Before there were plates: Awesome Bill, Talladega and the 1985 Winston 500 – NASCAR Talk

May 1985 was an interesting time in American and NASCAR history. As the month opened, the musical achievement of "We are the World" by U.S.A for Africa (AKA 45 artists including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen and … Dan Aykroyd) was in its fourth and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100. In cinemas, the Chuck Norris film Code of Silence ("Eddie Cusack is a good cop having a bad day") had opened as the No. 1 film. And in sports, some guy named Bill from Dawsonville, Georgia, was in the process of making himself a household name. At 29, Bill Elliott and the No. 9 Coors Light Ford of Melling Racing had won three of the first eight races of the Winston Cup season, including the Daytona 500. As the Winston Cup Series rolled in to Talladega, Alabama, Elliott was fourth in the standings, 81 points behind leader Geoffrey Bodine . In its first year of existence, Elliott was aiming to win the "Winston Million." If a driver won three of four races – the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, the Coke 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway or the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway – they'd win $1 million. Pretty… Read full this story

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