Bill Elliott has raced limited schedules in NASCAR's national divisions the last couple years of his career, and Wednesday a bystander asked how he felt about it.

"You hit it right on the head -- racing less and enjoying it more," Elliott said. "Between what I've been racing the last few years, I told some guys the other day watching my son [Chase] race go-karts has been a lot of fun.

Bill Elliott climbed into his No. 36 Chevrolet and posted Monday's fastest lap. Credit: Don Bok/ISC Images and Archives

"Being able to go with him and watch him from that side and then be able to come back and see the guys that I grew up with around the racetrack and stuff, that's what makes it so much more special when you do come back."

If Elliott's performance the last three days at Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona is any indication, his competitors might be interested in seeing even less of the Georgia veteran.

Elliott stepped into a Chevrolet Cup car for the first time in more than 25 years this week, the MB2 Motorsports No. 36 car that was driven last year by Boris Said in a limited schedule of races, including Said's first Daytona 500 last year.

On Monday, Elliott, a two-time Daytona 500 winner and Daytona's stock car track record holder, posted the day's fastest time, 187.219 mph. By the time Wednesday's drafting sessions rolled up, Elliott had a capable and comfortable drafting piece ready for his first Daytona 500 since 2003, when he qualified 14th and finished 32nd driving a Dodge for owner Ray Evernham. Since then, he's run the Budweiser Shootout each year, and he'll do so again this year, but in the No. 36 Chevrolet.

"You know, staying away a couple of years, everything is still the same, it's still the same thing," Elliott said of the 'Great American Race.' "You've got to do well in a draft, you have to have a car handling, and that's what I always like about Daytona -- you can run good for a few laps, but if your car is not really under you, then you can't continue that through the full run, especially here when the race is on Sunday afternoon, and it's a warm afternoon because the heat gets on the racetrack and it's hard to keep a hold of.

	ARCHIVE NASCAR.COM takes you inside the garages and breaks down the action from Daytona.  �?nbsp;  Complete coverage, click here

"That's what I've noticed here today is after six, eight, 10 laps on your tires, the racetrack really gets greasy, and that's what makes Daytona so much fun -- you've got to handle, you've got to be able to run wide open and that's the only way you're going to be able to win this thing."

Frank Stoddard, who won the 2000 Pepsi 400 as a crew chief with Jeff Burton at Roush Racing, pronounced the team ready by the test's end.

"It was a good test, and Bill was a joy to work with," the veteran Stoddard said. "He gave us some good feedback in race-trim conditions [plus] we had a good package from last year's stuff and fine-tuned around that.

"I think we can come back here and qualify well. The group effort paid off once again for us -- the guys back at the MB2 shop, the fabrication department and the Hendrick engine people worked hard during the offseason, and that's why we have the results that we do."

MB2 Motorsports, which will have its other two Chevrolets testing next week in the hands of two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin and multiple Daytona pole and Busch race winner Joe Nemechek.

Elliott also feels like that will work in his favor.

what's this? $150,000 Mortgage for $483/MonthCompare up to 4 free offers. Refinance and lower your monthly... pickamortgage.com Refinance Rates at Record LowsGet matched with top lenders that can get you lower rates. Receive... lowermybills.com Mortgage Rates as Low as 2.9%Up to four free offers. Compare and choose the best rate. Quick and... homeloantrust.com >if(!(location.hostname.indexOf('nascar.com')>-1)){cnnAddCSI('contextualLinks','/.element/ssi/sect/promos/slinks/1.0/static_story.html','');}else{cnnAddCSI('contextualLinks','http://cl.nascar.com/ctxtlink/jsp/nascar/cl/2.0/nascar-story.jsp','site=nascar&query=sports%3Anascar%20premium&cgroup=headlinescup');}</SCRIPT> <IFRAME id=iframecontextualLinks style="VISIBILITY: hidden" name=iframecontextualLinks align=right src="http://cl.nascar.com/ctxtlink/jsp/nascar/cl/2.0/nascar-story.jsp?domId=contextualLinks&time=1137118058717&site=nascar&query=sports%3Anascar%20premium&cgroup=headlinescup" width=0 height=0></IFRAME>

"That's the whole key -- you can't do it alone," Elliott said. "You've got to have not only the team in the pits but the team in the garage and everybody collectively putting things together.

"Then on the flip side, you've got to have the guys on the racetrack that will help you. When it gets down to late in the race, you've got to be able to work together to get to a point, and I guess then it's each man for himself -- that's the way it's always been in the past. But still, you've got to work together to get to that point."

Stoddard agreed.

"I think the 01 [Nemechek] and the 14 [Marlin] will come down here next week and also do well," Stoddard said. "I feel that the three MB2 teams have the potential of making some noise during Speedweeks."