Atwood scores best finish of 2002

POCONO, Pa. -- You expect to see veterans at the forefront of Pocono Raceway's demanding 2.5-mile circumference. This season, you also expect to hear from at least one of the two super-rookies, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman.

But it was a bit of shock to see another young gun -- this one nearly forgotten -- still battling at the end of Sunday's Pocono 500. Casey Atwood finished 11th behind winner Dale Jarrett, posting his best result this season.

"We're happy with that," Atwood said.

No understatement considering he started 37th. Atwood has been anonymous this year, driving for a new team under the Evernham Motorsports umbrella. In his second Winston Cup season, the 22-year-old hadn't made much on-track noise through the first 13 events, suffering instead through personnel shuffles and uneven performances.

Since Friday qualifying was canceled by water seepage problems, Sunday's field was set by driver points standings. Stuck in the back, Atwood crept forward gradually, climbing to 20th by lap 60 of the day's total of 200.

His next 60 laps weren't so consistent; a 27th-place on lap 100, followed by 18th on lap 120. It was a pattern that held until the final 20 laps, when a brief surge nearly propelled him into the top 10.

"We should have been a little better than that," Atwood said of his 11th-place finish. "The lug nuts kept falling off on every pit stop, and that killed us. We could never get track position. We'd make spots up and go right back to the back under caution."

Human error wasn't the problem, according to Atwood, who placed the blame on faulty glue. He wasn't overly greedy, either, about not cracking the top 10.

"It was a good finish for us," he said. "We're inching up a little more every week."

And coming on the heels of last week's then-season-best, 14th-place finish at Dover, he's anticipating next week's event, the Sirius Satellite 400 at Michigan; Sirius is his primary sponsor.

"We're going to be strong," Atwood promised.