Bill Elliott - Bristol Preview

Running At Bristol
"Bristol is kind of a love/hate thing. You love it if you're running well,
but you really hate it if you're not. You can get caught up in something so
quickly there you just never know. I kind of enjoy it. It took me a little
while to get used to when they made it concrete, but I've kind of gotten the
hang of it now. It can be really fun if you can survive. That's the biggest
thing. People really love watching a race at Bristol too. There's just
something about it that the fans really love." 

New Pit Road Rule At Bristol
"It's going to be kind of interesting. I haven't really thought about it a
lot yet.  I'm not sure how it's all going to play out. You can get laps down
pretty fast though if something happens and you have to come back in or
something. It kind of changes your pit road strategy a little bit. You
definitely don't want to make a mistake."

Season So Far
"We've been pretty consistent so far. That's what we've been looking for.
Mike (Ford, crew chief) and the guys have been doing a good job. We got out
of Darlington with a good finish, and that's always good when you get out of
places like Darlington with a good run. That's what we're looking for this
season, consistency. Bristol will be another one of those places where if
you can get out of there with a good finish, it can help you later in the
season."


	STATS & FACTS

	*	In his 37 appearances at Bristol, Elliott has one win, one
pole, six top fives and 13 top 10 finishes.  Elliott's sole victory at the
track came in Bristol's 55th race, where he moved from 13th place to victory
lane in the spring race of 1988.  Elliott's pole position came in the fall
three years later, as he started from the front in the 1991 Bud 500.  His
most recent top 10 finish at Bristol's came in the track's first race in
1997 when he finished seventh.  

	*	In last year's Food City 500, Elliott started 12th and
finished 17th despite sustaining some damage in an early-race collision that
put him back to 39th place.  He made up two lost laps and 22 positions
throughout the race to earn a top 20 finish on the cramped confines of the
half-mile track.  In his last start at the track, Elliott started 35th and
finished 19th in the 2001 fall race.

	*	Last week at Darlington, Elliott started the day in 10th
place and stayed in the top 10 for most of the day. The No. 9 Dodge Intrepid
R/T was caught on pit road when a caution flag was thrown on lap 198,
putting Elliott a lap down. Adept driving by Elliott put him back on the
lead lap more than a dozen laps later when the caution flew again after an
11-car accident on the backstretch. Elliott spent the remainder of the race
maintaining track position, battling through traffic and working to avoid
getting a "Darlington Stripe" to finish 10th. 

	*	Elliott's finish last weekend was his 32nd top-10 finish in
48 races at Darlington Raceway. Despite his finish, he loses a spot in the
Winston Cup points, falling to 14th. He is just six points out of the next
position and a mere 27 points out of the top 10.

	*	Elliott's pole position this year at Atlanta was his first
pole at the track since November 1991.  It was his 52nd career Bud Pole in
663 Winston Cup races, placing him sixth behind Bobby Allison in all-time
Winston Cup career poles (Elliott ranks first among active drivers).  With
45 superspeedway poles, Elliott ranks third behind Cale Yarborough (46) and
is the leader among active drivers.  Elliott's most recent pole prior to
last weekend came at Homestead in November of 2001.