Engine trouble latest woe for 'snakebit' Elliott

FORT WORTH, Texas -- It took Bill Elliott seven NASCAR Winston Cup races in 2003 to lead a lap.

But after leading 43 of the first 46 laps, Elliott was in the Texas Motor Speedway garage area, the first car out of the Samsung/RadioShack 500 after his No. 9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid's engine failed.

Elliott was leading on a restart but his car blew up when the green was displayed.

"I'm snakebit, that's all there is," Elliott said, moments after exiting his car. "When I shifted to high, it started missing. I don't have any idea what happened to it. There's a lot of moving parts in the motor and I just don't know."

Elliott came into the event a tail-spinning 28th in the standings, and he stood to fall out of the top 30 thanks to his engine debacle.

"It's just been par for the year," Elliott said. "We've struggled this year and just had a lot of problems, and the first time you feel like you've got a decent car, this (failure) happens."

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Elliott has only a ninth-place finish at Darlington to go with two other top-20 results, but he knows there are better days ahead.

"I've got to give a hand to the guys (because) they've put some good stuff under me," Elliott said. "We'll get it squared away. I'm just happy with where we're at -- it tore up leading the race, and that's one positive sign to it.

"It's the best we've run this year, so I'm tickled."

Coming into Sunday's event, Elliott's teammate Jeremy Mayfield was 29th in the standings and had not led a lap, either.