NAPA Auto Parts 500
California Speedway

Elliott Benifits from Mayfield Penalty
May 2, 2000 - Bill Elliott officially moved up to 13th place in the Winston Cup point standings, thanks to the 151 point penalty suffered by Jeremy Mayfield for his use of illegal fuel at Talladega.

Good Day Sours at California
April 30, 2000 - A great day for Bill Elliott and the Drive Thru Crew at California went sour, along with a bad set of tires.

Elliott, starting 27th in a new car for the Fontana track, steadily worked his way to the front and placed his team in a position to win. Elliott led lap number 150 and ran in the top 15 for most of the day.

"It was great," said Elliott. "I got a little bit loose, we tightened it up and it wasn't too bad."

On lap 218, the caution flag would fly with Elliott in eighth place. Elliott would dive into the pits for four fresh tires, ready to take his shot at victory. Things don't always go as planned.

"That set of tires before the next-to-last restart just was awful loose," said Elliott. "I couldn't do anything. It acted like one tire was equalized or something and I just hung on there. We were just gonna bolt four tires on it and see what we could do and then, man, I went down into turn one and I was just out of control. I did everything but wreck the last 20 laps and then the caution came out."

When the caution did come out at lap 242, Elliott was the last car on the lead lap in 19th place. Elliott would again dive onto pit road to get four more tires.

"We came in there and changed four tires and that fixed it, but by that time the damage was done because I lost so much track position," said Elliott.

After Jerry Nadeau got a lap back, Elliott would restart the event 20th, with only four laps to go. Elliott was able to pass one car to finish the NAPA Auto Parts 500 in 19th place. Elliott appeared to have finished in the 17th position, but the race ended under caution and Elliott had gotten the caution flag before he passed the other two cars.

"I just hate it for these guys, said Elliott. "I mean, they've worked so hard and we've run so good and been so good, it's just a shame. It's just a down right shame. The other side of it is we've gotta hold our heads up. At least we outran a bunch of good cars today for the most part. We didn't do it at the end of the day, but at least they knew we were there most of the day so that makes you feel good."

Elliott now sits in the 14th position in the Winston Cup point standings with 1168 points, 348 points behind point leader Bobby Labonte.

California Notes