Bill Elliott

William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience part-time in 2022. His accolades include the 1988 Winston Cup Championship and garnering 44 wins in that series, including two Daytona 500 victories in 1985 and 1987, three Southern 500 victories in 1985, 1988, and 1994, one Winston 500 victory in 1985, one Brickyard 400 victory in 2002, one "The Winston All-Star Race" (non-points race) win in 1986, and a record four consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway between 1985 and 1986 (7 wins overall at Michigan, the most at any one racetrack in his career).

Elliott holds the track record for fastest qualifying speed at Talladega at and Daytona International Speedway at , both of which were set in 1987; the mark at Talladega is the fastest qualifying speed for any NASCAR race ever. With the usage of restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega since 1988, it is highly unlikely that these two qualifying speed records will ever be topped. Elliott also holds the distinction of recording a track record at Talladega Superspeedway of 6 consecutive pole positions from 1985 to 1987.

In 1985, Elliott made NASCAR history by winning the first-ever Winston Million, a million-dollar bonus to any driver that could win three out of the four crown jewel races of NASCAR in a single season: The Daytona 500 at Daytona, the Winston 500 at Talladega, the World 600 at Charlotte, and the Southern 500 at Darlington. In a year dominated by Elliott, Bill went on to win a "NASCAR modern-era single season record" of 11 superspeedway races (with 4 "season sweeps": Atlanta, Pocono, Michigan, and Darlington) and 11 poles, with three of those 11 wins being in the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, and the Southern 500, earning Bill the "Winston Million Dollar Bonus" and earning him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill".

Elliott won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times (1984-1988, 1991–2000, 2002). He withdrew his name from the ballot for that award after winning it in 2002. In 2005, the Georgia State Legislature declared October 8 as Bill Elliott Day in the state of Georgia. Regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, Elliott was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, and has been inducted into numerous racing and motorsports Halls of Fame, including being inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, and being an inaugural inductee into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007, inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame at Darlington in 2015, and into the 2015 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Elliott has also been honored by the state legislature with a stretch of roadway (the entirety of Georgia State Route 183) in his native Dawson County renamed Elliott Family Parkway.

Elliott's son Chase was the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion. The Elliotts became the third father-son NASCAR champions in history, along with Lee and Richard Petty, and Ned and Dale Jarrett. Provided by Wikipedia