Coca-Cola 600
Lowe's Motor Speedway

Elliott Loses Engine at Charlotte, Finishes Last
May 28, 2000 - What began with high hopes of a long awaited return to victory lane for Bill Elliott, ended in disgust when the 94 Ford had the engine seize up after losing an oil pump.

"Something stripped the teeth off the oil pump belt and lost oil pressure and that's it," said Elliott. "I knew what happened. The motor's gone and when you don't have any oil pressure it ain't gonna live."

Bill Elliott, who has never won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, qualified the McDonald's Taurus in the third position on Wednesday evening. That, paired with Elliott's strong run in The Winston, gave Elliott and his many fans hope that a win could be in the cards. It was not to be.

Elliott started the Coca-Cola 600 strong, passing Jerry Nadeau to grab the second spot on the first lap. Elliott then made the pass for the lead, ducking under Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap eight to lead for two laps before Junior returned the favor.

Elliott raced in the top ten over the first part of the race. Knowing that this is the longest race on the circuit, Elliott was staying out of trouble and placing himself in a position to be near the top at the end.

Then on lap 122, Elliott dove to the apron of the race track with no oil pressure.

"I went down the front straightaway and the oil pressure was fluctuating. When I went up the back straightaway it came down and I just cut it off, but it was too late," said Elliott. "I backed off. When I saw the oil pressure go down I backed off, but the McDonald's car was pretty decent. I was kind of just biding my time waiting until darkness came and try to get the car worked out from that point, but we'll go back next week."

Elliott would be the first car out of the race, regulating Bill to a 43rd place finish.

Despite the mechanical failure, Elliott's spirits remained high.

"Well, we had a good effort," stated Elliott. "We ran pretty good there at the first. I was a little bit loose on the restart, but right now we'll get back and sort our stuff out and go to Dover next week."

With the last-place finish, Elliott lost three positions in the Winston Cup point standings. Elliott now sits 15th with 1339 points, 437 points behind leader Bobby Labonte.

Inside-Second Row at Charlotte
"I figured the pole would be an oh-something. It was hard to tell after Jerry ran if anybody would ever get there. I think what happened in one and two probably spooked a few guys of the guys out but it's hard to tell. There still could have been something down there, but you don't know until you get in the car and actually go," said Elliott.
Qualifying Quotes and Press Conference