Dawsonville team eyes return of hometown hero
Owner wants Elliott, but former champ not sure about full-time job
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
The old engine shop is filled with sounds of wrench cranks and air-gun whips. Ernie Elliott has the motor finished. The paint is drying on one car while two others sit on the side. And the phone won't quit ringing from well-wishers.
That's just part of the reason John Carter moved his race shop from Charlotte to Dawsonville, Ga.
"We've had a tremendous amount of calls from Georgia people wanting us to do good, especially since we put Bill in the car," says Carter, co-owner with Roger Craven of R&J Racing and the man partially responsible for putting Bill Elliott in the No. 37 Dodge this weekend at Atlanta.
"We never got any results working in North Carolina," Carter says bluntly. "At Charlotte, all they cared about were the dollars. But since we've moved to Dawsonville, all anybody has cared about was racing and helping me."
That might have something to do with the fact that two Elliotts are on the payroll.
The relationship between Carter and the Elliotts began when the owner dropped his dirt-track operation to enter NASCAR three years ago. Ernie Elliott immediately began building engines for the team, which has fielded eight different drivers in 36 races during the past three seasons. The team's largest commitment to running a full-time schedule came in 2005 with Kevin Lepage driving in 14 races, Tony Raines in five and Anthony Lazzaro and Jimmy Spencer in one each.
But Carter contends full-time status is the goal despite the mountainous climb his four-person organization will have next year when as many as 50 full-time teams will be in operation.
That's where Bill Elliott comes into the equation.
"When Bill is in the car, we immediately have a chance," says Carter. "It wouldn't be a surprise if we win the race because we've got good cars and we've got a good driver. We're begging him to be our driver."
"I don't know if I want a full-time deal," says Elliott, who has raced seven times this season for four different teams. "I ran up until the end of '03, and I'll never forget walking in Daytona in '04 and all I was going to do was run the Bud Shootout. I walk in there, and it was just like the whole world full of pressure has been taken off of you."
Carter understands. His pressure was lifted when Elliott put on a helmet.
The team's first race this season was at Indianapolis, with driver Mike Skinner. Elliott drove Michael Waltrip's No. 00 car that weekend, and the two teams were parked near each other in the garage.
A few weeks later, it was a done deal for Elliott to drive one race for R&J Racing.
"Ernie called me and asked me if I'd drive it at Kansas, and I said, 'Yeah, I'll drive it; I'll give it a shot,'" says Bill.
Once he saw the retro-looking car with a 1980s Melling paint scheme, it made the decision easier.
"Mark Melling was there, and I just wished his dad could've been there and my dad," Elliott says of his late father, George, and former car owner Harry Melling. "We had a cool car."
Elliott drove to a 16th-place finish after several of the top-10 cars sputtered because of a lost fuel-mileage gamble. For Carter's team, who hires a Truck Series pit crew when it competes, there was no gamble.
Crew chief Mark Tutor made the call to bring Elliott in and top off with fuel late in the race so he could go the distance. And he did.
"Everybody else was out [of gas]," says Carter. "When we unloaded the car after driving back to Dawsonville, it had two gallons of gas in it. We were in position to finish top-10, but somehow a few others made their gas last."
When the weekend was over, Carter knew he had his driver -- he's wanted his operation to be an all-Georgia race team since Day One. But Elliott already had a three-race commitment with Team Red Bull, the first of which was two weeks ago at Charlotte when Elliott failed to qualify for the race.
The second stop was set for Atlanta, where Carter's team also is scheduled to race. Team Red Bull, however, asked Elliott to step aside in favor of Champ Car driver A.J. Allmendinger, who on Tuesday was named the team's full-time driver for next season.
That's when Carter picked up the phone.
"We wanted Bill to drive the whole time, but he had the commitment with Red Bull," says Carter. "So when he became available, we called him immediately."
Elliott will have the past champion's provisional this weekend, so he will race on Sunday. And he'll also try to qualify next weekend at Texas, where the guaranteed spot will go to Terry Labonte, should he need it.
"I'm walking in there to say, 'Hey, let's have a good day -- whatever it be,'" Elliott says. "Because realistically to win against the teams that are there every week, it's hard to do. I kind of gauge my day on how I do against the guys who run every week.
