NASCAR WCUP: Elliott and Atwood find the Glen full of twists and turns

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August 14, 2001

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.The No. 9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T of Bill Elliott and the No. 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T of Casey Atwood battled the relentless curves at Watkins Glen International, the second of two road course races on the Winston Cup circuit, to finish 24th and 22nd. What appeared to be another top-five finish for the No. 9 Dodge turned into a 24th place finish after Elliott was spun out with less than six laps to go in the 90-lap race. Elliott moved up early from a 21st place starting spot and fought his way into the top five where he looked certain to finish until the on-track incident late in the race took him out of contention. Prior to coming to the Glen, Elliott had finished in the top 10 in three of his last four races. After finishing 24th for the day, Elliott remains 16th in the points race.

Atwood and the No. 19 team battled through problems with the car and held on to finish 22nd after starting from the 34th spot. Atwood's finish moves him to 32nd in points and third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race. "We just rode around all day and stayed out of trouble and got a pretty decent finish out of it," Atwood said. "A lot of people ran off the track, and we didn't. We've just got to improve on our stuff. My battery went dead, and I had to turn my brake fans off, and we didn't have good brakes the rest of the day. We just had a few problems. We'll improve on it next time. People were getting off the track throwing dirt up on the track those last few laps. You couldn't see where you were going. You just had to pick a hole and hope no one was there. We picked the right hole and gained a few positions."

"We knew we were in for a long day with the No. 19 car," said team owner Ray Evernham. "We struggled all weekend, but I was pretty disappointed. The No. 9 car had a great day. He just got knocked out of the way at the end."

EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS IN THE NEWS: Ray Evernham, Bill Elliott and Casey Atwood took part in a variety of interviews this weekend. All three were featured on television and radio coverage of race activities including Winston Cup qualifying and practice. Elliott and Atwood also sat down with NBC Sports for a feature story the network is doing on Evernham and his leadership of the Dodge program. Elliott was also the focus of a number of stories after a release was issued stating his intentions to withdraw his name from consideration for the National Motorsports Press Association's Most Popular Driver Award, an award he has won 15 times. Bill was interviewed by Winston Cup Scene, MRN, PRN and Fox Sports on the subject. The story also was featured on a variety of internet sites and ran in a number of newspapers. ESPN also ran a report on the topic.

DODGE AT THE GLEN: Members of the Upstate New York Dodge DAA were treated to a race-day appearance from a number of Dodge drivers including Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T. Evernham Motorsports was also happy to welcome VIP's from ACU-RITE. Based in Jamestown, New York, the company provides tool accessories to Evernham Motorsports. Guests from ACU-RITE had the opportunity to experience the excitement of Winston Cup activities throughout the race weekend.

Text provided by Kristine Curley

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