| 2001 review: Atwood
struggled early but really came on as the season
wound down, picking up his first series pole and
coming close to his first victory at Homestead,
Fla.
2002 outlook: Atwood was the odd man out in a
shuffle as Evernham Motorsports added Jeremy Mayfield
and sent Atwood to the No. 7, where Evernham will
provide chassis and engines. Time will tell if
the move is a good one.
Atwood was the youngest driver to win a NASCAR
Grand National race when he won at Milwaukee in
1999 at the age of 18 years, nine months, nine
days.
Casey Atwood is one of the brightest stars in
the future of NASCAR. As the youngest driver ever
in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, he
claimed his first Bud Pole in 1998 at his 'hometown'
track, Nashville Speedway USA. He left the event
with an astounding second place finish. Keep in
mind that he accomplished all of this at the tender
age of 17. In 1999 Casey Atwood really broke through
and showed his competitors that he meant business.
Casey Atwood finished 13th in the Championship
point standings after grabbing two victories.
He became the youngest driver in the series history
to visit Victory Lane after winning from the pole
at the Die Hard 250 on July 4, 1999.
His second victory came only a few months later
at Dover Downs International Speedway on September
25, 1999 when he took the checkered flag for the
MBNA Gold 200. Atwood scored five Top-5 and nine
Top-10 finishes in 1999. He captured the Bud Pole
award at The Milwaukee Mile and also at Gateway
International Raceway and led 236 laps in five
races. In 1998 Casey Atwood competed in only 13
of 31 races but he won two Bud Poles and an outside
pole. His average finish was 20th in these races.
Atwood began racing go-karts at the young age
of 10, progressed to four-cylinder races at 13
and then Late Model Stock Cars at 15. Prior to
getting his state driver's license on his sixteenth
birthday in August of 1996, he had already won
more than a dozen Late Model Stock races at Highland
Rim Speedway north of Nashville. |
