| Bill Elliott Racing | |
| Owners: | Bill Elliott, Charles Hardy, Dan Marino |
| Series: | Winston Cup, Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series |
| Wins: | 0 |
| Drivers Champ: | 0 |
| Numbers: | 9, 13, 89, 94, 98 |
| Drivers: | Bill Elliott, Matt Kenseth, Jerry Nadeau |
| Sponsors: | McDonald's |
| Base: | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Opened: | 1995 |
| Closed: | 2000 |
Bill Elliott Racing (formerly known as Charles Hardy Racing, Elliott-Hardy Racing, and Elliott-Marino Racing) was a NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series team. It was owned and operated by 1988 NASCAR champion Bill Elliott from 1995 until 2000, when it was sold to Evernham Motorsports. The team's primary car was the No. 94 McDonald's Ford Winston Cup car driven by its owner, but also fielded various other cars.
Elliott's operation went multi-car full-time in 1998, teaming up with Dan Marino and renaming the team to Elliott-Marino Racing to field the No. 13 FirstPlus Financial Ford. Rookie Jerry Nadeau raced the car for the first half of the year, before he was released and replaced by Wally Dallenbach Jr., Dennis Setzer, Tom Hubert and Ted Musgrave.
In February 1999, the partnership between Elliott and Marino was dissolved and the No. 13 closed as a result. The No. 13 came back for the Daytona 500 with Dick Trickle, but didn't qualify.
| NASCAR Winston Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | Pts | ||||||
| 1998 | Jerry Nadeau | 13 | Ford | DAY 21 | CAR 28 | LVS DNQ | ATL 32 | DAR 31 | BRI 37 | TEX DNQ | MAR 27 | TAL 37 | CAL 26 | CLT 40 | RCH 38 | MCH 35 | POC 21 | SON 43 | NHA 27 | 38th | 2326 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dennis Setzer | DOV DNQ | MCH 35 | BRI 39 | NHA 24 | DAR 29 | RCH 29 | MAR 38 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wally Dallenbach Jr. | POC 25 | IND 40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Hubert | GLN 36 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ted Musgrave | DOV 26 | CLT 27 | TAL 11 | DAY 34 | PHO 5 | CAR 19 | ATL 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Dick Trickle | DAY DNQ | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | TEX | BRI | MAR | TAL | CAL | RCH | CLT | DOV | MCH | POC | SON | DAY | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | NHA | DOV | MAR | CLT | TAL | CAR | PHO | HOM | ATL | N/A | - | |||||||
The 89 R&D car began as the No. 91 with Ron Barfield Jr. for the 1996 Brickyard 400. Barfield Jr. returned to the team, now the No. 92, for the 1997 Brickyard 400. A year later, the team was renumbered to the No. 89; driven by Dennis Setzer, it competed at the DieHard 500.
| NASCAR Winston Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | Pts | |||||||
| 1996 | Ron Barfield Jr. | 91 | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | SON | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | DAY | NHA | POC | TAL | IND DNQ | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | PHO | ATL | N/A | - | |||||||||
| 1997 | 92 | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | TEX | BRI | MAR | SON | TAL | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | CAL | DAY | NHA | POC | IND 22 | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | NHA | DOV | MAR | CLT | TAL | CAR | PHO | ATL | 54th | 97 | |||||||||
| 1998 | Dennis Setzer | 89 | DAY | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | BRI | TEX | MAR | TAL 19 | CAL | CLT | DOV | RCH | MCH | POC | SON | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | NHA | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | CLT | TAL | DAY | PHO | CAR | ATL | 56th | 106 | |||||||
The team was originally owned by Charles Hardy and ran part-time with various drivers under the Charles Hardy Racing name with sponsorship from Buss Fuses. Kenny Wallace made the first start for the No. 44 at Talladega Superspeedway, finishing in the ninth position. Jimmy Hensley and Bobby Hillin Jr. ran the car later in the season, but neither finished in the top-ten. Wanting to own his own team, Elliott partnered with Hardy for the 1995 season to form Elliott-Hardy Racing. The new team premiered at the 1995 Daytona 500 as the No. 94 Ford with McDonald's sponsoring. Elliott's first year as an owner/driver was marked with eleven top-tens, two poles, and an eighth-place finish in the points. After a horrific crash in 1996 at Talladega Superspeedway, Elliott missed several races to recover from his injuries and was replaced by Dorsey Schroeder, Todd Bodine, Tommy Kendall, and Bobby Hillin Jr. In July 1996, the partnership between Elliott and Hardy was dissolved, the team being renamed Bill Elliott Racing.[1]
Returning full-time in 1997, Elliott had fourteen top tens and another eighth-place finish in points. His team also expanded to a multi-car operation that year when Ron Barfield drove the No. 92 New Holland Ford to a twenty-second-place finish at the Brickyard 400. Elliott's operation went multi-car full-time in 1998, teaming up with Dan Marino the team being renamed Elliott-Marino Racing. The year was marked with sadness when Elliott had to miss the fall Dover race to attend the funeral of his father. In his place was Matt Kenseth, who finished sixth in his debut Cup race.
