Casey Elliott (February 13, 1974 – January 14, 1996) was an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver. The nephew of 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup champion

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (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 competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

and the cousin of 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott. He raced in the

NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series was a NASCAR-sanctioned amateur/semi-pro late model stock car racing series based in the Southeastern United States. The series was formerly known as the Slim Jim All Pro Series; it was founded i ...

and NASCAR Busch Series before being diagnosed with cancer; he turned to the motorsports ministry and crew chiefing before his death from the disease at age 21.

Career

The son of NASCAR engine builder Ernie Elliott and nephew of 1988 Winston Cup Series champion

, Casey Elliott grew up among racers and racing, and, taking up the sport as a career in his teens, quickly proved adept at competition, racing at

Lanier Raceway Caffeine and Octane's Lanier Raceway (formerly Lanier Raceplex and Lanier National Speedway) is a 0.375-mile paved oval racetrack located just outside Braselton, Georgia. The track opened in 1982 as a dirt track, and was paved in the mid-1980s ...

and other tracks in Georgia. By 1993, at age eighteen,Elliott and Millard 2006, p.240 he was ready to move up to top level NASCAR competition; in addition to running full-time in the Slim Jim All Pro Series, he formed Casey Elliott Sports with his parents and sisters to compete in the Xfinity Series with

Eagle Snacks Eagle Snacks is a brand name for snack food originally introduced by the Anheuser-Busch company in 1979. Eagle Snacks is not to be confused with Eagle Brand, a trademark used by Borden to market its sweetened condensed milk and dessert lines, now ...

sponsorship, and the team ran two races that year. He qualified in the top ten for both events, finishing 20th in his debut at Michigan International Speedway; in October at Charlotte Motor Speedway he started fourth, outqualifying his more famous uncle, but finished 44th following an accident.

Cancer and death

Elliott planned to compete full-time in the Busch Series (later Xfinity) starting in 1994; however, in December 1993, a medical examination revealed that a growth on his upper right thigh was cancerous. He had surgery to remove it in February 1994; although it was believed that the cancer had been confined to the removed tumor, and Elliott initially showed improvement, the cancer had already metastasized; not long afterwards Elliott required

knee replacement surgery Knee replacement, also known as knee arthroplasty, is a surgical procedure to replace the weight-bearing surfaces of the knee joint to relieve pain and disability, most commonly offered when joint pain is not diminished by conservative sources ...

, ending his racing career. Elliott stated his intention to take up a career as a minister with Motor Racing Outreach. Over the next two years he underwent treatment, however in late 1995 his condition deteriorated; in January 1996, he died of the disease. Jerry Glanville, coach of the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and a part-time NASCAR competitor whom Elliott had been scheduled to crew chief for during the 1996 season, described Elliott as "a super, super kid"; Lanier National Speedway established the annual Casey Elliott Memorial Race in his honor.

Legacy

Chase Elliott, Casey Elliott's cousin, ran a tribute paint scheme on his NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series car at Darlington Raceway in the

2018 Bojangles' Southern 500 The 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 69th running of the event was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 2, 2018, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the egg-shaped oval, it was the ...

, designed to resemble the one driven by Casey.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

Citations Bibliography *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Casey 1974 births 1996 deaths People from Dawsonville, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) NASCAR drivers Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths from bone cancer Deaths from synovial sarcoma Neurological disease deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) ARCA Menards Series drivers