"It’s so gratifying": When Bill Elliott realized fans never forgot his NASCAR legacy even decades later

Seven years ago, Bill Elliott realized his popularity with fans, 30 years after his peak racing era. The 16-time NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award winner talked about meeting his "biggest" fan at at McDonald’s in 2018.

Elliott, who began racing in the mid-1970s, won 44 NASCAR Cup Series races and 55 pole positions. The 1988 Cup champion also won the Daytona 500 twice and captured the famous Winston Million by winning Daytona, Talladega and Darlington in one season. He drove full-time in the Cup Series until late 2003, thereafter appearing sporadically in the NASCAR national series until 2012.

In 2018, Elliott shared his experience with a fan he met at McDonald’s, who called himself his biggest fan and recalled buying a Thunderbird in the 1980s.

"To me, it still blows me away. I mean, I haven't been full-time behind the wheel of a race car since '03. I go into these places and people still recognize who you are. They were such avid fans through that era. It's still hard for me to believe today that stiff affects them," Bill Elliott said (via Racing News).

"It just make some simple little gesture such a nice place. It's so gratifying. Gosh, it's been what? 30 years or better since that era of really running good through the '80's. Here, this guy still remembers the whole thing about it. Pretty cool," he added.

Elliott earned the Most Popular Driver Award 16 times between 1984 and 2002. In August 2018, Elliott returned to the Xfinity Series at Road America at age 62 with GMS Racing. He drove the No. 23 Chevrolet and said he did it for fun and because fans wanted to see him on track again. He finished 20th after a spin and some damage slowed him early. Still, he rallied from 28th to 20th.

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"As long as I stay healthy" - Bill Elliott on stepping out of racing

Bill Elliott ran select Cup races through 2006 and made sporadic appearances, including four races for Phoenix Racing in 2011 and a final 828th Cup start in 2012.

In 2018, Elliott commented about racing till in 'decent shape' at the Road America media center.

"Well, right now as long as I stay healthy and things go well. You know, I feel like I'm in pretty decent shape," Elliott said (via Racing news).

Bill Elliott raced part‑time in the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) series at 66 years old. He drove in two events, the season opener at Five Flags Speedway and another race at Stafford Motor Speedway in July 2022. The NASCAR Hall of Famer had previously run the full SRX schedule in 2021 but scaled back to just two outings the following year.