Elliott had worked his way up to the 21st position.

The race's second caution would come on lap 147 for debris on the track. Elliott would dive into the pits in the 15th position and emerge 22nd.

The caution flag would fly with just three laps to go in the race, with Elliott in the 23rd position. The race would end under the yellow flag, giving Elliott a 23rd place finish.

Elliott remains in 17th place in the point standings, with 1719 points.

Elliott Qualifying Quotes
"It's bad when the guy beats you on the first lap (Nemechek), but still we picked up from practice. The biggest thing about this type of racing is once qualifying is over and we throw all this stuff out, it'll be a whole different ballgame tomorrow afternoon. The main thing for us is just to get a good start on the grid. It doesn't matter where you start as long as nothing happens the first part of the race, and you get to the end of the day."

Pepsi 400 Notes

             Pos   Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 20    47.113  191.030   
Qualifying - 14    46.795  192.328 
Practice 2 - 17    47.673  188.786  
Happy Hour - 38    47.650  188.877 

Did You Know?

Elliott Finishes 13th at Sears Point
June 27, 1999 - Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew were able to salvage a top 15 finish at Sears Point. Elliott appeared to have a good car for the 1.9 mile road course but slow pit stops impeaded his progress throughout the day.

Elliott, who won his first race on a road course, had a good qualifying effort for the fourth week in a row. Elliott would start the Save Mart/Kragen 350 in the seventh position, marking his fourth straight top ten start.

Elliott would find himself back in the 13th position over the first part of the race but would move to 12th before he would make his first pit stop. Under the caution on lap 25, Elliott would loose three positions in the pits, as he would exit the pits in 15th place.

On lap 29, while running 15th, Elliott would have to hit the grass to avoid a spinning Dale Earnhardt, this would cost him four positions, back to 19th. By lap 44 Elliott had found his way back into the top 15 and on lap 49, he would pass Kenny Wallace to take 14th.

Elliott would continue to move up in the field and run 13th on lap 51. The caution flag would fly on lap 58, this time Elliott would loose only one position in the pits and restart the race in 14th.

On the 73rd circuit around the road course, we would see another caution flag. In what has to be the worst pit stop of the day, Elliott would enter the pits 15th but would exit 24th. While most teams took only two tires, Elliott and Wayne Orme would choose to go with four fresh tires.

The good thing is that the four tires would help Elliott work his way back into the top 15. The race was red-flagged and would be restarted with three laps to go with Elliott in 15th. Elliott would advance two more positions before the checkered flag and would finish 13th.

"The car wasn't bad, but we just never could get caught up," said Elliott. "We struggled at the beginning, and that just set us too far back. We never could make up any ground."

Elliott remains in the 17th position in the Winston Cup point standings with 1616.

Elliott Qualifying Quotes
"These guys are making me look good. I believe I'll keep them. That really surprised me. There were a couple places I thought we give up a little bit. Still we got the course. Just like everybody's talking. If you can make the minimum amount of mistakes, and go as fast as you can, then you've had a good day." IT SEEMS LIKE THE TEAM IS REALLY IMPROVING. "Yeah, if we can just get our race stuff better. We had a problem last week at Pocono. We had a little motor problem. If we can just get a few monkeys off our back. We 're a good race team, and I think we can show it."

Save Mart/Kragen 350 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 18    72.563  96.694	
Qualifying -  7    71.634  97.948
Practice 2 - 44    73.729  95.164
Happy Hour -  6    73.373  95.626

Mechanical Problems End Elliott's Day
On lap 184, while running in the 22nd position, Bill Elliott suffered mechanical problems when his engine blew up and put an early end to the 94 team's day. Elliott would finish 31st in the Pocono 500, 15 laps down. Elliott lost another spot in the point standings, he is now in the 17th position.

"I don't know. It just started running bad and then it blew up," said Elliott. "It was just one of those days. We weren't bad. We were real tight and kept fooling around with the car, but we got way back. It was just a bad day."

There will be no full race report this week, due to Father's Day and spending time with both my father and father-in-law, I only saw the last 30 minuets of the race. Check out Bill Elliott Racing for a full report on Monday.

