NASCAR HOF Hot Facts: Bill Elliott

Bill Elliott speaks to the media concerning the Winston Million. Elliott took the million-dollar prize offered by the R.J. Reynolds Company after winning three of the ÒBig FourÓ races that year – the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega, and the Southern 500 at Darlington. (credit: 301800ISC Archives via Getty Images for NASCAR)

During Elliott’s first NASCAR season in 1976, he ran a total of eight races in cars fielded by two different owners. He drove in four NASCAR races in a car fielded by his father George Elliott, whose Ford dealership owner sponsored the car and the race team. Elliott also drove an additional four races in a car fielded by independent NASCAR owner-driver Bill Champion. The 1976 season was not a great one for Elliott however. Of the eight races Elliot ran, six of those races resulted in DNF’s (Did Not Finish). Luckily for NASCAR fans everywhere, Awesome Bill Elliott refused to give up.