Elliott

Bill Elliott has been able to do some amazing things in his lengthy Winston Cup career.

He won 11 races in one season (1985).

He set the circuit's all-time speed record (212.809 mph in qualifying for the 1987 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway) before speeds were slowed with the introduction of restrictor plates.

He won the 1988 series championship, capping a stretch in which he finished no worse than third in the point standings five times in six seasons.

Last year at age 46, he broke a six-season winless streak with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

He was voted by fans as NASCAR's most popular driver 10 consecutive years and 15 times in the past 18 seasons.

But there was one thing Elliott, was unable to do in the sport, despite trying for six years. He never could find success as the owner of his own team.

Elliott finally gave up on the idea of going solo before last season and signed to drive for Ray Evernham in the new Dodge Intrepid. Not only did he return to victory lane, but he had his best showing in the point standings (15th) in four years.

His resurgence convinced Elliott he made the right decision in shutting down his team. In fact, he said Winston Cup racing has become so competitive and sophisticated, nobody can be successful anymore in the duel roles of owner and driver.

"It's just too hard to do," Elliott said. "You can't respond to change. You don't have the resources to do everything you need to do. There's more to it than just running and owning the team.

"If you don't have the right people to help you, it's pure misery. That's the problem I had, keeping the people and trying to keep things going in the right direction. It's just too hard to do and still try to concentrate on driving. You have too many other things that are dictating what goes on during the day."

Elliott is in 13th place in the standings this season and already has three top-10 finishes. That is more than he had the entire 1999 season, while he still was an owner-driver.

When things went bad that season, Elliott said, he had nobody to turn to for help. Instead, the team was looking to him for answers, and that took away from him being able to work strictly on his driving.

"The good thing (about being an owner-driver) was that I had control over what I did," Elliott said. "But that control takes a lot of responsibility, and that's where it tends to draw the line.

"You have too many things that tend to bleed over that you can't really control. You think you have control, but they tend to start controlling you."

Elliott does not have to worry about such matters anymore. His only responsibility now is to drive as fast as possible.

And that is one thing Elliott always has been able to do well.

Cary Estes writes for the Birmingham Post-Herald in Alabama.