Bill Elliott Seeks Eighth

The odds look favorable for Bill Elliott to repeat his June victory at Pocono Raceway today in NASCAR’s second trip East.

The hootin’ and hollerin’ from the good ole boys’ crowd are added incentives to Elliott, who says he’s worn out after collecting all those checkered flags and pocketing all that money.

Elliott has been having one of the most remarkable seasons witnessed in Grand National racing since the glory days of Richard Petty. The 29-year-old Georgian, at the midway point of the NASCAR schedule, has taken the pole six times in his Ford Thunderbird and won seven races.

“The results pretty much speak for themselves,” says the soft-spoken redhead. “I don’t think I can add much to that. I’m suprised more than anything.”

Elliott, having earned $661,068 in the first 15 races this season, goes after the winner’s share of today’s $400,000 purse and trusts this trip to victory lane won’t go down to the wire like last month’s journey when he edged Geoff Bodine in the opening 500-miler of the Pocono season.

And Elliott isn’t likely to forget his last start, at Daytona on July 4, when Greg Sacks beat him to the finish line in the Firecracker 400.

Sacks has replaced Bobby Allison with the Gardner Racing Digard team after the Hueytown, Ala., veteran driver could not agree with crew chief Gary Nelson on proper car setups. Sacks’ original contract was for a six-race schedule with Gardner, but now he will race full time for the team.