NASCAR Cup

Brooklyn II: Casey Atwood preview

Casey Atwood: How do you feel about going back to Michigan this weekend? We've got a brand new car going this weekend to Michigan. We're going in with real high expectations. We think we can pull off a good run for Sirius. I've got a lot of good ...

Published: Aug 16, 2002, 4:37 PM

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Casey Atwood:

How do you feel about going back to Michigan this weekend?

We've got a brand new car going this weekend to Michigan. We're going in with real high expectations. We think we can pull off a good run for Sirius. I've got a lot of good tracks coming up for me. I almost won a couple at the end of last season at Phoenix and Homestead. I feel like I've got some good race tracks coming up. We go to Bristol after Michigan; that's my home track. So I feel like we're going to have a good second half.

What car are you taking to Michigan?

(Crew chief) Tony (Furr) feels real good about this car. I don't know if it's the way it's set up or if he likes the body on it, but Tony feels better about this car than he has any other ones that we've run in the past. He thinks it's the best car we've got in the shop right now.

Are you comfortable running at Michigan?

You just never know at Michigan. I felt really comfortable with the car earlier this year. We got into some oil in qualifying and wrecked. That car felt like it was going to be a good car, and our back up car just wasn't what we wanted. If you're comfortable with the car you're driving and it drives good then you can have a good run there.

How do you feel things are going this season?

When Tony Furr first came over, we showed a lot of strength and showed a lot of good finishes. For some reason right now, we're in a little bit of a slump. That just happens some times. We'll pull out of it, and we'll have some strong runs coming up.

As a sophomore in Winston Cup, what are the lessons you're learning?

I've learned a lot this season. I learn every time I go out on the race track. You gotta have the right people in place. You've gotta have the right person leading the team and getting everybody organized. And that's the biggest thing we've probably learned. You gotta get that going before you can run good. I feel like we've got that going in our favor right now. I'm still a young driver, and I've got a lot of learning to do, but at the end of the year we should have a lot of strong finishes.

Stats & Facts

* This is Atwood's fourth Winston Cup attempt at Michigan.

* Atwood started 39th during the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 here in June. After getting into some oil on the track, Atwood made contact with the outside wall and was unable to complete his qualifying run. Atwood finished the race in 39th in a back up car.

* Last fall, he scored his first top-10 finish of the 2001 season at Michigan. After starting 6th, Atwood finished 10th following a red-flag restart. Atwood was the top qualifying and top finishing rookie of the race.

* Atwood has two career Busch Grand National starts at Michigan.

* The No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio crew tested at Michigan International Speedway on June 4. The two-day test was shortened by rain.

* Atwood won the Pepsi ARCA 200 from the pole at Pocono on Saturday, June 27. He drove the No. 19 Evernham Motorsports-owned Dodge Intrepid R/T as part of the team's research and development program. Atwood's former crew chief Sammy Johns led the team from the pit. This was Atwood's first ARCA start.

-um/3m-

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