Elliott Saturday Quotes
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU AND YOUR TEAM HAVE TURNED THE CORNER. "Well, I've gotta hand it to the guys on the team. They've kind of put me in this position. It hasn't been me, it's been them. They're the ones that need to have credit for what's going on. They're the ones who have made it easier for me. I can't say enough about the way they've come together and what's been happening here the last several weeks. I think this crew has really worked hard and really put a lot of effort into a lot of different things. If we can just keep the momentum going, that's what we need to get consistent and do what we need to do to at least get squared away for the second half of the season." YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY PLEASED ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF YOUR TEAM? "Absolutely. I can't say enough about this McDonald's group as far as what they've done for us. Just like last week at Michigan. Even though we did have problems, you turn around and look at the positive side of it of where we've been and where we've come to. If we can just keep that rolling and everybody keep a good positive outlook of where we need to be, that's what's gonna make it all come together." THE THING IS YOU HAVE A LOT OF NEW GUYS ON THIS TEAM FROM A YEAR AGO, RIGHT? "The last three months we've had a lot of change and a lot of people come and go, but it seems like Wayne (Orme, crew chief) and all the guys have really come together. They've started to gel really well. I feel very comfortable with Wayne and what he's done. It's been pretty amazing to me that all of this has really come about like this. I decided to go with Wayne (as crew chief after Jerry Pitts left) because he was in the shop. If you go out and hire somebody else and you bring them in, sometimes they don't fit in with the group of people you have and that makes it a tough situation. Wayne was able to step up the plate and he's proving what he's capable of." YOU SEEM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS WEEKEND. "You never know what's gonna play out Sunday, but at least we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm normally better the second time around at these places and, if we can get better organized here before the next couple of weeks and then turn around and really set our sights on the second half of the season, I think we can turn things around really well."

Pocono 500 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 20    53.385  168.586
Qualifying -  4    53.017  169.757  
Practice 2 - 29    54.296  165.758
Happy Hour - 18    54.737  164.422 

Elliott Qualifying Quotes
"I tell you what, these guys have really come together. I'm just tickled to death with them. We unloaded and were a little bit off, but we just kept gaining on it. We kept working on stuff and everytime I went out I got a little bit faster. I made my run and ran like a .38 and I told them I didn't think I got through one very well earlier today, but it worked out in qualifying. I think I gave up some down there, but I don't know. I'm just proud it came back. Just to go through what we went through last week and, looking at the bright side of it , at least we ran good for a change. That's what makes everything look positive, regardless of what happens in the race. You can go back and say, 'Well, at least we ran good.' If we can just keep continuing this effort, I think these guys will really come together."

Did You Know?

Elliott Chat Transcript
June 15, 1999 - Bill Elliott stopped in an chatted with fans at NASCAR Online, Click here for the chat transcript.

Broken Oil Line Ruins Great Run at Michigan
June 13, 1999 - On the day that former Bill Elliott car owner Harry Melling would have celebrated his 55th birthday, Elliott showed flashes of his years driving for Melling in the number nine Ford. Elliott truly wanted to put in a good showing for Melling, who passed away with a heart attack two weeks ago. The recently vacated rear end of the 94 Taurus simply stated, "We miss you" in honor of Melling.

Starting from the fifth position, Elliott looked like a man on a mission. On the very first lap, Elliott passed Ken Schrader on the inside for fourth, but to his dismay, Ward Burton made it three wide when he moved to the inside of Elliott and took the position. Elliott would pass Jeff Gordon on lap four to take fourth and on lap seven, got around Burton for the third position. On the very next lap, Elliott blew by outside pole setter, Ernie Irvan to take second.

Elliott was running a much higher line than any of the other cars but was really making it work. Gordon would challenge Elliott for second on lap ten, with Elliott running the high line, Gordon could catch Elliott in the corners but Elliott would pull away on the straightaways. On lap 15, Gordon went high and Burton low to go three wide once again, Elliott smartly backed out and let them go.

The number 94 was strong as he calmly passed Gordon again on lap 15 and by lap 17, was back in the second position. On lap 22, Elliott would pass race leader Mark Martin to take the lead.

Gordon once again tried to get around the 94 but Elliott would not budge, the two cars would race almost door to door for the next several laps with Elliott taking an advantage on the front and back stretches. It was at this point that Elliott radioed to the pits that the car had a slight vibration. Gordon was finally able to pass Elliott on lap 29 but Bill passed him right back on the inside. Gordon did pass Elliott on the next lap where he would run in second for the next 11 laps.

Eventual race winner, Dale Jarrett would pass Elliott on lap 43 and move Bill back to fourth. The car was strong and it was handling perfect, no adjustments were made on the first two pit stops, and the car would run in the top five for most of the day.

On the final round of pit stops, at lap 152, Bobby Labonte was a little faster in the pits than was Elliott and moved Elliott back into sixth. Disaster struck the McDonald's Ford on lap 167, with a puff of smoke, some debris on the race track came through the car and broke an oil line.

