Casey Atwood Michigan Advance
Media Contact: Amy Hunerberg Ultra/Evernham Motorsports 704.577.9456 ahunerberg@vnet.net Casey Atwood Michigan Advance No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T Michigan International Speedway Sirius Satellite Radio 400 12:30 p.m. (EST) June 16, 2002 400 Miles/200 Laps 2-mile oval Change of Heart: "I like Michigan a lot more now than I used to. You would think Michigan would be one of my better tracks. If I describe what my favorite tracks are to race on, it fits that description. But until last fall I hadn't had the success I would like here. You have to have everything together to race well at Michigan. We tested here last week, we've got good information from last year and I got some good experience here, so I'm ready. I'm looking forward to doing well in the Sirius Satellite Radio 400." Testing for the Sirius Satellite Radio 400: "The Sirius Dodge was pretty good right when we got on the track, so we didn't have to adjust a whole lot. I feel like it went well. We had a car in race trim and a car for qualifying runs. Our race trim car was as good as the car I had here last year. I ran in the top 10, top five most of the day and finished 10th, so I feel pretty confident. We'll be able to come back next week for the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 and run pretty good." Special Paint Scheme: "We've got a band on the hood this weekend - Soluna. It's a new band that Sirius is helping to launch. They're kind of a Latin top-40 group. They're pretty good. I listened to their new CD and it's not bad. They'll be playing at the concert on Saturday and they're doing the national anthem on Sunday so the fans will get to hear them. It's pretty cool to have them on the car. I guess it's the first time that a female group has been on a Winston Cup car." Sirius Tunes "Ray (Evernham) and I are introducing the bands at the Sirius concert on Saturday. It should be pretty neat. I don't know Mitch Ryder, but Ray said they're a cool group. It'll be neat to see the Blues Brothers. I didn't realize they were a group. I just thought it was a movie. I'm looking forward to the concert. It's great that Sirius is able to do cool things like this for all the fans. It should be a lot of fun for everyone!" Importance of the Sirius Satellite Radio 400: "This is a huge race for us with Sirius Satellite Radio sponsoring the race. We want to do well for them and for Dodge, and hopefully we'll be able to come out of here with a good finish. That's why we came here (to Michigan) to test. I had a good race car here last year, so hopefully we can do good and make everyone at Sirius proud of our race team." Sirius Presence "When we came here to test last week, I was surprised at how many Sirius signs were up. They're everywhere around the track. It was pretty neat to see that. The support they've given our team and our sport has been great. I can't wait to see everything they've added in the last week at the track. I know they're doing a lot for the fans and I'm glad that I get to be a part of it. Sirius has been a great sponsor for us and for NASCAR." Michigan Stats & Facts 1. This is Atwood's third Winston Cup attempt at Michigan. 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. 2. Atwood started 34th and finished 30th in his first Winston Cup start at Michigan in June 2001. 3. Atwood has two career Busch Grand National starts at Michigan. 4. For the third consecutive week, Atwood recorded his best finish of the season o 17th at Lowe's Motor Speedway o 14th at Dover Speedway o 11th at Pocono Raceway 1. Atwood earned the Waste Management Picking Up Places Award last week at Pocono. The award goes to the eligible team which moves up the most places during the race. Atwood moved up 26 positions, starting 37th and finishing 11th. 2. The No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio crew tested for the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 4. The two-day test was shortened by rain.