Elliott relishing role as driver only

Keith Parsons

Thursday, March 8, 2001 | 8:56 a.m.

HAMPTON, Ga. - Gone is the sight of Bill Elliott racing by in his own Ford bearing the familiar golden arches of his big-bucks sponsor.

Worrying as much about red ink as the checkered flag took a toll on one of NASCAR's biggest stars, and when McDonald's pulled the plug at the end of last season, the 45-year Georgian knew it was time to quit as an owner-driver.

"I don't want to ever own one of these deals again," said Elliott, who wound up selling his 6-year-old team to Ray Evernham and jumping into one of his new Dodges.

The change of scenery has been good for Elliott, the circuit's most popular driver a record 15 times. Out of a Ford product for the first time in a quarter of a century, he won the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500 before finishing fifth.

After three races, he's seventh in points entering Sunday's Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Not bad for a new organization that has served as the developmental team for Dodge's return after a 16-year absence from Winston Cup racing.

"We've still got a few bugs to work out," Elliott said. "We've still got a few little glitches here and there, but I think from the standpoint of Ray getting started and what he's had his hands full with, he's had a mound of work to do."

Elliot felt that way when he owned his own team, and it showed in his performance. He never won in his own car - almost unthinkable for someone with 40 career victories.

So, after his sponsor pulled out and Evernham came calling, Elliott decided it was time to really go racing again. And, by keeping several key people from his own team, he is helping Evernham - Jeff Gordon's longtime crew chief - acclimate himself to the owner's role.

"I think once Ray gets the business side more squared away, it'll make it easier on him to concentrate more on getting with the cars and making them run faster," Elliott said.

He's glad ownership is Evernham's problem.

"These things are so expensive to run," Elliott said. "It's not doing anything but getting harder and harder day in and day out. Any time NASCAR implements a rule change, however small it is, it costs you tons of money to deal with."

For a brief period in the 1990s, it was fashionable for a Winston Cup driver to own his own team. Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, Joe Nemechek and Brett Bodine were among those who joined Elliott as owner-drivers. Only Bodine remains in that role.

"I don't think everybody's cut out to run their own business," said Bodine, who operates his with the help of his wife, Diane. "It's not for everybody, but that's OK. It's that way in any business.

"Some days I do envy those guys who just drive, because this is an awful lot of hard work, but this is my family's business."

Ed Clark, the Atlanta track's president, has seen a subtle change in Elliott the past few years, mainly due to the driver's family - wife Cindy and 5-year-old son Chase.

Now, devoid of the problems of running a business, Elliott is finding more time for something other than racing.

"I just heard from a friend of Bill's that he's fly fishing now," Clark said. "I can't believe Bill Elliott is fly fishing."

But what Elliott would like to bag most of all is another Atlanta victory. Although he leads all active drivers with four poles and five wins on the track, he hasn't been to Victory Lane since 1992.

He attributes part of that to the reshaping of the track in 1997.

"I liked the old Atlanta because it had a personality to it," Elliott said. "I just haven't figured out the new configuration. I'm sure if I'd win a race here, I'd change my tune a little bit."

Win or lose, Clark said a large portion of Sunday's crowd will be rooting for Elliott.

"When Bill won the pole this year at Daytona, our phone lines rang off the hook with the calls from north Georgia looking for tickets," Clark said. "Mainly, they all just want to see Bill run up front and do well, no matter what he's driving."

On the net:

Elliott: http://www.4adodge.com/racing/nascar/teams/evernham-team.html