Bill Elliott Racing (formerly known as Charles Hardy Racing, Elliott-Hardy Racing, and Elliott-Marino Racing) was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

, Busch and

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

team. It was owned and operated by 1988 NASCAR champion

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Superstar Racing Experienc ...

from 1995 until 2000, when it was sold to

Evernham Motorsports Evernham Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing organization that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 2000 by former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Ray Evernham, entering full-time competition as a two-c ...

. The team's primary car was the No. 94

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Ford Winston Cup car driven by its owner, but also fielded various other cars.

Winston Cup

Car No. 13 history

Elliott's operation went multi-car full-time in 1998, teaming up with

Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. ( ; born September 15, 1961) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He played college f ...

and renaming the team to Elliott-Marino Racing to field the No. 13 FirstPlus Financial

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

. Rookie

Jerry Nadeau Jerry Anthony Nadeau (born September 9, 1969) is an American former stock car racer. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He started racing go-karts before moving up to car racing, driving in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the European Formu ...

raced the car for the first half of the year, before he was released and replaced by

Wally Dallenbach Jr. Wallace Paul Dallenbach (born May 23, 1963) is an American former racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, and is known for his prowess as a road racer. In addition to NASCAR, Dallenbach has raced in SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA GT Champion ...

Dennis Setzer Dennis Setzer (born February 27, 1960) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has driven in all three of NASCAR's top series, scoring eighteen wins in the Craftsman Truck Series, and two wins in the Xfinity Series. Beginni ...

, Tom Hubert and

Ted Musgrave Theodore David Musgrave Sr. (born December 18, 1955) is an American former stock car racing driver. Pre-NASCAR Musgrave's father, Elmer, was a famous short-track racer in the Midwest who raced for over 25 years at Soldier Field, O'Hare, Waukega ...

. 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 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

with

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

, but didn't qualify.

Car No. 13 results

Car No. 89 history

The 89 R&D car began as the No. 91 with Ron Barfield Jr. for the 1996

Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the ...

. 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

, it competed at the DieHard 500.

Car No. 89 results

Car No. 94 history

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 Buss is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Amos E. Buss (1814–1872), American politician from Ohio * Benjamin Buss (born 1977), German guitarist better known as Matthew Greywolf *David Buss (born 1953), American evolutionary p ...

Kenny Wallace Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for '' Fox NASCAR''. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning 25 years in NASCAR, Wallace had ...

made the first start for the No. 44 at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...

, finishing in the ninth position.

Jimmy Hensley James Edward Hensley (born October 11, 1945) is an American former NASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for his Rookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th ...

and

Bobby Hillin Jr. Robert Keith Hillin Jr. (born June 5, 1964) is an American stock car racing driver. He is a former competitor in NASCAR's Winston Cup and Busch Series, and once held the record for being the youngest driver ever to win a Winston Cup Series event. ...

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

as the No. 94

with

sponsoring. Elliott's first year as an owner/driver was marked with eleven top-tens, two

poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

, and an eighth-place finish in the points. After a horrific crash in 1996 at

, Elliott missed several races to recover from his injuries and was replaced by

Dorsey Schroeder Dorsey Alan Schroeder (born February 5, 1953) is an American race car driver. Since August 2015, he has served as Race Director for the Pirelli World Challenge series and since 2018 Race Director for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli SCCA ...

Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and is curre ...

Tommy Kendall Tommy Kendall (born October 17, 1966) is an American race car driver and television broadcaster. He is best known for his IMSA GT Championship and SCCA Trans-Am Series career. Racing career Son of race driver Charles Kendall, Kendall began h ...

, and

In July 1996, the partnership between Elliott and Hardy was dissolved, the team being renamed Bill Elliott Racing. 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

to a twenty-second-place finish at the

. Elliott's operation went multi-car full-time in 1998, teaming up with

the team being renamed Elliott-Marino Racing. The year was marked with sadness when Elliott had to miss the fall

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

race to attend the funeral of his father. In his place was

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...

, 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 Raymond Donald Evernham Jr. (born August 26, 1957) is an American consultant for Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Companies, formerly an auto racing crew chief for Bill Davis Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, owner of his own team Evernham Motorsports fr ...

to become part of Dodge's return to

. The team would also switch to No. 9.

Car No. 94 results

Busch Series

Elliott made his first start as a Busch Series team owner in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, 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 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, when he fielded the No. 94 in a pair of races for his nephew Casey, who had a best finish of 20th. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, 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 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, when Jeff Fuller finished fifteenth in the No. 94

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

at the Jiffy Lube Miami 300.

Craftsman Truck Series

Elliott began fielding Truck entries in

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 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, an eighth-place run at

Walt Disney World Speedway Walt Disney World Speedway was a racing facility located on the grounds of the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. It was built in 1995 by IMS Events, Inc., a subsidiary of the Indian ...

. Late in the season, Elliott made one start at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...

with

Team ASE Racing The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is a professional certification group that certifies professionals and shops in the automotive repair and service industry in the United States and parts of Canada. It is an independ ...

sponsoring, but he finished 31st after suffering engine problems.

References

External links

Bill Elliott Owner StatsCharles Hardy Owner Stats
{{Elliott racing family 1995 establishments in North Carolina 2000 disestablishments in North Carolina American auto racing teams Defunct companies based in North Carolina Defunct NASCAR teams Auto racing teams disestablished in 2000 Auto racing teams established in 1995