Ernie Elliott - Men Behind The Wrenches

From the old Speed channel, a look at the career of engine builder Ernie Elliott (brother of Bill and uncle of Chase).
The program offers a nice insight into how the Elliott family rose from the short tracks of Georgia to become a legendary part of NASCAR Winston Cup history.
Ernie's engines helped power the team to new track records, a pair of Daytona 500's, the Winston Million in 1985 and a Cup Championship in 1988.
The program also reflects on the tragic loss of his son Casey and Ernie's return to prominence in NASCAR with Dodge at the turn of the century.

[@johnwick1411]

These were the glory days of NASCAR for my age group. Brings back memories of Sun afternoons watching TNN once the service was over & the dishes were cleared. .... Feelings of nostalgia & happy times. Don't know if NASCAR can ever recapture that special atmosphere. Thank You so very much for airing great programs like this. ..... Loved seeing B.P. again too!

[@taylormach1699]

I am glad I was around to see Bill and family master Nascar. True Champions.

[@brianbooher7318]

Ernie should be in the hall of fame .if nothing else for building an engine that ran the field down over 5 miles an won with out a caution flag that's unbelievable an should never be forgotten.plus he built the motor that set the fastest lap in history.they shouldn't call the restrictor plate that. It should be called the Ernie Elliott plate

[@zcam1969]

he was down and out when Bobby Allison kicked everybodies ass in 1986 at Talladega

[@luismateo9064]

Thank you for this presentation of the “Elliot boys from Dawsonville” . As I mentioned on another Elliot video, the brothers deserve credit for what Bill Elliot is today!🤗👏👏👏

[@davidhaynes7002]

I love the old Nascar stories

[@racecitypatriot66]

Man those dodge engine was so strong. I remember Bill qualifying at Pocono going in to turn 1 at 205 mph 12,000 is what the TV showed.

[@Pappy63]

Great video, Mr. Hammond. I was glued to the TV for every year in the 80s and 90s. (There's so much politics/money in the sport lately that it lost me years ago)

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

I was (am) a huge fan of Bill Elliott and Ernie is one heck of a mechanic. Thanks for this video.

[@IcyKcominyourway]

I view Ernie Elliott as a man who knew how to create horsepower and make race cars go faster. He certainly deserves a lot of credit where credit is due as far as his brother Bill Elliott's success behind the wheel is concerned.

[@carminesilverado]

that is real racing , men who built cars with only their ability , Ernie was a great one

[@brianbooher7318]

Ernie should be in nascar hall of fame

[@davidparsons5918]

Bill Elliott was my favorite Driver back in the day i was so proud af Bill and his family they came out of nothing had nothing but boulding his dreams was the best thing that had ever happened to a great family.

[@leemorales3884]

Bill Elliott is still my favorite driver of all time and I wish Chase was in a Ford. -TX

[@skooby_doobie_doonkann3334]

Always liked bill Elliott. I never cheered against him but I was never rooting for him to win races back then. Had a ton of respect for him but I guess I had my top guys. I sometimes wish I'd cheered harder for him. Ernie was a great engine builder. Probably nobody in nascar succeeded because of a family member the way that bill did because of his father

[@joshingtonbarthsworth631]

* The Petty Family enters the chat *

[@drpiv]

RIP Casey Elliott. 🙏🏻

[@JAMplusPAW]

That was back in the day when the engine builders were as important as the drivers. Smoky Yunick was one of the best at knowing all kinds of secrets and trying new things. Those days are over. Now it's engineers, sponsors, cars that look the same, and public relations. NASCAR left their heritage and traditions.

[@maxr.mamint8580]

They as far away from "stock" cars as F1s are. A rollcage with motor/drivetrain bolted on and wrapped in sheet metal is NOT a "stock" car.

[@chld6860]

Ernie Elliott Was The Master Mind Of The Team

[@royhoco5748]

don't you love it when a country boy does good

[@user-kf3xq7xp7t]

God bless that family Now Chase will continue the legacy

[@paulcampbell7826]

It’s a shame about the loss of Casey Elliott, I watched him race go karts at the kart track in Jasper GA, I think he was like 11 or 12 at the time, you could see something special in his driving.

[@christolbert4628]

I can still hear Bill say "It's just a sad situation". Lol. A Georgia boy, myself, glad of their accomplishments. Go, Chase! ! #9.

[@halseyknox]

The #9 belongs on a Ford not a Chevy.....and Chase should be in a Ford but, I quit watching nascar a long time so I not losing sleep over it but the family legacy is built around Ford and shame on Chase for not honoring it

[@dannymiller4335]

Best team ever no. 9

[@92roadie]

Awesome Bill was my hero back in the day.