After a disappointing 1999 season which saw his multi-car operation dissolve back into No. 94, Elliott announced in early 2000 he was selling his equipment to championship-winning crew chief Ray Evernham to become part of Dodge's return to NASCAR. The team would also switch to No. 9.
| NASCAR Nextel Cup Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | Pts | |||
| 1994 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | 44 | Ford | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | SON | CLT DNQ | DOV | POC | MCH 14 | DAY | NHA | POC | IND 21 | GLN | MCH 40 | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT 15 | CAR | PHO | |||||||||||
| Kenny Wallace | TAL 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jimmy Hensley | ATL 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Bill Elliott | 94 | DAY 23 | CAR 11 | RCH 16 | ATL 26 | DAR 17 | BRI 14 | NWS 28 | MAR 12 | TAL 6 | SON 19 | CLT 39 | DOV 15 | POC 6 | MCH 14 | DAY 10 | NHA 18 | POC 5 | TAL 5 | IND 4* | GLN 11 | MCH 9 | BRI 23 | DAR 41 | RCH 14 | DOV 18 | MAR 6 | NWS 10 | CLT 20 | CAR 10 | PHO 14 | ATL 4 | ||||||||||
| 1996 | DAY 8 | CAR 15 | RCH 10 | ATL 10 | DAR 13 | BRI 28 | NWS 21 | MAR 13 | TAL 41 | DAY 37 | NHA 14 | POC 21 | TAL 13 | IND 10 | MCH 14 | BRI INQ‡ | DAR 9 | RCH 16 | DOV 28 | MAR 18 | NWS 21 | CLT 10 | CAR 32 | PHO 21 | ATL 20 | 17th | 3347 | ||||||||||||||||
| Tommy Kendall | SON 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Todd Bodine | CLT 36 | DOV 15 | POC 10 | MCH 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ron Barfield Jr. | MCH QL† | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dorsey Schroeder | GLN 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bobby Hillin Jr. | BRI 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Bill Elliott | DAY 4 | CAR 22 | RCH 15 | ATL 38 | DAR 16 | TEX 11 | BRI 7 | MAR 37 | SON 32 | TAL 18 | CLT 4 | DOV 8 | POC 32 | MCH 2 | CAL 32 | DAY 33 | NHA 6 | POC 10 | IND 8 | GLN 7 | MCH 7 | BRI 16 | DAR 4* | RCH 30 | NHA 11 | DOV 8 | MAR 5 | CLT 7 | TAL 13 | CAR 12 | PHO 15 | ATL 36 | 8th | 3836 | ||||||||
| 1998 | DAY 10 | CAR 6 | LVS 9 | ATL 11 | DAR 15 | BRI 15 | TEX 13 | MAR 12 | TAL 39 | CAL 43 | CLT 14 | DOV 13 | RCH 25 | MCH 6 | POC 37 | SON 12 | NHA 26 | POC 36 | IND 12 | GLN 27 | MCH 40 | BRI 19 | NHA 37 | DAR 11 | RCH 40 | MAR 7 | CLT 11 | TAL 19 | DAY 15 | PHO 38 | CAR 12 | ATL 26 | 16th | 3455 | |||||||||
| Matt Kenseth | DOV 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Bill Elliott | DAY 27 | CAR 15 | LVS 37 | ATL 15 | DAR 14 | TEX 21 | BRI 25 | MAR 30 | TAL 10 | CAL 19 | RCH 12 | CLT 14 | DOV 12 | MCH 41 | POC 32 | SON 13 | DAY 23 | NHA 5 | POC 39 | IND 23 | GLN 28 | MCH 19 | BRI 36 | DAR 11 | RCH 36 | NHA 19 | DOV 33 | MAR 20 | CLT 11 | TAL 20 | CAR 33 | PHO 35 | HOM 24 | ATL 22 | 21st | 3246 | ||||||
| 2000 | DAY 3 | CAR 25 | LVS 4 | ATL 10 | DAR 19 | BRI 36 | TEX 30 | MAR 8 | TAL 15 | CAL 19 | RCH 9 | CLT 43 | DOV 12 | MCH 8 | POC 38 | SON 35 | DAY 38 | NHA 24 | POC 32 | IND 3 | GLN 13 | MCH 38 | RCH 12 | NHA 37 | DOV 19 | MAR 15 | CLT 34 | TAL 24 | CAR 16 | PHO 26 | HOM 22 | ATL 11 | 18th | 3410 | |||||||||
| David Green | BRI 36 | DAR 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Bill Elliott | 98 | Dodge | DAY | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | BRI | TEX | MAR | TAL | CAL | RCH | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | SON | DAY 18 | CHI | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | CAL 25 | RCH | NHA | DOV | TAL | KAN | CLT | MAR | ATL 22 | PHO | DAR | HOM | 67th | 109 | ||
| † - Qualified for Todd Bodine ‡ – Qualified but replaced by Bobby Hillin Jr. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elliott made his first start as a Busch Series team owner in 1988, driving both races at Charlotte in his No. 9 Ford, his best finish being a seventh. Three years later, he drove two late-season races in the No. 84, finishing in the top-ten both times. His next ownership run would come in 1993, when he fielded the No. 94 in a pair of races for his nephew Casey, who had a best finish of 20th.
In 1996, Elliott's protégé Ron Barfield ran six races in Elliott's No. 94 New Holland Ford, garnering a best finish of 11th at Charlotte. He ran times the following season and had two ninth-place runs. Elliott's last race as a Busch owner came in 1998, when Jeff Fuller finished fifteenth in the No. 94 Chevrolet at the Jiffy Lube Miami 300.
Elliott began fielding Truck entries in 1996 with the No. 94 Super 8 Motels Ford for Barfield. He had three top-tens in his first four starts, but only made a limited schedule of seven starts. He ran just one race in 1997, an eighth-place run at Walt Disney World Speedway. Late in the season, Elliott made one start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Team ASE Racing sponsoring, but he finished 31st after suffering engine problems.