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It's official Evernham introduces Atwood as driver for No. 19 Dodge
Posted: Thursday May 25, 2000 10:48 PM
By Steve Almasy, CNNSI.com CONCORD, N.C. -- Ray Evernham was standing in Victory Lane -- a familiar place for him -- with a new look. Dressed in a red shirt and blue slacks, the owner of the new Dodge entry that will join the Winston Cup circuit next season was managing to stay remarkably composed on a hot, muggy morning. He was at Lowe's Motor Speedway to do the least desirable thing a Winston Cup team owner has to do -- face the media. It was on this Thursday morning that Dodge officials and Evernham were joined by young Casey Atwood for the official word that the Busch driver would join the Evernham team next season. While Evernham was the picture of composure and "been there, done that," Atwood was a fidgeting, uncomfortable 19-year-old when surrounded by the 20 or so cameras and dozen more print reporters.
"I'm not going to lie to you," Atwood said. "I'm nervous about moving up. Ray just asked me [to join the team] and I said yes. It was automatic." Atwood is one of the stars of the Busch Series. He became the junior circuit's youngest driver ever when he raced at Nashville two years ago. He has struggled in 2000, but observers see a future with promise for him. Evernham, crew chief for Jeff Gordon from 1992-1999, said the only way he could compare Atwood with the leading man of Winston Cup was to say they were both young and good about communicating what was going on with the car. "It's a great bar to set," Evernham said of measuring Atwood against Gordon. "I never compared Jeff to Dale [Earnhardt] and it's the same here. They're different people. I couldn't be happier with getting Casey. I mean that." Atwood's goal next season is simple, yet a difficult one -- to be Rookie of the Year. He isn't sure whether he will be able to win a race, as super rookie Dale Earnhardt Jr. has done twice this season, but he is confident that the team will be successful. After all, Ray Evernham brings three Winston Cup titles and the team's other driver, Bill Elliott, is the kind of veteran a rookie wants to learn from. Think about having a combined 87 victories to draw from, and you can see why Atwood is anxious to begin testing. "We are making progress in the development of the car," Evernham said. "The engine program is ahead of schedule, so they are kind of dictating our testing. We hope to have a car ready to present to NASCAR for approval by late July or early August." The car will be No. 19, the numeral that appeared on Evernham's car when was driving Modifieds. Numbers did seem to matter to Atwood. "I've dreamed about this for a long time," he said. "I just never thought it would be with someone famous." He probably was referring to Elliott, or maybe Evernham. But the Dodge name has a link with tradition, too. But as Atwood pointed out, he wasn't alive when Richard Petty was winning titles in a Dodge in 1974 and 1975. "But I've definitely seen film," he said with a smile. And then it was off to work for him as he tried to qualify his Busch car for Saturday's Carquest Autoparts 300.
All that remained was Evernham, posing for few photos with Dodge folks. Just like writing a script, he said. Despite the ugly weather, everything seemed to be just beautiful in Ray Evernham's world.
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