[@williamboardman9476]

A Mich beer ad to start ? George kept the boys from driving moon around the hills. Earnie didgood with the heads and intakes....carbs. That Starsky and Hutch Torino run in primer was very cool..running at Woodstock, and other short tracks . That Million $ got spent SOFAST when it hit Dawsonville. Freeze tape at 16:35...that's Bill's daughter STAR, and Miss Atlanta Journal.....Gordon Pirkle, the man who runs the Dawsonville Pool Room's daughter. She ran a dress shop next door on Highway # 9. When Casey passed, and Bill hooked up with Ray Evernham to form a DODGE team....Ray wanted young talent to fill the team's other seats....Bill asked to mentor several possible choices...named ATWOOD, MEARS...and Khane, I think, for his brother. RIP Casey, Race In Peace. These were all great friends, and Dawsonville was a great place to live and work. I miss 'em all.

[@joshbarth9469]

Cool video. I would love to see more of this series.

[@homerjones9144]

When this team got a hold of heads and pistons from Endyn (Larry Widmer and his "high swirl" innovations) they skyrocketed into the record books...Widmer also did the aerodynamic work on the body and used a dozen shades of paint to cover it up, Ernie denied that he used these heads in interviews, they had smaller valves and ports that kept the mixture homogeneous and very specific ultra high compression piston design kept the swirl going down the bore that made efficiencies previously unheard of, along with incredible mpg, the exhaust temps were about 300 degrees cooler! Of course the camshaft was modified for this combination and surprisingly used less lift than normal, Widmer is also big on the rod length to stroke ratio of 1.75 which makes the geometry right for more power. Yes Ernie is a great builder, but the Texan Widmer is the genius behind the NASCAR and American engine advancement since the mid eighties.

[@DaveMcLain]

Well that's what Widmer says anyway.....

[@elmerfudpucker3204]

Nope. Ernie found what he needed, and was already using "HSC' (High Swirl Combustion) research from SVO when he started R&D on the Aussie heads. Ford was involved with that way before the mid 80s. Ernie worked on that for years. Ford's HSC weren't the first ones either, Honda had a primitive version even earlier, they called it "CVCC' technology, dating to the 70s. This has been around a lot longer than the mid 80s, from Texas.

[@danielgreen7159]

I was a huge fan and had I been in a different situation, and being a mechan ic I'd have gone to Dawsonville and asked for a job. But I read an article not long ago that one major factor in their eventual decline was that (to put it nicely) ernie was very hard to work for,and most people wouldnt.

[@jerrysantos6484]

Awesome Power by this man. 👍

[@12121149]

Met him at Daytona 1990, let me hang out with the team,the week before the 500.Regular great guy.I was there as pit crew for an ARCA team,just sayin

[@purplebondsaiyan2987]

Great Video Ernie Elliot and the Late Robert Yates know their Horsepower and the Cars they built we're Fast and Dominanting. Ernie doesn't get credit as a Good Crew Chief.

[@LoydChampion]

Sadly, you could never do this today....

[@user-kf3xq7xp7t]

God bless you BILL Elliott CHASE will continue the Elliott legacy

[@oldermusiclover]

miss Speed channel

[@fintanoclery2698]

Me too.

[@timmywolfe8311]

Should be in NASCAR Hall of Fame

[@dockey6942]

I really like the Elliott meet Bill in o.k.c when he was going from Ford to dodge good guy

[@skylerwhitfield2]

Nobody at NASCAR understood it was a Feburary- early September sport damn shame its dying as fast as it is, forget the sanctioning body. Chase is amazing I think his first win is coming extremely soon so long as chevy fixes their problems. Fuck NASCAR I just love stock car racing.

[@williamboardman9476]

Bills...bills....bills. That Million $ went sooo fast. Payday for a LOT of locals and companies. I spent a lot of time hanging out with George at his office when Bill went to drive for Junior. Casey was a cool kid. Drove a sweet, clean FORD to Dawsonville High.

[@dewightkey6975]

I wish they would turn dam music off

[@fintanoclery2698]

I was a huge fan of Awesome Bill. My brother loved Darrell Waltrip because like Darrell he was a also a jackass.

[@GFBMS1997]

Chase was shown in this documentary?

[@richardnettemeyer463]

I wish points racing would return

[@danielelliott95]

They represented the Elliott name proudly

[@dewightkey6975]

Need to turn down music

[@ronp1018]

Melling is still making killer oil Pumps of my Fords

[@buddywilliams5650]

I've known two Peterson's they were liar's and psychopaths. Very damaged, dangerous garbage 🗑️

[@ronp1018]

@@buddywilliams5650 Kind of sounds to me like you’re referring to Donald trump.... He has all those symptoms.

