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2000 Schedule and Results | 2000 Archive | Bill Elliott Wallpapers
Tire Trouble Spoils Atwood's Run at Victory Lane While Elliott Maintains Position in the Points Standings
PHOENIX - A separated tire ended Casey Atwood's run to victory lane with his No. 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T as the rookie finished a respectable 14th in Sunday's Winston Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway. Trouble in the pits hampered Bill Elliott's chances for a strong finish. The veteran ended the day in 27th place.
Starting from the pole, Atwood grabbed life by the horns and managed to stay in the top three until his right front tire went down on lap 195, forcing him to pit road. Atwood, who looked like he had the car to beat, lead the race twice for a Winston Cup career high 71 laps. Despite excellent work by the Dew Crew throughout the race, the rookie's unexpected visit to pit road sent him a lap down, forcing him to battle with race leader Jeff Burton to get his lap back. Atwood, who at 21 years old is the youngest Winston Cup driver in the modern era to earn the pole position, overtook Burton and picked his way back to the 14th spot. It was his sixth top 15 finish of the season. The weekend's top qualifying and top finishing rookie moved up in the points standings to 29th place, 195 points out of 25th place.
"We had a great car," said Atwood. "I guess we ran over something. There wasn't anything wrong with the tire. I guess I ran over something because I felt it go down all the way down the straightaway. I got into three and it came all the way apart. Luckily I didn't get into the wall. I was able to get in the pits and not go too far behind. We were able to make up the lap. At the end, there just wasn't enough time. We got up to 14th and that's about all we could get.
"It was pretty disappointing," said Atwood. "I don't think we could have finished any worse than second or third. I think we had a good shot at winning. If we had had more time, we could have got back up there. I'm happy. We got the pole and started off well. We thought we'd be able to close it out, but we just had some bad luck at the end."
Bill Elliott, who started in the sixth position, appeared to be on his way to a strong finish until trouble on his first pit stop forced him to return to the pits for a second time. During the initial pit stop, the car left without the required number of lugnuts on the left front tire. The No. 9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T was shuffled to the back of the pack but Elliott managed to work back into the top 20 until engine trouble cost him track position in the closing laps. Elliott's 27th place finish didn't cost him any positions in the points race. He remains in 15th place.
"I'm really proud of Casey and the No. 19 team today," said team owner Ray Evernham. "They fought hard and unfortunately had a flat tire but showed that Evernham Motorsports has the potential to win. We're very excited about that. The car was good, and we're happy about that. We didn't bring it home, but at least the potential's there. "Bill was strong but picked up a miss in the engine there at the end," said Evernham. "That hurt us. We just have to find out what that was."
EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS IN THE NEWS: The performance of the cars from Evernham Motorsports kept Bill Elliott, Casey Atwood and Ray Evernham in the news throughout the weekend. After capturing the Bud Pole, Atwood spent much of Friday conducting interviews with the media in attendance. After talking with NBC reporter Dave Burns about his first place starting spot, Atwood moved on to the Bud Pole board where he posed for pictures with the top qualifier's award. Atwood also conducted interviews with local media and national motorsports press in the track's media center. His busy schedule continued on Saturday as both Evernham Motorsports cars continued their solid runs in practice. Atwood talked about the car during Saturday's coverage of final practice. Sunday morning, Atwood was live on Fox's pre-race show. He also made a live guest appearance on ESPN's pre-race show. Coverage of the cars from Evernham Motorsports continued before the race as MRN Radio and NBC talked with and about the drivers. Coverage continued after the race when Atwood became the top finishing rookie with his 14th place finish. He visited the track's media center to field questions about his day. His story was a front-page article on NASCAR.com.
SPONSOR NEWS: Evernham Motorsports welcomed several VIPs to the track at Phoenix. Jim Julow, Vice President, Dodge Global Brand Center and Bill Tracy, Senior Manager, Dodge Motorsports Operations were on hand to watch the driver of the No. 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T capture his first Bud Pole. The executives were joined by guests from a local Dodge dealer, Earnhardt Dodge, which provided Evernham Motorsports with vehicles for the weekend. The drivers from Evernham Motorsports also attended an event in Chandler, Ariz. on Saturday night with DAA treasurer Art Schaier. Mr. Schaier and his guests welcomed Elliott, Atwood, Evernham and several other Dodge drivers and owners to a reception at Mr. Schaier's home. Guests of Mountain Dew also were able to experience the excitement of the weekend and received the opportunity to talk with Atwood and Evernham about their successful weekend at the No. 19 hauler prior to Sunday's race.
2000 Schedule and Results | 2000 Archive | Bill Elliott Wallpapers
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