"I think we broke an oil line underneath the front," said Elliott. "I don't know. It just started smoking. We had a good car. We needed to be a little bit better, but Jarrett was awesome. We weren't bad compared to Gordon and the rest of the guys, but, man, it's heartbreaking."

Elliott dove into the pits to assess the damage, the car was so full of smoke that he had to be removed from the car while the repairs were being made. The Drive Thru crew made the repairs in seven laps and would return the car to the race in 41st.

With only Jimmy Spencer the only car the post a DNF, Elliott would not gain any more positions and finish 41st, seven laps down.

Elliott did loose a position in the point standings, he fell to 16th with 1422 points, only two back of Bobby Hamilton in 15th. Elliott is now 221 points out of the top ten.

Elliott Saturday Quotes
ARE YOU PRETTY EXCITED LOOKING AHEAD TO TOMORROW WITH WHERE YOU'RE STARTING? "It seems like things have come together very well the last several races. I think the biggest thing we've kind of struggled through is it seems like sometimes during a race we've had an off run. I think that's just everybody getting together and knowing what everyone needs to do. I just feel like things are coming together real well. I'm very pleased with what Wayne (Orme, crew chief) has been doing. It seems like Eddie (D'Hondt, team manager) and all the guys have really pulled together with all the adversity we've faced the last several months and have turned things around for me." DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM IS ENERGIZED AND GAINING CONFIDENCE? DOES EVERYONE HAVE THE FEELING THAT YOU CAN WIN TOMORROW? "Absolutely. The thing we've gotta look at is as good as Gordon and several other people have gotten, they tend to overshadow you a little bit when you do your best. They (Gordon's team) seemed to have had an off year, but he'll be good. I'm sure Mark (Martin) will be good here, he always is, and there are some other good cars too. But if we just have some race circumstances go our way, and as well as I like this place, I think that should pull a lot of things together." IS THERE ANYWAY TO PREPARE IN ADVANCE FOR SOMETHING LIKE FUEL MILEAGE OR DO YOU JUST TAKE IT AS IT COMES ON RACE DAY? "You just wait and see how it unfolds because everything can change so dramatically in this business. You've seen enough this year to understand that. Most of the time you're going where you run as hard as you can all day long and, hopefully, you're somewhere at the end. I had someone say to me the other night that it looked like we weren't running to well. I said that I thought we had been running pretty good. The competition level has probably gone up three or four notches, even in the past six months to a year. We get better and the competition gets a little better. You've just gotta keep hammering it out." HOW SATISFYING WOULD IT BE TO WIN THIS RACE? "It would be really special for what Harry Melling has meant to me around this area and with all the good success I've had here in the past. It would mean a lot."

Kmart 400 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 -  6    38.781  185.657
Practice 2 - 10    38.741  185.849
Qualifying -  5    38.597  186.543 
Practice 3 -  7    39.477  182.384 
Happy Hour - 12    40.224  178.997   

Elliott Qualifying Quotes
"That was a good lap. I'm tickled to death at what these guys have done. If we just keep chipping away at it, I mean we get closer and closer every week and that's what we've gotta do. These guys have really worked hard and overcome a lot, and I think we've come farther than any team in this garage as far as what we've overcome to right now. I feel good about what we're doing. We need to be just a little bit better, but we're gonna work hard to get there." HOW BIG WAS THAT LAP? "Pretty big, but it must not have been big enough. We've come a long way. This crew has really pulled together and they've worked hard. We've accomplished a lot over the last few weeks." HOW WAS YOUR LAP? "It was good, it was pretty uneventful. The car felt like it rolled the corner good, it wasn't really loose and wasn't really tight. It just worked good. We could have maybe been a little bit freer, but I'll take what I can get."

Did You Know?

12th Place Finish at Dover
June 6, 1999 - Almost a carbon copy of last week's run at Charlotte for Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew. Once again, the team battled with an ill-handling race car to have it almost perfect at the end. The number 94 Taurus looked great near the end of the race and brought home a 12th place finish.

Elliott's car was good early, starting seventh, he picked off sixth place on lap number one. Elliott would look strong and run sixth for the next 29 laps. Jeff Gordon, working his way to the front from 14th, would get around the McDonald's Ford on lap 30 to put Bill back to seventh.

Elliott continued to run in the top ten for the first 100 laps but then the car's handling started to go away. While running in the 13th position on lap 143, leader Tony Stewart put Elliott a lap down.

The car went from tight to loose and Elliott continued to fall back in the pack, loosing two more laps to the leaders.

Then the crew hit on something and got the car really working near the end. Elliott picked off numerous spots and even passed second place Jeff Gordon at the end, working his way up to 12th. This is a very positive sign for the team to see them coming together and working on the car until they get it perfect. A sign of things to come?