[@dewightkey6975]

Erie I wish you would tell me what you did to Bill engine to make him a winner or to set that speed record

[@ronp1018]

Ernie was good with ford engines

[@ps-mq7tm]

🚘🏁🙋‍♂️

[@gatorred157]

I don't know If Ernie knew Lee Shepard over the first sp2 engine for chevy they refused it i had a set of Ford Head with changed ports in a box in the trunk of a rental car in first part of 1984 I drove a flyer to get a new plane in south Carolina that landed at a air-force base and was broke the guy who flew it there was stationed there, they fixed the plane I on that trip dropped the boxes off to the head shop that supplied Elliott's bare cylinder heads!! tell them its a gift from Lee! over Chevy rejection his new engine plan, that how those heads got Better!!! after that trip I was told my blood had a major problem it was blood clotting problem, I went home Lee died in a car test crash, I was out of airforce sick though I had really messed up when Scott K told me go home to family little did i know my uncle had the same blood problem and the medical control would been found out!!

[@elmerfudpucker3204]

maybe try in English with punctuation next time. Elliott had been working on heads a long time before your story line. If you're referring to the GM SB2 heads, you might want to take a little closer look, they're bad attempts to copy Ford Windsor heads. Whatever and whoever finally got them to production. Elliotts were running Cleveland heads, a completely different design.

[@gatorred157]

@@elmerfudpucker3204 it was the sb1 that was melted down never made they were to close to the ford and the Cleveland design he modded them(ford Cleveland) put them in a box in a rental car! to stop where the Melling team's heads were done drop these off with a note! i think he lee did this because he was mad! as mad as me i got a 2016 chevy 4x4 it was replacement for a ford that went in lake to the roof! will not start or turn over! the battery's flat!

[@emrakultheaeonstorn7430]

Here a man made the family Ford go as fast as Ford GT40 race cars.

[@garybattle7805]

Oh ernie is really chases pappy !

[@Imnotyourdoormat]

great video on racing, the elliot family and commentary, didn't have jack on nascar engines, or engine building.....clickius baitibus majora...

[@elmerfudpucker3204]

The title says Ernie Elliott, not NASCAR Engines. .....majoras mistakeious......

[@jefftaylor1186]

NASCAR changed the entire rules structure of the car to stop this guy. You’ll never convince me that they added restrictor plates just for “safety“ because cars still go up into the fence.

[@aricsnyder5882]

Now Chase makes huge bank..

[@Chestickles]

22:02 Cleveland heads have staggered/canted valves, must be a Dodge head?

[@ronp1018]

And Bill Elliott son really screwed up when he went to Rick Hendrick Man I bet he would be killer in a ford

[@johnmatullo9262]

Ron Peterson Chase seems to be doing alright with Hendrick!

[@johnmatullo9262]

Wow, those southern accents!

[@williamboardman9476]

Ron... Bill got Chase a "Development" Deal at Hendrick....the money, the equipment, the staff. There MAY (I can't say) be a planned Wood Brothers team operation / deal with Bill buying the materials, and Chase running what FORDS have to bring...with Earnie. Just wait, like we waited for Chase's first Cup win....it's all I watch for anymore. Enjoy POCONO tomorrow.

[@leemorales3884]

Yup, Chase needs to be in a Ford!

[@elmerfudpucker3204]

LMFAO as I read this feb. 2021, after Chase just won the championship with Hendricks

[@zcam1969]

did ernie ever gradutate the 3rd grade ?

[@elmerfudpucker3204]

Where are you trying to go with that remark? Seems he has done very well for himself to me. How's your multimillion dollar business doing? I don't recall ever seeing your name anywhere. You must have never gained at least as much learning as he has.

[@everettsmithhotspot8404]

I think Earnhardt left in the 8th grade. And as the saying goes "the rest is history".

[@saundrasharrellcarmona7178]

SHARRELLOKLAHOMALITTLEGIRL

[@saundrasharrellcarmona7178]

💔💔💔💔💯💔🧑🏾‍🦲👩🏽‍🦰👩🏽‍🦰🧑🏾‍🦰👱🏽‍♀️👨🏽‍🍼🤱🏽🌹🥀🌹🥀🌹🥀🌹🥀🌼💮🌸🌀🌀⭐

[@leonardmartin3545]

I’m remember ford was nothing they run off here come bill all by himself no say a word on that bill signature on 21 wood brothers he is up class my first race charlotte dale lost all for wheel Dave’s Allison won

[@ronp1018]

Elliotts were a total disappointment when Chase came along....Traitor

[@Daveoceanair]

@TNS1089 He will eventually. Was no d Ford teams for him. Bill tried to make it happen.