William Elliott is a former professional stock car racing driver. Driving a car owned by his father, George Elliott, Elliott made his first Winston Cup Series start at Rockingham in 1976. Elliot would find his rise to success through the Winston Cup Series.

He won the 1988 Winston Cup Championship and garnered 44 wins in that series, including two Daytona 500 victories in 1985 and 1987, three Southern 500 victories in 1985, 1988, and 1994, one Winston 500 victory in 1985, one Brickyard 400 victory in 2002, one "The Winston All-Star Race" (non-points race) win in 1986, and a record four consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway between 1985 and 1986 (7 wins overall at Michigan, the most at any one racetrack in his career). He holds the track record for fastest qualifying speed at Talladega at 212.809 miles per hour and Daytona International Speedway at 210.364 miles per hour, both of which were set in 1987 and have yet to be broken as of 2021; the mark at Talladega is the fastest qualifying speed for any NASCAR race ever. With the current usage of restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega beginning since 1988, it is highly unlikely that these two qualifying speed records will ever be topped again.

On August 4, 2018, GMS Racing announced that Elliott would return to NASCAR, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro at Road America in the Xfinity Series on August 25.