Save Mart/Kragen 350K
Sears Point Raceway

Bad Luck Continues for Elliott, 35th at Sears Point
June 25, 2000 - Some have suggested a 'McDonald's curse', others have claimed to spot a monkey on Bill's back, and yet others believe that it is a Ford conspiracy. Whatever the reason behind Bill Elliott's string of bad luck, it is time for it to end!

Bad luck (skip) bad luck (skip) bad luck (skip), goes the broken record of Elliott's season of late. It was the same old story again this week, another strong car provided by the McDonald's team and Lady Luck rearing her ugly head to eliminate any chances of a good finish.

Starting from the eighth position, Elliott looked good early, holding his position and posting quick lap times. Elliott chose not to pit under the first caution period and would restart the event in the fourth position.

Once again, posting fast laps, Elliott held the fourth position, until his old nemisis Lady Luck showed up. On lap 14, the right-rear truck arm broke on the 94 Ford. Elliott would dive into the pits for the crew to remedy the problem.

The Drive-Thru Crew went to work making the repairs on the McDonald's Taurus while Elliott sat in the 40th position, loosing lap after lap. On lap 32, Elliott returned to the track 14 laps down.

Elliott again ran speeds that compared with the leaders and proved that, if he can finally whip Lady Luck, this racing stuff could be pretty easy.

Elliott used attrition to move up in the finishing order and came home in the 35th position, 14 laps down.

Elliott remains in the 15th position in the Winston Cup point standings with 1715 points, 685 points behind leader Bobby Labonte.

Next week, Elliott returns to Daytona where he started off the season with a third-place finish, after winning a Gatorade 125 earlier in the week.

Sears Point Qualifying Quotes
"I was very pleased," said Bill Elliott. "This is a brand new car and the first lap it had been on a race track with this week. These guys keep putting good cars under me week-in and week-out and I'm trying not to let 'em down. They just keep digging."

DID YOU THINK IT WAS TOP-10 MATERIAL? "You never know. The way I see it is if you can come back to the checkered flag on a road course doing a qualifying lap you've probably had a good day's work because sitting there watching the guys it doesn't take but one little mistake. If you make a mistake one corner back and try to overcome it two corners forward, you don't do it."