Editing Bill Elliott (section)

====Melling Racing and the Beginning Years (1982-1984)====
On December 1, 1981, Melling bought the team from Elliott's father George. In [[1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series|1982]], Elliott continued to show more and more flashes, and continued to flirt with victory lane more and more, as he finished the season with eight Top 5 finishes, and nine Top 10 finishes which included three runner-up finishes in the [[Coca-Cola 600|World 600]] at [[Charlotte Motor Speedway|Charlotte]] to [[Neil Bonnett]], the [[Pepsi Firecracker 400|Firecracker 400]] at Daytona to [[Bobby Allison]], and the fall race at Charlotte to [[Harry Gant]].

In [[1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series|1983]], Elliott picked up four more 2nd place finishes in the season, which included finishing runner-up in the [[Daytona 500]] to [[Cale Yarborough]], runner-up at [[North Carolina Speedway|Rockingham]] to [[Richard Petty]], runner-up in the summer race at the road course [[Riverside International Raceway|Riverside]] to [[Ricky Rudd]], and runner-up in the [[Southern 500]] at Darlington to [[Bobby Allison]]. After 115 starts beginning in 1976, and eight 2nd-place finishes between 1979 and 1983, Elliott finally broke through and won his first Winston Cup race in the final race of the 1983 season — the [[Winston Western 500]] at [[Riverside International Raceway|Riverside]]. With his first win to go along with twelve Top 5's and twenty-two Top 10's, Elliott finished the 1983 season 3rd in the final championship point standings.

Elliott gained full sponsorship from [[Coors Brewing Company|Coors]] in 1984 to the tune of $400,000 and won three races – the [[Michigan 400]] at Michigan, the [[Bank of America 500|Miller High Life 500]] at Charlotte, and the [[American 500]] at Rockingham. He also collected four poles and finished 3rd in the final points standings for the second year in a row. The 1984 season also brought Elliott his first season of winning [[NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award]], and would begin a stretch of five consecutive years, from 1984 to 1988, where he would win that award.

[[File:Bill Elliott Champion 1985.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Elliott, after he won the [[1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series#Budweiser 500|Budweiser 500]] at [[Dover Downs International Speedway]] in 1985]]