Atwood Battles Early Damage; Takes Kleenex® Ford to Top-25 Finish in Richmond

Richmond, VA (September 11, 2006) – Casey Atwood’s return to Brewco Motorsports was met with challenges Friday night at Richmond International Raceway. But though he sustained damage early in the race, and found other competitors in his pit stall on two pit stops, Atwood persevered for a 23rd place finish in the Emerson Radio 250.

Atwood and the No. 27 Brewco crew, led by Co-Crew Chief Stewart Cooper, were encouraged early in the weekend, as they posted the 13th fastest time in both practice sessions on Friday. The Kleenex® Ford team had an early qualifying draw, which led to a 20th place qualifying effort.

“That was a bad draw and we knew the car was faster than what we qualified,” Atwood said. “We knew we were good in race trim, so I was excited for the start of the race.”

The race started out strong and Atwood was making progress through the field. Cooper called Atwood into the pits on lap 27 for four tires and fuel. However, the No. 99 car, which had the pit stall behind the No. 27 Kleenex® Ford, came into Atwood’s pit stall, forcing Atwood to stop and wait for the No. 99 to back-up. The hesitation cost the No. 27 team 14 spots in the running order to 34th place, but Atwood quickly made his way back into the top-25.

Making matters worse, before the pit stop Atwood make contact with the No. 19 car and sustained damage to the right front fender. While in the pits, the No. 27 Brewco crew worked on the damage, and all seemed well, but the team learned after that race that the toe of the car was knocked out as a result of the contact.

“That explained the conditions that Casey was reporting back to us all night – tight in the center and loose up off the corner,” said Cooper. “We worked on the car to try and fix that for him, but we weren’t aware that the alignment was as bad as it was. The fact that he held on to the car as well as he did all night is really a testament to Casey’s talent.”

Atwood had additional problems in the pits when during his second pit stop on lap 65, the No. 77 car, in the pit stall in front of the No. 27 Kleenex® Ford, pitted deep in the stall. After the adjustments, Atwood had to back up in his stall, then head out onto pit road. Again, the Brewco team lost 16 positions because of the No. 77 car’s miscue, but thanks to pit strategy and Atwood’s determination, the No. 27 Kleenex® Ford was in the fifth position by lap 178.

Atwood narrowly missed wrecks on lap 74 and 122 and had slight contact with the No. 2 car on lap 183. Despite the accidents and pit issues, he still guided the No. 27 Kleenex® Ford to a 23rd place finish.

“It was certainly a frustrating night,” said Atwood, “but I was happy to be back with the Brewco guys and in the No. 27 Kleenex® Ford. The car was tight in the middle almost all night, and I felt like if we could have made the adjustments we needed, I could not only run with the top guys, I could have passed them. We fought a lot of crazy things this weekend – like people being in our pit stall – that hopefully we won’t see in Dover. I’m ready to get there and show our fans just what we can do.”

“I can’t imagine any more things happening to make our night any worse,” said Cooper. “But Casey never gave up and he raced hard the entire race. I’m looking forward to next week in Dover.”

Next for the No. 27 Brewco team will be the Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway on Saturday September 23. Television coverage of the race begins at 3:00 pm EST on TNT.

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