Bill Elliott is a famous race car driver. He has had a long career in American racing and was named one of the 50 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR in 1998. He has been one of the most popular American racers for over two decades and has had a thirty plus year long career.
Bill Elliott was born in Dawsonville, Georgia on October 8th, 1955. He raced in his first Winston Cup at the age of twenty one. Developing his abilities in the Winston Cup over the course of several years, he became the most popular driver in NASCAR for the period of 1984 to 1988. After gradually developing the support of a number of sponsors including Coors, 1985 was Bill Elliott's first huge year. He won the first Winston Million, a million dollar cash prize for winning three of the four "crown jewels" of the NASCAR schedule: the Daytona 500 (richest race), the Winston 500 (fastest race), the Coca-Cola 600 (longest race), and the Southern 500 (oldest race). Bill Elliott won all of them except the Coca-Cola 600 the first year the prize was offered and became known by the nicknames "Million Dollar Bill", "Wild Bill", and "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville". Shortly after achieving fame with the Winston Million, Bill Elliott became the first NASCAR racer to appear on the Sports Illustrated cover.
Despite setting various records and being very famous for the Winston Million victory, Bill Elliott had trouble winning the Winston Cup. He finally won in 1988, but future Winston Cup Championships eluded him. He has collected a large number of career wins however, with forty four wins in the Winston Cup, and he has been named Most Popular Driver in NASCAR sixteen times, which is more than anyone. The Most Popular Driver award is expected to be named after Bill Elliott when he retires from racing.