NASCAR Cup
Michigan: Bill Elliott preview
UPDATE ON INJURY "I go to the doctor tomorrow (Wednesday) for another x-ray. We'll know more then but I don't expect that it's gotten any worse. We're just going on a day-by-day basis just like last week. The team is really doing a great job ...
Published: Jun 11, 2003, 8:52 PM
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UPDATE ON INJURY
"I go to the doctor tomorrow (Wednesday) for another x-ray. We'll know more then but I don't expect that it's gotten any worse. We're just going on a day-by-day basis just like last week. The team is really doing a great job helping me stay comfortable and dealing with the situation. I didn't race with the protective boot this weekend and we'll just have to see what we'll do for this weekend. Tomorrow we should know a little more."
HISTORY AT MICHIGAN
"I've had a decent amount of success at Michigan. I can't really say why. It's just a track that suits my driving style. We've had some decent runs there lately. We almost got the pole there but Craven knocked us off at the last minute. We had a good run going there to try and give Dodge their first win but we just weren't where we needed to be when it counted. It was still a good day. I don't know. We were good in California earlier in the season and I think that should carry over for us this weekend. It'd sure be nice the way these guys have been working hard here lately with everything we've had to contend with to come out with a good run here in Dodge's backyard."
REFLECTING ON CAREER
"Right now I don't really reminisce on that stuff very much because I've been so caught up in what I'm doing today. I don't really think about it. When I'm sitting there sometimes getting interviewed and I say, 'man, I've accomplished a lot.' I've been very lucky, very fortunate to be where I'm at. That's one thing I look at. There'll be time to reminisce when you go back and look at some of this stuff, but right now my focus is on getting better and getting this team back where it needs to be and trying to get Ray back where he needs to be. I think that's the thing that concerns me today. It has been a great career. I'm sure I haven't done as much as some, but one thing I'm so proud of when I look back is we kind of did it our way. We were kind of out here in the middle of nowhere and became competitive and won races."
RACE NOTES
Bill Elliott is scheduled to drive chassis No. 38, which he ran this year at Atlanta, Texas and California and last year at Michigan. The car's highest finish is fourth at California and its highest qualifying position is second at Atlanta.
CAREER AT MICHIGAN
This will be Elliott's 51st career start at Michigan Int'l Speedway. He has a total of seven wins, six poles, 17 top-fives and 29 top-10 finishes at the track. Elliott has led 29 Michigan races for a total of 1,004 laps.
MICHIGAN RECORDS
Elliott leads all active drivers with seven wins at Michigan - 1984(a) 1985(a,b), 1986(a,b), 1987(b) and 1989(a). His six pole positions at Michigan are more than any other active driver - 1982(b), 1984(a,b), 1985(b) and 1988(a,b). Elliott also leads all active drivers with 17 top-five finishes and has the most top-10 finishes in NASCAR history at Michigan Int'l Speedway with 29.
WINS FROM A MICHIGAN POLE POSITION
Only 14 Michigan races have been won from the pole position, and Bill Elliott has done it three times - 1984(a) and 1985(a,b). Elliott won the 1985(a) race from the pole position after the lineup was determined by Winston Cup car owner standings due to rain.
SWEEPING UP AT MICHIGAN
Elliott is one of only seven drivers to sweep both races at Michigan in the same year. He is the only driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive races at Michigan - 1985(a,b) and 1986(a,b).
MOST RECENT RUN AT MICHIGAN
In last fall's Michigan 400, Elliott's No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid jumped out to a fast start, capturing the second spot on the seventh lap. Shortly thereafter, Elliott began to lose positions, as his car would slip out of gear when he got off the throttle. Rather than pit and lose valuable track position, he stayed out and was forced to shift manually. Elliott worked himself through the field from last place to finish 22nd.
LAST WEEKEND
Last weekend's Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway proved to be anything but a normal day for Bill Elliott. Despite a broken foot and speculation throughout the week that his condition would force him out of his car, Elliott completed the 200-lap event. ARCA driver Frank Kimmel stood by in case Elliott was not able to handle the difficult conditions at Pocono. Elliott started from the eighth spot for Sunday's event. After a caution came out on the tenth lap, the Dodge Squad topped off the gas only and Elliott left the pits in first place. After the caution, two laps into the green flag, Elliott scraped the wall in turn two, causing damage to his car.
He fought to remain in the top-10 but the damage caused him to lose ground. Adjustments were made to the car, including trackbar, wedge, and air pressure adjustments, but Elliott still reported the car as being a little free. Elliott made up ground from the 22nd spot he was in with 30 laps to go. He finished the race in 19th place. Elliott gained a spot in the Winston Cup points race, moving to 22nd place, just 18 points our of the top 20.
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