Bristol II: Bill Elliott preview

Bill Elliott No. 9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T

MIKE FORD - TESTING AT BRISTOL
"We tested at Bristol the week before last. We wanted to get Bill comfortable in the car and that's a lot of what we focused on. It was pretty hot there those two days, but we ran quite a few laps with a lot of the focus on Bill. Bristol was just one of the tracks that we wanted to improve on and so we decided to test there. You always learn something when you test. We'll just have to wait and see how it all works out this weekend."

BILL ELLIOTT ON BRISTOL
"I can't say that Bristol is one of my better tracks. I haven't really found what I need to get comfortable in the race car there. That's part of the reason why we tested. I don't know how hot it will be in the car. It can't be any hotter than it was when we tested. It about wore me out. We ran a lot of laps, but you just never now. We'll focus on getting a good starting spot for Saturday night and try to stay out of trouble, which is half the battle at Bristol."

BILL ELLIOTT ON RUNNING AT NIGHT
"I don't think there's a huge difference in running at night. It might be a little cooler than if we were running it in the day. It took me awhile to get used to the concrete but I've gotten the hang of it. Bristol can be a fun place to race. I know the fans seem to enjoy the night race a lot. It's kind of a special one for them."

RACE NOTES

This weekend, Evernham Motorsports and the No. 9 Dodge Dealers team will bring the car that Elliott ran at Texas and Charlotte.

* In his 38 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 fall three years later, as he started from the front in the 1991 Bud 500. His most recent top 10 finish at Bristol came in the track's first race in 1997 when he finished seventh.

* In his last visit to Bristol in March, Elliott spent the day making up track position after starting the day in the 30th spot. He managed to keep the No. 9 Dodge Intrepid R/T on the lead lap for the first part of the race while his patient driving kept him out of the trouble. Elliott finished just one lap down in 21st place.

* In last summer's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elliott started from the 35th spot. He battled his way around the half-mile track and had moved into the top 15 until an incident on lap 261 sent him in for repairs with damage to the left side of the car. Elliott was able to work his way back toward the front to finish 19th.

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