Today race teams have hundreds of employees. When Bill Elliott, who will drive the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 at Daytona this week, burst onto the scene with his victory in the 1985 Great American Race, things were a little different.
While most of the big teams had around 30 crew members, Elliott’s family-owned Coors Light Ford operation made do with a skeleton crew.
Looking back, Elliott knows he was in the right place at the right time.
“It was more than a dream come true for me because if I looked back on my career, and to have the opportunity we had at that point in time, there was no way I could have made it today like we did back then,” the 1988 Cup champion said. “You couldn’t have done it.

“The proudest thing of all our accomplishments was what the family did at that point in time — was able to go to Daytona and compete in the Daytona 500 and then come away from there winning the Daytona 500.”
— Bill Elliott

“We didn’t have the money. We didn’t have the people. In 1985, I keep going over this, there were 11 of us total in the shop.  That counted the engine shop and the chassis shop and I was one of the 11 guys that worked there 24-7 — whatever it took.”
After 44 career victories and the championship, the 52-year-old Elliott still believes winning the Daytona 500 in 1985 was his biggest accomplishment.
“The proudest thing of all our accomplishments was what the family did at that point in time — was able to go to Daytona and compete in the Daytona 500 and then come away from there winning the Daytona 500,” Elliott said fondly. “I think that says a lot for the effort and the dedication and all that we put into it. 
“It’s so funny. You look at it twenty-some-odd years later of how much different it is because everybody’s goal all winter long is to go win the Daytona 500. That’s what you strive and work for. That’s what all these guys want to do.”