To all who have sent condolences of any kind to me in the death of my wife, please accept my gratitude. She was the love of my life and I will miss her terribly the rest of my life. Please know that your kindness has meant a lot to me and I will always remember you for remembering me in such a sweet way.
I will not try to recap everything that has happened in the sports world in the past month or six weeks, but I will see if I can pick one single thing that stood out over that period that I believe to be significant.
Long time readers of this column know that I am a fan of NASCAR driver Chase Elliott. He is the son of Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott, known as Awesome Bill Elliott, one of the most storied stock car drivers of all time. More about him later.
Ever since joining the NASCAR circuit, Chase has consistently posted top ten finishes or better and made the playoffs his rookie season. But, misfortune has followed him as he always seemed to wreck or make a mistake in judgment toward the end of races that kept him out of Victory Lane.
Until Watkins Glen, a road course where he won his first race a couple of weeks back.
What a breakthrough for the young lad!
It was his 99th NASCAR race as a driver, which was better than his Dad, who won his first NASCAR race in his 124th start, also on a road course!
Chase’s win was also the 250th win for the Hendrick Motorsport Team, one of NASCAR’s signature teams. The team had not won previously in 37 straight races, a first for this unit. Made up of names like Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhart, Jr., and Elliott, 37 races without a win seems impossible, but it is true!
Of course, he still hasn’t won on an oval track yet, but the road course win will boost his confidence and spark his career moving forward.
Now comes word that his Dad, old Awesome Bill, will return to the track this weekend for the Road America Race, a race matching vintage cars in an Infinity race made for television. Bill won 44 races in his NASCAR career and the 1988 NASCAR title. He is a competitive guy but he has no aspirations to return to racing full time.
He blames his son, Chase, for this weekend’s action.
“He brought up my name in a friendly conversation and the guys took it from there and put me in the race,” Bill laughed after the race at Watkins Glen. “But it should be fun.”
Road America is a NASCAR Infinity Division event and Bill will be driving his old No. 23 Chevrolet that he drove in the division during his final season of professional racing. Like he said, it should be fun.
Bill won NASCAR’s most popular driver title 17 times during his career and actually took his name out of contention for the title in his later years of racing.
He acted as a spotter for his son during the Watkins Glen race last Sunday and ran full speed to victory lane to help celebrate. Fortunately, Chase had run out of gas on the final lap and delayed his trip to victory lane so Bill was able to get there in time. Jimmy Johnson, one of Chase’s Hendricks Motorsports teammates, pushed Elliott to victory lane.
So, if you want to watch a fun event and see one of NASCAR’s best veterans race one more time, tune it this weekend and watch Awesome Bill Elliott tackle the young Infinity drivers. He might teach them a thing or two!
