1. Casey Atwood's performance led many to label him as "the next Jeff Gordon," and landed him a factory-backed Dodge ride in the Winston Cup Series with Evernham Motorsports for 2001.
35 Facts About Casey Atwood
1. 2.
Casey Atwood later progressed to Late Model Stock racing by the age of 15.
3.
Casey Atwood was the 1996 rookie of the year at Nashville Speedway USA.
4.
Casey Atwood attended John Overton High School in Nashville until he dropped out in 1999 to pursue his racing career.
5.
Casey Atwood debuted in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1998 at North Carolina Speedway with a modest 21st-place finish, but stunned the racing world upon his next attempt.
6.
Casey Atwood flipped during the first race of the season at Daytona International Speedway, after he was tapped by Andy Hillenburg coming to the white flag.
7.
Casey Atwood became the youngest winner in Busch Series History when he won at the Milwaukee Mile at the age of 18 on July 4,1999, which would stand until Joey Logano bested Casey Atwood's mark by winning the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway on June 14,2008 at the age of 18 years and 21 days.
8.
Casey Atwood finished 1999 with two wins, five Top 5's, and nine Top 10s.
9.
In 2000, Casey Atwood made his Winston Cup debut in the No 19 Motorola Ford for Ray Evernham at Richmond International Raceway.
10.
Casey Atwood started 35th and finished 19th, two laps down.
11.
Casey Atwood made two more starts that year and earned his first Top 10, a 10th-place finish at Homestead.
12.
Casey Atwood was the youngest driver in the series in 2001.
13.
Casey Atwood was nicknamed the "Next Jeff Gordon", due to Gordon's similar rise from Busch to Cup at a young age, and was teammate to former Cup Champion, Bill Elliott.
14.
Casey Atwood struggled through the year, but improved as the season went on, winning the pole at Phoenix and was in contention to win the race, while leading the race a flat tire slowed his day as he was only able to make it back to 14th-place by the end of the race.
15.
Casey Atwood finished 3rd in the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year standings, and 26th in points.
16.
In 2002, with the signing of Jeremy Mayfield to drive the No 19, Casey Atwood moved from Evernham's team to the No 7 of Ultra Motorsports as part of an alliance between Evernham and Ultra owner Jim Smith, where Smith's team would switch from Ford to Dodge and receive equipment and engines from Evernham.
17.
Casey Atwood struggled throughout the year, having zero Top 10s, and just one Top 10 qualifying effort and finishing 35th in points.
18.
Casey Atwood ran the last race of the year in Evernham's No 91 Dodge and qualified 12th, but finished poorly.
19.
Also during 2002, Casey Atwood drove an Evernham ARCA car bearing his former No 19 at Pocono and dominated, winning the race from the pole.
20.
At Pocono Raceway with sponsorship from Mountain Dew LiveWire, Casey Atwood finished 40th after engine troubles.
21.
Casey Atwood ran in the Brickyard 400 without sponsorship, but was only able to muster a 31st-place finish.
22.
Casey Atwood's most recent appearance in the series was a failed qualifying attempt in the No 95 car for the 2006 Ford 400 at Homestead.
23.
Casey Atwood ran three races in the team's third No 82 Chevy.
24.
Casey Atwood returned to the No 14 full-time for FitzBradshaw in 2004.
25.
Casey Atwood scored seven Top 10 finishes, but was inconsistent outside of those races.
26.
Casey Atwood was diagnosed by owner Armando Fitz of having "a lack of confidence and no aggression on the race track", proceeding to hire a psychologist for the driver.
27.
Casey Atwood was released from the team with five races remaining in the season, replaced by Chip Ganassi Racing development driver David Stremme.
28.
Casey Atwood was 13th in points at the time, and he fell back to 19th by the end of the season.
29.
In early to mid-2006, Casey Atwood practiced and qualified the No 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet for JJ Yeley in select races, due to conflicts with Yeley's Nextel Cup Series schedule.
30.
Casey Atwood was replaced by Ward Burton in the No 27 car at Brewco for 2007.
31.
Casey Atwood sustained minor injuries, and has not raced since.
32.
Casey Atwood first appeared on the NASCAR scene in 1996, at the age of 16, in a Craftsman Truck Series race at Nashville Speedway USA.
33.
Casey Atwood finished 32nd in the No 48 STP Chevrolet.
34.
In 2005, Casey Atwood was picked up by Bobby Hamilton Racing to drive the first three races of the Craftsman Truck Series season in the No 4 Bailey's Cigarettes Dodge.
35.
Casey Atwood ran well during the three race stint, but scored no Top 10's.