Dodge Charger Quotes. Bill Elliott.

Friday, Feb. 11, 2005
Daytona International Speedway.
MEDIA DAY COMMENTS.
 

BILL ELLIOTT (No. 39 Coors Dodge Charger)

HOW DID YOU GET THE RIDE WITH GANASSI FOR BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT?  "It was
just a casual conversation. I asked Ray if he cared if I drove anything
else. My brother Ernie and I talked about it and he got me with Ganassi.
It turned out to be the 20th anniversary of the 1985 stuff (11 wins, 11
poles), and it turned out to be a good deal. It helped Coors out from
their marketing standpoint. We've got good equipment, and I think we've
got a good chance in the race."

 

IS IT WEIRD TO DRIVE FOR SOMEONE OTHER THAN RAY EVERNHAM? "Not really
because all the cars are kinda the same any more. If you go look at
tech, it's like "Holly Molly, I don't know if I could go through all
this anymore.'

 

COMMENT ON NEW QUALIFYING PROCEDURES "I really don't know how to comment
on that. I understand California is just going to be a lineup race.
We're going to qualify and they're going to let you do a few things to
the car and then line it up. That's my understanding at this point. I
guess the next question is what are they going to let you do?"

 

COMMENT ON BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT "We'll see how things have progressed in
these cars. It'll give Ganassi a chance to learn more about the car
before the Daytona 500. From the Coors standpoint, they were very
instrumental in what I started doing in the early 80s. My relationship
with all the Coors family was special through the whole deal. We all
grew together. It was such a unique time. They came in the first year
and I think the sponsorship was like $400,000 and it was wild. Now it's
grown in to what it is today."

 

COMMENT ON KASEY KAHNE'S PROGRESS LAST YEAR "He was an easy study. He
did well. I think he was an exception to the rule. He came in, picked
the ball up and carried it way beyond my expectations. He got in good
equipment, but on the flip side of that, he carried it. I'm very proud
of him. He's a good kid, and he's got a great future in this sport. I
compare him to Jeff Gordon or any of those guys."

 

IF YOU COULD CHANGE THE LENGTH OF ANY RACE WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Pocono. It does not need to be 500 miles. If it was a 400-mile race it
would be plenty. It's a two and a half mile racetrack, but they run a
minute around the track and they run 200 laps. It's an all-afternoon
deal. At my age, no race is too short."

 

COMMENT ON THE CALIFORNIA TEST "I didn't think we were too bad. It's
still going to come down to how they're going to do their rules."

 

DO YOU STILL ENJOY COMING TO DAYTONA IN FEBRUARY? "I enjoy coming down
here. It's a fun event. I'm not running the 500 and that's part of it,
but I enjoy seeing all the people and I've still got a lot of good
friends in this sport, and I still enjoy seeing a lot of the crew guys
around the garage. We've all kind of grown up together. When I was in
there looking at Ganassi's car in the garage, I ran into Tony Glover and
we were talking about old times. I was laughing about all the inspectors
in there. I'd never seen so many inspectors."

 

WILL THE NEW QUALIYING PROCEDURE DECREASE THE IMPORTANCE OF GOING FOR
THE POLE? "I think there's always going to be an importance for going
for the pole, but I think they're going to have different views when
they get there. Until we get everything laid out and go through it two
or three times, I don't know how to answer the question. They'll have to
qualify in race trim, especially the guys that are guaranteed a start."

 

DID YOU CONCENTRATE ON POLES IN 1985? "No, we went after every event as
hard as we could go. That's what you've got to do. If you unload and
you're 45th out of 50 cars, what are your chances of winning the pole?
You're going to work for the goal, don't get me wrong, but sometimes the
odds for that particular day are totally against you. Whenever you
unload winning the pole is your first goal and then your next goal is
winning the race. I'm going to work to the race setup and then make it
be as fast as I can to run a fast lap for qualifying."

 

THROUGH ALL YOUR SUCCESS YOU'VE ALWAYS REMAINED A HUMBLE PERSON. HOW'D
YOU MANAGE TO DO THAT? "I'd rather be seen and not heard. That's just
the way I grew up. In the era we did what we did, we worked 24/7. You
tell me how cocky you can get working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There were 13 of us in that shop, and I was no different. I was the guy
that came in, worked on the car, swept the floor, changed the springs,
put the motor in, did body work, did paint work and everything else. How
cocky can you get doing that?"

 

CAN A DRIVER/OWNER BE SUCCESSFUL TODAY? "I don't say it can't be done,
but I'm saying the odds are way out there. We didn't have nothing. We
just went in and did it, and there again, you can't be cocky if you're
the only one there and you do everything you've got to do. That's what I
was telling Kasey. At his age, I was in there welding pieces on and
doing this and doing that, trying to get to the next level. In the early
80s it was unheard of that a rookie came in and got in a good race car.
Probably Earnhardt was the only one that ever did that, and it took him
a few years to do it, but he didn't come from another series and step in
to a winning race car."

