Limited schedule

Elliott to drive third Evernham car in 2004

The Pop Secret 400 in November was Bill Elliott's first win since 2002. Chris Stanford/Getty Images

ATLANTA (AP) -- Former NASCAR champion Bill Elliott will race a part-time schedule in 2004, an auto racing source said Wednesday.

The announcement will be made Thursday morning, the source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Rookie Kasey Kahne will move up from the Busch Series to race full-time in the No. 9 Dodge that Elliott has driven the past three years, according to the source.

Elliott could drive between five and 10 races, and his arrangement is not necessarily for just one year, the source said. USA Today reported that Elliot, 48, will run a partial schedule, perhaps as many as 15 races depending on car sponsorship.

A representative for Evernham Motorsports said Kahne and team owner Ray Evernham were not available for comment.

Kahne recently won his release from Ford Motorsports and will drive on the NASCAR Busch Series for Brad Akins and on the Nextel Cup Series for Ray Evernham, sources close to Dodge confirmed.

Elliott, voted most popular driver 16 times, refused to talk about possible retirement in the final month of the season, saying he would talk when he had something to say. He won once during the 2003 season and has 44 career wins in 27 years. The 1988 Cup champion was ninth in points this season.

Akins and Evernham started working toward Thursday's announcement several months ago. Akins' shop prepared the Dodge that Jeremy Mayfield drove to a fourth-place finish in the Busch Series race at Rockingham, N.C., last month, and Evernham has started building Dodge engines for Akins.

"We've got several cars built, and we feel like that's put us ahead of the game," Akins said. "It's a big move to Dodge, and we can't wait to start testing. And right now, Kasey is part of those plans."

Kahne is expected to attend Elliott's announcement.