"The way these cars are today, it doesn't discriminate if you're Tony Stewart or Bill Elliott or Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon. It doesn't matter. If that car isn't right, then you're not going anywhere."
Like the powerplants under the hood, nobody at R&J Racing is concerned about the cars, says Carter.
The team purchased three cars from Evernham Motorsports. The machine Elliott drove at Kansas was an old one he drove in 2003, his final year of full-time racing when he collected a win and was set to win the season finale until blowing a tire on the last lap.
"They're cars Ray [Evernham] doesn't run anymore, but they've been tested in the wind tunnel and everything," Carter says. "His worst cars are a lot better than some people's best cars."
He's hoping to prove it this weekend at Atlanta, where Elliott has won five times in his 30-year history at the track and where he'll drive another retro-painted car.
It's reminiscent of a time in the late 1970s and early '80s when similar group of a dozen tight-knit buddies from Dawsonville were trying to accomplish the same thing.
"I had a lot of good people that really helped me out a lot through the years," Elliott says. "And that's what was so fun about it back then. You didn't know what to expect when you got to the racetrack, but you had all these people who were willing to dedicate a lot of time to help get a goal and work together as a team."
"We had some great times," remembers Mike Turner, longtime friend and former crew member for Elliott when the family organization first started in 1976. "We didn't have a whole lot of money to work with. Ernie was a really sharp engine builder. Dan [Elliott] was a whiz at [transmissions]. And Bill was really good at figuring out what the car needed. The rest of us just did what we had to do.
"We just worked really hard to help Bill be successful and let folks know that the boys from Dawsonville were pretty sharp."
That's exactly what Carter is trying to do, and it's why his team calls Dawsonville home.
"All of this was done because we're in Ernie's shop. It's all come about because Ernie wants us to have a chance, and Bill does too," Carter says. "We're a good team but with no funding. And they understand that because they started that way. It's been a struggle.
"It's just a lack of money, not a lack of effort. We've got two of the four things we need: We've got the horsepower and we've got the driver. We just need funding and some more people."
Owner wants Elliott, but former champ not sure about full-time job
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
The old engine shop is filled with sounds of wrench cranks and air-gun whips. Ernie Elliott has the motor finished. The paint is drying on one car while two others sit on the side. And the phone won't quit ringing from well-wishers.
That's just part of the reason John Carter moved his race shop from Charlotte to Dawsonville, Ga.
"We've had a tremendous amount of calls from Georgia people wanting us to do good, especially since we put Bill in the car," says Carter, co-owner with Roger Craven of R&J Racing and the man partially responsible for putting Bill Elliott in the No. 37 Dodge this weekend at Atlanta.
"We never got any results working in North Carolina," Carter says bluntly. "At Charlotte, all they cared about were the dollars. But since we've moved to Dawsonville, all anybody has cared about was racing and helping me."
That might have something to do with the fact that two Elliotts are on the payroll.
The relationship between Carter and the Elliotts began when the owner dropped his dirt-track operation to enter NASCAR three years ago. Ernie Elliott immediately began building engines for the team, which has fielded eight different drivers in 36 races during the past three seasons. The team's largest commitment to running a full-time schedule came in 2005 with Kevin Lepage driving in 14 races, Tony Raines in five and Anthony Lazzaro and Jimmy Spencer in one each.
But Carter contends full-time status is the goal despite the mountainous climb his four-person organization will have next year when as many as 50 full-time teams will be in operation.
That's where Bill Elliott comes into the equation.
"When Bill is in the car, we immediately have a chance," says Carter. "It wouldn't be a surprise if we win the race because we've got good cars and we've got a good driver. We're begging him to be our driver."
"I don't know if I want a full-time deal," says Elliott, who has raced seven times this season for four different teams. "I ran up until the end of '03, and I'll never forget walking in Daytona in '04 and all I was going to do was run the Bud Shootout. I walk in there, and it was just like the whole world full of pressure has been taken off of you."
Carter understands. His pressure was lifted when Elliott put on a helmet.
