'Million Dollar Bill' Elliott was born at 1985 Southern 500 - Charlotte Observer
It appeared that Bill Elliott’s bid for a $1 million bonus had gone up in smoke. A thick, white plume enveloped his Ford in Turn 4 and down the frontstretch at Darlington (S. C. ) Raceway in the Southern 500 on Sept. The smoke was spewing from a Ford driven by leader Cale Yarborough. There seemed no way a blinded Elliott, following closely, could get through it from second place without losing control and crashing. As Yarborough slowed, Elliott flashed from the fog, taking the lead on the 324th of 367 laps at the historic 1. 366-mile track. Elliott sped under the checkered flag six-tenths of a second in front of Yarborough and The Winston Million bonus was secured in the first year it was offered, much to the delight of Elliott’s massive following. “Honestly, I can’t tell how I made it through that smoke,” a jubilant Elliott said. Reynolds Tobacco Company, then the title sponsor of NASCAR’s premier series, had established the rich prize for a driver winning three of the sport’s Big Four races – the Daytona 500, Talladega’s Winston 500, Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600 and the... Elliott triumphed at Daytona and Talladega, Ala. A few even tried to crawl under the car with him as he worked on the chassis setup of his red and white No. 9 Thunderbird, fielded by Harry Melling. Source: www.charlotteobserver.com
