LOOKING IN ON: MOTOR SPORTS

Thursday, July 6, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.

When Bill Elliott announced in 2003 that he would run a limited schedule beginning the next season, it was his plan to compete in about a dozen NASCAR Nextel Cup Series races a year.

As it has turned out, Elliott has had a lot more time on his hands than he envisioned when he walked away from a full-time ride in the No. 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge. He has competed in a grand total of 16 races since 2004, and Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway will be only his second start of the year.

"The opportunities never came about," Elliott said, explaining his prolonged absence from the sport. "With Ray (Evernham) starting his third (team) with Valvoline, that kind put me at another step back from the standpoint of not having anything to run part time.

"I never said I was going to retire. I said I wanted to run 12 to 15 races a year, and it has just never materialized."

Elliott, the 1988 series champion, has 44 NASCAR Cup victories, which ranks him 14th. He finished 19th in his lone start this season, the Daytona 500.

Elliott's decision to step out of the No. 9 car allowed Kasey Kahne to come into the Nextel Cup Series on a full-time basis. Kahne was the rookie of the year in the Cup Series in 2004, won his first race last year and has a series-leading four victories this season.

"It gave Kasey Kahne a great opportunity, and I'm very proud of where he's at," Elliott said. "Looking at what I did, I made the right decision by doing that."

Sunday's race will be the first of five races in which Elliott is scheduled to compete for Michael Waltrip Racing. Although the team will field Toyota Camrys next season in the automaker's Nextel Cup Series debut, Elliott will be driving a Chevrolet this weekend.

Although he said he still enjoys the competition, Elliott was noncommittal when asked if he would consider returning to the sport on a full-time basis in 2007.

"It'd have to be the right deal I wouldn't come back just to come back," he said. "For me, it'd be just for the love of the sport more than anything.

"It's hard to let go in a lot of ways."

Chase this

Just when fans and (most) drivers seem to be embracing NASCAR's "Chase for the Nextel Cup" format, NASCAR President Brian France announced last weekend that he was considering making "adjustments" to the championship system.

France, who devised the Chase format prior to the 2004 season, did not elaborate on what changes would be made for the 2007 season. Speculation has centered on NASCAR altering the way it awards points so that more teams may be eligible for the Chase.

Under the current format, all drivers within 400 points of the leader after 26 races are eligible for the Nextel Cup championship during the final 10 races of the season. In each of the first two seasons, only 10 teams qualified for the Chase.

At least one driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., said he isn't in favor of NASCAR tinkering with the Chase.

"I'd really like things to stay the same," he said. "How you win points is very confusing. If it's confusing for me in the car, imagine what it's like for those people sitting in the grandstands.

"Whether you're trying to sell groceries off the shelves in the grocery store or you're running an operation like NASCAR, consistency and things that continue are a safe bet and a good thing and anytime you get confusion and inconsistency, you lose interest with fans."

222.64

Russ Wicks' stock car speed record, in miles per hour, which he set Tuesday in a NASCAR-spec Ford Taurus at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Melanie Troxel's points lead over Doug Kalitta in the NHRA Top Fuel standings after 12 of 23 races.

Also noted