Casey Atwood Brickyard Advance
Casey Atwood Brickyard Advance No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T Indianapolis Motor Speedway Brickyard 400 1:30 p.m. (EDT), Sunday, August 4, 2002 400 Miles/160 Laps 2.5-mile oval On racing at the Brickyard: It's one of the biggest races on the circuit. Everybody brings their best stuff out there. It's probably among the top two biggest races that everybody wants to win - Daytona and Indy I'd say were the biggest. The Brickyard would be a big win if we could get it. The way the Brickyard is laid out, you've got like four straight-aways. It's pretty different than any place I've ever been. I think we'll race pretty good here. It's flat, and that just suits my driving style. I really like it - it's one of my favorites - it's flat and fast. We're just looking to qualify well and get the Sirius Dodge running up front. Testing for the Brickyard: I thought we were pretty good in testing, maybe not as good as we could be. Tony said he found some stuff on the car when he got back that may have been slowing us down. I'm coming of a 3rd-place qualifying run last year, and we were racing well before we had the problem with the radiator. I like this track, and when you like a track and you've done well at it, it definitely gets your confidence up. I think we'll be pretty good this week. We're taking a brand new car; it's one that Tony's built entirely, so we're excited about our chances. On winning the Pepsi ARCA 200 this past weekend in Pocono: This is a special win for my career. I'm only 21 years old. Obviously my Busch wins are special, but my ultimate goal is to win a Winston Cup race and Winston Cup Championship. Until that happens, I'm not really going to be satisfied. I think we learned a lot this weekend, and it's going to help us in the future. Brickyard Stats & Facts 1. Atwood was geared up for a good run in the Brickyard 400 last season. After starting 3rd in his first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Atwood was well on his way to an impressive finish when an on-track incident on lap 32 sent Atwood to the garage and ended his day early in 41st. This is the only time that Atwood has raced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 2. He tested at the track two weeks ago and claimed the 11th fastest time of all participating drivers in his second day of testing. 3. Last season, at the age of 20, Atwood became the youngest driver to ever compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 4. In the 11 races since Tony Furr has taken over as crew chief, Atwood's average finish has been 23.6, an improvement of 8.2 positions over the first 10 races. 5. 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. Autograph Appearances: Casey Atwood 5 p.m., Thursday, August 1 Dodge Racers on the Circle Monument Circle, Downtown Indianapolis 5 p.m., Saturday, August 3 Sirius Satellite Radio Rhythm of the Road Tour 16th Street, between Gates 2 and 3 Indianapolis Motor Speedway