Elliott bounces back for fourth

Steve Guiremand

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 10:31 a.m.

If at first you don't succeed ...

Bill Elliott's weekend in Las Vegas didn't exactly start on a high note. The third-place finisher in the Daytona 500 two weeks earlier, Elliott started a disappointing 39th for Sunday's CarsDirect.com 400.

But thanks to a lot of tinkering and hard work by his crew on Friday night and Saturday, not to mention a pit-stop gamble that paid big dividends, Elliott rallied to finish fourth on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his second top-five finish in just three races in 2000.

That's already one more top-five finish than Elliott had during the entire 1999 NASCAR campaign.

"The way we came back really shows the talent and credibility of this race team," Elliott said.

Elliott made a key move during a caution for a light drizzle on lap 22 when he came into the pits running in the middle of the pack. Instead of getting four tires, he elected to take just two and returned to the track in the top 10.

By lap 101, he had moved into second place behind Robby Gordon and stayed in the top five for the remainder of the race, which was halted after 148 of the scheduled 267 laps due to a light but steady rain.

So in the span of only 101 laps, Elliott moved up an amazing 38 spots. Not a bad day on the track, huh?

"That's an understatement, I think," Elliott said. "I think it's excellent.

"We worked hard. Let me tell you, when things weren't going well for us on Friday and Saturday, these guys just worked harder and never gave up. They gave me a good race car today. I couldn't believe how good the car was."

The decision to go for a two-tire pit stop also didn't hurt.

"That's what helped us," Elliott said. "That put us in a position to at least go for a good run."

Elliott, who won one of the twin 125s at Daytona this year, has not won a points race since September, 1994, at Darlington. However, that streak could come to an end soon if his hot start in 2000 is any indication.

What made Sunday's showing even more impressive is the fact his McDonald's Ford team had put much of its early emphasis into Daytona and had not tested his downforce package before arriving in Las Vegas.

"To have not tested any of our downforce or short-track stuff and run with Mark (Martin) and Jeff (Burton), guys who have been so dominant at these places, is an accomplishment I think we need to savor," Elliott said. "But we need to keep working at it."