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Bristol blues I got knocked around like a pinball last weekend
Posted: Tuesday March 28, 2000 12:46 PM
It can't get any worse. My luck this year is terrible! I really want to start this diary entry telling all of you how great it was winning a Busch Series race in Tennessee, my home state but if you watched the Cheez-It 250 from Bristol Motor Speedway, you know it was Sterling Marlin, another Volunteer state native who claimed victory, not me. Congratulations Sterling, you did a great job! While he was cruising to a win, my No. 27 Castrol GTX Chevrolet Monte Caro was being knocked around like a pinball. I qualified 13th fastest (allowing me to pit on the front stretch!) and it looked like my luck was turning around, but once the green flag waved, the unpredictable high-banked Bristol track proved me wrong. I didn't even make it 20 laps before I got hit. Everything happens so fast. I was able to miss a wreck in front of me but someone behind me didn't miss me. It's frustrating. Luckily, the damage was limited to the rear of my car and I was able to continue without losing a lap thanks to quick repairs by the Castrol GTX Racing team. Following the restart, I started to make up the ground I had lost. I still had chance for a top finish but when your race goes bad, it goes really bad. As I was moving up, several cars in front of me made contact, triggering a multi-car incident. With nowhere to go, I too was involved. Once again, the Castrol GTX Racing team made hasty repairs and returned me to the action. With my No. 27 car battered, I hoped to stay out of harms way and roll to a solid top 15 finish but it wasn't meant to be. On lap 63, I was involved in my third on-track altercation. This time, the only damage suffered was to my tires. For some reason, the brakes kept locking up. I would have been fine except that I flat spotted my tires and that was the last set I had. For those of you who don't know, a flat spotted tire is the result of sliding the car with the wheels locked. A flat spot is worn into the tire, making it no longer round. According the NASCAR rules, teams can only change two sets of tires during the race while under caution but as many as desired under green flag conditions. The rule is meant as a cost cutting measure for the teams. Each additional tire changed under caution beyond the allotted sets results in a one lap per tire penalty. I was left with no choice but to come in and change the tires once the race went green. I lost two laps (it would have been four if I had changed the tires under caution). I managed to avoid the remaining wrecks and moved from 32nd to 21st position in the running order when the checkered flag flew. There is no doubt we are struggling. Everything is the same from last year. Same cars, plus some new ones, and the same guys on the team. It's tough not to get discouraged but the entire team continues to keep a positive attitude. Well, I'm off to Texas to get ready for Saturday's race.... Casey Casey Atwood drives the No. 27 Castrol GTX Chevrolet for Brewco Motorsports in the Busch Series. Atwood, a native of Nashville, Tenn., started driving late models at 15 and was a two-time winner in the Busch Series by the time he was 18 years old.
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