 

DID YOU TAKE TIME TO CELEBRATE AFTER THE 1985 SEASON? "No, we worked. We
worked Christmas, New Year's, all the time. That's the way we were. We
did what we had to do, and there was always something that had to be
done."

 

WILL THERE BE PRESSURE TO WIN THE SHOOTOUT? "I think the pressure is off
now. Since you've won the event, I think the pressure is on the guy who
hasn't won it. With the way the racing is today in a restrictor-plate
environment, it's a lot different than when I won the event. That's the
things I look at. I ran good here in 2001 and I ran good here in 1997.
The stuff is just so different. Unless you've got someone who can help
you, you're just kinda riding around out there."

 

WHAT'S THE STRATEGY FOR THE SHOOTOUT? "Get in the right place at the
right time. If you've got a decent car and get in the right place at the
right time, that's what it's going to be all about."

 

COMMENTS ON FRIDAY BEFORE FIRST SHOOTOUT PRACTICE

 

DO YOU LIKE THE PART-TIME SCHEDULE? "I think I like where I'm at real
well right now. Everything is going real well. Somebody asked if I'd
double my races. I said really my ideal situation was to run 10 or 12
last year. The way everything turned out, it really didn't work out. For
me to be able to come in and pick and choose... When I was walking over
here I said to myself that I'm really fortunate to be where I'm at. To
come in and get in a Ganassi car for the Bud Shootout. Then when I leave
here, I'll be able to go to California for that race with Stanley Tools
and Evernham Motorsports. We've got a lot of good things going on even
though I am backing up and doing it on a part-time basis."

 

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'VE STARTED A TREND "All good things have got to come
to an end. After running this long as I have in this sport and given as
much as I have, it's time to go around and enjoy life. Like I said
several other times, I feel like I could probably race several more
years, but you look at it and say why put yourself through it each and
every week. I think that's the biggest thing when I walked away from
this stuff, being able to drop the pressure of competing each and every
week on a have to basis because that's the hardest part of this sport."

 

DID MARKETING OBLIGATIONS OUTSIDE THE CAR SPREAD YOU TOO THIN? "That
plays a role of where you end up. To take care of the sponsorship, plus
running 38 weekends a year, plus doing all the other stuff involved,
just between the racing and testing is the hardest part of the whole
deal. Then you add on the sponsorship, car owner and everybody else's
commitment and you try to put in a home life somewhere in the middle of
all that mess, it does make it difficult. For the younger guys that are
not really tied to anything, it makes it easy. Plus, at no point in time
in their careers these kids didn't have to work on their cars like I did
early on in my career."

 

DO YOU THINK NASCAR LEADERSHIP IS DOING THE RIGHT THING? "I don't know
how to answer that. There are things I see as positive and things I see
as negative. It's hard for me to judge not being able to see it every
day from the other side. I just see it from this side of the fence. I
can't sit here and be a judge and say this is right and this is wrong."

 

WHAT'S IMPORTANT ABOUT THE EARLY PART OF YOUR CAREER? "That's what
launched everything. That was the most important part of my career.
That's what put everything together. You look at that era and how it
changed racing and NASCAR and everything else, me and everybody
involved. That was a definite change of era for NASCAR."

 

WHAT TOOK YOU FROM AN UNDERDOG TO A SUPERSTAR? "A lot of hard work and
probably Harry Melling."

 

WHAT WILL YOU WORK ON IN PRACTICE TODAY? "Drafting. That's what it's
going to be all about. It's supposed to be cold for the race tomorrow
night, and that will just make the cars handle a little longer and stay
under you a little better. It's a 70-lap race, and I need to sit down
and figure out the format because I haven't checked it out yet. I'll
figure it out tomorrow night. They'll tell me. I'm on a need to know
basis."

 

DOES THE NEW CHARGER SEEM DIFFERENT THAN THE INTREPID? "You've got so
many other changes involved with NASCAR and the templates and cutting
off the rear spoiler at other tracks. I'll know more after I race it in
California and get a good feel. California will be the first open race
and that will be good for me."

 

DO YOU MISS THE DAYS WHEN CARS WERE MORE DIFFERENT? "Yes, because I like
to hear all the car manufacturers grumble about who had the edge. You've
kinda lost that a little bit. I like the nostalgia of having the
different cars and the appeal from that side of it, especially when they
had the T-Bird and Pontiacs and all that stuff. It's gone to a different
generation and they're looking at different things."

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE DAYTONA INFIELD WITH JUGGLERS AND GUYS ON
STILTS? "I've said if the team guys can keep their composure this week
and a half, my hat's off to 'em because they go through a lot. They're
really going to be under a magnifying glass. The biggest thing is as the
pressure cooker builds toward the 500 next weekend, it'll be very
interesting."

 

DID YOU MISS RACING AT ANY POINT LAST SEASON? "At some points yes, but I
realize it's a different evolution and you've got to lay it down
sometimes. It's sooner or later and later might not be the way you want
to do it. I feel like now I've done it kinda the way I want to do it,
and it's worked out well for me. To be able to do the races I want to do
and still compete and still get in good equipment, that's very important
for me this point in time."