NASCAR Racing: BillElliott, superbirds, talledega

Question
My friend says that bill elliott once hit 218+mph but he dosent know when or where...Is this true?

Answer
I'm guessing we're talking qualifying speed since that's the record Elliott holds: at Talledega, 212.809 mph, in 1987. Did he run 218+mph? He probably came close to it somewhere on the track during that qualifying lap but since qualifying speeds are an average of the complete lap run, the record is 212+.
In the early 70's the Plymouth Superbirds of Richard Petty were rumored to be running speeds of 220 mph but NASCAR quickly rewrote the rules to slow him down. Since thiose speeds were never an "official quaifying speed" I have to go with the 212+ of Elliott.