The days when Bill Elliott sat in his race shop and pored over bills, parts lists and personnel paperwork are a distant memory. He couldn't be happier.

Elliott, who earned the nickname "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville'' for his exploits on NASCAR's superspeedways in the 1980s, never really felt comfortable as a car owner.

	Bill Elliott, front, leads Tony Stewart through the first turn at Indianapolis on his way to winning the Brickyard 400.

"I still wanted to be in the race car, but there were days when I never even was able to think about it,'' Elliott said.

The driver from the small town in the hills of northern Georgia was still a star of the Winston Cup series in 1995 when he left the team operated by Junior Johnson to become an owner-driver.

After a year of sharing the new team with Georgia businessman Charles Hardy, Elliott decided to go solo.

Injuries and the weight of responsibility diminished his abilities on the track, and after winning his 40th race in his last year with Johnson, Elliott didn't find victory circle again until he sold the team and became part of a new operation formed by longtime crew chief Ray Evernham.

It wasn't immediate magic, but Elliott raced with newfound energy. He ended a string of 226 races without a victory in the fall at Homestead, Fla., and finished 15th in the points.

Now, Awesome Bill is back, winning two straight races, including last Sunday's powerful showing in the Brickyard 400 when he led 93 of 160 laps.

The 45-year-old Elliott has made his comeback during a youth movement in NASCAR's top stock car series. For now, the younger drivers don't seem capable of stopping the 1988 series champion.

"It seems like everybody is too easy to count you out and then you stop believing in yourself,'' Elliott said. "When Ray came to me, I couldn't understand with my past record why he would want to hire me. I thought maybe he needed a psychologist.''

Evernham shepherded Jeff Gordon through the first three of his four championships before deciding late in 2000 it was time to go out on his own, and he never doubted Elliott could be a force again.

"I used to talk with Bill when I was with Jeff,'' said Evernham, who also fields Dodges for Jeremy Mayfield and co-owns Casey Atwood's car. "We would talk about (chassis) set-ups and, when I worked in IROC, Bill and I worked together and I knew how good he was.

"Jeff Gordon and I actually had some conversations about Bill. ... I remember one time at Michigan Bill was putting a whooping on us. I don't know if he broke or what, but Jeff said, 'Bill is pretty frisky today. That guy's good.'''

When Evernham was leaving Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon told him, "Look, you need to get that guy.''

He did just that, making Elliott and crew chief Mike Ford the first two employees of Evernham Motorsports.

"Bill knew before anybody. I went in and said, 'Something big is about to happen. I want you to come drive for me.' I was really very, very fortunate to get him.''

The new team, developing the all-new Dodge Intrepids, began to show its talent midway through last season. The improvement has continued through the first half of 2002, with Elliott not only winning races but standing sixth in the points.

Elliott gives a lot of the credit to Ford, who had been a crew chief for only three races for Atwood in 2000 before starting to work with Elliott's new No. 9 Dodge last year.

The 32-year-old Ford likes to rib the driver by reminding him he was in high school when Elliott won his championship, but the two have already developed a great mutual respect.

"Mike brought something to me that I'd lacked for a number of years,'' Elliott said. "It's that consistency and foundation that every driver needs. That solid foundation gives me more confidence in the decisions they make every minute of every day.''

Ford said working with Elliott has been an education.

"Everything goes two ways on this team,'' he said. "All the guys contribute, Ray puts it all together and Bill gives us great feedback on the car and a great driver on the track.''

Evernham was happy with Elliott's victory two weeks ago in Pocono. He got emotional after the win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"That's not really like me,'' Evernham said. "There were a lot of people that said when I left Hendrick and the (No.) 24 that I was never going to win again, that I couldn't accomplish this. They said Bill couldn't win and that Mike didn't have enough experience.

"Then, when it starts to happen, you get over a hump with a major accomplishment like this and I think it overcame me a little bit. I didn't know what to say. I think for the first time in my life I was speechless.''

Elliott knows this part of his life isn't going to last forever.

"Regardless of how long I drive, whether it's next week, next month or 10 years from now, it's going to eventually push you out,'' Elliott said. "That's part of evolution.

"I'm just proud of where I'm at today. I feel like it's a joy to come in the garage and drive the race car.''