Bill Elliott said after this weekend, his next race may be at Indy in August. Credit: Autostock

Limited schedule hasn't slowed Elliott one bit

In just second '04 start, 'Awesome Bill' to start second at TMS
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive April 2, 2004
8:40 PM EST (0140 GMT)

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Kasey Kahne has been plenty fast in an impressive rookie season, and Jeremy Mayfield has shown lots of speed in 2004, too.

But guess who was the fastest of the Evernham Motorsports bunch Friday at Texas Motor Speedway? The old guy, the veteran, the semi-retired driver. Bill Elliott, 48, ran a lap of 193.720 mph to take the second starting spot for Sunday's Samsung/Radio Shack 500.

"He did good, especially when he went out," Kahne said of his elder teammate. Elliott was the second car to qualify. "He had a good lap. I went in there and talked to him after that to try to help my lap a little bit. He thought we'd beat him just because we went out later. That was an awesome lap for Bill."

And it was especially awesome considering that Elliott hasn't driven a Nextel Cup car since Las Vegas nearly a month ago. His part-time schedule was supposed to curtail his performance, as a team that isn't at the track every week usually struggles.

That wasn't the case Friday.

"Honestly, I don't even feel like I've missed a race from my standpoint," Elliott said. "This is no different than it being the second race of the season rather than the seventh. ... It doesn't feel any different from me than running a Busch race or any other race. I've really trained myself hard not to think about, 'I'm missing a race.' I look at it like it's just another race. I just don't think about it.

"I've been running the late model dirt cars at home and just playing around. I don't think you get too far away from this, and I've been doing a lot of testing, too. From a racing standpoint, the basics are still the same."

The car Elliott is driving isn't the same, though. His No. 91 is an in-house chassis, and Elliott is acting as the development driver. Elliott said he thought the new chassis is "probably ahead of schedule," and Friday's run seemed to prove that.

Elliott joked that he was simply "trying to keep up with Kasey," Ray Evernham's young rookie who has won two poles and finished in the top-five three times.

"He's been running awful well lately, and I'm proud of what he's been doing lately," Elliott said. "I think that shows how well Ray's organization came together at the end of last year. Jeremy and myself either finished in the top five or top 10 every single race. He's got some good equipment and parts and pieces and some good people. That's what it takes to run this sport."

And there is no jealousy of Kahne, who took Elliott's place in the No. 9.

"I really sat down during the winter and evaluated the feelings I was going to have when the season started in 2004," Elliott said. "Honestly, I thought I might be jealous or I might be this or I might be that. I'm truly happy with what he's doing.

"He's a good kid. He's got a good future in the sport. This sport will chew you up and spit you out. That's where you've got to roll with the ups and downs. Right now he's on the upswing. I'm very proud of him, and I'm proud of Ray's whole organization."

Elliott's car is without sponsorship this weekend, and Elliott told the media that Evernham would be happy to take a few dollars from anyone who wanted to donate it.

After Sunday's race, the No. 91 might be parked for a while. Evernham can't run Elliott without backing, and unless some comes in, Elliott won't run.

"The last I talked to Ray, after this race I think we're kinda in the hold mode for a while," Elliott said. "If things don't change, I think Indy will be our next race. If things change, we'll address it from that standpoint.

"Regardless of what happens sponsorship-wise, I'm pleased with the way Ray's organization has progressed. This is an in-house car and it seems to have a lot of potential to it."

And Elliott seems to have a lot of racing life left, too.

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