He’s 46 years old and clearly not part of the Winston Cup youth movement this season.

He is without question the hottest driver in the series.

Bill Elliott celebrates his victory in the 2002 Brickyard 400, his second win of the season.

And he’s making more noise for his performance than for his ability to win the most popular driver contest not an easy accomplishment, considering he’s won the award 15 times.

He’s Bill Elliott, and right now he’s on top of the world.

Again.

Elliott was once a household name for such accomplishments as Winston Cup champion (1988); winner of the Winston Million (1985); and record holder for the fastest qualifying lap at Talladega (212.809 mph, 1987). Then he hit a dry spell in the 1990s.

He went 227 races without a victory before winning at Homestead, Fla., last season after joining Ray Evernham’s Dodge organization and giving up a stint as car owner/driver. Now, in his second season with Evernham Motorsports, Elliott’s future looks brighter than ever.

He enters Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International having won the past two races, including Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With 15 of 36 races remaining, Elliott is sixth in the series points race 210 behind leader Sterling Marlin and still in the championship picture.

“If you stay in a sport long enough, you’re going to ride that roller coaster up and down. I don’t care who you are,” Elliott said. “I look at it, and guys who’ve had the most successful years or careers have had a very stable foundation under them.

“I look back on my past years and I was stable in the 1980s doing my own deal, but then the sport got so big, I couldn’t keep up. … I kept going down different roads. I never could put things together in the right direction.”

Then came Evernham, who served as crew chief for star Jeff Gordon while Gordon won three Winston Cup championships. Evernham was tapped by Dodge to orchestrate its return to the series in 2001 and selected Elliott as one of two drivers for his factory-backed teams.

So far, the move has been a success for both the car’s owner and its driver.

“When Ray came to me, I didn’t even think he was going to hire me. With my past record at that point in time, I hadn’t done much of anything,” Elliott said.

“You know, I thought maybe he needed a psychologist. First off, for having a race team, and second off for hiring me.”

Evernham said he had several conversations with Gordon about Elliott when he first started considering owning his own teams.

“Bill had told me a little bit about his sponsor problems and everything, so actually before this whole thing went down, Bill knew before anybody,” Evernham said. “I went in and said, ‘Look, something big is about to happen. I want you to come drive for me.’

“I was really very, very fortunate enough to get him.”

Bill Elliott drove the No. 9 Coors Thunderbird for Harry Melling when he won the 1988 Winston Cup title.

So where does Elliott go from here?

“I’ve got a good stable situation right now and that helps me focus on doing what I need to do. We’re heading out to Watkins Glen and I like road courses. It’s something a little different,” Elliott said.

“We did all right earlier out at Sears Point. We’re communicating well and this team is really gelling, so we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing and we should be fine.”

Unlike some of his younger counterparts, Elliott’s success doesn’t necessarily mean we should expect to see him making celebrity appearances or endorsing a vast array of products on TV. He is content to continue working in the sport he has enjoyed for the better part of his life.

“I don’t want to run off and do a bunch of commercials. I don’t want to do movies. I want to be right here,” Elliott said. “I want to run this race team to the best of my ability.

“I want to be 100 percent focused on this race team. I feel like with the 100 percent focus that (crew chief) Mike Ford and all the guys give, they deserve 100 percent focus out of me.”