Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Elliott more concerned with wins than milestones

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 | 9:46 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Bill Elliott will make his 650th career NASCAR Winston Cup start on Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway, but the former Winston Cup champion is more concerned about results than milestones.

"I never think of how many starts I've had," Elliott said Monday. "I don't dwell on that stuff; I'm just out there doing what I like to do."

What he would like to do, Elliott said, is figure out a way to get around the tricky 1.058-mile oval in Loudon.

"I haven't really found what I need to do to get around the New Hampshire track," Elliott said. "It hasn't been very good to me. We didn't run bad there the last race (in July).

"Unless you're really, really good, it's one of them deals (where it's) really, really tough to pass at New Hampshire. You don't need that much motor there. Motor is a part of it, but handling means as much as anything."

In 13 starts at New Hampshire, Elliott has recorded only three top-10 finishes. His best outing came in the July race in 1999, when he drove to a fifth-place finish after starting 40th.

Elliott is fourth among active drivers in career starts; only Ricky Rudd (721), Dave Marcis (758) and Terry Labonte (699) have started more races. He heads into the New Hampshire 300 in 13th-place in Winston Cup points and is eyeing his first top-10 points finish since 1997.

The only major change is that the season will end Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida instead of the traditional season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Recurring inclement autumn weather in Atlanta led AMS officials to request an earlier date. The track will host its second Winston Cup race on Oct. 27, 2002.

The 2002 season will open Feb. 17 with the Daytona 500. The fifth annual Las Vegas Winston Cup race will be held March 3. Complete schedule, 6D.

Busch will make his fourth start in the No. 99 Roush Racing truck in the Silverado 350 NCTS race on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Jack Sprague leads Joe Ruttman by a mere 27 points and third-place Scott Riggs by only 57 points. Travis Kvapil, Ted Musgrave and Ricky Hendrick also remain in contention for the title.