[69hurstSC]

After much persistance us Bill Elliott fans have recieved word from Ray:

Hey Ray. You have said before that when Bill Elliott decides to run his last race, he will do it in the No. 9. With Bill Elliott's career winding down, I was wondering if Elliott really is going to be able to run the No. 9 in his last race?
Nick,
Huber Heights, Ohio

Evernham: Well, Bill's just got to tell us when that is. I thought he did it at Homestead in 2003. But he keeps popping up.

Certainly now there's more people that would have to be involved in that decision with George Gillett being a partner and the folks at Budweiser now being on board we'd love to provide Bill Elliott the opportunity when he's ready, when he's really ready to run his last race because I think he's somewhat retired three or four times now.

So until he's ready to run his last race he's got to let us know. But then it's something that certainly I would love to do. I think that the fans would like it and Bill's been a big part of Gillett Evernham Motorsports, so if it was all possible we'd like to work that out.