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NASCAR HALL-OF-FAME INDUCTION CEREMONYJanuary 30, 2015Bill ElliottRay EvernhamCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA KERRY THARP: First up we have Bill Elliott, Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, 44 Sprint Cup Series wins, two Daytona 500s, three Southern 500s, a 16‑time Most Popular Driver. Bill Elliott, congratulations on being named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. How does that feel? BILL ELLIOTT: It's wonderful. You know, I'm just‑‑ I'm still amazed that I'm in with the group I'm in with. You look up on the walls and see the guys that preceded me and the things that they did and how they handled themselves and drove a race car, you know, the hard work ethic that all those guys had and the dedication to do the things that they did and bring the sport to the level it is today, it's incredible. Q. What is it your father taught you initially that made you so desired to be the race car driver that you were? BILL ELLIOTT: You know, I don't know that he‑‑ he never sat down and said, you need to be a race car driver. It was always something that was‑‑ he pushed you in that direction. He always was leading you that way. He never said, hey, you need to do this. The way he proceeded was he'd go buy a race car and he'd look at me and Ernie, and he'd say, hey, y'all need to go run Charlotte here in a few weeks, and the car would be a total disaster, and some of the things we showed up with was just terrible. But yet that was his way of nudging you along to try and make you better and better. He believed in so many people and he helped so many racers around the area, it's countless the guys he helped through the '60s and early '70s. When I came along, I know both my brothers drove a little bit, and when I came along, I didn't go to college and it worked out that I could kind of continue on and do the things that I needed to do and be dedicated on the race car and continue on through that effort. But the biggest thing that I see is the work ethic that he taught us, kept us‑‑ I didn't feel like I was the best race car driver, but I was probably the hardest working race car driver at the time, and we never gave up, and I think that's what‑‑ that ethic took us to the level it took us to, and without that, without my dad and the ethic he taught us early on, we would have never achieved the things that we did. Q. Building on your comments there, Bill, can you talk a little bit more about what kind of role did it play for you when you got started in racing and how much of an advantage was it that you had the experience of working on a race car? BILL ELLIOTT: I feel like the experience that I gained working early on on the race cars helped me immensely because I didn't have‑‑ we couldn't afford a crew chief. We could not afford a guy to come in to hire, that had the knowledge. We had to go to the racetrack, and I was the one that got out and changed the springs. My oldest brother Ernie did the engine work, and that's the way we worked. It made me more understand a race car, everything that I did on it. That was the part that a lot of the racers in my era missed. They didn't really understand the race car. They had a crew chief, and if the crew chief and the driver didn't get along, then the communication was lost, where I didn't have that. I got out, I did the things, I understood it. I knew the things I wanted to change, I knew the direction I wanted to go in, and that helped me so much. The biggest part, as the years progressed, that I felt like hurt my career was I didn't understand where the sport was going. I was too much stuck in my own little world, and by the time I came back and started my own deal in the '90s, the sport was already going in such an engineering ‑‑ you had to have all the engineers and the development and the things that that took, and I was trying to go on old school, and it was going way past that. Q. My question is a little bit technical. For your race in Talladega,it's mentioned in April of '87 212 miles, 8 or 9 miles per hour. How many development you did, in case you did some in wind tunnel and engine shop to reach this speed, and how did you handle the G‑forces? BILL ELLIOTT: Well, I often said when Ford came out with the T‑bird it was a very aerodynamic car and I think we kind of understood it very well, and that helped lead us to the things that we did as far as car goes. I do feel like my brother was so underestimated at the engines and the power that he made and the reliability he had in the engines at the point in time that he did it. I mean, I just feel like he was one of the greatest engine builders there ever was. Sometimes he didn't come across as politically correct in a lot of ways, and I think that rubbed off on all of us, but that was just it. If we felt like we ran well on the racetrack, the rest would come. If we won races, everything else would take care of itself. But back to your question, I just‑‑ the way he understood intake manifolds and engines and the way that worked, he was as much a part of our success, especially on the speedway stuff, as much as anybody, and I say that he's the man that did that. Q. Back in the days when you and Ernie and Dan were racing jalopies in the junkyard, did you y'all just draw straws and say, okay‑‑ how did you become the driver in this crowd, I guess is my question? BILL ELLIOTT: You know, I don't really know. I mean, it's just like I said earlier, Ernie is eight years older than I am, and he got his chance and he ran some on the dirt, and I don't think he really cared about it. Now, he was a tenacious street racer back in the day. He would race anybody anywhere on the street. And this was back in probably the mid‑'60s, early '60s, and then by the time I came along, street racing had became a thing of the past. You just didn't do it anymore. My dad had started a speed shop business in