"We started off decent," said Elliott. "We got off there in the middle, and I really struggled. I was tight a while, and I was loose a while. Then there at the end I got real good. I mean I felt like I was really decent there at the last run. It really paid off because we gained a lot of spots right there at the end of the race. I was tickled there at the end. I felt like we finally hit on something and got something going. Working new with these guys and everything we've got going on they're doing a heck of a job. We're all kind of struggling and learning new things, different things. I think we learned a lot today. We had two (yellows). If they could have happened (earlier) I would have been in pretty decent shape."

Elliott finished the MBNA 400 12th, a total of 3 laps down. Elliott is now unofficially 15th in the point standings with 1377 points, 607 points behind leader Dale Jarrett. Elliott is now 172 points out of tenth place.

A very encouraging run buy the McDonald's team, the guys look like they are starting to click. Michigan is a good track for Bill, I am looking for good things to happen in the future.

Elliott Qualifying Quotes
“That’s as good as we’ve been for a while. These guys have worked hard. We came here and we were just a little off in practice. They jumped in and changed different stuff, and just kept working and working and working. It felt really good in qualifying, really good.”

MBNA Platinum 400 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 19    22.928  157.013   
Practice 2 - 24    22.949  156.869 
Qualifying -  7    22.825  157.722 
Practice 3 - 33    23.664  152.129 
Happy Hour - 19    23.633  152.329 

Did You Know?

Elliott Finishes 14th at Charlotte
May 30, 1999 - Bill Elliott, once again, was able to win a battle with a less than perfect race car at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. Last week at The Winston, Elliott was involved in an accident and had toe-in problems. This time it was an extremely loose race car and an overheating engine.

Starting in the 29th position, Elliott looked good early. By the time the caution flag would fly on lap number three, Elliott had picked off a car a lap to move up to 26th.

The cars would be started single file on the restart which would really spread out the field. Elliott would then start dropping back soon after the restart. Elliott's car was very loose and the engine had already started to overheat.

"Man, I was so loose at the start of the race that I couldn't go anywhere," said Elliott. "Then I'd run good for about 25 or 30 laps, but the car would get so hot I just couldn't go anywhere. Those first 25 or 30 laps it wasn't bad, but then I'd give all my time up. I was running 275-280 oil temperature and I thought it was gonna blow up, but it didn't. I'm amazed."

Elliott would pit early, around lap 53, and change four tires and make a chassis adjustment to try and tighten the car up.

After the early stop, Elliott found himself in 41st position. Elliott would later loose a lap to the leaders. Elliott would bring home a very respectable 14th place finish, three laps down.

Elliott gained two positions in the point standings, he now sits 16th with 1250 points. Dale Jarrett leads with 1824 points, 574 points ahead of Elliott. Elliott is only 187 points behind Terry Labonte for the tenth spoit.

Elliott has shown that, even though he has had his share of bad luck, he is not a quitter. He has kept plugging away and charging to the front despite mechanical problems.

Melling Passes Away
May 29, 1999 - Harry Melling, owner of the No. 9 Cartoon Network Ford Taurus, passed away Saturday after suffering a heart attack. Ford driver Bill Elliott won 34 races for Melling from 1982-91, including a career-high 11 in 1985. Elliott also won the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup championship with Melling, which represented Ford's first driver title in the modern era (1972-present).

"Harry did a lot for me," said Elliott, "not just a little. Harry believed in us. I'll never forget Ernie (Elliott) and I driving up to his office and sitting down to talk to him about possible sponsorship for the 1981 season and him believing in us enough to do it. Then at the end of that season he turned around and bought into the team and ended up buying the whole thing and starting from there. I grew up with his kids -- Mark, Matt, Michelle -- and his wife, Chris. My sympathy goes out to the whole family and the whole Melling crew. I was a part of their deal from 1980 through '92-93 and I've always been friends with Harry, even to this day, although I haven't seen him a lot here the last several years. For us, we won him a championship and we won a lot of races for him. He'll definitely be missed in this sport." WHERE WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT MEETING HARRY MELLING? "That's probably a question nobody can answer. Harry gave me the opportunity because he believed in us and we were able to go that next step. We started out where we just wanted to run better and then run good, and then the goal became to win races. He always kept believing through that entire process. Harry tried to kind of be a tough guy, but he had a heart as big as Michigan, and I think from the standpoint of what he did we really changed NASCAR and this sport totally. Nobody saw him the way I did in the years I saw him, growing up with his family and going out to his house and having the fun we had through the years." WHAT ELSE CAN YOU SAY ABOUT HARRY? "Harry was a great guy. Like I said, Harry had a big heart. He always took care of people and I can't say enough about what he did for me. I couldn't put it in to words and can't express the gratitude I have for him and his whole family."

