Elliott suffers fractured kneecap in freak home accident

STATESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 23, 2000) --Bill Elliott suffered a multi fracture of his left kneecap (patella) in a freak accident Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 22) on the property of his home in Blairsville, Ga. A decision on whether Elliott will drive in this weekend's (Aug. 26) Winston Cup race - goracing.com 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway - will be determined over the next few days.

Bill Elliott Racing has secured the services of NASCAR Busch Series regular David Green as the substitute driver during Friday's practice and qualifying sessions. If Elliott is not ready to return to action, Green will also drive the McDonald's car in Saturday night's 250-mile, 500-lap event.

The accident happened Tuesday afternoon when Elliott tripped and landed all of his weight on his left knee while working in his garage. His wife, Cindy, transported him to the emergency center at Union General Hospital in Blairsville. Following the diagnosis at the Blairsville hospital, Elliott flew to Birmingham, Ala. where he had surgery Tuesday evening at HEALTHSOUTH Medical Center to repair the fractured patella.

The 90-minute surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews, who inserted three steel pins and a steel wire to repair and secure the fractured patella. The surgery was successful and Elliott is expected to have a full recovery.

Notes * Dr. Andrews was also Elliott's surgeon when he fractured his left thighbone following a racing accident during the Winston 500 - April 29, 1996 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Due to the injury, Elliott missed seven races, snapping a streak of 395 consecutive race starts.

* The last Winston Cup race which Elliott did not compete in was the 1998 fall race in Dover, Del. He missed that race to attend his father's funeral.

* Elliott, who is in his 25th season of NASCAR Winston Cup racing, has 614 career starts. His first race was Feb. 29, 1976 - Carolina 500 - in Rockingham.