The Sunday, May 3 GEICO 500 at Talladega will mark the 30th anniversary of Elliott's amazing run in the 1985 Winston 500 where he made up over a 5-mile deficit – without the benefit of a caution period – to capture the impossible triumph. Elliott, with smoke billowing from under his Ford's hood, was within a few hundred yards of going two laps down to the leaders on the 2.66-mile track after taking an unscheduled pit stop to make repairs to an oil fitting line. The cool, calm Elliott didn't sweat it, climbing all the way back to the front and rocketing to Gatorade Victory Lane.

So how did Elliott celebrate his tremendous 30-year accomplishment Wednesday? He donned a helmet, fired up the engine of the famed red, white and gold Ford that made him a legend, and made hot laps around NASCAR's biggest and baddest track. The car's engine hadn't been cranked since the car was put on display at the nearby International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1986.