Kmart 400
Michigan Speedway

Top Ten at Michigan
June 11, 2000 - "It could have been worse and it could have been better. It was pretty much of an up-and-down day for us," said Bill Elliott when describing his day at the Michigan Speedway.

Despite Elliott's battle with Lady Luck most of the day, you have to call a solid, eighth-place finish a success. This was Elliott's sixth top-ten finish of the season after only posting two in 1999.

Elliott started the Kmart 400 in the eighth position and moved to seventh by the time that he completed the first circuit. The next time around the Michigan Speedway, Elliott would move up to fourth, looking very strong and proving that the car could be a factor in the race.

Lady Luck cast a frown on the McDonald's team on lap 47, when Elliott started feeling the effects of a loose tire. Elliott would dive into the pits for an unscheduled pit stop on lap 48 for four tires and fuel. The Drive Thru Crew would turn in a fast 16.7 second stop but Elliott would return to the track about a lap and a half behind the leaders.

"We got hurt early by getting out of sequence because of a loose rear wheel and that put us behind," said Elliott.

Elliott would return to the race as the final car on the track, with Bobby Hamilton out because of a wreck, Elliott was 42nd. Once other cars started making green-flag stops at lap 64, Elliott would regain the lost lap and find himself in the seventh position once all stops had been made.

The only problem now was that Elliott was on old tires and was running speeds about four miles per hour slower than the leaders. A determinded Elliott was able to hang on until the speeds of the other cars came to him and found him 12th.

Now it was time for Elliott to pit again at lap 100, still out of sequence with the leaders. This time Elliott would return to the race in the 39th position, a lap down.

Again, after all other cars made scheduled stops, Elliott would get the lap back and run among the leaders. After all stops had been completed, Elliott found himself 14th at lap 123.

Running about two miles per hour slower than leader Jeremy Mayfield, who had fresh tires, Elliott would lose a lap on the track to Mayfield at lap 143. It was just about time for Elliott to return to pit road for another stop when it started to rain.

The rains started falling at lap 147 and the caution flag flew, Elliott was able to beat Mayfield to the start/finish line and get his lap back. Elliott was now in 13th place, the final car on the lead lap.

The race would then be red-flagged due to the heavy rain for an hour and 34 minutes.

"We got lucky when the first rain storm came because we were all set to come in for a pit stop," said Elliott. "But I didn't even know if we were going to have enough fuel on the first lap of the restart."

Elliott would restart the race in 11th place but would start to pick off a car a lap over the next few laps. On lap 164, as Elliott moved into the sixth position, the 94 Ford turned the fastest lap on the track at 180.673 mph. Elliott would work his way into the top five on lap 171.

The caution flag would fly at lap 176 and a very slow pit stop would have Elliott as the last car leaving the pits, the final car on the lead lap. Elliott gained two spots before the race returned to green, after Ricky Rudd and Jeff Burton made stops, placing Elliott 10th on the restart.

Now Lady Luck cast another frown on the team, as the McDonald's Taurus started losing power. Elliott was able to overcome all adversity and finish the Kmart 400 where he started it, in eighth place.

"The car ran strong at the end, but we had trouble on the final pit stop and that cost us a few spots," said Elliott. "Then the battery started to lose power. A strange day, but we made it and we'll take eighth place, especially with all of the stuff that happened to us."

Michigan Qualifying Quotes
"Well, it's pretty close. I got pretty loose. We should have tightened the car up a bit better. I underestimated the racetrack there a little bit. I'm just glad we ran that speed. You can always go into these deals and back up a bit, but we gained just a little tick. I'm proud of these guys. They've done one heck of a job on this McDonald's team, and we'll see what happens on Sunday."

Did you know?
Bill Elliott leads all active drivers with wins in this race at Michigan Speedway with four. His last win in the Kmart 400 was in 1989.