Elliott Finally Revisits Victory Lane

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — After seven years and 226 races without a victory, Bill Elliott wasn’t sure how to celebrate.

After taking the checkered flag in the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, he did a tentative burnout in front of the main grandstand at Homestead-Miami Speedway, then did a couple of rubber-burning doughnuts before driving slowly to Victory Lane, relishing the moment.

On a day when Jeff Gordon all but wrapped up his fourth Winston Cup championship, Elliott gave Ray Evernham and crew chief Mike Ford their first wins.

Elliott, whose last victory came at Darlington in September 1994, passed teammate Casey Atwood five laps from the end of the 267-lap race after stalking the rookie for several trips around the 11/2-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I was just staying with him and then I got under him and he got real loose in [turns] three and four and that’s all it took,” said Elliott, a winner for the 41st time.

“Ray believed in me and Mike and all the guys believed in me,” he added. “With 20 laps to go, Mike said, ‘You can do it.’ I just dug down a little deeper and here we are.”

The victory was just as sweet for Evernham, who was the top crew chief in the sport before leaving Hendrick Motorsports late in 1999 for the difficult task of starting up his own team and guiding Dodge’s return to NASCAR’s top division after a 16-year absence.

Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, driving one of his best races of the season, came on to pass Atwood for second on the last lap, but crossed the finish line 1.42-seconds--about eight car-lengths--behind Elliott’s bright red No. 9 Dodge.

There have been three other Dodge victories this season--two by Sterling Marlin for Chip Ganassi and one by Ward Burton for Bill Davis--and Evernham admitted after his drivers swept the front-row qualifying positions for the Homestead race that he was impatient by having gone 33 races this season without a win.

“I certainly wasn’t getting frustrated, but sometimes you just get a little impatient,” Evernham said. “Our guys have been getting more and more ready to win. Today, we had a good engine and good strategy. If we can keep that consistency, we’ll have a lot more wins.”

Elliott led three times for 59 laps and pole-sitter Atwood twice for 52. Both slipped back into the pack for a while in midrace, but long pit stops on the last stop by the leaders during a caution period on lap 226 left them 1-2 and poised for the battle at the end.

Gordon, the driver Evernham mentored to 47 wins and all three titles before quitting as crew chief of the Hendrick team, ran into some bad luck that left him 28th.

Rudd did shave 21 points off Gordon’s formidable lead, cutting it to 305. But all Gordon has to do now to take the title is start the last two races. He can also clinch by finishing 32nd or better next Sunday in Atlanta, no matter what Rudd does.

Gordon, who had run among the top 10 most of the day, lost a lap when he had to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 210, several laps after being bumped from behind by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Clinching it early is not my goal,” Gordon said. “My goal is to win the championship and win races. I’m just disappointed that we had such a good car and such a good run going and we lost that valuable track position.”

Commenting on Evernham’s win, he said, “I think the world of Ray and it’s great to see him in Victory Lane. Those guys were due.”

Tony Stewart, who had won both previous Winston Cup events at Homestead, was dominant at times, leading a race high 72 laps. He slipped back into the pack late in the race and wound up 19th.

Jeff Burton finished fourth, followed by Sterling Marlin, Dave Blaney and rookie Kevin Harvick, who led 47 laps in the middle of the race.