ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Bill Elliott always ran his own show, so there were questions about how he would get along with crew chief Tim Brewer after switching teams over the winter.

The preliminary answer after the second race of the NASCAR Winston Cup season is: “Great!“

That`s what Elliott, 36, said Sunday after running away from Daytona 500 winner Davey Allison to win the Goodwrench 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway.

“When it first came up that I was going to go to Junior (Johnson`s team), there was a lot of talk that Tim and I wouldn`t work together very well,“ Elliott said. “But it`s been really good. We ran great at Daytona

(before getting into a crash) and here the car was absolutely flawless.“

The victory was Elliott`s first for Johnson and his 35th in 350 career starts.

Elliott, looking like the “Awesome Bill“ of old, pulled away steadily over the final 100 miles, beating Allison to the finish line by 12.75 seconds. Elliott led the final 213 laps en route to a race record average of 126.125 m.p.h., breaking the mark of 124.083 set last March by Kyle Petty and barely missing the track record of 127.292 by Allison last October.

Harry Gant, the oldest driver in the race at 52, was third in an Oldsmobile, the only other car on the lead lap. Michael Waltrip was fourth in a Pontiac, followed by Ken Schrader in a Chevrolet.