Atwood Released UPDATE Not released?: NASCAR Winston Cup team [#9,#19,#91] owner Ray Evernham has informed driver Casey Atwood he is free to seek other employment options for 2003. An Evernham Motorsports spokesperson Monday said Evernham, who plans to field a two-car Winston Cup team next season for drivers Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield, indicated he would sit down with Atwood after the holidays and discuss the resolution of the final year of Atwood’s contract. Atwood, 22, drove Evernham’s #19 Dodge in 2001. This season, he drove Jim Smith’s #7 Dodge, in which Evernham became a partner to facilitate Atwood’s continued development. After Atwood struggled through 34 races, with a best finish of 11th and in 33rd in the driver standings, Smith released him and Evernham and Smith dissolved their partnership. BGN [#27, #37] owner Clarence Brewer, for whom Atwood won twice in 1999 and in 2000 before he went to Evernham Motorsports, has said he would like to rehire Atwood pending the resolution of his deal with Evernham.(NASCAR.com)(12-2-2002) UPDATE: A number of NASCAR racing Web sites have reported that Nashville’s Casey Atwood was fired by Ray Evernham earlier this week, but Atwood’s father yesterday said those reports are incorrect. ”Casey has not been fired,” Terry Atwood said. ”Casey’s lawyers are talking with Evernham’s lawyers. Nothing has been decided.” The holdup in the official announcement might be the remaining year on Atwood’s original three-year contract with Evernham Motorsports. That remaining year could be worth a substantial sum to Atwood, 22, if Evernham is forced to buy it out. Other legal issues also could be involved: Evernham shuffled Atwood into a non-competitive third car this season. That car was co-owned by Jim Smith, who replaced Atwood with another driver with two races left in the season. Evernham has refused to discuss the situation. What happens to Atwood if he’s fired by Evernham is unclear.(Tennessean)(12-5-2002)
