Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Bill Elliott Was "Awesome" at Atlanta in 1985




It is anybody's guess which of the 43 starters will roll into victory lane at this year's NASCAR Nextel Cup Kolbalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It's even more difficult to imagine anyone duplicating Bill Elliott's '85 performance at the legendary racetrack. It's been 22 years since Elliott became "Million Dollar Bill" by winning 11 races during his incredible '85 season. Atlanta is Elliott's "home" track, then known as Atlanta International Raceway. At the finish, it was Elliott by 2.64-seconds over Geoff Bodine with pole sitter Neil Bonnett in Third Place. Ricky Rudd and Bobby Allison completed the Top-5. The victory was Elliott's first at Atlanta and also marked the first time a Georgia native had scored a win in the then 25-year history of the track. Bill Elliott retired as a full-time NASCAR Cup competitor prior to the '04 season. He won the 1988 Winston Cup title. In fact, in eight seasons, he finished Third, Third, Second, Fourth, Second, First, Sixth, and Fourth in points. It's amazing to me to see someone with Bill's awesome history continue to race.


Back at the Cottage... The merc is supposed to rise into the 50's today. It's a good thing... my daughters softball team begins practice outside today after two weeks in the school gym...this with an amazing 20 plus inches of snow still on the ground...

Faqs & Photo credit: Stockcar Racing News

1 comment:

Cheyenne said...

Awesome Bill, now THAT's a driver! He was my favorite when I found NASCAR until there were rumors of his reitring, then I switched to Dale Jr (who was playing second fiddle at the time). Thanks for the reminder on Bill. I still get goosebumps when I see him.