the late '60s and Ernie started working at it and we were starting to build race cars for local racers, Jody Ridley was one of them, we were doing a little bit of work for him and some engine work for him, but Jody mainly did more of his chassis work and we did more engine work. We'd built a car for his brother to drive and there were several other racers that we kind of helped through that era, but there was no real direction to say you drive the race car, you don't, or you do this. Like I said, when I came along, when my mother asked me about taking the test to go to college, I says, don't waste your money and my time. I said, I didn't learn enough in high school, I'm too much of a mechanic head to worry about going to college. I said, I'd rather continue on what I'm doing because I looked at Ernie, he went to college for six years for a four‑year course and he came back and he was doing the same thing he was doing before he left, and the same thing with Dan. Dan was quite a bit smarter, but still, that's kind of the evolution of where we ended up. Q. Bill, did you guys keep an accounting that year of how much money you spent to win that million dollars? BILL ELLIOTT: Yeah, I think during that season Harry Melling, he spent about $2.3 million running that season, and we won like $2‑and‑a‑half million, so he was $200,000 in the black, so he had a really good year in '85. We didn't have any expenses. I think we had 12 guys in the shop. I was included in that bunch. I didn't make any money at that time driving a race car. But I'll tell you what, it was a heck of a ride. I look back on that and the era we did and the things we did, and just like what Darrell said tonight, I walked up to him and I just love talking to these old guys because they have such a different perspective on racing and the era we came through it, he said, man, we made it through it, and I'm thinking, yeah, we made it through by the skin of our teeth because you look around and there's a lot of guys that didn't. The evolution of where racing is today and the way they paved the road for everybody else today. I look around, and just like Tom Higgins, Tom is so much a part of you guys and the media, and I remember him and a lot of you guys, good, bad or indifferent, but it's been a heck of a ride, guys, and I appreciate everything you guys have done for me. KERRY THARP: I'd be remiss if I didn't also introduce championship crew chief Ray Evernham who's up on the podium with Bill. You guys teamed together to help bring Dodge back to the sport in 2001, and Ray, it's a privilege to have you up here tonight, as well, and if you could just maybe speak to Bill's accomplishments and his being inducted into the Hall of Fame this evening. RAY EVERNHAM: Yeah, first of all, honored to‑‑ every time you come into the NASCAR Hall, it's very humbling no matter what you've accomplished in the sport, very humbling to be out certainly just around some of the people that were here tonight, and extremely happy for this guy because when I hired him, I knew I was getting a great driver, but I didn't know how great of a friend I was getting, and we have had a lot of fun, and we continue to have a lot of fun. When Bill came on with me, we just knew that we were going to win. It was going to just take us a little bit of time. And I remember the first win that we got at Homestead, just how good it felt. It was as big as any race that I'd ever won in my career, and then when we went on and won at the Brickyard, it was really special because at that time I don't think anybody knew if either one of us were ever going to win big races again, and we won that. In sports, there's not many names that transcend a sport. If you're not even a baseball fan you know the names Ruth or Mantle or even the most casual football fan knows Lombardi and Unitas. In our sport, in motorsports, they know Foyt and Andretti and Earnhardt and Petty and even casual fans know Bill Elliott because of the things he's done, and it's an honor to have him as a friend, and it's been a great ride. I just tell everybody if I got Bill Elliott when he was 35 instead of 45, we'd have put up some numbers. BILL ELLIOTT: I should have brought my check to you there. Sorry I didn't make that happen. Stupid me. Q. Bill, have you gotten your head around the fact that Chase at 19 years old is going to be making his Cup debut next year, and full‑time in the series, carrying the torch in 2016, and for Ray, what's it going to be like for you to see another kid in the 24 car? BILL ELLIOTT: Well, it's truly an honor for him to be in that position. I mean, I think he realizes what he's been‑‑ the things that he's going to have to do as he goes on down the road. He's an incredibly good race car driver, and I'm not saying it's because he's my kid. I've watched him week in and week out through the short tracks, through all the stuff that the kid has done, and he's a pretty phenomenal race car driver. I've said all along he's better than I ever thought about being as far as driving a race car, and the way he processes knowing the things he wants out of the race car and is able is to go to the next level. When we signed the NAPA deal back about this time last year and we went into the season, it's like, this is going to be a test of time right here of what it's all about. I think I was standing on the spotter's stand at Vegas and watching him practice and then the race started and I was up there with Earl Barber, his spotter, and he was driving like he'd driven hundreds of Nationwide races, XFINITY races, I'm sorry, and after that I realized that, hey, I can't help him anymore. I mean, he is so far ahead of me and where I was at and the things that I did, and I think he'll be fine. I think he's got a good enough head on his shoulders. He's got some great people around him. It's just like Ray right here, I call Ray sometimes and I bounce ideas off of him, and he and I have been