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Casey AtwoodAmerican racing driver
Date of Birth: 25.08.1980
Country:  USA |
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Biography of Casey Atwood
Casey Atwood, an American racing driver, is currently competing in NASCAR as a free agent. He was born on August 25, 1980, in Antioch, Tennessee. Atwood married his longtime girlfriend, Laura Atwood, in 2005, and they have two daughters named Kaylee and Emma, born in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
Early Career
Atwood developed an interest in racing at a young age and started karting at the age of 10. His passion for racing led him to compete in late model stock car races. In 1996, he was named the "Rookie of the Year" at Nashville Speedway USA.
Atwood attended John Overton High School in Nashville, Tennessee, but dropped out in 1999 to pursue his racing career full-time. In the same year, he joined Brewco Motorsports and drove the #27 Chevrolet in a full season of NASCAR Busch Series races. He made headlines when he flipped over at Daytona Beach, Florida after a collision with Andy Hillenburg, narrowly missing a top-five finish.
Atwood became the youngest driver to secure a pole position in the Busch Series when he qualified on the pole at Nashville Speedway USA. In only his third Busch Series race, Atwood finished second. By the end of the 1998 season, he had secured two pole positions and finished in the top twenty in eleven races. He also became the youngest winner in Busch Series history by winning the Milwaukee Mile race on July 4, 1999, at the age of 18. He finished the year with two victories, five top-five finishes, and nine top-ten finishes, ranking 13th in the championship standings.
Professional Career
In the following year, Atwood continued to impress with two pole positions, eight top-ten finishes, and an 8th place finish in the championship standings. In 2003, he switched to the #14 Chevy for FitzBradshaw Racing and had a mediocre season, although he still managed to finish in the top ten in seven races. He came close to winning the race at Richmond, but was involved in a collision with Martin Truex Jr. just ten laps before the finish line.
Atwood's lack of confidence and assertiveness on the track led the team to hire a psychologist for him, but he was ultimately released from the team with five races remaining in the season. At that point, he was 13th in the championship standings but dropped to 19th during his absence from racing.
In 2005, Atwood competed in several races for Evernham Motorsports in the #6 Dodge, and in the first half of 2006, he raced for Joe Gibbs Racing. He returned to Brewco Motorsports in September of that year, but was replaced by Ward Burton at the beginning of the next season. After nearly a year of being out of racing, Atwood made a comeback in 2009, participating in 20 races and finishing the season in 44th place.
In 2000, Atwood made his debut in the Winston Cup driving for Evernham Motorsports in a Ford with the number 19 at Richmond International Raceway. He started 35th and finished 19th. The following year, he continued to race in the Winston Cup Series for Evernham Motorsports in a Dodge with the number 19, earning him the nickname "the next Jeff Gordon." However, he struggled to achieve good results, with his best finish being third place in a race.
In 2002, Atwood joined Ultra Motorsports, but the season proved to be even worse than the previous one, resulting in his dismissal and replacement by first Jason Leffler and then Jimmy Spencer. Atwood last appeared in the series in 2006 during qualifying races but failed to qualify.
Comeback
In 2012, after a three-year hiatus, Atwood returned to racing, participating in a competition at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
