NASCAR WCUP: Bill Elliott's last dance in a Ford
20 November 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
|
BILL ELLIOTT --94-- McDonald's Taurus -- ATLANTA WILL BE YOUR LAST RACE AS AN OWNER/DRIVER. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? "It's gonna be great from my standpoint, I believe. I'll miss the people in one respect, but, then again, it makes it a whole lot easier with the transition that I have going on versus if you just ended it and the guys had to look and go somewhere else. So it does make it easier from that standpoint. It came and it went, so we'll look at it from the standpoint that it was good while it lasted. I'll miss some parts of it and some parts I won't."
IS IT A RELIEF? "I think in a lot of ways it is. Anytime you change directions makes you a little bit nervous, but a year-and-a-half ago when McDonald's announced they were going somewhere else, I looked at it from the standpoint of, 'what's my future now,' and at least this gives me direction in knowing where I'm going and what I'm doing. There's no question about that."
WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS WITH HOW THE MCDONALD'S SITUATION UNFOLDED AND THE STATE IN GENERAL OF HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED FOR THE OWNER/DRIVER? "It's changed a lot, but maybe the business changes for a reason. Those guys came in and told McDonald's what they wanted to hear and were able to go in that direction, whether it was right, wrong or indifferent. I guess that comes back to marketing and having the right strategy of where you're going, whereas all I know how to do is race. I didn't stay that close to the sponsor side of it and that was kind of my mistake, but, there again, what some of these guys turned around and re-did a year-and-a-half ago, is that enough money to run next year, the year after and the year after that? So, I've got to look at it from the standpoint that I don't have the resources that a Roush or a Hendrick or some of these other guys have got. I want to stay competitive and I don't feel like I can do that in the direction I'm going to some extent. I still think it can happen, but the sport is changing so much that you've got to have lots of dollars to do that."
YOU SAID IT WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED, BUT HOW DISAPPOINTING IS IT TO NOT HAVE A RACE WIN WITH THIS TEAM? "We came so close so many times and something unfortunate always seemed to happen. It's like you've got something in front of you that won't let you cross that bridge, but I'm not gonna worry about it. If it happens, it happens. If it don't, it don't. I mean, there's not a lot I can do about it at this point. I feel like I gave it as good of an effort as I possibly could and I don't really have any regrets looking back over the last six years. What we'll do now is get this out of the way, take some time off this winter, and worry about next year."
THIS WEEKEND WILL ALSO MARK THEN END OF YOUR FORD RACING RELATIONSHIP. WHAT WILL THAT BE LIKE? "It's gonna be tough from that standpoint. Ford has been such a big part of my career. If you look back on all of the things that have happened, it's kind of the end of a major era. I think that was probably the toughest part of my decision and what I struggled with the most was the Ford side of this deal. Yet, you have to go on. You can't just say, 'Well, this is the only thing I can do.' You have to leave your options open and when Ray came to me and wanted me to come and do that deal it was like, 'Well, I don't know if I can do it or not.' I struggled with it real hard, but after looking at it and weighing everything out from team guys to everything that was going on, I felt like that was the direction I needed to go -- not only for myself, but for the team and everybody involved. I have to say though that I have the utmost respect for everybody at Ford Motor Company. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all they've done for me over the years and, even though I may not be driving a Ford next year, they're still going to always have a special place in my heart."
CAN YOU PICK OUT YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT DRIVING FOR FORD? "I think it goes back to winning the first race and continuing to win races with the stuff we had. When I started running a Ford in Winston Cup, you were a minority if there ever was a minority. I think that's the proudest accomplishment of my career. That's something I can look back on and say, 'We did it our way.' We came in as a family entity and were successful. Ernie built motors, I drove the car and worked on the car, Dan helped and mother and daddy contributed. We came into a sport that looked at us like, 'Who are those guys? What are they ever gonna do?' And we accomplished a lot just coming from nothing and I don't know if that will ever happen again."
DO YOU HAVE A MOST DISAPPOINTING MOMENT? "Maybe losing the championship in '92 to Alan (Kulwicki) and maybe losing the championship in '85 to Darrell (Waltrip). You look back on all the stuff that's happened and I feel like everything that happened all built character. That's the way I look at it. It's part of what you did and I'm proud of that."
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE IS GOING TO HOLD FOR YOU? "I don't know. I'm gonna just take it one day at a time. I don't know what's gonna happen or how this other deal is gonna play out. We don't have any guarantees about what tomorrow is gonna bring, so we'll just have to see."
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