The team's first race this season was at Indianapolis, with driver Mike Skinner. Elliott drove Michael Waltrip's No. 00 car that weekend, and the two teams were parked near each other in the garage.
A few weeks later, it was a done deal for Elliott to drive one race for R&J Racing.
"Ernie called me and asked me if I'd drive it at Kansas, and I said, 'Yeah, I'll drive it; I'll give it a shot,'" says Bill.
Once he saw the retro-looking car with a 1980s Melling paint scheme, it made the decision easier.
"Mark Melling was there, and I just wished his dad could've been there and my dad," Elliott says of his late father, George, and former car owner Harry Melling. "We had a cool car."
Elliott drove to a 16th-place finish after several of the top-10 cars sputtered because of a lost fuel-mileage gamble. For Carter's team, who hires a Truck Series pit crew when it competes, there was no gamble.
Crew chief Mark Tutor made the call to bring Elliott in and top off with fuel late in the race so he could go the distance. And he did.
"Everybody else was out [of gas]," says Carter. "When we unloaded the car after driving back to Dawsonville, it had two gallons of gas in it. We were in position to finish top-10, but somehow a few others made their gas last."
When the weekend was over, Carter knew he had his driver -- he's wanted his operation to be an all-Georgia race team since Day One. But Elliott already had a three-race commitment with Team Red Bull, the first of which was two weeks ago at Charlotte when Elliott failed to qualify for the race.
The second stop was set for Atlanta, where Carter's team also is scheduled to race. Team Red Bull, however, asked Elliott to step aside in favor of Champ Car driver A.J. Allmendinger, who on Tuesday was named the team's full-time driver for next season.
That's when Carter picked up the phone.
"We wanted Bill to drive the whole time, but he had the commitment with Red Bull," says Carter. "So when he became available, we called him immediately."
Elliott will have the past champion's provisional this weekend, so he will race on Sunday. And he'll also try to qualify next weekend at Texas, where the guaranteed spot will go to Terry Labonte, should he need it.
"I'm walking in there to say, 'Hey, let's have a good day -- whatever it be,'" Elliott says. "Because realistically to win against the teams that are there every week, it's hard to do. I kind of gauge my day on how I do against the guys who run every week.
"The way these cars are today, it doesn't discriminate if you're Tony Stewart or Bill Elliott or Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon. It doesn't matter. If that car isn't right, then you're not going anywhere."
Like the powerplants under the hood, nobody at R&J Racing is concerned about the cars, says Carter.
The team purchased three cars from Evernham Motorsports. The machine Elliott drove at Kansas was an old one he drove in 2003, his final year of full-time racing when he collected a win and was set to win the season finale until blowing a tire on the last lap.
"They're cars Ray [Evernham] doesn't run anymore, but they've been tested in the wind tunnel and everything," Carter says. "His worst cars are a lot better than some people's best cars."
He's hoping to prove it this weekend at Atlanta, where Elliott has won five times in his 30-year history at the track and where he'll drive another retro-painted car.
It's reminiscent of a time in the late 1970s and early '80s when similar group of a dozen tight-knit buddies from Dawsonville were trying to accomplish the same thing.
"I had a lot of good people that really helped me out a lot through the years," Elliott says. "And that's what was so fun about it back then. You didn't know what to expect when you got to the racetrack, but you had all these people who were willing to dedicate a lot of time to help get a goal and work together as a team."
"We had some great times," remembers Mike Turner, longtime friend and former crew member for Elliott when the family organization first started in 1976. "We didn't have a whole lot of money to work with. Ernie was a really sharp engine builder. Dan [Elliott] was a whiz at [transmissions]. And Bill was really good at figuring out what the car needed. The rest of us just did what we had to do.
"We just worked really hard to help Bill be successful and let folks know that the boys from Dawsonville were pretty sharp."
That's exactly what Carter is trying to do, and it's why his team calls Dawsonville home.
"All of this was done because we're in Ernie's shop. It's all come about because Ernie wants us to have a chance, and Bill does too," Carter says. "We're a good team but with no funding. And they understand that because they started that way. It's been a struggle.
"It's just a lack of money, not a lack of effort. We've got two of the four things we need: We've got the horsepower and we've got the driver. We just need funding and some more people."