Coca-Cola 600 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 29    29.646  182.149  
Qualifying - 29*   29.547  182.760
Practice 2 -  8    30.401  177.625
Practice 3 -  3    30.447  177.357
Practice 4 - 30    30.757  180.252	
Practice 5 - 10    30.209  178.754 
Happy Hour - 13    30.839  175.102 
 

Elliott Finishes Ninth at The Winston
Bill Elliott fought a less than perfect race car to finish ninth at The Winston. Elliott's number 94 had the toe-in knocked out during an early accident but would show grit and determination to bring the car home ninth.

Elliott started The Winston in the eighth position, he would loose a position on the start and run ninth for the first 10 laps. Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, and Ricky Rudd would be involved in an accident and bring out the caution flag. On the restart, a huge accident would take out some very good race cars. Ernie Irvan got loose and cars started to spin all around, involving most of the cars behind him, only a few would sneak through unscathed. Bill was not one of them.

Elliott slowed down and appeared that he would make it through the mess, when Jeremy Mayfield hit him in the unsponsored rear end of the car and caused the 94 to hit the wall.

"It knocked the toe-in out on it pretty bad, but the car still wasn't that bad," said Elliott. "It hurt it just enough, but that's The Winston isn't it."

The Drive Thru Crew would work feverishly on the car to get it back out in good condition. The race would restart with only 14 cars left and Elliott in the 10th position. The McDonald's Ford would not get a good restart and drop back to 14th, but by lap 15, Elliott was back up to 11th. Elliott would finish the first segment in 10th.

The first six cars were inverted for the second segment and Bill would start 10th. Again, the car would get a bad restart and loose the lead pack by almost two seconds on the first lap. On lap number two, he was able to pass Darrell Waltrip to take ninth place. Elliott then passed Michael Waltrip on the sixth lap for eighth place. Elliott was 1.6 seconds behind Geoffrey Bodine after the pass of Michael Waltrip but would make that up on lap 18 and take the seventh position. On lap 20, Bodine would be able to turn the tide and retake the position. Elliott would finish segment number two in eighth position.

New crew chief Wayne Orme would then call for two tires on the pit stop in between segments and put Bill in third for the final ten lap shootout. Elliott would drop to fifth on the first lap and was back to 10th on lap five. Elliott would be able to gain one position to finish ninth.

Elliott blew an engine early in the final practice after making only seven laps. The crew put the qualifying engine back in the car and was the final car to make inspection. With the qualifying engine and the tow-end problem, this was a good showing for the 94 team. Next week should hold brighter things for Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew.

The Winston Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 -  6    29.897  180.620
Practice 2 - 20*    0.000    0.000
Qualifying -  8  1:53.504  142.726
Practice 3 -  2    30.327  178.059 
Practice 4 - 18    30.922  174.632  
Practice 5 - 16**  30.922  174.632 

The Winston Qualifying Quotes
"It's just so hard to get down pit road. You've got to have everything just right. I was happy with the way the car drove the first lap, I just didn't get down pit road the second time around. You either hit it or you miss it. You practice that deal in the middle of the afternoon and that sun kind of blinds you going into turn three and it kind of gets your line a little bit messed up. I'm not making excuses, I just didn't get down pit road."

Did You Know?
Bill Elliott has the second best average finish among the qualified drivers for The Winston. Elliott's average finish of 7.1 is only bettered by Sterling Marlin with a 6.9 average finish. Elliott has one win in 13 starts and claimed $784,150 in earnings in the All-Star event.

Elliott Finishes 12th at Richmond
I am still trying to get caught up, here is the race report from McDonald's...
Pit Road Performance Propels Elliott to 12th-Place Finish

Bill Elliott on Crew Cheif Change...
"Wayne is pretty diverse as far as his background is concerned. He's got a lot of good ideas and he's gonna bring a lot to this deal. He's knowledgeable and thorough, and I was really impressed with what he did on the 13 car when he crew chiefed over there in Daytona. We decided to bring Wayne in instead of trying to bring somebody in from outside at this time of the year. The most critical thing is that we got a person that fits into the organization. Wayne was already here and he's been involved with everything we've done. He worked with Jerry and Joe, so we felt that moving him into the crew chief's position was the most logical thing to do."

