The clock is ticking on Casey Atwood’s hopes of racing this season. Atwood lost his Busch Series driving job with FitzBradshaw Racing near the end of last season and has yet to land another ride. The Busch season opens Feb. 19 at Daytona, and all of the top teams have signed their drivers. Atwood drove the #14 Chevy for the first 29 races last season. After he was abruptly let go, David Blaney took over for one race, then David Stremme ran the final four.(Tennessean)
AND am hearing that Atwood recently filed a lawsuit against FitzBradshaw Racing, don’t know any of the details.
UPDATE: Nashville-based race car driver Casey Atwood has sued his former employer, FitzBradshaw Racing, in federal court here in Music City. From the Nashville Post, a pay site, so can’t post it.(1-5-2005)
UPDATE 2: Nashville’s Casey Atwood, dismissed from his NASCAR driving job with five races left last season, has filed suit against his former team claiming it owes him salary, commission and other earnings. Attempts to reach Atwood for comment yesterday were unsuccessful, but his father Terry said the suit, which seeks unspecified damages, is not an attempt to get his son’s driving job back with FitzBradshaw Racing. ”We don’t want anything like that,” Atwood’s father said. ”All we’re asking for is the money they owe Casey. They told him back in December they’d pay him what they owned him but he never got a check.” FitzBradshaw Racing, based in Mooresville, N.C., is owned by Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw and Armando Fitz, a Nashville native and former Vanderbilt football player. Fitz said Atwood is still owed an unspecified amount of money from last season. He said he is prepared to pay it, but he first wants Atwood to sign a release relieving the team from any further obligation. Atwood’s attorney, John Robert Reynolds, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Nashville. He said he is not sure how long it will take to resolve the suit.(Tennessean)(1-7-2005)
UPDATE 3: from a FitzBradshaw Racing PR: After rebuffing repeated attempts to reconcile money owed for his time as driver of the #14 FitzBradshaw Racing Busch Series car, Casey Atwood has instead decided to take his case to the media. Atwood has received his full compensation from FitzBradshaw Racing for the driving of the #14 racecar, along with his year end check from NASCAR. All that is owed to him at this time is his percentage of the race winnings that FitzBradshaw Racing received during the 29 races in which he drove for them. FitzBradshaw Racing has provided Atwood with the documentation used to calculate these earnings to ensure that he was paid the correct amount. Atwood was asked to sign a release clearing the team of further liability, and preventing just this type of conflict from occurring. At this time Atwood has not responded. The monies that are due to Atwood are still currently available upon his signing of the release.(FBR PR)(1-13-2005)
