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Bill collector Elliott's fortunes are looking up
Posted: Thursday February 17, 2000 10:17 PM
Last weekend Bill Elliott posted the third-fastest qualifying time in Daytona 500 qualifying runs, which put him on the front row of Thursday's second 125-mile qualifier race. It turned out to be a good omen because Elliott went out and won the race. CNNSI.com's John Giannone spoke with Elliott earlier this week at the Daytona International Speedway. John Giannone: Bill, after the qualifying race you said you were shocked at the results. A couple of days after the fact, are you still surprised? Bill Elliott: Pretty much so. I felt like we were pretty decent when we unloaded. I didn't realize we were as good as we were. And when I came in and we'd run a 28, I said, "Man, that's a pretty good deal" because the guys have really put a lot of effort together and this McDonald's team has really done a lot over the winter to work hard for this particular race. Like all the other teams, everybody puts a lot of emphasis on the Daytona 500. It's kind of like everybody's else's Super Bowl. You want to come down here and run good for the sponsor. There's a lot on the line that kind of gets your year off to one of those. If you can run good here it kind of sets the momentum for the rest of the season. Giannone: You haven't won here in 13 years. You haven't won in about 161 races. Some people have taken to calling you "Overdue Bill." But when you have a run like you did other day, does it bolster your confidence even more? Elliott: Oh, absolutely. Anytime you can start becoming competitive on a race track, that's what it is all about. I know that 1999 was not the year we wanted to have. I think we had run more competitively than we ever had. But the competition got better. So we're going to have to turn around and get leaner and get better along with the competition. It's going to be a tough road this year. There are a lot of good cars, a lot of good competition here. But I feel like we've come a long way and everything we're trying to put together will make a good effort here Sunday afternoon. Giannone: Now I know you brought in one of Dale Jarrett's key members from last year's Winston Cup title team. You're going with this three-headed approach for crew chief. Why do you think this formula will succeed? Elliott: Well, instead of one guy having the final say, I think we can all inject opinions and a little bit of probably history of where we came from, experience, whatever you want to call it into the final decision we make. And make a unilateral decision instead of guy who says, "This is the way it's going to be." You know, it might work, it might not. We're going to give it a shot and see what happens. Giannone: Thanks, Bill. Elliott: Thanks, guys. A win here would certainly make many of Elliott's fans very happy. Last year he was voted the most popular driver on the NASCAR circuit for the 9th straight year, and 14th time overall.
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