very good relationship and we understand each other and we understand where we're going. I've been a pretty good counselor to him here lately, I've helped him out on a few issues and vice versa. Maybe he'll elaborate it later. We've tried to start a new business, but we haven't gotten off on that yet, but we're working on it. RAY EVERNHAM: Yeah, let's move on. As far as seeing Chase move into that car, I can tell you that I'm not surprised at his success because I've known Chase since he was five years old, and I've seen him do some pretty amazing things behind the scenes coming along like whooping Bill and I both testing a dirt car one day when he was about 12 years old. I think more importantly, when you look at what's happening in that sport right now with Chase going into the 24 car and you think some of the‑‑ look at the names of our sport, the legendary names that are joining under the Hendrick umbrella, you've got Elliott, Earnhardt, Gordon, with Chase being in Junior's car and then going over with Hendrick and taking the seat on the 24, I just think it's an amazing thing for our sport, and I know that Chase will do a really good job because I told him all the time he's the luckiest kid in the world, he's got his daddy's talent and his mama's looks. Q. I was most impressed with your speech. No script, no notes. The passion and how you were able to bring everybody together, your brother, your sponsors, your helpers was very impressive. BILL ELLIOTT: Well, thank you very much. You know, I was just trying to go through it systematically from the heart of what I really felt and the passion. It's like Benny Parsons once said, you've got to have a passion for this sport. It's not the love of the sport, it's a passion for the sport. Benny was such a good friend and Benny did so much for me and was so instrumental in the things that I did, and you look back at the stepping‑stones of the people that brought you along and the influence they had as you came along. I mean, just like the time that Ray came along later in my career and brought me to another level. I mean, I was at the point, McDonald's had left, I was‑‑ owning my own race team was a total disaster. I didn't know if I even wanted to drive a race car again, but he gave me an opportunity and really a second chance at it, and it was a phenomenal ride, and I really appreciate that and really appreciate the friendship that we've acquired. I asked him to do this tonight and he was so gracious to come and do it, and I just appreciate it, and that meant a lot to me tonight. Q. Bill, what was more emotional for you this week, your son getting the ride or you getting in the Hall? BILL ELLIOTT: Gosh, that's a tough question. You know, I think Chase getting the ride. I just learned about this a few nights ago. Let me tell you this little story. I called Chase I think it was Wednesday night and I was talking to him, and he said, guess who called me, and I said, I don't know. He said, Jeff. I'm thinking, Jeff who? He said, Jeff Gordon. He said, Jeff Gordon called me. He was so excited that Jeff Gordon had picked up the phone and called him and was just talking to him about Alan and all the people and how Hendrick does things and all the stuff about it, and that meant so much to him about what his next step and what his next role was going to be. It's like they asked him yesterday right here of trying to fill the shoes of Jeff Gordon. He said, I don't look at it like that, I'm looking at it being another era where I'm going. The funny thing about it is I watched those guys tonight and in 1992 I won the race, the fall race in Atlanta and it was Richard's last race and Jeff Gordon's first race. It's a wild time. Q. Bill, when you made that transition from many years of driving Ford to answering the call of Ray to drive Dodge, how much of it was changing that branding of Bill Elliott and Ford and making that move at that point? BILL ELLIOTT: Well, you know, that was probably the toughest decision I struggled with because I was so involved with Ford and so in depth into it. But they had then decided they were going to do something different. As I said a minute ago, McDonald's had decided they were going another way. It was one of those deals that Ray was kind of my saving grace at that point in time and really helped me turn around and refocus on what I needed to focus on because that's the things that I look at and what I was saying a minute ago about the '90s is I couldn't keep up with how the sport was changing, how things were progressing, and that's where Ray and his vision and the things that he could bring to the table and my lack of knowledge, it's just like I said several years ago, I walked‑‑ Mr.Hendrick invited Chase and I up to come through and tour Hendrick Motorsports, and I walked through there and I said the same thing Ray Evernham said: If I'd have walked through there when I owned my race team I'd have come back home and closed my shop up right then and there, because there's no way I could compete against him in the world that's in. And that's where the evolution of the sport has become. It isn't wrong for Hendrick to have that, but it's just where the sport has come to. KERRY THARP: Bill Elliott, Ray Evernham, thanks for being up here. Before we leave, Bill, we have a couple of proclamations we would like to present to you. We have a proclamation here from the city of Dawsonville, Georgia, whereas on January 30th, 2015, has been declared Awesome Bill from Dawsonville Day by Mayor James Grogan, so congratulations on that. And then also from North Carolina House of Representatives, Richard Hudson, member of Congress, has also declared that today he's honoring you, Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, for your induction into the Hall of Fame. So congratulations on both of these honors. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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