Bill Elliott Racing Names New Crew Chief and Drive-Thru Crew Member
Bill Elliott Racing has named Wayne Orme (OR-me) crew chief of the #94 McDonald's Ford Taurus. In addition, the team has added Gordy Arbitter, front tire changer, and Greg Ely, shock specialist, to the Drive-Thru Crew.
Full Story

Elliott 12th in Day Two of Ford Test
Bill Elliott was the 12th fastest car at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Tuesday, with a top speed of 179.217 mph. Tuesday concluded the two day Ford test session.

Orme Named Crew Chief
Bill Elliott has promoted mechanic and assistant crew chief Wayne Orme as the new crew chief for the McDonald's Fords. Orme will begin leading the team at the Richmond race on Saturday evening. Orme was the crew chief for Dick Trickle when Trickle drove a second Elliott Racing car at Daytona.

Elliott 19th at Ford Test
Bill Elliott had the 19th fastest speed during the Monday session of Ford testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway with a lap at 176.517 mph. The second and final day of testing will be on Tuesday, May 11th.

Elliott Looses Another Crew Chief
May 4, 1999 - Jerry Pitts, the interim crew chief for Bill Elliott Racing, has left the team to assume the crew chief position for Yarborough-Burdette Motorsports. The vacancy occured when Michael "Fatback" McSwain left the 98 team to take the crew chief job at Rudd Performance Motorsports. Ernie Elliott has been named as interim crew chief.

Elliott Surpasses $20 Million Mark
FONTANA, Calif. (May 2, 1999) ­ After earning $48,325 in Sunday’s California 500 by Napa, McDonald’s Ford driver Bill Elliott became the third driver (Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon) in NASCAR Winston Cup history to surpass $20 million in career earnings.

Elliott entered the race at California Speedway with career earnings of $19,967,549. After claiming a 19th-place finish and a $48,325 paycheck, Elliott’s career earnings now total $20,015,874.

Elliott, who is in his 24th Winston Cup season, earned $11,635 in his first year of competition in 1976. His best season was in 1985, when he won 11 races and earned $2,433,187, including the Winston Million bonus.

It took Elliott more than eight seasons to earn his first million. He passed the $1 million mark in career earnings in the beginning of the 1984 season. He has earned $1 million or more in season prize money eight times.

19th at California
May 2, 1999 - After posting the 14th fastest time in Happy Hour on Saturday, Bill Elliott entered the California 500 presented by NAPA with high hopes. Elliott would start in the 19th position, which was decided by owner points due to the cancellation of both rounds of qualifying.

The race's first caution would happen as soon as lap number three, Elliott had already lost three positions to 22nd.

While Elliott was running back in the 25th position, the second caution flag would fly on lap 30. Jerry Pitts would ask Elliott if he wanted to take two or four tires, Elliott would choose to go for a two tire change to gain track position. The Drive-Thru Crew would work their magic and get Bill out in the ninth position.

The race would restart on lap 34 and it was obvious that the two tire change was the wrong move. Elliott would steadily fall back in the field, on lap 35 Bill was 13th, on lap 43 he was 18th, and on lap 46, Bill had dropped to the 21st position.

Green flag pit stops would begin on lap 76 with Elliott running in the 27th position. Elliott would make his pit stop on lap 86 and emerge 31st, the bad news is the he would come out just in front of leader Jeff Gordon. On lap 88, Gordon would make the pass and put Elliott a lap down.

Elliott would then run around the 25th position for much of the race. In a race that only nine cars remained on the lead lap, Elliott would loose another lap and finish 19th, two laps down.

"We changed intake manifolds this morning and the throttle was only opening about half way. I was just one of those deals. The car was good. I thought the car was real good. I told them right off the bat that it didn't feel like the accelerator is opening all the way because it wasn't motoring down the straightaway. I kept losing all my time down the straightaway. When I came in after the race we looked and that was our problem, but the car worked good. We had a decent day," said Elliott.

Elliott did, however, gain a spot in the Winston Cup point standings, he now sits in the 18th position, 542 points behind leader Jeff Burton and 191 points out of the top ten.

The weekend had to be a tough one on Elliott, as his sponsor, McDonald's, announced that they will be sponsoring a BGN team next season with plans to move to Winston Cup. McDonald's said that their future with Elliott was uncertian but they would honor their contract with Elliott that ends next season.

Elliott can see the writing on the wall and issued the following statement, ``I have enjoyed my association with McDonald's. However, I see this as an opportunity to cultivate a new relationship with another top-notch sponsor.''

