Spouse: Cindy Kids: Star, Britney, Chase Hometown: Dawsonville, GA Birthdate: October 8, 1955 Personal Vehicle: Ford Mustang Hobbies: Snow Skiing, Flying, Bulldozing

Bill Elliott showed enough sparks in 2000 -- his 25th anniversary season driving the No. 94 Ford he also owned -- to give his legion of fans hope that the return of Elliott to using the No. 9 on his Evernham Motorsports Dodge in 2001 will incite a return to the "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville" who was rarely seen in the late 1990s.

In fact, if not for a fall at his home in Georgia that resulted in a broken bone that kept him out of two races, Elliott would've certainly bettered the 21st position he held in the point standings for the past two seasons with his No. 94 McDonald's Ford. By selling his team to Evernham, Elliott leaves the driver/owner role he assumed in 1995.

Elliott began the 2000 season with a bang, winning his Gatorade 125-Mile Qualifying Race for the Daytona 500 and finishing third in the "Great American Race." He then backed that up with a fourth at Las Vegas. But several erratic stretches through the year, especially a month-long period from June to July in which his best finish in five races was 24th, hurt his chances for a better finish in the points.

Elliott's accident occurred in August, right after his third place finish in the Brickyard 400 that looked to incite him for another strong run. He missed races at Bristol and Darlington. When he returned he was 21st in the point standings and that is where he remained for the balance of the season while accruing stats of three top-5 and seven top-10 finishes.

Elliott's second straight points finish outside the top-20 did nothing to affect the Cumming, Ga., native's popularity. He was voted by fans as NASCAR's most popular driver for the 10th straight year, the 15th time that he has won the honor in the past 17 seasons.

Elliott, the 1988 Winston Cup champion, proved he had lost none of his qualifying prowess with 17 top-10 starting spots. He made his 600th career start in the DieHard 500 at Talladega in April.

Elliott started racing on short tracks in Georgia with his brothers, Dan and Ernie. He started in the Sportsman division in 1970, made his Winston Cup debut in 1976 and his first full Winston Cup season in 1983.

His first win came in his 117th start, in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside in 1983. His first pole came in his 56th attempt, in the 1981 Rebel 500 at Darlington. In 1992 Elliott won four consecutive races to tie the modern-era record. He won a single-season record 11 superspeedway races in 1985; the season he won the Winston Million, from which came the nickname "Million Dollar Bill."

He owns the fastest recorded time in a stock car, going 212.809 mph in qualifying for the 1987 Winston 500 at Talladega.

Elliott's greatest loves, aside from family and racing, are snow skiing and flying. He has multi-engine rated and helicopter-rated pilot's licenses.

His lengthy list of career accomplishments includes being one of only seven drivers to top $20 million in career winnings in Winston Cup racing, joining Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Terry Labonte in that elite club; having more than $1 million in career winnings at six different tracks: Atlanta, Charlotte, Darlington, Daytona, Michigan and Talladega; and being named the driver of the decade for the 1980s in a fans' poll done by ESPN Speedweek.