Atwood sits, waits for solid ride to open up

Laid-off driver says a return with good team a must

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- At no point -- except possibly the bitter end of last Winston Cup season -- did Casey Atwood expect to be pounding the pavement in Daytona International Speedway's garage area during February 2003.

	Atwood didn't record a top-10 in 2002 after nearly winning twice in 2001. Credit: Autostock

But that's exactly where the 22-year-old driver from Antioch, Tenn., found himself last week while the hustle and bustle of a typical Speedweeks at Daytona surged around him.

Atwood spent time greeting friends and associates, sometimes signing autographs for fans and spending the odd moment on "sales calls" trying to ensure his future in the sport.

As Speedweeks ended with the Daytona 500 last Sunday evening, Atwood was unsure what his future held -- but he was quietly hopeful it would involve him getting back into a race car at some point this season.

"I'm just kinda walking around and showing my face," Atwood said, flashing a smile that was seen too seldom over the last two seasons in a Winston Cup pressure cooker. "Hopefully if something comes up, the people will keep me in mind.

"There's not really much going on right now, you know? When everything started happening with me, everything was pretty sealed up for this year."

Atwood's career surge, which less than three years ago had "can't miss" tags all over it, is currently in a rut seemingly greased with the slime of despair.

	Autographs were still in demand from Atwood at Daytona. Credit: TSI

Many thought Atwood, who had won twice in the Busch Series in two full seasons, was being moved up to the Winston Cup Series too soon by Dodge's lead team owner Ray Evernham for the 2001 season.

Despite turning his program around with several strong runs at the end of 2001, Atwood was switched over to a Dodge associate, Jim Smith's Ultra Motorsports, for the 2002 season.

Evernham aligned himself with Smith for the season, but when Atwood's results were neither positive nor forthcoming, the Tennessean was released and Evernham and Smith's partnership, dissolved.

Atwood said he might be a fixture in NASCAR garages, at least for the short term, due to a lack of personal equipment to put on the track -- even at his hometown Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville.

"I don't have anything to race at home, anymore," he said. "I got rid of all the Late Model stuff a while ago, but I don't think I'll be out long.

"Usually people start getting shuffled around about five or six races into the season, and I feel like something will happen pretty soon, hopefully."

Atwood has not wasted much time mulling over his abrupt departure from the Winston Cup garage.

"It's hard to say what happened," Atwood said of his divorce from Evernham. "It seemed like at the end of the (2001) year in the 19 car we was coming on and almost had a shot to win a couple races.

"Ray just made a change, and it's not his fault -- I can't blame him for trying to better his race team. But I never could get the same thing going at the 7 car (Ultra). I went through three crew chiefs and a lot of changes in a year over there and I just never could get it.

"It just never did work out, but I'll bounce back from it."

'I just want to race something -- I really don't care what'

Atwood said the harshness of the experience would make him look harder before he jumped back into Winston Cup. In fact, he said his biggest desire would be to return, even if somewhat briefly, to where he had once flourished.

"I definitely would look closer at the situation before I just got back into a Winston Cup deal," Atwood said. "What I would probably like to do is just run a good Busch car, win some races and whatever it takes.

"I mean, I want to end up back over there (Winston Cup) but I'm not going to do it unless it's in a top-notch ride, because there's no point in it. There's only a few teams over there that can win races and if you're not with them then you're not going to do that good."

If Atwood's desire had been questioned, he tried to put that to rest at Daytona.

"I just want to race something -- I really don't care what," he said. "But to go back over there would take a pretty good ride."