California 500 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed

Qualifying - 19*     -       -
Practice 1 - 21    40.322  178.562 
Happy Hour - 14    40.693  176.934

McDonald's Announces Future NASCAR Team Program
McDonald's Corporation announced today it has entered into a sponsorship agreement with Precision Preparation, Inc. (PPI) as a primary NASCAR team sponsor. The sponsorship starts immediately and goes through the year 2003. The agreement calls for PPI to field a McDonald's NASCAR Busch Series team next season, which will eventually lead into a Winston Cup program.
Full Story

More McDonald's News
That's Racin' is reporting that McDonald's will sponsor a second team next season. McDonald's still plans to honor the current contract with Elliott that will end in 2000. It appears that McDonald's will leave the 94 car following the end of the contract. Matt Kenseth, who will drive for Mark Martin in Winston Cup in 2000, is mentioned as the driver likely to get the sponsorship deal.

20 Million Dollar Bill
Bill Elliott, driver of the McDonald's Ford Taurus, is in position to reach $20 million in NASCAR Winston Cup career earnings at this weekend's California 500 in Fontana, Calif.
Full Story

Top Ten at Talladega
April 25, 1999 - Bill Elliott, riding around for much of the day without a drafting partener, used a late race charge to finish tenth in the DieHard 500 at Talladega. This race last year was one in which Elliott was involved in a hard crash.

"From a year ago to now I feel really good. Talladega has been tough on me."

Elliott would start in the 18th position but with nobody to draft with, he would fall back as far as the 31st position on lap 12. Elliott would find a car here or there to help him gain a position or two but would soon find himself all alone once again. He would run around the 26th position over the first 48 laps as the last car in the lead pack.

We would see the race's first caution on lap 48, time for the McDonald's Drive Thru Crew to do their thing. Elliott would enter the pits 25th and emerge 18th.

Elliott rode an elevator over the next few laps, as he used the draft to work up in the field but would loose that draft and fall back. Elliott would move from the 18th position to eighth on lap 66 but by lap 69, he was back in 20th and on lap 70, he was 26th.

As the race ran on, Elliott's car was fast, but with no help, all he could do was ride around. On lap 100, Elliott's Ford was the third fastest car on the track at 191.424 mph. On lap 105, Elliott had the fastest speed at 193.548 mph. The speed was there but with the restrictor plates, you can't do it alone.

Elliott and the crew would call for only two tires during the green flag pit on lap 110. Elliott was 20th before the round of stops but thanks to the crew's 11.3 second stop, he would emerge with the race lead. Elliott would lead for two laps before loosing the draft.

Once again the thirteen time Most Popular Driver was not all that popular with the drivers, loosing the draft and falling back into the field. Elliott would finally hook up with Rich Bickle and make it back up to 12th.

The second caution flag of the day would fly on lap 134. Elliott and the crew went for another two tire stop and this time would come out fourth. With Kenny Wallace behind him, it looked like Bill might have a little help this time and be able to make a run. When the green flag flew, Wallace dove to the inside, along with the cars behind him, and left Elliott high on the outside with nothing to do except wait for an opening in line. That opening would come in the 20th position.

The race's third and final caution happened on lap 170. This time, while the leaders stayed out on the track, Elliott would pit for four fresh tires. Elliott had not changed four tires in 122 laps and would restart the race 19th. This would give Elliott a small advantage with 15 laps to go.

Elliott was able to mount a strong finish at the end and come home 10th.

"I gave all I could with what I had," said Elliott. "The car drove really well, but it just wouldn't run. Whenever the 3 and the 88 and several of them lined up there before the last caution, I mean they just boogied on. When it's like that you can't do a lot. I was just fortunate to be in the right place to end up where I ended up at the end of the day. I could have easily been last or what have you because there were so many cars racing around right there you just can't do anything."

Elliott's winnings of $54,195 bring him to $1,031,000 for his career, joining Earnhardt and Terry Labonte as the three drivers to surpass one million dollars in winnings at Talladega.

Elliott gained two positions in the Winston Cup Point standings, up to the 19th position. Elliott is 473 points behind leader Jeff Burton. Elliott is 158 points out of the top ten.

On to California next week, a place where Bill suffered another mean wreck last season. These two races, Talladega and California, turned a great season sour last year, now let's hope that they will turn a sour season great.

Elliott DieHard 500 Qualifying Quotes
"That's really the best we've run all day. We came here and tested and the best we ran was about a 49.30, so we picked it up quite a bit from testing. Really, we've come a long way because last time here we ran about a 49.50 or .60, somewhere along that bracket. Everytime we come back we gain a little, but so does everybody else. We've just gotta keep working. This McDonald's Drive Thru Crew has done a heckuva job and come Sunday afternoon it's gonna be a whole different game."

DieHard 500 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 26    49.367  193.975
Qualifying - 18    49.012  195.381
Practice 2 - 25    49.617  192.998
Happy Hour - 36    49.633  192.936

Elliott Recalls First Talladega Win
Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 94 McDonald's Taurus, won the first of his two Talladega events in 1985 at the Winston 500. What made Elliott's triumph so memorable is that he fell two laps down while his team repaired an oil leak and then rallied to make those laps up under green and win going away. Full Story

Elliott's Bad Luck Continues at Martinsville
After qualifying the McDonald's Ford in the first round and the hopes of a solid finish, Bill Elliott continued to struggle with bad luck. Amid unfounded and untrue rumors of McDonald's pulling their sponsorship from the 94 team, Elliott would find himself finishing in the 30th position, five laps down.

On the second caution of the day, on lap 62, Elliott would pit and take on four tires and gas. The race would restart on lap 68. With just five laps on the new tires, Elliott's right rear would go flat, causing him to make another pit stop for new right side tires. This would put Elliott two laps down and in last place, 43rd, very early in the race.

Elliott had a fast car, his speeds compared with the leaders for much of the race, loosing the two laps early really hurt.

On lap 230, Elliott would be part of the fifth caution of the day. Elliott would find the back of Johnny Benson's car during a wreck that happened in front of them. This would cost Elliott another lap and now put him three laps down.

Eventually Elliott would loose two more laps on the track and finish 30th. Elliott did, however, gain a spot in the point standings, Bill is now 21st.

Next week it's on to Talladega, if Bill is going to turn things around, this has got to be the place. Bill has always been fast at Talladega but he needs to find a couple of good friends going into this race. Without friends on the restrictor plate tracks, you can forget it.

"Contrary to unfounded reports, McDonald's is committed to Bill Elliott Racing with its current sponsorship agreement through the year 2000." - Bill Korbus, McDonald's motorsports manager.

Goody's Body Pain 500 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 17    20.298  93.290  
Qualifying - 25    20.120  94.115
Practice 2 - 46    20.550  92.145
Happy Hour - 33    20.483  92.447  

Elliott Finishes 25th at Bristol
April 11 - Bill Elliott finished the Food City 500 in the 25th position, three laps down. I had a funeral today that took all of my afternoon, I only saw the last 50 laps of the race. I hope to watch the race on tape sometime tonight or tomorrow and have you a report by Monday night. Thanks.
Aprill 12 - I still haven't had the opportunity to watch the race, you can read the race recap from the McDonald's web site here. Sorry.

Food City 500 Notes

            Pos    Time    Speed
Practice 1 - 46    15.793  121.497 
Qualifying - 23    15.568  123.253
Practice 2 - 11    15.778  121.612
Happy Hour - 28    16.219  118.305	 

Elliott Team Names Temporary Front Tire Changer
Eddie D'Hondt, general manager of Bill Elliott Racing, announced today that Rob Fuller will temporarily serve as the team's front tire changer, starting with Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Full Story

Elliott Testing at Talladega
April 7 - Bill Elliott was at the Talladega Superspeedway today for the mandatory Ford testing. Elliott's best lap, 192.909 mph, was good enough for sixth fastest overall.

Bill Elliott Announces Team Changes
Bill Elliott, owner and driver of the McDonald Ford Taurus on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, announced the following organizational changes at Bill Elliott Racing: Citing personal reasons Joe Garone has resigned as crew chief. Jerry Pitts, who served as advisor to the crew chief, has been named interim crew chief, overseeing the Drive-Thru Crew.
Full Story

Problems Plauge Elliott at Texas, Finishes 21st
Bill Elliott's day at the Texas Motor Speedway started off good, his lap speeds were as fast as the leaders. On lap 16, Elliott's speed of 181.769 mph was the fastest on the track. It seemed like today would be the day that Elliott would make a run at the front.

On the first caution of the day on lap 30, while running nineth, Joe Garone made a very questionable call. He elected to only change two tires on the pit stop. On a green track with no tire rubber down on the track, this did not seem to be a smart call. Elliott would emerge from the two tire stop in second, Ken Schrader, who also took on two tires, would be the race leader.

On the restart Mark Martin would dive under Elliott to take the second spot. Elliott would get passed by eight more cars before ending up in 11th. The two tires defininately were a disadvantage, as Schrader fell back also.

Schrader would be the only car that Elliott would pass over the first half of the race. He would spend much of the first half of the race running in the tenth position.

Not until the fifth caution of the day would be able to see what Elliott was made of. When the caution flew on lap 153, Elliott was in tenth. With plenty of rubber now down on the track, no fewer than 11 teams took on two or no tires on this pit stop. Elliott would take four tires and find himself in the 2